This is a new one: Bill to forbid seniors from seeking office proposed in LA.

[Are_grits_groceries]

State Rep. Rickey Hardy doesn't think that senior citizens should be allowed to seek any elective office in Louisiana, and he's proposed a constitutional amendment that would bar anyone 70 or older from running.

Currently, the state Constitution only bars convicted felons who've exhausted all legal appeals and those headed for prison from running for office. It hardly seems right to make the elderly the only other group under such a prohibition.

In old age, "you need to be sitting in a rocking chair, kicking back,'' Rep. Hardy told the Lafayette newspaper.

Candidates must be legally adults to run, and a handful of offices set a higher minimum threshold. Those running for governor or attorney general must be 25, for example. But setting a ceiling makes less sense. An 80-year-old might be vigorous and mentally acute, while someone decades younger could be failing physically and mentally.

Rep. Hardy points out that judges have a mandatory retirement age, and he thinks that should be the case for every office. "Pass the baton to someone younger,'' Rep. Hardy told the Daily Advertiser. "You become stagnant. You're taking up a seat. You're no longer energized.''
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http://www.nola.com/opinions/index.ssf/2010/04/bill_to_forbid_seniors_from_se.html

He is a complete idiot. Hardy has now pissed off a large group of people who vote. I wouldn't want them after me.

[ShortnFiery]

1. I'd only apply that ruling to our NATIONAL CONGRESS.

We are in dire need of "new blood." :shrug:

[Cleita]

2. So I guess people over 70 aren't supposed to have representation from their

peer group. If there are no geezers in a legislative body most likely legislation affecting seniors would be on a back burner, just as when there are no women, women's issues get pushed aside. Do these people ever think through what they are proposing?

[Ozymanithrax]

3. If you want to run and are so old you piss your pants every time you hicouph...

You should still be allowed to run. Ageism is every bit as wrong as racism, anti-semitism, Sexism, or any other discriminative ism.

[Bitwit1234]

4. Well I'd go along with it, if the proposed a competency test

for every single person who runs for office. Like Palin they would only have to be competent but they would have to have a knowledge of basic mental facilities. In other words not be a brain dead dit like she is now.