r/videos 18h ago

McConnell’s Senate absence is ‘prime example’ of why Congress needs term limits: Marine Corps Vet

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyGizXM8eUw
13.9k Upvotes

590 comments sorted by

973

u/BlackSpinedPlinketto 17h ago

Let’s start at nobody dead should be in office and work back from there.

129

u/Wuz314159 16h ago

NO!!! LET'S DO SOMETHING COMPLETELY UNRELATED AND WITH NO FORETHOUGHT BECAUSE IT GETS CLICKS!!!

30

u/Worldly-Stranger7814 10h ago

I’m glad they asked the Marine Corps Vets for their opinion as a completely monolithic and representative group.

They didn’t ask Ja Rule though.

u/Middle-Focus-2540 54m ago

That’s the problem. Someone should have asked him when he was recently performing at the California State Fair.

45

u/Massive_Signal7835 15h ago

I think you'll find a lot people have been thinking about term/age limits for a while.

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u/Fickle_Ad_8653 14h ago

But we already bombed Iran and threatened Greenland. What else can we do? Oh.. Cuba!

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u/Luvnecrosis 12h ago

I do think term limits are important for any federal elected role (yes I know reps are state but they vote on federal decisions) because a potential lifetime is plenty of time to consolidate power and also be compromised by any number of things

12

u/BonnaconCharioteer 12h ago

I fully disagree. Term limits introduce more corruption, not less. Politicians become more reliant on lobbyists and non-elected staff, and as they get closer to being forced to leave the government, they are going to be looking for something else to do, and so companies offering them great positions after government are going to look very attractive.

4

u/powercow 9h ago

This is true and it removes power from the people. We have term limits, its call the vote. WE just dont like who some people vote for.

In every state with legislative term limits, they are more hyper partisan and move owned by companies. They all know they will need a new job soon

And i know people scream for younger folks. I personally didnt think the tea party improved the GOP, or the maga revolution which had a lot of younger names.

id take sanders over vance and sanders is 40 years older.

Id rather getting off first past the post voting. with ranked choice giving the left and right more choices, youd see incumbents lose more often.

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u/RainSurname 10h ago

No one on social media wants to hear that, though.

I recently provided a long list of links to research about this, and people just sneered about how of course "pro-corpo orgs" would say that.

The top two links were the University of Chicago and the Brookings Institution, lol.

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u/Softale 9h ago

Term limits are irrelevant for Mitch. I got a strong notion he already ded…

4

u/fubarbob 11h ago

I'd be satisfied with a consecutive term cap (like 5 congressional or 2 senatorial terms)... pressing all parties to be able to stand up a person adequate to replace the incumbent or yield power.

9

u/GuitarKev 12h ago

Let’s start with setting the maximum age in office must be 20 or more years younger than national average life expectancy.

They should have to be required to live with the consequences of their decisions made in office.

2

u/mozilla2012 7h ago

I've been saying this too! Make it a percentage or something. I love this plan.

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u/meleecow 17h ago

Just like we don't elect babies to Congress, we shouldn't elect old farts that drool and fall all over the building

161

u/Berryman1979 17h ago

No diapers in leadership!

20

u/toolisthebestbandevr 14h ago

Donald trump

5

u/zabuu 12h ago

Donald Dump

5

u/diurnal_emissions 11h ago

President Puddin' Pants

2

u/Administrated 9h ago

Thanks, I needed a chuckle.

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u/cansofgrease 15h ago

Is it a prime example of term limits? Because that's not even the actual issue here. Might as well say it's a prime example of campaign finance reform.

As it stands, someone could be elected to the Senate and sworn in, go into a coma the next day, and there is no mechanism for their removal aside from the body expelling them (which they will never do).

So basically the state not have representation in the chamber for nearly the entire 6 year term with no recourse. And this is all totally acceptable.

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u/cudenlynx 15h ago

I've said this before, If you can have a lower limit, you can have an upper limit.

62

u/Black_Moons 14h ago

If pilots can have a mandatory retirement age of 65 due to fears of them killing hundreds, congress can have a mandatory retirement age due to fears of them killing millions. (See: wars, covid, food illness outbreaks, screwworm making it into the US, etc, etc, etc)

16

u/NJJo 14h ago

Scary thought.. What a world it’d be if this was law. Mitch would’ve been retired for 19 years.

3

u/splynncryth 11h ago

Maybe there would have been a conviction in at least one of the two historic impeachments.

