New Jersey congressman (R) backs away from term limit promise

[Nambe]

VINELAND, N.J. (AP)

A New Jersey congressman elected on a promise to serve no more than 12 years Washington said Monday he will go back on his word and seek a seventh term.

Republican Frank LoBiondo said if he is re-elected next year he will run again in 2006 for a seventh term. He was first elected in 1994.

LoBiondo entered Congress as part of the revolutionary Republican class that under House Speaker Newt Gingrich made term limits a key part of its drive to reform Congress. ---

LoBiondo said because other congressmen have broken the term limit pledge, it would be unfair to people in his district to abide by it. ---


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[rock]

1. Well, as long as it's the people that he's worried about

and not his chances of finding a job in this great bushsucks* economy.
(Do I have to tell you this is sarcasm?)

[Lexingtonian]

2. chutzpah

LoBiondo said because other congressmen have broken the term limit pledge, it would be unfair to people in his district to abide by it.

It would be *so* unfair if they couldn't have a pledge-breaker for a Congressman, I guess.

[Betty]

3. Because others have broken their pledge

it wouldn't be fair if I didn't too????????????????

repuglican "ethics" at its finest.

[Jax]

9. good one Betty

definitely another example of 'repuglican "ethics" at their finest'.

Scumbags. They also love that 'all the rest of you do anything we say, but we will do what we want to' justification crap for anything and everything they do. Right wing lies about anything are a-ok. Looks like Congressman LoBiondo fits right in.

George Nethercutt pulled that crap up here in Washington State and he got re-elected, made me sick.

Jax

[MGKrebs]

4. The charade is exposed AGAIN.

They will do ANYTHING to win. It's not about integrity. It's not about policies. It's not about Democracy.

It's only about power.

[kskiska]

5. It's the old "everybody's doing it" excuse

Liar.

[bluestateguy]

6. Karl Rove's fingerprints are all over this one

A Democrat would win the seat in an open seat race:

Stats:

2000 Gore 55%
Bush 43%
Nader >3%

1996 Clinton 50%
Dole 36%
Perot 12%
Others 2%

[tokenlib]

7. They really should get rid of them..

Term limits are the ultimate in hypocrisy. And even the best defense of them anyone can muster--falls apart when set against the reality that such limits are an infringement of our freedom. Sure the voters can make lousy choices--but it should be their freedom to make them.

No one should make promises that they may not wish to keep. The one major mistake I feel Wellstone ever made was that damn promise--and look at all the time that got wasted on that issue.

[thermodynamic]

10. Agreed.

Except we need something more honorable and ethical than the SCOTUS in order to enforce our freedom to make mistakes. (had the SCOTUS any honor and dignity, they would have chosen by popular vote. Not party affiliation. Yet along ignoring Jeb and Harris for their part in the dirty deal, which makes me think of the SCOTUS even less kindly.)

[thermodynamic]

8. I hate to say this,

but didn't Paul Wellstone say the same thing? :shrug:

Let's be equal here.

Let's also hold our elected officials to their promises, otherwise we are just as guilty of the corruption. (even I said at the time it might have been better for Mr. Wellstone to have found someone of similar calibre instead of breaking his promise?)

That aside, I would have voted for Wellstone again in a heartbeat. Somehow, even a minor issue like breaking a term limit promise is minor compared to that loyal-only-to-himself bastard Coleman's antics.

Here's the real issue: Maybe all politicians should stop making promises they know they won't keep despite saying it as a schmooze to get elected in the first place. People like stable jobs, we all know this, so why would anybody say "I'll work here for only X years and then step aside voluntarily."?

As for this repuke, if he's of the party of "honor and dignity and so on", he should set an example and keep his promise. But he obviously won't.

Additional: I apologize if I hurt anybody's feelings, but when the freepers see this, they're going to have a field day. No, a field YEAR. And they're nowhere near as civil as I am...

[bluestateguy]

11. term Limits?

Marty Meehan also broke his pledge, but a few members of the class of 1994 kept their promise, like Helen Chenoweth (R-ID) who retired in 2000 and Mark Sanford, who smoothly moved from the House to the South Carolina governorship. US Term Limits sent them plaques and flower bouquets as a thank you.

[goobergunch]

12. I don't particularly care about his term-limits pledge...

I just wanted to win this seat in 2006...we can win this in an open seat, as bluestateguy pointed out.