Submitted by Todd Zimmerman, Chairman of the Schuylkill County Democratic Committee
Power Corrupts. I generally believe that when people run for government, they want to bring about positive change. However, when they are involved too long, the lines get blurred. Billionaire donors give massive amounts of money to both parties. Elon Musk gained a lot of access to the government and obtains billions in government contracts. The Trump family is openly enriching themselves daily. Many Congressional leaders become lobbyists, which fuels more spending. Former New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez is serving his corruption sentence at a federal prison in Schuylkill County. So how do we begin to end this corruption?
David Hogg was recently removed as a DNC Vice-Chair. He called for the primarying of long serving lawmakers so a newer generation could have a voice and bring about reforms. I agree with his principle, but not his tactics. The goal of the DNC is to elect and re-elect lawmakers, so he violated its rules. Instead, it would be better to focus on a constitutional amendment with term and age limits.
To change the Constitution, you need two-thirds of each branch of Congress and three-fourths of the states to ratify the new amendment. Therefore, this could be complicated to have people to agree on a specific number for term limits. So let’s start a conversation.
For Article 1, Section 2, add to paragraph 2. A Representative can serve a maximum of ten (10) two-year terms and cannot run for election after the age of 75.
For Section 3, the Senate. A Senator can serve a maximum of four (4) six-year terms, and cannot run for election after the age of 75.
I know many will think that possibly serving twenty or twenty-four years is too long, but we want more working-class people to enter government. A teacher would have to resign their position and if they only served one two-year term, it would be difficult to be rehired in their former position. Again, let’s start a conversation.
While I am the Chairman of the Schuylkill County Democratic Committee, this is my own personal position and does not reflect that of our party. I would like to have a dialogue with like-minded Republicans, Independents, and Democrats to begin what will be a long process. If interested, go to www.schuylkilldems.com and click on contact. I would like to host an in-person event to start a conversation to change the National and Pennsylvania Constitutions.