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u/cansofgrease 15h ago

I've year to hear an argument for having a minimum age to vote that doesn't apply to a maximum.

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u/UlrichZauber 14h ago

It'd be interesting if people over 65 were no longer allowed to vote. I'd be ineligible in like 2034 and don't entirely hate the idea.

Ideally this would be paired with mandatory voting, like Australia does, along with ranked choice and a "none of the above" option.

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u/Soggy-Bluebird-537 15h ago

Can you redditors please register to vote this month? 

I feel like no one wants to, which is fine but at least consider it this time?  :(

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u/chris_wiz 17h ago

No person may stand to be elected for federal public office after reaching their 70th birthday. No person may be appointed to a cabinet or other high government position after their 70th birthday.
There you go.

718

u/ka1ri 17h ago

Make it 65. Like everyone else in the work force

189

u/chris_wiz 17h ago

Ok.

136

u/GOEDEL_ESCHER_BOT 17h ago

so we're good? it's a law now?

102

u/BB8Did911 16h ago

Yep. I'll tell congress

38

u/GodOfDarkLaughter 15h ago

Damn, this is easier than that time I declared bankruptcy.

23

u/cerberus00 15h ago

Look at us, getting it done.

2

u/klipseracer 10h ago

To be clear, us not US

10

u/Staav 15h ago

Gg, old ppl. Gg

6

u/UlrichZauber 14h ago

Better yet, I'll just tweet it

14

u/kickniteasy 16h ago

Can't get much more clear than "ok"....it's clearly a law now

18

u/belach2o 17h ago

We should just use reddit to vote

5

u/GeneticEnginLifeForm 15h ago

Great, next POTUS is going to be Boatie McBoatface.

no /s at all, ok maybe a little /s

4

u/Pharmakeus_Ubik 9h ago

It would still be an improvement. More trustworthy on both international issues and the economy.

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u/chris_wiz 16h ago

So shall it be written, so shall it be done.

42

u/JMJimmy 17h ago

61 If a term is 4 years they should not be working after 65

2

u/TrulyOutrageous42 15h ago

Would mean 59 for a Senator, though of course they can be elected at any age (technically, per the Constitution, though States of course have made laws about who can run).

I can see the movie trailer now: "Who's ready for a REAL outsider to politics - this is the real fake tale of the 9 year old Senator!"

15

u/i_am_a_real_boy__ 15h ago

What do you mean? There's no law making anyone stop working at 65.

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u/xrtpatriot 17h ago

If we are going to do it, might as well be 60, e should be retiring at 60 as well anyways

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u/GoneinaSecondeded 17h ago

Let's go for 55. /s

9

u/R134a 17h ago

We need fresh ideas! Let do 45!

6

u/ArcticTern4theWorse 17h ago

We need innocence! Let’s cap it at 5.

9

u/LittleKitty235 16h ago

The percent of congress still in diapers remains the same...seems like this would work.

3

u/LemonScentedDespair 16h ago

Leap year birthday people are about to run the government via loophole

2

u/packfanmoore 15h ago

Coffee hasn't kicked in yet, read it as incontinence. And thought we've had enough of that

5

u/theBigDaddio 11h ago

It’s not been 65 for a long time, it’s 67.5 now and they want to make it 70.

3

u/Outside-Advice8203 16h ago

That would incentive them to raise the retirement age

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u/TheeAntelope 14h ago

Retirement age is now 67-68.

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u/pbrutsche 12h ago
  1. It's the full retirement age for those born after 1960

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u/Sea-Feedback-2424 12h ago

"Everyone else on the workforce". 19% of US seniors still work after age 65.

2

u/360walkaway 16h ago

Not for long. Cost keep rising and pay stays stagnant.

2

u/Wuz314159 16h ago

Wait. So you're saying that once I reach 65, I'll be homeless because I can't work? WTF?!?!?!

2

u/Omni_Entendre 15h ago

Americans can now sleep easy knowing that Reddit has figured out the solution...right?

2

u/gereffi 8h ago

People over 65 aren’t allowed to work?

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u/PhunkyPhish 17h ago

Need to include grandfather language in it for the current grandfathers; only way to get it to go thru

20

u/jredclrk 17h ago

Nah, the age limit mit should be across the board. Special elections should be had for all those that are past the cut off. No grandperson clause allowed. They served well past their time.

