Tom Steyer, one of the billionaires running for President, just went off the air again. His pitch: \u201cI\u2019m going to make the Washington Establishment uncomfortable with two words: \u2018term limits\u2019\u201d. He then goes onto extoll the virtues of limiting Congressional terms, saying that will help end the \u201ccorruption\u201d of our government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of course Tom Steyer is in favor of term limits. That concept fits with the entire basis of his campaign. He believes that someone whose life experience isn\u2019t based in government and the machinations of Washington politics is the one who can fix the problems of our nation. Limiting terms match that view, and from his standpoint, there is only one Democratic Presidential candidate that fits the bill: Tom Steyer. That his approach sounds vaguely like the present President\u2019s 2016 campaign theme should be disconcerting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The concept of term limits goes all the way back to our Founding Fathers. Thomas Jefferson wrote of the virtues of the \u201cyeoman farmer\u201d; who would put down his plow and rake, and ride into the center of government to repair our national problems. After the crisis was over, the \u201cyeoman farmer\u201d would then ride off into the sunset, back to repairing fences and sowing seeds in the soil. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
That concept was also self-serving, as Jefferson, Washington, Madison and the rest left their plantations to ride off to the \u201cbig cities\u201d of Philadelphia and New York to found our nation. And while Jefferson and Washington were always worried about how their plantations were doing, the reality was that they spent most of their professional lives far away from the fields, barns, and slaves. Jefferson was a professional diplomat, Washington a professional soldier, and both were professional politicians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jefferson in particular participated in the kind of job rotation that current \u201cterm limited\u201d politician\u2019s use today. He started as a representative to the Virginia House of Delegates, and then was chosen as a Delegate to the Continental Congress. He came back to serve four years as Governor of Virginia, then went back to the Continental Congress as a Delegate and Minister after the Revolution. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jefferson then went to France as US Minister for four years. He came back to become the first Secretary of State under the new Constitution, and then Vice President. Finally, he was elected President of the United States, served two terms in the office, then went back to his home in Monticello. So from taking his first office in 1769, Jefferson was steadily employed in the government until 1809, forty years of service. Not much time for planting and the myth of the \u201cyeoman farmer\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As Jefferson\u2019s career proved, experience counts in politics and government. Apply the \u201cterm limit\u201d concept to other professions and the problems become clear. Say we \u201cterm limit\u201d surgeons. After they go through four years of college, four years of medical school, two years of internship and another two or more years of residency: should we limit surgical careers to \u2013 say \u2013 fifteen years? That way we will solve the problem of \u201cold surgeons\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of course that really doesn\u2019t make much sense. We know that skills are learned and practiced, techniques developed, and experience counts when someone is cutting into the pericardium, or the frontal lobe. There is no great \u201cvirtue\u201d in inexperience when it comes to saving lives. Do surgeons ultimately age out? Of course, but arbitrary limits aren\u2019t an effective solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If we limit the experience of those in government, then those around them who \u201cknow\u201d will become empowered. Those folks are already there: we call them lobbyists. They get a bad name for a good reason. Lobbyists represent private interests getting influence in public government, often by giving or withholding campaign financial contributions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But lobbyists often bring more than just money to the table. They also bring specific knowledge of \u201ctheir\u201d issue, knowledge that only years of experience can acquire. It shouldn\u2019t be a surprise that groups that want influence get the most knowledgeable people available to work for them. Knowledge is power when it comes to writing legislation. The less knowledge legislators have, the less ability they will have to see through the lobbyists\u2019 self-interest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Richard Neal, Congressman from Springfield, Massachusetts is a great example. Neal has been in the Congress since 1989, fully thirty years. Without a lot of fanfare he has become one of the most powerful Congressman as Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, the House Committee that deals with taxes. He\u2019s been a member of Ways and Means since 1993.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His experience matters in the complex arena of tax policy and regulations. Term limiting would remove his kind of experience from the field, leaving the only knowledge in the hands of those who most have \u201can angle,\u201d the lobbyists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n