Limits for all elected officials. Termresident already has limits. Your governors, senators, mayors, city council, dog catcher, tax collector. Are you in favor of term limits, yes or no . Here are the numbers. Host you can also reach out to us by social media. Host i want to show you some of the numbers from the recently released gallup poll. They ask americans support for establishing term limits for federal lawmakers. Suppose on election day you could vote for key issues as well as candidates. Or againstote for the number of Terms Congress and senate can serve . Nationally among adults those voting for term limits are in the 75 range. Those who say they would vote against term limits, 21 . Those who had no opinion, 5 . Breaking it down among political parties, republicans, those voting for, who say they would vote for term limits, 82 of republicans questioned in this gallup poll, 82 say they would vote for term limits. 15 say they would vote against. 3 say they have no opinion. Independence, 79 say they would vote for term limits. 17 say they would vote against. 4 say they have no opinion. And among democrats, 65 say that they would vote for term limits. 29 say they would vote against. 5 say they have no opinion. Again, if you have an opinion and youd like to share it with our cspan audience and the rest of the country, the numbers, 2025853880 for democrats. 2025853818 for republicans. And independence, 2025853882. Our first call comes from joe in arlington, texas. Our line for republicans. Joe, in if favor or opposed to term limits for e rented officials . Elected officials. Caller im in favor of it. When our system was first set up by the founding fathers, they imagined or foresaw businessmen and leaders in the Community Coming up to washington for maybe one term, two terms at the most, then going back to their districts and becoming businessmen again. Somebody else would follow him in. I dont think they ever foresaw a lot of the people becoming career politicians, living up there for 30, 40 years. I think we need to go back to the system where we have a complete turnover, over and over again, every one to two terms, and let other people get up fresh ideas, fresh attitudes. I think you lose a lot of the gridlock. Host you still with me . Caller yes. Host the president is limit to two terms. What would limit senators and congressmen . Caller well, senators, i would say two terms because theyre up there for six years, or four years. And the congressmen, say, no more than four. Host all right. Joe, in if arlington, texas. Thanks for your call. Were moving on to mark in brighton, massachusetts for independence. Good morning. Caller good morning. Absolutely in favor. They would be i think p t would slow down the lobbying activity. Thats my concern, the lobbyists learn how to control the funding, really has a huge impact on policy. So i think that would be would definitely slow it down. They would have to rework, basically buying the politicians, every two or three terms which would slow down the effect and even the odds with people who dont have all the money and all the influence and all the power. So it would definitely slow that process down. I would also expand it out to the bureaucracy. You have a lot of people who are in the bureaucracy in a lot of these agencies that have been there for 20, 30, 40 years. Theyre completely, you know, entrenched. So i would extend it even out to having some revolving part of some of the bureaucracy that runs the country behind the scenes. As well as the politicians. Host mark from brighton, massachusetts, brings up lobbyists. We have this item by Rich Robinson we got online. It says term limits help lobbyists at the expense of good government. He writes voters love term limits for politicians bu they shouldnt. The notion Public Service should be held only for utilitarian purposes for a short period of time and that these limits create better government is misguided and fundamentally flawed. The proof can be seen locally in the current mire that represents our Public Policy this is a changed opinion. Once an advocate for this type of reform, in quotes, the effective term limits have been so devastating at every level of government that it should be relegated to the trash heap of history. Well get back to that in a few seconds. Were going to raymond in victoria, texas, in our line for democrats. In favor or opposed to term limits for elected officials . Caller ill be in favor of term limits definitely. Host why is that . Caller the main reason is i think with most politicians, they get entrenched in their personal beliefs. They may not publicly admit it, but we are all human. And i understand the inner workings of our minds. And a lot of times we get entrenched. And whats the difference between me as a lay person verse a politician as far as Human Behavior is concerned. So im in favor of term limits, definitely. Host next up, suzanne in summerset, massachusetts, for republicans. Youre on washington journal. Go ahead. Caller yes. Good morning. Its unusual for democrats and republicans to agree on something. But i think that most people are in agreement that term limits are necessary. In support of the caller just prior to me, i think that people will become entrenched in their own personal beliefs. I think after a long period of time, they forget that they are supposedly representing their constituents. They begin to represent themselves. I think thats not a good thing. And i do believe that maybe two to three terms would be, oh utmost for both congressmen and senators. I know once we had a president that got to a third term. That would have been, i believe, president eisenhower. And there has been some talk of elongating the president ial term to a third term. I think that would be a grave mistake as well. Host why is that . Caller again, because instead of allowing a change, we are stuck. He did not win the election by a landslide. The peoples vote, the Electoral College is a very different representation, i believe, than if you look at the numbers of the people voting. Therefore you have to understand that, yes, he did win, but what about the other 48 or 49 of america . We deserve to have our beliefs represented after a period of time. I think to allow a third