There are certain issues that I find myself returning to again and again, mainly because no one has fixed the problem despite my perfectly clear column about it. One of those topics is old people in politics.
Let me be clear: I like old people. Some of my best friends are old people. In fact, I aspire to be an old person someday.
But we have a serious problem with old politicians, and the problem has seldom been better illustrated than with the GOP’s “One Big Beautiful Bill.”
First off, Big Beautiful Bill is a name for a Chippendale’s dancer, not a piece of legislation. Secondly, this 1,000 page bill is horrible in ways that will only become clear over time. It manages to make cuts to food assistance, Medicare, and Medicaid — things people need to continue being alive — while also raising the deficit to such a degree that even a handful of Senate Republicans are worried it’s a “debt bomb” that’s eventually going to blow up in everyone’s face.
But this column isn’t about the bill itself; it’s about how it passed in the House.
The bill managed to pass by one single vote. There are three Democrats in the House who could have voted against it, but unfortunately, they failed to. I’ll briefly outline the reasons why.
First off, there’s Raul Grijalva, D-Arizona. He could have voted against the bill, but unfortunately, he died on March 13 of lung cancer at the age of 77.
Next, there’s Sylvester Turner, D-Texas. He could have voted against the bill, but he died March 5 at the age of 70. Turner, of course, was filling the seat of Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, who died on July 19 of last year at the age of 74.
Finally, there’s Gerry Connolly, D-Virginia, who could have voted against the bill had he not died of esophageal cancer on May 21 at the age of 75. You might remember Connolly as the fellow who was put on the House Oversight Committee in lieu of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez because Nancy Pelosi couldn’t stand the idea of someone too young to remember the DuMont Network having an extra ounce of power.
I don’t want you to think I’m being glib about the deaths of these three congressmen. It’s a terrible thing. And by politician standards, these three were spring chickens! House members Bill Pascrell, Hal Rogers, Maxine Waters, and Steny Hoyer are all in their mid-80s, while Senator Chuck Grassley is 90 years old.
But the fact is, Connolly, Grijalva, and Turner were all in comparatively safe districts. Had they stepped aside to give younger Democrats a chance, this terrible bill might not have escaped the House. As an added bonus, they could have spent their golden years enjoying their families and spending time with friends. Isn’t that supposed to be the point of all this?
The unwillingness of older politicians to step aside is not only bad for our nation, it’s bad for their own legacies. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s legacy will forever be tarnished by her unwillingness to step down while Barack Obama was still President. Senator Dianne Feinstein’s final years were, to put it bluntly, sad and embarrassing. And the footnote to President Joe Biden’s long career of public service will be that he didn’t step aside until it was far too late.
The decisions that our politicians make will have ramifications for years if not decades to come. I want to vote for people who have a personal stake in that future, people who have some skin in the game and a sense of ownership of their decisions.
I think we could make some real headway in this country if we held our politicians to the same standards as we hold people who want to borrow our cars.
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