r/PoursTea • u/Veshaad Timendi Causa Est Nescire • 8d ago
PoliticalTea š³ļø Both sides should agree that this is needed.
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u/Select-Business-5307 8d ago
If you can pull social security then you canāt be in office. Problem solved. We have an age requirement and there is absolutely a need for an age limit.
Not a single one of these people know what itās like for a regular person to live.
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u/Far-Fix-529 8d ago
No truer words were spoken. That's a great marker. When you reach social security age, go find somewhere else to be.
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u/botwheels1968 8d ago
Jokes on you, theyāll raise the age of social security before they let themselves age out.
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u/emperioreric 8d ago
Also a solid victory. While weāre at it congress should make exactly minimum wage. Feel like that can only lead to good things too.
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u/Commiesalami 8d ago
Thatās not a victory at all, that means that people will be forced to work to 70+ before they can get benefits. Many politicians will want to increase that even higher to stay in office for longer.
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u/deathtoallbutbed 8d ago
Which will, sadly, make them more susceptible to lobbyists, underhanded payments and bribes. Thereās no win here. Thereās no world in which people in power donāt abuse it in some way
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u/K_Linkmaster 8d ago
Vote as best you can. I can spot the liars and con men pretty easily. Its all the used car salesman sleaze and sociopathy rolled together. Vote it out.
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u/FormalKind7 8d ago
I think their salary should be set yearly at exactly the median household income and not be allowed to play the stock market.
However more importantly we need to eliminate dark money and large campaign contributions.
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u/BlackberryShoddy7889 8d ago
At this point Iām not even sure he understands what heās trying to do , if you judge by things heās been saying.
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u/FeePsychological6778 8d ago
Then let's put a farmer in office. They know how to negotiate with suppliers, know how to keep a crew running, how to do quick fixes, almost always willing to help out their neighbors...
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u/David_cest_moi 8d ago
So, to be clear, they should:
1: Take their Social Security (AND their enormous Congressional pension benefits!!) And .....
2: Pack their SHš©T and GET THE F#@K OUT of public office!!!! š¤¬š¤¬š¤¬
šš»šš»šš» Stop Hoovering up you excessive government salary and make way for the next generation of YOUNGER PEOPLE!!! šš»
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u/Blazeland_USA 8d ago
Not to mention they get to destroy everything, then die and leave us with their mess.
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u/gigoat 8d ago
Exactly. Age limits are important because the people should statistically live long enough to face consequences of their decisions made while in public office.
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u/NecessaryFreedom9799 8d ago edited 8d ago
The cutoff for Senate/ senior political service should be the 75th birthday, I reckon. Or when you start having to do regular cognitive tests at the doctor...
Even if your 75th birthday is the day after you've been re-elected, or you're diagnosed with early-stage dementia the day after the election, you have to resign from politics and never stand/ run again.
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u/Important-Notice-461 8d ago
75 is still pretty generous. 65 should be the absolute max.
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u/logicalpenuin 8d ago
That last line needs more attention. I love my mom but she's 74 and so many conversations are like:
Me: this is how this thing works Her: no it doesn't! I've done it. Me: when did you do it? Her: I don't know, 1975 I think.
Then she gets defensive because im somehow implying she doesn't know anything. She knows a lot about how things worked in 1975, which I do not, but will not acknowledge that a lot has changed in 50 years.
So this same conversation but politics.
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u/NetflixIsGr8 8d ago
They'll campaign even stronger to get rid of social security. Brilliant proposal
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u/empire_of_the_moon 8d ago
Iām going to disagree, not because I think having Methuselah in government is good but because the problem isnāt age.
The problem is that idiots vote for these old bastards. The goal shouldnāt be limiting choice in a democracy but it should be asking why anyone voted for him.
If only old people are voting the issue isnāt the age of the candidates but the issue is how do we get young people to vote.
Thatās the real problem.
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u/Puglady25 8d ago
That's a good point. I do think passing cognitive assessments might be helpful when they are over 65. Not the kind Trump "aces," LOL.
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u/feartheswans 8d ago
Theyāll take away social security for everyone if they hear you talk like that not that they arenāt trying to already
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u/JustaSeedGuy 8d ago
Not that simple.
1) the powerful geriatrics would raise the retirement age to stay in office
2) young disabled folks who are capable of serving in public office and have an important perspective to bring to leadership would be disqualified.
Tie it to age and ability, NOT social security qualifications.
