More and more, I think that the supposed benefits of seniority are far outweighed by the damage done by entrenched representatives that don’t have to worry about reelection.
Keeping one good guy in office isn’t worth putting up with the bad ones for decades.
And besides, that guy you think is good? Everyone else hates him.
Pete Stark comes to mind. Unfortunately it will be a very cold day in Hell when they agree to term limits. We have to wait until they kick the bucket like Robert Byrd.
Term limits for them AND for all the commissions that exist. We have a scary number of unelected people in positions that are similar sinecures.
That and/or build sunset laws into EVERY regulation and require them to be re-voted on every 2 or 3 years
Of at least equally pressing concern should be the existence of the permanent (and entirely unelected) Federal bureaucracy (where on my ballot is the question of EPA’s latest lunacy put to the question for only one example). It’s going to require a Constitutional Ammendment stipulating with considerable specificity the extent and responsibilities of the US federal government’s elected and non-elected components to actually achieve though, I think (and good luck to us all with that).
Great point, Will. The unelected bureaucracy is largely a result of a lazy Congress handing it’s lawmaking power to the executive branch.
All that executive branch “rule making” should go back to the legislature where it belongs so people can be held accountable for their decisions.