Science Forums 2

[TheFaithfulStone]

We have consecutive term-limits for state legislators and Senators in my state, and it was the worst damn mistake we've ever made I think.

Eg: Corrupt state officials used to "sit" on their seats, and use those particular seats to work their nasty corruption - now, a corrupt senator from say.. the Northeast corner of the state needs to get elected to a wider office (like, say governor) to continue to receive his kickbacks. Furthermore, all of the people who used to hold lucrative state senate jobs now need to hold lucrative state bureaucracy jobs - so jobs like "Assistant Vice Administrator For Programs" which used to go to career technocrats or experts now go to political appointees. It also created an entire array of "charities" whose officers are made up entirely of ex-state officials, biding their time until they can either run again, or are offered a more "lucrative" state position by the next administration. After said person has finished the requisite "time out" from being a state senator, they are normally immediately elected as a state legislator (or maybe as senator again.)

In any case, the effect was that we expanded the "good ol' boy" system to include formerly "expert" positions like State Education Director.

Politicians are like zombies - they spread exponentially, and once they get their teeth into something, it's not long before it's zombified as well.

tfs