Philip Blumel: Happy Holidays. The Kay Granger story added an exclamation point to the end of one of the Term Limits movement’s most successful years ever. Hi, I’m Philip Blumel. Welcome to No Uncertain Terms. The official podcast of the Term Limits Movement. This is episode 254. Published on December 30th, 2024.
Stacey Selleck: Your Sanctuary from Partisan Politics.
Philip Blumel: Wow. Where to start? Well, the Case for Term Limits has a new poster child and she’s 81 years old. Here’s how the Guardian told the story. “A congresswoman from Texas has not cast a vote in the US House since July while she has been grappling with dementia issues and residing in a senior living facility according to her family, something she did not disclose to the public before a Dallas media outlet figured out where she was during her prolonged absence.” The Congress member, I’m sure you’ve heard is Kay Granger. She currently represents more or less the 12th Congressional District, which includes part of the Dallas Fort Worth area. Granger is no backbencher. She was chair of the powerful House Appropriations Committee for over a year, starting in January 2023. Fortunately, she did not run for reelection in 2024, but she didn’t retire. She might not know it, but she is a sitting member of Congress right now. She last showed up to vote on July 24th.
Philip Blumel: It took a reporter from the Dallas Express to find her. If you tried to call her office, the calls went to voicemail. You’d go to her office, but it was dark. Then the reporter got a tip from a local that Granger had moved to an assisted living facility. These places aren’t hospitals. They’re basically apartment complexes with lots of social activities and services where older people can live a full life. Some of them are very nice. What is special about them is they offer a progressively higher level of long-term care services as the residents age. And a memory care center is an important part of these complexes. Granger’s family confirmed that Granger moved there because she was having “Some dementia issues.” Not unlike what happened to President Biden in the 2020 elections, there were people who noted at the time that she was “in visible decline” when she successfully ran for reelection in 2022. Ah, but she was an incumbent running for her own seat.
Philip Blumel: You recall from the last episode that 96% of incumbents running for their own seat won in 2022. 97% of incumbents running for their own seat won in 2024. Well, Granger’s discovery in the assisted living facility led to an avalanche of commentary of course. A large portion of it focused on the need for Term Limits. Surely, the first thing that came to most peoples’ minds for obvious reasons. These comments came from across the political landscape. California Democrat Ro Khanna tweeted that “Kay Granger’s long absence reveals the problem with a Congress that rewards seniority and relationships more than merit and ideas. We have a sclerotic gerontocracy. We need Term Limits.” In a separate tweet, Senator Mike Lee of Utah, a Republican reposted the New York Post story on Granger and added the comment “A compelling case for Term Limits.” But I’ll give the last word to State Republican Committeeman, Rolando Garcia, who is quoted all over the place, “A sad and humiliating way to end her political career,” he said. “Sad that nobody cared enough to take away the keys before she reached this moment. And a sad commentary on Congressional gerontocracy.”
Philip Blumel: Hey, Term Limits take away the keys. This happens with corruption too. People might enter politics with some mixture of personal ambition and ideas and whatnot, but they weren’t born corrupt. But then the arrogance and opportunity that long tenure and power encourages wears them down. They transform into moral monsters. Term Limits take away the keys.
Speaker 3: This is a public service announcement.
Philip Blumel: Inspired by the Mary Granger story, Mary Walter was talking Term Limits last week as a stand-in for talk show host Rob Carson on his nationally syndicated radio show and podcast. Between making her case for Term Limits, she talked to callers including George, who was himself inspired by the executive director of US Term Limits.
Mary Walter: Term Limits solves so many problems. I don’t think we should be advocating for age limits, it’s Term Limits. And you can disagree with me. You get two terms. Oh yeah, pick a number. Two terms. It’s a part-time job by the way, and they complain about 175,000 a year approximately and spend like 174 and change. $175,000 a year and they complain about it. I’m like, “Dude, you work three days a week. You’re off the entire month of August. You get three weeks or two weeks off for Christmas. I don’t. You get a week off for the 4th of July. You’re home in the summer too and for Memorial Day and Labor Day and this, that, and everything else.” It’s a part-time job. I’ll take 175 grand for a full-time job, let alone a part-time job. They don’t live in the real world. Let’s have them live in the real world. Do you want to come back to Congress? Great, but it would solve the lobbying problem. It would solve so many problems. George, Merry Christmas. Welcome to the Rob Carson Show.
