Comments on: Should there be a retirement age for politicians?

By: Melatonin

Melatonin — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 22:36:45 +0000

i always save money for my own retirement, i would also like to invest on some stuffs`:;

By: ex-communist

ex-communist — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 23:46:57 +0000

You have no idea what a communist country is… If politicians are paid from the tax-payers, they must have a retirement age; if they feel they still should serve, even without any money, let them be around as "counselors". They get their money from lobying firms anyway!

By: papadawg

papadawg — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 06:51:17 +0000

Politicians that are allowed to remain in office too long usually begin to think like they are some kind of Icon that is irreplaceable – A good case in point is the murderer named Ted Kennedy.

Just my not-so-humble opinion!

By: Sun Tzu

Sun Tzu — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 18:14:21 +0000

There is one for SCOTUS? Stevens is 89 by the way.

By: Liberty

Liberty — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 14:23:07 +0000

A set retirement age? What an invasion of freedom! I mean, seriously. Sounds like something out of a communist country or something- oh you're too old. You can't be such-and-such anymore.

Like Sun Tzu said, there are a lot of different factors that contribute to incumbency, mainly the general inattention and ignorance of the American people. Giving a retirement age isn't going to stop that.

By: Sal

Sal — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 12:23:56 +0000

I think there should be a retirement age, I mean there is one for Supreme Court Judges so why not politicians?

By: Sun Tzu

Sun Tzu — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 23:18:43 +0000

I believe the adage goes "when government controls what will be bought and sold, the first thing to be bought and sold will be the legislature". It's therefore very easy to get away with the lobbying and fraud because it happens so thoroughly that the fraudulent money involved controls the ability to investigate and monitor itself.

By: Jared

Jared — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 23:14:14 +0000

I really don't understand how these politicians can get away with the lobbying and fraud.

By: Sun Tzu

Sun Tzu — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 23:07:53 +0000

Most politicians, local, state or federal, serve an average of 14 years in public office.

The 20-30 years+ are outliers. And they are in fact generally useful to their constituents at least, if not to the process of the union's politics as a whole. Otherwise they would not keep getting re-elected.

There are lot of explanations for incumbency rates. I don't think the time of service is by itself, even into advanced age, is a function of this. Nor do I think a mandatory age of retirement, or any other attempt at term limits, would obliterate the problems of campaign financing, lobbying, fraud, or whatever else is generally claimed as "not good" about people sitting in public office for too long. If some 75 year old that's been in office for 30 years is the best candidate available to represent the district so be it.

By: Lori

Lori — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 23:05:26 +0000

No. We the people get to decide when a politician retires by not voting for them.