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Fire Congress!The Revolution Begins 2010Set Meaningful Term Limits For All Congressional Seats
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Many years ago the congress realized and determined a need for term limits on the presidency. Unfortunately, to date they have been unwilling to set the same standard for the United States Congress. We the people must have the tenacity to institute this change on behalf of future generations. We view the following to be the best initiative available today. Twelve years or eighteen years is simply too long. As can be seen from a study of constitutional amendments, no process, that has actually been used historically, will suffice. To wait for our state or federal politicians to limit their terms and permanently lay themselves off inclusive of all the trappings, power, and wealth associated with these positions would be ludicrous. The only option the citizenry is left with is the Popular Amendment. As set out by Wilson; "... the people may change the constitutions whenever and however they please. This is a right of which no positive institution can ever deprive them."Twenty-four states have the right of initiative or referendum process and at first light we thought those might provide some guidance on what a process may look like. Upon investigation we are not hopeful of this.
Others have looked at and proposed processes for establishing initiatives, referendums, or direct democracy, Mike Gravel and Ralph Nader for example. The Democracy Foundation and the Philadelphia II Corporation are non-profit organizations established to work on some of these issues and might be of some help. However, we have significant concerns regarding the direction they have taken. We are convinced; our representative form of government was one of the true geniuses of our founders. Taking the direct democracy or initiative approach could result in regular attempts to change the constitution. We believe the constitutionally limited power of government and our inalienable rights, simply should not be subject to such a process. Frankly the founders displayed a lot of true genius. We support congressional proposals for constitutional amendment being ratified by the state legislatures. For these reasons we are left with the 1st. Amendment Section 7 Petition and Assembly, as providing the only viable process, unfortunately, without a clear conclusion. The First Amendment states "the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances". We are left with the petition process to initiate and conclude in a legislative constitutional amendment process. Our concern here is, should millions of Americans sign a petition and the congress should decide to ignore them, the results could be regressive to our society. We believe this will not be the case and the people and their government will be able to move forward. We have a grievance and the same reasoning and logic should apply to limiting the terms of the United States Congress as did for limiting the terms of the United States Presidency. When a congress is elected to one term, the direct cost and lost opportunity cost of elections will significantly decline. Additional savings could result from actions of the new congress such as grandfathering prior members retirement and eliminating future congressional retirement plans. Higher quality productivity will be a by-product of a limited congress working for the people and the country. Additional quality and productivity is achieved through the knowledge of the limited time a member has to accomplish work. Congress will truly look to represent the country and the people, not for the sake of the next election. Six years is enough time to learn the system and accomplish a lot of work. Electing a third of congress every two years will provide stability and institutional memory. There will be no time to get stale on the job. We could potentially see more senior and seasoned citizenry running for these positions.
Target: United States Congress
Preamble:
The United States Congress has lost fidelity with the citizenry, their hopes, and dreams. Congress must live within the means of the people. Simply passing debt on to future generations is unacceptable. Going from election to election telling the people one thing and then producing significantly different results must end.
Petition:
We, the undersigned, call upon the United States Congress to amend the United States Constitution to set all Congressional terms to six years and limit the number of terms of service to one.
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or call us at: (301) 775-1797
Thank you!
For a Study of Constitutional Amendments: Click Here
For a Study of the Constitution: Click Here
For a Study of the Declaration of Independence: Click Here
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