Indentured Politicians - What's in it for Them??

I came across an interesting term recently, new to me but maybe not to you. It really explains a LOT! The term is "Indentured Politicians". Does that need any explanation? LOL.

But just in case it needs explanation, "indentured politicians" are those who "owe favors" to the big contributors to their election campaigns, and the politicians return the "favor" by voting in favor those contributors when new laws (and other regulatory federal legislation) come up for votes, rather than voting the requirements of the population they are charged to represent. I'm posting my thoughts about this here because I believe it explains why the regulatory agencies for our food systems have gone bonkers.

When it takes millions of dollars (or sometimes billions of dollars depending on the office sought) to be successful in a political campaign, is it any wonder why big corporations see an advantage to finance a candidate who will favor the corporation's interests in future legislation?

One interesting question I have, is why a candidate will spend millions of dollars campaigning for a position that pays far less than they spend to get there? What else is in it for them? The current salary (2011-2012) for rank-and-file members of the House and Senate is $174,000 per year. House Representatives are elected for a 2 year term, and Senate representatives for 6 years.

In order for a member of the House of Congress to qualify for a pension, they would have to be elected 3 times, for a total 6 year payout of $1,044,000, which is far less total salary than what they spent to get it. A Senator only has to serve 1 term (6 years) to qualify for a pension; same pay for 1 Senate term of 6 years that a Congressional Representative gets for 3 terms (6 years, $1,044,000), far less than either spent to get there.

So, where's the payoff for election to federal office, when you consider cost to get there versus salary once there? It certainly IS NOT in the salary, and probably not even in Employee Benefits, although the overall "esteem" of the Office no doubt strokes their ego. That STILL doesn't cut it in the money balance.

• In a complex system of calculations, administered by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, congressional pay rates also affect the salaries for federal judges and other senior government executives.
• During the Constitutional Convention, Benjamin Franklin considered proposing that elected government officials not be paid for their service. Other Founding Fathers, however, decided otherwise.
• From 1789 to 1855, members of Congress received only a per diem (daily payment) of $6.00 while in session, except for a period from December 1815 to March 1817, when they received $1,500 a year. Members began receiving an annual salary in 1855, when they were paid $3,000 per year. ($3,000 of 1855 dollars would be worth: $78,947.37 in 2012)

Please note that Members of Congress have to serve at least 5 years to receive a pension.

The amount of a congressperson's pension depends on the years of service and the average of the highest 3 years of his or her salary. By law, the starting amount of a Member's retirement annuity may not exceed 80% of his or her final salary. (80% of the current pay of $174,000 is $139,200. I could live on that!)

President's Salary
Effective January 1, 2001, the annual salary of the president of the United States was increased to $400,000 per year, including a $50,000 expense allowance. Please note that the Presidential salary doubled in 2001.

The increase was approved as part of the Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act (Public Law 106-58), passed in the closing days of the 106th Congress.

"Sec. 644. (a) Increase in Annual Compensation.--Section 102 of title 3, United States Code, is amended by striking '$200,000' and inserting '$400,000'. (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by this section shall take effect at noon on January 20, 2001."

Vice President's Salary
The salary of the vice president is currently (for 2011) $230,700. (BTW, who IS our VP [yes, I do know his name] and what does he do? I never see his name in the news.)

Presidential Retirement and Maintenance
Under the Former Presidents Act, each former president is paid a lifetime, taxable pension that is equal to the annual rate of basic pay for the head of an executive federal department -- $199,700 in 2011 -- the same annual salary paid to secretaries of the Cabinet agencies.

Each former president and vice president may also take advantage of funds allocated by Congress to help facilitate their transition to private life. These funds are used to provide suitable office space, staff compensation, communications services, and printing and postage associated with the transition. As an example, Congress authorized a total of $1.5 million for the transition expenses of outgoing president George H.W. Bush and Vice President Dan Quayle.

So, where IS the payoff? It sure doesn't appear to favor Joe Citizen who voted for Representation in Congress.

Health Care vs Illness Care

We should start naming things as they really are, not what someone would like us to believe. What we really have is Illness Care, NOT Health Care. Very little money is ever spent to promote "Health Care" because Health is NOT profitable.

The human body is extremely complex, and we have hundreds of thousands of internal interactions going on at any given moment from our 400 hundred trillion cells. Those interactions are also interdependent, and although our bodies have the ability to fabricate some of the components, we still need some raw materials for manufacturing them.

Jump rope, Photo from tedkerwin

For a different picture for understanding, think about the group children's game we call jump rope; when typically done by 3 or more children it's called long rope jumping. If you have 3 children and a rope, you can play. Remove any one component, and there's no game. 2 children and a rope but no jumper... no game. 3 children and no rope, no game.

Micronutrients (meaning we don't need much of them) like the fat-soluble vitamins have a 'game' (interaction) going on in our bodies too, and if any one of them is MIA, the 'game' suffers. Please note that these essential fat-soluble vitamins can only be dissolved in saturated fats in the body (hence their name). A healthy liver will store any excess, unlike the water-soluble vitamins which we rapidly excrete in urine. 

