Not Just Barney: Eight Veteran House Dems Retiring
Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) caused a bit of a stir when he announced he was not seeking re-election. Frank, a high-visibility member of Congress for more than 30 years, is in one of the safest Democratic districts in the nation. Yet he is not alone: there are several other Barney Franks fleeing the 112th Congress. Eight other veteran House Democrats who reside in safe congressional seats are throwing in the towel.
The problem isn’t merely in the House. Just this week, U.S. Senator Ben Nelson from Nebraska announced he won’t seek re-election this coming November. Nelson is one of seven Senate Democrats who have decided to “voluntarily” retire ahead of the 2012 elections. This is a repeat of the 2010 elections when a flood of Democrats decided to retire rather than face certain defeat.
The retirement of rank-and-file Democrats is an especially bad sign for the Democrats if they have any hope of retaking the U.S. House. The nine House retirements are even more notable because each ranks high in seniority for key House committees — if the House returned to Democratic rule, they would be in line to assume chairmanships. Chairmanships are great perks, offering hideaway offices in the Capitol building and less restrained power and authority. Voluntarily walking away from Hill leadership is uncommon: House members can sit for twenty years on the Hill and never get close to a chairmanship.
To Democratic Party faithful, the nine retiring congressmen present a dramatic picture of the hostile environment Democrats are facing as the 2012 election begins. Some of the retirees had easily won re-election with 60-70% majorities. Their stampede for the exit is yet another admission that the Democrats face a potential “wave” election, and of course, it portends considerable trouble for Barack Obama.
The accelerating House retirements come on the heels of last September’s special election in New York, where an unknown Republican defeated a popular Queens Democrat to take Anthony Weiner’s seat. The New York congressional district was Democratic for 80 years — registered Democrats outnumbered registered Republicans by a three-to-one margin.
Barney Frank is, of course, the headliner of this group: he is one of the best-known and most powerful Democrats outside of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), serving 16 uninterrupted terms. When the Democrats held the House during the first two years of the Obama administration, the Massachusetts Democrat served as the undisputed power at the House Financial Services Committee, muscling through many regulations that pummeled banks. His name is on the Dodd-Frank law, which threatens to impose new regulations on all financial institutions. The law is so complicated that, two years after its enactment, administration regulators still have failed to issue rules for methods of enforcement.
Including Frank, the departing group represents a wealth of experience that will not be easy to replace: The nine have served in office for a combined 172 years.
Most are like Rep. Dale Kildee (D-MI), a House member for a whopping 18 terms. Kildee won office in 1977, the same year Jimmy Carter won the presidency. He is the second most senior member on the House Natural Resources Committee, sitting only behind vocal global warming advocate Ed Markey (D-MA). Kildee has always won election with at least 70% of the vote.
Rep. Jerry Costello (D-IL) originally won office in 1988 with just 51% of the vote. Since then, he has garnered at least 60% each election. He was an early supporter of Barack Obama, and was a candidate to be his secretary of transportation. Costello is the second most senior member of the influential Science, Space and Technology Committee.
Rep. John Olver (D-MA) has served a congressional district with a Cook Partisan Voting Index of D+14. (The most Democratic state in the country is Vermont, which Cook cites as D+13.) He hails from Frank’s state of Massachusetts, and has been a reliable member of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, following the lead of hardened progressive and former House Chairman David Obey (D-MI).
Rep. Charlie Gonzalez (D-TX) comes from an ultra-liberal San Antonio political dynasty that was headed up by his father, Rep. Henry Gonzalez. His father was far left-leaning and was once famously accused of being a communist, though he reportedly punched the accuser in the jaw for the remark. (A court exonerated the congressman.)
Gonzalez carefully groomed his son Charlie to succeed him in office. When Henry retired in 1988, Charlie easily won election and followed in the footsteps of his father.
To them all: “Don’t let the door hit ya where the good lord split ya.”
Ah, politics.
If these people were truly “representing” their constituencies, would they just leave like this?
Our “public servants” are not servants at all. They are power-seeking egomaniacs, intent on garnering power and percs.
We’ve done something wrong when these are the kinds of people we choose to represent us.
