By the way, on the subject of Dems running for governor, I got this release today from Mullins McLeod, which says in part:
In order to clamp down on politics-as-usual in the governor’s office, Mullins McLeod has made the following pledge to the people of South Carolina.
(1) No PAC Money. Corporations and special interests use PAC money to buy influence. Mullins McLeod will ban PAC money from his campaign.
(2) No Future Run for Office. Our current governor spends all his energies focused on his own political advancement. Mullins McLeod will change that by swearing to return to the private sector once his time in office is done.
(3) A Ban on Lobbying by Administration Members. When citizens volunteer to serve in office, it shouldn’t be for the future hope of making money from influence-peddling. Mullins McLeod will require senior staff members to forswear any future employment as a lobbyist while he remains in the Governor’s office.
(4) Honesty and Transparency. Our governor spends too much valuable time bickering over whether economic development and jobless numbers are correct. Mullins McLeod will cut through this impasse by bringing in outside accountants and non-government experts to produce honest figures – which will allow all sides to come together and focus on creating jobs to tackle our record high unemployment rate.
You know what? Not to criticize Mullins, but hasn’t it sort of become “politics as usual” for politicians to promise no more “politics as usual?”
And is “politics as usual” our problem? Actually, I don’t think so. I think one of our problems is that since 2002 we’ve had extremely unusual politics in the form of Gov. Mark Sanford, and it hasn’t served SC very well. He practices a sort of anti-politics, a negation of the practice of working with other human beings to try to find solutions to common problems.
Today at my Rotary meeting, Joel Lourie spoke. He said a lot of things, but one of the last thing he said was this:
Unfortunately, “politics” can be a bad word.
I view politics through the eyes of my parents. They taught me that politics can be a way of bringing people together to find commonsense solutions to our problems.
And I pledge to you to continue to do that…
What we need is for the kind of politics that Joel Lourie believes in to become “politics as usual.”
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Instead of politicians lying about not seeking higher office, not running for multiple terms, and being open and “transparent”, why don’t they demonstrate their sincerity by passing term limits?
Why don’t they do something about outlawing PAC money while they are in the legislature, instead of promising to do it if they get a higher office?
Why don’t they pass laws forbidding any legislator from being a lobbyist for 5 years after leaving office?
“It turns out that by backing the powerful state legislature into a corner—do what I want or lose the money—Sanford believes that he can finally reach the promised land; without the $700 million, his thinking goes, the House and Senate will have no choice but to create the leaner, meaner state government he’s always dreamed of—even though he admits that “in the near term, clearly South Carolina wouldn’t be better off.” It’s Goldwater’s root-canal economics (pain today, efficiency tomorrow) as an elaborate game of chicken.”
http://www.newsweek.com/id/195088
Sorry to go off-topic, but there’s a don’t-miss article about Sanford in the latest issue of Newsweek. They pretty much nail the guy.
We already have term limits any time we want them–it’s called voting the person out of office. I, for one, do not wish to limit the terms of the good politicians. The learning curve is quite steep, and the reason we often get “politics as usual” is because politics as usual is not such a bad thing. Moving slowly and deliberatively, considering all interests, these are not bad things.
We already have term limits any time we want them–it’s called voting the person out of office. I, for one, do not wish to limit the terms of the good politicians. The learning curve is quite steep, and the reason we often get “politics as usual” is because politics as usual is not such a bad thing. Moving slowly and deliberatively, considering all interests, these are not bad things.
What makes you think that “voting the person out of office” is an effective method of “term limits?”
Not too long ago, US Congress had approval ratings in the ‘teens. The ‘teens! And only 23 or so out of 435 actually lost their seats!
What percentage of voters do you believe could actually name which bills their congressman or woman voted for or against — or even name what policies they support?
And that’s at the federal level! How many voters do you think could even name their state congressman or woman, much less hold them accountable for anything?
I like the, “Moving slowly and deliberatively, considering all interests, these are not bad things.” in particular. Only problem is that even when politicians do these two things, they still get it wrong. Maybe it is an indication of a severe mental condition called “terminal stupid” and they can’t move any faster. South Carolina is a prime example. Look at our education numbers if you want proof.
But, when they try to move at a faster speed, it gets even worse.
Starting in 2007, nationally, we have the other side of the coin, “Moving fast and without deliberatively considering all interests. See how well this is serving the American taxpayer.
The national debt in 1990 was $2.68 trillion and grew to $8.45 trillion in 2007. An average growth of $339.4 billion annually. From 2007 to 2009, the debt increased to $12.86 trillion. An increase of $4.41 trillion or an average of $2.205 trillion per year. Now, projections from 2009 through 2012 are at $16.17 trillon or another increase of $3.31 trillion or an average of $1.1 trillion per year. Look at that, the growth will be cut in half for those three years. Talk about progress. A record to run on for re-election. You betcha!
Slow and deliberatively didn’t work with the Bush administration when Republicans were in power did it? So the voters decided to show their displeasure and we received what we asked for, someone who would make decisions in a hurry.
Tell me again how well this is working out? Since 2007 when Democrats took control of congress and in 2009 took complete control of Washington, our national debt has increased in actual numbers by $4.41 trillion and are projecting another $3.31 by 2012.
Republicans forgot who they were and let power corrupt their ideals, they became arrogant and plain stupid, forgetting the people they were there to represent. In something akin to a tsunami, they were swept unceremoniously from power in TWO short years after winning additional seats in 2004. How damn stupid can you get?
Well, apparently the answer to that question is easy to answer. We now have a super majority of Democrats running the country. If you are mathmatically challenged, look at the numbers above. Now you know there are no limits to stupidity and as each day passes, they try to expand the “no limits” to “infinity”.
Stop, take a deep breath, look around you and say hello to the USSA. And not one round of ammunition was fired in the process.
Also, kbfenner, only one in three in this country can even name the three branches of government. This is your source for term limits? What a joke.
Further, your idea that “the learning curve is quite steep” and therefore it is a good thing we don’t have term limits is, depending on the reality of such a statement, either very troubling or complete bullshit.
If the learning curve is truly so steep that one individual is preferable over another not by virtue of having better ideas but because of his knowledge of a complex system of arbitrary rules and customs, then this democracy is in horrible, horrible shape. You’re effectively saying that we need a ruling class to run this country.
But, thankfully, maybe that “learning curve” is not quite so steep as you’d like to think it is. I am not sure if you are aware of this, but we just had a man spend only 2 years in federal office before deciding to run for the highest office in the land. And he won. And believe it or not, most people in this country think he’s doing a good job.
There’s no good reason we shouldn’t have term limits in this country.