GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley on Thursday called the Senate “the most privileged nursing home in the country.”
In response to a question about Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) apparently freezing up on Wednesday while taking questions in Covington, Ky., Haley said on Fox News that the Kentucky senator has “done some great things, and he deserves credit,” but emphasized that “you have to know when to leave.”
““No one should feel good about seeing that any more than we should feel good about seeing Dianne Feinstein, any more than we should feel good about a lot of what’s happening or seeing Joe Biden’s decline,” Haley said. “What I will say is, right now, the Senate is the most privileged nursing home in the country.”
She is but I can’t help but think she has unstated motives for saying it.
Benching Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are her motive for starters, and there are a lot more that are only a few years younger: this isn’t about age nearly as much as it’s about freeing influence and power from a handful of titans on the D side.
It’s also about pushing the Senate closer to R control, and making it easier to target Dianne Feinstein by removing any whataboutery involving Mitch McConnell. In his own right, Mitch McConnell is also an albatross to many in his own party, so for them this is two birds with one stone.
But either way, the problem with putting in absolute age limits is that the longer you’re in Congress (either house) the more power you accrue, and when you’re good anyway this gives you the potential to be spectacularly good, and to push through legislation for average Americans that would not be accomplished otherwise, like Ted Kennedy did for Obamacare.
Another example would be Elizabeth Warren, who created the CFPB, which gives average consumers much more leverage than the usual thoughts and prayers when dealing with big banks. Because she had the seniority and committee assignments she had for as long as she did, she was able to force this through and keep it alive despite MASSIVE pressure from big banks (big donors on both sides) to shoot it down or kneecap its power in any way they could think of. And that’s just another example of what an older, long-term Senator can do for the people. In the House, Nancy Pelosi is another example of the power and influence an older legislator can accrue, and wield for the good of the country if they are true to their oaths.
In light of that, to me, it should be up to each party to cap a particular legislator’s age on a case-by-case basis, because the chronological number just isn’t enough anymore, especially now when there are razor thin margins involved in the balance of power in both houses of Congress. It can be done responsibly without ceding any power: for example, when Ted Kennedy was sick, he simply had other senators fill his committee assignments. John McCain was another who was ill for a long time. This does not have to be an issue, and in the past it would not be. But now it’s just another convenient target to shoot down all obstacles to a bicameral majority.
It’s also worth remembering that just like with the double-faced R approach to Supreme Court nominations, if age-based term limits were passed the Rs would simply carve out exceptions for whoever they wanted while continuing to insist on adherence to the letter of the law for anyone else. Same as it ever was.
Wait, are you saying that the Democrats have been carefully sidelining, discrediting and shoving the younger members into a dark closet whenever possible? Man, sounds like we should just support the geariatrics then. No way they should get the fuck out of the way and let the popular young elected members of their party actually speak.
Your strawman is well slain. Get back to me when you have familiarized yourself with how Congress works and acquired a basic understanding of committee assignments, and how laws are passed.
Schoolhouse Rock “I’m Just a Bill” is a great place to start. I’m not kidding. Anyone who can reductio ad absurdum what I just said into what you just wrote needs to start at the very beginning.
Here is an alternative Piped link(s): https://piped.video/watch?v=SZ8psP4S6BQ
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I’m open-source, check me out at GitHub.
Love at the end. They tell em “he’s a bill” … He moan’s in a high pitch “oh YYYyah”
Gotcha, I’ll just vote harder for the people I don’t agree with until they magically replace themselves. You owned me so hard. #Clinton2028
That wasn’t MY hand, friend. Look down.
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Aw, poor lil ad hominem reduced to namecalling because he’s all out of ideas. Thanks for letting us all know how insecure you are, lol.
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Much like the GOP support of states deciding law, they’re welcome to set their parties own age limits.
Person trying to boost popularity says popular thing.
Standard GOP tactic
Probably. Still, I’m damned sick of the gerontocracy.