Our Country was founded on four main principles of government:

1. The Will of the People
2. The Representation of the Individual States
3. An Independent Judiciary to protect individual rights and ensure the rule of law
4. A Chief Executive Representing the United States and the People of Them

Each of these have corresponding terms. They are:

1. The House of Representatives: Two Years
2. The Senate: 1/3 Elected every two years with 6 year terms
3. The Judiciary: Lifetime Appointment
4. The President: Four Years

Each of these terms was chosen deliberately. Despite what some would call the "Tyranny of the Judiciary" (as though it were some kind of un-American institution but rather a remnant of King George's 18th Century Great Britain), the lifetime appointment of these judges has been the greatest safeguard of consistent application of the rule of law. The rule of law is the essence of liberty when our laws are just. While I would agree that some errors have been made by the judiciary, I do love our system of law and do attribute some of its success to the lifetime appointment they are entitled to by the US Constitution. They can, and have been, removed by impeachment.

What I would like to propose is that perhaps there is something to be gained in longer terms. One of our many problems in Government today can be traced to the incredible media machine and the constant campaigning that it has created. 24 hour news media coverage leaves no room for our officials to make mistakes and not have it put on the front page of Yahoo!, a blog, or the scrolling news feed on CNN. It also has forced our officials to be on a permanent campaign. The next campaign begins the day after the old one ended. This campaigning is a problem. It makes our officials make choices to get votes rather than do what is right. This always happens to varying degrees, but now it seems to be the common practise - the only way.

In the words of columnist Joe Klein, "The pressure to 'win' the daily news cycle—to control the news—has overwhelmed the more reflective, statesmanlike aspects of the office."

Because of the permanent campaign they are constantly pleasing every interest group that threatens to get them out of office, fund every single project, spend more and more time away from Washington back at fundraising dinners, and answering every single question they get with either "I don't recall" or with words that mean nothing. We can't get to know our officials anymore and we don't know what they really stand for. As a result, we elect, and then re-elect politicians who would rather make a career out of something that should be a sacrifice. We elect, and then re-elect politicians who actually are destroying our country because of their continual campaigning. The permanent campaign is distructive of the People's liberties as it imposes unjust laws written and signed into law with the campaign in mind rather than the principles of Freedom that the country should stand for.

I suggest to you that limits of terms may indeed be a problem, but that just as big is the length of the term. We need to consider making a change to the duration of these terms for the good of the nation and give our Representatives room to breath and space to act in good conscience without fear that every special interest group will wage war on them and win. We need to give them time to prove themselves and to make decisions they know are best and not just to get re-elected - decisions that can be made with enough time to weather the storm of special interest opinions and fury.

Certainly we do not want to trust Congress with more power. However, we need to create a better system wherein they can more responsibly use their entrusted powers.

If one were to take a satisfaction survey of Congress, the President and the Judiciary, which one do you think would come out on top? I propose the judiciary would. I suggest that we have something to learn from that. It is directly related to:

1. They are appointed and don't have to campaign
2. Their term is for life

These two elements create a situation wherein they can best fulfill their duty. I don't propose a life term for our representatives, but that the duration of their terms be reassessed to determine if the people might be better served by longer terms and limiting the number of them.