August 24, 2010 —
The rise of the Tea Party movement apparently has spawned another crop of would-be officeholders who say they believe in term limits and want to end the influence of career politicians in our lawmaking bodies.
A few candidates on the November ballot in Kentucky are telling voters they favor term limits and would not want to serve more than a couple of terms. Idealism aside, it may be the most practical strategy for those without the money or name recognition to seriously challenge a veteran incumbent.
The idea of “less government is best government” makes a great bumper sticker or campaign button. Our forefathers endured the abuse of the British and no doubt feared a powerful, central government. They were wise to apportion seats in the U. S. House of Representatives by population and the U.S. Senate by the simplicity of two per state, regardless of size. That might have been our first example of trying to achieve a balance of power.
But the framers of the U. S. and Kentucky constitutions didn’t write a word about term limits for their lawmakers. And Kentucky’s framers had four chances to do so. However, the concept of limiting terms for legislators did find traction in 21 states, starting in 1992. But today, only 15 still have them and one state’s limit is 24 years, 12 in each chamber. Six states have repealed term limits, mainly through the courts because their state constitutions didn’t provide for it originally.
On a practical level, why would we want to surrender the power and influence of long-serving legislators? In the simplest terms, legislative seniority means more state funding for local projects and programs, even in these tough times. Besides, when lawmakers don’t do their jobs to suit us, we can use the old fashioned version of term limits.
It’s called voting them out of office.
Editorials
In Our Opinion: Don’t we already have term limits?
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From the penthouse to the outhouse
Please excuse the colorful language in our headline but, at this point, those appear to be the starting and ending points of the 2012 Kentucky General Assembly.
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Beshear never watched John Wayne movies
No guts, no glory. A courageous man takes risks for a good cause and often is rewarded by the praise of others or perhaps a hero’s memorial.
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Pardon us for noticing, but…
Members of the General Assembly had a few moments of levity on Tuesday when the Newport Aquarium folks showed up to be recognized for their good work in educating us about sea life and for protecting penguins.
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Democrats, Republicans must share the shame!
Now that the legislative redistricting bill has been signed into law, Gov. Steve Beshear and the Democrats in the House and the Republicans in the Senate all should be ashamed of themselves.
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5 reasons not to make UPIKE a state school
Former governor Paul Patton and House Speaker Greg Stumbo are trying to convince Gov. Steve Beshear and the General Assembly that Kentucky needs another public university.
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Will Beshear turn sacred cows into budget burgers?
A lobbyist for Kentucky Youth Advocates used that expression on Sunday in a quote in the Louisville Courier-Journal.
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Rocky may be gone but we won’t be forgotten
When we asked State Rep. Rocky Adkins how he felt about Rowan County being removed from his legislative district, he didn’t answer quickly. He hesitated because he was choked with honest, heartfelt emotion. His heart and his head were trying to answer at the same time.
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Delaying tax reform is governor’s mistake
In our opinion, Gov. Steve Beshear made a serious tactical error last week when he stopped the tax reform movement in the 2012 session of the General Assembly.
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2012 legislative session can be a winner
In our opinion, the 2012 regular session of the Kentucky General Assembly can become one of the most successful in history if the 138 senators and representatives follow this simple game plan:
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Beshear right to end hospital merger
We tip our hat to Gov. Steve Beshear who last Friday rejected a controversial merger that would have united three Kentucky hospital corporations to form the state’s largest health care system.
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From the penthouse to the outhouse