It isn’t specifically stated in the Constitution, but I remember hearing in my 8th-grade U.S. History class that members of the House of Representatives were elected to two-year terms because they were supposed to be ordinary people that would go to Washington for a short time to represent ordinary people and then return to their jobs and homes.
Nancy Pelosi, anyone? The Congressional Black Caucus? 435 people that were supposed to be “just us folks” have become a ruling class and think of themselves as elite arbiters of what we “should” be and think.
Remember that when you screw in your mandated light bulb after next Sunday. Or when you consider that members of Congress are exempt from many of the laws they pass. Or when your children have to go to public schools while theirs do not.
The “people’s house.” HAH!
In Jacksonion times, we’d say, “Bullsh&t!”
And then there’s the money. Ben Nelson will complete his second term in 2012. That’s 12 years in office. When he was first elected, he was not a millionaire. He’s now worth 7.1 million. How did he become a multi-millionaire in 12 years when his salary is $174,000 a year and he must maintain two residences in addition to normal living expenses?
Denny Hastert, former Speaker of the House, was worth less than $200,000 when he was first elected. When he retired a few years ago, he was worth 16 million. Again, how did he accumulate this money?
The American taxpayer is a sap. These people in Congress feather their own nests and treat our hard-earned tax dollars like Monopoly money.
For starters, we need term limits for the House and the Senate. I am sure that our Founders did not intend the members of Congress to be there for 20, 30, or 40 years or more. Our Founders also intended that they be “public servants,” not wannabe millionaires.
Our legislative and executive branches (and maybe the judicial also) have become completely corrupt. We can’t maintain a viable government and country unless we start to clean up this mess.
Yep.
Term limits has its own difficulties, but they pale in comparison to the problem of having a permanent ruling class.
Term limits would only strengthen the ever-growing power of unelected officials and bureaucrats who never had to face the voters to begin with.
http://1389blog.com/2010/07/02/not-term-limits-but-recall-elections/
Term limits, eh? Ask a Californian “how’s that been workin’ out for ya’?”
Voters imposed term limits on the California legislature going on 20 years now.
I agree with Darkwater, “We already have term limits. It’s called ‘get off your ass & vote’.” I’ll add that “get up and work off some fat by walking precincts” is part it.
Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. And outsourcing your citizen’s responsibility to other people or some automatic rule won’t cover it. Ain’t nobody who can pay the price of liberty for you, you got to do that by yourself.
“For starters, we need term limits for the House and the Senate.”
We already have term limits. It’s called ‘get off your ass & vote’. Once you start introducing artificialities like this into the process, then you are assuming that the American electorate is too dumb to fully participate, & someone has to help guide them, sort of like a ‘party elite’.
Otherwise, I agree with what you say.
As an alternative, I love Rick Perry’s idea to limit the amount of time that Congress is in session, ruining our prospects & feathering their beds.
“Cut their pay in half, cut their time in Washington in half, cut their staff in half, send them home. Let them get a job like everybody else back home has, and live under the laws they pass.”
I love it. Texas does just fine, certainly better than the rest of the country, with a legislature that meets only 140 days every two years. And Texas isn’t alone; quite a few states do the same.
“No man’s life, liberty, or fortune is safe while our legislature is in session.” –Benjamin Franklin
I’m no Marxist. I don’t have a problem with people becoming wealthy through their own acumen and effort. I would almost be able to accept it if our Congressmen and women became wealthy doing a good job, improving our country, our economy. However, they have become wealthy in the process of betraying us and the oath of office they took when they were elected. They have become wealthy through institutionalized corruption, committing crimes that would certainly send any citizen – like Martha Stewart – to prison, but they are immunized by their own legislation from being subject to the very laws we suffer under.
Mr. Pollock misses another interpretation for what is happening, though. Perhaps it isn’t fear of failing to be re-elected that causes them to retire. Perhaps it is the insider knowledge they possess of how bad things will get when the collapse of Europe’s economy is followed by the requisite collapse of our economy. Perhaps they fear the righteous wrath the citizens of this country will feel when this happens, and fear for their lives if they were still in the public view.
However, if the collapse that they have caused, or been a party to, does indeed occur, they will not be able to hide.