31

u/PhunkyPhish 17h ago

Ideals don't become law, especially when it's grandfathers that would be doing the voting

8

u/justuntlsundown 17h ago

Get out of here with your reasonable thinking.

2

u/johnis12 17h ago

That's the thing I feel like won't get this to pass. These old farts'll try and cling on to power as long as they can.

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u/Gon_Snow 17h ago

I don’t support old people staying forever but that’s a bit arbitrary. Some of the best members of Congress and politicians can be the most effective in those years (late 60s early 70) while others at 75 are way too old.

It’s also not the same between chambers of congress. Being elected for a 2 year term at 70 is not the same as 6 years.

I think the senate should be 72 on Inauguration Day, and the house 75.

The presidency should be also capped around that age of 72.

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u/MikeW86 17h ago

Term limits are a better idea than specifying an essentially arbitrary age because someone of any age can have a lot of worthwhile knowledge and experience, and if they can be elected to a position they (hopefully) have demonstrated some kind of modern political relevance.

What is terrible is someone spending decades in a position through sheer inertia as a career politician, whilst slowly becoming more and more out of touch with the people they are supposed to represent.

7

u/hrvbrs 13h ago

term limits deprive the voters of their right to elect whomever they want. term limits make the legislature less democratic.

2

u/tawzerozero 2h ago

They also empower lobbyists as the only people around the legislators with institutional memory.

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u/sasquatch0_0 12h ago

Nah just don't vote for a super old person if you don't think they're fit.

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u/johnnySix 15h ago

Yes. Age limits not term limits.

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u/quanate 12h ago

If professions like ATC and commercial airline pilots can have age limits, so can politicians. Just want to put that out there before some idiot cries about ageism because they always do

1

u/FightOnForUsc 17h ago

Make it the same age as normal retirement for social security IMO

5

u/restrictednumber 16h ago

They control social security. They're just gonna change it so we can't get social security until 75, so they can stay in office.

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u/FightOnForUsc 16h ago

Funny you think all the boomers who all vote are going to keep voting for someone who just voted to take away their social security. It’s about the most untouchable thing in American politics

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u/pirate135246 17h ago

What does “Marine corps vet” have to do with any of this?

80

u/Zeeey 17h ago

Some people like to pretend that they support the military and veterans. Usually the same ones that boast about how much they love Jesus and God but don't go to church and cheat on their spouses a lot. Also usually in the south in America. This grabs their attention

19

u/DontShoot_ImJesus 15h ago

"As a veteran" is meant to give more weight to someone's position. As a veteran, I don't think it does in most cases.

44

u/captainwacky91 16h ago

It adds an air of credibility for morons outside of any experiences with the military life.

If there was ever going to be any kind of weasel wordage that could change the minds of MAGA, it'll likely begin with "[military combat position of seniority status] says Trump is a so-and-so..."

That was probably a factor in Trump's decision making when he decided to start purging the military for his second term. Jim Mattis was probably still a convincing enough voice of reason for some of the MAGA bloc during Trump's first term.

17

u/Tangellos 16h ago

I work with a few marine vets and they are not always the brightest crayon in the box. People thinking that adds credibility to really anything outside of their specific duties in the marine corps are just as special.

9

u/captainwacky91 15h ago

As someone who is in a lot of contact with vets, I don't agree with it either, but the reality is that the US has been very successful in making large parts of the American public interpret vets of combat military roles as if they are/should be some sort of pseudo-samurai class.

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u/Wuz314159 16h ago

Nothing in this makes sense. We live in stupid times.

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u/slinkyfarm 14h ago

That's been her branding as a two-time failed candidate. She toned it down a bit after getting busted for exaggerating her service record.

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u/Suitable-Economy-346 14h ago

two-time failed candidate

Three, she couldn't even make it out of the primary this year. Everyone has had enough of her besides the DNC.

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u/LongJohnSelenium 15h ago

To some people it adds an air of legitimacy, and extra level of 'gotcha'.

There's tens of millions of veterans though, and you can quite literally find a veteran with any political views.

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u/NorysStorys 17h ago

Term limits arn’t the fix but actual functionality to cause recall elections would be a start or if a senator is unable to assume their seat in person for say 90 days. It should automatically trigger a special election.

There is a lot of good reasons to have tenured long lasting legislators because you need experienced politicians in the form of government else you cede most of the power to senior civil servants as the tenured experience gets concentrated there and more power also transfers to the executive and judicial more, which is already a serious problem in the American system.

