cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/45996578
Democratic members of Congress know they have an age problem—and it’s hurting them.
Most of the Old guard Democrats need to go. They’ve been running the same playbook for years and it’s simply not working. Voters are no longer interested in performant bills with no chance of passing and politicians that break even modest campaign promises. The population is ready for real change, to be done with the status quo.
Look at my home state of Connecticut as an example. Electricity here is among the most expensive in the nation. Our state is solidly blue, but the Democrats do very little to regulate the electrical monopoly and yet every election they trot out the same nonsense about programs that help poor people afford heat. Well guess what guys, the rest of us are suffering too. You don’t have to be below the poverty line and qualify for assistance to be hurting.
It’s the same crap nationally. We pay a lot in taxes, much of it is wasted we’re blown away on pork, and there is no meaningful change.
DNC needs to scrap the old playbook focus on issues that everybody can get behind, not just the base. Abandon wedge issues like gun control which only piss off rural moderates, stop making trans equality the hill to die on, and instead focus on things everybody wants like getting corruption out of Washington, efficient use of government funds, reducing waste, and protecting consumers from the worst offenders like big banks.
Rein in private equity a little, get big investors out of the single family housing market, make home ownership affordable. That’s the sort of thing that gets you votes.
The DNC endorsed replacement be like…
Does not help that election day is on a workday, so only the retired olds have the free time to easily vote.
We need an age cap on politicians. I’m sick of these old fucks screwing everything up and dying in a cushy job.
Get the fuck out and let new young people who haven’t had their soul destroyed yet do something.
C’mon team, if you’re like 72, get the heck out of there and let new people try.
Lower.
Yeah like 64 is an age when you still have some umph and you’re not totally old.
Committee assignments are granted by seniority, so it’s advantageous to have legislators with a lot of seniority.
In the Senate, West Virginia had Robert Byrd for basically forever — he was the longest-serving senator in American history, died in office — and so he got to lead the Appropriations Committee, which gets to direct money places, which is a pretty desirable spot.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Byrd
Robert Carlyle Byrd (born Cornelius Calvin Sale Jr.; November 20, 1917 – June 28, 2010) was an American politician who served as a United States senator from West Virginia for over 51 years, from 1959 until his death in 2010. A Democrat, Byrd also served as a U.S. representative for six years, from 1953 until 1959. He remains the longest-serving U.S. senator in history; he was the longest-serving member in the history of the United States Congress[1][2][3][4] until surpassed by Representative John Dingell of Michigan.
Byrd became West Virginia’s Senior Senator in 1985 following the retirement of Jennings Randolph. He served three different tenures as chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Appropriations, which enabled Byrd to steer a great deal of federal money toward projects in West Virginia.[9] Critics derided his efforts as pork barrel spending,[10] while Byrd argued that the many federal projects he worked to bring to West Virginia represented progress for the people of his state.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seniority_in_the_United_States_House_of_Representatives
Committee leadership in the House is often associated with seniority, especially in the Democratic Caucus. The Republican leadership, in comparison with the Democratic Party, prioritizes voting records and campaign fundraising over seniority for committee leadership.[2] Party leadership in the House is not strictly associated with seniority.
The more senior a representative is, the more likely the representative is to receive desirable committee assignments or leadership posts.
Wonderfully articulate description of another aspect of us meta-policy that needs reformation
Maybe they should stop platforming these geriatric fucks and make space for the next generation then.
At a certain age, people stop working. And at an even more advanced age, people stop driving. It obviously shows that even the sharpest of minds age. So why the hell are people allowed to work until they literally expire. We need age limits for the government. I’m sick of old people so far removed from today’s culture making rules based on Jim Crow era guidelines. Our last two presidents have been barely functional, dementia-riddled puppets AT BEST.
I just want to caution against us developing the stereotype that people’s capabilities slowly fade to zero, at which moment they die. That’s not always how it goes. People can die suddenly at any age, but the odds go up as you get older. You can die at 80 but still be productive when it happens. Your productivity can also go to zero years before you actually expire.
We have an elderly problem in US governance, but let’s not address it with a bunch of stereotypes about the elderly.
I was confused, because Obama wasn’t dementia riddled…then I remembered Biden existed.
Thats how forgetable his term was.
