Much has been written about how the Republicans that swept into office in 1994 eventually became corrupted by the very system of power in D.C. that they once despised and promised to change. Instead, idealistic young lawmakers began to fulfill the famed quote of Lord Acton when he said that, “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” The first true sign of the selling-out came when more and more members that had pledge to fight for term-limits decided that they would break their promise. Member after member would tell their constituents that they were young and naïve when they made that solemn pledge and that with seniority came wisdom and experience. Sadly, many of these pledge breakers were reelected as the taxpayer pork they brought home outweighed the breaking of their word. Is it any wonder however that Congress today has the lowest approval rating of all time? Sadly, the problem cannot fix itself as most voters highly dislike congress, but approve of their own personal representative and senators.

Recently the disgraced former congressman Mark Foley gave an interview to the AP. The most revealing quote was not about his lurid emails to underage pages, his homosexuality, or his alleged alcoholism. No, the most revealing quote was this gem buried towards the end of the story – “In public life, you dream of the day they’ll name a hospital after you, or a bridge or a post office,” Foley said.” There you have it, a living, breathing example of political egotism run amok. Does anyone doubt that far too many of our “public servants” harbor the same dreams as Foley? It’s ironic that Foley first came to congress in 1994 on the wave of the Gingrich revolution and resigned just before the GOP was bounced out of the majority for the first time in twelve years.

There can be no doubt at this point that term-limits must be implemented if we ever expect true reform. This spans both parties and all regions of the nation. To deny it is to make excuses for a failed system. When a convicted senator is nearly reelected in Alaska, when an indicted congressman from New Orleans has literally been caught with secret cash bribes in his freezer, and when the public no longer bats an eye at political corruption, then it is time for drastic change. How can anyone excuse members serving in the House and Senate for over 40 and 50 years while using their seniority to spend taxpayer dollars on pork projects that buy off the voters? Does anyone truly think it is good for our nation to continually reelected members that feed off the federal carcass at the expense of the nation?

The classic case for term limits is our United States military. In all branches members never serve in one unit or assignment for more than four years. Even the Commandant of the Marine Corps serves for only one four-year tour and then retires. This prevents cronyism and serves to ensure that no one from the highest general to the most junior private becomes lax or complacent in his or her post. Can the same be said of Congress today? Does anyone believe that Sen. Robert Byrd has not grown out of touch and entitled since serving in the Senate since 1958? Is it a good idea that Rep. John Dingell has been in the same congressional seat since 1955? Do we really want people in office like Sen. Ted Stevens that have an airport named after them and view the budget as their personal playground? Did we like having Sen. Strom Thurmond stay in the senate until he turned 100 and was barely able to function? The military’s use of term-limits has helped to provide us with the finest fighting force known to history. Can we say our Congress is the finest legislative body ever? Did our Founding Fathers visualize a Congress full of members that spend literally over half of their lives in office? No wonder we have elected officials like Mark Foley that dream of having their names on post offices and bridges. It should be no surprise that former members such as Rep. Duke Cunningham and Rep. Bob Ney are serving time in prison for taking bribes. It’s a culture of corruption in dire need of a cure.

The harsh reality is that 97% of all members of congress are reelected each year. The advantages of incumbency protect them from virtually all challengers. In an age of increased technology politicians have also taken the gerrymandering of districts to a new low. It is now possible to use the latest demographic and voting data to split homes and streets from once district to another, thereby allowing the politicians to chose their voters rather than the other way around. We saw an example of this last week in western Pennsylvania where “Pork King” John Murtha was reelected with 58% of the vote despite slandering our Marines and calling his voters racists and rednecks. His district as drawn in 2001 went out of its way to pack in as many friendly Murtha voters as possible. Murtha then topped that off for good measure by continuing to bring home the government bacon in the form of highly questionable earmarks out of the federal budget.

In the 1980s Murtha was caught up in the FBI sting operation known as Abscam when undercover agents posed as sheiks seeking favors from the government. One senator and five congressmen later resigned from office because of it, but somehow Murtha hung on. His words from the covert video recording linger on as well however. He boldly told the “sheiks”, “I want to deal with you guys awhile before I make any transactions at all, period…. After we’ve done some business, well, then I might change my mind..I’m going to tell you this. If anybody can do it — I’m not B.S.-ing you fellows — I can get it done my way.” he boasted. “There’s no question about it.”

Yes, we need term limits now – no question about it.