Tuesday, January 17, 2017

Should Members of Congress Have Yearly Mental Status Exams After Age 65

 
(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.
The house doesn't fair much better but it is usually the first step towards the Senate.



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 Reagan9/26/1986
Served: 29 yr 4 mo
Anthony Kennedy7/23/1936
Age: 80 yr 5 mo
Ronald Reagan2/18/1988
Served: 28 yr 10 mo
Clarence Thomas6/23/1948
Age: 68 yr 6 mo
George H. W. Bush10/23/1991
Served: 25 yr 2 mo
Ruth Bader Ginsburg3/15/1933
Age: 83 yr 10 mo
Bill Clinton8/19/1993
Served: 23 yr 4 mo
Stephen Breyer8/15/1938
Age: 78 yr 5 mo
Bill Clinton8/3/1994
Served: 22 yr 5 mo
John G. Roberts1/27/1955
Age: 61 yr 11 mo
George W. Bush9/29/2005
Served: 11 yr 3 mo
Samuel A. Alito, Jr.4/1/1950
Age: 66 yr 9 mo
George W. Bush1/31/2006
Served: 10 yr 11 mo
Sonia Sotomayor6/25/1954
Age: 62 yr 6 mo
Barack Obama8/8/2009
Served: 7 yr 5 mo
Elena Kagan4/28/1960
Age: 56 yr 8 mo
Barack Obama8/7/2010
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!




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