LETTERS: It’s time for term limits in Congress

To the editor:

We have a serious problem with our elected government officials — you know, those men and women who swore to uphold the laws of the country, to get things done and to be good stewards of our money. By any measure, they have failed miserably.

Each party blames the other for doing nothing, and President Barack Obama is spring-loaded to blame his predecessor, George W. Bush, or the Republicans, or both. All this is just to gin up their voting base, so that they can all be re-elected. This is not how our founding fathers designed our country to operate. They put in place three equal branches of government so that it would be more difficult for one branch to do something not allowed by the Constitution without a correction by one of the other two branches.

Sadly, this has not happened with this Congress. And with them leaving town for a five-week recess, nothing will be done. Let’s be honest about this vacation. Senators and representatives will spend most of this time fundraising, since being re-elected is highest on their list of priorities.

Our founders did not intend for Congress to become a lifetime job. They believed that honorable people would stop their normal lives and serve in our government for two to four years, or in the case of the Senate, six years, then return to their homes. The founders would be appalled to learn that we have many in Congress who have been there more than 30 years.

So maybe it’s time for term limits. By taking away a career in public office, we would recover control of those we elect. Without the possibility of long-term service, these politicians would be more likely to complete the jobs we sent them to do.

I suggest no more than six terms in the House and two terms in the Senate (12 years total, in either case). The question then becomes: How in the world will we force Congress to enact it? The answer: Put it on the ballot and let we, the people, decide.

BILL WILDERMAN

LAS VEGAS

Heck on immigration

To the editor:

Rep. Joe Heck says he is still opposed to President Barack Obama bypassing Congress and acting alone to override and rewrite existing laws. However, in the case of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals fiat handed down by the president two years ago, Rep. Heck just voted against freezing this unlawful executive action from any extension (“Heck, Amodei break from party on deportation vote,” Aug. 1 Review-Journal).

You cannot oppose the old-world doctrine of the Divine Right of Kings and at the same time support an unconstitutional administrative edict handed down by this imperial president. You cannot oppose granting amnesty, legal status and U.S. citizenship to unauthorized aliens and at the same time support the open-ended presidential DREAM Act decree.

LARRY BROWN

NORTH LAS VEGAS

Political clutter

To the editor:

The primary election is long over, but the ugly reminder of said election litters nearly every street corner in the valley. Why are these ugly signs asking us for political support still lingering after so many weeks have past?

In Ohio, these signs must be down and out of the sight a week after the election. If they are not removed, a team of people does it and sends the offending candidate a bill for doing so. In Las Vegas, it is apparently OK to leave this ugliness for months and months. I am curious why the signs linger. Do these people have no pride in our landscape?

DAVID G. LAWRENCE

LAS VEGAS