term would be a mistake. Host more from an item that we got online by Rich Robinson, a political consultant in silicon valley, out in california. He writes that term limits came about as recognition that jerry manneddering by the legislature virtually ensured lifetime jobs of elected officials. The recent reform that provided an independent commission to redraw lines without any recognition of Party Affiliation has solved that problem. In essence, term limits in a free and Fair Election have always been an option for voters. We should return that power to them especially in california. Locally, in silicon valley, we should repeal all term limits and put our elected officials back in charge of the bureaucrats who rue lienity shine them on, as well as the lobbyists who potentially con whose potentially conflicted experience expertise, rather, has become a Necessary Evil in short, term limits is a failed experiment proving not all ideas regarding the government reform are good ideas. Are you in favor or opposed to term limits for members of congress or people elected locally . The next call comes from bryan in Salt Lake City on our line for independence. Bryan, go ahead. Caller do you guys ever see distinguished gentleman with eddie murphy where he just runs around, hes a con artist, and here he is, its all legit in washington. The lobbyists are tearing up our country, and theyre just spending all of our money. And why ha washington got some f the richest right there in washington, d. C. And the state department, you got to clean house on that. You get rid of the lobbyists and the state Department Needs cleaned out. Host on to edward in johnstown, pennsylvania, for democrats. Go ahead. Caller hello. Good morning. Thanks for cspan. Host john, are you sorry. Edward, in favor or opposed to term limits . Caller im in favor of the people voting them out after one or two terms. This 32 years and 36 and 40 years in the senate and the house, its ridiculous. A good example of that is trent lott. I watched him this morning on fox news. Hes 70 years old, and he says he just went back to work. With, he retired from the senate early to avoid a law that said he couldnt go join a lobbying firm until five years after his term expired. Well, he quit early just to avoid that law. So now hes out there, he says 70 years old, and he just went back to work and hes going to work. Host we got this from cnn politics, got this online. Gop senators push for term limits is the headline. A handful of republican senators have proposed a constitutional amendment to limit how long a person may serve in congress. Currently there are no term limits for federal lawmakers. But senator jim demint and several of his colleagues advocating service in the senate be limited to 12 years while lawmakers would only be allowed to serve six years in the house. This is an effort that was put forth two years ago. Americans, they say, no real change in washington will never half until we end the era of permanent politicians, demint said in a Statement Released by his office. As long as members have the chance to spend their lives in washington, their interests will will always skew towards spending taxpayer dollars to buy off special interests covering over corruption in bureaucracy, fundraising, Relationship Building among lobbyists, and trading favors for pork. In short, amassing their own power. The thoughts of senator jim demint from two years ago. Senator demint has retired from the senate and is now running the Heritage Foundation here in washington, d. C. Tom in florida on our line for republicans. Youre in favor or opposed to term limits . Caller im opposed to it, robb. It just seems the longer these guys stay in office, the more selfempowered they get for their own thoughts and the way things work. These guys go in and theyre ok in the beginning, but when they leave, theyre very, very, very rich men. Theyre very privy to whats going on in the country, as far as government contracts and everything, and they get to invest their money in a certain way. Harry reid was worth 300,000 when he first went into the senate, and today hes one of the richest men in the senate. How does that happen . Know . So im really opposed. These guys spend any more than eight years in there. Host all right. Homestead, florida on the line for independence. Kevin, youre on washington journal. Caller good morning. Thanks for taking my call. Host sure. Youre in favor of term limits for elected officials or opposed to it . Caller i am opposed to term limits. Host why is that . Caller back in the 1980s i did an internship in the house of representatives and what i witnessed was a whole group o of i guess you would call bureaucrats underneath the elected officials. And they just bounce from representative to representative to representative, senator, and if we get rid of the elected official, i think that the whole congress, congressional system, will be won by these bureaucrats, the faceless, nameless bureaucrats that just jump from representative to representative. There are so many issues that are that congress has to face that its impossible for them to know all of the details, so theyre going to rely more and more on people who are fulltime, lifelong bureaucrats within the system. Host thank you very much for your call. Weighing in on social media weve got sam who says we cant get rid of them due to gerry manneddering of districts. All of them need to go. Also on twitter this morning, we have host back to the phones. Lee in las vegas on our line for democrats. Youre on the washington journal. Go ahead. Caller id just like to stress that weve got too many politician that are career politicians. And i just think its time to end all of that. Thats about all i have to say. Host how long would you make those terms for, lee . Caller maybe one term or two terms. No more than two terms. Host ok. Twoyear terms, fouryear terms . Caller yes. Host which . Two year or fouryear . Caller for the senate, one term and for the representatives, two terms. Host ok. Weve got this item, this announcement, from senator pat touhmes office, republican of pennsylvania. He announced wednesday, january 23, that he will reintroduce the legislation with david vitter. Their legislation would create a