Contributor & author: Jane M. Orient, M.D., Executive Director of Association of American Physicians and Surgeons

Preview:

• Americans, in the shadow of the wall, are learning that we are all in this together—except for the elite who continue to draw their salaries from the bureaucracies and the legislators who vote for laws written by special interests who invest millions in campaign contributions to reap billions in benefits.
• The pretense that we still have a voice in Washington has been demolished. But one thing the wall cannot stop is the truth—for all the elite’s attempts at censorship. The most powerful truths at present may be that hundreds of thousands may die needlessly of COVID for lack of early treatment, and still more will die without access to reliable, affordable energy.

_______________________________________________________________________________

February 3rd, 2021

What Does the Capitol Wall Mean for American Medicine?

by Jane M. Orient, M.D.

The optics of a wall and armed troops around their Capitol are, and should be, shocking to Americans. But from the perspective of one who has been to the Capitol many times—but not for years—it was a foreseeable development.

Decades ago, you could go to House and Senate office buildings and walk around freely. You could even approach by taxi and not have far to walk. You could enter any office, converse with the receptionist, leave a calling card and written material, and often be allowed to speak with a staffer.

I was never a lobbyist, just a citizen, often speaking on behalf of a group of doctors about the impact of government in flyover country. Medical groups might have a meeting near Capitol Hill, then fan out to visit congressional offices. We held staff briefings, sometimes with a congressman on the panel.

One day I looked at the sickly looking shrub in a “planter” outside an important building. “That looks like a tank barrier,” I said. The attorney I was with looked amused. “Of course it is.”

Other doctors and I tried to explain how the flood of rules made it impossible to practice good medicine. We analyzed legislation: the Health Security Act (ClintonCare), HIPAA, PPACA or ACA (ObamaCare), MACRA, etc.—bills getting ever longer and more complex, with their acronyms incorporated into everyday talk long after everyone has forgotten what they stand for or what they were supposed to do. Nobody had read the bills they voted for. More