Regardless of how you feel about the politics of U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., you have to love his idea of imposing term limits on elected politicians.

I propose going even further: There should be limits on judicial appointments, too.

Toomey announced earlier this month that he will not seek a third term to the Senate when his current six-year term ends in 2022. I can’t figure out why so many people were shocked that he made the announcement. After all, he has been a longtime advocate for term limits.

This is admirable, and it should serve as a template for other officeholders. Twelve years is plenty of time for any person to serve in public office. This includes: six two-year terms for U.S. representatives and state representatives, three four-year terms for state senators, most county officials such as commissioners and those in row offices, school board members and most local officials such as mayors and members of a municipal council. I also am proposing two six-year terms for district magistrates and township supervisors.

I also recommend extending the terms of county court judges and members of the three state appellate courts - Supreme, Superior and Commonwealth - from 10 to 15 years with each justice of any of these courts serving one term. As it is now, once they are elected to a 10-year term, they can stand for a yes-or-no retention vote each succeeding 10 years. Mandatory retirement age is 75.

U.S. Supreme Court and federal district justices serve as long as they behave themselves. The Constitution does not state that these are lifetime appointments, but since a justice serves until he or she dies, retires or is impeached for “bad behaviour,” it means a lifetime appointment with no age limit. I propose a mandatory retirement age of 75.

Toomey said that despite the country being so divided, polls show that 79% of Pennsylvanians support term limits for members of Congress. “This is an issue I’ve long been an advocate for,” said Toomey, who limited himself to three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives before being elected senator. Toomey also was being touted as a strong gubernatorial candidate to succeed Gov. Tom Wolf, whose second and final term ends in 2022, but he has declined to run.

Toomey co-authored an op-ed piece in The Philadelphia Inquirer with former Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell that advocates for term limits. “We recall a time not too long ago when the House and Senate could regularly put divisions aside to address the big issues facing our country,” they wrote.

“Now, in the midst of another crisis, members of Congress frequently focus more on blaming each other than on finding solutions. Our elected representatives seem afraid to do anything that would jeopardize their re-election.”

The longest serving member of the House was Rep. John Dingell Jr., D-Michigan, at 59 years before his retirement last year; the longest serving senator was Robert Byrd, D-West Virginia, who served for 51½ years after serving six years in the House. Two Pennsylvania representatives are among the top 101 longest-serving - John Murtha of Westmoreland County, 36 years and three days, and Joseph McDade of nearby Lackawanna County, 36 years, both Democrats.

Political scientists are divided on the pros and cons of term limits. Those who favor them say that they prevent politicians from gaining too much power and becoming distanced from their constituents. It has become a career rather than a temporary assignment, so they spend too much time seeking re-election, raising money, posturing and currying favor with special interests which are flush with cash. They believe that term limits would return the focus to policy and away from destructive partisan politics. It also would encourage more qualified candidates to be more willing to seek office.

Opponents say that the voters will decide term limits, although it is well-known that many districts are gerrymandered in such a way to favor one or the other major political parties turning these into “safe” districts where the incumbent is virtually unbeatable. Opponents of term limits also point to the value of experienced public servants rather than continuing turnover that brings groups of novices to office.

The only way to impose term limits on Congress is to amend the Constitution just as was done to limit the president to two terms when the 22nd Amendment was adopted.

Of course, to expect members of Congress to pass legislation that would affect their livelihood is unlikely, so it would require three-fourths of the states (38) to call for a constitutional convention to deal with this question solely.

One practical reason why term limits were not written into the 1787 Constitution was because back then the life expectancy of a white male was 38. Today, the life expectancy is 78.6 years. The Founding Fathers did not expect officeholders to live long enough to worry about term limits.

By Bruce Frassinelli | tneditor@tnonline.com