Posted on 02/17/2010 6:50:47 PM PST by NewJerseyJoe
On Monday, I pooh-poohed the rumor on Democratic Senator Barbara Mikulski calling it quits when her term ends in January. But given her age and still middlingt ranking high in seniority, she may go.
But I overlooked another story that a reader tipped me to today: Democratic Senator Frank Lautenberg fell and wound up hospitalized with a bleeding ulcer. He’s 86.
His term does not end until 2014. And he has seniority, which is the coin of the realm in the Senate. I doubt he will toss in the towel because he seems to enjoy the Senate. Surely he knows he would not be replace by a liberal in this political year.
Still, with health issues, anything is possible. New Jersey might not flip, but it is an expensive state to defend.
The Associated Press report:
TRENTON, N.J. — A bleeding ulcer is behind the hospitalization of longtime New Jersey Sen. Frank Lautenberg, an aide said Tuesday.
Chief of staff Dan Katz said that no discharge date is set, but that he expects the 86-year-old Democrat to be released soon.
The senator was taken to a hospital Monday after becoming lightheaded and falling at his Cliffside Park home. He later underwent a successful endoscopy procedure, spokesman Caley Gray said.
Lautenberg was expected “to make a full recovery and will be back to work soon,” Gray said.
His office announced Monday night that he was in great spirits, was joking with doctors and would stay at a hospital overnight for routine observation. The name of the hospital was not released.
Lautenberg returned Friday from a trip to Haiti with a congressional delegation. He was scheduled to discuss the trip and the U.S. aid effort for the Caribbean nation, which is recovering from a devastating earthquake, at a news conference Tuesday. The news conference was canceled and was not immediately rescheduled.
Any health decline for the Senate’s second-oldest member would be a serious concern for the party, because Republicans won control of the governor’s office in November. If Lautenberg were unable to finish his term, Gov. Chris Christie would appoint an interim successor. That could give a Republican candidate the added advantage of incumbency at a time the GOP already enjoys a favorable political environment.
New Jersey Democrats tried, but failed, to advance legislation to take the interim appointment power away from Christie. The legislation was introduced during the lame duck session with Lautenberg in mind.
Lautenberg won re-election in 2008; he doesn’t run again until 2014.
Born in Paterson, Lautenberg first came to prominence as chairman of Automatic Data Processing, a payroll services company he founded with two friends in 1952.
The liberal Lautenberg has been a staunch gun-control advocate and critic of the tobacco industry. He wrote laws to ban smoking on domestic airline flights and to institute a national minimum drinking age of 21.
He has been back in the spotlight recently as a critic of the Transportation Security Administration after a January security breach at Newark Liberty International Airport. He also was active in the effort to end a custody dispute with Brazil involving the son of Tinton Falls, N.J., resident David Goldman.
He is a drooling geezwe. He is gone.
He’s 86 yet still works because he knows that he can’t live on social security and Medicare.
He is still working because he loves the power.
As does Robert Byrd, Arlen Spector and all those others in their 70s, 80s, and 90s that should have retired LONG ago if they had any sense.
There’s something very strange about his condition. No discharge date set but he’s doing fine. A)They’re lying about what’s really wrong with him, B)They’re not lying about the underlying condition, but rather about his health and recovery, C)They really don’t know anything. Take your pick, mine is for A or B.
Think about it... why do the old geezer senators want to stick around the senate? Must be a cush job with all the amenities. They just show up, occupy a seat and then enjoy all the bennies of the job. Just look at that hapless Snarlen Spectacle clinging on with dear life to his slippery seat in decline. Pitiful human beings these old royal senators!
Repeal the 17th.
A)They’re lying about what’s really wrong with him, B)They’re not lying about the underlying condition, but rather about his health and recovery, C)They really don’t know anything. Take your pick, mine is for A or B.
D) Emanuel needs to decide who is taking over for him in case he kicks it sooner than expected. Therefore “He’s fine” but no discharge date given.
He was lightheaded so they did an endoscopy procedure? What’d they figure the shortest way to his brain was his ***?!!!
What’s HIS insurance, Humana Gold? Sure wasn’t the proposed Obama tin.
I am pretty sure Kennedy was a vegetable for his last six months. Does anyone, anyone at all, really believe he wrote that letter?
Seriously. It is time to say enough is enough. A mandatory retirement age needs to be set for senators, congressmen, justices and yes, presidents.
I think 75 years should be the limit. I do not want an 86-year-old man doing anything except enjoying his golden years — far away from the reigns of power.
If I was a Catholic, I would say Popes as well. But I am not (yet) so I will leave that up to them.
In other words, the Joisy Boys tried to do the same as Taxachusetts Gang did under the leadership of the late Ted da'Fish.
Of course, as mentioned in the title of this post, Frankie got the benefit of a Democrat-packed Joisy Supreme Court when his predecessor, Bob 'the Torch' Torricelli, fouled out on federal corruption charges. Liberal use of his own money successfully returned him to a Senate seat.
And he has senility
I agree & I want mandatory alcohol/drug/dementia testing for politicians. If we the people can be tested in our jobs then those in politics should be also. 86 yrs old is just too old to be making laws etc IMHO.
Agreed! Certainly on the alcohol and drug thing. Hell, you can’t even get a job as a taxi driver anymore unless you fill a bottle now and then.
And some of the stories I have heard about Congressmen from a woman who spent several years in Washington working for an NGO simply disgust me.
I pick the the A & B options also.
The extended stay in the hospital would seem to me to imply that the Senator's illness is more serious than what they want us to believe.
He fell and split a gut ~ at his age you can simply tear one of the outer tissues, or one of the inner tissues ~ like your intestines, or your stomach!
They're keeping him in the hospital a few days/weeks to see if he's had some other "gut splitting" ~ all too common in these things.
The docs can't really do exploratory surgery at his age, and the MRI stuff isn't all that good at finding "split guts".
If there's something else wrong they'll know soon from examining stool.
It’s New Jersey. There is no such place as Joisy.
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