all I’m going to say

Term limits and mandatory retirement.

I’ve been hollering for term limits for 25 years.
When you bring it up to elected officials they go deaf. They look at you and .

Thing is, those are 2 different things, and without both in place it could still be exploited.

I just can’t even grasp why they want to do it anymore. I know, money and power, but I wanna spend my later years on a lake and watching the northern lights through tall pine trees. I remember when John McCain was campaigning in the state in 2008, he was in Duluth one evening and was gonna be in the cities the next morning and I remember seeing him on TV at his age and wondering why you’d want to spend your aging years doing that.

Is there an age minimum to serve as a senator or rep? I know you have to be 35 to be president but I think there should also be an age maximum. Like 65 years old.

The general argument against term limits is every election allows us to limit their term but it’s hard when the village idiot’s vote counts as much as mine. A decent argument is that there is a risk of losing experienced people but I’m all for maybe 3-4 terms in the House and 2-3 in the Senate. I think there should only be one term for President.

How about an age limit? Does anyone think someone in their upper 70’s or 80’s needs to make policy decisions FOR OTHERS beyond which pudding or ice cream flavor to have for dessert? Yes, there are people that age that are very sharp and have wisdom, but they’re not seeing the future through the same lens as someone 40, 50, or even 60.

I had a college class where we spent considerable time discussing and researching having presidents serve one six-year term.

Genuinely curious if you all think DJT is too old to run for president in the next election? I recall many here thinking Biden was too old to run for the last election. At the time of the 2024 election, DJT will be older than Biden was at the 2020 election.

They’re both too old. 65 years max age would be my preference.

Yes. Among other reasons. Although it’s pretty obvious his mind is sharper than the turnip in the WH now. They’re both egomaniacs and I think that’s the main prerequisite for the average idiot that gets to cancel my vote

Mandatory drug testing and competency tests for all elected officials.

And voter ID!

Gitchi Gummi wrote:

Genuinely curious if you all think DJT is too old to run for president in the next election? I recall many here thinking Biden was too old to run for the last election. At the time of the 2024 election, DJT will be older than Biden was at the 2020 election.

Age no, unfit yes

Many states tried to put in term limits and your wonderful courts threw them right out ( use your imagination who put the judge on the seat to know how that was going to go ) …. that being said, yes, term limits at every single level of govt ( city / county / state / federal ) and you cannot run while in office. DO YOUR JOB FIRST. I have been saying that for over 30 years. This includes judges. No exceptions.

Nobody gives up power willingly as citizens/voters it must be taken from them which is why you need to be careful what you allow our way to strong already central govt to mandate regardless of their so-called ” good intentions”

Always remember the road to hell is paved with good intentions …

Unfortunately, WAY too many people like the vote bribe money thrown at them by our so-called political leaders, so kicking the senile out and getting term limits passed is literally just a dream in our very very divided country.

Perhaps a first step would be to restore the balance in govt, you know, stop allowing the executive branch to create / mandate laws in violation of the Constitution they swore to uphold. Apparently, they forgot their job is to enforce the laws passed by the legislative branch not bypass them via executive order.

OK, civics debate time is over, gotta get to work

Paulski

Beast wrote:

Term limits and mandatory retirement.

Agreed.

TH wrote:

And voter ID!

I love the reason for not doing this. It is unconstitutional to make someone show an ID to vote because the people who don’t have a photo ID would not be allowed to vote. But in MN it is the law that you have to have photo ID on you at all times??? So the only people who we would be stopping from voting is the people who are breaking the law.

I’m assuming you’re referencing Mitch McConnell stroking out during a speech yesterday.

It’s not uncommon for politicians to have a severe lack of blood to the brain. Just another Wednesday in America.

That is a dusty crusty old senate.

All I can say is

Someone needs to go into Mitch’s office and say today’s the last day buddy it was a good run, but today is the last day

Term limits and campaign spending limits. Period. And if you leave your position with 2x more wealth than you came in with… full disclosure how you got it.

How about mandatory service in order to be able to vote? If you love this country and want to be a part of the solution you need to give back. Cop, military etc to have some skin in the game.
Look at our current practices and administration’s efforts to see our govt does NOT represent the needs of the many and answers to the special interests and the all mighty dollar.
Term limits are a must so we don’t have politicians who have NEVER worked a day in their life toward anything other than to keep sucking at the public tit for over 50 years

Would you want to hire a plumber that was required to only be a plumber for 8 years and then had to be something else? You say you don’t want career politicians, but complain when the politicians are bad at there job. You know how you get good at a job? Experience. Maybe instead of mandatory service and term limits we should require voters be competent.

Riverrat that is a pretty weak argument comparing a blue collar worker to a politician. One is supposed to represent us while the other is fixing something for us. Politicians never fix anything they find things that arent broke and break them.

Riverrat wrote:

Would you want to hire a plumber that was required to only be a plumber for 8 years and then had to be something else? You say you don’t want career politicians, but complain when the politicians are bad at there job. You know how you get good at a job? Experience. Maybe instead of mandatory service and term limits we should require voters be competent.

Not a good comparison if I want to hire a different plumber at anytime I can, not the case with politicians.

Beast wrote:

Term limits and mandatory retirement.

Agreed. 70 seems like a good age for forced retirement. Between McConnell yesterday and Biden falling asleep at the press conference with the Israeli PM, it really makes you wonder who is in charge? These guys can’t even keep it together during a press conference, what happens when it hits the fan at 2 am???

I’m not sure term limits would reduce the amount of corruption in the system currently. ?

You can hire and fire your politician every two to four years. Being incapable of doing so is not an excuse. Want advice on how to do so? Ask a professional politician. And at his point hiring someone to fix something is a great analogy considering the state of government.

While I get the point of view Riverrat, the problem is we CAN’T hire and fire them every two to four years because everyone has their own opinion of what is going well and what is not and they “hire and fire” based upon that. The beauty of our system.
That being said my earlier post was aimed at something more along the lines of giving EVERYONE the opportunity to do their part in service to THEIR country so they at least have some skin in the game and an understanding of why we are as a country and WHERE we are as a country. So that WHEN they vote they are doing it with an informed mind.
We will never be free of differences of opinion – again – a good thing. Somehow we must get back to what is good for us, not what is good for our leaders.

Everyone wants to live at the expense of the State. They forget that the State lives at the expense of everyone.
Frederic Bastiat – 19th Century French classical liberal theorist, political economist,

Snake ii’s wrote:

Mandatory drug testing and competency tests for all elected officials.

Along with term limits and a 55 year old age limit.

Zero involvement with personal business dealings while in office.

Outlaw ALL lobbying and lobbyists.

Umy’s manditory service also.

And finally since they’re all multi-millionaires who don’t need any more money, manditory turning their salaries back into a non-political charity bank with allocation done by a civilian board.

Totally understand with the skin in the game as an incentive to know what is going on. Even things like volunteering with the DNR or a local fire station will get a person into funding, basic regulations, and division of government. I don’t agree it should be mandatory, but I get it.

When your neighbors on either side of your house, get a free fruit basket, because you called and paid a sloppy plumber xyz to fix your pipes… the next time you need a plumber, guess who your neighbor is voting for ?

Nice comparison huh ?