On the EDge: Midterms are the realm of the angry voter

November 12, 2018 Utah Channel 3

OPINION — I was hoping that somehow things would change once the election was over.

I should have known better.

The winners have been anything but gracious and the losers are choking on their bitterness.

I don’t know if you can say that the Democrats taking back the House is evidence of a so-called Blue Wave so many were predicting.

I also don’t know that the election results can be called a win for the Republicans.

This wasn’t really a win by either party.

The midterms are usually the realm of the angry voter, ticked at the president and desperate for some change, even if it is minimal, from the tired old faces in Congress, which is why we are in desperate need of election reform that includes term limits. The members of the House and Senate should be allowed only two four-year terms, same as the president. None of them deserve to stick around long enough for a gold watch.

It won’t, of course, happen. These fat cats are in too deep and are not about to give up a job that pays an awful lot for so little effort.

Oh, the roster has a few changes every now and then, but the power guys always manage to hang on for another season, even when mired in a horrific slump. They know the game well and play it to their advantage through the election cycle.

As a candidate, the president said he would work for an amendment that would limit members of the House to three two-year terms, and members of the Senate to two six-year terms.

We’ve seen some dramatic foreign policy shifts, some strange trade policy decisions and some ragged stabs at executive orders, most of which have been purely ceremonial, with others ruled unconstitutional, but we have yet to see him follow through on this campaign plank he introduced as the campaign wound down two years ago.

It was something, however, that most voters, Republican and Democratic, could rally behind.

At the time of the president’s putting the idea forward, it would have sent 32 senators and 226 representatives packing.

For years, Orrin Hatch justified his continuing run as being beneficial to the people of Utah, stating that his time and experience in the Senate would be beneficial to his constituents. The thing is, these elected officials are supposed to work for the good of the nation, not the isolated interests of their home state. That’s how all that pork gets added to the federal budget, the quid pro quo that makes politicians oddly strange bedfellows.

Limiting terms would also mean that our elected officials would be more apt to govern than to constantly be out on the stump. As such, it could stimulate more credible action based on the nation’s needs rather than the needs of a senator or representative who weighs their vote on how their constituency will respond at the polls.

In other words, it would open the doors to truth, credibility and ethics, three attributes sorely lacking in Congress for decades now regardless of who holds a majority.

As a result, we would have more legitimate and stronger checks and balances on the executive branch because Congress would become less dependent on the blessing of the commander in chief.

And, perhaps, a real clearing of the swamp could take place instead of installing one set of good ol’ boys for another.

It would also be of benefit to impose limits on the terms of members of the Supreme Court.

I know that SCOTUS is supposed to be apolitical, but is it really?

Of course not.

It never has been and it never will be.

If we are lucky, we get a four-four-one balance. That is certainly not what we have now.

The Constitution is a living, breathing document that needs constant interpretation. Times change, technology changes, intellectual capacity changes. Rules of law instilled centuries ago become archaic, saddling us with confusion that never quite finds resolution.

This desire for term limits should extend to the state and local levels as well, where graybeards sit as governors, legislators, mayors, council members and commissioners for interminably long stretches.

We all complain, a lot, about do-nothing elected officials.

We don’t like that they are unresponsive to our needs and desires.

We don’t like how they conduct business.

We don’t like them, period.

But we keep electing them.

There’s an old saying that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

That pretty well sums up our electoral system.

Yeah, some seats shifted in the House and Senate and, yeah, the balance of power has shifted a bit, but it remains to be seen just how much positive impact this will have on the system.

Will it really instill a better set of checks and balances or simply result in more obstructionism, something we have had to endure for decades now?

America is still a vital, bustling nation, but to keep it lively, moving forward, we frequently need a new dealer and fresh deck of cards. Or, at the very least, to shuffle those cards now and then.

We need fresh blood to keep us honest, new eyes filled with optimism instead of steely resolve to cling to the job no matter the cost.

It just might inspire renewed voter confidence.

It might just freshen a stale institution.

It might just turn things around.

And, with a constant turnaround in fresh blood and talent, it would be a way to erase the lingering grudges and anger that foments when the opposing sides do nothing but stare each other down and undercut the foundation of our government for the regretful purpose of payback.

We’re supposed to be better than that.

No bad days!

Ed Kociela is an opinion columnist for St. George News. The opinions stated in this article are his own and may not be representative of St. George News.

Email: edkociela.mx@gmail.com

Twitter: @STGnews, @EdKociela