Liz Warren and Ed Markey: The Case For Term Limits
Reading the March 2023 issue of the Boston Broadside, an article caught my eye as the headline fits perfectly for these poster children for term limits. The article, appropriately titled as the same title of this post, from resident journalist Warren P. Russo provides several compelling reasons for term limits.
We judge our poster children by a paraphrase of St. Matthew 7:16 “By their fruits ye shall know them.” We say, “By their votes ye shall know them.” It is by their votes that we are ruled and taxed and indebted for generations – more and more every session of Congress.
So, let’s look at who these people are and how they have voted…
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) is probably best known nationally for trying to pass as a Native American on her Harvard application to get some special consideration.
U.S. Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) has authored legislation to pack the Supreme Court claiming during a press conference on the legislation that Justices Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett have “no right” to be on the court. He also wants Justice Clarence Thomas to be replaced. All they have in common is a close reliance on the Constitution in their decisions.
Here’s how they’re rated on some important non-partisan scorecards:
NTU scores from A (Voter Friendly) to F (Big Spender). Both Warren and Markey get an F for voting in favor of taxpayers only 7% and 8% of the time, respectively.
Citizens Against Government Waste
CAGW scores from 0 (Hostile to Taxpayers) and 100 (Taxpayer Hero). You guessed it. Both are rated 0 showing they are Hostile to Taxpayers.
Heritage Action is the policy advocacy affiliate of the conservative Heritage Foundation, which has little tolerance for socialism. As can be expected, they both unquestioningly follow the party line of socialistic taxing and spending. Warren scores only Lifetime 7% and Markey only 8%. See some of their current positions here and here.
The CFG’s annual Congressional Scorecard tracks how members of Congress vote on economic legislation. Like the other scorecards the Club for Growth Foundation conducts a study of how Congress voted on key issues and ascribes a score. Those rating 90 or higher receive the Defender of Economic Freedom award. With Warren at 0% for current and 10% for Lifetime and Markey at 0% current and 0% lifetime scores, there will be no awards – except maybe from lobbyists!
Americans for Democratic Action
ADA is on the side of a more socialist form of government so their scores of our posters completes their characterizations as supportive of almost total government. ADA gives both 100% for following the party line by voting like this .
The links at each named site above provide detail on the actual bills they voted on.
I’ve been working on the term limit politicians project for over 50 years, and we’ve made a lot of progress but we still have a long way to go. Professional politicians are getting rich. President Biden is an example. Never having a job in the private economy, he’s worth millions.
Our subjects here have spent a good portion of their lives in government service, so called.
Sen. Markey is a career politician has served in the U.S. Senate since 2013. Before that he was a member of the U.S. House representing Massachusetts District 7 between 1976 and 2013 and the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1973 to 1976. That’s 50 years!
Sen. Warren, by comparison is a relative newcomer to elected office. She has held her position in the U.S. Senate since 2013. Before that she held bureaucratic offices, including Special Advisor to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and taught law at various universities.
The last paragraph of the article by Russo, a retired Navy officer, expresses how most of us pro term limits patriots feel about the career Congress we suffer under:
“Voters generally get the government deserve. Once in a while, though, it might be nice to get the government that the rest of us deserve.”
