A few years ago Texas District 11 Congressman Mike Conaway's excuse for opposing term limits was that it took a long time for a Congressman to get his staff in line, and term limits would have given them too much power over him. Apparently, he's got control of the staff now, because his current reason was put forth in an OAOA.com article, to wit:
Conaway: “Term limits simply further empowers the executive branch, beyond what it already is.” He added that “most of us would argue that this executive has already exceeded his” powers.
The common thread there is power. If staffers had too much power then maybe Congress needs to rein them in. If the executive has too much power then they need to figure out a way to enforce the Constitutional separation of powers.
Conaway continued:
Conaway explained that he comes before constituents every two years and asks for their votes. “That is the most effective way to handle term limits,” he said.
Now that's the kind of explanation that can make your eyes roll. Not only do incumbents pass laws or a regular basis that basically insure reelection, they are flooded with money from special interest groups wanting favors. In the case of Mike Conaway, it's over a million dollars every campaign cycle, and for this one it's up to $1,023,950 as of the end of 2013.
Is he earning his money? Well, he's on the House Agriculture Committee, and he has never passed up an opportunity to hand out taxpayer money in the form of subsidies to big agribusiness.
Contrast the lobby money flowing into any incumbent's coffers with the paltry sums any upstart challenger can get, and that's reason enough to support the challenger. Speaking of which, take a look at Wade Brown in the 2014 Republican Primary. He's penniless by comparison, but if the anti-incumbent mood that's prevalent elsewhere reaches District 11 then he might have a shot.
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