http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_members_of_the_United_States_Congress_by_longevity_of_service
Citizens born after they were first elected can have grandchildren in that amount of time.
Likewise, more than a dozen Supreme Court Justices have been in office more than thirty years, with William O. Douglas lasting more than 36! Way, way too long.
Conversely, Presidents (i.e. POTUS) are only elected twice before term limits kick in. This means that for half the time they are in office, they are unaccountable directly to voters. HALF! Think back on the presidencies of Bush, Clinton, Reagan, and Nixon. When they at their worst? Last term. Because they didn't have to worry about being reelected.
So, I propose that, by amending the Constitution, all National Elected Offices be restricted (or in the case of POTUS, extended) to exactly 12 years concurrent. This would ensure much, much more turnover in Congress and the Supreme Court (thereby making them more representational and accountable). Ideally I'd like the Chief Justice to be an elected office as well (as the tie-breaker); the other 8 (12?) Justices would be still appointed for 12 years at a time, but there should be at least some direct representation by the people.
The President would also be more accountable, since we would have two chances to throw him/her out of office instead of just one. They'd only be directly unaccountable for a third of the time, instead of half. I also propose decoupling and staggering the Vice-Presidential election so that if the POTUS is screwing up, we can elect his main rival to VP.
So here's what my election cycle would look like (assuming term limits for all):
Year 00: New POTUS, all new House of Representatives, and 1st third of the Senate up for election.
Year 02: New Vice-President, New Chief Justice, the House, and 2nd third of the Senate.
Year 04: POTUS, the House, last third of the Senate.
Year 06: VP, Chief Justice, the House, and 1st/3rds Senate (last election for them)
Year 08: POTUS (last election), the House, 2nd/3rds Senate (last election for them).
Year 10: VP (last) & Chief Justice (last), the House (last election for '00 class), last 3rd Senate (last).
Year 12: New POTUS, new House and new 1/3 Senate (all from '00 election term limited).
Year 14: New VP, New Chief Justice, House, new 2nd third of the Senate.
Year 16: POTUS, House, new last third of the Senate.
And so on.
This amendment (12 years for all) would make the government more representative, dynamic, and, oddly, more contiguous because the VP and POTUS change power at different times. Seniority as a perk would be all-but-gone, and voters would be more inclined to send the best (or at least the most representative) officials to create laws respecting the will of the people.
Of course, I'd also like all laws to expire after 12 years as well...
