http://www.redflagnews.com/headlines/it-begins-presidential-term-limits-going-to-be-trashed#sthash.I8VdCMrk.dpbsIT BEGINS! Presidential Term Limits Going To Be Trashed?
November 30, 2013
(BIN) The push is on to get Obama a third term… the narrative is being constructed now for a referendum question on the next ballot… if they can get enough steam behind it.
”The time has come to end presidential term limits, because continuing the restrictions on how long one can serve in the country’s highest office is bad for the United States,”claims Jonathan Zimmerman a history and education professor at New York University
In an opinion story published in the Washington Post, Zimmerman says deciding whether a president deserves a third, fourth or more terms should be left entirely to the American people. He says the22nd Amendment to the Constitution, which placed a two-term limit on the position, should not be the deciding factor on a President’s term.
Below is a portion of the 22nd Amendment ratified in 1951:
“No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once.”
The amendment came into being a few years after Franklin Roosevelt was elected to the fourth of his White House terms. Known to Americans as the president during the final years of the Great Depression and most of World War II, Roosevelt, a Democrat, died in office before completing his last term. After the war, Republicans made a successful bid to install a two-term maximum for future presidents. But, according to Zimmerman, they limited not only the president’s time in office, but also “democracy itself.”
Unbelievably, Zimmerman went on to declare, that since President Obama’s job-approval numbers are now down drastically, it could be that the nation’s chief executive is being held down by the fact that he’s in his final term. This factor, he claims, gives GOP opponents and even Democrat opponents little incentive to support Obama on issues that might hamper their own re-election chances.
In that Washington Post Article, Zimmerman writes –
“Many of Obama’s fellow Democrats have distanced themselves from the reform and from the president. Even former president Bill Clinton has said that Americans should be allowed to keep the health insurance they have. Or consider the reaction to the Iran nuclear deal. Regardless of his political approval ratings, Obama could expect Republican senators such as Lindsey Graham (S.C.) and John McCain (Ariz.) to attack the agreement. But if Obama could run again, would he be facing such fervent objections from Sens. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Robert Menendez (D-N.J.)? Probably not. Democratic lawmakers would worry about provoking the wrath of a president who could be reelected. Thanks to term limits, though, they’ve got little to fear.”
Zimmerman continues in the piece, “Nor does Obama have to fear the voters, which might be the scariest problem of all. If he chooses, he could simply ignore their will. And if the people wanted him to serve another term, why shouldn’t they be allowed to award him one?” -
