In a political climate where so many politicians refuse to agree with those from the opposite side of the aisle, USTL is proud that term limits on Congress a nonpartisan issue upon which lawmakers from both sides have united. In April, U.S. Representative Jared Golden and Maine State Senator Rick Bennett joined forces to film a round table discussion moderated by North Region Director Kenn Quinn. The session was captured in a series of videos, promoted as ‘United for Term Limits’ and can be found on facebook, twitter, youtube, and on the USTL web site.
Both lawmakers agree on the urgent need for congressional term limits and the best path forward is through the states applying pressure on Congress to pass its own amendment proposal. Both methods, proposing the amendment through the states and through the Congress, are powers delegated by Article V of the U.S. Constitution.
During the conversation both Golden and Bennett discuss that “institutional knowledge” gained from being a professional politician is not always a good thing and can actually be quite detrimental.
According to Rep. Golden, the current professional core of politicians is posturing over the debt ceiling jeopardizing the creditworthiness of the nation. All the combined institutional knowledge of our current Congress is based upon years of learned experiences, battles past fought and how to go about winning for the party but not for the benefit of the nation. It’s about the Dems beating the Republicans, and the Republicans beating the Dems. “There’s all kinds of institutional knowledge about how to posture and jockey for position in order to get the big win and crush the other side,” says Golden. “Yet, there’s very little conversation about what’s in the best interest of the country.”
Bennett added, “When you talk about institutional knowledge, it often boils down to knowledge of the process. Well, the process is there to make the lawmaker effective. I’m not there to serve a process, I’m there to serve the people. And if the process is getting in the way of that, we need to change the process.”
He continued, “Institutional knowledge is often an excuse for keeping things the same, rather than changing them critically.”
Real world experience such as serving on a planning board in a town, or running a business, or if you’re a teacher, a doctor, or a nurse, is the best kind to inform policymaking — not how many years you have been in a particular office.
Both leaders highlighted the drawbacks from the lack of term limits such as a concentration of power among careerists, the need for fresh perspectives through broader representation from diverse backgrounds, the value of citizens from all walks of life to play an active role in resolving the current issues facing the nation. Having term limits shifts the focus from personal gain to the broader needs of voters. Both agree that the states must band together to put pressure on Congress by passing resolutions to propose a term limits amendment.