PARADE Magazine Chimes In on Senator Age Issues
Should there be an age limit for Senators?
91% YES
"Most of corporate America requires retirement by age 70. The Senate should too. Some Senators are there for decades, and it's impossible for anyone who's in office for that long to relate to the real world."
-Jim Thomas, Bonita Springs, Fla.
"We should have age and term restrictions. Senators should be held to two terms, just like the President. This would also help eliminate pork, since Senators would not be able to develop the power to request it."
-R.V., Carson City, Nev.
9% NO
""I oppose age or term limits. If the voters choose to elect an older politician, we should follow their will. Only they can decide if a person is unfit for office."
-William Doyle, Clark, N.J.
"I believe that society works best when the energy and idealism of youth pairs with the experience and wisdom of age. Someday, I hope, our society will get over its fear and its denial of aging."
-Sen. Robert Byrd (D., W.Va.), 90, longest-serving Senator in U.S. history
Comments
I go with 91% of voters on this issue.
As we see in our OWN town, the old people who keep getting re-elected are so out of touch with current issues. All they care about is the power and money.
Posted by: Minerva | December 31, 2007 10:53 AM
Are Maud and Jane going after Bobby "Grand Dragon" Byrd's longevity record???
Posted by: Pontific8tor | December 31, 2007 05:40 PM
Can anyone out there name a council member or mayor who was not appointed or anointed by his or her fellow council members?
Posted by: Just Curious | January 2, 2008 11:19 AM
I am not saying that I agree with all these proposals but it is refreshing to know that some local politicians are looking ahead and not at 1958. Maybe, one day, a politician in Vienna will care about POLICIES and not their little feifdoms:
Targeting Smoking, Trans Fat and Cars
Arlington Board Chairman Puts Lifestyle Issues on County's Agenda
By Kirstin Downey
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 2, 2008; B01
Newly installed Arlington County Board Chairman J. Walter Tejada, the highest-ranking Latino official in Northern Virginia, yesterday unveiled an activist, and potentially controversial, agenda for 2008 at the county's annual organizing session.
Tejada (D) said he would encourage restaurants to ban the use of trans fat in foods, seek to eliminate smoking in public places and require property owners to pay relocation assistance to low-income tenants who are displaced. The county also will urge residents to give up their cars to save money and reduce greenhouse gases.
In addition, the county will consider allowing homeowners to build small "accessory dwelling units" on their properties, a concept that has drawn protest from residents who fear overcrowding.
Because Virginia law restricts local governments from enacting many kinds of regulations unless the General Assembly gives them special authority to do so, Arlington could not impose outright bans on trans fat or smoking in public places, as governments elsewhere have done. Concerns over the health risks from artificial trans fat, or partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, which are used in commercially baked and fried foods, have led to the products being banned in such places as New York City, Philadelphia and Montgomery County.
Posted by: vienna mommy | January 2, 2008 12:07 PM
Looking AHEAD? Sounds more as if Tajeda is trying to send Arlington back to the Stone Age.
Posted by: Pontific8tor | January 2, 2008 07:03 PM
I miss MacDonalds french fries!
Is our society becoming so "childlike" that we can not think or act for ourselves? Must we now have someone else constantly making decisions us. Is this comforting? To be taken care of? Do we really now believe that these "characters" in politics actually know more about taking care of us than we do?
How than are we as "adults" going to raise children? To think and act for themselves or to let someone else do it? No wonder there is a lack of leadership! It is both sad and scary!
Posted by: Susan | January 4, 2008 11:14 AM
Sadly, it appears we do need to be babysat - we are one, big fat country. We have gotten to the point where politicians are encouraging us to be healthier because we cannot seem to put down the Double Whopper with a side of jumbo fries to walk to the end of our driveway to retrieve the mail.
The cost of healthcare for my family is not exploding because of our rising BMIs but for all of my prescription-choked, wide load fellow citizens.
Call it sending us back to the dark ages but if banning transfat and encouraging people to walk will have a positive affect upon our society - good.
Posted by: vienna mommy | January 5, 2008 01:38 PM