Thursday, October 8, 2009

Time to deal with Congress” or “I’ve got a little list!”

Congress has carved out, for itself, a wonderful sinecure.


They earn a decent salary, which is automatically increased periodically unless they collectively prevent such a good thing occurring. They get paid to travel to and from their home to their primary place of employment. They have high end health insurance, have office space and staff paid for by the taxpayers. They have enough benefits and perquisites to satisfy a divine right ruler, and yet, they are not content. Many of them negotiate further advantages and compensation in the form of contributions for their re-election campaigns from corporations and convenient lobbyists.

I would be thrilled to be able to travel world-wide at the expense of others, claiming it to be work-related. I would be thrilled for corporations and their hired lobbyists to buy me expensive dinners fill my liquor cabinet with gifts of Scotch fly me about on corporate aircraft; while I conveniently find methods to prevent having to disclose such gifts to my actual employer, in the tax codes I help write or at least approve.

Nicholas D. Kristof, writing for the New York Times in an op-ed column published October 2009 suggested that Congress might be better motivated to deal with health care reform for the citizens if they suddenly found that they, Congress, had no health insurance.

“Let Congress Go Without Insurance”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/08/opinion/08kristof.html?ref=opinion

I have no problem with the intent of Mr. Kristof’s proposal. I think he may be right. But I think he failed to carry out the equation to its logical end.

People who need health care insurance reform don’t just wake up one morning and find they have lost their insurance coverage. Rather, they’ve encountered a cascade of events resulting in an end result.

When you or I cut our selves we bleed until a mechanism which works to stop blood loss kicks in. Primary hemostasis is initiated by tissue thromboplastin. Simultaneously, secondary hemostasis occurs via the Tissue Factor (previously “extrinsic”) coagulation cascade. I’ll include the diagram that I was required to learn decades ago just to assure that those of you not obsessive-compulsive enough to study and work in clinical laboratory medicine can feel smug in your wise choices of other fields of endeavor.



There may be a pop quiz at the end, study the chart carefully. You will find it far less confusing than trying to track congressional re-election contributions and campaign finance regulations.




The inclusion of this bit of arcana, or any cascade with foreseeable results is by means of illustration that seldom do things happen in isolation. The person, or family, losing health insurance coverage will also have likely lost employment, income, shelter, transportation, and even sustenance. While the cascade may take place, over time, it will certainly proceed unless income is somehow funneled back into the flow of events.

So, Mr. Kristof, I propose that we not only remove Congress’ access to health care, but also reduce their income, abruptly, to that earned by a minimum wage employee on an hourly basis. Of course, Congress will resist such action. But if Congress can be motivated to give up a holiday weekend in order to pass illegal legislation in the Schiavo matter; they should certainly respond to a nationwide initiative ballot proposing that the Congressional pay rate be reduced to zero.

It is my belief that the founding fathers did not intend for Congress to become an extended occupation for those elected, but a part-time job undertaken for the nation’s benefit. I hold that our elected representatives should serve limited terms and pass the job onto another. Obviously I am in disagreement with most of Congress.

In order to sufficiently educate the Congress as to the need for action on behalf of the people rather than Corporate America, it is necessary to reduce our elected officials in status.

I propose that legislation be drafted by citizens who are not elected members of Congress and submitted to an initiative ballot to be held in every state. This should require, if passed by the populace, that effective immediately:

Members of the House and Senate shall become hourly employees, payable at minimum wage as presently defined by Congress in 2009.

Members of Congress shall be paid only for those hours they are actually present in the Congressional offices, the national Capitol Building, or in a local office in their state. Members shall not accrue pay during recesses.

Members of Congress shall receive limited benefits while actively working:

Members shall be housed in military barracks suitable for enlisted personnel at any of the various installations around D.C which have sufficient capacity. No housing will be provided for family members.

Members of Congress shall be fed at their assigned quarters in the enlisted mess or in staff cafeterias while in official offices.

Members of Congress shall be transported from their assigned quarters to their offices and back by military bus.

Members of Congress shall receive no health benefits except that they may be treated at D.C. General Hospital ER on the same basis as any uninsured citizen seeking health care.

Members of Congress shall be reimbursed for two round trips from their district or state of residence to D.C. and back via commercial bus line. All other travel shall be paid for directly by the Member.

Members of Congress shall be forbidden from receiving gifts from corporations, lobbyists, organizations, or individuals not related to the Member. “Gift” shall be construed to include: meals, liquor, travel &; accommodations, use of corporate facilities and property, vacation packages, clothing, and any other items that might be offered to influence a Member’s vote in Congress.



You can see where I’m headed with this. It might be that anyone willing to put up with such restrictions on one’s life could be genuinely motivated to serve the nation and worth electing for a few years. Anyone not willing to accept such restrictions should be recalled and removed from office as he or she is not there with the public’s benefit in mind.

Of course, no current Member is going to vote for such restriction on their income or decrease in their social and cultural status. That is why it would need to be introduced by nationwide media campaign so that Congress could not bury it or lose it in committee. The rights to recall and to enter an initiative are state functions, not provided for in the U.S. Constitution. Still, if sufficient popular demand for such action was present in every state, it would send a harsh and easily understood message to Congress.

I’m quite willing to sign a petition that might cause Congress to take notice of how the common citizen is being affected by their inaction.

It would be a good campaign for our media pundits to adopt. I suspect the tea party mob might find it acceptable as a means of decreasing government expenditures. The left would like it, in theory, once they held endless meetings about it. The GOP would detest it, would launch major media blitz campaigns telling us how poor and overworked Congress persons actually are.

What is there to lose? Congress might not work as hard if they lost pay and benefits? How could we tell? Congress moves at the pace of frozen molasses now unless they need to vote on something that directly affects the Members personal revenues.

It’s worth each of us writing a few letters to media pundits, to local newspapers, and a few to Congress warning the Members that recall is not just an abstract term recalled in the Civics classes to many of us dozed through and failed to understand.

Mine are written and read to go out. Lock and Load! Ready on the left?”

There is a world outside D.C. and life goes on despite the efforts of Congress and Corporate America to prevent life not purchased from Corporate America.

The sky is bright blue, laced with high clouds here. The new range hood was installed this morning.

Gloria removed enough hair from Loki to assemble two small poodles and Loki did her best to retain said hair for later dispersal indoors. Dinner will finally be pork with bean sprouts in black bean sauce.

Bon appetite!

Bonus question: What triggers the Tissue factor hemostasis cascade?




Two platelets (purple) under an light microscope (40x) from a peripheral blood smear surrounded by red blood cells Wright's stain.

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