Job Standards for Members of Congress - Why Not?

     In the past few years, it's become a popular trend to blame teachers for student performance.   This has led to the establishment of more precise standards for teachers .   Last year, teachers and school administrators in Rhode Island were fired due to underperforming students.   A few days ago, teachers in Washington, DC, were fired because they were judged to not meet performance standards, and in many cases, their students did not do well on standardized tests.

     To be sure, an effective teacher plays an important role in the success of a student.  That being said, there are also factors a teacher must deal with in educating a child that are beyond the  teacher's control - things like a family's economic situation,  whether the child is eating nutritious food, whether the child is getting enough sleep,  how many or few adults are raising the child, how involved the parents/guardians are in the child's education, the parents'/guardians' own educational levels, whether English is spoken in the child's home... and so on and so on.  Considering these out-of-school factors, it's easy to conclude that it's unfair to put all or even most of the  blame for student performance on teachers.
    
     On the other hand, in order to do an effective job of working for the success of constituents and the country as a whole, a member of Congress must deal with very few factors that are beyond his or her control - what comes to mind are sudden acts of nature, the surprise hostile actions of foreign nations, and the philosophies and principles of the other members of Congress he/she must work with.  As to the last factor, in order to perform, a member of Congress, whether he or she is a member of the House or the Senate, must put politics and rhetoric aside, and make an honest effort to work with others, including negotiating and compromising at times.

     Since taking office in January of 2010, the present members of Congress have delivered an ineffective performance.  They have done nothing to help the U.S. economy; they have done nothing to create U.S. jobs; they have done nothing to reduce spending or the deficit, and they have brought the U.S. to the brink of default.  Why?  Primarily because conservative lawmakers have refused to put aside politics and rhetoric; they have refused to work with Democrats or the President; they have refused to negotiate or compromise.  (Ed. Note: "negotiate" means to bargain, as in reaching an agreement between parties settling what each shall give and take or perform and receive in a transaction; "compromise" means an agreement reached by adjustment of conflicting or opposing claims, principles, etc., by reciprocal modification of demands.)  These lawmakers have continued to insist that it's either their way or no way.  
    
     This past week, friends sent me an email listing proposed measures for reforming Congress.  I personally think that in addition to these measures,  Congressional reform should also include minimum job performance standards.  Therefore, I have taken the liberty to add a couple of my own congressional job performance standards (marked with an asterisk *)  to the list.  Read the "Congressional Reform Act of 2011" and let me know what you think.

Congressional Reform Act of 2011

1.  Term Limits

     A maximum of 12 years total may be served in the House or the Senate.

 2.  No Tenure / No Pension
     A member of Congress collects a salary while in office and receives no pay
     when he/she is out of office.

3.  Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security
     All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social
     Security system immediately.   All future Congressional retirement
     funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates
     with the American people. Social Security funds may not be used for
     any other purpose.

4.  Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.

5.  Congress no longer voted themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay
     increases according to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) or by 3% per year,
     whichever is lower.

6.  Congress loses their current health care system, and participates in the
     same health care system as the American people.

7.  Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American
     people.

8.  All contracts with past and present members of Congress are void effective
     1/1/12.  The American people did not make these contracts with members
      of Congress.  Members of Congress made these contracts for themselves.
      Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers  
      envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their term(s), then go
      home and go back to work or, if age allows, retire on Social Security.

 *9.  Each member of Congress, during the course of his/her  first term in office,
       will be able to show proof that they made at least one contribution to
       legislation designed to improve the quality of life (e.g., education,
       transportation,  safety, health, wealth) of all of the residents of their district.

 *10.  Each member of Congress, during no later than his/her second term in
         office, will co-sponsor  with a member of Congress from a different political
         party, legislation designed to improve the quality of life all Americans.
 **********************************

We create and keep U.S. jobs when we demand, promote, and buy Made in USA goods and products.

This week's recommended product:
·       Bayside apparel - Made in USA and union-made by Bayside USA, Anaheim, CA
    (http://ethixmerch.com/supplier/bayside-usa-unionmade)

Blog Sources:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/24/rhode-island-teachers-fir_n_475234.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/206-low-performing-dc-teachers-fired/2011/07/15/gIQANEj5GI_story.html

 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/06/randi-weingarten-michelle-rhee_n_792841.html

E. coli - Another Reason to Buy USA

      My April 3, 2011, post to this blog was about the dangers of consuming food and drugs from foreign countries (see "Eat At Your Own Risk:  Foreign-Made Food and Drugs.") This week, a particularly virulent strain of E. coli appeared on the scene, as people in Europe (and four in the US who recently returned from Germany) came down with nasty symptoms, including stomach cramps and bloody diarrhea.  Currently, 1,833 cases of the E. coli infection have been confirmed, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. What makes this strain of E. coli even more dangerous is that it attacks not only the digestive system, but also produces a by-product called the "shiga" toxin that may damage the kidneys.  Reports indicate that this strain of E. coli originated in produce, primarily bean sprouts, grown in northern Germany.  However, sprouts, cucumbers, and tomatoes grown in Denmark, the Netherlands, and Spain are also suspect. 

