Salary & Term Limits for Congress

Great Start for the list…
But lets add a few.
No Paid Speaking Engagements
No Paid Book Deals for them or
Family, Acquaintances
No Lobbying Jobs
No Special Interests Jobs
No Pensions
No Health Insurance: other than what the People have access too
No Government paid Security
No More the 2 Terms for All Elected Officials
No Jobs, Benefits, Money that anyone else could have.
No out of state funding for elections of Congressman and Senators or others running for State office.
More can be Added.
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No retirement benefits. No healthcare after retirement.

Here are my positions on term limits in government. They address all 3 branches. They include all government activities including those by elected, appointed, contractually engaged, and advisory positions.

I. General
No person should be allowed to serve in the federal government for more than 25 years in any capacity. This would apply primarily to civil service employees as other limits would apply to others serving.

No one should have a senior position in any federal job that directs the activities of more than 50 people for more than 5 years. This provision would be intended to address accumulation of authority and personal power in the bureaucracy in all 3 branches of government.

No one should be allowed to serve in federal government in any capacity after the age of 75 years. Retirement after reaching that age or upon reaching 25 years of service must be mandatory. For the record, I’m in my mid-80s.

No person should be allowed to serve in the US House of Representatives who has not reached the age of 35 years, nor in the US Senate who has not reached the age of 45 years, nor in the office of POTUS or VPOTUS who has not reached the age of 55 years.

Lifetime service in all capacities should be limited to 12 years except for civil service employees and federal magistrates, judges, and justices. All capacities should include - but not be limited to - elective, appointive, advisory, and all other functions whether paid or unpaid. The only exception to this limitation of service should be to allow any person who has served 12 years but is elected as POTUS or VPOTUS shall not be constrained from holding office.

II. Administrative Branch
The POTUS and VPOTUS should be elected to a single term of 6 years duration and be barred thereafter from filling any office in the federal government to include any advisory role or participation in political fundraising except any VPOTUS should be allowed to serve if elected as POTUS.

A POTUS should be subject to impeachment and removal from office as is currently provided in the constitution AND should be subject to impeachment by a super majority vote of states’ legislatures (3/5ths seems a low bar; 3/4ths seems too high a bar; 2/3rds seems about right) AND should be subject to a recall challenge if as many as 40% of registered voters in as many as 2/3rds of the states petition for removal or reaffirmation of prior election through another vote of the people and direction of electors from each state according to the outcome of the removal/reaffirmation vote. In other words, relying on congress, alone, as the means to remove a POTUS is insufficient as witnessed by the assinine and inane impeachment proceedings since Bill Clinton. The states’ legislatures and the voice of the people should also be available as means to remove a POTUS and to remove members of his administration. Congress cannot be trusted with this responsibility as they have proved themselves incapable of sober and sound considerations. The ludicrous insanity of pelosi’s extreme Trump Derangement Sysdrome on display before 2020 must not be tolerated in her or any other member of COTUS.

III. Legislative Branch
Members of the US House of Representatives should be allowed to serve only 2 consecutive terms. Each term should be 3 years. Individuals who have served in the house should be eligible to run again after removal for term limits but only after having been out of office for as long as they served. In other words, having served 2 terms totalling 6 years, a member could run again only after 2 congressional elections had been completed. No individual should be allowed to serve in the people’s house more than 12 years in a lifetime.

Having senators elected by citizen vote instead of by legislative selection was mistake because it reduced the power of states’ legislatures in national government, just as it was intended to do; therefore, members of the US Senate should be chosen for terms of 6 years by legislatures of the several states. No senator should be allowed to serve more than 2 consecutive terms and should serve in the senate no more than 12 years in a lifetime. States may chose to send a different individual to serve in the US Senate after an inititial term of 6 years. In such cases an individual who served a single term can be appointed by his legislature to serve a second 6 year term.

IV. Judicial Branch
Federal magistrates, judges and justices should serve no more than 15 years in a lifetime. No one should be allowed to serve in any of those capacities who has not reached the age of 55 years nor should any be allowed to serve past the age of 75.

V. Civil Service
No person working as an employee of any organization in the administrative, legislative, or judicial branch of the federal government should serve more that 25 years in total in all federal government jobs in a lifetime. No person working in such capacity should be allowed to serve beyond the age of 75. (We need to be certain there are no more Fauci’s.)