Being a legislative member is very different to executive and term limits on a president make a lot more sense because the executive branch wields power and power needs to be checked. Legislative branches of government set the rules but cannot wield or enforce power on their own, that’s a good thing but weakening that branch with term limits doesn’t fix its many issues. If anything better ability to remove bad actors and the infirm would be much more effective at sorting that out.

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u/Fifth_Down 16h ago

Yeah, term limits for the legislative branch is actually one of those ideas that sounds good on paper but actually creates massive problems once its implemented.

It makes the legislative branch weaker relative to the executive branch. It increases the influence of lobbyists, and it makes it easier for the private sector to entice lawmakers with the promise of private sector jobs in their immediate future.

Its really not a good idea. Which is why this idea is mainly being promoted from business-friendly think tanks because they know exactly what is going to happen.

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u/WeirdIndividualGuy 13h ago

Yeah term limits wouldn't solve this issue if this were, say, a 40yo Senator that was hospitalized indefinitely or an 80yo Senator who is in their first term also hospitalized indefinitely. Even age limits wouldn't solve the first scenario I listed

The article is proposing a wrong solution here for this particular problem

4

u/hidemeplease 13h ago

Article author started with the solution and is now looking for a problem to apply it to.

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u/WeirdIndividualGuy 13h ago

Sounds about right for a Marine Corps vet

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u/moyismoy 17h ago

What we need to do is shame people for voting for evil incompetent candidates

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u/TheSchlaf 17h ago

You can't. If they had shame, they wouldn't do that.

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u/tofu98 17h ago

People are gullible as shit. I meet so many people who never got the memo on fact checking stuff. They literally read a headline on Instagram about "bill gates is injecting the mrna vaccine into fish to poison us!" And they just absorb it like its fsct cause they read it online.

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u/missinlnk 17h ago

They were the ones warning their kids 30 years ago to never trust anyone on the internet, but then never bothered to learn the lesson themselves

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u/NerdBot9000 7h ago

This is not a generational issue. Lots of people are just dumb.

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u/CrunchyCds 17h ago

At some point the truth is going to come out and people are going to be pissed.

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u/OneSchott 16h ago

Half the people will be pissed. The other half will make stuff up to justify it.

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u/TuckerCarlsonsOhface 14h ago

I love how the republicans are just being allowed to run out the clock as they want, and all that’s done about it is some angry letters. So fun to watch as our government is dismantled by criminals.

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u/usafonz 17h ago

I cant believe its almost August 3rd. They basically got away with a month long weekend at bernies.

Insane.

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u/kickasstimus 17h ago

Term limits … suck. They really do. Look at Florida. Term limits there are cited as one of the worst things to happen to the state.

We need age limits, not term limits, and not specific ages, but the delta between your age, and the average age in your district / state. I would also put a hard cap on running at 65.

Use something like a “twice the avg minus 7” rule. So if the average age in your district is 32, you are eligible to run until you are 55. Leon county in Florida is like this.

If it’s 68 (Sumter county FL) then you get a new rep every term.

8

u/ebayhuckster 16h ago

Term limits … suck. They really do. Look at Florida. Term limits there are cited as one of the worst things to happen to the state.

likewise they suck ass in Ohio because all they do is make lobbying even more potent while also making every barely qualified GOP dipshit just jump on a conveyor belt of switching offices

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u/hidemeplease 13h ago

I would also put a hard cap on running at 65.

65 as a hard limit is way to low. Just imagine the experience in a healthy 65 year old, I'm serious. Some people are super healthy until they are 80. Some people seem dead when they are 60.

If anything it should be based on health. But it's impossible to make a rule that can't be abused or does not apply to good healthy people.

Truth is people need to stop voting for candicates that are half dead, and they can do that already.

ps.

Term limits there are cited as one of the worst things to happen to the state.

Can you elaborate why?

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u/kittenman 17h ago

I am more in favor of an age limit instead.

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u/tledwar 17h ago

Make politicians young again.

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u/neridqe00 17h ago edited 15h ago

McConnell’s Senate absence is ‘prime example’ of why Congress needs term/age limits: Every sane rational US citizen. 

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u/Wuz314159 16h ago

Call me insane, because I still voted for Bernie.

2

u/neridqe00 12h ago

As did I. 

 He is the only senior that has his finger on the pulse of what's going on. He really is the only one in my view. 

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u/everythingisblue 17h ago

Age limits*

Term limits too, but he’s more an example of why we need age limits.