You have nailed it, friend….These Parasites has sucked the blood from the rest of the average working American, now these RATS are heading for the hills of safety….I feel rage when I see the evil caused by Nancy Pelosi,…Barney, F…..please forgive my rage being displayed on the finest of websites, PJM…The best, and most intelligent…..Friends I did not enjoy watching Kadaffi being killed by his people for his crimes, but just picture what it would be like to watch the same happening to every one of these Rats named above…..JB
Many Dems are retiring rather than be defeated in the next election. But in the case of Dems in overwhelmingly Dem districts, I think it’s more a matter of knowing they would be re-elected, but also knowing that the Republicans will still control the House and not wanting to serve in such a House.
I’ve seen it before. Democrat long-timers bailed out of Congress after the 1994 wave election masterminded by Newt Gingrich. Some, like Norm Mineta (D-CA), didn’t even bother to serve out the whole term to which he’d be re-elected despite the wave (his seat was super-safe). Once a hack has been called “Mr. Chairman” by everybody, being in the minority just isn’t fun anymore, I guess.
The true reason these DemonRats are abandoning ship is because they and the people that they represent have read my website which states that they’re guilty of treason. It also states the article of the U.S. Constitution for treason. They’re running because they are as guilty as ‘sin.’ Go to website: http://www.haasstrep68.com
What furball said!!
Mike Ross is from Arkansas, not Arizona and he’s retiring because he knows he will lose. After 2010 he’s the only Democrat left in our House delegation.
If you really want to neuter the power of the federal government then consider working for a return to federalism: http://www.redstate.com/derkrieger/
Read all five articles and the enclosed links.
“Including Frank, the departing group represents a wealth of experience that will not be easy to replace: The nine have served in office for a combined 172 years.”
Yes, and they represent a wealth of corruption, too. I say, good riddance to them all. There should be term limits in Congress: 2 terms (or 12 years) in the Senate and 6 terms (or 12 years) in the House. Any person who wants to be away from his home state or his business for more than 12 years obviously wants to be a professional politician, and THAT is where the trouble is. Terms in Congress have become serious professions, NOT a place where you serve your country for a few years and then go back to your own business. Have there been some good or even great Congressmen? Certainly, but I don’t see why they can’t be “great” in 12 years rather than 30. Also, if you could only serve for 12 years, committee chairmanships would have to change hands more frequently, which would probably be better for everybody. And fewer years in Congress would mean that people could pass fewer laws and regulations, which at this point in our lives would be great. Could people still try to “game the system” with term limits? Sure, but at least they would be out of there quicker than they are now. Jerks like Barney Frank hold on to their seats like popes under the current system, and that is just, plain, wrong. And it is certainly NOT what the Founding Fathers had in mind when they created Congress.
I agree with your sentiments. I disagree with your solution! Your solution presupposes that all are equally corrupt or are destined to become so. Is restricting the citizens right to choose a good idea? Think Obamacare here! I see term limits as the same as the liberal intrusions into our daily lives. Think 100 watt bulbs! The question to be answered is, how did Barney and friends get where they are? My answer is to paraphrase Shakespear, “The fault, dear Libertyship46, is not in our system, But in ourselves, . . .” A sizeable percentage of our voting poplus is ignorant, emotional, envious and greedy, fix that, and the other problem will fix itself.
Okay, so LibertyShip proposed a solution. What’s your’s? How do you propose we fix the problem you’ve identified? How do you propose we stop ignorant, greedy, emotional and jealous people from voting? Seems like there would be even worse intrusions into daily life if we tried to do that instead of setting term limits on politicians.
No one should be allowed to vote who does not have some “skin” in the game. If paying income tax were a requirement, we would eliminate a lot of the uninformed, ignorant voters who just vote in whomever they think will give them the most from the government till, or who is the coolest rock star type, etc. You get the picture. Suggestion…when you file your income tax return, the IRS will send you an admnission card to the polling place. That card, together with your picture id, gets you in the door. Something else I would like to see is a simple government literacy test. Who is the VP? Who is the speaker of the house? What rights does the Constitution guarantee to the people? I can hear the left yellings “racist” already.