That’s the high level view. There might be other details dealing with federal government service and/or employment, but these would make a good start.

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I harshly disagree with raising the age limits of any seat in office, a repeal of the 17th Amendment I could get behind, seeing as you stated, the reduced power of the States influence in legislature. I do love the idea of terms on the judicial branch, and with the ‘blanket terms’ you intend for the entire federal government.

The framers of our Constitution ranged from 18 to 81. The ageism propagated by the media and output of colleges is simply another divide and conquer tactic. Free yourself from identity politics, and bring back citizen involvement in political selection. If a younger person or and older person lacks any sense or usefulness to the population, than don’t vote for them.

If all the younger folks supported a centralized communist state, I’d still vote for the 80 year old constiutionalist. Yet, if all the older folks supported an enforced religious state, I’d want to vote for the 35 year old secularist. The age requirements are fine, how long they are in office and their capabilities matter.

Principles of a meritocracy.

Good points, Ethan.

My perspective is that of someone older than Franklin when the constitution was signed. In my experience, there are very few folks under 30 who have not been badly influenced by political and social propaganda since they were in the crib. AOC is the poster child. If you don’t see her actions as immature - no, childish - and don’t see how she has been over indoctrinated, please help me to see why.

If age doesn’t matter, then why did those who wrote the constitution include age limits? Given that life spans were much shorter 250 years ago than today, I simply propose minimum ages. As an octogenarian, I’m proposing caps on service at 75 because I’ve noticed in others and in myself a beginning of reduced mental capacity starting around then. IMO, only narcissism and the seniority system can justify old coots hanging on past 75.

I challenge you to do a little research on the ages and tenure of members of each house. Do you realize that our current POTUS was elected to the senate at age 30 and stayed there for 48 years with no other experience of any meaningful sort. Look at his early record. Look at all the misrepresenations and lies he’s told. Look at the stolen stories he told. Would he have gotten away with it if had to be 45 to serve? If he had to have worked at something until 45, wouldn’t the electorate have had more to evaluate in his character and knowledge?

I predict that as you age and observe maturation in yourself and others that you will come to understand my position better. You might even come to agree with me. :slightly_smiling_face:

Yes! This is why I support term limits. Biden being the primary example of a politican serving for too long. Yet, politicans like JFK, and Donald Trump wouldn’t be able to serve as they are/did under your age restrictions, and I find both preferable to the gaslighting prepetuated by the DNC.

Because age does matter. The current issues of politicians staying in office for decades, resulting in them still being elected-or only running in their 70’s-is caused by the ‘aristocratic’ debasement of the foundational system of representation set up by the constitution. The age limits originally imposed by the constitution are fine, it’s the lack of terms, apportionment of representatives per our population, and the apportionment of indirect taxes and direct taxes per our population.

Broadly speaking, the permanent apportionment of representatives, the direct election of senators, the establishment of permanent direct taxation systems, and the bi-partisan system of subversive ‘electoral systems’ being our political parties, are the root issues plaguing our nation’s politics, and bringing about the result of old aristocrats running unopposed.

I really haven’t heard much about her yet, the media hasn’t chosen to saturate the web or social sites with her yet, if they plan to run her next cycle.

I agree that the age requirements are an important part of election functionality, I disagree that making the requirements more restrictive will fix any of the issues, including indoctrination of our youth, the continuous unopposed unapportioned reelection of political party members.

Not to sound like I am about to-but Ben was 81 when the Constitution was signed, blowing your cap by 6 years.

The reason that the House age cap is 25, is because it’s supposed to be the House of the People, the Working Class. The Senate was supposed to be a represenation of the State, per the legislature and thus the higher age requirement. The requirements are set up to illustrate the growth of involvement in our government from our citizenry, JFK wouldn’t have gotten to office by age 41 if he hadn’t served in both Houses of Congress prior. Even back then JFK only had enough standing and experience by the time he reached 30.

People need to be educated enough to make decisions, rather than guardrails so they can be sure to make the right decisions. The only way to break the university indoctrination of the youth is for mass community involvement in education, the return to a trade-based productionist market, and the education of superior systems of government and economies.

As the land of comprimise, it’s up to us to be the bigger person, and respectfully debate our standpoints of capitalism over socialism and consumerism, and the ideas of a constitutional republic over a committee run oligarchy.