And you think term limits would help that? The problem is institutionalized-the power is going to expand almost regardless of who is in office, and the exceedingly rare individual that doesn’t do so should not be forced out of office by some arbitrary term limit.
You mentioned voting for long-term self interests as though you believe that is a good thing, but a representative that knows he only has four/six/whatever years to plunder has no reason to make decisions that do anything but improve his condition over that short time. At least, without term limits, there is some incentive to do things that don’t hurt his constituents too badly over the long-term. Of course, a king can be said to be preferable to a president for the same reason.
I think it’s time to recognize that what allowed this county and its people to take great strides for awhile was that its government was limited, both legally and actually(it didn’t have the funds to be a tyrant). You can’t have an awesomely powerful government and freedom, and an awesomely powerful government abroad will be even more awesomely powerful at home(until its collapse).