Photo by Public Domain Photos

Photo by julesjulesjules m

Vitamin A (egg yolks, liver, whole milk, cheese) is needed for eyesight, in other words "essential for the neural transmission of light into vision". All the fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K) need a bit of all the others to function (play the game) properly.

I find it interesting that the amount of Vitamin A in egg yolks in the Netherlands is more than twice the amount in the US. I wonder why? What they are fed (non-GMO?) and how they are raised? Curious. source

Photo by Peber the Swede

Photo by andrewmalone

Vitamin D (from sunlight, or oily fish like herring, salmon and sardines) helps the body absorb and use calcium, but you also need to ingest enough of the right kind of calcium for it to work... and then it takes Vitamin A to make the interaction work, too. (Vitamin A binds the Vitamin D receptors). Likewise if you take calcium supplements but don't get enough A or D, the calcium is useless.

Gluten-free (coconut flour) Fried Oysters, by NourishingCook

Oysters Rockefeller, photo by Argyleist

For Vitamin D to work, it also needs the minerals magnesium (green vegetables, nuts, whole grains), zinc (oysters, wheat germ, liver) and boron (green vegetables, fruit, nuts). The other catch is you also need enough Vitamin K (green leafy vegetables) to regulate the entire fat-soluble system.

The fat-soluble vitamins (except E) come from the very animal foods the "health care" industry tells us to reduce or avoid altogether: eggs, butter, and organ meats like liver. (BTW, coconut oil is considered a good saturated fat but contains almost zero vitamins and minerals. The main benefit in coconut oil is the Lauric Acid content, which promotes the "good" cholesterol, HDL.) 

There are many, many other nutrients which are equally essential for good health, and our bodies can utilize them all much better in the form of real food rather than supplements. However, just like the fat-soluble vitamins, most are interdependent on a host of others for maximum nutritional function. Who tells or teaches us that??

It seems the best way to have real health care is in our own hands. If we don't take responsibility for ourselves and our health, who will??

Try this: On your own, research some foods for their nutritional amounts. Research your own nutritional needs for the foods that supply them. If the information comes from research, find out who paid for the research; it is too often biased. Look for the sin of omission, where they tell us the part they want us to know rather than the whole picture.

The spin on many industrialized foods now being promoted as "healthy" is just that: spin. I have to be vigilant about reading labels on foods. A package of crackers I picked up in the natural foods market last weekend had huge advertising all over the front of the box exclaiming "Now made with whole grains!". When I read the label, sure enough there were whole grains... but last on the list just before the chemicals (labels are required by law to list ingredients in descending order of the quantity). The first ingredient was "enriched white flour"... I put it back on the shelf. Deceptive advertising, in my opinion.

Getting and staying healthier is much harder when the truth is so hard to find amongst all the hype. In my opinion, food labels should also list ALL the vitamin amounts, as well as all the herbicides, pesticides, irradiation and chemical washes the food has endured.

I repeat: It seems the best way to have real health care is in our own hands. If we don't take responsibility for ourselves and our health, who will??

The 99 Percent Declaration

I've been watching the growing "Occupy" movement for several weeks with some curiousity, even though there seemed to be no particular agenda. Now a Working Group that includes pro bono lawyers and university students arrested in NYC for their peaceful demonstrations, have drafted The 99% Declaration. 

I will be following this closely because among other things, it addresses the greed prevalent in corporations that affect the laws of this country via political contributions and influence, which means they affect me. (Think BigAg, BigPharma, etc.)

The Working Group wants to draws up a formal petition of grievances voted by to-be-elected representatives of all congressional districts. The US Constitution provides for a petition of a list of grievances to present to the government, but apparently by Constitutional Law only a duly elected body can legitimize a list of demands from the People. Their proposal is only a starting proposal and sample list of just demands on the government, plus how they hope to accomplish it via elected representatives.

Their posted sample proposal includes a fair tax across the board (and cutting ALL tax loopholes), eliminating the contributions (open or hidden) that buy politicians, and a host of other proposals that sound sensible to me, from the War Machine to Health Care and Jobs. 

I encourage you to read the whole declaration... it's short and to the point. Who knows, it may even gain wide-spread support!

Fast Food Calorie Labeling

Photo from justinial's photostream

The Slow Food USA Blog posted:

"Yesterday, President Barack Obama signed the health care bill into law. Tucked away inside the massive piece of legislation, there is provision requiring chain restaurants with 20 or more outlets in the United States to list calorie counts on menus, menu boards, and drive-through displays. The law, which affects over 200,000 U.S. restaurants, also applies to vending machines.

The Food and Drug Administration will create standards for the labeling, which should come into full effect within the next few years."

(I looked it up, in the new law, find it under Division C, Title V, Subtitle C, Part 1, Section 2572)

Too little, too late, and in the wrong place?? (It doesn't address healthy calories, the implementation is years away, and the new law is being hotly contested.)