We send good people to Washington, but after they get there they seem to change.
That’s one reason voters support term limits. They feel that representatives under term limits, imposed by law or by their own conscience, will be truer to their convictions. Focused on returning home and resuming their former lives, rather than staying in Congress forever, these members won’t be captured by special interests.
Now there’s more than a gut feeling among voters. There’s proof.
The National Taxpayers Union studied the legislation introduced and supported by members of the class of 1994. These congressmen came in like lions. On taxes and spending, the NTU study found those with self-imposed term limits kept faith with their original commitment to people back home. They stayed as strong as lions supporting a cut in government spending even after their first term.
Those seeking a congressional career behaved far differently. They broke faith with taxpayers by supporting 4 times more federal spending after their first term in office. They changed into lambs.
National Taxpayers Union President John Berthoud said, “When politicians plan a career in Washington, they will change their behavior … captured by the forces inside the Beltway advocating bigger spending and a larger federal government. Lawmakers who keep their pledge to limit their own terms appear to keep other promises as well lower spending and less government.”
Want representatives who keep the faith? They’re the term-limited ones.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.