Term Limits and Campaign Reform

By Dan Bradley

Our form of government has been changed by career-minded politicians. Only term limits and campaign reform can return our government to the part-time, citizen run government body that our Founding Fathers intended.

George Washington, in his Farewell Address of 1796, warned us that Political Parties "are likely...to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government..." President Washington would be spinning in his grave if he could see our government now. I intend to change that by mandating term limits on individuals who, through their "cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled" ways, have "subverted the power of the people."

Common sense, and history, tells us that the state legislature will not impose term limits on themselves. But, the argument goes, elections are term limits. However, because of the party machines and the system they have established through campaign laws, gerrymandering, and the party power itself, it is nearly impossible to vote an incumbent out of office. Therefore, elections are no longer a reasonable argument against term limits.

In that past years, 22 states have passed term limits on their legislature through the referendum process. One state legislature, Utah's, imposed term limits on themselves. Of course, this was only done to preempt a ballot referendum that was to impose stricter limits than the legislators imposed on themselves. Recently however, eight states have overturned the citizen imposed term limits either by the state supreme court or by the legislature. So, don't count on our legislature voting themselves out of a job anytime soon.

But all is not lost. Through a State Constitutional Convention made up of citizens, not legislators, we can add our state legislature to the list of states with term limits.

I truly believe that our Founding Fathers would have written term limits into law had they, in their wildest dreams, ever conceived of anyone making a career out of politics. They knew the corruption that is inherent in a government of individuals who feel they have a "right" to be in power. In reality, our Founding Fathers envisioned a part-time government of citizens. They saw individuals, like you and me, taking time from their families and neighbors to serve the community they love. After serving their time, these individuals would return to their families to live under the government they helped to create. The success of our form of government lies in the ability of everyday citizens to play an active role in it. The current system does not permit that. Our government must be returned to the citizens and taken out of the hands of the political parties and the elite few who dream of careers in Harrisburg. I think it is more than coincidental that the rise of the career-minded politician coincided with the demise of our once great form of government.

Along with term limits, we must add to and/or strengthen campaign regulations. Many politicians will seize upon a term-limited government to "move up the ladder" of government. They will seek their next office before completing their current obligation in the position for which he or she was elected. By instituting a prohibition against running for a different office while currently in office, as is part of the City Charter of the City of Philadelphia, this problem can be addressed. In fact, I would push for a minimum two-year moratorium on running for any office, or holding any government related job, once a term is completed. Politicians cannot be influenced by groups that will `buy' their vote by offering employment at the end of the term.

Furthermore, regulations must be strengthened and enforced that limit the advantages the incumbent office holder has over any challenger. First, any individual who holds an elected position will be restricted from gathering nominating signatures for any candidate but him or herself. This will diminish the power of the parties. No longer will the incumbent have a built in mechanism, a.k.a. local committee people, which makes the signature gathering process easier for one candidate than another. The incumbent must, just any challenger must, find and recruit individuals to assist in the signature gathering process.

Also, restrictions on "Franking" privileges (newsletters), town hall meetings, and party-financed robo calls must be strengthened. How convenient it is to be able to send a taxpayer-funded newsletter to all of your constituents, just weeks before an election. And these newsletters include announcements about town hall meetings and other public events that allows for the incumbent to meet-and-greet (and campaign) on the taxpayer dime. Election-year, taxpayer-funded communications must be more strongly restricted.

At the very least, if we cannot impose the popular idea of term limits on our legislature, as they have done to our governor, we must level the playing field at election time. An individual citizen should not have to be a party insider in order to be "permitted" to serve the people. As it stands, someone who is not loyal to the party is not looked upon favorably by the leadership of that party. That is the corrupt system about which George Washington warned. It is a system fashioned by the parties to keep the same people in power year after year. These individuals, over time, naturally become loyal to the party that preserves their power and loses their loyalty to the people they serve. Through term limits and campaign reform, we can return our government to one "of the people, for the people, and by the people."