Punchbowl News reports that the former Senate majority leader, who is retiring after his current term ends in January, lost consciousness at his Washington, D.C., home at 8:36 a.m. on June 14, before a dispatcher sent over an Advanced Life Support ambulance. Journalist Desiree Townsend posted a recording of the call from the emergency dispatcher Tuesday afternoon to X.

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[–] 38 points 4 months ago (24 children)

We need term limits for Congress.

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  • [–] 17 points 4 months ago (12 children)

    I think Congress needs age limits more than term limits.

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  • [–] 5 points 4 months ago (9 children)

    Maybe something along the lines of, if you're eligible to collect social security, then you're too old to serve in government.

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  • [–] 2 points 4 months ago (8 children)

    Dont do that. That just incentivizes getting rid of social security so congress can keep their power till death

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  • [–] 2 points 4 months ago (7 children)

    If it's coupled with term limits, mandatory voting, and making running in a primary like jury duty, it might work.

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  • [–] 1 point 4 months ago (6 children)

    Genuinely curious what you mean about making running in a primary like jury duty?

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  • [–] 1 point 4 months ago (5 children)

    Similar to the concept of Athenian Democracy where all citizens were expected to report for a lottery and if their names were picked they had to serve.

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  • [–] 1 point 4 months ago (4 children)

    Worth noting Athenian citizens were only about 10% of the population.

    Of them, only maybe 1/6th could actually serve, as military or any other citizens too far away from the Ekklesia were excluded.

    Also worth noting the Ekklesia was limited in voting on items presented to them by the Boule, which was basically a smaller council made up entirely of rich folks

    Athenian democracy wasnt as democratic as advertised

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  • [–] 1 point 4 months ago (3 children)

    Right, but with modern technology there wouldn't be a distance restriction nor am I suggesting we reduce the citizen class to ~10% of the population. The primary similarity would be that citizens would be summoned to serve.

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  • [–] 1 point 4 months ago (2 children)

    There'd still be a de facto distant restriction. As well as a job restriction

    You still gotta go to DC to be able to vote. Which also means you have to be able to afford a place to live in DC

    More importantly, how many people do you think are both willing and able to put their chosen career on hold for 2-6 years just because they get told they have to go do something else

    I suspect most people would refuse

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  • [–] 1 point 4 months ago (1 child)

    There are more political offices than just at the national level. City, County, State, regional water and fire districts. Also, just because you've been chosen for jury duty doesn't mean you'll end up serving.

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  • [–] 1 point 4 months ago

    Same issues still apply.

    Still got the same issue about people not wanting to give up their jobs.

    How many people live that close to their state capital?

    Some states you can easily be 6 to 12 hours away.

    Heck thats true at county too. Some countys are bigger than states.

    And even local government isnt a guarantee.

    My local government is the county government. We don't really have town mayors or councils or anything like that.

    And im not living out in some super rural area. I live in one of the largest metropolitan areas in the US...Just so happens outside the city limits of the major city by a few minutes .

    The Athenian system worked because it was essentially limited and only covered a compatibly small area.

    Its not really a usable model

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  • [–] 1 point 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

    I disagree. Age limits would disallow competent people who happen to be old from serving (Bernie, for instance). Age does not correlate well to competency, but if you're young you might believe that. Competency itself can't be measured well enough by a test to be meaningful, so that is out.

    There already is an effective age limit in that people typically run for office the first time when they're relatively young, and a term limit would kick them out before they got old. Old people running for the first time would likely be seen as out of touch, unless they make compelling arguments (again, see Bernie), and so would not be elected.

    Having only an age limit would still allow people decades to entrench themselves and do great damage.

    In short, the problem isn't competency, it's corruption. If anything, they're too competent at being corrupt. It's the same reason we have a term limit for the President, without the limit, we'd have Putin.

    Finally, I think there's a chance term limits could pass, whereas an age limit wouldn't.

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  • [–] 17 points 4 months ago (10 children)

    You're lucky it's limited to alive people only. I wouldn't be surprised if Supreme Court got rid this limit as well.

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  • [–] 15 points 4 months ago (9 children)

    You mean like corporations are people and they can run for congress also? New nightmare unlocked.

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  • [–] 6 points 4 months ago (3 children)
  • [–] 3 points 4 months ago (2 children)

    Yeah, how hard would it be for any competent lawyer or accountant to spin up a few thousand privately and closely held C Corporations per day. How much is a vote worth? According to the trial court judge (there's room for at least two appeals to get to the Delaware Supreme Court thank Voticulus, god of elections and tiny candles), $150 plus postage.

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  • [–] 5 points 4 months ago (1 child)

    Bah, why even go to that much trouble when they can just ask AI what the results of an election would be?

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  • [–] 1 point 4 months ago (2 children)

    No, they will decide to give AI personhood. Thereby allowing an AI to run for office, and causing all sorts of other problems that will start with "We can't turn it off, that's murder".

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  • [–] 3 points 4 months ago (1 child)

    “We can’t turn it off, that’s murder”.

    And they'll treat it like abortion. "You can't turn it off, that's murder. And anyone who tries to turn it off will receive the death penalty"

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