12-year term limits for National Office

People stay in office way too long. Over a hundred members have served for more than thirty-five years, forty members of Congress have served at least FORTY YEARS in their seats, with half a dozen over FIFTY years.

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...

More National Elections

For all the power the Federal Government has, there really is only one national office elected nation-wide, and that is only once every four years. That office is the President (with the VP as a package deal). Not nearly enough input from the voters, in my opinion.

Therefore I suggest that the office of the Vice-President be voted for separately, and every TWO years. So, instead of just voting for your congressmen (or not) on off years, a national vote for VP can be a national referendum on the party in power. Plus, it would add power to the office as a real heir-apparent, next-in-line, president-in-training. And it would be hilarious to split tickets.

The third national office (after POTUS and VP) would occur every four years, but staggered two years off from the POTUS. That office should be the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Yes, really. But, like the VP, he/she would only be allowed to vote in the case of a tie. Now at the moment there are 8 normal Justices plus the Chief, but 5/4 votes happen all the time. I also propose bumping up that number to 12 Justices plus the Chief Justice, making him the tie-breaker less likely. Could still work either way. Anyway, there are just so many issue voters (Abortion, 2nd amendment, gay marriage, etc) and all that weight is thrown behind Presidential selection, for good or ill, and his potential appointments to the court. Voters should be more directly involved in the process.

So, we have the President as the head of the Executive Branch, the VP as the head of the Senate and ostensibly the Legislative Branch, and the Chief Justice as the head of the Judicial Branch. And 2/3 elected every election year. These tweaks would make the national government much more representative and subject to the will of the American people. We are supposed to be a democratic republic, after all.