The argument against term limits, and it is one with which I agree, is that the concept sounds great, but it puts power in the hands of lobbyists and bureaucrats. Anyone who thinks the Missouri General Assembly works better now since it has term limits needs to examine the legislature's accomplishments over the past 13 years:
Former Democrat State Rep. Craig Hosmer, who represented the 138th District of Springfield and is chair of the Greene County Democratic Central Committee, said there are legitimate arguments on both sides of the term-limit debate.
Hosmer, who served 12 years, said there is an argument for having "fresh ideas" and "new blood," but having representatives with institutional knowledge carries weight, too.
"At the time, people thought term limits was a cure-all to problems," Hosmer said, but now there is a perception that a representative may be less responsible to constituents knowing he or she will be gone in eight years, he said.
"The real question is, who does it give the power to? It give more power to bureaucrats. It gives power to unelected entities. Sometimes those people are completely unresponsible to the electorate."
2 comments:
I always thought we had term limits, with or without the law or a change in the law. Its simple, the people go vote them out. Works for me.
I agree. To say we aren't smart enough to know when someone has been in office too long does not show much faith in the people.
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