constitutional amendment that limits senators and congressmen to three terms in the u. S. House of representatives and two terms in the u. S. Senate. Congress should not be a body of career politicians who have forgotten why they were sent to washington in the first place, senator toomey said. We are here to do the peoples work to solve the problems we face and to leave to our children a stronger, safer, more prosperous nation. I kept my promise to serve just three terms in the house of representatives. I am pleased to cosponsor a constitutional amendment to enact term limits for both the u. S. House of representatives and the u. S. Senate. And i look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to see this through. Not allowing individuals to remain in office for an eternity is an important step that we need to take to restore confidence in congress, said senator vitter. Call it potomac fever or what youd like, but no but the longer some folks are in washington, the more taxpayer money they want to spend. Sponsors of the legislation include senators kelly ayot of New Hampshire sorry, senator tom coburn of oklahoma, senator cruz of texas, and senator ron johnson of wisconsin. Back to the phones. Megan in warrenville, illinois, on our line for republicans. Youre on the washington journal. Are you in favor of or opposed limits for elected officials . Caller thank you for taking my call. I agree with the gentleman, i believe from homestead, that said who worked in this congress as a staffer, that term limits dont work because you do have the bureaucrats and staffers that then would be readying the legislature. The solution i feel is to get rid of gerrymandering. That way youre forced youre forcing the congressperson to actually run what the people a diversity of people in their district. They cant whats the word im looking for. They cant gerrymander the type of congress they want. I think if they get rid of gerrymandering the issue for term limits would disappear and these people would roll off because they would be booted out if they werent doing the peoples work. Host more of the gallup poll, the daily tracking poll, was conducted january 8 and 9. Were going to be looking at ages for people who if they were given the opportunity to vote for or against a law that would limit the number of terms in which members of congress and the u. S. Senate can serve. 18 to 29yearolds, 74 of them say they would vote for term limits. 22 , rather, say they would vote against. 4 said they had no opinion. 30 to 49, numbers pretty similar, 73 for, 22 , 5 no opinion. The older folks, 50 to 64, again, 74 77 , rather, for term limits, 19 against, and 4 no opinion. And 65 and older, the senior citizens, say 74 in this group say they would vote for term limits, 21 say they would vote against term limits, 5 say they have no opinion. Again, this is a gallup poll that was done earlier this mailbox back to the phones. Juanita on the line for independence, good ahead. Caller good morning. Host good morning. Caller if they would get rid of, like the lady said, gerrymandering, i would not be for term limits. But if they dont get rid of that, they should have term limits. Will i also think that the u. S. Supreme court should have term limits. Nobody should have a job for a lifetime. Good day. Host all right. Next up is anitra in sioux city, california, on our line for democrats. Go ahead. Caller good morning. My opinion is yes and no. Host yes and no . Caller yes. Yes and no. Host explain that for us. Caller ok. Of in a sense, when you and i have a job, and i know for a fact, if we dont perform ratings of very low, especially the congress, the lowest ive ever heard of in history, why are they still working . Why arent they just replaced . The fact that i cant keep a job if im not performing. And its because of politics. And my feelings about my trying to beat somebody out of a race or something. You know, that, to me is just so unamerican its ridiculous. Theyre just overboard with it. They really need to eliminate that mess and get those people out of there, remove them if theyre not performing. It doesnt make sense. Its ruining our lives. Its ruining our planet earth. Seriously. To robinng to move on on Staten Island in new york. For republicans. Turn down your television, ok . Caller ok. Hello . Host go ahead, turn down your television, and tell me whether or not youre in favor of term limits for elected officials. Caller yes. My name is robert, not robin. Host ok. Caller good morning. What i would like to say is the fact that im 100 disabled veteran, and id like to give you the viewpoint of the veterans as far as i was a commander for five years in the american legion. At this point i am totally disgusted as far as voting for someone in any spot whether it be congress whether it be senator, whether it be for president. Because today everything is about the big buck. Whoever has the most money to run with, they usually get themselves into office. I can give you a typical example of the country doesnt i know. And by the way, i love cspan. I think you guys are great. Host a quick example. Caller we have mayor bloomberg actually changed the law from two terms to three terms. He was a democrat. He was a republican. He was an independent. He changed himself all around because hes a multibillionaire, was able to change the law to three terms. And after he change it had to three terms changed it to three terms and made sure he was back in office for one more term as mayor, he turned it back again with all his moneys. Its ridiculous. This is something for the whole country to look at. I love this country. Im disabled 100 . My uncle died for this country. We should get back to i dont care how much money you got, we should get back to fair voting. And as far as term limits, we cant even talk about that. We need to first get to be fair. If someones got a dollar and hes educated and he should be in the slot or should be voted for, he should be able to. Forget about the billions that people have getting themselves into office. I think its terrible. Host all right, robert. Were going to leave it there. Were going to take a break from our discussion regarding term limits for elected officials and talk about a decision that was handed down by