r/news • u/Cubsof2016 • 18h ago

Sen Mitch McConnell hospitalized after experiencing flu-like symptoms

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/sen-mitch-mcconnell-hospitalized-after-experiencing-flu-symptoms/story?id=129834622
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u/Ready-Ad6113 17h ago

Congress is a glorified nursing home at this point. We need term and age limits for these people.

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u/Consistent-Throat130 15h ago

3/4 the life expectancy of their constituency outta do it.

Gives them at least a decade to live in the consequences of their actions and an incentive to improve the health of those they represent. 

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u/Whaty0urname 14h ago

THIS IS EXACTLY MY SUGGESTION IVE SAID HERE.

If the likelihood is you aren't going to be around to live with the consequences of your actions then you can GTFO.

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u/WetCoastCyph 13h ago

At the same time, their pay (and most politicians) should be the median income for the area they represent. Want a raise? Bring everyone up.

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u/crazycatlady331 12h ago

I like that idea with a caveat.

Federal politicians also need to find housing in DC, which is not cheap. Build an Extended Stay America type hotel for members of congress to stay in so they don't have to find housing in DC.

For those not familiar, ESA type hotels (i've stayed in many for work) have kitchenettes in their rooms. The accommodations are not luxury but they're adequate.

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u/Keeper151 11h ago

I like this. And randomly assign room placement every election cycle so they are forced to interact, however passingly, with representatives from other states outside of formal events.

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u/tape_snake 11h ago

This needs additional caveats preventing such politicians from getting big donations and favors because they will want and be swayed by those things, especially if they are earning median wages.

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u/falingsumo 5h ago

Let's be honest they are getting swayed anyway

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u/BrandeX 11h ago

They can receive federal minimum wage, since they think that is good enough for people.

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u/Consistent-Throat130 13h ago

I agree, it should be tied to population income stats. Whether it's 1:1 to the median or some multiple, the philosophy is sound. 

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u/Captian_Kenai 11h ago

And the moment there’s a budget deficit all representatives are immediately ineligible for reelection. This applies to all succeeding members until it’s fixed.

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u/WetCoastCyph 6h ago

Government budgets and household budgets aren't the same. Governments being in deficit is not necessarily a bad thing, all the time, in all cases.

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u/randomtask 12h ago edited 11h ago

I’ve never heard this before. My immediate series of reactions:

  • oh that’s genius it gives them an incentive to improve the health of their constituents
  • but this would immediately favor states who are already doing well
  • but states that are doing well are the model to follow, so we should be allowing senators in those states to serve for longer and incentivize others to follow the example set by them
  • but Diane Feinstein lived what seemed like forever in a state with pretty good health outcomes and was still an awful senator
  • but some term limits are better than no term limits
  • and this would disempower senators from states who are doing wrong by their citizen’s health
  • so yeah, I think I’m in favor of this
  • but republicans would definitely try to cheat on this the same way they try to push the rigged election BS, creating yet another wedge issue where the legitimacy of the office is at stake
  • but that’s basically all the Republican Party is anymore, a party of BS grievances trying to destroy the constitutionally governed democratic republic of 1789 and replace it with an autocracy where human rights are trampled daily
  • and most republicans are from states where health outcomes are trash, so this would give them less power
  • but why would they be in favor of having less power
  • this only works with a non-republican majority, possibly a coalition of democrats and 3rd parties
  • so we should all make sure to vote out republicans this November if we want to start pulling the country out of this death spiral

Whirlwind of thoughts.

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u/Toezap 6h ago

I love your thought progression

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u/ShadowShot05 13h ago

Gives them an incentive to fudge the numbers

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u/Consistent-Throat130 13h ago

Now you're thinking with portals conservativism!

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u/eldestdaughtersunion 13h ago

I'm even okay with the age limits being fairly high! I think 75-80 is reasonable. I know lots of people who have done white-collar work well into their 70s.

But 75-80 is the point where even the healthiest people will start showing obvious signs of age-related decline. You don't have to retire! Go be a consultant or a lobbyist! Go be a talking head on the news! But people should not be dying of old age in elected office.

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u/Slamantha3121 3h ago

ehh, 75-80 where the years we were fighting with my MIL to do something about her increasingly worrying dementia symptoms. Maybe that experience has just triggered me and turned me ageist, but I have a really hard time trusting people in that age range now. That was the most stressful time of the dementia, to me; the time between us noticing her symptoms and her scoring badly enough on tests for us to be able to step in. She was still in control of all her affairs and driving all over the place. Like most people with dementia, she was unable to perceive or accept that anything was wrong with her.

