(All members of the armed services must pass these tests.)
Should Members of Congress Have Yearly Mental Status Exams After Age 65 (Typical age of retirement)
As a
clinician I believe that the age of an individual should not, in and of itself,
be used to stop anyone from getting a job but I can also assure you that at some
point mental acuity does diminish and people lose control of the mental
faculties. Most of the people reading
this right now know someone who is struggling with Alzheimer's, dementia or some other
memory issue. There are also physical body limitations and struggles including the ability to
read, sit for long periods and even walk.
Suggesting that age doesn't come with limitations is just not logical. Sure! We could settle this with a mandatory retirement age but age doesn't apply to everyone the same so some other method must be in place (Term limits would resolve this issue but sometimes the onset of mental status decline can be very rapid.)
In the US Senate
there are currently 6 members in their 80's (think of great grandpa running the
country). There are 18 senators in their 70's (think of great grandma running
the country). 37 members in their 60's (Think of grand ma taking care of great grandpa). Only 39 (39%) of them are
even under 60 years of age. That is the
age of retirement for most of the free world yet these people in congress (at
sixty) can often remain in congress for another 20 years. The oldest member of the senate is Diane
Feinstein at age 84.
As many of
you know the United States Supreme Court has no retirement age; the term ends
at death. DEATH!!!! Essentially a person could remain on the
supreme court past 110! Nothing about being on the supreme court prevents dementia and you can't think your way out of it. The oldest current sitting member of the Supreme court (shown below) is Great Grand Ma Ruth Bader Ginsburg who will be 84 in less than 2 months. In recent articles she denies any thoughts of retirement and with Donald Trump soon to be selecting all replacements she will try to stay in her position until a Progressive Democrat takes office. (She will try to outlive Trump's presidency.) It was thought that she would leave if Clinton was elected but now she will TRY to do the job for 8 more years disregarding the nations needs in order to serve her own political agenda (The Supreme Court should be elected by the people. It is currently almost impossible to remove someone from the bench. When these parameters where set dementia and Alzheimer weren't realized.)
Vacant (Antonin Scalia) | 3/11/1936 Died 2/13/2016 Age: 79 yr 11 mo | Ronald Reagan | 9/26/1986 Served: 29 yr 4 mo |
Anthony Kennedy | 7/23/1936 Age: 80 yr 5 mo | Ronald Reagan | 2/18/1988 Served: 28 yr 10 mo |
Clarence Thomas | 6/23/1948 Age: 68 yr 6 mo | George H. W. Bush | 10/23/1991 Served: 25 yr 2 mo |
Ruth Bader Ginsburg | 3/15/1933 Age: 83 yr 10 mo | Bill Clinton | 8/19/1993 Served: 23 yr 4 mo |
Stephen Breyer | 8/15/1938 Age: 78 yr 5 mo | Bill Clinton | 8/3/1994 Served: 22 yr 5 mo |
John G. Roberts | 1/27/1955 Age: 61 yr 11 mo | George W. Bush | 9/29/2005 Served: 11 yr 3 mo |
Samuel A. Alito, Jr. | 4/1/1950 Age: 66 yr 9 mo | George W. Bush | 1/31/2006 Served: 10 yr 11 mo |
Sonia Sotomayor | 6/25/1954 Age: 62 yr 6 mo | Barack Obama | 8/8/2009 Served: 7 yr 5 mo |
Elena Kagan | 4/28/1960 Age: 56 yr 8 mo | Barack Obama | 8/7/2010 Served: 6 yr 5 mo |
Senator Ted Cruz has currently introduced legislation for term limits; 3 in the house (4 years each) and two in the senate (6 years each) both adding up to 12 years of maximum service in each body. (It has not yet been assigned a number; SB ---) That would allow favored House members to take their experience to the senate after service there; the way it was designed.
The American political system seems to be the only entity in our culture that does not recognize the realities of aging. You have to question why? Perhaps is that congress sets their own parameters about service and they even vote on their own pay raises (does that happen anywhere else?). Once you serve in congress for a successful term you get retirement (they voted on that) so there is no incentive to work longer than is practical. So how do we respect experience without blindly ignoring the realities of human limitations?
Mental Status exams (including brain health/function and dementia) for everyone past legal retirement age (65) by impartial/ethical clinicians not connected with the government or from the elected officials home state.
Emmanuel S. John
We must protect liberty!
As always
TPOH is about clarity and the dissolution of propaganda and the political
distortion of reality.
Read the first chapter FREE on the website
http://www.thepacificationofhumanity.com/chapter-1.html
Or take advantage of the New Start in the NEW YEAR Sale, on now! Clear up your vision and learn the truth.
"The Pacification of Humanity: Exposing the Ideological Contagions," is not a book about politics, it's a book about the affect of politics on your life both past and present. A book that exposes the hypocrisy of policy and the inconsistency of Ideology. It explains how propaganda and political correctness create division, societal discord and identity confusion. It will help you find your way in a lost society.
thepacificationofhumanity.com
Read the first chapter FREE on the website
http://www.thepacificationofhumanity.com/chapter-1.html
Or take advantage of the New Start in the NEW YEAR Sale, on now! Clear up your vision and learn the truth.
"The Pacification of Humanity: Exposing the Ideological Contagions," is not a book about politics, it's a book about the affect of politics on your life both past and present. A book that exposes the hypocrisy of policy and the inconsistency of Ideology. It explains how propaganda and political correctness create division, societal discord and identity confusion. It will help you find your way in a lost society.
thepacificationofhumanity.com
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Be sure to take advantage of the FREE READ of the first chapter of the book on the web site; http://www.thepacificationofhumanity.com/chapter-1.html