Why we need term limits.

10. December 2007 by Greg Kelver.

Saturday, I had the opportunity to accompany a couple of local high school students to Senator Lugar’s 31st Annual Symposium for Tomorrow’s Leaders at the University of Indianapolis.  It was an outstanding event that may very well be a life changing experience for several of these future leaders as they start to become more aware of an outside  world larger than themselves.  The students participated in discussions on issues such as energy, immigration, and global warming. Adults had the opportunity to hear some excellent presentations from foreign exchange students who are living in Indiana and journalist Brian Howey who had accompanied Senator Lugar and Senator Nunn on a trip to Russia commemorating the 15th anniversary of the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program. Howey’s account of the trip was extremely interesting but a grim reminder that the world is still an incredibly dangerous place despite the end of the Cold War and the best efforts of concerned leaders like Senator Lugar.

Senator Lugar is clearly an amazing individual and a perfect example of the type of highly respected statesman that America should have representing our diplomatic interests abroad. As a citizen, I do appreciate the leadership he has provided and his efforts to try to make the world a better place - I believe we have been very well represented by the Gentleman from Indiana.

In Northern Indiana, we don’t really have much direct media exposure to what either Senator Bayh or Senator Lugar really say on most issues. We usually just get an occasional 10 second sound bite or a couple of comments on an AP story. So it was a bit of a shock as I sat in the afternoon session where Senator Lugar answered many direct questions from the audience on a wide range of subjects.  As I listened to those candid responses, I could not figure out whether I should stand up and scream out NO, NO, NO or just lay down and hopelessly bawl because of how obviously lost the Republican Party is now from their Reagan Revolution inspired Contract with America heyday.  On domestic issues such as government schools and energy, many of the answers Senator Lugar offered land firmly on the side of more and more intervention by the federal government. For those of us who believe in the voluntary cooperation of individuals over the forced coercion of government and prefer free markets over free flowing FRN’s (aka money), it is very sad to see that the very idea of limited government has completely left what remains of the GOP tent. One question that I did want to ask Senator Lugar was how he viewed the fundraising success that republitarian Ron Paul has recently experienced and the buzz that he is creating among the internet crowd. But I suspect that I wouldn’t have found the answer to that question to have been very comforting either.

Sometimes it is pretty painful for fans to watch our superstars as their game starts to slow. But in the last election, the Indiana Democratic Party did not even bother to show up to field a candidate to run for U.S. Senate.  Although that may be the way that other countries choose to run their elections, that lack of political competition has no place in America.  As well respected as Senator Lugar may be, it is still inexcusable that the Democratic Party decided to not run a candidate to represent the interests of millions of Hoosiers at the federal level.  Indiana voters at least deserved an opportunity to cast a vote that closest represented their views and the Democratic Party failed to deliver even that.  But I am proud that the Libertarian Party did offer voters an option - and that is why we need solid third and fourth party candidates who offer real choices to independent voters at all levels.  But if ever there was a time and place where federal government involvement could be helpful, term limits for federal politicians coupled with mandating Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trails to insure fair and accurate elections in an electronic age would sure be a good place to start. And if a seasoned superstar could happen to hit that one out of the park, I would love to be wildly cheering for him at the game. 

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