Very good and in line with my thinking. I see no problem with requiring voters to prove they are legal to vote and have a basic understanding of our system. I’d like to come up with a way to seperate votes that have a direct economic impact and only allow tax payers to vote on those. I’d also like to see very severe penalties for any type of voter fraud. Just short of summary execution with the body hung outside the polling place.
KDM
I see no reason a litteracy test should not be mandated. Although I was a USMC vet, in 1960, at age 24, I was made to take a litteracy test in order to register to vote in Nassau County, NY.
No one who accepts a check from the government, excepting military personnel, should be allowed to vote either.
Q. Why isn’t paying taxes or passing a basic civics knowledge test a requirement for voting?
A. Laws, even an amendment to the U.S. Constitution, were passed againt such requirements because the party of slavery, the KKK, and Jim Crow abused such things horribly in the past.
Q. Which party was that?
A. Democrat.
Q. Why isn’t paying taxes or passing a basic civics knowledge test a requirement for voting?
A. Laws, even an amendment to the U.S. Constitution, were passed against such requirements because the party of slavery, the KKK, and Jim Crow abused such things horribly in the past.
Q. Which party was that?
A. Democrat.
In addition to some type of term limits, we may want to consider the Texas approach – the legislature meets for only a few months every two years and receives limited salaries. The rest of the time they are forced to live like regular folks.
And limits on so-called service for unelected government staffers and bureaucrats.
These are the people that make the rules and write the regulations that we have to suffer through. Congressmen come and go – these termites are permanently infested.
Why on earth would you want to give them that much time to feather their nests and build a power base?
To steal a bumper sticker that was popular during Clinton’s first term:
“Visualize one term.”
Re-elect NOBODY.
I totally agree. Twelve years is more than enough time to “serve” your country. The longer they are in DC the more corrupt they become…just look at Barney Frank and other long-timers.
The sad fact of Frank’s and Pelosi’s long careers in Washington serves as proof that we are growing increasingly incapable of governing ourselves. Ditto for Schumer, Waxman, Boxer, Reid, McCain, McConnell, Boehner and all the rest who got us into our current mess (and who also claim they’re the ones to fix it).
We have allowed ourselves to be fooled, bamboozled and manipulated into voting for people who could care less about their fellow citizens: their only concern is for their power and how to perpetuate it. Unless and until we understand the danger the nation faces from the Progressive/Democrat Party, remove them from power, and make them the political pariahs they should be, we are in deep trouble. In fact, we’re already in deep trouble, fiscally and politically, but many people can’t connect the dots from bad politicians to poorly written laws to economic ruin.
And we have no one to blame but ourselves for installing such despicable pols into high office and keeping them there for decades. We have the government we so richly deserve.
The only positive fact about the obama administration is that it exposed all of the crooks, thieves and liars that have been fleesing the American tax payers. I predict Pelosi and Reid will be announcing their retirements in the near future, too.
Are you kidding? Reid and Pelosi will fight to the end. They were just reelected last year. They have five more years to help Obama destroy what’s left of America. They aren’t going anywhere.
Pelosi is a house rep, not a senator. She goes up for her seat every 2 years, or does she get some special dispensation not typical for representatives that we don’t know about?
No but in Pelosi’s case everyone in her district is certified wacko! They all think whatever she does is just great and will continue to keep a wako like them in office in perpetuity!
That’s right. Reid and Pelosi will never retire. They have reached the pinacle of power and there’s no way they’re giving it up. Frank would never have folded either but he got redistricted due to Mass losing a house seat (thank goodness). Frank had his toughest race ever in 2010, in the “snaky” district designed just for him, against a no-name (albeit brilliant) young Republican, Sean Bielat. Sean drove Barney batsh*t crazy. He would have lost in a Bielat rematch. As it is, he would get slaughtered in his newly gerrymandered district. I never got to vote against Barney, but we’ve all joyously cheered his long overdue retirement.
Retiring politico’s gettin while the gettin is good.
They have a nice retirment package.Which they
Did not pay into ! Now they will go off into the
Unknown laughing all the way !
