7. An Amendment for Federal Term Limits


.... When our founding fathers established the constitution, they assumed that about half of Congress would be replaced every election cycle -- but congressmen soon found ways to circumvent this through pork barrel patronage, committee chairs, and the power of incumbency. Congress has degenerated into fiefdoms of influence that are locked in place for decades and insulated through seniority.
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.... Power naturally tends to corrupt all men, and the vast majority of Americans today would like to see all of Congress replaced; yet each keeps sending their own man back repeatedly, in a cycle that holds their fellow Americans prisoner. So in mutual fairness and for the greater good, it is time for the rules themselves to be changed. Here is the suggested wording for an Amendment on term limits, as patterned after the 22nd Amendment:
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No person shall be elected to the United States Senate more than twice, and no person who has held the office of Senator, or acted as a Senator, for more than three years of a term to which some other person was elected Senator shall be elected to the office of Senator more than once. This Article shall include persons holding the office of Senator presently, who have exceeded this limitation, though they may serve out the remainder of their present terms.
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No person shall be elected to the United States House of Representatives more than six times, and no person who has held the office of Representative, or acted as a Representative, for more than one year of a term to which some other person was elected Representative shall be elected to the office of Representative more than five times. This Article shall include persons holding the office of Representative presently, who had exceeded this limitation, though they may serve out the remainder of their current terms.
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These terms will come into effect on the 3rd of January at 11 pm in the year after this amendment is ratified.

.... Unlike the 22nd Amendment, this amendment applies to those who already hold office, though they may serve out their current terms. For the government, the result will be that truly qualified individuals will seek higher office, where there is now room, or at least they may bring their expertise to another type of office which may benefit from their related experience – but in either case, the abuse of incumbency would not follow them. This ‘rotation of offices’ was regarded by our founders as a healthy concept in promoting public service.

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