The current crop of aging members of the Legislature and the President has generated renewed interest in term limits for all Federal offices. Many members of the House and Senate are over 80 years of age. President Biden will be eighty in November, and we will not have to worry about the ability of a President in his mid-eighties. With his performance and approval ratings, Biden will be one and done.
What drives people to keep the clock running in D.C.? Where do people find the energy to keep running for office in their eighties? On the surface, you might think it is about power and control. In some cases, you might be correct. Bernie Sanders has such a radical left agenda that he runs because somebody needs to push the Left agenda. If not him, who? So Bernie keeps on running and representing the socialist state of Vermont.
Another more viable reason is money. Not the salary, which is good, but not enough to amass millions on its own. No, it is the hidden money that the long-term swamp dwellers have become so good at tapping. Maxine Waters’Waters’ daughter is a millionaire. She is not a doctor, engineer, inventor, or entrepreneur. No, she is a campaign worker for mom. Her mother has been a Congresswoman from a rundown area of Los Angeles for a couple of decades. Maxine has to run for re-election every two years, and contributions roll in by the millions. It is perfectly legal to have your friends or relatives on your campaign staff with no limit on how much you can pay them. Waters is just a blatant example. This nepotism happens with every member of Congress who spends decades “in service to our country”.Â
Another way that these swamp creatures pad their retirement accounts is insider trading. Nancy Pelosi and her husband, Paul, are worth $220 million, up dramatically from $21 million in 2009. The 82-year-old Nancy has done a horrible job representing San Francisco. Just ask any of the thousands of homeless living on the sidewalks of San Fran. With the help of some pillow talk, Paul can make timely stock purchases in companies that bills will soon impact in Congress. His purchase of Tesla stock recently, just before Congress announced the acquisition of electric cars to replace gas-guzzling existing vehicles.
This week, Nancy disclosed her husband had purchased a massive option on Nvidia stock. Nvidia is one of the largest computer chip manufacturers in America. Congress is poised to enact a bill to give chip manufacturers billions of dollars in aid. Coincidence? Not in your life.
When asked to explain the timely purchase, this was Nancy’sNancy’s response:
“The Speaker does not own any stocks. As you can see from the required disclosures, with which the Speaker fully cooperates, these transactions are marked ”SP” for Spouse. The Speaker has no prior knowledge or subsequent involvement in any transactions,” Pelosi’sPelosi’s spokesman, Drew Hammill, told news outlets on Monday.
This lame, hollow explanation that nobody believes is enough. Pelosi will add to her fortune, and there will be no retribution or accountability. So people like Pelosi, Waters, and Biden continue to go to Washington not to serve the American people but to make them filthy rich. Term limits will end this fiasco.