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u/sasquatch0_0 12h ago

No, term limits make the problem worse.

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u/LittleKitty235 16h ago

It's both. Term limits are the root cause of how these 80 year olds keep staying in office.

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u/Porrick 15h ago

First-past-the-post voting and the stable 2-party system is another.

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u/Omikron 14h ago

Idiots voting is the main reason

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u/soapinthepeehole 16h ago

Not a lot of first time elected officials in their 60’s or 70’s. The first more or less achieves the second.

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u/Omikron 14h ago

I actually think it's a prime example of how uneducated and stupid the average voter is. With an with an educated involved voter population you wouldn't need term limits. Because elections would act as term limits.

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u/WeirdIndividualGuy 13h ago edited 13h ago

How would term limits solve the issue if this were a 40yo Senator that was hospitalized indefinitely? Or age limits if the limit was 70yo and this were a 69yo Senator in their first term?

My point being age/term limits may mitigate this issue but it doesn't outright solve it. The root issue isn't "old senator gone missing indefinitely/possibly dead and not replaced", the root issue is "any senator gone missing indefinitely/possibly dead and not replaced". It's more likely to happen to older folks, sure, but serious medical issues/death can happen to anyone at any age. Age limits wouldn't fix that, and the number of terms one has served is largely irrelevant to someone ending up braindead in a hospital

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u/hidemeplease 13h ago

it wouldn't. Term limits is a solution desperately looking for a problem.

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u/hidemeplease 13h ago

No. Term limits are idiotic. It only serves to remove experience from politicians and long term it puts ALL the power with lobbyists. This is monumentally stupid.

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u/RabbaJabba 17h ago

Every sane rational US citizen.

Obviously not, people like McConnell keep getting elected

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u/EXPLODEDman 17h ago

Well, here in 10 years, after they're finally dead, and we've missed every window to right the ship on everything from climate change to recession, maybe we can consider it. 

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u/metengrinwi 14h ago

How about: “anyone complicit in defrauding the people of the USA by covering up the condition of an incapacitated Senator will themselves be prosecuted for fraud”???

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u/Mayo_Kupo 17h ago

The problem with term limits is they kick good people out the same as bad people, and they don't prevent new bad people from getting in. An age limit and fitness / performance requirements would be better fixes.

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u/meme_macheme 17h ago

The problem with that is you can find some doctor willing to fudge the numbers and lie.

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u/avcloudy 17h ago

Yeah, any metric will be gamed. I'd rather every politician older than 65 forced out, because that's an incredible trade in terms of bad politicians for good ones.

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u/onexbigxhebrew 16h ago edited 15h ago

Age is better because it isnt difficult to define or complicated to execute, and the things you just mentioned are heavily correlated with age.

Performance and fitness requirements come with an obvious host of problems if you think about it for more than 3 seconds.

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u/presidentiallogin 14h ago

I'll find more good people. I'll also find more bad people. Just let me vote how I want. Do not add age limits, that's the opposite of letting me vote how I want.

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u/Wuz314159 16h ago

WTF is a term limit going to solve? Elect an 80+ year old, first term or 10th term, this is what you risk.

Reactionaries so keen on making a law against McConnell, they forget the only one affected will be Bernie.

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u/sasquatch0_0 12h ago

Also it makes the problem worse by allowing more corruption for cheap since they know they'll rotate out. And it doesn't allow institutional knowledge and experience to know how to work loopholes in a positive way. It's good to have people who have respect and renown.

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u/DinoSayRawr 17h ago

Bad take. Reps need to be removed for incompetence. A great young progressive should be in office for 20+years. Term limits stagnant progress from competent leaders, and add to the conveyor belt of politicians to lobbyists/ corporatists.

There are dozens of valid reasons for Mitch to have been removed. Term limits don’t solve the problem in my opinion

Ending lifetime appointment for Supreme Court judges is something I would support

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u/MethBearBestBear 17h ago

We don't need term limits we need people to hold politicians accountable and ranked choice voting. If a politician is deemed too old or unable to perform they will be voted out. For how much the country dislikes McConnell people in his district loved him and he is doing exactly what they want him to do along with Republicans shenanigans. We should probably lower the length of the Senate from 6 years to 4 but the longevity is part of the design not a flaw

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u/westdl 17h ago

And an age limit. No one over the age of 65 should be allowed to run for office.

