Yes It Is, It’s True: Nepotism side effect of term limits

“No matter who you vote for, the government always gets in.” — The Bonzo Dog Band

I’ve railed against term limits for a long time now, more than two decades since they were implemented in Michigan. They were intended to put a stop to legislators and government officials serving so long that they become almost invincible and perhaps even dictatorial.

Politicians, we have learned since 1992, too often are conniving and treacherous, but they’re not stupid. They’ve simply found ways to get around being shown the door as soon as six or eight years.

I’ve said one way has been serving in

another government position, playing musical chairs. Examples are former State Rep. Bob Genetski as Allegan County Clerk, former State Rep. Ken Yonker as Kent County Drain Commissioner, former State Rep. Thomas Hooker as Byron Township Supervisor, former State Rep. and State Senator Lisa Posthumus Lyons as Kent County Clerk and former State Rep. Aric Nesbitt as Michigan Lottery Commissioner.

They customarily take advantage of their elected positions and name recognition to land other government jobs.  Hooker did particularly well, scoring a $79,000-a-year job in Byron Township, only a thousand less than he was paid in Lansing.

But another way term limits doesn’t get the job done and is circumvented is through nepotism. President Donald Trump has taken a lot of heat lately for using his daughter and son-in-law in the White House inner circle, but he is far from alone.

Posthumus Lyons, who’s played a lot of musical chairs, is the daughter of former State Senator Dick Posthumus, a graduate of Caledonia High School and former lieutenant governor under John Engler.

Just a stone’s throw to the east is the 87th District, covering part of Ionia County and most of Barry County, the incumbent legislator there is Julie Calley, wife of Lieutenant Gov. Brian Calley. She won the seat in 2016 after Mike Callton had to step down because of term limits.

The ironic one is State Rep. Glenn Steil Jr., who served for six years as a state legislator before being term limited. He is the son of the late Glenn Steil Sr., who was the champion of the term limits movement in 1992 when voters statewide foolishly adopted them. Even the senior Steil later said it turned out to be bad idea.

This is not limited to Republicans. Democrats on the east side of the state have shown their willingness to play either musical chairs or nepotism. One good example is John Conyers III, grandson of longtime Congressman John Conyers, who was forced to retire late last year.

One of the most egregious violations I remember was back in the 1960s when Alabama voters elected Lurleen Wallace governor because her husband, according to the state’s term limit law, could not succeed himself. On election night, in her victory speech, she declared, “George will be making all the decisions.”

The first example of term limits as an effort to save us from ourselves that I recall was a U.S. constitutional amendent to limit the president to two elected terms. It was done in the wake of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who was popular enough to have been elected four times.

I don’t know who said it, but I hear tell somebody declared, “If you allow people who live in democracy enough time, they will vote away all their freedoms.”