Feinstein returns to the Senate. Sort of.

[George K]

"Feinstein returns to the Senate."

Bushwa....

She was never gone. Just ask her.

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Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California insisted that she had not been absent from the Senate when asked about it by reporters on Tuesday, according to Slate and the Los Angeles Times.

"No, I haven't been gone," she told the Times' Ben Oreskes on Tuesday when asked how her Senate colleagues have responded to her return. "You should follow the — I haven't been gone, I've been working."

Oreskes then asked her whether she had been working from home.

"No, I've been here. I've been voting," she said. "Please, you either know or don't know."

Feinstein then reportedly deflected a question about lawmakers calling for her to resign before an aide wheeled her away.

Feinstein's office did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

[Doctor Phibes]

Based on how much people hate giving it up, being in power must either be seriously addictive or extremely lucrative, or possibly both.

[George K]

@Doctor-Phibes said in Feinstein returns to the Senate. Sort of.:

extremely lucrative

"At some point, you've made enough money."

[Doctor Phibes]

@George-K said in Feinstein returns to the Senate. Sort of.:

@Doctor-Phibes said in Feinstein returns to the Senate. Sort of.:

extremely lucrative

"At some point, you've made enough money."

Yeah, but he made his money by being an ex-President and world-renowned author.

[Jolly]

Might have to have an amendment, but I have no problem with reasonable term limits. 24 years total, for both House and Senate. That's a 12-term congressman, a 4-term Senator or a combination, such as 3 terms in Congress and 3 terms in the Senate.

I also have a very big problem with getting rich while serving. If a person is elected to Congress, ALL investments go into a blind trust for the duration of their service. All of their spouse's investments go into a blind trust. ANY communication between the elected official and the trust, besides normal quarterly statements and tax documents will result in immediate malfeasance charges and if proven guilty, immediate impeachment.

And...All elected officials and any civil servant above the grade of GS-14, shall be barred from any lobbying job for a period of 12 years past their last date of service.

[Doctor Phibes]

@Jolly said in Feinstein returns to the Senate. Sort of.:

Might have to have an amendment, but I have no problem with reasonable term limits. 24 years total, for both House and Senate. That's a 12-term congressman, a 4-term Senator or a combination, such as 3 terms in Congress and 3 terms in the Senate.

I also have a very big problem with getting rich while serving. If a person is elected to Congress, ALL investments go into a blind trust for the duration of their service. All of their spouse's investments go into a blind trust. ANY communication between the elected official and the trust, besides normal quarterly statements and tax documents will result in immediate malfeasance charges and if proven guilty, immediate impeachment.

And...All elected officials and any civil servant above the grade of GS-14, shall be barred from any lobbying job for a period of 12 years past their last date of service.

Also, insider trading rules should apply to congress people, the same as they do to everybody else.

[George K]

@Doctor-Phibes said in Feinstein returns to the Senate. Sort of.:

Yeah, but he made his money by being an ex-President and world-renowned author.

Yeah, at which point was it enough?

[Axtremus]

@Jolly said in Feinstein returns to the Senate. Sort of.:

I also have a very big problem with getting rich while serving. If a person is elected to Congress, ALL investments go into a blind trust for the duration of their service. All of their spouse's investments go into a blind trust. ANY communication between the elected official and the trust, besides normal quarterly statements and tax documents will result in immediate malfeasance charges and if proven guilty, immediate impeachment.

And...All elected officials and any civil servant above the grade of GS-14, shall be barred from any lobbying job for a period of 12 years past their last date of service.

Say, you only formed these opinions after Trump left office? Think you will insist that Trump puts all his businesses into a blind trust if Trump is elected again?

[Jolly]

@Axtremus said in Feinstein returns to the Senate. Sort of.:

@Jolly said in Feinstein returns to the Senate. Sort of.:

I also have a very big problem with getting rich while serving. If a person is elected to Congress, ALL investments go into a blind trust for the duration of their service. All of their spouse's investments go into a blind trust. ANY communication between the elected official and the trust, besides normal quarterly statements and tax documents will result in immediate malfeasance charges and if proven guilty, immediate impeachment.

And...All elected officials and any civil servant above the grade of GS-14, shall be barred from any lobbying job for a period of 12 years past their last date of service.

Say, you only formed these opinions after Trump left office? Think you will insist that Trump puts all his businesses into a blind trust if Trump is elected again?

There are days when you give your fellow idiots a bad name.

This is one of them.

[taiwan_girl]

@Jolly said in Feinstein returns to the Senate. Sort of.:

Might have to have an amendment, but I have no problem with reasonable term limits. 24 years total, for both House and Senate. That's a 12-term congressman, a 4-term Senator or a combination, such as 3 terms in Congress and 3 terms in the Senate.

I also have a very big problem with getting rich while serving. If a person is elected to Congress, ALL investments go into a blind trust for the duration of their service. All of their spouse's investments go into a blind trust. ANY communication between the elected official and the trust, besides normal quarterly statements and tax documents will result in immediate malfeasance charges and if proven guilty, immediate impeachment.

And...All elected officials and any civil servant above the grade of GS-14, shall be barred from any lobbying job for a period of 12 years past their last date of service.

Good ideas.

I am also wondering if increased pay would help. That may be an unpopular idea, but the private sector can pay so much more, that many smart people would not want to become involved in politics because it would be a significant pay cut.

[Jolly]

Even with the pay they have now, there are a lot of perks that come with the job.

I'd add a couple more...

1. Washington is not a cheap area to live in. I've proposed free housing for Congress before. Two and three bedroom apartments located in two or three buildings or complexes. Give them commissary and BX privileges.

2. I'd cut down the number of days they could be in session by a third, except in cases of national emergency or a special session to address a specific problem as agreed to by the Senate Leader and the Speaker.

[George K]

Ailing Senator Feinstein Reliant on Aides to Perform Basic Duties

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Persistent health issues have left the 89-year-old Senator Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.) dependent on a growing cadre of staff and assistants to perform everyday aspects of her job, a report in the New York Times published Sunday revealed.

One unnamed witness told the Times that aides had to explain to Feinstein “the basics of how the Senate functions.” During one vote that the vice president recently presided over, the anonymous source reported that the California senator had to ask associates, “What is she doing here?” seemingly unaware of Kamala Harris’s role in legislative affairs.

On other occasions, congressional staffers overhead aides explaining to Feinstein that she could not leave while a vote was still in session.

Feinstein’s ongoing health issues, including a bout of shingles that began in March, have led her office to often underplay the senator’s lingering absence. In mid May, the Times first reported that Feinstein’s return to the Senate following an over two-month absence was partly due to encephalitis, a complication arising from shingles. However, the senator’s office reportedly denied the development, with Feinstein telling one CNN reporter at the time that it was merely a “bad flu.”

The situation has pushed many staffers into an uncomfortable position, caught between balancing their obligations to public service and to Feinstein herself.

“All senators rely heavily on staff to do the job, particularly a senator who represents 40 million people,” the senator’s chief of staff, James Sauls, told the outlet. “While staff advise her, she ultimately is the one who makes the decision about how to best take action for the people of California.”

Feinstein’s growing health concerns, which have prevented the confirmation of at least a dozen federal judicial appointments of President Joe Biden, has led a growing chorus of Democrats to demand her resignation.

“It’s time for @SenFeinstein to resign,” Ro Khanna (D., Calif.) tweeted in mid April. “We need to put the country ahead of personal loyalty. While she has had a lifetime of public service, it is obvious she can no longer fulfill her duties. Not speaking out undermines our credibility as elected representatives of the people.”

[Jolly]

BTW, Biden could sink even faster, given his health...