Cal City News

For years now, I’ve been grappling with the national dilemma of healthcare and the costs of insurance, among many other governmental problems. With respect to healthcare, there are too many people without it, too many people who are getting it but don’t deserve it such as illegal aliens, and a few who don’t want it and are willing to take a chance to go without it because of their youth or their invincibility syndrome. Others seem to be happy with their current healthcare plan, and still others struggle to make the payments but do so, regardless.
Recently, the debate has become even more heated, controversial and confusing. Today, it all came to a head, while watching Senator Arland Specter (originally a Republican, now a Democrat) at a town hall meeting live from Pennsylvania. I’ve had the answer on my mind for years and I had forgotten how it all ties together. The answer to the healthcare debate is not figuring out how to structure it, but first resolving ancillary dilemmas that will help resolve the core of the health care issue.
Just in the last couple of weeks I’ve been reading the 1018-page HR Healthcare Bill (for those interested, here’s the link to read it and/or download it: http://docs.house.gov/edlabor/AAHCA-BillText-071409.pdf.) I must tell you that it has been quite a sobering experience for me. I thought I was educated and smart enough to read through complicated documents and get the gist of its contents. Apparently, I’m not. If you know me, this is terribly disappointing, as I fancied myself the know-it-all guy.
Nonetheless, I think I have come up with the answer, and it’s not directly addressing the healthcare issue (although it will ultimately affect it) but the answer lies further up the chain of causes: the number one and the number two issues in my opinion. Allow me to start with number two first:

TORT REFORM ACT – (a) Changing the law to restrain or cut back on outrageous and frivolous law suits, (b) placing a “CAP” on 90% of product liability and personal liability rulings, (c) passing a retro-cause of action law, which means that whoever loses a lawsuit has to pay the other the same amount being litigated. (Believe it or not, this is the way it is in Mexico.) Changes such as these will have major influence on our daily lives, from medical matters to buying a car or a home or a helmet for your kid’s Pop Warner League. Tort Reform will go a long way to cut down costs on everything. For example:

Did you know that from 12% to 35% of the costs of a bed in a hospital is sucked up to pay for liability insurance?
Did you know that 15% to 45% of the doctor’s bill goes to cover mal-practice insurance?
How about the costs of a car? We read from Detroit that from $1500 to $5000 of the price of a car is for liability coverage. That does not include union agreements and the Union’s own healthcare and pension programs.
Of the $1.49 you pay for bread at COSTCO, thirty-two cents is applicable to insurance.
If you look at every aspect of our purchasing choices in the United States, they all come with “added value” to the price tag to take care of product liability and liability in general.
Unfortunately, Tort Reform has little chance of passing or being altered because over 50% of the lawmakers in our Government are lawyers! There’s no chance of that happening, unless we look at the number one issue, which is what I’m about to suggest and hope to encourage others so that we can all do something about it! So here it is:

TERM LIMITS FOR EVERY ELECTED OFFICIAL IN THE UNITED STATES – Term limits from the office of the president all the way down to senators, congresspersons, governors, state senators, representatives, city council persons, county supervisors, mayors of large and small cities, townships, etc.
Now, I know we’ve heard this before and nothing has been done about it. Just this morning when the subject was broached, Arland Specter said, “We already have terms limits, your vote!” And that’s true but he forgot to tell us that the power and exposure of an incumbent is three to ten times more effective than that of a challenger. It’s not an even playing field for those seeking to oust an incumbent. As a result it discourages good people from running for public office. Talented people, who could serve this country, are never heard from. How heartbreaking.
So here is what I propose and if you really think about it, it will affect every segment of our lives, in every way. By the way, this idea was developed by yours truly over ten years ago and it is not a new idea, in fact, I found its foundation from Mexican law! To Witt:

Every national, state and city public office should be for a period of no less or more than six (6) years, without “re-election.” Beginning with the office of the President and Vice President of the United States, to local elections, six years is a good number of years to become effective at every level of public office and not become subservient to others or worse, complaisant on the job. In the event we get a “stinker” in office, we retain the right of “impeachment,” also at every level.
Initially, the “no re-election” law will have to be staggered for a period of time so there are continuity at all levels of government.
For example: On January 21, of the year____, the elected president will take office and will work for the next six years, until January 21, when the new president is sworn-in.