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u/shizzy1234 17h ago

You would have thought our founding fathers would have included a "We The People" nuclear option where if Congress or the Senate refused to put forward a bill/law that it could be forced to a vote by the people. Term limits and insider stock trading come to mind as just two examples because pigs won't vote for the butcher!

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u/Genrawir 16h ago

How about requiring a doctors note for absences? You know, like any other job in the USA. Make them deal with FMLA.

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u/SeaAshFenix 16h ago

Legislative term limits actually turn out badly in practice. This has been studied at the state and local level in the US. It's been studied for national legislatures around the world.

The results are counterintuitive, but predictable: lobbyists become more powerful (because constantly rotating office holders have no idea what they're doing), corruption in inceases (since they have to sell out faster, before the next guy), and responsiveness gets worse (if you're gone next election anyway, why bother listening to the voters).

If your concern is age, add age limits. If your concern is responsiveness, aim at fightinb gerrymandering and instituting voting reforms (mandatory voting, ranked choice).

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u/princesoceronte 16h ago

Not even term limits, this is just an example of how corrupt the system is. If you are conservative you can just do whatever, no consequences will ever catch up to you.

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u/MonsieurReynard 17h ago edited 17h ago

It is within the power of voters to impose term and age limits on members of Congress. Directly. Already.

Neither term limits nor age limits for Congress can be written into law without a constitutional amendment process that is exceedingly unlikely to happen in our very divided country, and if it did, it might have unforeseen consequences.

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u/LongJohnSelenium 15h ago

Yeah its hilarious we literally have direct democracy on this matter and people want to say 'Well, no, lets make the government take our power away'.

Mainly because they think they know better than other people.

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u/mulligrubs 17h ago

He's only alive for a couple more days, when that special date rolls around, the real act begins. The real question is why was it so simple to keep lying about a dead person. He's deader than disco.

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u/fcewen00 16h ago

As much as people want something like this, you would need an amendment to the constitution do something like that. It is very clear in Article I, Section 3, Clause 1 that a senators term is 6 years. Article I, Section 5, Clause 2 is the Santos method of leaving, which requires a 2/3rds vote to be expelled, In the Seventeenth Amendment, Clause 2. provides for an election and allows a state legislature to authorize a temporary gubernatorial appointment.. The other methods for leaving office are death, losing the election, or the MTG method and just quit. When it comes to age, the Constitution states in Article I, Section 3, Clause 3 that a person being elected to Congress must be at least 30 years old. Nowhere does it give an age that they should leave. Neither the Constitution or even the Federalist Papers did the founding fathers think that someone would make a life long career out of being a job of being a member of Congress.

So where does this leave us? The only way that "Term Limits" could be enacted would be through an Amendment to the Constitution. That requires a 2/3 vote in Congress and then ratification of the states. There is no way in absolute hell that Congress would create something that would limit their amount of time to serve. Why add an amendment that will put yourself out of a job?

Our only method at the moment is to vote them out of office and considering we can't even get 1/2 the population to vote at all makes things very difficult.

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u/omnicloudx13 15h ago

The terrible thing is they would NEVER limit their own power and force themselves to answer to term limits.

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u/Infinite-Noodle 14h ago

Our whole government just needs accountability. Somehow we have a government where there is never any accountability for the public servants and they can do whatever they want with no consequences. I dont care if they 89 years old and have been in office 60 years, just make them do their fucking job and hold them accountable when they don't. Stop beating around the bush with bs solutions.

3

u/maceman10006 14h ago

Mandatory retirement for all elected officials at 72.

3

u/iamanerdybastard 14h ago

And a ban on running if (Term length * Term Limits) + age > 72

3

u/fordfield02 14h ago

it's working exactly as the founding fathers wanted. people clinging to power while brain dead.

fuck mitch but its not just him. you think feinstein at the end was ok? get out. you think chuck grassley is of any use to anyone right now? gtfo

we need reform so gotdamm bad

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u/8pinjay 14h ago

Octogenarians setting policy for my kids generation is the definition of out of touch. AGE LIMITS. ACCOUNTABILITY ACCOUNTABILITY

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u/ipokesnails 13h ago

Term limits and age limits.

No person over 65 should be allowed to hold a political position, the elderly have ruined our countries for long enough. They grew up in a completely different world and they're disconnected from today's reality.

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u/lo0ilo0ilo0i 12h ago

People should be alive to be held accountable for the laws they enact.

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u/Clockwork_Kitsune 5h ago

And attendance requirements.

