Mark Leibovich of the New York Times has written a pretty scathing book about Washington, DC, called This Town: Two Parties and a Funeral-Plus, Plenty of Valet Parking!-in America’s Gilded Capital. It is a pretty accurate portrayal of the Washington, DC more and more Americans have come to hold in contempt.

It is a city where the new aristocrats move and do not want to leave. It is a town in need of an enema.

Consider the Republicans in the United States Senate up for re-election in 2014. Below is a chart I have prepared of their tenure in DC (in some cases the House plus the Senate):


Name

State

Tenure in DC

Thad Cochran

MS

41

Pat Roberts

KS

33

Mitch McConnell

KY

29

Hill staffer from 1967-1978, then in gov’t in KY.

James Inhofe

OK

27

Lindsey Graham

SC

21

Saxby Chambliss

GA

20

Jeff Sessions

AL

17

Susan Collins

ME

17

Hill staffer from 1975-1987, then in gov’t in ME.

Michael Enzi

WY

17

Lamar Alexander

TN

12

Hill staffer/Nixon aide, then TN-Gov, then Bush Education Sec.

John Cornyn

TX

12

James Risch

ID

5

Mike Johanns

NE

5

Jeff Chiesa

NJ

1

Thad Cochran has been there more than four decades and Pat Roberts three. Mitch McConnell has been in Washington, DC since I was in fifth grade. Are they really the best we can do? Really? Some of them, as you can see by the links, have been in office a very long time and, somehow like Harry Reid on a civil servant’s salary, have done quite well.

Do you really believe that should Thad Cochran or Mitch McConnell or Lindsey Graham lose their primaries that they would return to their home states? Their home state is Washington, D.C. They are creatures of the city. Old congressman don’t go to their home states, they go to K Street.

The Republican Party has grown stagnant. Our leaders pursue old ideas unable to repackage them for the twenty-first century. They have grown comfortable with Washington’s paternalism and have become convinced the problem is Democrats in charge and not government itself. They talk of small government, but they often do not practice what they preach.

There is no reason we should be satisfied with people who remain in office for forty years. We should be willing to support the term limits one supports by finding and supporting primary challengers. Conservatives in 2014 should embrace a pretty simple rule:

Support credible primary challengers against entrenched, long tenured Republicans.

Even if the challengers lose, the incumbents need to understand they have to start putting points on the board instead of just expecting our support because of the “R” next to their name. They have coasted too long.

http://www.redstate.com/2013/07/17/this-town-needs-an-enema/

It would be almost impossible to get term limits in Washington but it's exactly what we need.

Mark Levin has been on this term limit thing lately. Apparently up until 100 years ago, most elected officials served a term or two and moved on. Oddly enough, 100 years ago is about the time the Progressive movement got started sending our country into the toilet.

Thats all they should get, 2 years, no re-elections..and out.

Quote: Just Ducky wrote in post #3

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Thats all they should get, 2 years, no re-elections..and out.

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They don't call D.C. the District of Corruption for nothing!

Quote: conservgramma wrote in post #5

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They don't call D.C. the District of Corruption for nothing!

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Quote: Olivia wrote in post #6

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Quote: conservgramma wrote in post #5

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They don't call D.C. the District of Corruption for nothing!

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Hey, I really like that name. District of Corruption! How fitting...

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