Southaven,Ms
By: Steve Hopkins
Term Limits
Looking too long at the political landscape today is even more dangerous than looking too long at the eclipse; at least the eclipse will not permanently scramble your brain. These are some of the questions that keep those of us up at night who have looked too long in puzzlement:
What will it take to get these politicians to do what we elected them to do?
Why will my congressman not listen to my needs and vote accordingly?
How do these people keep getting elected?
Asking these important questions is the beginning step in the process of activating change. We have established the fact that our elected officials keep getting elected regardless of how they vote, so why is this? The political parties will always back the establishment candidate and the parties are where the majority of the money is accumulated. So let us stop there and define “the establishment”. Who are these mythical creatures that get demonized from coast to coast? The establishment, whether Republican or Democrat, are those that go along with the party leadership over everything else regardless of promises made to constituents. In other words your wants and needs are not going to get in the way of their ambitions to obtain more and more political power.
Case in point, I recently received an email describing the attack that Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell has waged on Judge Roy Moore who is running against “good ol boy” club member and card carrying establishment member Luther Strange. The establishment members of the Republican Party cannot stand the thought of having another Mike Lee, Rand Paul or Ted Cruz in the senate. So the establishment is about to pour millions into Strange’s campaign to make sure he gets reelected.
Now that we have established the WHO and the WHY let us talk about the HOW. How do we truly return the power to the people? Term Limits!
We must demand that our state calls for and joins the Convention of States effort. An article 5 convention can be called by two-thirds of the state legislatures (34 States). When I first heard of the COS effort I was vehemently opposed to it out of fear of the whole constitution being trashed and replaced with a liberal version. This is completely untrue. An Article 5 convention can only be called for a single specific issue like Term Limits or a balanced budget amendment. To become part of the constitution three-fourths or 38 state legislatures would have to approve the amendment. Right now in the United States there are 33 states that are republican controlled in both houses of their state legislature. There are three states whose legislatures are spilt. Democrats control both chambers in 13 states and one chamber in four others.
According to a recent Rasmussen survey 74% of likely U.S. voters favor term limits but those in office will never vote to term limit themselves (well most of them ). If an elected official knows that their time in office is limited they are more apt to do the work of the people. Our founding fathers never meant for politics to be a career but instead to be a means to protect the rights of the people. The last, best hope we have to rein in an out of control federal government is for the state legislatures to call for an Article 5 Convention of States. I hope you will join me in getting involved in the COS effort. If you’d like to be added to my COS email distribution list please email me at shopkins@house.ms.gov with “ADD ME TO COS” in the subject line. Thank You in advance for getting involved.
Closer Look At Term Limits
Southaven,Ms
By: Steve Hopkins
Term Limits
Looking too long at the political landscape today is even more dangerous than looking too long at the eclipse; at least the eclipse will not permanently scramble your brain. These are some of the questions that keep those of us up at night who have looked too long in puzzlement:
What will it take to get these politicians to do what we elected them to do?
Why will my congressman not listen to my needs and vote accordingly?
How do these people keep getting elected?
Asking these important questions is the beginning step in the process of activating change. We have established the fact that our elected officials keep getting elected regardless of how they vote, so why is this? The political parties will always back the establishment candidate and the parties are where the majority of the money is accumulated. So let us stop there and define “the establishment”. Who are these mythical creatures that get demonized from coast to coast? The establishment, whether Republican or Democrat, are those that go along with the party leadership over everything else regardless of promises made to constituents. In other words your wants and needs are not going to get in the way of their ambitions to obtain more and more political power.
Case in point, I recently received an email describing the attack that Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell has waged on Judge Roy Moore who is running against “good ol boy” club member and card carrying establishment member Luther Strange. The establishment members of the Republican Party cannot stand the thought of having another Mike Lee, Rand Paul or Ted Cruz in the senate. So the establishment is about to pour millions into Strange’s campaign to make sure he gets reelected.
Now that we have established the WHO and the WHY let us talk about the HOW. How do we truly return the power to the people? Term Limits!
We must demand that our state calls for and joins the Convention of States effort. An article 5 convention can be called by two-thirds of the state legislatures (34 States). When I first heard of the COS effort I was vehemently opposed to it out of fear of the whole constitution being trashed and replaced with a liberal version. This is completely untrue. An Article 5 convention can only be called for a single specific issue like Term Limits or a balanced budget amendment. To become part of the constitution three-fourths or 38 state legislatures would have to approve the amendment. Right now in the United States there are 33 states that are republican controlled in both houses of their state legislature. There are three states whose legislatures are spilt. Democrats control both chambers in 13 states and one chamber in four others.
According to a recent Rasmussen survey 74% of likely U.S. voters favor term limits but those in office will never vote to term limit themselves (well most of them ). If an elected official knows that their time in office is limited they are more apt to do the work of the people. Our founding fathers never meant for politics to be a career but instead to be a means to protect the rights of the people. The last, best hope we have to rein in an out of control federal government is for the state legislatures to call for an Article 5 Convention of States. I hope you will join me in getting involved in the COS effort. If you’d like to be added to my COS email distribution list please email me at shopkins@house.ms.gov with “ADD ME TO COS” in the subject line. Thank You in advance for getting involved.
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