Comment & Debate
“Term limits sever from time to time the natural comfortable tie between members and special interests in their district. They bring government closer to the people and improve citizen access to the process,” according to Philip Blumel, president of U.S. Term Limits, the largest advocacy group in the field.[1]
South Carolina Republican Jim DeMint said in a 2009 press release: “Americans know real change in Washington will never happen until we end the era of permanent politicians. As long as members have the chance to spend their lives in Washington, their interests will always skew toward spending taxpayer dollars to buyoff special interests, covering over corruption in the bureaucracy, fundraising, relationship building among lobbyists, and trading favors for pork—in short, amassing their own power.”[2]
Philip Blumel, president of U.S. Term Limits: “You have a situation where you have a long-standing relationship between special interests and an incumbent who can’t lose, and that is a toxic combination, and that’s most of the Congress. Term limits ensure regular, competitive elections. They permit change.”[3]