     What exactly is E. coli?  It's a bacteria (Escherichia coli) that is commonly found in our intestines, and helps our bodies to break down and digest food.  Certain strains of E. coli, however, move from the digestive system into the bloodstream, where they can cause serious infections.  E. coli can contaminate crops when manure is used to fertilize crops, or if water contaminated with E. coli is used to irrigate the crops.  .
    
     According to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA),the government recently has stepped up testing of food from Germany and Spain, although very little in the way of produce is imported to the US from those countries or from other European countries.  (I have found a lot of produce sold in US grocery stores from Mexico, and Central and South America.)

    Be aware that meat and produce from the United States is not 100% safe from E. coli contamination either.   There was a small outbreak in the US (145 reported cases) of a similar E. coli strain reported by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in 2010.  That outbreak originated from US-produced shredded romaine lettuce.  In general, however, according to Don Kraemer, deputy director of the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, the United States has "one of the safest food supplies in the world."  Compared to reported outbreaks of E. coli worldwide, this appears to be true.
      
     Treatment for the present outbreak of E. coli is primarily accomplished by keeping patients hydrated with water, and by dialysis, which is used to scrub the blood of patients with infected bloodstreams.  In the case of E. coli infections, antibiotics don't help, and may make symptoms worse because they may increase the release of toxins into the bloodstream.

     Precautions that we can take to protect ourselves from E. coli contamination are: (1) eat meat that is cooked well - not red or pink; (2) wash produce well (I use a vegetable and fruit spray), even if wrappers or labels say the produce has already been washed; (3) wash hands well before preparing food, and (4) wash countertops where food is prepared.
    
     The final precaution that we can take to protect ourselves and our families against E. coli is to buy food and produce made and grown in the USA.  With fewer E. coli outbreaks from USA food, buying food and eating "grown in USA,  and "product of USA"  food  just makes good sense - not to mention that it helps our economy.  This summer, buy locally grown produce, shop at community farmers' markets, and look for "Made in USA," and "Product of USA" labels on food and produce.
**************
This week's recommended product:

• Fruits and vegetables that are "Product of USA," including "locally grown" fruits and vegetables (as they come into season.)

• All Natural Veggie Wash Fruit and Vegetable Wash - Made in USA by Beaumont Products, Inc., Kennesaw, GA

Sources :  

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/06/04/earlyshow/saturday/main20068944

http://www.cdc.gov/ecoli/2010/ecoli_o145/index.html

http://kidshealth.org/kid/stay_healthy/food/ecoli.html

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-03/water-dialysis-only-treatments-for-deadliest-european-e-coli-outbreak.html

Underselling America

      Tomorrow is Memorial Day - a time for honoring our veterans and our troops -  the men and women who have sacrificed and continue to sacrifice their lives in order to protect our country, our freedom, and our democratic values.  It's also a time for reflecting on what makes our country great. 

       I believe that the greatest resource our country has is its people.  The ingenuity, innovation, and positive, "can do" spirit of the American people is unrivaled by any other country.  Yet in the last 20 to 30 years, the people of the USA have been undersold to ourselves and to the rest of the world by those who are supposed to be representing us and leading us .  We have been told that we are falling behind in education, particularly in the areas of math and science;  we have been told that we are incapable of making good products;  we have been told a host of other negative messages designed to make us feel like losers. 

     Most of our leaders in government and business have said that students in other countries, especially those in China and India, are doing better than their American counterparts, and are years ahead of us in math and science.  This is supposedly the primary reason behind the movement to reform US education. 

     In the meantime, the majority of advancements in science, medicine, and technology, from the transistor to the microwave to fiber optics to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to the internet to space travel have originated in the United States.   And in the meantime, there is an ever-increasing  influx of  foreign students that come to study in US graduate schools, primarily in the areas of math and science.  If US schools are so far behind, why are most new ideas coming from the US, and why do students from so-called "superior" countries want to study here? 

     What's wrong with this picture?  Are Americans  being sold a bill of goods and undersold to themselves and the rest of the world as an excuse for taking American ideas and manufacturing them more cheaply overseas?  As we honor and remember those who have put their lives on the line to protect and serve all that makes this country great, what do you think?
*******************
This week's recommended product:

 US education

 Sources:   

 http://www.literacynet.org/icans/chapter02/tests.html

http://www.universitylanguage.com/blog/17/international-students-usa/

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/05/business/05scene.html

http://www.isbe.man.ac.uk/personal/dellard/dje/history_mri/history%20of%20mri.htm