With the notable exception of Obama, every US President since 1993 has been born in the 1940s. Thats over 3 decades with presidents born at almost the same time (most in the same year).
Boomers will never let go of power
Yeah, but Clinton took office 30+ years ago. Bush took office 25+ years ago.
I get that they’re old today, but that would be like 20 years from now saying Obama is too old to be president. Which 20 years from now WOULD be true, except that his term was 2009-2017.
Biden and trump? Yeah, I fully get why they’re too old.
Yes there’s nothing particularly odd about the first couple of names in this timeline. The point is what comes after them.
Yeah, but Clinton took office 30+ years ago
And is a little over a month YOUNGER than the dementia riddled fascist currently infesting the office.
Nobody here thinks the dementia riddled fascist should have been president at any age.
And nobody thinks Clinton should be president at this age.
When old guys get that “Mouth Open, Catching Flies Resting Face,” it’s time to stop working, and start fishing.
The arguments against this are that old people pay taxes and should have their fair share of representation in government.
The problem here is that olds are going to nominate olds and the ideals of the young are being completely ignored, so the younger populations are not being fairly represented. The DNC and GOP are both putting their worst and oldest candidates forward.
All offices need an age cap of 65, and the Supreme Court justices need an age cap of 60 and have term limits of no longer than 5 years. Supreme Court justices should be nominated elected by the people to make sure they balance the needs of the people with the wants of the president.
It’s as simple as this(if only to me anyways). Experience DOES matter. Let me attempt to explain where I’m coming from, no promise I’ll succeed
Forging relationships and networks with hundreds of people and organizations is incredibly valuable to getting things done. Doing something for a long time generally makes you better at something.
When that something is talking to people and convincing them of things you are trying to accomplish, being known to the levers that you need to push and pull lets you get better results.
I’m personally not opposed to much better cognitive checks before, and also beyond a certain age for all public positions that have real affect on how everyone else will have to live, but there are centenarians with full and complete faculties, not many for sure, but knowledge is power, even if the flesh is weak that knowledge is still very valuable.
If if I’m not wrong, then arbitrarily throwing away close to a century of experience just because of a number, and not competency is crazy to me. I fully admit I don’t know how to responsibly design and implement such a thing though. It could easily be abused/corrupted so that’s a problem to figure out unfortunately. But I do think it’s possible to design such check from people much better than myself. And yes I realize nothing is perfect but that’s okay because life is change and any system needs to be able to adapt to changes of modernity
That being said there are also other things we could do. One thing I’ve always thought would be good is we could revive the concept of an Council of Elders and give it some influence on the processes we employ our leadership. Something like an appeals approval thing or oversight committee with some type of usable lever they can flex when needed. I don’t really know how it would work, just thinking out loud a little here. Kind of like a jury but not too much with power. I’m from North America and First Nations here still have long way to go to before past injustices are reconciled but I think as a nation we should include more of their cultural traditions in the way we govern the country.
I think I’ll stop this stream of consciousness here since most people have probably dipped anyway and I’m running out of steam anyways
If young people voted as much as old people vote, this problem would correct itself
Historically “retirement” was not a thing, you just moved to lighter tasks. People only really stopped working when they no longer physically and mentally could.
The thing you say about rich old fossils and cold war relics running the west, is a problem though. Their age isn’t per se the issue, them being out of touch pillars of the status quo and being generally oppressive is.
Our last two presidents have been barely functional, dementia-riddled puppets AT BEST.
Trying to sneak in the Nazi propaganda right there at the end huh?
I’m sorry. I genuinely have no idea why it came off as Nazi propaganda. It certainly wasn’t my intention. Could you tell me what I did wrong?
Could you tell me what I did wrong?
- The whole “Biden was senile” or “Biden was a puppet” thing was pure Nazi propaganda, Biden was old, and physically frail, but the idea that he was mentally lost during his presidency was just pushed by fox news and other Nazi “news” sources, there is no credible evidence to suggest otherwise.
He stepped down because he was not a particularly popular president, and because people are dumb enough to believe the Nazis when they say something.
- Attempting to pretend like Biden and Trump are even remotely similar is just Nazi propaganda, but this time with an “enlightened centrist” slant.
Uhh, he was senile. Everything in his debate and press conferences indicated as such.
We beat Medicare… lol
He stepped down because he came off badly during his debate with Trump.
