On Corruption
I’m back on the East Coast for a few days. When I come here I normally stay with my parents (they’re in their mid-late 80s) at their home in Philadelphia — which happens to be an apartment in a very nice retirement community. As it often does, the conversation this evening turned to politics. But unlike many political discussions between parents and their children, it was not at all rancorous. Through our talks, we try to understand why the US as a nation is having so much difficulty in gaining traction in solving its most obvious problems: wars, healthcare, financial reform — and, of course, creating a level playing field for renewable energy.
I pointed out that each of these is rooted in what I label generally as corruption, which I define as the supremacy of money and power over common sense and decency in creating and enforcing our laws. I acknowledged that corruption is a harsh word, and that it applies more accurately in some cases than in others. But I do think that if our leaders were kind and sensible people, uninfluenced by the power of money, we would have immediate workable answers for these and many other pressing issues.
Since we’ve so often discussed this idea of corruption as it applies to energy policy, and since healthcare is so omnipresent in a retirement community, let me use this latter as an example. The 94-year-old lady living across the beautifully carpeted hallway from my parents’ place recently had a knee replacement, which was, of course, 100% paid for by Medicare. We encountered her in the hallway; she still struggles to walk — which shouldn’t come as a surprise considering her age — and so they’re in the process of scheduling a second such operation.
Meanwhile, our nation has millions of people 60 years younger who happen to be uninsured and face untended illness or financial ruination — or both — because they can’t get health insurance.
While my heart goes out to the old lady, I point out a simple, if ugly truth: the only reason she’s receiving serial knee replacements is that they are profitable. She’s thin as a toothpick, horribly frail, and quite obviously has no prognosis under which she’ll ever be able to walk more than a few slow steps without terrible pain — regardless of how many times her knee is replaced. Yet I caution you not to expect a change in healthcare legislation that might damage the profit stream generated by those surgeries she’ll be receiving — even if making such a change would free up huge amounts of cash that would more than pay the cost of insuring those who presently can’t find coverage. The power of that money is so intense that such change simply will not happen — regardless of how compelling the argument — or how enormous the benefit to the public.
Do you have a better word to describe such a system than corrupt? Can you introduce me to one honest, reasonably intelligent person who thinks that spending a fortune on knee replacements for 94-year-olds is a good, fair-minded idea while others who happen not to be able to get health insurance face catastrophic health conditions to which their pitiable complaints will be turned a deaf ear?
I know that the vast majority of the many millions of people working in healthcare are honest, decent, and incredibly talented. I know dozens of them personally, and I respect them deeply. But the fact remains that the medical industry is in place to make money. And if you happen to be one of the lucky ones (like our friend above) who benefits from that profit motive, I urge you to consider it a bonus for which you should be profoundly thankful — because not everyone is so lucky.
So as not to ignore the energy industry entirely in this post, it’s clear that a similar argument could be made here. As I’ve pointed out, the oil industry alone employs seven lobbyists for each of the 535 members of Congress. Do you think Big Oil would be spending those hundreds of millions of dollars if they weren’t buying something of far greater value in exchange ? Sorry to appear cynical, but I’m convinced that the level playing field we’ve discussed here so frequently will come about when and only when we’ve found a way to disconnect our lawmakers from the powerful interests that buy their votes.
Corporate lobbying is an institution that is causing more harm to more innocent people with each passing month. What’s the matter with simply abolishing it? The framers of the Constitution wisely built in the right of the people to redress their government, but I think it’s pretty clear that they didn’t intend this patent dishonesty that’s ripping our civilization and its people slowly and painfully apart. What’s the harm in simply saying that money should not buy legislative influence?
I know corruption i see it everywere and what is very sad is that even our city and county planners and da and cops are involved for their own gain as well as our highest in washington the power they have and the big companys that pay inside money to keep their power it is sad . It is like we are pawns in a game of life and it is no different in the energy field the top companys make it hard for green energy people it get a start by making rules and giving less money for green power to make it very hard to say the lease .
Although I strongly disagree with you on nuclear energy (I see it as totally essential), I do agree with you on corruption, for both medicine and energy.
The oil industry is also spending huge amounts of money to mislead the public so that our dependency on oil will be extended. Of course they cannot get away with it indefinitely. At some point, because of the costs of exploring for new oil reserves and the cost of extracting oil from ever more difficult places, oil will become so expensive that we will be forced to shift to other sources of energy for vehicles and also become less dependent on private cars for daily transportation in urban areas. Delays in facing reality will intensify the pain when we are forced to make the necessary changes on a crash basis. That’s in addition to the excessive risk of global warming though, while not totally proven, is too great to be acceptable.
