Term Limits

Once again, the Sun is advocating public financing of Maryland political campaigns. ("Limited thinking," Jan. 18). Forget it! The taxpayer is not going to vote an increase in the already excessive amount of money taken from his hard earned paycheck to finance redundant TV ads for a government that is dysfunctional. The same editorial is against term limits for Baltimore County Council members because elected officials "will be less experienced. " What are they experienced at - corruption and rubber-stamping anything Governor Tax wants?

Clearly, the state of Maryland is controlled by three people, the governor, the Senate president and the House of Delegates speaker ("Leaders float the idea of two special sessions," April 25). While the governor is limited to two 4-year terms, the other two can apparently serve forever. I get a vote as to who is elected governor, but have no voice regarding who should run the Senate or the House. It is long overdue that we put term limits on these two positions. If eight years is good for the governorship, let's impose the same time on these two positions.

Congress sits in intractable inaction. Every perceived personal or political affront is etched into the memories of our representatives, spurring partisan retribution when future opportunities arise. The will of the people is sacrificed for the preservation of the party and the tenure of the person. Only by wresting control from career politicians can we infuse fresh attitudes, fresh ideas and much needed solutions into our government. We must impose term limits for members of the House and Senate.

Newspapers and TV should analyze the reforms needed to modernize the legislative and executive branches of the federal government. Here are five reforms they should look at: A constitutional amendment requiring term limits for members of Congress; a constitutional amendment limiting presidents to a single six-year term; and a rule requiring members of Congress, presidents, vice presidents, cabinet secretaries, federal judges and top policymakers to...

I was stunned by the contradictions between two recent editorials published by your newspaper. In the first ("Term limits are back," Sept. 2), you bemoaned new calls for legislative term limits in Maryland. You stated that term limits would suck the experience out of the legislature and transfer more power to the governor, staff, lobbyists and political parties. You called it a "formula for machine politics. " You then declared that frustrated voters could overcome the lock entrenched politicians have on their offices by simply voting them out. In a subsequent editorial about redrawing political districts ("Drawing a line," Sept.

Clearly, the state of Maryland is controlled by three people, the governor, the Senate president and the House of Delegates speaker ("Leaders float the idea of two special sessions," April 25). While the governor is limited to two 4-year terms, the other two can apparently serve forever. I get a vote as to who is elected governor, but have no voice regarding who should run the Senate or the House. It is long overdue that we put term limits on these two positions. If eight years is good for the governorship, let's impose the same time on these two positions.

A call for legislative term limits has once again entered the political fray in Maryland. Among the more vocal proponents are state Sen. Andrew Harris, a Republican candidate for the First District congressional seat, and any number of General Assembly candidates. Although talk of term limits seemed to peak in the 1990s, its revival is hardly surprising considering the difficult economic times and the rise of populist candidates seeking to tap into voter frustration. Term limits have a certain appeal — if one's chief desire is to throw the rascals out. The problem is that term limits tend not to accomplish what its supporters are seeking.

Just stop proposing public financing of political campaigns ("Appearance of conflict," Nov. 29). It's not going to happen in this lifetime. People will not vote to have more of their paychecks taken and wasted to purchase obnoxious, overused TV ads for dysfunctional candidates. Promote a referendum on term limits. That will lessen the conflicts. Dan Griffin, Perry Hall

John Delaney, a Democratic candidate in Maryland's 6th District, is calling for 12-year term limits for members of Congress, an extended “cooling off” period before lawmakers can become lobbyists and a plan to allow some illegal immigrants to stay in the country, his campaign said Tuesday. The proposals were included in a broader platform document posted on the Potomac financier's campaign website. Though many of the ideas are short on specifics, the document represents a shift in focus toward issues after weeks in which the two most active candidates in the Democratic primary have lobbed attacks at one another.

