Does anyone understand why this has to go through so fast? What’s the urgency? Why is any of it a good idea? Who has any proof?

Of course, one might suspect that this isn’t about healthcare as much as it’s a power grab. Probably doesn’t take great political insight to figure that one out. Get it done before the 2010 election, right? Kind of an endgame…

So, what’s this “YOU First Act” anyway?

A pretty simple idea, really.

If Congress truly believes that the nation’s healthcare system needs major changes and that billions of dollars (probably trillions) of legislation must be enacted… then shouldn’t they at least test their theories first?

Really now, who would get on an airliner that hadn’t been prototyped, tested, retested and then certified? Or who would feel safe taking a drug that didn’t go through clinical trials?

Same thing here. If there is going to be massive legislated change in healthcare, shouldn’t it be more than theoretical? Shouldn’t we have some proof that Capitol Hill’s ideas can work? The billions of debt caused by Medicare, Amtrak and the Postal Service aren’t exactly a great track record.

This sea change Congress is concocting needs some sort of pilot testing and it needs a sample group to test upon…

And guess what? Congress already has a significant sample group of about 10 million people already in it’s total control!

Federal employees belong to the country’s largest employer-based health benefits program [FEHBP]. Congress has authority over that group. It also has authority over the health benefits for employees of the District of Columbia. And Congress also has authority over the citizens of the District of Columbia. And members of Congress are also covered by the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program.

Why should the whole country be the guinea pig for Congress’s medical experiment? Why doesn’t Congress and the federal government experiment on themselves? 10 million is a nicely sized group to use as a pilot.

So, we say, YOU First!

We’ve taken a stab at writing a draft of a bill we call the Healthcare Reform Testing and Feasibility Act.

Maybe something like this could give cooler heads in Congress the opportunity to slow things down and truly consider testing some of these concepts first.

You can read our simple draft of the YOU First Act here.

Here’s a gem: “When the recession started, the Transportation Department had only one person earning a salary of $170,000 or more. Eighteen months later, 1,690 employees had salaries above $170,000.”

I should think that this group should be more than pleased to be the guinea pigs for testing Obamacare. What’s this about testing? Read the proposed “You First Act” here…

For your reading pleasure here’s the full article from USA Today…

For feds, more get 6-figure salaries

By Dennis Cauchon, USA TODAY

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-12-10-federal-pay-salaries_N.htm

Federal employees making salaries of $100,000 or more jumped from 14% to 19% of civil servants during the recession’s first 18 months — and that’s before overtime pay and bonuses are counted.

Federal workers are enjoying an extraordinary boom time — in pay and hiring — during a recession that has cost 7.3 million jobs in the private sector.

The highest-paid federal employees are doing best of all on salary increases. Defense Department civilian employees earning $150,000 or more increased from 1,868 in December 2007 to 10,100 in June 2009, the most recent figure available.

When the recession started, the Transportation Department had only one person earning a salary of $170,000 or more. Eighteen months later, 1,690 employees had salaries above $170,000.

The trend to six-figure salaries is occurring throughout the federal government, in agencies big and small, high-tech and low-tech. The primary cause: substantial pay raises and new salary rules.

“There’s no way to justify this to the American people. It’s ridiculous,” says Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, a first-term lawmaker who is on the House’s federal workforce subcommittee.

Jessica Klement, government affairs director for the Federal Managers Association, says the federal workforce is highly paid because the government employs skilled people such as scientists, physicians and lawyers. She says federal employees make 26% less than private workers for comparable jobs.

USA TODAY analyzed the Office of Personnel Management’s database that tracks salaries of more than 2 million federal workers. Excluded from OPM’s data: the White House, Congress, the Postal Service, intelligence agencies and uniformed military personnel.

The growth in six-figure salaries has pushed the average federal worker’s pay to $71,206, compared with $40,331 in the private sector.

Key reasons for the boom in six-figure salaries:

• Pay hikes. Then-president Bush recommended — and Congress approved — across-the-board raises of 3% in January 2008 and 3.9% in January 2009. President Obama has recommended 2% pay raises in January 2010, the smallest since 1975. Most federal workers also get longevity pay hikes — called steps — that average 1.5% per year.

•New pay system. Congress created a new National Security Pay Scale for the Defense Department to reward merit, in addition to the across-the-board increases. The merit raises, which started in January 2008, were larger than expected and rewarded high-ranking employees. In October, Congress voted to end the new pay scale by 2012.

• Paycaps eased. Many top civil servants are prohibited from making more than an agency’s leader. But if Congress lifts the boss’ salary, others get raises, too. When the Federal Aviation Administration chief’s salary rose, nearly 1,700 employees”’ had their salaries lifted above $170,000, too.

So, First do no harm… Test first!

We’ve drafted a handy version of the “You First Act” and you can read it here…

Need a member of Congress who’d like to carry it… or write their own version…