O'Rourke rolls out sweeping elections, government reform proposal (The Hill)

[Indygram]

Democratic presidential hopeful Beto O’Rourke rolled out a sweeping government and elections reform proposal on Tuesday, one that would set term limits for members of Congress and Supreme Court justices and place sharp restrictions on political contributions from corporations and wealthy individuals.

The former Texas congressman will highlight the proposal during a voting rights-focused town hall event in Atlanta, Ga., Wednesday night.

The plan, O’Rourke’s third policy rollout since announcing his presidential bid in March, is made up of three parts: "Increase participation in our Democracy," "Remove barriers within our Democracy," and "Rebuild Confidence in Our Democracy.”

“We’re facing some of the greatest challenges of our lifetimes, and we can’t solve them with half-measures or only half our people—it’s going to take all of us,” O’Rourke said.

“The only way to make progress is if every single American is empowered to vote — and those who have historically been drawn out of our Democracy are able to make their voices heard so that this country can live up to its full promise and potential.”

O’Rourke’s campaign said the plan would add 50 million people to U.S. voter rolls and increase voter turnout to 65 percent by 2024. That figure would be about 10 percent higher than in the 2016 presidential election, during which turnout dipped to about 55 percent, a 20-year low.

O’Rourke’s proposal would also prohibit House members and senators from serving more than 12 years in Congress — six two-year terms for representatives or two six-year terms for senators. Supreme Court justices would not be able to serve more than 18 years, though they would still be eligible to serve on federal courts of appeal after their terms end.

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/447031-orourke-rolls-out-sweeping-elections-government-reform-proposal


See O'Rourke's Voting Rights Plan here:
https://betoorourke.com/votingrights/

View the Voter Registration Toolkit here:
https://betoorourke.com/votingrights/toolkit/

[Gothmog]

1. Beto has seen voter suppression up close in Texas

[Merlot]

2. Term limits for members of congress should be decided by states

I think term limits are wrong, but term limits for SCJ might be worth looking into. The whole SC death watch game just seems wrong.

[Indygram]

3. Reasonable term limits aren't a bad thing, imo

It prevents people like McConnell from being a permanent fixture in the Senate.

[Merlot]

6. I think term limits cause even more campaign financing

when incombents have to raise money to run in different elections, etc. I'd much rather see gov't funded elections.

Also, it takes a while to learn the job, knowledge and senority is valuable. If there were term limits, I'd want them to be genroous, like 3 or four for senator, and 20 years for state reps.

[Indygram]

7. Did you read the plan?

Because donation limits are part of it, along with many other things.

[RLG]

4. Hopefully, other candidates won't incorporate his plan as their plan.

If so, I hope he brings this up during the debates.

[andym]

5. Great to see all the plans being put forth to create real problems in the country

One of the most important components of any voting rights plan is anti-gerrymandering provisions which are included in Beto's plan.