Beware of ballot measures bearing term limits

According to a new study, term limits aren't the rosy, neat solution that their proponents want us to believe.

Oregonian:

The report, released Tuesday, was the result of a three-year study by the National Conference of State Legislatures, the Council on State Governments, the State Legislative Leaders Foundation and a group of political scientists. It concluded that term limits "have not led to a new breed of diverse, citizen legislators," as proponents predicted, and have not increased the number of women and minority state lawmakers.

"Term limits have done more to limit rather than enhance the effectiveness of the legislative branch," said Karl Kurtz, director of state services at NCSL. Kurtz said that by limiting the experience of state lawmakers and legislative leaders "term limits have weakened the legislative branch in relation to executive power."

Now if you're a cynical, politically grouchy person (like I tend to be), you'd be thinking that the jerks who are pushing term limits in our faces are lying on purpose. They know it weakens the legislative branch and that's exactly what they want.

The agenda for this right wing claptrap is to weaken government in favor of business interests. I'll have more on that in posts to come regarding term limits.

But these clap-trap purveyors won't tell voters that. They shine it up with piles of bovine feces to make it sound like its all about citizen legislators a la Mr. Smith Goes To Washington.

As if we're supposed to buy into the idea that the average person can give up their job and go to Salem every other year for a short stint be able to unravel what goes on down there.