Stop giving Congressional members free health insurance

Is it so hard to set things on a different path in Washington? A little common sense would go a long way. Remember common sense? A recent contributor suggested earlier that we stop the paychecks when Congressional members fail to arrive at a budget on time. The rest of us don’t get paid for not completing our tasks in a timely manner or refusing to meet our deadlines. Another suggestion: stop giving Congressional members free insurance coverage for themselves and their families. Require them to search out their own coverage in the same existing markets the rest of us have to deal with. That experience would bring a new clarity to the problems that exist. Nothing motivates like a problem that is personal.

How will we ever get a government responsive to the people when we treat its members as exceptions to the world the rest of us live in? By making them an exception we distance them entirely from the issues and problems that need addressing at the “We the People” level.

There are probably another dozen ways that could as easily change the way things are not getting done in Washington. The fact is that no government treated like royalty is going to be one of the regular “people” they are supposed to represent. History shows very clearly over and over again that the privileged do not relate to mere mortals. Our government was initially intended to be of the people, That’s why people came to the America. They left royalty behind. Somehow, we’ve backslid a long way.

This story was originally published February 9, 2018 at 3:02 PM with the headline "Stop giving Congressional members free health insurance."