If you have to give PoA to someone you shouldn’t be in an elected position. If you can’t be in control over yourself, you shouldn’t have control over the country.
Typically PoA is instated before someone has a mental decline.
But at 90, that’s probably already begun.
More like obviously but it’s not because of age. My grandad was sharp as a tack up until 96.
Pneumonia got him.
Legally you can’t even create the PoA if the person isn’t deemed competent because they can’t sign it. So then you have to go to a judge for them to appoint someone.
So by the letter of the (IANAL but I’m working this issue with family right now) law, the fact that a PoA might have just been created means she has to be considered competent enough to sign on.
But yeah the line between “I’d trust them with my life” and “no one in their right mind would allow them to sign” is broad.
Also not a lawyer but also going through family stuff right now.
There can be two different types of PoA that I know of. One is a financial PoA, another is a medical PoA. Then there is sometimes something called a “springing” clause, which defines when the PoA goes into effect. For example if the attending physician determines the person is no longer competent to manage their own financial or medical decisions. I would guess Feinstein qualifies for both of those.
And of course you would have hopefully created that PoA while you were still healthy, but it remains inactive until the condition of the springing clause is met.
I am not trying to downplay the situation, as I am completely aware of just how much her health has declined recently.
That said, I have a 91 year old friend who wakes up at 4:30 every morning and heads to his log yard and gets to work. He doesn’t slack. He literally works like a man half his age (or better). It blows my mind seeing him in action. He runs multiple companies, bosses over 60 people, handles the affairs of his family, and legit is just a powerhouse of a human being.
It’s crazy to me, sometimes when I talk to him it just smacks me in the face how he was 15 years old in 1947.
So much has changed in his lifetime. He’s an interesting case if nothing else.
I should probably talk to him about more personal things and record it.
It seems most people don’t understand what power of attorney means. It gives her daughter the ability to make decisions* on her behalf, yes, but doesn’t grant any sort of conservatorship over her.
It’s an intelligent move, especially when a person gets older, to grant PoA to someone you trust. It means if, for example, you’re in the hospital, that person can still do things like pay your bills from your accounts.
EDIT: *legal, personal decisions - not senate votes. It doesn’t give the daughter any right or ability to do her job.
I just wish she would make the intelligent move of resigning.
Or that she would have stepped down after her last term. Or an earlier one.
RBG should have had the foresight to do this as well. It’s a sad state of affairs we’re in.
RBG really shat on her legacy with that bullshit. At the end, she was just a power hungry narcissist like all the rest.
I’d like that too, the reality though is that she is the deciding vote on the judiciary committee right now and if she steps down the republicans will refuse to seat a replacement halting any confirmations… So right now they feel like they have to Weekend at Bernies her in order to keep confirming judges. Politics sucks.
You are right, but it’s only smart if you anticipate being incapacitated for long periods of time. We shouldn’t have lawmakers in the position to expect to be incapacitated for long periods of time.
Exactly. I have PoA for my parents, but I’ve never exercised it. My father is in care due to dementia, but my mother is in fine mental and physical health. The PoA is primarily there in case a decision needs to be made for my father’s care but my mother isn’t available for any reason. Doesn’t have to be medical reasons, mom always has the care facility make a note of the PoAs when she travels.
Maybe Certainly a dumb question, but does this mean her daughter could vote on Diane Feinstein’s behalf?
No. Which I think is where a lot of people are confused. It doesnt give the daughter any power or ability to do her job for her. Only to handle legal issues on her behalf.
Think, basically, things that she could otherwise hire a lawyer to do for her. She cannot outsource her senatorship.
I agree with others here who point out that merely having a PoA in place is not a reason that Feinstein should resign. As to whether she should resign for other reasons, I tend think she probably should. But then I think about all the reasons that she shouldn’t.
Feinstein is a high-ranking member of the senatorial judiciary committee. Back in April, she asked to be temporarily replaced in that position, but the Republicans blocked that from happening.
The judiciary committee slot is important, because those are the guys who confirm all the federal judges. After sandbagging Obama’s appointees for eight six years, the Republican-controlled Senate confirmed a flurry of judges under Trump.
To try to catch up now, the currently Democrat-controlled (by the thinnest possible margin) Senate Judiciary Committee wants to confirm as many Biden-appointed judges as it can while it still can. A year-and-a-half from now, who knows who will control what?
Sure, Feinstein should step down, and I think even she probably knows that, but she also knows that when she does so, the Democrats lose their razor-thin Senate majority, at least until Newsom can appoint a replacement.
No matter how quickly Feinstein could be replaced, the transition would offer Republicans easy opportunities to further delay nominations and block legislation of the very sort that Feinstein was elected by the people of California to pass. Nominations and legislation we have every reason to believe that she fully comprehends, regardless of any PoAs in place, and even despite her recent display of other age-related lapses in focus.
Anyway though, maybe her tragic act of hubris in all this was running for another term way back in 2018. If she had resigned back then, instead of next year, we wouldn’t be here now. But now that we’re here, I don’t blame her for recognizing the no-win nature of the situation.
Newsome could replace her in a weekend and Senate Republicans’ ability to block her replacement on the committee would be moot. Any excuses for her not resigning fall apart at the slightest bit of interrogation. She and the leaches in her circle just don’t want to give up their power.
Even her daughter is on the cusp of being too old to hold office
I’m tired of living in a geriocracy this is not the way that things ought to be
