To the elites that reside in the Northeast, in Malibu, California and in Washington, D.C. many consider politics as a career and not at all as an opportunity for service. Even some Libertarians, sadly, believe this as well. To me, this mindset is very wrongheaded when looking at the reasoning on a whole.
The founding fathers of the United States believed very much in a “citizen legislator.” They were of the belief that a person would serve a short period of time in the nation or state capitol and then retire to his or her farm or business. If the founding fathers were alive today, they would be literally shocked at the amount of time Congress Members and State Legislators are serving. They would frown upon U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd (D-WV), who has served in the senate since 1959. The same would go for Arlen Specter who has served there for 28 years along with Orin Hatch (R-UT, served since 1977) and Richard Lugar (R-ID, served since 1977).
They would also frown upon House members like Maxine Waters and Barney Frank, who have held office since 1980 and Congressman Charles Rangel, who has been in office since 1970.
The Founders would be astonished to find that there is a 98% re-election incumbency rate for members of Congress as well as the same number given for reelection to the Assembly and Senate. The Founding fathers would not approve one iota.
Though there will be some that disagree, I believe strongly that the U.S. Constitution as well as the state constitution should be amended to limit the amount of time a member of Congress and a state legislator can serve. This would end careerism in politics; it would remind politicians constantly that they work for the people; it would decrease the influence of special interests; and, best of all, it would allow the constant flow of new ideas to be brought to life. This would be a good policy to advocate and a great policy to implement both at the federal level and in the state level. I will advocate it to the best of my ability until the dream is realized.