The Framers of our Constitution were Smart People. Not only were they smart but they were also Time Smart. By Time Smart I mean they could look into the future and see the results of what they had Framed.
They foresaw that membership in our Congress should be Term Limited. They saw that, if members stayed in Congress for decades, that longevity could result in a Congressional Approval ratings of 9%.
The framers believed members would serve short stints before returning to private life to be governed by their own legislative handiwork.
That’s why the House was set up to serve only 2 year terms. This arrangement meant the Representatives would return to the Real World before they learned too much about Lying, Cheating and Stealing.
That’s also why the Senate was set up to serve 6 year terms. The Senator’s 4 extra years would lend stability to the Congress but they would have to return to the Real World before they would be able to do too much damage with their newly acquired Lying, Cheating and Stealing Skills.
Yes, going back to be governed by their own legislative handiwork was very important. If later they ever got elected for a return term in Congress they would remember the problems generated by their own legislative misdeeds. Through experience they would be more cognizant of the effects legislation has on the Folks Back Home because they had actually been a Folk and were soon going to be a Folk again.
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Time has proven that we have not listened to our Smart Framers. Members of our Congress come to Washington, D.C. and end up staying for Decades. I found a chart (below) entitled, “List of Members of the United States Congress by Longevity of Service”. Here are a few nuggets of interest from that chart...
- 9 members of Congress have served over 50 years.
- 56 members of Congress have served 40 years or more.
- 224 members of Congress have served 30 years or more.
- Of top 50 longest serving only 5 left office because they
had been defeated for re-election...
>The rest either died in office or resigned and then tried to find their way back to the place where the Folks Back Home they were always talking about lived.
>Some of them ended up in the wrong States (GPS Systems in their cars has greatly reduced the number of Wandering Congressmen we have seen in recent years).
>Some of them were so daunted about the task of remembering where they were from they just stayed in D.C. area and faded away.
Would I kid u?
Smartfella
Lagniappe: If you wanna see the chart for yourself, click below... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_members_of_the_United_States_Congress_by_longevity_of_service
