No. of Recommendations: 6
And it's why I favor term limits, so we don't get entrenched people.
I think term limits are terrible, based on our experience here in Florida.
Three things happen with term limits:
1) You get a much weaker Legislature. Everyone's a lame duck the moment they win office - the day they're elected, you know the day their career in that chamber will end. No one can last, no one can survive beyond their term limit, so few (if any) legislators can ever accumulate any real power. Unlike the Executive, where 100% of the power vests with the governor/President, power is diffused within a legislative chamber, where each person is 1 of 100 or 1 of 435. Without the ability to form lasting relationships and power structures, the Legislature gets vastly weakened compared to the Executive. Especially since every Speaker and every Senate Majority leader is only going to have two years in that role.
2) Power shifts to the political factions and the "entrenched people" that get legislators elected. Again, every legislator's career comes with an expiration date - so the identity of the legislator matters far less than the folks who got him elected, and who will likely get their replacement elected. For example, Bernie Sanders has a lot of personal political power because of who he is and his own brand; but if every Senator serves only two terms, the power shifts away from the actual officeholder and towards the network of lobbyist, power-brokers, and money-men that gets their replacements in every decade or so.
3) Incumbents are even more protected. People just stop running against incumbents, because you know exactly when and where the next open seat is going to be. Why risk your political career running against someone in office, rather than waiting until they're forced out?
It's been horrible, and it's the reason why Florida is basically run by the Governor and whoever the Republican Powers that Be flagged for leadership eight years prior.
