Posted on 12/02/2017 11:05:51 AM PST by ColdOne
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Democratic Rep. Sander Levin of Michigan announced Saturday that he will not seek re-election to a 19th term in 2018.
Levin, whose Democratic-leaning district is in suburban Detroit, said he will teach at the University of Michigan after 36 years in Washington.
“I have tried to live up to the trust given to me by my constituents by following the values of my parents and family and by acting on what I believe after digging deeply into the facts and consulting broadly,” Levin, 86, said in a statement released after The Associated Press reported that he would not run again.
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...
MAGA!
Big benefits accrue the longer they're there, codger and family get top medical care, regular salary raises on top of already 6-figure salaries, expenses paid for anything and everything, show up to work when you feel like it, recess (vacation time) half the year or more...on and on.
You can bet that behind every aging office holder there's a spouse and family saying "hang in there, baby.....oops, gramps.........let the gravy train roll...."
Leni
I guess the sexual harassment allegations were catching up with him.
“Just another of the many Secular Progressive Jews at work here in America trying to convert it to Marxism.”
Oh my YES! I have a lot of faith, that the entire: - Brood of Vipers
will be held accountable.... come Judgement Day!
This fellow was in Congress for decades. What of note did he accomplish...except cash his paycheck? Give him the “Mr. Backbencher Award”.
A list congressmen who have paid off victims is rumored and then demanded and then they start dropping like flies. I LIKE IT!
That has absolutely nothing to do with why they stay so long.
Every last one of them stays because they feel that they haven't stolen enough yet.
The only way they leave is with as much money as they want/need, or as we are seeing now, the great unwashed hoard is making things uncomfortable for them.
Indeed.
Here’s a knee-slapper: <>“If there is one lasting legacy Sandy will leave behind, it is his steadfast commitment to improving the lives of working people,” he said.<>
That worthless, two-bit, POS from my home state is over 80 years old and has been in Congress for 36 years. He doesn’t need to “teach” at that leftist UofM, he needs to retire and leave everybody alone.
The lot of them are narcissists and sociopaths. They have nothing else in their lives but to rule over others.
Our Founder never meant for there to be life-time congress creatures, never!
Completely true, but at least 90% of our population have never been taught this nor do they care, as long as they get free stuff or promote giving away free stuff using the money of others.
I wish I could debate or at least disagree with you, but darn, I just can’t.
Our schools do our nation a disservice and still our government funds them. If a child is fortunate enough to have a teacher who is an American first and SJW never then they are truly blessed. Too few available I am afraid.
And the money is enough to keep them all on board the gravy train without a “reformer” in the lot.
A few steps ahead of the law?
Ya think??
And HE has a son who’s gonna run, Andy Levin. Sweet sassy mollasy.
Unlike Detroit this seat is not unwinnable but it’d be tough. Only 44% Trump.
Start with the recruitment system. We have over-professionalized politics and turned it into a closed caste. This starts early, with professionalized city councils, county commissioners (especially in big, urban counties) and state legislators. The key thing of which to be aware is the point of inflection at which office holders are expected to give up their regular jobs and live off their public salary. When this group becomes the primary recruitment pool for congressional candidates, we are dealing with people who have already severed their ties with the private sector years earlier.
From the standpoint of pay, Members of Congress make a very good salary, but not an exorbitant one compared to successful professionals, small business people, and business executives -- i.e., the people who should be the natural recruiting base if we really wanted a truly representative citizen legislature. But the real frame of reference is the political salary scale; Members of Congress are paid more than the state and local pols, who make up the primary recruitment pool, so the seat in Congress becomes a financial goal for too many.
On top of that, we give Members of Congress far too much staff. Most of them don't abuse it (a minority do), but it's still part of the trap to surround office holders with gophers who make things simple and easy. They get used to the lifestyle and start to coast. If it were up to me, I'd get rid of all district and state staff -- the job is to be a representative in the legislature in Washington, not to be running a full-time political operation back home -- and slash DC staff considerably. Make the job harder, and make Members do more of it themselves.
This would make the job less attractive, so we need to make it much easier to run, and less risky. Making it easier to run mostly means making fundraising easier. The way to do this is to unleash the political parties. Don't expect or enable Members to raise their own warchests. That's the job of the local Republican and Democratic parties back home. Let the parties do the heavy lifting, take the limits off party support, and reduce the Members' direct involvement in fundraising. This would, incidentally, be good for ethics as well.
Last but not least, we need to make office holding less risky, in terms of career and family finances. This means encouraging Members to retain gainful employment, if possible, while serving, or at least to retain a secure point of return. Make it easier to move back and forth between office holding and the private sector. There is one big caveat here: we should prohibit Members from trading on their office for employment. Here we'd need rules especially regarding the lawyers and lobbyists. It's a sign of what's wrong that the doctors, engineers, business people, etc. generally have to sever their ties with private sector employment while the law and lobbying firms run a revolving door. That's getting it exactly backwards.
Who do these reprobates think they are? Kennedys?
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