As the old guard Republicans stagger to their Last Hurrah in 2012, so also do many Democrats leave the scene, not wanting to take the heat for the mess they made in the kitchen. In the presidential election, the media and crossovers will give them all the help they can. If people cannot see a difference between Obama and whoever, we may have another 4 years of a ‘red’ White House.
The new Dem generation, far more radical than the old, will need to be countered by new Republicans of a strong conservative persuasion. Organizing on a local level is our best chance.
Eric, interesting concept to return to Federalism but it is too burdensome. Getting 32 state representatives to keep track of and agree to reject all kinds of regulations,laws etc. would take years and would just not work.
Simply repeal the 16th and 17th amendments and we’ll be back on the road to more representative government.
I’ve been saying that FOR YEARS. Failing the repeal of Amendments 16 & 17, GET RID OF WITHHOLDING. If YOU have to write the check every quarter to pay your taxes (like I did in my small business), all of a sudden you become VERY conscious of how much government is costing you, and you lose your enthusiasm for the spending like drunken sailors approach of the Federal government.
Hey! I object. I was a sailor. At least drunken sailors spend their own money!
I think that’s a good start, but there’s a lot more work to be done.
H.L. Mencken once remarked that the only indigineous criminal class in America is the U.S. Congress. We can be sure that the crooked criminal Frank will leave with his pockets full of cash so that the can buy that luxury house in Provincetown and rule over that part of his dominion like King Farouk.
Good comment, Johann, but (with respect)….it was actually Mark Twain who observed that “there is no distinctly native American criminal class except Congress.”
Theyre not leaving because they think they will be defeated. They are leaving because they know whats coming. Our economy is about to collapse because of their incompotence. When that happens they want to be far away from Washington, far away from the riots that will follow.
The old IBGYBG ‘I’ll Be Gone, You’ll Be Gone’ game has always required knowing when to ‘get gone’. I am not surprised some actually do.
Olver is being redistricted out. Hopefully retiring to NK or Cuba.
Picture this: you’ve come into an organization, puffed up your life style, portfolio, pension, family / friends’ portfolios… you’ve devoured everything in sight. And worst of all, the shop-owners (us) have gotten wind of this (via a book here, a news piece there) – not to mention that pesky (swelling) group of those on the right that are constantly hawking your activities. It’s starting to look risky to hang around, and for what? There’s not really that much left to loot. And, if things get really bad, they could start prosecuting and clawing back. Best cut ties and get the hell out while you can. Ah, safe at last.
I hope Teddy Kennedy is spinning in his grave.
I’d prefer to picture him being SPIT-ROASTED IN HELL, but that’s just me.
As a parting gift for the serfs, publish the rate of return each congressperson has accumulated since taking office when they turn in their keys.
As every sailor knows, when the rats jump ship, the gig’s up.
This must be that “Fundamental Change” Ø was alluding to…
Let’s try term limits for the bastards. Eight years for Representatives(1/4 of seats vacated every 2 years), 12 years for Senators(1/6 of seats vacated every 2 years), and 18 years(1/9 seats vacated every 2 years for appointed Judges) for Supreme Court Judges. Of course, all of this would require a very major amendment to the Constitution and we can’t expect these politicians to pass anything. A huge referendum effort would be required. Severe restrictions would have to be placed on gerrymandering of House districts as well. The next thing the political parties would do is try to fix party outcomes in as many districts as possible after every census( One way would be to force County boundaries in House districts wherever possible. Of course politicians would then try to change County boundaries to suit themselves so that power would have to be taken from the State houses). They would also try schemes to allow politicians to run again after only one term out of office or to run in different House districts in order to continue their careers in politics. So, even term limits becomes a very complicated mess when we have to consider how devious the political class is.
I fear that term limits is just the lazy person’s way of trying to get out of paying the price of liberty. Eternal vigilance won’t work on autopilot.
They are retiring because they won. The country is on a unchangeable course to a mixture of Communism, Statism, Marxism, Socialism, Crony Capitalism – pick your Progressive -ism. Obama is going to cruise to a second term. Let’s face it, the current battle is lost. There are no Republicans who will change it significantly. In fact, I’ll bet the majority of Americans don’t want it either. Americans will not go through the hardship of massive budget cuts and deregulation that it will take to get the economy producing and the Federal Budget under control. Americans act conservative when their own self interest is not threatened, but are liberals otherwise.
