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Big Bucks to Promote Term Limits

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Maybe you’re like me — you’d gladly ballyhoo term limits even if you don’t get handed $10,000. But if you want the ten grand, too, here’s your chance: An outfit called Our Generation is holding a video contest to find the best 60-second ad promoting congressional term limits. The deadline is December 1, 2010. Contest guidelines are posted at aboutourgeneration.org.

Here’s an idea you can use with my compliments: Attack the fallacies. Certain clichés about term limits get repeated so reflexively they sound more like mantras than arguments. Your ad could starkly juxtapose fallacy with reality, highlighting the silliness of the claims.

One such mantra is “We already have term limits, they’re called elections.”

Of course, elections too frequently prove hollow affairs, with incumbents standing for re-election, and standing again for re-election. Especially at district level, incumbents often suffer no major-party opposition or only nominal opposition. Your video could show clips of politicians asserting “We already have term limits, they’re called elections,” alternating with clips of reporters announcing that Congressman So-and-so is running unopposed. Back and forth, back and forth, faster, faster. You could probably squeeze at least 20 into a 60-second ad. Would take some research to get the clips, but the supply is endless.

We also hear a lot about how term limits eject experience. Experience doing what? What our Congress has been up to the last few years? Well, you take it from there.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

4 replies on “Big Bucks to Promote Term Limits”

Vote them out of office and they become lobbyists. When they know there’s a hard end to their terms they PLAN their in-office career around post-office employment. And EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM is being turned over every 6 years or so. Which do you think is a greater threat?

To Werner:

HOW ABOUT AN ETHICS LAW WITH JAIL TIME FOR VIOLATIONS? AND CONSIDER: DINGELL OF MICHIGAN-BEEN IN THE HOUSE FOR OVER 50 YEARS-HIS WIFE IS A TOP GM LOBBYIST.

GEE, EH GETS UAW AND GM PAC MONEY, AND (UNTIL THIS YEAR) VIRTUALLY NO OPPOSITION. AND, OH YES, HE INHERITED THE SEAT, FROM HIS FATHER.

How about-no lobbying for the number of years served (raped) the taxpayers? Might be better then nothing.

my 5 cents

Executive is different. There’s enough turnover, “diversity” (I hate that word) in legislative bodies that not one person’s stamp is likely to be permanent. (Willie Brown in CA is exception but I’d argue he wouldn’t have allowed the state to degrade to the point it is in now.)

Here’s the scenario: guy gets elected in. Best case he’s in for 6 years under term limits. Do you really think he’s going to return to his farm, desk job, family practice? Yeah, there would be some that would but the majority would be approached by some group – corporation, think tank, environmental advocacy organization – that would gladly hire them (wink, wink) if the legislator would only stear a few $M their way.

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