Term Limits For Congressmen and Senators

Aristotle did not consider democracy to be the best form of government because he believed that the people would eventually start voting for what was in their own best interest to the detriment of the country. This is one of the reasons that our Founding Fathers chose a Democratic Republic form of government instead of a straight democracy. To help eliminate corruption, among other things, our Founding Fathers also thought that it would be best if the members of the House and Senate had a primary occupation other than their political office- serving in Congress was to be a part time job.
Our present state of affairs in Washington, DC has proven both Aristotle and our Founding Fathers to be correct. We are fast becoming a country of entitlements, earmarks and corruption. Many citizens want government handouts. All politicians want to be reelected. Most politicians pour as much federal money into their district or state as they can and in return, the people keep reelecting these incumbents not because they are good for the country as a whole, but rather because they take care of their electorate through wasteful or unwise entitlements and earmarks. It is not unheard of for these Congressmen and Senators to garner billions of dollars of federal pork money for their constituents. Senator Byrd (D, WVa) and former Senator Stevens (R, Alaska) are two examples of how this system works- but there are, of course, many, many more.
Anyone who has ever taken a basic political science class knows that the supposed watchdog and informant regarding any D.C. shenanigans is the media. This is one of the reasons that freedom of the press is so important. However the mainstream U.S. media has, for the most part, abdicated its responsibility and has climbed into bed with the liberal politicians. Consequently, even when a liberal is wrong, he is right. It is just the opposite for conservatives. No conservative wrong escapes the front page and, even when right, conservatives must be wrong.
How can we rectify this situation when we have a “me first” electorate, a “me first” candidate and a biased media. “Term Limits.” Term limits rids us of all politicians- local or otherwise. It especially gives us a method of making sure that those politicians in other states and congressional districts who are elected and reelected for all the wrong reasons do not have a life estate. It is a way of purging an entire system rather than a single district or state.
The primary objection to term limits is that we would be throwing out the good with the bad. But honestly, can anyone name a politician that we cannot do without? Even if there are some good ones lost due to term limits, they are the collateral damage that unfortunately cannot be avoided.
Twelve years is enough- two senate terms or six congressional terms. It is usually about that time that a politician is getting comfortable enough to be susceptible to all the temptations and corruptive forces in D.C.
Term limits may not be palatable to some, but presently the situation is so bad in D.C. that we must have a way to cleanse the system rapidly and term limits provides us with a simple and effective method of doing so.