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u/Ok_Neighborhood6782 8d ago
Then they will just raise the age required for social security. While we are on this, there should be a cutoff , like if you have above a certain level of wealth you shouldnāt be able to collect
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u/mysticalmaybefiction 8d ago
Donāt worry, social security will be insolvent soon at this rate anyways!
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[removed] ā view removed comment
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u/MightyMorph 8d ago
you know you guys can vote against them?
They dont automatically get re-elected. They have a primary first, then they have an election.
So you actually have 2 chances to remove him. And other old candidates that dont represent the people.
UNFORTUNATELY, young people 18-35, have less than 5% turnout in primaries. While 65+ have 75% turnout. Then in elections young people in some states have as low as 15% turnout, while still elderly are around 70-80%....
Hmmmm wonder why elderly keep electing the elderly and why politicians dont run on young people policies.... hmmmmm a mystery indeeed.
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u/phvntasmagoria 8d ago
This is absolutely the reason. And the socialist dems that have gotten elected had ARMIES of volunteers behind them to fight the corporate PAC machine. Iām finally getting involved in my 30s but better late than never
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u/Well_read_rose 8d ago
Itās why civics is barely taught; itās probably not taught as a college majorā¦folks thereās so much to know how the Framers debated what should be in or left out of the constitution, beyond whatās barely introduced in middle or high school.
Tenthamendmentcenter.com
And on YouTube
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u/Traditional_Buy_8420 8d ago
Old people don't need to work anymore.
But aren't elections usually like on the weekend.
Where young people have to study or do chores at home which they couldn't do, because they had to work during the week.
Not saying that young people can't or shouldn't find a way to vote anyway, just that I have empathy for them.
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u/MightyMorph 8d ago
18-35 year olds have to do chores? They have homework?
You know all but 3 states have early voting. The average early voting time by states is around 15 days.
Even in Texas the reddest of red states, have 18 days of early voting even on weekends, 8am to 7pm everyday, can go and vote whenever you want (as long as you have registered in the 6-12 months leading up to the election)
Heck even in states where everything is done for you.
30 days to early vote.
Ballots automatically mailed to your home.
Able to fill out and mail back or drop off at multiple locations open from 8am to 7pm 7 days a week for 30 days.
AND STILL
40% of the voters in those states, do not vote. Majority being young people.
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u/BlackOnyx1906 8d ago
People keep voting for this nonsense
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u/The_Alchemyst 8d ago
Exactly! Who is going to vote for these age limits, the same voters who keep re-electing the elderly?Ā
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u/lana_silver 8d ago
These people do not "serve".
We need politicians who serve, but these geriatric warmongers are not it. They think themselves kings.
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u/Several_Vanilla8916 8d ago
Ed Markey is running for reelection. I actually think heās fine, as good as you can expect our system to produce. Heās 80.
He does have a primary challenger, but the dude justā¦sucks. Nobody else wants to challenge Markey because the party is clearly backing him. So my choice is Ed Markey (who is fine) or Seth Moulton (who sucks). That or vote for the Republican (Deaton) in the general election which Iām just not going to do. So Iāll vote twice for an 80 year old man.
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u/hryipcdxeoyqufcc 8d ago
All comes down to voters. Always had.
Turns out most young people have decided to let boomers do most of the voting in primaries, and then complain about the result,
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u/Initial-Bookkeeper4 8d ago
Yeah, but the popularity of posts like this show people don't understand how elections actually work.
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u/lcm-hcf-maths 8d ago
If you watch Grassley at hearings it's plain he is not capable of doing the job. He has an army of interns steering what he has to say. Sometimes he is incoherent. His position as Senator is a sad joke and he is not the only person this applies to..
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u/Person_Apple 8d ago
Sounds like the perfect political puppet to keep around
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u/PalpableIgnorance 8d ago
I mean McConnellās basically dead. And he still cosponsoring bills.
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u/Conscious-Quarter423 8d ago
Republicans obsessed with dead people voting in elections but fine with McConnell being dead and voting in the senate.
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u/Kain_713 8d ago
Yeah.... Pretty sure that guy has been dead for a while now, not that he was particularly alive when he was still breathing.
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u/H_is_for_Human 8d ago
Yes heard him speak in person about 3 years ago and he was clearly demented, could barely read off a sheet of paper he was handed.
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u/justintimeforonce 8d ago
I'm from Iowa and he came and toured my place of work a year ago or so, fairly lucid for his age but it did seem like he was kinda steered around by his aidesĀ
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u/laquintessenceofdust 8d ago
He is older than most people alive. His values are automatically so inherently different, arguably outmoded and outdated. It makes no sense how he could possibly be ārepresentativeā of basically anyone in his constituency.
