Ron Paul and Congressional term limits

Those of us in the term limits movement remember Ron Paul as the idea's earliest champion in the Congress. Back in the early 1980s -- well before the wave of citizen referenda which term limited over a dozen state legislatures -- Rep. Paul was the *first* Congressman in modern history to introduce a term limits bill. Then, back in the Congress in the 1990s, he actively supported and voted for the term limits measures that sprung out of the post-1994 Republican Congressional takeover.

I spoke with him earlier this year on the subject at a campaign event in Miami where he reiterated his support. However, Dr. Paul was careful to point out he does not like the idea of *self-limitation,* where an individual Congress member limits his or herself, as you do not get the institutional benefits of term limits when only the good guys do it. He's right. It has to apply to everyone in the Congress.

The trouble is, historically, legislatures do no limit their own power. Most term limits victories among the states have come as a result of the citizen initiative process in an end-run around the entrenched powers-that-be. But there have always been a minority of courageous legislators who are willing to put the best interest of their country above their personal political ambitions. Ron Paul has been one of these.

To sign the new on-line petition for Congressional term limits, see:
http://www.termlimits.org/content.asp?admin=Y&contentid=28

Thanks.

Philip Blumel
Atlantis, Florida

P.S. Interestingly, Ron -- as a U.S. Congressman in the 1980s -- testified on behalf of former U.S. Term Limits president Paul Jacob in Jacob's trial for refusal to register for the draft.