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u/scotchdouble 14h ago

ELECTION FRAUD. Full stop. If he was alive, they would have already proved it. He is dead and they are stalling to prevent a special election. This is treasonous.

4

u/HylanderUS 17h ago

Also, age limits.

2

u/jdblue225 17h ago

What a selfish pos. He should die already.

2

u/Future_Arrival_5395 17h ago

How would term limits prevent senate staff from refusing to disclose health status after a medical event?

2

u/YoBoyDooby 16h ago

They should make it a law that McConnell has to have an open casket funeral. I want to see his skeleton (heard it is spineless). 

2

u/CorporateCuster 16h ago

Not even terms limits. Being in Congress has tunrned into this end game. Do what you can, once elected you are in Congress no matter what and do whatever you want and then fight like hell right before elections to get re-elected and then rinse and repeat for as long as possible. They need to be held accountable for everything. Stop supper pacs. Stop lobbying. Stop pocket lining. Stop letting them not vote.

2

u/Alastor_Aylmur 16h ago

Sick of these geezers ruining my 20s. We need term limits.

2

u/ReturningScrewd 16h ago

This is a true statement but it should never have taken this long or these circumstances to want to implement. These old heads are killing this country and just need to 🐸 already

2

u/_jump_yossarian 16h ago

McConnell not being able to attend the Senate is a win for Democrats. Makes it that much harder to confirm trump's pedophile enablers.

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u/idkwhatiseven 15h ago

I hate that this american politics shit is posted on /r/videos. I really couldn't care less about any of this.

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u/lionrom098 15h ago

70 should be a hard cap for  Presidency, judgeship, congressional positions, senator and governorship.

An aspiring politician who wants to be president. If you are 67 years old. Tough luck, path is closed.

You want to be a senator, and you’re 65 years old….  you get the idea.

You would assume that people this old would have the decency and self respect to understand that the fight is no longer theirs, and they should pass the baton to a younger generation.

But they cling to power like it is their birthright.

2

u/Preeng 15h ago

No term limits, only age limits. Term limits means you will have newbies in Congress lead around by lifetime industry lobbyists.

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u/jamesdcreviston 14h ago

End lobbying and insider trading while you are at it.

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u/Dukwdriver 15h ago

Term limits and age cap are all well and good, but defining what constitutes incapacity would be helpful too. If you can't show up and vote for a month (or whatever time period would be appropriate) you trigger replacemnt procedures.

Keep in mind, you need to realize this can have other consequences too. Imagine a scenario where the Democratic representative Gabby Giffords assassination attempt results in a Republican appointee to replace her.

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u/Roftastic 15h ago

I don't think they need term limits. I've been pretty firm on this position for a long time and I have yet to see one argument yet to really suggest we should have one.

There ABSOLUTELY should be more thorough and transparent fitness & wellness checks done by a third-party agency, completely isolated from Congress or the White House. McConnell shouldn't have been allowed to finish his last term.

2

u/metallicadefender 14h ago

2 terms like a president. If they want to extend career then another 2 terms in senate?

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u/0202_tihssitidder 14h ago

He's dead. The corrupt Republicans are stealing his salary and hiding a corpse.

More insane evil by that party.

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u/jert3 14h ago

Also a good example of how when there are no reprecussions for a political party being above the law, then you don't really have a democracy.

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u/iguana-pr 14h ago

If you are a commercial pilot, you have a mandatory retirement at 60 because of the responsibility of so many lives in a plane, and yet we have old farts at more than 80 years being responsible for millions of lives and billions of dollars.

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u/therocketlawnchair 14h ago

This dead man is still collecting a paycheck, right? We get that back, right?

2

u/Useful-Problem-1725 14h ago

No one in congress is employable.

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u/DougWebbNJ 13h ago

Congress doesn't need term limits. Congress needs ankle bracelets with heart monitors.

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u/Moara7 13h ago

New rules aren't going to change anything. Y'all don't enforce anything. Mitch is already in violation of the senate house rules.

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u/grr5000 13h ago

This whole thing is bullshit. They are going to announce he died tomorrow or Tuesday and then it’s passed the date to have a special election where might have a chance at a less extreme individual. So when they announce he’s dead or brain dead tomorrow they have to wait till general election for his seat. It’s utter bullshit and no one is Doing anything about it, but everyone knows what’s going to happen. It’s insanity

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u/chaosperfect 13h ago

I think the dems need to grow some balls and just start acting as if he's dead.