George: Merry Christmas, Mary. I’m a first time Mary caller.
Mary Walter: Oh, thank you so much. Mary’s merry now.
George: Always great to hear you take the helm from the different hosts. You’re always on top of it.
Mary Walter: Thank you.
George: On Term Limits, everybody, no matter what side of the fence they’re on, should agree on this issue. Term Limits. Having these people grow old in Congress is ridiculous, but I just want to say real quick and I’m sure you know this, there’s a great video on YouTube and it’s called Mr. Nick Tomboulides. That’s T-O-M B-O-U-L-I-D-E-S, Tomboulides’ Senate testimony on Term Limits for Congress. Everybody needs to watch it.
Philip Blumel: If you aren’t one of the 1.8 million people who have watched Nick’s testimony before the Senate Subcommittee on the Constitution since 2019, go to termlimits.com right now. Share it.
Philip Blumel: Last episode, we discussed other octogenarian poster children like Representative Nancy Pelosi and Senator Mitch McConnell falling down in hotel lobbies and on staircases to raise awareness, perhaps unintentionally, for the need for Term Limits. The Granger story, sadly, is really not uncommon. Here’s another one. Pennsylvania representative, Dwight Evans, he’s only 70 years old. Evans had a stroke in May, and he’s not cast a vote in seven months. At first, Representative Evans said he’d be back in six weeks. Nope. Then he told the press in October, he’d be back in a month. Nope. Then he issued a written statement that he will return when the new Congress convenes in January. Okay. The punchline of this story is though that Representative Dwight Evans was reelected for a fifth term on November 5th. Unopposed. Term Limits takes away the keys.
Philip Blumel: These stories highlight the need for Term Limits and they appear at the tail end of one of the Term Limits movement’s most successful years ever. Let’s review some highlights of 2024. First, most important, four state legislatures approved the Term Limits Convention Resolution. Louisiana, North Carolina, Tennessee, and for a second time to clean up some language, Florida. This brings to nine the number of states that have officially made an application for an Article V Amendment Writing Convention limited to the subject of Congressional Term Limits. This is our best year since we started the Term Limits Convention project some six years ago. This is the kind of momentum that breeds more momentum. We’re gearing up right now for what we believe will break this year’s record. Now, why do we say that? Well, in terms of fundraising, more contributors are willing to assist a project that is demonstrably successful. That makes sure that we have the firepower to target more states. You can assist with this by going to termlimits.com/donate. But more than this, I say this because another achievement of 2024 was that our pledge team at US Term Limits shattered all of our records in getting candidates to sign Term Limits pledges.
Philip Blumel: This points to future states approving the Term Limits Convention or the TLC as we call it around the office. To assist with the Term Limits Convention project, we ask candidates for the state legislatures, including incumbents to sign a pledge to co-sponsor, vote for, and defend the resolution calling for an amendment writing convention limited to the subject of Congressional Term Limits. After the 2020 elections, we had 647 such signers in office. In 2022, we had 932. After the November 5th, 2024, elections, we will have 1,410 seated in January. 1,410 pledge signers. This helps us choose what states to target and also provides a pool of potential sponsors for the Term Limits Convention resolution. It sets us up for a new year of successes. I will tell you, this is underway right now, we will be introducing the resolution in more states than ever in 2025 by a lot. Along with these state-level pledges that we’re discussing, US Term Limits also provides a pledge to members of the US House and the US Senate to commit to co-sponsor and vote for the US Term Limits amendment, a constitutional amendment bill that is introduced to the US Congress in every session.
