SANTA ANA, CA — I strongly favor term limits for welfare recipients; but that’s probably not what you’re thinking about right now.

As much as many of us complain about our government, we in the United States have the best democratic system in the world. It is the best because we choose who represents us; and we do it often. It’s that simple. Anything that stands in the way of me choosing someone to represent me in any government at any level is simply wrong.

Term limits do not limit politicians; they limit voters. The most prominent term limit we currently have in place is the two-term limit on the U.S. Presidency. But think about that for a second. That does not protect us from anything; it only eliminates one more good person from the list of people that I can vote for. That is not right.

Ronald Reagan is the greatest president we have seen in recent history and I would have voted for him for a third term. And he even said that he wanted to run again but he couldn’t.

Are we not intelligent enough to choose for ourselves who we want in office? Do we need a law that “protects” us from career politicians? And what is a career politician, anyway? I think it is one of the greatest honors any American could be blessed with. It means that the people have chosen that person over and over again because he/she is representing the people well. What more could we ask for?

We already have term limits in America. It’s called voting.

(this letter appeared in the Orange County Register people’s forum, Wed 19-Mar-1997)