John Dingell Retirement

**MikeyinBrooklyn** · February-24-14, 02:06 PM

I would like to congratulate Representative Dingell on his long career and wish him a happy retirement. He spent many, many years advocating for our area in Congress. While I probably would have oft voted differently than him, I still respect his service. He also passed on years of opportunities to retire to a sunny beach and allow lobbyists to use his name for big, easy money. I hope he gets to sleep in now, and enjoy whatever his hobbies are.

**stinkytofu** · February-24-14, 02:21 PM

Agreed. While I may not have always agreed with him politically, I had a chance to meet him a few times and he was a very nice man who was a good face for the region. Last time I saw him was just a few months ago and he still seemed to completely have it together mentally, though his physical ailments are clearly becoming more and more of an obstacle. I wish him all the best in his retirement.

**Hypestyles** · February-24-14, 06:20 PM

Kudos to Mr. Dingell. On a side note- knowing that this day was eventually going to come, should he have groomed a successor? The seat's going to be open, it will be a free-for-all. I suspect the Democratic primary in particular will be brutal. If "tea party credibility" becomes an issue for GOP candidates, the same may follow for the Republican primary.

**MikeyinBrooklyn** · February-24-14, 07:32 PM

They say Mrs. Dingell will run for the seat. I would be shocked if she were challenged for the nomination if she wants to run. The Republican candidate probably only has a shot if whoever the Democrat is stumbles. Although, I doubt if Demoncrats, even Mrs. Dingell, would be as strong as he was at the ballot box. But I don't want to make this thread too political. I created it really just to praise his service.

**Smirnoff** · February-25-14, 09:06 AM

Term limits are desperately needed so these greedy chumps can’t make it a long-term career out of screwing the American people as politicians.

**401don** · February-25-14, 09:24 AM

Originally Posted by Smirnoff

Term limits are desperately needed so these greedy chumps can’t make it a long-term career out of screwing the American people as politicians.

Wouldn't it save the gov't money? He's not collecting a pension while someone else serves in his place.

**Lowell** · February-25-14, 09:24 AM

Originally Posted by MikeyinBrooklyn

They say Mrs. Dingell will run for the seat. I would be shocked if she were challenged for the nomination if she wants to run. The Republican candidate probably only has a shot if whoever the Democrat is stumbles. Although, I doubt if Demoncrats, even Mrs. Dingell, would be as strong as he was at the ballot box. But I don't want to make this thread too political. I created it really just to praise his service.

My kudos to John Dingell too. He has been a powerful voice for our Detroit region.

I hope Debby Dingell runs. She is very intelligent, a great speaker and obviously highly connected. She could best help Detroit retain some of John's clout.

**jackie5275** · February-25-14, 10:07 AM

Originally Posted by Smirnoff

Term limits are desperately needed so these greedy chumps can’t make it a long-term career out of screwing the American people as politicians.

We have term limits, and they don't stop career politicians. They only stop politicians from having a long term career in the same seat. They don't stop career politicians from spending term limited time in numerous different seats.

**DetroitPlanner** · February-25-14, 10:51 AM

Originally Posted by Smirnoff

Term limits are desperately needed so these greedy chumps can’t make it a long-term career out of screwing the American people as politicians.

Obviously the people he represents feel otherwise or else he would have been bounced. Term limits have not helped at the State level, why would you think that the federal level would be any different?

**Signman** · February-25-14, 11:08 AM

It will be like he never left, another Dingell will replace him just like he did his father.
Democracy is great, we get to vote for the same crap over and over and pat ourselves on the back for our freedoms and independence.

**daveyarm** · February-25-14, 01:44 PM

Many people don't know that for all of his years in Congress, Mr. Dingell introduced some form of advanced healthcare legislation every single year, long before Ted Kennedy, the Clintons, and Pres. Obama took up the cause. I will never forget the scene on the night the Affordable Care Act was passed, as Mr. Dingell was surrounded by his colleagues, who were clapping for him and congratulating him.

**Gistok** · February-25-14, 02:34 PM

Originally Posted by daveyarm

Many people don't know that for all of his years in Congress, Mr. Dingell introduced some form of advanced healthcare legislation every single year, long before Ted Kennedy, the Clintons, and Pres. Obama took up the cause. I will never forget the scene on the night the Affordable Care Act was passed, as Mr. Dingell was surrounded by his colleagues, who were clapping for him and congratulating him.

Dingell at the Presidents signing.... it appears that Dingell got to keep the historic pen....

http://www.zimbio.com/photos/Victori...ll/9b_PEd8EtEp

**MikeyinBrooklyn** · February-25-14, 03:38 PM

Originally Posted by daveyarm

Many people don't know that for all of his years in Congress, Mr. Dingell introduced some form of advanced healthcare legislation every single year

Oh, well. No one's perfect. Happy retirement anyway.

**ABetterDetroit** · February-25-14, 05:46 PM

It is ironic that a country that founded itself on rejecting rule by a family, Kennedy, Bush, Clinton just to name a few....

