Just on the off chance that somebody out there is still not on-board with the notion of taking back the House, please contemplate the table below:
| Committee | Chair | Born | Age | Elected |
| Ways & Means | Charles Rangel | 1930 | 79 | 1970 |
| Appropriations | David Obey | 1938 | 70 | 1969 |
| Energy & Commerce | Henry Waxman | 1939 | 69 | 1975 |
| Rules | Louise Slaughter | 1929 | 79 | 1987 |
| Financial Services | Barney Frank | 1940 | 69 | 1981 |
| Judiciary | John Conyers | 1929 | 80 | 1965 |
Those are, generally speaking, the six most powerful committees in the House of Representatives - and if you’ll note carefully, you’ll see that the chairs of them that aren’t pushing seventy are the ones who are pushing eighty* (the average age of Representatives in the 111th Congress is 57). You’ll also note that the least amount of time-in-Congress for any of them is twenty-eight years; in fact, all but two of them have been in Congress for longer than I’ve been alive, and I’ll be forty next year. This is not really unexpected (except, of course, by people silly enough to believe that Democratic control of Congress meant a “fresh start,” or some other nonsense): seniority counts for a lot in determining committee assignments. So what?
‘So what’ is that each one of these Members of Congress personally remember the shock and horror of 1995, when the Republicans took control of the House for the first time since the 1950s. Most of them had been in office for at least two decades by then (one for three), and all of them must have been accustomed to the notion that Democratic control of Congress was simply one of those things that existed. To have it suddenly go away - while leaving them secure in their own seats - was probably a very traumatic experience. But they kept on, moved up the internal party seniority ladder; and now that the Democrats are in control again, they are in positions of authority, with the power to bind and to loose. Getting there was grueling, though, and they are old. They have the prize that they seek, but they are old.
What do you think will happen if we take that prize away from them?
Again?
I don’t know either - but I know some people who are as eager to find out as I am. Not that they can do it on their own.
Moe Lane
*No, it’s not actually important for the purposes of discussion how old their replacements would be on the GOP side: I haven’t even bothered to look it up. Focus.
Crossposted to Moe Lane.
I have always said there should be a term limit of 20 years in Washington DC
bobojake Wednesday, July 1st at 5:13PM EDT (link)20 years combine House and Senate will stop the Mafia style elcrapo that is going on. This is true for all elected officials in Washington DC.
Kerry, Schummmmmmmmmmmmer, Kennedy, Hatch, Mccain, Reid, peloski, color them gone.
20 years?
Russ Martin Thursday, July 2nd at 9:40AM EDT (link)How about 12. No retirement. No health care. And they must return to live in their district with their former constituents. This would solve a HUGE percentage of problems in this country.
“There is not in all America a more dangerous trait than the deification of mere smartness unaccompanied by any sense of moral responsibility.” Teddy Roosevelt 1903
There is also another important point
paulincolo Wednesday, July 1st at 5:56PM EDT (link)to remember, the state legislators. These will be the people responsible for the partitioning of congressional districts after the census and 2010 election. It is imperative we have as many republican state legislatures that we can get. Otherwise, the dems will continue to have the gerrymandered advantage for congress.
Work, work, work, volunteer, volunteer, volunteer, support, support, support.
If Oregon gets a seat in 2010
JoeG Wednesday, July 1st at 9:39PM EDT (link)Then we will add a R seat even though it’s a D state.
They have very carefully crafted lines to lump as many Rs in one district to make the other 4 safe D. No way can they do it for 5 of 6, so I suspect they’ll keep the 4 safe Ds.
What would be nice is if we could win the House, Senate and Goobner so that we could split them 3/3
Your the King Moe!!!...nt
Aaron Gardner Wednesday, July 1st at 6:02PM EDT (link)Aaron’s Archive
conform and celebrate diversity….or else!!!
Check out the gerrymandering on some of those districts
clement Wednesday, July 1st at 6:23PM EDT (link)For instance, Louise Slaughter has downtown Buffalo and downtown Rochester and not much in between for her district. That is one of those battles that would be nearly impossible to flip.
my dream
Janice Cantore Wednesday, July 1st at 7:03PM EDT (link)is eactly what you have stated, that the congress flip back in 2010 but only because I would LOVE to see queen nancy have to give up her speakership. Not enough botox in the world to fix her pinched face after that
Janice Cantore
Rangel is truly one of the worst people ever.
kyle8 Wednesday, July 1st at 7:17PM EDT (link)He has never shied away from the worse sort to name calling and race baiting. And he is fairly close to being a Bolshevik on policy matters.
“Nothing works like freedom, Nothing succeeds like liberty”
Kyle
When You Realize How *Old* Some of These Guys Are...
IJB Wednesday, July 1st at 8:17PM EDT (link)There was a Congress, I don’t remember which one, that actually saw a slew of deaths throughout the term, enough that the control of the House actually flipped from one party to the other.
Obviously, there’s aren’t enough oldster Democrats to overcome a 30-seat hole.
But looking at the ages of these guys, you’ve got to figure that some of them aren’t long for this world. (For example, Waxman was taken to the hospital just *today*.) When you look at that, and then the illnesses that have already altered the terms in the Senate, you have to wonder how much issues with age are actually going to handicap the Dem agenda over the next 18 months.
My guess is that it will not be an insignificant factor…
Your thinking of the 1930-32 Congress
scarlos Wednesday, July 1st at 10:33PM EDT (link)where something like 8 Republicans died between the November elections and the start of the session, which flipped control to the Dems.
Socialism is Oligarchy in disguise
A liberal is a person who thinks there is no problem that cannot be solved by consolidating more power in their own hands
funny thing
kyle8 Wednesday, July 1st at 10:43PM EDT (link)but if something like that happened now in days the conspiracy theories would be off the wall.
Of course I suppose that it is possible that it was a conspiracy.
“Nothing works like freedom, Nothing succeeds like liberty”
Kyle
A minor suggestion..
pharos Wednesday, July 1st at 10:47PM EDT (link)Great observation with this post, but next time, could you perhaps leave the person’s actual age out of the table?
It was unsettling to see the words “Barney Frank” and “69″ in such close conjunction to one another .
You beat me to it with that second sentence.
bk Thursday, July 2nd at 10:02AM EDT (link)