One minute difference: could we reconsider Crony Capitalism? It isn’t Capitalism – at all, not tweaked by an adjective. How about Cronyism or Crony Statism?
There’s already a perfectly good word for it: Fascism.
Classic liberal mental-ism…….run the plane out of gas, sell off half of it to outside contracting then before it hits the ground…Eject…Eject…..Eject!! they jump ship to go pull more money from thier “friends” on the “private” side…..we get screwed again. WE Didn’t get to vote them out they RAN LIKE COWARDS!
I agree with Patrick. The “good times” are over and they are jumping ship before they get caught up in the tragic after effects they helped create.
It’s an ominous sign indeed.
The good times of giving things away to people for votes are gone.
The hard times of austerity are upon us and the rats are fleeing the ship.
The “moderate” D’s are retiring because they know they’re going to lose.
The “liberals” in safe seats with years of seniority retiring is a bigger story. Their retirement signals their belief that the R’s will control the House for years to come. They are retiring not merely because of loss of power, but becuase they have no expectation of regaining power anytime soon. Remember, the House, unlike the Senate, is no fun at all when you’re in the minority.
These guys see the writing on the wall. They know they can hold their seats in safe districts as long as they want, but what’s the point if they are going to be in the minority party? Seniority matters towards getting a Chairmanship, but only if your Party is in the majority – the majority Party holds ALL the Chairs of every committee.
The “liberals” in safe seats with years of seniority retiring is a bigger story.
Correctamundo.
Attention Tea Party Democrats: organize and win those seats.
I can’t help but think that even a Democrat can see where President Obama’s various policies are leading the country. They don’t want to be the ones who are on deck when the bills come due. The way they see it, now that they have saddled us with unpayable debts and horribly-written healthcare laws, the next few years can’t help but being a disaster. If Conservatives are in charge when that happens, they can say “see what happens when we aren’t in charge?” Somehow, all these years of blaming the previous administration will be forgotten and it will suddenly be the current representatives’ fault.
Apparently these people think by getting a head start they can outrun the magma that’s going to engulf the Beltway when the whole administration blows sky high. I think we’re in for a breadth and depth of scandals that will certainly rival and probably eclipse anything we’ve seen before. My prayer is that it will at last open a vista so unequivocally different from the utterly foul previous environment that a critical mass of idealists with the courage to never abandon those ideals will see their way clear and answer the call to authentic public service. It will take nothing less at this point.
Correction: Obey is from Wisconsin not Michigan.
Every one but especially FRANK, DODD, GONZALEZ WOOLSEY and BOREN should be prosecuted and jailed. These scumbags are the worst but SCARY FACE PELOSI should be included. All of these bums helped RUIN AMERICA.
We put term limits on the state senators in Nebraska and oh the horror! Oh the outcry! The loss of wisdom and experience will destroy us!!!!
No one even noticed them all leaving and the unicameral is working more smoothly, more efficiently and more CHEAPLY than ever.
There is even such a great turnover that their value as lobbyists is diminished–because there are so many of them–which makes them more likely to go get a REAL JOB and live under the laws they create.
We need to do it nationally.
Throw them all out.
On the other hand this exodus by senior Democrats will require fresh blood to compete in 2012, fresh blood that could represent more of a threat to any Republican challenge than facing an increasingly unpopular old guard. No time for the Republicans to lower the heat. Speaking of the heat, where is it? This early analysis seems a little presumptuous and premature as a harbinger of a Republican landslide in 2012..
Mike Ross is a congressman from Arkansas, not
Arizona
I do believe that some Dems are leaving because they know that the ship is about to sink. But I wonder how many are leaving in the hope that when the SHTF they’ll be able to scream “We were not in power. It’s the Republicans’ fault.” They will after all have the liberal press and academia singing the same song. It all depends on how many brain dead voters fall for it and return the Dems to power in 4 years.
It is in point of fact a great and useful piece of information. I’m satisfied that you just shared this helpful info with us. Please keep us up to date like this. Thanks for sharing.