Polipundit's post makes me want to post a thought that has been bouncing around in my head for a month or so. Term limits on politicians are great, but what about employment limits for bureaucrats? Why not enforce a twenty year across the board limit on government employment? Force some of these lifetime government-employed people to find a new employer for 4-5 years.
Think about what that would do to government-school teachers or license branch functionary or tax collector. How many people in government are immune from having to worry about losing their jobs, yet those same people will lecture the rest of the world about how to live a life fully.
Imagine a government-school teacher who has just returned to his beloved teaching at age 47. He has just spent 5 years working as a lab scientists during his required 5 year break from government employment. He is now eager to be back with is beloved students, where he spent the first 20 years of his career. He has new life experiences to share. He has new insights into science. He has been gone longer than the limited and phoney 1-year sabbaticals that academia loves so that he has had to absorb worries about being able to return to the classroom. He is as fresh and excited as a first-year teacher, but he has the wisdom of an experienced family man.
That term-limit on government employment would be great.
What about the second teacher who chooses to disperse his 1-year breaks with 4-year visits to teaching. He, too, has more to offer the kids.
What about the third teacher that teaches in a private school for 5 years. He, too, will have experiences that challenge the assumptions in government schools of how education should work.
The license branch manager who has run a restaurant? The court clerk who has been in a small business worried about keeping expenses down?
Politicians need term limits, but they are at least exposed to the risk of losing their jobs. Their staffers' risk is similar but insulated. Those staffers may bounce from politician to politician, or politician to party organization. The full-time committee staff or institutional staff come to expect certain customs.
What if everyone in the building has had to step away from being in government for at least 5 years?
What if a Congressman went back into state government for 5 years? Or state politician back to local government?
This part from Thomas Paine that is posted at Polipundit.com makes my point about why. Forcing a change like that stated above is about how to do it.