The president or vice president cannot be re-elected for at least one six-year term after he/she leaves office.
Additionally, the president becomes the president of the United States with no party affiliation. By law he must relinquish his party. That means that the President cannot campaign for a specific party or candidate(s). The president is there for exactly six years or two-thousand, one hundred-ninety (2190 +/- for leap year[s]) days to serve ALL the people of the United States.
After the President’s term he/she cannot work for any corporation or accept any fees as a board of director or speaker, unless, the president was previously employed by or ran his/her own business under a specific company. In other words, the former president cannot accept jobs from other companies that were affected during his term for at least twelve years (12). The same basic principle can apply to all levels of civic officials, with specific and distinctive amendments.
The outgoing president in fact becomes “President Emeritus,” serving the nation in an advisory and ambassadorial position for the United States. In fact, he/she becomes Ambassador of the United States.
Elections will be held every six years for all national, state, county and city positions, according to their time frames.
There will be a limit of one year or 365 days to begin vying for an elected position.
During those 365 days, there will be three (3) National Election Holidays; on the second Sunday in April, June and September, where the entire day is dedicated to candidates stating their positions on a national, regional, state and city-wide levels, using every public media.
The public airways are licensed and as a result, one of the conditions of the licensing is to provide the time for the people during the three National Election Holidays each year.
AND HERE IS THE KICKER AND THE INCENTIVE TO DO A GOOD JOB BY AN ELECTED OFFICIAL – At the end of the election cycle for each office; the currently elected official’s name will only appear in the ballot TO BE GRADED BY THE VOTERS!

This means that from the office of the President of the United States on down, voters will have the opportunity, in addition to electing new officials, to vote on the performance that the previously elected official(s) performed for the past six years (this does not include their yearly salaries [if any] during their elected period). Depending on the vote of the people or their constituents, their pension will be chosen after they leave office. As an example of the various voting options, here’s a suggestion for the Past President’s Pension Plan (the 4Ps), when people vote:
PRESIDENT:

EXCELLENT = $5,000,000.00 per year pension
VERY GOOD = $3,000,000.00 per year pension
GOOD = $1,000,000.00 per year pension
POOR = $200,000.00 per year pension
TERRIBLE = $000,000.00 per year pension

(NOTE: The figures above are just examples. They could be higher or lower.)
What this does is to make certain that every elected official has the incentive and the duty to work from the first day on the job until the last day, when a new elected official takes over. It guarantees the people of the United States that we are getting the most for our money. Without fears of re-election and compromises to get funds for a political campaign, the elected official will concentrate in doing the best job possible because of the “Grading” vote that he/she will ultimately receive.
Think about it, folks. No more favors to potential voters or lobbyists or special interest groups. No more stepping on your principals for the sake of getting re-elected. A Senator or Congressman, for example, embroiled in the current debate over the healthcare issue will vote with his/her heart not for his/her “war chest” and who can fill it best. If he or she does not have to worry about being re-elected, our elected officials will do the right thing, which usually reflects what the majority of his constituents want them to do.
Think of all the problems that the new election system will solve:

My proposals may sound simplistic, or it may sound too complicated for some. It may seem impossible or improbable to others. I, on the other hand, am an eternal optimist. I believe in the power of the people to make things happen. I believe in the American spirit, who throughout history has risen to the occasion and levels beyond expectations.
At this juncture, we find ourselves in those times. I can feel the surge of the common people who are saying, enough is enough! I feel the tingle in the back of my neck when I hear friends and acquaintances speak, perhaps for the first time in years, of the absurdities, irrationalities and craziness of our government, whether Republican or Democrat. I believe the sleeping giant (the American People), has been awaken and they don’t want to fall pray again to the same hacks (professional politicians) who have been running and for the most part ruining our government. The American people want the old standards of decency, real honesty by real people who for a while will serve this country of ours and not become professional elected officials. They do not want the tainted “modus operandi” of the close-knit family of politicos. They don’t want others to decide for us by bending the principles that make the United State of America what it is…what it was.
The time has come for U.S. citizens to revolt against the status-quo of government, and begin to bring back the spirit of over 200 years ago, which drove us to become a free Nation with eternal hope. The same “spirit” that drove this Peruvian-born American (citizen of the U.S. since 1960) and his family to leave his home country for a better place; for a place where the toils of my father and mother mattered, where their sweat counted and where they led by example, thus bestowing upon my sister and me with the paradigm that anything is possible if you have the will to work hard, to develop, grow, invest, attempt, and be ready to fail or succeed.
And above all to continue to strive and persist to keep this country as the greatest Country in the world!