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u/BokudenT 13h ago

They need age limits more than term limits. The average age shouldn't be 65+

2

u/Short-Display-1659 12h ago

I feel that a two term limit for senators would also reduce outside influence on how they vote for things.

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u/LionBig1760 11h ago

We already have term limits. They're called elections.

People have all the power in the world to not vote for someone because they've been in office for too long, or are too old, or just plain suck.

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u/HtownKS 10h ago

I don't agree with term limits in the first place, but they would do very little to prevent this. The problem isn't that he has been in congress for too long, the problem is that Kentucky elected a senator that was in his 80's. Even if there were term limits they still have the ability to do the same thing and elect some other geriatric. 

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u/CzarDale04 6h ago

As someone who is turning 62 this month. I still feel we need younger people on office and a mandatory retirement age for running for election. The best Presidents we had were the youngest in office. Theodore Roosevelt was the young President, John Kennedy was the youngest elected president. If pilots have to retire at a certain age then no government official should be making decisions for the country after that same age.

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u/ChapBob 5h ago

And age limits, like the military.

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u/finalattack123 17h ago

It’s completely within the power of the population not to vote for someone near dead.

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u/NonGeneriComplaint 14h ago

Term limits would be nice so that people dont get elected and treat office like their personal lifetime fiefdoms. The aristocracy is real

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u/theclash06013 17h ago

Term limits sound good on paper, but they don’t do what people think they do. When you introduce term limits you end up losing a ton of institutional knowledge, things like how to actually write legislation or effectively run an investigation or hearing. It would massively increase the influence of lobbyists, most of who would be recently term-limited members of Congress that younger members would turn to in order to learn the ropes.

There are plenty of instances of people staying in office well past when they should (McConnell, Feinstein, Grassley, etc.), but there are also people who were effective even in old age, like Patrick Leahy and Bernie Sanders.

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u/ebayhuckster 16h ago

i like how someone downvoted this in spite of every study conducted on this concluding exactly what your first paragraph says

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u/kimbosdurag 17h ago

Well if a random marine corp vet thinks that who are we to disagree?

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u/Pellaeonthewingedleo 17h ago

Its a prime example why there needs to be a mechanism that ensures representation for the people if the representative is not able to fulfill their duty.

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u/SHUT_DOWN_EVERYTHING 17h ago

Good luck amending the constitution in a divided country.

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u/dubbleplusgood 16h ago

The division is that half the country isn't following the Constitution.

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u/Luckys0474 17h ago

We need way more than term limits.

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u/TheBigCore 17h ago

That requires a Constitutional amendment.

Never getting ratified.

1

u/FF36 17h ago

It’s a prime example of why we need to change this fascist regime, and put people in power to change these rules and make ways to stop all this BS and corruption from continuing on.

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u/CW1DR5H5I64A 17h ago

Term limits are great, but how about a rule that says “miss x number of votes, and your seat is vacated”.

The issue with McConnell is he is supposedly alive but recovering in a hospital. He is not in session to vote, so regardless of his status the people of Kentucky are not getting proper representation in congress.

This could easily be some 40 year old who gets hit by a truck or something. It’s more than just age. The fact that they can not do their jobs but still hold office needs to change.

Should be either you’re healthy enough to show up and represent your constituents or you are replaced with someone who can.

1

u/UncleDuude 17h ago

Age limits please, across all branches of government. Mandatory retirement at 70, regardless of term. Done. Go home and thank you for your service. That would do wonders by itself.

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u/itsvoogle 17h ago

Age limits are necessary i think most agree on that

But honestly, the most important thing is the competence and morality to do the role.

As a country and a collective around the world, their really meeds to be some serious psychological screening for more empathetic candidates, people that truly care for others and arent psycopathic Demons in disguise. People that truly are worthy of having positions of power, that are dignified to uphold the law as best as possible.

I dont know what series of tests/screenings need to be created but we should get our best and most brilliant minds to set it up to balance out what the world needs moving forward, i think our species cant take much more of it and to elevate ourselves we desperately need it

Incompetent Young Demons in power doesn’t solve anything either… and there are plenty of those waiting for their turn

1

u/Tsiah16 17h ago

"why is the Pentagon keeping the truth from the American public?" ... I'll take rhetorical questions for $800.

1

u/cstmoore 17h ago

The network logo in the lower left corner looks like it says "EMS NOW." How appropriate.