(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . On removing Senators and term limits [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-09-01 As we watch, Mitch McConnell freeze in the camera’s harsh glare like a deer in the headlights, and as Democrats continue to fret at the fact that Dianne Feinstein will not resign, it occurs to me that this is a wonderful example of exactly what we have to look forward to should the conservatives enact term limit legislation. We see Dianne Feinstein, who is mentally and physically unable to continue to perform her job, yet still manages to participate in all votes, committee meetings, and general daily business of the Senate. Mitch McConnell currently has been exhibiting seizure-like deficits, medical issues, and falls. While Mitch appears, when not frozen in place enjoying whatever dissociative trip he’s taking, to still retain his reasoning ability, what will happen when that is gone? The situation in the Kentucky Senator’s office will revert to the same situation that we have with Senator Feinstein, with key staff making all the decisions. How this relates as an example to what we will experience should term limit legislation be enacted is that you will have a rotating cast of political flunkies elected into office who are eager to make sure their nest is well-feathered before they leave the “people’s service” after 8 or 12 years, with the power and decision-making being held behind the scenes by unknown, unelected, unaccountable powerbrokers. How does a new Senator or Representative know how to do their job on day one after inauguration? The simple answer is they don’t. It takes years to understand how the Halls of Power actually work, and without the office holder having that knowledge it will fall to the unelected staff to maintain that institutional knowledge so that any work at all can get done. Do we know who is advising Dianne Feinstein to make the decisions that she makes? In the current situation where term limits do not exist, some of those people may be hired by Gavin after the next election, but the incoming Senator will have the knowledge of his compatriot Alex Padilla, along with the rest of his caucus to assist him in getting up to speed quickly. In a term-limit situation, all of those people making Diane Feinstein's decisions will remain there for the next Senator that comes into office, and make the exact same decisions for the next Senator. With 1/3 of the Senate turning over every six years, there just won’t be the time for long-term institutional knowledge to form with the elected officials and the caucus at large as it currently is, it will only reside in those that remain from administration to administration, in the “civil servants”. Congressional and Senate offices will become centers of power themselves with the Senator having no real job other than fundraising and preparing for private life once they are termed out. The excellent diary by Merlin196360 shows that this is how it always ends up when the Senator is powerless, as they would be under term limits: “just like with Republican senator Strom Thurmond, her (Diane Feinstein) staff is running the show. And they simply do not want to find other work. Thurman staff did the exact same thing. It was well known in South Carolina. The voters were really electing Thurman staff with Thurman being the front.“ The intricacies of being a United States representative, while having to spend more than half your time fundraising, are impossible for one person to learn rapidly enough to become functional in the position. New Senators and Representatives will rely on their staff, much the same way that Feinstein currently relies on hers and Thurmond relied on his, to make all the real decisions for them, while they spend their time fundraising and preparing for the life once they are term limited out. Making sure to sell their votes to the correct people in order to make maximize their income when they are no longer able to run for office. Final note: I understand the problems and issues that the term limits are supposed to address. I applaud them, I understand them, I know that those issues need to be fixed. However, a blanket term limit proposal will do nothing but push power to the next level of unelected administrators, it will not solve the problem. The Law of Unintended Consequences will make sure that other things that I haven’t even thought of will be far worse than any issues caused by a lack of term limits. Age limits are a completely different story... [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/9/1/2190934/-On-removing-Senators-and-term-limits Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/