>Rasmussen Reports : 71% Favor Term Limits for Congress
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Voters strongly support term limits for all members of Congress but don’t think it’s very likely the national legislators will vote to limit how long they can serve.
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 71% of Likely U.S. Voters favor establishing term limits for all members of Congress. Just 14% oppose setting such limits, and 15% are undecided about them. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
Voter support for term limits has remained high even after the U.S. Supreme Court issued a 5-4 ruling that individual states did not have the right to place limits on its representatives. As a practical matter, that 1995 court decision means only Congress has the authority to place limits on itself.
But only 18% of all voters think Congress is even somewhat likely to pass legislation that establishes term limits on people elected to Congress, with five percent (5%) who say it’s Very Likely. Seventy-five percent (75%) feel Congress is unlikely to limit how long its members can serve. That includes 27% who say it’s Not At All Likely. According to Scott Rasmussen, president of Rasmussen Reports, “Voters recognize that expecting Members of Congress to place reasonable limits on themselves is like expecting toddlers to select a reasonable bedtime.”