Earlier quoted context omitted.
her constituents above a certain age* many of her constituents aren't allowed to vote
The voting age is 18. Children shouldn't vote.
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Dianne Feinstein has died
341–350 of 377 posts
Re: Dianne Feinstein has died
#342Earlier quoted context omitted.
I can offer one piece of puzzle: the demographics of registered votes has increased significantly. Take a look at "Age and generation" at https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2020/10/26/what-the-... . > The U.S. electorate is aging: 52% of registered voters are ages 50 and older, up from 41% in 1996. This shift has occurred in both partisan coalitions. More than half of Republican and GOP-leaning voters (56%) are…
Tyranny of old
And yet, only 61% of voting age citizens bother to vote. Guess which demographic makes up most of that non-voting 39%.
Re: Dianne Feinstein has died
#343> Off-Topic: Most stories about politics, or crime, or sports, or celebrities, unless they're evidence of some interesting new phenomenon. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8339325>
"Most" implies "some are". Where that line gets drawn is open to debate and discussion, though there are stories which cross the threshold.
In Feinstein's case, she was the senator from California, a powerful region unto itself and with high significance to Silicon Valley, entertainment, and other factors with which HN is directly concerned. That much discussion on such news at HN tends not to be highly substantive is ... unfortunate, though that tends to come with the territory of politics.
There have been other stories about deaths or transitions of significant political figures:
Senators: https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que...>
Congressional representatives are more difficult to search but do turn up: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23878741>
Presidential elections, not limited to the US: https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que...> https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4752077>
Re: Dianne Feinstein has died
#344Earlier quoted context omitted.
Because, like most people, they want to feel they have purpose in their life. Giving up the job is almost like accepting death, especially if they are old.
Bobby Bowden said, "I don't want to retire. After retirement, there's really only one big event left."
I miss Bobby. Bear Bryant died 4 weeks after he retired.
Re: Dianne Feinstein has died
#345Earlier quoted context omitted.
The problem with term limits is that they don't apply to lobbyists. Lobbyists basically writing most of the legislation is already a major problem, and it becomes worse when all the representatives are new to the office.
One really interesting question there, how much of the work is really don't by the elected official? If a lot of the "real" work is done by the staffers, career government workers, etc then the politician really is the public face and occasionally redirecting the ship. I'd say there is less risk there and more to gain from fresh faces and opinions in that spot, again if that's how the workload shakes out behind the s…
Many times the lobbyists actually write the laws, so that's off their plate too.
Re: Dianne Feinstein has died
#346Earlier quoted context omitted.
It doesn't. You aren't the only one here that raised similar question, I should have clarified that in my original post. I don't actually like governments creating regulations and drawing lines in the sand. As many have raised with term limits, it isn't a perfect answer and at best bandaids the real problem rather than fixing it. I'd argue that's the case with any regulation emposed on large populations, there are ju…
Term limits would also remove anyone with any potential to collect enough power to change the system. And there is nothing that prevents the replacements from abusing the power and control afforded to them in similar or worse ways. They'll be kicked out regardless of what they do, so why care about the long term?
Effectiveness of term limits would depend a good deal on how the power and control is gained in the first place. I'm of the opinion that much of it is from personal connections, favors, and dirt that can be used as leverage. None of that would easily transfer to the next official.
If power is largely collected by the office itself, or the party behind the talking head, then I agree replacing them more often may not help much.
Re: Dianne Feinstein has died
#347Earlier quoted context omitted.
> There is truth to the idea that, whether due to life experience or brain development, teenagers struggle with proper decision-making. I don't like the arbitrary nature of age cutoffs, but I would no longer support the idea of giving more political power to anyone under 18. while that's just an anecdote, even if it were the norm, it is also the norm for old people of a sufficient age if it makes you feel better, we…
There is much less variance on cognitive ability on the younger end of our lives than the higher end. Arbitrary age limits in youth are unfair, but less unfair than the same on the upper end of life. I had a friend who remained sharp until her mid 90s. I have family members who shouldn't be voting in their early 70s. That range is massive, whereas we can mostly agree that nearly all 14 year olds aren't capable, but m…
> There is much less variance on cognitive ability on the younger end of our lives than the higher end.
I'm not sure that's true. Mental maturity in kids varies widely, too. There are some pretty mentally mature kids changing the world. Look at Greta Thunberg.
There are also many fewer years for older people to live with the consequences of their votes. Everything has trade-offs. In this case, the loss would not be as bad as the loss we get from excluding those below 18.
Whatever the counterexample of sharp old people, I can think of one for sharp young people. We ignore those exceptions for young people, we can ignore them for old people, too. And if you're worried the old-age cutoff will be too young, just pick whatever age's median mental acuity matches 18 year olds - what's good for the gosling is good for the goose.
Re: Dianne Feinstein has died
#348Re: Dianne Feinstein has died
#349California resident here. Female and in what was then called junior high school when Senator Feinstein became Mayor of San Francisco.
She was one the people who changed the profile of power. That profile can only change so much at a time and change it to accommodate women was and still is a very big deal.
I didn’t always agree with her but I always thought she was committed to public service. And, like any long-serving senator, she changed her mind. Time and growth will do that, especially in a legislative body that should be built on compromise and inclusivity.
It’s sad to me that the end her career became dominated by not stepping down. I don’t know much — or anything — about back room politics but can imagine it was a decision calculated and agreed to by more than her or her staff.
I read an article a few months ago — I can’t find it now because of today’s news flood for her name — that talked about the way she wrote letters, position papers, instructions for years. She communicated in writing. And that is part of what gave her a high functioning staff and one that could support her in this last term. She had spent a lifetime in public service documenting what she thought.
In President Biden’s statement, he wrote that she was often the only woman in the room. Every article is chronicling her firsts. That she was the first woman to represent CA in the senate and that she was tenacious and held on when other people thought she should go quietly seems to me a perfectly logical pairing.
Re: Dianne Feinstein has died
#350Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think this is a bit off. I don't think the GOP in the Senate can stop California from appointing Feinstein's replacement, or keep them from being admitted to the Senate. They can keep the replacement from being appointed to the Judiciary Committee, but that is not an inherent right for senators from California.
Correct. California can appoint an interim Senator (per their constitutional & laws - I believe the governor does it without any approval from other parties). Committee appointment is by Senate rules. There's no automatic right to a seat on a committee. Judiciary is a massively important committee because it oversees the approval of federal judges (without committee approval, the nominees never get to the floor for a…
That is because Joe Manchin can still think independently and understands the value of the filibuster to the independent minority.