America is sick. Not only have we suffered more from COVID-19 than any other country but we have run up four years of the biggest peacetime budget deficits ever. If that were you or I, we would be filing for bankruptcy. Instead, we refuse to change. Meanwhile, our senators are fighting tooth and nail for ... themselves and their donors. As the electorate only intervenes every 6 years, some senators simply ignore us and employ every dirty trick in the book to advance the agenda of their donors -- and some make a lot of money doing it. Their playing field is tilted in their favor. How? Because, due to a 240 year old rule in the U.S. Constitution, every state gets two senators regardless of population. Thus, Wyoming with a population of 579,000 has the same legislative power as California with 39,512,000 -- 68 times bigger. Democracy?
Many senators are old. Sixteen of them are already over 80! Add Bernie Sanders at 79 and Mitch McConnell at 78. Very few people at that age handle change well -- but in today’s competitive world, if you don’t change, you fade away. Remember Blockbuster, Pan Am, Compaq? We need age limits.
Two legislative bodies create gridlock. During the last four years grumpy Mitch blocked 400-plus House-passed bills from even coming up for debate -- that’s dictatorship. I think our government would be more effective if the Senate was an advisory body with senators being at least 40 years old and retiring at age 70 or after a maximum of 3 four year terms. Replacements appointed by a balanced bipartisan select committee of other senators.
The world changes rapidly. America will never be first again if we keep living in the past.
Frank Fish, Taylorsville