Your example of medicare abuse was a good one; I have another. A few months ago, I was prescribed an antibiotic for an infection. One of the known side effects of that antibiotic was a headache, and I got a headache. Although I had not previously had problems with headaches, I was sent for a completely unnecessary MRI scan which cost $2,500!! It was paid for by Medicare, no questions asked. I could provide other examples, but that should be sufficient.
We should find ways to limit the excessive influence lobbyists have with politicians, limit the effects of misleading statements to the public, and also find ways to reduce unnecessary costs in our medical care “system.”
1. How does corruption in health care correlate to corruption in the green industry? (I don’t think it does.)
2. Your visual of passing money behind the back of the receiver, in an apparent bribe, is completely unsupported by your blog. Have you discovered any activities that equate to bribery? If so, you should clearly describe them so they can be investigated further.
3. The old lady with bad knees is a benefitiary of MEDICARE, a government program that is being touted as part of the solution to the health INSURANCE problem that you seem to be upset about.
4. You also seem to be against a profit motive in the health care industry. If so, you are on the wrong side of history. Whenever the profit motive is removed, innovation is also greatly diminished (if not eliminated). Do we want that in our health care? The fact that we have knee replacement surgeries at all can be directly attributed to the profit motive.
5. Would you argue that the profit motive should also be removed from your own industry? Given your aggressive marketing via this blog, I doubt it.
Eliminating corruption in health care
1. Get the government out of the business of paying for health care delivery.
2. Let insurers compete across state lines.
3. Give a health care tax rebate that is independent of earned income to make insurance affordable for the poor.
4. Ban employers from paying for insurance premiums directly. They can put the premium dollars in a separate line item on the employees check stub but the employee should be able to shop around for the amount and kind of insurance they prefer.
5. Everyone would have skin in the game and will purchase policies that meet their needs and will greatly reduce the fraud and waste that is born out of a 3rd party payer system.
One more thought about government involvement in fraud.
The efficiencies that are touted for a single (government) payer system are completely wiped out by the fact that it would be a 3rd party payer. The recipient of benefits has no incentive to select the most cost effective option that meets their needs.
Look at the difference at how a consumer behaves in a grocery store when it is their own dollars being spent vs. dollars they received via food stamps.
Life is about balance. When balance leaves, corruption fills in. Washington has totally been corrupted. As soon as a politican is elected or re-elected, they start running for the next election. They stop thinking about America and its needs from a broad sense and look for financial support (a lot from lobbyists) from people who want to influence the politicans stand and put their lobbying needs into everything. You talk about healthcare reform and you leave out a major, major lobbying group, the Amercian Trail Lawyers who change their name to American Association of Justice. Why? Because most people put lawyers about as low as politicians. They are spending about $34M on lobbying every year to prevent tort reform every where. They are especially concerned about health care because the ambulances they chase or very profitable for them. There has been no concern in Washington among mostly the Democrats about healt care costs reductions. Why has health costs gone up? Why are US drugs so expensive? Not all, but a lot of it has to do with money hungry trail lawyers sueing companies with deep pockets, and doctors and hospitals. The costs to do “everything under the sun in diagnosing problems” has been driving not by the judgement of doctors, but the lawyers looking for reasons to sue a doctor.
Now where is the corruption? Probably 90% of Congress is lawyers by education. They are deeply tied to the legal industry in this county. Tort reform is not on their agenda. I am from the auto industry, and a major driver in what we do is to protect ourselves from ambulance chasers. The bulk of the Toyota problem is caused by the press and the trail lawyers. Have you yet heard any “facts” bought out, other than by Toyota? Obama is a lawyer and don’t you think he is looking after his friends? The legal profession is needed, but please recognize that it adds no value to our ecomony, it is a redistributor of money. The legal professional needs major reforms.
Suggestions, yes limit lobbying, but more importantly is getting in new representative in Washington who come because it is a privilage to serve and not a permanent job. Term limits are absolutely necessary. With term limits you will get a better cross section of America than a bunch of lawyers who could not make it as lawyers. It is impossible for an average business man to say, I think I can help and I want to run to that and serve a term. He has no chance in today’s system because of the corruption in our political system. We do not have a cross section of America in Washington. We have a bunch of lawyers. Lawyers because of their education and training do not understand cause and effect in a scientific way, nor do the have vision of what to today to fix tomorrow. Lawyers go by one case or problem at a time and the result does not even have to be correct to be considered a “win.” They do not think about much beyond today which is going to our death.
