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Today's Poll: Should there be term limits for state legislators?

By Howard B. Owens
Doug Yeomans

Term limits "might" reduce the negative impact of a good-ol-boys club. Corruption resides in deep seated, career politics. Just look at our own state and recent news for excellent examples.

Apr 23, 2013, 10:49am Permalink
John Woodworth JR

Hello Joe, Why do we not vote people out? Mostly because, money talks and bs walks! Unless you have the capital to start off with, you can't compete with those who have strong corporate backing. Which leaves us with the short end of the stick.

Apr 25, 2013, 12:50am Permalink
Howard B. Owens

To me the biggest argument against term limits is, they don't work. They don't accomplish what people think they will. They don't rid us of entrenched politicians or special interests.

Think of it like a baseball team: If you have a major league team full of players who nothing more than overhyped Triple A players and you send them all down and replace them with the next crop of players, you still have a team of Triple A players.

The players names may change, but the team stays the same.

We don't have entrenched politicians. We have entrenched political parties. The names may change, but the results remain the same. The only real special interests in Albany or Washington are the Republicans and the Democrats. The only real bottom line for the parties is obtaining and preserving power and perks.

I've said it before: California adopted term limits two decades ago and look how it's worked out there -- massive debt, over regulation, high unemployment, scandal after scandal. Term limits fix nothing.

And as Mark points out, they're an impingement on individual liberty.

Apr 25, 2013, 11:54am Permalink

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