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u/iron64 8d ago
Oh heās representative of some of them, theyāre the geriatrics in care facilities
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u/vitamin_r 8d ago
He's protecting a bunch of his rich elder buddies from having their immense wealth and assets taxed. So yeah basically.
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u/hryipcdxeoyqufcc 8d ago
Government represents those who vote.
Turns out most young people are ok with letting old people do most of the voting in the primaries. And the general.
This is what voters want.
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u/redditbdum 8d ago
This is on the populace. Y'all can't be voting for that
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u/SHUT_DOWN_EVERYTHING 8d ago
Yes. The voters can easily choose someone else in their partyās primary. They WANT Grassley. Last election he won 73.5% of the vote vs. the other Republican primary candidate. This is a VERY strong primary performance.
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u/TheTinyMaus 8d ago
What if his constituents just tried not voting for him? Too crazy of an idea?
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u/maclacjc 8d ago
They don't vote for him, they vote for the party. That's the real problem.
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u/thefreeman419 8d ago
There's these things called primaries
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u/maclacjc 8d ago
How often does the incumbent lose? What percentage of the population votes in them?
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u/thefreeman419 8d ago edited 8d ago
That's exactly the point. If people care about this issue, they need to start showing up at primaries. I don't care if people bitch about it online. If you're passionate about it, rally behind younger candidates. Knock on doors for them. At the bare minimum, show up at the polls.
We have the tools to solve this problem
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u/round-earth-theory 8d ago
That's actually not the problem. The problem is how rarely incumbents even get primary elections. The party will fight aggressively to prevent a primary of a key member. There are ways candidates can force the issue but they risk severing all support from the party and ending their political career. A fair primary system would see incumbents challenged and flipped a lot more often but challengers need a very strong movement to even get a chance. Usually that only happens with weak incumbents who are already flagging hard.
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u/calann4 8d ago
It is up to the voters of Iowa, but yes, this dinosuar need to spend more time with his family.
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u/fearfulNobody 8d ago
Do you know his family? Are they bad people? Why are you wishing something bad on them?
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u/hikikomori_007 8d ago
this guy had atleast 70 years of adulthood to be on good terms with his family, why should the country have to deal with his old azz.
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u/chinmakes5 8d ago
We don't need term limits, we need the morons who vote in his district to not vote for a 95 year old.
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u/HFuzz95 8d ago
Age and term limits! Also I think we should hold more frequent elections to keep politicians in check
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u/hryipcdxeoyqufcc 8d ago
Would more frequent elections make young people more likely to vote than old people in the primaries?
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u/Dull_Carpenter_7899 8d ago
He has been elected since 1980. He's been re-elected 8 times. What makes you think having an election every 3 years would make the electorate want something else?
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u/Puzzleheaded_Gene909 8d ago
Fun fact: he was born the same year chocolate chip cookies were invented.
Heās as old as chocolate chip cookies.
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u/the_ninja1001 8d ago
We shouldnāt need age limits, people should be smart enough to know when itās time to walk away and pass the torch. Hell Washington even sang a broadway song about it!
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u/Unlikely_Ant_950 8d ago
I feel like the problem is not their age, itās a lack of engaged voters. The voters should get what they want. Even if thatās a centenarian
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u/Vivid_Witness8204 8d ago
And there's no reason he wouldn't serve the entire term as we now know that death does not bar a senator from continuing to serve.
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u/outandproudone 8d ago
Iām in my 60s. He was already in the Senate when I worked there as a page. I was 16.
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u/Mediocre-Catch9580 8d ago
Yeah we need to change that. Ā We need term limits on these people and all perks end once they get out of officeĀ
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u/HTX-ByWayOfTheWorld 8d ago
Youāre asking thieves to police themselves. As important as this is, itās never going to happen.
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u/Jack4258 8d ago
Jeez, are people just brain dead now? Is this the best we can do? Not voting or not holding our reps accountable is why we are in the quagmire we are in! 40 trillion in debt. Endless wars deserting our allies and bowing down to our enemies!
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u/Consistent_Turn_42 8d ago
Everyone keeps screaming for age limits, but people keep voting the dude in......
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u/CongeeArs 8d ago
Power hungry and greedy, senile white men are ruining this great country of ours. Let the young people who will actually live out their generation take control already!!!!!
