Posted on 12/17/2017 9:05:55 AM PST by re_tail20
Back in November, Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, the 83-year-old Republican from Utah, was at the helm when the Senate's massive tax bill came through the Finance Committee. But Hatch also deputized four younger Republicans on the panel to serve as de facto co-chairmen over various parts of the legislation.
This week, with a compromise bill marching toward final passage in both chambers, the House will take the unusual step of voting first - because a pair of senators, Thad Cochran, R-Miss., and John McCain, R-Ariz., are recuperating from, respectively, non-melanoma skin surgery and the side effects of cancer treatments.
Hatch's advisers say his move demonstrates a keen sense of coalition building, and aides and friends to both Cochran, 80, and McCain, 81, contend that their bosses should be back in the Senate before long.
But here's something else to consider: All three are exemplars of an institution that has become, by one measure, the oldest Senate ever — where eight octogenarians currently serve, nearly twice as many as ever before, according to records maintained by the Senate Historical Office. Another handful of senators are at least 75, poised to join those ranks soon.
For decades, older members of Congress have brushed aside questions about their fitness for office. They have defended their health and faculties, and some have implied that those who inquire are ageists who don't understand that America is growing older.
But the change in schedule for the tax bill is at least the third time this year that Senate leaders paused action to accommodate ailing colleagues. It is now clear that the large number of older senators in positions of power is taking a toll on the operations of Washington.
First came the unsuccessful repeal effort of the Affordable Care Act, delayed until McCain returned to Washington...l
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
Well, by definition...
senex, senis - old man.
A quorum of dottering dotards.
and from the Demagogic Party’s 2020 nominee:
Bernie Sanders concedes defeat on tax reform: ‘We did everything that we could’
Washington Examiner | Dec 17, 2017 | Kyle Feldscher
Posted on 12/17/2017 8:49:08 AM PST by Oshkalaboomboom
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3614470/posts
So that’s why the restaurants are less busy.
We’ve devolved into a geriocracy.
Roy Moore is 70. You’d think our voters would know that.
What is the oldest Senate??? Is it in Bum—— Egypt
Roy Moore is 70. You’d think our voters would know that.
I find it to be extremely selfish..... what is it about this profession that makes them hang on until near death?
POWER
why wouldn’t McCain resign and let Gov appoint an interim successor immediately? No one dares to ask the question.....
too many Republicans?
How old is Bernie?
“what is it about this profession that makes them hang on until near death?”
I read an article on why Senator Strom Thurmond stayed so long. The author had followed him around, apparently for days. People greeted him with, “’Good morning, Senator,’ and, ‘Can I help you, Senator,’ and, ‘What can I do for you, Senator.’” As long as he was a senator he was somebody. When he went somewhere everybody recognized him and was obsequious. He was important. But the moment he pulled the cord and quit he’d be a nobody. His ego demanded the constant attention, just so he’d know he was alive and important. I saw numerous pictures of him in the press with a string of drool hanging from lips to collar as he sat in the Senate Chambers. Pitiful.
Bernie is 76, and Leahy , senior most Dem Senator, has been there since ‘75 and is 77.
He said it was an interesting place. Strom Thurmond would show up to glad-hand people on his way back to his office from the gym, still clad in his workout clothes. (Must have had a shower in his office. Smart guy, giving the elected weirdos hanging out in locker room shower...)
Meanwhile, some aging, and physically decrepit senator had to be supported by two aides to make an appearance. Might have been Dirksen.
They want to live long enough to see the fruition of their 30 year bipartisan plan to turn the USA into North Mexico.
That final amnesty that will seal our fate has eluded them in 2006, 2007 and 2013.
They had no problem electing an old woman who can barely stand up.
Nominating. You mean nominating, not electing.
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