As far as Green initiatives are concerned, what we need today is a Congress in Washingtion with business people and scientist who see what is needed, such as a direct carbon tax that will change people’s wasteful habits and make alternative energy lower cost than status quo. Cap and trade is stupid (look at Al Gore and his firm that is going to play in cap and trade to make billions!). It saves the politicians who pass it from any responsibility. It will make consumers pay more but they will believe that it is the utilities and oil companies soaking them in name of profit and will not change their bad energy habits. If you pay directly a greater tax on the gas you buy, and know that the tax will increase every year for next 10 years, you will want to buy a smaller more fuel efficient vehicle, might even demand better mass transit, want the cities revitalized, and actually conserve energy rather than waste it. And yes, I have an answer to where those tax dollars go. They are allocated to be spent on alt energy R&D, mass transit, rebuilding our cities, revatalize our crumbling transportation infrastruture and help people in transision from oil dependent systems to others.
But nothing can happen with throwing out the current Washington and State legislative systems and starting back where we were in 1776! That was how our forefathers thought it would work, not what we have evolved to.
And yes it is currently very corrupt and has no balance. Get rid of them all!!! It is about time to reinvent ourselves and the 1776 model will do it.
I do not believe “corrupt” is the word that needs to be attached to some of our finest minds in the USA. Most are dedicated professionals. I believe the problem is the greed factor that most of the population possesses. They justify their actions by declaring they deserve it, it protects my interests, everyone else does it and so on. Freakeconomics is correct. For every hour that is spent creating a program, there are those that are willing to spend two hours trying to beat the program. Once successful, they brag and the “break” becomes widely known. In a short time the threoy of to get along, go along comes into play. The theory is justified by the deserve it, need to protect my interests, everyone else does it and so on.
I agree that lobbyists serve no good for the good of the people, only the greed of a few. The good of the people is represented by the lawmakers we elect and send to the capital of each State or the Federal government…Period. They are paid by the people to represent the people. Make them do their job or find someone who will represent the majority of people they represent. Our forfathers planned this. Lobbyists came about thru the Freakeconomics theory.
If we look at the reward packages of industry leaders, this theory is moved to the top of stupidity. Perhaps we should ask the criminal what he thinks his sentence should be and let him set his punishment. The le
ders set up their reward packages, never with the “if I perform” disclaimer. Athletes, lawmakers, professionals, banking management, insurance management. Can you picture industry leaders being paid for the performance of the day. No way, like athletes they are rewarded for the perceived value of their services.
Like I tell people wanting to know about renewable energy…”its about you and your renewable contribution.” What can I do, not what we or the government needs to do. It starts with you!
Thnaks for the opportunity to sound out.
Roger
Craig,
I think you basically nailed it. As for the comments made by others I think they missed the analogy and the bigger picture. I have no idea how this can be resolved and I wish it could be as simple as saying NO. This fits in well with a recent NY Times article that points to the control by a few for a “democratic nation” of millions. Lobbying by private entities wielding money should and must be illegal. This is in large part our problem – opportunism usurps opportunity and legality usurps morality and judgment.
It is unbelievable that you imply that some government committee should judge who should deserve an operation or care procedure and who should not. We should never discriminate on age….a 100 year old is no less of a human or of importance than an infant baby. This is why we cannot let government be involved in health care. You “assume” that the 94 year old lady will not get better with another surgery or improved care. What a sad assumption. But I do agree 1000% that her government health care should not pay her care givers 1 cent…but it is not due to her age.
You are missing the larger issue. Her knee surgery and any other procedure in medicare/medicaid are NOT profitable. Medicare and Medicaid are trillions in debt. It is another failed socialistic policy like social insecurity. We must work to eliminate it over the next century. Our future generations are literal SLAVES to this debt and we simply won’t be able to afford it…the system will deservingly collapse…as all socialistic programs and countries do. Luckily as of this week, much our health care industry is still private and those who want the best health care on the planet still must travel to the USA.
There no excess money sitting out there to afford to cover all humans with health care. Health care is NOT a right! Food is NOT a right! Housing is NOT a right! If we want to FIX all these issues…we simply need to revert BACK to what made us a prosperous nation…..very low taxation and very limited government…let the free market prosper…this will MAXIMIZE jobs and health care “benefits” and charities/giving for those who cannot afford care or who need food.
