On Good Government
Ronald Szabat, J.D., L.L.M., Director
Governmental and Legal Affairs
ashington, D.C., has been rocked in the last two months
by several high-profile cases of alleged wrong-doing.
The off-again, on-again case against the former House
Majority Leader has garnered national attention and
is now with the courts in Texas. Closer to home, high-flying
lobbyists are having their wings clipped. And, late
last year, the disgraced Representative Randy “Duke”
Cunningham (R-CA) was forced to resign his House seat
after a string of illegal activities came to light.
What
does all of this say about the political process?
Where is wisdom and fair play in the face of so much
graft? Despite what you might think, democracy is
alive and well, thank you. It also says that ordinary
citizens need to step up, get involved and be counted,
now more than ever. Anesthesiologists, hear this call!
Even though the pessimists among ASA’s ranks
will see these untoward events as a continued excuse
to avoid the responsibilities of ASA Political Action
Committee membership and another reason to avoid our
urgent grassroots “calls to action,” the
truly savvy among us will realize that scandals coming
to light show that “the system works,”
and those who operate on the margins or “over
the line” of legality will always be found out,
exposed and forced to suffer the consequences, no
matter how severe. For example if a lobby group purposefully
misleads a member of Congress, distorts the facts
or downright lies, you can be sure that the truth
will soon come out, and the reputation of the lobbyist
and group in question will be harmed. The same can
be said of groups that try to claim “sole responsibility”
for a major legislative win or accomplishment. The
very course of legislation makes such singular victories
rare, although not impossible. How much better, always,
to gratefully acknowledge coalition partners and have
justifiable pride in the accomplishments one can call
one’s own.
Fair fights, yes; but making up stories or “facts”
to advance any cause, or trying to denigrate the legitimate
contributions of others, never justifies the ends.
You see, lobbying, not unlike part of the patient-physician
relationship, is based on trust, good information
and candor. Author Stephen Covey has it right in likening
trust to deposits in a bank: A breach of trust becomes
a major withdrawal, and it takes a lot of time and
new deposits to offset a big negative transaction.
Like the profession of medicine, our ASA direct and
grassroots lobbying is founded on honesty, integrity
and reliable information. Our federal lobby disclosure
forms are honest and complete, and every effort is
made to list all the bills, issues, bodies of Congress
and federal agencies with which we have contact each
year. Likewise our Federal Election Commission filings
always seek to meet all legal requirements. Our goodwill
on Capitol Hill and in assistance to our state component
societies is built on the highest ethical standards.
Does this mean we get everything we want? Of course
not. But it does mean that our message is always well-received
and that our efforts are dependent on broad-based
physician involvement as we compete for the finite
attention of legislators, the overwhelming majority
of whom are honest, hard-working and want only to
be educated about the complexities of medicine and
the special needs of anesthesiologists and the patients
we treat.
Every relationship has to start somewhere, and if
you have never sent a simple e-mail to your U.S. Senators
or Congresspersons or taken the time to visit our
ASA Web site and answer a “call to action,”
much less spoken with your legislators face to face,
you are in fact not doing your part to advance good
government. Right now is the time to change all that
if you want to help anesthesiology. Good government
is everyone’s responsibility, including yours.
By interacting, sharing and taking ASA’s message
forward, your simple actions properly distance us
from the unacceptable actions of the few who think
the legislative process responds only to illegal cash
flow.
Please ensure good government by doing your part to
make our case to those who strive to represent us.
Working together, we can and will advance democracy
and anesthesiology!
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