I KNOW HOW TO GET SINGLE PAYER PASSED TODAY!

[hedgehog]

It just hit me like a bolt of lightening. It's been sitting right in front of us all along and we didn't see it. What is the one single factor blocking passage of health reform? It's the payments made to members of Congress from the Insurance companies, the medical associations, the hospital groups, the drug companies, etc. What we need to get single payer passed is to include a rider that will pay each member of Congress to make up for the loss of all those brib....I mean Campaign contributions and speaker's fees. Once we do that, we're all set!

[femmocrat]

1. OK... maybe we can have garage sales like we did for Dean in '04.

Yard sales, bake sales, penny drives.... the possibilities are endless. Somehow I think we would still come up short.

Creative idea, though. :hi:

[Laelth]

2. Interesting proposition.

A one-time payment wouldn't be enough, however. Insurance companies donate to legislators every year. It would have to be a perpetual salary increase (and a whopping one at that).

Personally, I have no problem with paying our legislators more. It takes a lot of money (millions) to run for federal office. Legislators become susceptible to bribery when their salary doesn't provide enough income for them to be able to keep their jobs. They must look elsewhere for supplemental income (thus, institutionalized bribery).

Keep in mind, though, that we will get hammered with "welfare for politicians" arguments if we increase Congress' salary significantly. That alone may prevent the bill from passing.

:dem:

-Laelth

[harun]

3. I think they should be paid much more. Then they are beholden to the

people, instead of Big Corporations.

[Orsino]

4. Protection racket.

:rofl:

[Perky]

5. No no no you miss the big picture: Make them representatives for life

Now that would cut the power of the lobbyists....:sarcasm:

[flpoljunkie]

6. There are campaign finance bills in House and Senate, H.R. 1862 and S.752, Fair Elections Now Act

The House bill has 70 co-sponsors. The Senate bill has only four!

Email or call your Senators and urge them to co-sponsor these bills, and in the meantime, we must demand healthcare reform that will provide coverage to everyone and drive down the cost--real healthcare reform that puts people first--not healthcare industry profits.

If we demand it, they will listen. If we don't, they will cave to the health care industry interests--not the public interest.

[Soylent Brice]

7. as accurate as you are

i still have a big problem with the fact that i know our elected representatives won't lift a fucking finger for us unless we bribe the fuck out of them.

i dunno, pisses me off a little.

[Doremus]

8. Publicly funded elections would put an instant STOP to the selling out.

That's precisely why it will never happen.