From Delmarva media

After meeting with Maryland Delegates Jim Mathias and Norm Conway, I can understand how people get frustrated with government.

There’s so much going on with a system that tries to be everything to everybody, and has its hand in every endeavor and pocket.

It’s time for term limits. The founding fathers didn’t write them into the Constitution because it was understood that our representatives were citizen legislators who would return to the farm or shop after serving in office, to live under and abide by the laws they had written.

It was not intended to be a lifelong career — and definitely not a pensioned position. Mathias and Conway speak of having term limits, yet they stand for re-election. While true in the strictest sense, incumbents enjoy a marked advantage over a nonincumbent in an election through name recognition, access to the media and fundraising opportunities. The current system, with its seniority arrangement, makes voters reluctant to choose new faces for fear they will not be able to stand against the entrenched power elite who have been in office for 20, 30 or more years. Term limits would level the playing field and remove many of the inequities in a seniority system.

We need basic reform in other areas, as well. A budget that is truly balanced — without robbing Peter to pay Paul — a tax system which encourages business and individual wealth and investment, a school system that rewards innovation and voting that is both reliable and verifiable.

Gloria Moyer

Ocean Pines