Should Aging Government Leaders Have to Pass Cognitive Tests to Serve?

[babylonsister]

Should Aging Government Leaders Have to Pass Cognitive Tests to Serve?
By Charlotte Alter
October 21, 2021 2:13 PM EDT


Republican Senator Bill Cassidy finally said something few dare to say aloud: some of the people who run American government may be too old for the job.

“At some point, and statistically it’s in the 80s, you begin a more rapid decline,” Cassidy, a gastroenterologist, told Axios on HBO. “So anybody who’s in a position of responsibility who may potentially be on that slope, that is of concern, and I’m saying this as a doctor.”

They say wisdom comes with age. Yet so few of the nation’s leaders seem to have the wisdom to know when it’s time to call it a day.

snip//

“Would it be reasonable to have, for Supreme Court Justices, members of Congress and leadership positions in the executive branch, an annual sort of evaluation in which they would have to establish, ‘Yes, I’m doing okay?'” Cassidy continued, noting he had heard of Senators who were “senile” at the end of their terms. “I think that’s actually a reasonable plan.”

Some 30 states have age-based drivers’ license renewal requirements, including many that require seniors over 70 to take extra tests or apply in person to keep them. That standard that would apply to nearly 30% of the U.S. Senate. Except you don’t have to prove your mental acuity to continue driving the country.

more...

https://time.com/6108689/cognitive-tests-government-leaders/

[Hoyt]

1. Think voters should be ultimate arbiter.

[Walleye]

6. Correct. That is how it supposed to work. Anything else requires major constitutional changes

[JohnSJ]

7. +++

[cadoman]

8. agreed, it would be too hard to define the test

We also already have the 25th amendment for this sort of situation at the executive level, where it's most critical.

"Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President."

[snort]

2. Should be applied to the constituents.

[bucolic_frolic]

3. Yes, agree, but I'm not a fan of too young people either and few would agree with me

but age 35 ought to be a minimum. What do you know of the world at 25 or 30? The Mayor Pete's are few, more often in young folks you get ideologues, partisan hatchet men trying to impress their seniors. And judges should be 50 or more and yes retire by 80. Enough is enough.

[VarryOn]

10. I totally agree....

There is an optimal balance of wisdom and cognitive ability. That's not to say there's some >75 with both; however, they are rare.

[Walleye]

4. Probably unconstitutional. The quality of representatives is supposed to be controlled by the voters

Also the Supreme Court change would take a constitutional amendment probably. I love that these guys are just so full of suggestions they know they’re never gonna have to follow through on. They’re supposed to be professional lawmakers not amateurs saying “What if we tried this and that”

[VarryOn]

5. I don't disagree, although I'd put the threshold at 75...

Too many politicians hold on way past their prime. In the corporate world, they rarely if ever let you stay past around 62. Sumner Redstone, being the exception. But, he owned the company!

[Lochloosa]

13. Sorry. My Stepmother is 84 and she's the smartest person I know. Still.

[VarryOn]

14. She's exceptional. You're blessed. Nt

[LakeArenal]

9. Hell no.

[marble falls]

11. Why stop with lawmakers?

[Corgigal]

12. Yes,

because too many voters just pick a team and vote. They have no idea who they are voting for. Until we are more engaged in the process, I would like this protection.

[JustAnotherGen]

15. Only if Jordan, Gaetz, Bobo, and MTG

Have to take one first.