Congress conflict

There are 535 members in Congress, which is divided into two chambers – the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Senate has 100 members, each with six-year terms. One-third of the Senate seats are up for election every two years. The House of Representatives has 435 members, each with two-year terms. Every candidate running for a seat in Congress can run for as many times as he or she likes. Unlike the presidency, members of Congress do not have term limits.

According to ISideWith.com, 86% of American voters are for term limits for members of Congress. I am one of those people. I believe that a term limit is necessary.

I tend to connect corruption with those who have been in power for years. They remind me of oppressors and despots, like the monarchies in history and the dictatorships of today. And, I do not wish to establish those conditions in America, since these governments do exist in our modern world, for it is very likely that they will cause revolutions, such as the French and Russian revolutions.

Although some people running for Congress promise to run only for a few terms if they are elected, many do not uphold their promises. In 2000, Rep. Matt Salmon, a Republican from Arizona, did not run again to uphold his campaign promise to stop running after three terms. In 2011, Rep. Salmon ran again. His excuse was that everyone needs to support term limits for the idea of term limits to be successfully established. Unfortunately, not everyone will have the same beliefs on any single topic, so it is highly unlikely that people will probably be the same about term limits.

Term limits will prevent career politicians, who do not understand the lives of an average American since their lives have only been involved in politics and not much else. They will only know the lives they have led, which are usually associated with affluent lifestyles. That type of lifestyle typically does not correlate with a middle class American.

In U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton, the Supreme Court ruled that states cannot place term limits on their members of Congress, which basically means that it will be very difficult to pass laws that will put term limits in place. It will need to be done on the national level; another amendment will need to be added.

In addition, Congress does not want to establish term limits. Basically, senators and representatives wish to keep their power and stay popular with their parties, not help out the people of the U.S.

Term limits should be in place for the sake of the American people.