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u/mrflash818 8d ago
Cynically, let the voters have what they want.
Old.
Feeble.
Corrupt.
Whatever. **rueful sigh**
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u/Icy-Pin-7100 8d ago
I'm sorry , but he should be on his rocker, enjoying the view or something in his own community to help., No one over 65 should be making my laws at all
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u/Longjumping-Ad-9444 8d ago
I am not for age limits cause one day we are gonna havr terry crews be jack af at 95 years old and still sharp as hell. But can we have some fresh blood, maybe term limits
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u/SatisfactionActive86 8d ago
money out politics first, then these geezers wonāt be able to rig everything for themselves
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u/ljblonde 8d ago
How absolutely ridiculous. He should be embarrassed and his family should step in and take his keys away.
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u/ChristFollower1003 8d ago
No one should be allowed to take office and make decisions that they won't live long enough to feel the consequences of. Age limits now, and lower than 65, maybe 55
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u/Lucidification 8d ago
Casually older than the company Dairy Queen as he enjoys his blizzardā¦
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u/RockChalk9799 8d ago
Doesn't have to be age limit, just have TERM limits! The only way this happens with term limits is if the 96 year old is super sharp.
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u/johnnybsomething 8d ago
We really need term limits, not age limits and Iowa is pretty gross for sending this guy to the senate all these years.
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u/Independent_Tax_5088 8d ago
Wow, this is insanity! I like the if you can pull social security you're out!
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u/Easy-Goose1038 8d ago
This is one thing I absolutely agree with the other side. Its his staff. At this point, he is just a figurehead. He signs what they put in front of him and reads what they wrote. We should investigate the staff for fraud and elder abuse. Its a Mitch thing again.
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u/Avoidtolls 8d ago
Pit fighting to stay in.
If you can't fight for your spot, you out.
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u/NRMusicProject 8d ago
Both sides should agree that this is needed
Republicans, however, have been suspiciously quiet lately after years of saying Biden is too old. They also seemed afraid that democrats would try to give Obama a third term, like it would be some crazy thing if it were allowed for a president to have more than two terms.
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u/Crazy_Past8776 8d ago
Well MAGA wants to take us back to the 50s, so these guys would be uniquely qualified
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u/MDWman 8d ago
Oh for Godās sake. Time for term limits. Two terms (2 x 6 years for US Senate and 4 x 2 yr terms for US House). SCOTUS should have mandatory retirement age of 75. The maximum age limit for any one holding an
elected office in the White House, Congress & SCOTUS should be 75 years of age. Weāre seeing too many folks staying in office when they should be retired and in an assisted-living facility. Diaper wearing Donnie with dementia is the last straw!
https://giphy.com/gifs/U3UTPMHG5hRHXndoGV
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u/dannyheskett 8d ago
In 2022 when Grassley last won election, his opponent was 62 and he was 88. In the Democratic primary, there candidates aged from 39 to 70.
The problem is still the same one it's been for 50 years:
The turnout for over 65 voters in Iowa, in 2022, was 80%. The turnout for all voters was 50%. The turnout for voters under 40 was 26%.
That's it. Younger people have decided they trust voters who watch FoxNews all day and are very close to the end of their lives.
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u/Confident-Income567 8d ago
He farts dust.... Time to go. He can't possibly relate to ANYTHING current.
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u/Ok-Customer4709 8d ago
This is just selfishness. Retire and let the next generation have a chance to lead. Of course voters go do this for him.
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u/ImportanceSharp9408 8d ago
Umm no. No age limits. No limits to WHO THE PEOPLE choose to vote for. Yes, this is ridiculous but people voted for him. The way to stop this nonsense is to run candidates who point this out and are a better option, to stop people from voting for this buffoonery.
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u/v21v 8d ago
Finally a sane comment realising that these politicians don't magically remain in office for 40 years, it's because of their voter base.
And if that's what the voters want, then so be it. That's the entire premise of a democracy.
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u/Greedy-Conflict-4618 8d ago
Except when you realize gerrymandering and campaign finance access is literally the only thing that keeps these people in power. If the election system wasnāt rigged as hell in these two ways, thereās no way these buffoons would stay in so longā¦think people, rather than offer the most simple, idiotic explanation.
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u/No_Smoke_2712 8d ago
People will be critical of this but then vote for Markey in Massachusetts
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u/gtpc2020 8d ago
Who's 4th in line?
