TW Shannon signs Term Limits pledge

For years, Oklahoma's two U.S. Senators took diametrically opposed stances on term limits. Tom Coburn was the poster child for principled support of congressional term limits, going further than mere lip service and self-imposing them on himself. Jim Inhofe, however, much like with his vehement support of earmarks, disdained the idea of term limits.

Markwayne Mullin infamously broke his own term limits pledge, and continues to stumble and bumble as he tries to explain away why he did so (see Mullin: my term limits pledge didn't matter because "my life experience changed"). One can only assume that Luke Holland, Inhofe's hand-picked successor, has similar views on term limits (and earmarks) to his boss.

T.W. Shannon joins fellow Senate hopefuls Alex Gray and Nathan Dahm in signing the U.S. Term Limits Pledge, vowing to co-sponsor and vote for a term limits constitutional amendment.

Should be an interesting showdown in the Senate primary.

Shannon Signs Term Limits Pledge

“We must fix the broken Beltway culture of entitlement created by entrenched incumbent privilege”

Oklahoma City (April 20th) – Banking CEO and former Oklahoma Speaker of the House T.W. Shannon today announced he has signed the U.S. Term Limits Pledge to co-sponsor and vote for a constitutional amendment to limit U.S. Senators to two terms, and Members of Congress to three terms.

“We must fix the broken Beltway culture of entitlement created by entrenched incumbent privilege,” said Shannon. “Too many good people get elected with good intentions, become co-opted by the corrupt culture of Washington, and become part of the problem rather than the solution.”

“There’s a reason we have record debt, soaring deficits and an inability to get meaningful reform passed,” said Shannon. “It’s because special interests team up with entrenched incumbents who amass power, forget whom they represent, and spend taxpayer dollars like it is free money. The best thing we can do to reform the culture and keep our elected representatives accountable is enforce term limits.”

Shannon served 8 years in the Oklahoma Legislature, where members are limited to 12 years of service in the aggregate, regardless of legislative body. He then built a successful career in the private sector.

“Oklahoma is a great example of why term limits work,” said Shannon. “You serve your community, return home to live under the laws you pass, and pass the torch to the next generation of leaders.”

“I’m the Washington DC outsider in this Senate race. We need a lot more Oklahoma common sense in Washington. Term limits is a great start,” said Shannon.

Recent polling shows overwhelming support for the concept of term limits. More than 100 Members of Congress have also signed the pledge.