Philip Blumel: Well, our pledge team broke all its records here too. As a result of the November 5th, 2024, elections, in the new house to be seated in 2025, we will have 125 signers in office. Please consider we only had 96 in the last house and in the new US Senate, we will have 23 pledge signers seated. We had 19 in the last US Senate. So over 27% of the US Congress has now committed to a Congressional Term Limits constitutional amendment in writing. Why is this important? We don’t really believe that they’re going to pass an amendment themselves? Well, it’s important because when enough states pass the Term Limits Convention Resolution, we believe the pressure and incentives even, to pass a constitutional amendment themselves in the congress without a convention will be tremendous. Congress members will not want to be subject to the whims of a convention of state legislators who covet their jobs. Now, another source of pressure on congress will be the fact that so many congress members have already pledged to pass an amendment.
Philip Blumel: Do you see how this strategy is coming together? My dog, Lucy, does. There is much more to report from the successes of the 2024 elections, but I’ve already reported them, so you can go to episode number 251 of No Uncertain Terms and go deeper. For these archived episodes of No Uncertain Terms, go to termlimits.com/podcast.
Philip Blumel: Okay. What else happened in 2024? Well, a Term Limits activist who was instrumental in North Dakota passing the Term Limits initiative imposing term limits on that state’s state legislature in 2022 won again in 2024. This time, he helped put a measure on the ballot to put an age limit on Congress members elected from that state.
Philip Blumel: In June, 61% of North Dakota voters approved it. Specifically, the new law prohibits an individual from being elected or appointed to serve in the US Senate or US House, if the individual would become 81 years old by December 31st of the year preceding the end of their term. In doing this, North Dakota is the first state in the nation to pass age limits on their Congressional delegation. Thank you to Jared Hendrix and his North Dakota crew for another successful initiative effort. Wow. It is time to get on board the Term Limits train. What else?
Philip Blumel: Well, this is not necessarily good news, but it is surely relevant, that several major opponents of Term Limits were indicted or convicted of corruption in 2024. For instance, Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey was found guilty on all counts after being tried on charges of accepting bribes of gold bars and cash as payment for benefiting the governments of Egypt and Qatar. Texas Representative Henry Cuellar and his wife Imelda were indicted on bribery charges. Cuellar faces Department of Justice charges that he took bribes, laundered money, and used his office to influence US policy for Azerbaijan and also in favor of a Mexican bank. In New York City, Mayor Eric Adams was indicted on five counts of conspiracy, wire fraud, and bribery charges. In Orange County, just south of Los Angeles, county supervisor Andrew Do agreed to plead guilty to charges of accepting $500,000 of bribes relating to a scheme involving a charity and the misuse of COVID-19 relief funds.
Philip Blumel: Well, why is this important to the Term Limits Movement? Well, it’s good to see crooks brought to justice in general, of course, but also crooked politicians are leaders of the opposition to Term Limits at all levels of government. When they fall, the people rise. I can’t wait until next year. Will 2025 be the year when The Term Limits Convention effort reaches critical mass? We’ll find out together as No Uncertain Terms will continue to give you a front-row seat. Until then, I hope you all had a merry Christmas last week. Happy New Year everyone.
Philip Blumel: The song ‘All I Want for Christmas is Term Limits’ was released just before the holidays by Bill Steele and The Red Dirt Wranglers. You can find the song on YouTube, Spotify, or wherever you go for music. Thank you, Bill and the crew.
Stacey Selleck: Like the show? You could help by subscribing and leaving a five-star review on both Apple and Spotify. It’s free.
Philip Blumel: Thanks for joining us for another episode of No Uncertain Terms. The Term Limits Convention Bills are moving through the state legislatures. This could be a breakthrough year for the Term Limits movement. To check on the status of the Term Limits Convention resolution in your state, go to termlimits.com/takeaction. There, you will see if it has been introduced and where it stands in the committee process on its way to the floor vote. If there’s action to take, you’ll see a take action button by your state. Click it. This will give you the opportunity to send a message to the most relevant legislators, urging them to support the legislation. They have to know you are watching. That’s termlimits.com/takeaction. If your state has already passed the Term Limits Convention Resolution, or the bill has not been introduced in your state, you can still help. Please consider making a contribution to US Term Limits. It’s our aim to hit the reset button on the US Congress and you can help. Go to termlimits.com/donate, termlimits.com/donate. Thanks. We’ll be back next week.
Stacey Selleck: Find us on most social media @ustermlimits, like us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and now, LinkedIn.
Speaker 6: USTL.