“Including Frank, the departing group represents a wealth of experience that will not be easy to replace: The nine have served in office for a combined 172 years.”
Yes, and they represent a wealth of corruption, too. I say, good riddance to them all. There should be term limits in Congress: 2 terms (or 12 years) in the Senate and 6 terms (or 12 years) in the House. Any person who wants to be away from his home state or his business for more than 12 years obviously wants to be a professional politician, and THAT is where the trouble is. Terms in Congress have become serious professions, NOT a place where you serve your country for a few years and then go back to your own business. Have there been some good or even great Congressmen? Certainly, but I don’t see why they can’t be “great” in 12 years rather than 30. Also, if you could only serve for 12 years, committee chairmanships would have to change hands more frequently, which would probably be better for everybody. And fewer years in Congress would mean that people could pass fewer laws and regulations, which at this point in our lives would be great. Could people still try to “game the system” with term limits? Sure, but at least they would be out of there quicker than they are now. Jerks like Barney Frank hold on to their seats like popes under the current system, and that is just, plain, wrong. And it is certainly NOT what the Founding Fathers had in mind when they created Congress.
