51–60 of 377 posts
So sad to lose such a great stock trader! - https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/as-feinstein... - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_congressional_insider_tra... - https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/14/dianne-feinstein-hu... etc.
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Between her and McConnell and the other gerontocrats in Washington, I’m really baffled. Why do these people grip the reins of power until their knuckles turn white? What is so important about political horse trading that they have to literally haul you out of office on a stretcher?
Why do they cling to power? I imagine the personality type that seeks political power in the first place tends to want to keep it. It's good to be the king. At the end of the day, the people continue to elect them. If voters were unhappy with Feinstein's performance (or that of her key aides), the solution was as simple as voting her out. Name recognition is powerful. Seniority leads to leadership of key committees i…
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No term limits, but they have to be re-elected every 6 years. She kept voting the way the majority of the people in her state wanted to, so she kept getting re-elected (presumably).
Don't discount the huge advantage incumbents have, both in campaign contributions [0] and name recognition. 0 - https://www.opensecrets.org/elections-overview/incumbent-adv...
And even then, they wouldn't keep getting major donor funding if they weren't voting in those people's interests, incumbent or no.
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Why does everyone keep reelecting them? Vote for someone else. We also need a better voting system than first past the post.
It would require voting for the other party. The big issue is the parties being willing to back aging candidates. But of course, party leaders are just as old -- so they see no problem.
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See also: Ginsburg on the Supreme Court. She threw her whole legacy into the garbage disposal just so she could cling to power for two more years.
This is a rewrite of history. She was basically trapped in the job when the Senate refused to appoint Obama's pick to fill the vacant seat of Scalia. If she had retired it would have just been two empty seats for Trump to fill quicker. People were actively asking her to stay in the job. Feinstein was a democratic senator in a democratic state with a democratic governor. She was actively being told she was unfit. She…
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/25/us/politics/rbg-retiremen...
So sad to lose such a great stock trader! - https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/as-feinstein... - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_congressional_insider_tra... - https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/14/dianne-feinstein-hu... etc.
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It is how it’s supposed to work. She was 85 when she got elected the last time. If voters don’t want 90 year olds in office, maybe they shouldn’t vote 85 year olds in for a 6 year term. If she can’t be beat in a primary, then we need something like ranked choice voting so people can safely vote for an alternative third party without risking spoiling the election for a candidate they definitely don’t want.
I encourage you to run a campaign, just in a local county. You will find there are things one can't see from the outside that make this sentiment naively false.
1) You opponents campaign manager will lie about their candidate without qualms. 2) Donors will give money to a scoundrel, as long as they think the scoundrel will win. 3) Voters are actually good at picking up bullshit - in aggregate. 4) Rich white liberal female voters will not vote for a man. 5) Plenty of Black, Asian, and Immigrant voters are conservative, but many reflexively vote liberal. 6) Do it, even if you lose by a small amount like I did, you'll learn a lot and have a lot of fun
Can someone give a QRD on all of the political ramifications that will come from this? I've heard things about judges being harder to appoint, what else is there?
That was in the case of a retirement. This is a death and reappointment. I am unsure if the new Senator would assume Sen Feinstein's previous committee assignments, but all of my instincts around the Senate say no. So we are back in the position of relying on the GOP to allow the new Senator to fully serve and represent the 39 million citizens of California. If you know anything about the modern GOP and their despise for democracy, you know they will never let that happen.
Sorry, California, the 39 million of you only get 1.3 senators for the next 15 months. The 576 thousand people of Wyoming will still get their full 2.
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Don't discount the huge advantage incumbents have, both in campaign contributions [0] and name recognition. 0 - https://www.opensecrets.org/elections-overview/incumbent-adv...
I'm not. But do you think they'd still have that incumbent advantage if they consistently voted against their party's interests (I should also clarify that with "and were honest about it, not lying through their teeth and claiming otherwise"). And even then, they wouldn't keep getting major donor funding if they weren't voting in those people's interests, incumbent or no.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
See also: Ginsburg on the Supreme Court. She threw her whole legacy into the garbage disposal just so she could cling to power for two more years.
This is a rewrite of history. She was basically trapped in the job when the Senate refused to appoint Obama's pick to fill the vacant seat of Scalia. If she had retired it would have just been two empty seats for Trump to fill quicker. People were actively asking her to stay in the job. Feinstein was a democratic senator in a democratic state with a democratic governor. She was actively being told she was unfit. She…
I still remember the plethora of articles about RBG's supercool workout regimen dating back to the early 2010s because she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2009. The fixation on her health was largely because everyone knew this woman was getting ready to kick the bucket at some point, but she refused to make her exit before the Republicans took control over Congress.
Just some examples of what I'm talking about as evidence:
* https://www.yahoo.com/shine/healthy-living/ruth-bader-ginsbu...
* https://abovethelaw.com/2013/03/meet-the-personal-trainer-to...
* https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/personal-trainer-bryant...
* https://time.com/4804007/ruth-bader-ginsburgs-workout-book/ (a bit later but you get the idea)