6 g) Term limits – public opinion

I think the battle lines on this are well drawn, but what about public opinion?

“Americans Call for Term Limits

Virtually no partisan disagreement on these long-discussed constitutional reforms

by Lydia Saad

PRINCETON, NJ — Even after the 2012 election in which Americans re-elected most of the sitting members of the U.S. House and Senate — as is typical in national elections — three-quarters of Americans say that, given the opportunity, they would vote “for” term limits for members of both houses of Congress.

Republicans and independents are slightly more likely than Democrats to favor term limits; nevertheless, the vast majority of all party groups agree on the issue. Further, Gallup finds no generational differences in support for the proposal.

These findings, from Gallup Daily tracking conducted Jan. 8-9, are similar to those from 1994 to 1996 Gallup polls, in which between two-thirds and three-quarters of Americans said they would vote for a constitutional amendment to limit the number of terms that members of Congress and the U.S. Senate can serve.

It seems to be a no brainer. Great support for term limits from founding fathers and current public opinion. In fact public opinion on this issue has not changed in over twenty years. So why not change? Let’s see, who exactly initiates such a change.

Source for below items: https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20111207071620AAg0sN0                                 “Best Answer:  You are absolutely correct that term limits would help to fix a lot of what is wrong with the political system. Unfortunately, term limits can only be implemented by those same people who have a vested interest in opposing them. There is no way that the people currently in power will ever allow a change of the rules. The only way that change is going to happen is by the citizens voting in representatives who run on a platform of supporting term limits, and then having them follow through on it. It won’t actually require a constitutional change, just the will to get it done.”

·         “There are only two ways to amend the constitution. 1. Two-thirds of both houses of Congress vote to propose an amendment 2 Two-thirds of the state legislatures ask Congress to call a national convention to propose amendments. (This method has never been used) We know that Congressmen will never vote to limit their own terms, so the only possible way is through the state legislatures. This would require an organized, well-funded national campaign. The only people who could afford such a campaign are the guys who already own the senators. Think about it. Would you rather pay once and own a senator for 20 years? Or have to constantly buy-out new senators every 6 years? The elite benefit from having no term limits, so they would not likely pay for a national campaign to change this.”                                                                                                                                                                                                     Does our democracy still exist? If you are a true patriot I suspect you find the preceding depressing. I certainly do.