by Nick Tomboulides
Republicans in Congress are making some huge, sweeping, monumental, life-altering changes to their leadership today. Or not.
According to reports, 24-year career politician John Boehner is stepping down as House Speaker to make room for Rep. Paul Ryan, who is merely a 16-year career politician.
For those of us who want to see fresh talent and perspectives in Washington, this cannot be seen as a victory. Congress seems to think that swapping its old members’ titles is just as good as actually letting new talent enter the system.
According to OpenCongress, Paul Ryan votes with Boehner 87 percent of the time.
Ryan has a record on term limits and it’s not good. In 2012, he received a special waiver from Boehner that allowed him to violate the House GOP rule holding committee chairmen to a six-year term limit. While running as Mitt Romney’s vice presidential candidate in 2012, Ryan said congressional term limits were “fantastic” then did absolutely zilch to make them a reality.
This much is clear: The Washington political machine hasn’t left town. It has only been given a new spokesman.
We don’t need to settle for Congress repackaging their career politicians with new labels. Real change is within reach in the form of a congressional term limits amendment. It doesn’t need Paul Ryan’s or John Boehner’s support. The states can obtain term limits on Congress through USTL’s newly-launched Term Limits Convention.
If you support the Convention, please sign the petition today: http://www.termlimits.com/ustl-petition/
Nick Tomboulides is Executive Director of U.S. Term Limits.