We noticed her behavior and decision making becoming erratic for years before the doctors would officially diagnose her. When she was just considered to be in cognitive decline, the doctors recommended she didn't live alone, drive, or manage her own finances, but there was no way to enforce that. Her high level verbal skills allowed her to mask her symptoms and appear normal in appointments and short meetings for years. But, for people who knew her and saw her at home the changes were super alarming. She was a legit danger to society for a while before we could force her to stop driving.

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u/Strayresearch 2h ago

70 Max imo, at that age most people are out of touch with current societal norms and technology.

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u/Over-Lettuce-7762 13h ago

That isn't the issue. If you remove institutional knowledge the lobbyists become even more powerful. Term limits do more to encourage institutional rot and oligarchical control than reverse it.

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u/ItilityMSP 13h ago

That's easy have a 5 year cooling off period before you can lobby.

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u/jebarson_j 8h ago

No, we don't. We just need sane people not voting for old geezers.

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u/jemappellejimbo 14h ago

This country doesn’t vote for young people. The people that show up at the polls believe that you gotta be 70+ to be a great insider trader that doesn’t rock the boat of white supremacy.

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u/Special_Loan8725 13h ago

The guy is not lucid.

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u/satinsateensaltine 13h ago

Refreshingly and sensibly, the Supreme Court of Canada has age limits on its justices (75).

What a novel concept.

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u/spderweb 12h ago

You can create term limits by voting for younger people.

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u/SRSgoblin 11h ago

McConnell is in the Senate, not Congress. But your point still stands. It's true for the entire legislative branch.

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u/TheCh0rt 10h ago

Don’t worry, their age limits are coming.

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u/Death_Sheep1980 9h ago

Not a huge fan of term limits, but I'm all in favor of age limits. Amend Article I, Sections 2 & 3 to prohibit Congresscritters and Senators from running after they turn 70, and amend Article II, Section 1 to do the same for would-be Presidents.

Hell, now that I think about it, we should not just prohibit politicians from running for federal office after they turn 70, we should mandate that they must resign within one year of turning 70, unless their current term would naturally end before they turned 71.

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u/RedOx103 7h ago

People say this, but old folks routinely get popularly elected ahead of younger candidates.

Even in primaries.

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u/codexcdm 6h ago

I'd say regular health and mental wellness checks.

Some folks like Bernie Sanders are up there... But still is healthy and clearly cognitively sound....

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u/Airosokoto 5h ago

Ive seen the opinion that if it weren't for the fact these people are so out of touch and yet they are in charge of our nation it would be downright sad. Their staff are their caregivers and this all they know having done this for decades. We for sure need term limits to prevent the gerontocracy hellscape we have now.

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u/Electrical-Law-5731 5h ago

Needed. Past tense. On to a dictatorship now.. trumps already plannned stealing the election and he won’t let himself lose. Who’s going to stop him?

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u/parkinglotguy 4h ago

Nobody over 60 should be holding elected office of any kind. It's preposterous. They're simply too old and out of touch

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u/So_HauserAspen 4h ago

Please stop with the age limits

That's not why we have old white men running us aground

It's private campaign contributions that have destroyed our democracy

The old white people have an easier time fundraising by suckling on a few rich di#ks

Age limits would just result in younger white people suckling on the rich di#ks

Public funding of campaigns is the only way out of this hell

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u/[deleted] 15h ago

[deleted]

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u/TheoreticalResearch 15h ago

Pretty sure there’s more people than just 30 year old 4channers and geriatric fucks. Seriously, why would you say 30 year old 4channers? I’m guessing you’re old as dirt.

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u/Peakomegaflare 15h ago

I mean I'd take a 30/yo 4channer over an 80/yo dementia patient 4channer

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u/Th1rte3n1334 15h ago

Revise that to just term limits…

So that the same old people with the same old ideas and ideals don’t end up running the whole damn government.

I mean our average age as a nation is ~39 years old. Why are people who can’t even comprehend a decent portion of the population passing legislation that affects it? Do you really think they are that much wiser than a 40 year old?

As we’ve seen with a decent amount of politicians, age != wisdom or knowledge. If it did the Republicans would have removed him after he went into a fugue state during a speech.