The Problem of Reelection

The 22nd Amendment, ratified in 1951, limited the President of The United States to two, four year terms. Republicans advocated for the amendment in response to Franklin Delano Roosevelt's office span of 12 years, due to his four consecutive terms. Many Americans at the time believed they could fix the abuse of public office careerism by the passage of the Amendment.

However, the true source corruption lies in a career oriented Congress. James Madison and the Framers of the Constitution never envisioned Congress being a source of reliable, sustained employment for an individual. The abuse of American votes for careers and the constant obligation to win reelection has lead to the corruption that has fallen upon the Congress of The United States.

In 1995, Inc. v. Thornton ruled in favor of Congress, stating that no state could limit the number of terms for Congressional office their representatives could hold. Many career Congressmen will adhere to this ruling as the supreme law and dispose of any talk of term limits. They don’t take into account however, the wording of the ruling. The resolved case clearly states that the states cannot limit the number of terms held for Congressional office; it gives no mention of the Federal Government restricting those very same terms.

With a lack of Federalist approaches lately in this country, it would seem contradictory to conservative views to advocate for federal dominance over the States; nonetheless, the Supreme Court ruled that the States have no right to impose term sanctions. Although the issue seems easy to fix, one must consider the only people who could infact pass a federal law limiting terms: Congress.

The possibility of a large enough majority in Congress to actually vote for terms limits is far fetched, as illustrated by the so called Republican Revolution of 1994. The GOP ran with the idea of limiting terms, and many themselves pledged to only serve for two or three terms. Ironically many of the two term Congressmen are still up there serving as a Representative for the past 21 years, well above two terms.

The inability of Former Speaker Gingrich to successfully manage his party and push forward with term limit legislation illustrates the impossibility for Congress to set laws barring their own jobs.

Every two years, the entire House is up for reelection along with one third of the Senate. For the six months following an election, members will make the argument that they cannot oppose or pass any desperately needed legislation; using the excuse that they have an election to win and do not want to discourage voters.

However in not passing the very legislation that they ran on, they are further discouraging even more voters than they would if they voted yay or nay. After all 90% of Congress wins their reelection, they make the same argument after taking their new oath. Only this time they have an election in two years, not six months.

This vicious cycle can find itself plaguing both the Democrats and the Republicans. It is a bipartisan problem that needs to be addressed. Pork barrell spending drains the budget for useless projects in which the money could better be spent on defense, entitlements, tax-breaks, or subsidies. Whether you advocate for fiscal responsibility or free spending, both ideologies can agree that taxpayer money is better well spent on helping the country in lieu of helping someone win reelection.

So, how do you solve the problem? It’s clear Congress does not have the audacity nor the numbers to undertake the endeavor. The answer is a simple one, it is taught to every third grader in their social studies class. Checks and balances. Congress has grown too corrupt and too career oriented; therefore it is time both the Judicial and Executive branches to step up and limit their terms.

Congress passed the 22nd Amendment limiting Presidential Terms, so doesn’t it seem equitable for the Judicial and Executive branches to come up with a solution to the Legislative branch abuse? The three branches are constantly supposed to guarantee that no other becomes too powerful or corrupt, so why is it that Congressional terms have grown out of control?

By law the Supreme Court and Executive branch cannot write or pass laws, that is overstepping the legislative power; however with the correct bipartisan leadership in the White House and a unified Supreme Court, Congressional term limits may not be that far fetched.

Sam Iammarino is a Conservative Republican.