DNC treated David Hogg like shit after he was elected to the DNC on the getting rid of geriatric incumbents. He’s working outside of them now because he realizes it’s rotten.
he was a threat to the DNC so they ousted him, thats why they also laid of attacking zohran on the airwaves. there was this veteran “presley” guy that was mostly ignored by the dnc that was funding all these wars, they dont want anyone like that on thier team one bit.
What’s been keeping them in office the last couple decades was a corrupt DNC that would blackball individuals/companies that worked to challenge incumbents, even going so far to bankrupt whole state parties to punish reps who didn’t toe the party line
That’s over, it’s been over. Current DNC has been dumping that money that was hoarded back to state parties, so they can’t use it as a club later.
And Martin ran Minnesota for a decade, he’s never endorsed a candidate before the primary, never put fingers on the scales, and the result was the state going from purple to progressive insanely quickly.
Some state parties are still shitty, but these coming elections are the best chance we’ve had since the 90s to get new blood in.
No matter what happens, we need to get people to vote in upcoming Dem primaries
So, I want to make sure I am informed and involved. What is the best source of information for democratic primary candidates, and where can I verify how and when I can vote?
Primaries don’t mean shit when the DNC puts their thumbs on the scale to make sure candidates like Bernie lose the nomination. The problem is at least in part the DNC itself
This person regularly claims that Ken Martin’s leadership position heralds the end of that era. There’s nuance here and I don’t think we actually have clarity yet.
For example, the DNC very recently voted against banning AIPAC money in their primary elections. To be fair, they opted instead for a broad resolution condemning dark money…but that doesn’t actually prevent AIPAC from flooding primary elections with cash to tip the scales. It also doesn’t necessarily prevent dark money contributions either.
So, to me this signals nothing has changed at all. Typical weak sauce Dems, trying to get away with saying the bare minimum and actually doing nothing. I’m cynical of the party’s ability to do anything other than play identity politics pattycakes while serving the rich and Israel, and expect the same old tricks to either ratfuck or completely cancel primaries in favor of anointed reps who work for Israel above America. Consider the fact that they’re already applying massive pressure to prevent anyone from attempting to primary Schumer, one of the worst offenders of this type of treason and frankly looking quite likely to die in office as well.
Time will tell, but don’t get too optimistic…
For example, the DNC very recently voted against banning AIPAC money in their primary elections.
It wasn’t even a ban just a symbolic vote to say “hey maybe we shouldn’t be taking money from Nazis” and they still voted against it.
Agreed this user repeats this same information in most of their comments, but we havent seen any actual change in candidates or policy. This is the same man that also said the DNC is going to prioritize winning elections over all else which means ideology is officially taking a backseat to telling voters what they want to hear. We saw that in the 2024 elections with Harris taking a hard stance against immigration and the poor, while pushing pro-corporate, pro-police, and pro-Israel rhetoric in addition to touring around with Dick fucking Cheney because they though that is what the voters wanted to hear and that is what would secure them a win. We all saw how that turned out. We’re going to see a lot more of it.
Still waiting anything to happen that will prove it’s changed with him as chair. What’s sad is givesomefucks also cheers on anything the dnc does as an example of it changing.
And Martin ran Minnesota for a decade, he’s never endorsed a candidate before the primary, never put fingers on the scales, and the result was the state going from purple to progressive insanely quickly.
I think you missed that…
The problem is at least in part the DNC itself
The problem is you think 2016 DNC has anything to do with 2026 DNC…
Acting like it does, just makes everyone aware of your ignorance of our political system.
I’d try explaining it, but we saw how well that went last time
The problem is you think 2016 DNC has anything to do with 2026 DNC…
The 2016 DNC is the same as the 2020 DNC and the 2024 DNC. If you think the DNC has changed because one guy got moved into a new role, you’ll need to back that up with actual receipts not just empty rhetoric and future promises.
These are the people we voted in to Lord over us
are they pissed, or they just inconvenienced temporarily. the gop has no problem getting thier old farts in congress, at the least they realize they needed a younger conservative so they can stay in congress longer, but not dems. or they elect perverts.
Dnc is expected to push newsome to the forefront.
Remember when Democrats aka BlueMAGA said asking Ginsberg to retire in her 80s so Obama could fill the vacancy was anti-feminist? Same thing.
I mean… The insurance is very enticing.
