USA - Legislators Need to Bite the Bullet, Too
Legislators Need to Bite the Bullet, Too
Diary Entry by Sally Stride
Legislators can save us all money if they would refuse Political Action Committee (PAC) and other political contributions for a year, at least. The cost of "buying" politicians trickles down to all Americans either directly or indirectly
Legislators are asking us to "Bite The Bullet."But what are they doing?
Besides the obvious - taking pay and benefit cuts as many Americans with jobs are being forced to do - legislators must refuse PAC money for the next year. Yes, it will hurt them.There's plenty of pain to share in these sad economic times.
The trickle down effect will be lower costs for consumer goods and services, more money in taxpayers' pockets to spend on items that will bring more tax revenue to states.
Costs of running a business are always passed onto the consumer – lobbying costs and PAC money included.
It's a totally win-win proposition – except for the legislators who might be forced to run on their merits and not their political bank accounts with all the strings attached.
For example: The New York State Dental Society gave $348,000 to New York State politicians last year, according to the NY Public Interest Research Group. Generally, special interest groups give legislators money to get laws passed or not-passed which favor themselves.The NYS Dental Society is especially adept at this, getting most everything they ask for, according to the New York Times.
Organized dentistry gets loads of money from corporations that profit from tooth decay and pass some of it on to legislators. This adds to your cost of toothpaste and dental appointments.
Dentists make more money than physicians while working fewer days and hours doing less critical work, according to the New York Times. At the same time, tooth decay has become a national epidemic, according to the US Surgeon General. It's like dentists receiving a "good work Brownie" award.
The solution would be to require dentists to treat more low-income Americans – either for free, for what Medicaid offers, or on a sliding scale. But dentists don't like mandates – well for them anyway. But, organized dentistry is always behind water fluoridation mandates.
Fluoridation gives the illusion that organized dentistry is doing something about the oral health crisis that occurred on their watch while not actually hurting their bottom line – no matter what they tell you.
With lucrative speaking engagements, deep pockets and a network of dentists ready and willing to call, phone and email, organized dentistry gets what they want way too often. Oh, and they lobby heavily against any viable group willing to fill their void – such as dental therapists which are similar to what physicians' assistants are to physicians. They don't like any group infringing upon their lucrative monopoly.
"For every child without health insurance, there are three who lack dental insurance, and the number of dentally uninsured Americans totals more than 100 million. Three out of four dentists do not treat patients with Medicaid insurance; many more do not treat those who are uninsured" according to an editorial in the American Academy of Family Practitioners.
American children have died from untreated tooth decay.
New York State's Governor Patterson is proposing extensive tax increases to offset revenue shortfalls. So Governor Patterson what are you giving up? Will you start by saying "no thanks" to the NY Dental Society's PAC money?
I am a freelance writer specializing in dental topics - especially fluoride and fluoridation
Diary Entry by Sally Stride
Legislators can save us all money if they would refuse Political Action Committee (PAC) and other political contributions for a year, at least. The cost of "buying" politicians trickles down to all Americans either directly or indirectly
Legislators are asking us to "Bite The Bullet."But what are they doing?
Besides the obvious - taking pay and benefit cuts as many Americans with jobs are being forced to do - legislators must refuse PAC money for the next year. Yes, it will hurt them.There's plenty of pain to share in these sad economic times.
The trickle down effect will be lower costs for consumer goods and services, more money in taxpayers' pockets to spend on items that will bring more tax revenue to states.
Costs of running a business are always passed onto the consumer – lobbying costs and PAC money included.
It's a totally win-win proposition – except for the legislators who might be forced to run on their merits and not their political bank accounts with all the strings attached.
For example: The New York State Dental Society gave $348,000 to New York State politicians last year, according to the NY Public Interest Research Group. Generally, special interest groups give legislators money to get laws passed or not-passed which favor themselves.The NYS Dental Society is especially adept at this, getting most everything they ask for, according to the New York Times.
Organized dentistry gets loads of money from corporations that profit from tooth decay and pass some of it on to legislators. This adds to your cost of toothpaste and dental appointments.
Dentists make more money than physicians while working fewer days and hours doing less critical work, according to the New York Times. At the same time, tooth decay has become a national epidemic, according to the US Surgeon General. It's like dentists receiving a "good work Brownie" award.
The solution would be to require dentists to treat more low-income Americans – either for free, for what Medicaid offers, or on a sliding scale. But dentists don't like mandates – well for them anyway. But, organized dentistry is always behind water fluoridation mandates.
Fluoridation gives the illusion that organized dentistry is doing something about the oral health crisis that occurred on their watch while not actually hurting their bottom line – no matter what they tell you.
With lucrative speaking engagements, deep pockets and a network of dentists ready and willing to call, phone and email, organized dentistry gets what they want way too often. Oh, and they lobby heavily against any viable group willing to fill their void – such as dental therapists which are similar to what physicians' assistants are to physicians. They don't like any group infringing upon their lucrative monopoly.
"For every child without health insurance, there are three who lack dental insurance, and the number of dentally uninsured Americans totals more than 100 million. Three out of four dentists do not treat patients with Medicaid insurance; many more do not treat those who are uninsured" according to an editorial in the American Academy of Family Practitioners.
American children have died from untreated tooth decay.
New York State's Governor Patterson is proposing extensive tax increases to offset revenue shortfalls. So Governor Patterson what are you giving up? Will you start by saying "no thanks" to the NY Dental Society's PAC money?
I am a freelance writer specializing in dental topics - especially fluoride and fluoridation
posted by Bill at
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