**archfan** · February-26-14, 12:43 AM

Originally Posted by ABetterDetroit

It is ironic that a country that founded itself on rejecting rule by a family, Kennedy, Bush, Clinton just to name a few....

Adams? Harrison?

**Gistok** · February-26-14, 12:56 AM

Originally Posted by archfan

Adams? Harrison?

Thanks Archfan... Taft, Chaffee, Bayh, Landrieu, the list is endless... as is the list of people who were sleeping thru history class...

**Meddle** · February-26-14, 07:26 AM

Good riddance. This seems to be the year of career politicians finally bailing out.

Never vote for anyone who has already served two terms.

As for pensions? They should not be getting any. They are there to serve the people, not the other way around. If there must be a pension, it should not exceed the number of years in office which should never exceed 8 years.

**emu steve** · February-26-14, 07:36 AM

I too was saddened to hear of his retirement. He represented my district when I was in junior/senior high school.

Even though I left MI and not represented by him, I still followed his career. I met him in Reagan airport I guess a half dozen year back and, I guess, kind of wowed him of my knowledge of him and his father even though I left MI 30 years before.

I do have a request for the congressman:

In 2012 the AP took what I think was an iconic photograph in front of the Supreme Court when ACA was announced.

I am a huge supporter of ACA and I have asked my local congressman to autograph the photo [[it is a beautiful framed photo). He said he'd be 'honored' to.

Next, I need Dingell

The two champions of health care reform were Sen. Kennedy and Rep. Dingell.

One is deceased and the other is retiring. End of an era.

I wish I could get Sen Kennedy's widow to autograph it also.

**Meddle** · February-26-14, 07:39 AM

Originally Posted by emu steve

I wish I could get Sen Kennedy's widow to autograph it also.

What about the woman he killed? Do you want her autograph too?

**emu steve** · February-26-14, 09:56 AM

Originally Posted by Meddle

What about the woman he killed? Do you want her autograph too?

Did she support health care reform?

**Cincinnati_Kid** · February-26-14, 10:22 AM

I don't agree with his wife running for his vacated seat though. It's already too much nepotism in state government. She's probably just running to get the outlandish perks that government officials get. I doubt that she'd do a good job.
Since when do these politicians ACTUALLY help the people that put them in office including Washington?

**emu steve** · February-26-14, 11:03 AM

Originally Posted by Cincinnati_Kid

I don't agree with his wife running for his vacated seat though. It's already too much nepotism in state government. She's probably just running to get the outlandish perks that government officials get. I doubt that she'd do a good job.
Since when do these politicians ACTUALLY help the people that put them in office including Washington?

From what I know of her [[I don't live in MI) she is a very talented person.

P.S. I don' think you are using nepotism correctly. She'll be elected in her own right and not being appointed to a job by her husband.

Nepotism is what the Ford family did with their automobile company. "you go the blood [[relation), you got the job..."

**Wesley Mouch** · February-26-14, 12:32 PM

Originally Posted by Smirnoff

Term limits are desperately needed so these greedy chumps can’t make it a long-term career out of screwing the American people as politicians.

Term limits are a huge mistake. Can't we see that now? Our current state representatives just barely get a chance to understand the real issues and how to wield power -- and then we whack them.

Dingell [[albeit at fed level) shows the value of long-term service. I didn't agree with him a lot, but he was a great representative who knew his district, and knew how to look out for our interests.

Boo to term limits. Its a lot like minimum wage. Sounds good, but in the end hurts far more than it helps.

**Meddle** · February-26-14, 04:33 PM

Originally Posted by Wesley Mouch

Term limits are a huge mistake.

Fully disagree.

I would extend term limits to immediate family also. Once a person has served two terms, no spouse, sibling or offspring could run. Unfortunately it wouldn't have saved the world from the Shrub's tyranny since Poppa Bush only got elected once.

But it would deliver us from Hillary.

**MikeyinBrooklyn** · February-26-14, 05:13 PM

I was not a proponent of term limits until I read George Will's 1992 book Restoration, which was quite convincing about the potential benefits of term limits, the myriad institutional problems in Congress without them, and how it is consistent with the ideals of a representative republic to have high turnover in the legislature. Note: the US is not a democracy, nor is any other country on Earth [[in a true democracy, all citizens decide every issue; we vote for leaders to decide for us; conducting a ballot among 310M citizens several times a week would be a little unruly). We have some democratic institutions, including ballot initiatives, but they are part of a republican system [[I am not using the terms democrat or republican here to describe parties). I don't personally accept the notion that we shouldn't have term limits because it limits the public's choice. When a politician has reached the term limit, there is only one person [[in a Congressional district of about 700,000 people) who becomes ineligible. Far more people are ruled out by the other restrictions we already have: age, residency, citizenship, etc.

But I don't want to participate in this threadjacking any further. My support of term limits is not related to John Dingell's service.