European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 14, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 10 a the stars and stripes columns David s. Brode incumbents House leaves a lot to be desired Halfway through the 1990 primaries Only one incumbent has been Defeated and that was because he was involved in sex crimes with an underage female. If that a what its going to take to beat any of them 1990 May again see More than 98 percent of House members seeking re election succeed. Former president Ford on his annual visit to the National press club warned that the rigidity of the congressional election system was subverting the constitutional design and turning a the Peoples House into the incumbents Perks pics and gerrymandering were the villains he identified. Far Loo often he said incumbents of both parties have conspired with their allies in the Legislatures to draw District lines that safeguard most of them from Challenge and reduce the number of competitive or a swing Quot districts to a minimum. In addition he said they have expanded their staffs the number of District offices their mail and phone budgets to the Point that their capacity to communicate with constituents dwarfs that of almost any challenger. Finally they have converted interest group political action committees pics into fund raising machines for the re election of both parties incumbents further Tilting the Odds in their favor. The result said Ford is that House elections a which were designed to Register and reflect Short term swings in the political mood and which did that Job Well As recently As the 1970s a now have become the most predictable and almost meaningless part of our decaying democratic system. In the question period someone asked the obvious query if the House election system is that bad Isnit it time to limit the tenure of representatives say to 12 years Ford thinking of the skills of some of the Veteran legislators with whom he served in his 26 years on Capitol Hill said the sacrifice of experience and judgment would be too great. But the term limit idea will not die. Just the other Day Irving Kristol editor of the Public interest and scholar of american government announced that he was abandoning his earlier opposition and embracing the doctrine of 12 years and out. The temptation to follow his example is great. But it s still a bad idea and the wrong solution to the Shulti fiction of House elections. The advocates have not thought through the consequences As Well As Ford did in rejecting it. A House with a 12-year life Cycle would be stripped of its expertise and its institutional memory. As rep. David obey d-wis., has pointed out even though reelection is nearly guaranteed retirements and decisions to seek other offices have left the House with Only 31 members who shared the debates about the Vietnam intervention and Only 47 More who experienced watergate. The memory of those follies on the part of past presidents is important to the collective judgment of a legislative body a and would be sacrificed by the 12-year limit. Jugg new unless of course congressional staff members were not subject to the same Rule. This is a question i have never seen term limit advocates address. To rotate the membership of the House every 12 years while retaining permanent committee staff would have Only one consequence Power would shift very rapidly into the hands of that unelected congressional bureaucracy. But to retire the staff As rapidly As the membership rotates would have an equally Clear and undesirable effect Congress would quickly be drained of its capacity to Monitor and influence the career bureaucrats in the executive departments and agencies. No longer would anyone on Capitol Hill know where the bodies were buried a or even what questions to ask. In Short term limits for House members would not serve to restore popular control of the government. It would leave the unelected congressional staff members and executive bureaucrats even More in control of decision making. Nor would the proposal increase Competition for House seats nearly As much As proponents suggest. My Hunch is that if House members were limited to six terms you would find hard fought contests in some but not All of the roughly 75 seats left open by mandatory retirement each year As you find now in some but not All of the 33 or 34 Senate seats up in each election. Two years later perhaps half of the 75 freshmen would be challenged seriously in their first bid for re election. And then i suspect most would be left alone for the next four elections As ambitious politicians in the District decided it prudent to wait another few years for the seat to be open. That wont enhance Competition significantly or allow the kind of great National swings Ford recalled from the House contests of such years As 1964 and 1966. The Only Way to restore Competition in House races is to do it directly by reducing the systemic advantages incumbents have Given themselves and increasing the flow of resources to challengers. Thai Means changing the Campaign finance Laws a something the incumbents once again seem unwilling to do this year. Turning up the heat on the Campaign finance Issue would be a lot More useful than chasing after the Mirage of term limits. C Washington postcard t. Rowan . Needs More military men of Powell s Condor the Freedom revolution in Eastern Europe has moved so far ahead of All our expectations that we americans Are flustered As we try to adjust our thinking our military planning our Domestic dreams to the reality that a the russians Are not who is to make americans new National Security plans Senate armed services committee chairman Sam Nunn who thinks we now can reduce . Troops in Europe from 300,000 to 75,000? defense Secretary Dick Cheney who thinks we can build Only 75 stealth bombers instead of 132, even though the Cost per plane might Rise from $550 million to More than $800 million the educators and parents of America who Are desperate for a peace dividend with which to educate feed and give health care to the children of America the lobbyists for the military Industrial Complex who cry that a sudden military build Down will wreak economic havoc in America i done to know which faction will prevail. But in a sure that army Gen. Colin Powell chairman of the joint chiefs of staff spoke wisely when he told the Washington Post that this country needs a top to Bottom review of weapons systems personnel Levels military bases training practices hardware systems and military strategy. Only such a review can spare the nation from a Babel demagogic cries of massive cuts in one area and fear wrenching cries that the communists will still get us if we make major cuts in other areas. Powell notes that he still has to contend with Pentagon officers whose minds Are locked into fear of sudden military conflict with the soviet Union. He says that before the recent reforms which really add up to destruction of the Warsaw pact the United states could count on two weeks of a tactical warning a that the soviet Union was about to move militarily against Western Europe. Now he says the United states has up to a year of a political and strategic but some admirals and generals whose entire careers have been devoted to defending against a soviet attack refuse to accept the premise that the soviet threat is diminished to any major degree. Powell told the Post that he also is troubled that some people in the nations capital including Congress want to put the defense budget a into too Steep a the general said a a you re going to break this Force if you ask us to do it too Powell spoke with the Candor that americans need More of from their military leaders about a a waste and unnecessary expenses. He said a lot of the military a base Structure is a Post Indian War and Post world War that Structure has been protected for generations by members of Congress who profess to want to Cut military spending but who fight doggedly to maintain even the most wasteful installations in their districts. This country cannot afford a Harum scrum response to Gorbachev s reforms and the incredible changes in East Germany Poland Romania Czechoslovakia and other places. President Bush ought to order up immediately the top to Bottom review of americans military posture to Gen. Powell suggests. And it ought to take two years for that review to be completed. C North America Syndicate All letters to the editor must contain the my printed name and address of writer and must be signed. We do not r unsigned letters but we will your name on request and protect y privacy. All letters Are subject to editing