“Level the playing field” is another word for government controls (POWER) to help one group’s idealistic dreams get support when it is not deserving in the free market. If a new alternative energy is so beneficial for society…then let the FREE market develop it and launch it and let it WIN in a free economy. That is how to justify any new energy technology. We have improved greatly in the USA to reduce pollution in air and water and we will keep improving.
Private or corporate lobbying for policies and laws is a very good thing and should continue…it is the free market and 1st amendment at work. I am sure you have no problem with Global Warming lobbyists or related commercials, movies, or advertisements. What you are missing is the politicians WE CHOOSE and WE ELECT voluntarily decide how they let money and lobbyists influence them. I agree that most in DC are likely corrupt and DO NOT have the best interests of their constituents at heart. Our founding fathers never assumed the citizens would be so stupid as to keep electing them over and over again. The issue is with the citizens…and thank God they are starting to wake up as the Tea Party movement is showing. BIG government is simply a slow death to innovation, weather, and maximizing prosperity for ALL citizens. The corruption is on BOTH sides of the isle. But do NOT blame money or lobbying for the root cause. That is like Tiger Woods blaming good looking available girls for his sex issue. What is KEY is what politicians we choose to elect and for the PEOPLE to hold them accountable….ditto for the 2 major political parties. The people must rise up and they are starting now.
Your solution again is to gain POWER to rule over POWER you do not like. That is NOT the solution. The solution is LESS Power in the government. That is why so many people came to this land in the 1800’s…to get away from the massive power of corrupt governments. It is FREEDOM and small limited government that will maximize innovation and prosperity. The sad thing is there are surely new power-hungry elitists born every day that think they know best and they will grow up and think that power and control is the solution to improve mankind….when the truth is (as proven by history) it will only guarantee man’s gradual decline and destruction. WAKE UP AMERICA!!
There is NO way that the public can possibly hold our elected officials accountable as long as there are corporate lobbyists. The elected officials don’t really care if they get elected unless they HAVEN’T gotten their kickbacks yet. Yes, let’s give the government power and control……the power and control to kick out EVERY lobby against our governments. Governments must make legislation that is for the common good of all of the people. Not for the good of the very few wealthy “elite.” This is what got us into the mess that we are in now. If all of the money that has already been spent on fake wars, bailing out big banking, and what these lobbies have crammed into our leaders pocket’s was spent on public health care, public education, public transportation, etc., we could provide for the common defense (not offense), promote the general welfare (for ourselves AND our posterity), and actually secure the blessings of liberty without having to compete for them.
While we are abolishing lobbyists, let’s get rid of corporations also; where no one is held accountable personally for the problems that they create.
As I frequently say, “We have the best government money can buy. It’s just a shame that we citizens of this country are not the highest bidder.”
You seem to pick generally interesting, albeit uncomputable topics. This one teases a subject that crosses my mind occasionally – that of my age perhaps progressively disconnecting me from the mainstream. As the years go by, there seems to be a longer list of issues in which I find my fundamental principles to be at odds with the mainstream. I doubt that anyone likes the idea of falling into a state of irrelevence, so in my own post middle age crisis fashion, I examine what I adhere to, and more importantly, attempt to see why. Little progress in generally made, but then I’m either a plugger or an idiot.
It is quite clear that opinion holds equal weight with knowledge in any discourse. I am bothered by the amount of time I spend to research something, when it is quite clear I could simply invent and proclaim. Bill Maher makes me laugh. Friday night, he had a guest truly believing in the following – Climategate invalidates all earth sciences of the last few decades.
It is quite clear that we live in a age wherein anything not specifically proscribed is not only acceptable, but looked upon as an expression of creativity. This is where ethics come in. Ex: Aerate the product such that the volume stays the same but the weight of the contents goes down. Make the print too small to read and proclaim ‘New and Improved’ in large print on the front. Your competitors race to the bottom with you.
It is quite clear that competition is now uncivilized. Shouting down your opposition. Starting an initiative that names your opposition’s principal mission, but the fine print is completely antagonistic. Does anyone agree with anything anymore prior to counsel vetting it?
It is quite clear that loyalty is for suckers. Stab the hand that feeds you as soon as the risk/reward goes positive. What’s a dead consumer or two? They are only worth a few million in actuarial terms (Famous automaker executive).
Finally, I have the typical american’s love for homilies.
Bumper sticker from the 60’s with no idea how old the saying really is.
“Love many. Trust few. Always paddle your own canoe.”
My maternal grandfather, a grocery store owner and farmer in the early 20th century, stated the following so often that I will probably be repeating it in late stage Alzheimer’s.
“In God we trust. All others pay cash.”
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