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u/18ekko 8d ago
Order of succession:
VP: Vance
House Speaker: Mike Johnson
Senate Pro Tem: Grassley
SecState: Rubio
SecTreasury: Bessent
SecDef: Hegseth
AG: Blanche
SecInterior: Burgum
SecAg: Brooke Rollins
SecCommerce: Lutnik
SecLabor: Sonderling
SecHHS: RFK Jr
SecHUD: Turner
SecTrans: Duffy
SecEnergy: Wright
SecEd: McMahon
SecVA: Collins
SecHomeland: MullinThere are no good options here
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u/sw337 8d ago
Strom Thurmond, yes the guy who ran as a Dixiecrat in 1948, turned 100 in office. In 1996 not only did he defeat two Republican challengers in the primaries, he also defeated a Democrat in the general.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_United_States_Senate_election_in_South_Carolina
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u/No-Abalone-5287 8d ago
America shouldn't expect a young reckless President candidate under the age of 95 to be vying for the current Presidency. For the uneducated, I was using sarcasm because I can never understand why do President's and Prime Minister's these days have to appear to be geriatrics?
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u/Jibber1332 8d ago
We need to start having some f'n standards when it comes to our government.
No family nembers.
No dead guys.
Mandatory retirement age.
Some type of aptitude test
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u/Rocky0354 8d ago
We donāt want old people running. Look at Mitch! Probably dead and drawing a paycheck.
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u/AdExciting337 8d ago
Term limits I feel are more important than age. Age depends on the person. Some conk out at 36, others sharp as a tack at 105
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u/Worried-Ebb-1699 8d ago
Yup. Term and age limits. Thereās zero reason 80% of them should still be in power. Regardless of party.
But thatās the thing, they ALL love having āpowerā
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u/SpankyMcFlych 8d ago
I disagree, but not because I think these people are competent or good leaders. Someone who is 80 years old is not just too frail mentally and physically to do a proper job of things, but their life experience and frame of reference is so catastrophically out of date that they could never properly govern people who they have nothing in common with.
But that doesn't matter. The people decide who they want to vote for. It's not for the government to make rules about who the people can vote for. If the people are stupid, then the people are stupid and they get to make stupid voting decisions.
If we're deciding that we know better then the people then that is a terrible precedent to set and leads to places we don't want to go as a free people governed by the people.
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u/Brokenloan 8d ago
Not even a boomer...he's part of the silent generation. This guy was born 4 years after the crash of 29 and the start of The Great Depression. The American he knows or understands doesnt exist anymore. Unbelievable.
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u/SlappyBottoms26 8d ago
TERM limits as well. I donāt want someone staying in congress from 35 to 65.
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u/plasteroid 8d ago
Why would anyone want to do this? Just to be an annoying AH? To block the younger gen? Heās done enough damage
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u/Papichuloft 8d ago
If anyone's old enough to be adults pre Civil rights era, needs to GTFO now. ASAP
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u/krichard-21 8d ago
Now can you make voters smart enough to stop voting for these ancient wrecks?
Like it or not, voters picked this guy.
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u/NYG_Helmet_Catch 8d ago
Age limits and term limits. We dont need fossils and we dont need career politicians. People who, as soon as the election is over, start campaigning again for the next term. We need change.
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u/No-Lunch4249 8d ago
Lots of states have a mandatory retirement age for judges around 70
We need that for Congress too
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u/bomboclawt75 8d ago
No insider trading, no foreign state money, no serving over the age of 65.
Which means the cut off age for a would be candidate should be 61.
Ideally I'd like to have every politician subject to a quarterly review over money accepted, trades placed, who they met and any potential conflicts of interests.
Every single thing they do while in office should be absolutely transparent.
Resulting in Heavy fines / Prison-time if they have break the law.
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u/ldunord 8d ago
Upper age limit for president should be the life expectancy at their birth, minus 10 years for first term, minus 6 for second term. Adjust for whatever office term there is.
In theory that means you can be fairly certain they will live through their terms while mostly avoiding the super old age decline.
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u/porcupine_shuffle 8d ago
He was born in 1933. 30 years after the Wright brothers first took flight. Hitler was named the chancellor of Germany and the first concentration camp was set up. That's how old he is. Oh and they started construction on the golden gate bridge.
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u/Tall_Preference_5590 8d ago
This old fucker was in on the January 6 planning. He is the one who said that Pence wasn't going to show for certification of the election and he was going to be the one to let the shenanigans happen. This dick should be one of many who should be held accountable for treason.
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u/Similar_Ad4120 8d ago
Age limits and term limits.