In response to the article in the Sunpapers on March 30 concerning the call for congressional term limits ("Idea of term limits for Congress gets new wave of support), such a change in the Constitution seems highly unlikely. It was easy for Congress to vote for term limits for the president, since they were not affected. But it is virtually a certainty that today's self-serving politicians would ever seriously consider passing any sort of term limits that would effectively shorten their own careers.

John Delaney, a Democratic candidate in Maryland's 6th District, is calling for 12-year term limits for members of Congress, an extended “cooling off” period before lawmakers can become lobbyists and a plan to allow some illegal immigrants to stay in the country, his campaign said Tuesday. The proposals were included in a broader platform document posted on the Potomac financier's campaign website. Though many of the ideas are short on specifics, the document represents a shift in focus toward issues after weeks in which the two most active candidates in the Democratic primary have lobbed attacks at one another.

One of the first solutions suggested when the subject of government being out of touch with the voters comes up is term limits. By limiting the number of years in office someone can serve, so goes the logic, it is assured new people who are closer to the issues are always entering elected office and making decisions. Presumably, such well-intentioned sentiments are behind a proposed change to Harford County's charter to limit county council members to two consecutive four-year terms, the same limit imposed on the office of county executive.

Once again, the Sun is advocating public financing of Maryland political campaigns. ("Limited thinking," Jan. 18). Forget it! The taxpayer is not going to vote an increase in the already excessive amount of money taken from his hard earned paycheck to finance redundant TV ads for a government that is dysfunctional. The same editorial is against term limits for Baltimore County Council members because elected officials "will be less experienced. " What are they experienced at - corruption and rubber-stamping anything Governor Tax wants?

Just on their handling of council members' pensions alone, few legislative bodies in Maryland have shown themselves more richly in need of term limits than the Baltimore County Council. Councilman David Marks' recent announcement that he is introducing legislation that would cap council members to no more than three terms in office is completely understandable. After all, one of the attractions of term limits is to promote citizen legislators and discourage career politicians. Towson has seen its share of the latter, and that probably contributed to its excessively generous pension program for council members, one that allowed particularly lucrative arrangements for County Executive Kevin Kamenetz and former councilmen Stephen G. Samuel Moxley and Vincent J. Gardina.

A member of the Baltimore County Council wants voters to decide whether to enact term limits, but his idea doesn't have much support on the council. Perry Hall Republican David Marks plans to introduce legislation Tuesday that would limit council members to three consecutive terms starting in 2014. Only Marks and fellow Republican Todd Huff, a councilman from Lutherville, have said they would support the legislation. Democrats, who hold a majority on the panel, oppose it. Enacting term limits had been one of Marks' campaign promises when he sought the council seat in 2010.

Regarding Gov. Martin O'Malley's openness to yet another increase in the sales tax ("Sales tax increase of 1 cent?" Jan. 12), it's a good thing there are term limits. At the current rate of an additional one percentage point increase in the sales tax increase every 4-5 years, we could see a 20 percent sales tax in our lifetimes if the current administration are allowed to continue their aggressive taxing. This administration and legislature leadership should be replaced Marty Etzel, Towson

Paul West's article on term limits ("Idea of term limits for Congress gets new wave of support," March 30) was objective and non-partisan, as it should be. But such an approach ignores the central problem with the idea of term limits: They will not solve the problem of the corrosive influence of money on public policy. And that money comes primarily from lobbyists stalking the halls of power, which makes term limits nothing more than a gimmick that is easily circumvented. Politicians will gladly step down after their term is up so they can get hired as lobbyists and have as much or even more influence than they did while in office.

Having endured two last-weekend debate assaults on his self-styled citizen candidacy, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney looks to today's Republican presidential primary in New Hampshire to bolster his front-runner status. But win or lose, he is likely not to have completed selling himself to the party faithful on that basis. The sparring he encountered with the five other candidates in Saturday night's ABC News debate, and the harder hammering of Sunday morning's NBC News encounter, focused tellingly on Mr. Romney's insistence that he is foremost a businessman, not a politician.