Myth Busting 101

Myth-Busting 101: Not At All Term Limits Are Created Equal

By Austin Sekel Many people falsely assume that all term limits are created equal. The argument states that whether it be legal to serve 20 years in office or just four – term limits of any length are equally as effective. It’s just not true. USTL is supportive of any effort to establish term limits

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Myth-Busting 101: “Congress Will Never Vote to Term Limit Itself”

by Nick Tomboulides “How can you expect Congress to vote for term limits on itself? That’ll never happen!” But it already has. In 1995, the House of Representatives voted 227-204 in favor of a constitutional amendment limiting its own terms and those of U.S. Senators. The bill didn’t pass because, while it received a pure majority,

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Myth-busting 101: Are “Stupid Voters” the Problem?

by Nick Tomboulides In every debate over term limits, opponents of the reform inevitably criticize voters for being “too stupid” or “too lazy” to vote against incumbents. But are “dumb voters” really the problem? Let’s take a look at this claim to see if it has any merit. The attack on voters’ intelligence is premised on a

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Myth-busting 101: Are Term Limits Anti-Democratic?

  by Nick Tomboulides “Term limits hurt democracy!” This myth is, as you’d expect, a big favorite among career politicians. They are more than happy to wrap a democratic-sounding veneer around their own desire to stay in office forever. First, let’s ask: What is democracy? The meaning is contained within the word’s Greek roots. “Demos”

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Myth-busting 101: Are Elections Term Limits?

By Nicolas Tomboulides “We have term limits. They’re called elections!” I’m sure you’ve heard it before. When stale incumbents are confronted with the idea of term limits, they love to trot out this one-liner and accuse term limits supporters of hating democracy. We’re told that elections alone will solve all of government’s ills, if we

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Myth-Busting 101: Do Lobbyists Love Term Limits?

by Nick Tomboulides If you’ve read any anti-term limits editorials lately, you’re probably familiar with the remarkable claim that lobbyists love term limits. After studying dozens of these articles published in various states over the past few months, here’s what I’ve noticed: The claim is repeated in every commentary against state term limits. The claim

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