Representative Cohen: Poster Boy for Term-Limits

I don’t usually go in for populist policy initiatives, but I’ve become a big fan of term-limits for elected officials, both legislators and executives. Twelve years seems about right to me; you shouldn’t need any more than that. If you’re good, you’ll run for something else and win. To me, Representative Cohen is a poster child for why we need term-limits. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that “over the last two years, the state has reimbursed the veteran legislator $28,200 on bookstore spending sprees.” Cohen has been in office an astounding 28 years, and doesn’t have a primary challenger this year…the Democratic machine made sure of that. Further, “Cohen's book bill for 2004 and 2005 is more than what the Philadelphia School District spent to stock library shelves at the two high schools and two middle schools in his legislative district. The four schools, which have a combined enrollment of 5,000 students, spent $21,600 on books and periodicals in that two-year period, officials said.” Wow…you’ve got to give the man credit for having chutzpa. Why the heck the state even has a reimbursement program for these kinds of purchases is another issue. I feel sorry for the people of Logan and Olney who have to suffer through this kind of representation; a legislator so aloof and arrogant that he thinks this kind of profligate spending on reading materials is acceptable.