Friday, December 3, 2010

The next time you hear someone talk...

...about raising the retirement age for Social Security, remember that it won't be janitors or construction workers who will be making that decision. Instead, it will be members of the United States Senate and House of Representatives. You know, those people who will say and do just about anything to get re-elected. In fact, short of dynamite, it's darn near impossible to dislodge those guys (and gals) from their seats. And why not? They work indoors, there's no heavy lifting, and everyone kisses their ring 24/7. Staffers and the media practically hang on their every word. Some of them -- like John McCain -- seem to be on Meet the Press every other Sunday, imagining that the rest of the world can't wait to hear what their latest opinion is on the Important Issues of the Day.

In short, it's a great gig -- who'd want to give that up?

Well, as it turns out, I count 23 senators who are over the age of 70. (I didn't look at the House -- too many members.) I wonder how many of these guys (and gals) would still be working if they had blue collar jobs:

Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii), Frank Lautenberg (D-New Jersey), age 86; Arlen Specter (D-Pennsylvania), 80; Jim Bunning (R-Kentucky), 79; Richard Lugar (R-Indiana), 78; Diane Feinstein (D-California), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Robert Bennett (R-Utah), 77; Richard Shelby (R-Alabama), Carl Levin (D-Michigan), Jim Inhofe (R-Oklahoma), Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), 76; Herb Kohl (D-Wisconsin), 75; John McCain (R-Arizona), Pat Roberts (R-Kansas), Barbara Mikulski (D-Maryland), George Voinovich (R-Ohio), 74; Thad Cochran (R-Mississippi), Jay Rockefeller (D-West Virginia), 73; and Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), Kit Bond (R-Missouri), Harry Reid (D-Nevada), 71.
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1 comment:

  1. AnonymousDecember 3, 2010 at 3:22 PM

    Every time I hear about anything to do with benefits, retirement etc, I am reminded of a conversation I had with "George Washington" during a presentation at Williamsburg. I asked the docent/actor who was interpreting President Washington what he thought of the concept of paid politicians. (The early politicians kept their day jobs as farmers, lawyers, etc and served their country for free with perhaps a stipend to cover expenses). It was "George"'s insightful reply that it should never be allowed to occur (paid politicians), that the practice would lead to professional politicians, and that would lead to corruption and greed. The entire audience clapped.
    We have created an elite aristocracy in Washington, D.C. of professional politicians that is entirely out of touch with most Americans' life.
    There are two things we can do - never, ever re-elect anyone, and two, never ever re-elect anyone. Ultimately, the old-school, professional politicians will fade away and people who serve one term and then go back out into the world will serve and experience up close and personal the repercussions of their votes while in office.
    Never, ever re-elect anyone, ever.

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