Most of these people are Washington lifers who are not in touch with America. The more that members of Congress are subject to their influence, the more likely they are to become a part of the problem. Fresh faces mean new ideas and less concern about long-run comfort in Washington. The franked mailing privilege should be eliminated. Taxpayers have no reason to pay for incumbents' campaigns.
Free mailing is another reason it is so hard to blast an incumbent out of office.
Pensions for members of Congress should be zero. Committee chairs in Congress should have term limits, and election to the chairs should not be based on seniority. Committee chairs are very powerful because they control the flow of legislation that comes before their committees. House Republicans imposed term limits on committee chairs in 1995. Under the seniority system, voters know that their states get more goodies if they keep their representatives in Congress as long as possible.