This is something I've been thinking about for the past week. It started out with musing about how to prevent retired members of the house and senate from becoming lobbyists. My gut reaction was to have them put down, in a Logan's Run Caroselle sort of way, but that was probably unrealistic. If you think members of congress spend a lot of time fundraising for re-election NOW, imagine if their lives depended on it.
Then, with all the healthcare debate, it dawned on me that there are more than enough uninsured terminally ill people who could do the job. They are going to die soon anyway. Why not elect them to congress? After watching the debacle on health care reform, I think we can pretty much agree that we're not getting much of anything. The least we can do is elect 535 terminally ill people so they can get good quality government run healthcare.
The great part about this plan is that we can do it directly. All we have to do is organize and vote. Form a third party. Call it the Government is Diseased Party. I'm sure there must be at least one uninsured, or underinsured civic minded terminally ill person in every district who would be willing to take the job in exchange for quality healthcare. It's not like it's physically strenuous. If Byrd can get wheeled into the Senate to vote, pretty much anyone can do it. They will have staff.
It will help solve the lobbyist problem. Of course, the groups trying to buy influence will just start hiring nurses instead of ex-politicians. No system is perfect. However, it will change the status quo, and nurses are underpaid anyway. I don't begrudge them the extra income.
It will cut down on the amount of negative ads we have to sit through every election season. This alone would make it worth the effort, if you ask me. Would you want to run negative ads against the person with terminal sarcoma? I wouldn't. Oh, sure, some Republicans will go negative. They just can't help it. And %20 of the population will believe anything they say. It's just sad. However, when some tv voice asks why Candidate doesn't wear a flag pin on their wheelchair, most normal people will be thinking "Hey, maybe he has more important things to deal with right now."
It's been my experience that when people are faced with their own mortality, it either makes them totally self absorbed, or they look outward, and think about humanity, what would be best for other people, and how to make the world a better place. We just need to weed out the first group, and we're on to something good here.
For all you political junkies, there will be lots and lots of special elections to look forward to. That pretty much goes without saying.
They can't possibly do any worse than the people we have in there now. They might even be somewhat inclined to actually get something done with the time they have left. They might even be inclined to think that healtcare is something that we should all have. But until then, let's at least start by giving it to 435 congresspeople and 100 senators who really need it. Who's with me?