Join Dale Adams and Ron Cisneros on Ceasefire as they dive into term limits and age limits for elected officials. With 87% of Americans supporting term limits and 79% supporting age limits, this is a hot-button issue affecting our democracy. The hosts explore the accumulation of power in Congress, examine real cases of politicians serving well into their 80s and 90s, and debate whether limits would actually change Washington's broken system. From Chuck Grassley's 50 years in office to Dianne Feinstein's final years, they discuss how career politicians maintain power and whether voters or the Constitution should decide when it's time to step down.

Key Topics:

• The case for and against term limits
• Age limits vs. competency concerns
• Supreme Court justice tenure debates
• How incumbency and power accumulate
• Would constitutional amendments actually change anything?
• The partisan politics behind reform efforts

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Timeline

0:00 - Introduction: Ceasefire podcast with Dale & Ron

0:29 - Topic introduction: Term and age limits

0:46 - Polling data: 87% support term limits, 79% support age limits

1:36 - Two different issues: Power accumulation vs. competency

2:01 - Historical context: Articles of Confederation had term limits

2:45 - Ron's personal experience as councilman

3:53 - Examples of long-serving politicians

4:45 - Chuck Grassley: 50 years in Congress

5:08 - Politicians who died in office

6:21 - Sotomayor and Supreme Court politics

8:22 - House incumbents elected 93% of the time

9:41 - Age limits as a slippery slope

10:50 - Different age requirements for president vs. congress

11:59 - Break / Bernie Bookshop ad

13:25 - Welcome back: Old people in power

14:25 - Partisan nature of keeping reliable votes

15:27 - Constitutional amendment challenges

16:31 - Rahm Emanuel's push for age limits

18:01 - Age limits only discussed for opposing party

18:57 - Supreme Court justices and post-retirement lobbying

20:05 - Past presidents retiring from public life

21:01 - Local example: Former Mayor Nirenberg

21:50 - Average congressional tenure: 9-12 years

22:29 - Long-termers control committee assignments

23:33 - Leadership funds as corrupting influence

24:31 - Would term limits actually change anything?

25:14 - Final thoughts: No to age limits, maybe to term limits

25:56 - Book recommendations and closing