DEMOCRATS’ MORAL LOW GROUND

Also published on Newsmax.

Liberals hoped that selectively purging their ranks of their rankest elements would give them the moral high ground to drive President Trump from office by declaring him a sexual predator. 

What happened instead was liberals in the media, government, and Hollywood being accused of sexual assault every twenty hours since Harvey Weinstein’s demise.

Americans know who has run our country since the 1930s.  Republicans have simultaneously controlled the Senate, House, and White House only 7 years since the 1932 elections.  Generations of Democrats in power led to generations of abuse.

Hollywood has always been liberal.  In fact, it was infested with Soviet agents.  What was dismissed as John Birch paranoia was proven when the Venona Papers were released from the KGB archives.

The media was liberal, but patriotic, until the 1960s, when it took a hard left turn after the passing of leading owners and publishers.

Left wing dominance of the three sectors that run America allowed for a cesspool of moral turpitude to flourish.  Each protected each other as a code of silence was instituted.  When the perversions or crimes of one of its members was exposed the iron triangle closed ranks stating that such behavior was deplorable, but should not overshadow the person’s advocacy of issues they held dear. 

Most of the time, sexual assault, violence, and exploitation were covered-up and the American public remained ignorant to what was really happening.

In the first twenty-four hours after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the logs of the Presidential Yacht, Sequoia, were removed and destroyed.  As a Navy vessel, the log documented everyone who boarded the ship.  The government log entries for Marilyn Monroe, Natalie Wood, and countless other Kennedy mistresses vanished.  The alteration of the yacht’s master state room, a special slotted door for crew to pass official documents to Kennedy without having to enter during his trysts, was not known until questions were asked during the restoration of the vessel.

There were always “casting couches” in all three sectors.  For decades, Capitol Hill has been notorious for aging Senators and Congressmen picking off attractive staffers, interns, and pages.  Ted Kennedy and Chris Dodd were known for making "waitress sandwiches" in the back rooms of Capitol Hill restaurants. 

In the early 1990s, the House of Representatives sank into a quagmire of sexual and financial corruption.  Conservative media exposure of the Post Office, Bank, Gift Shop, and Restaurant scandals ultimately toppled House Democrats and sent several Members to jail.  The reform team that cleaned-up the decades old mess uncovered countless abuses of power.  It became clear, given the mountains of court orders being signed by the Chief Administrative Officer, that at least a third of House Members were abusing their power to amass fortunes, fuel addictions, or pursue sexual conquests.

This is why the Republican House passed HR 1.  The bill forced the Legislative Branch to comply with all federal laws and regulations it passed.  A new Compliance Office was created to enforce the law while maintaining the Constitutional separation of powers. 

While the Chief Administrative Officer and his team established the office and procedures, other House Members quietly created a secret mechanism for settling claims of harassment, discrimination, and hostile work environments.  This mechanism was tucked up under “Member Services” within the Office of the Clerk.  It was this office that has used tax dollars to settle claims and keep Member predation under wraps.

Recently, a newly elected Democrat Senator was privately admonished by his colleagues for taking more time to find his mistress the best Capitol Hill townhouse than he did on selecting the best committee assignment.  This is a person who boasts about his family values.  This should all end

.

There are steps that need to be taken to drain the sexual swamp in which the self-styled leaders of America wallow.  First and foremost, the practice of using tax dollars to settle claims must end.  There should be no “sovereign immunity” for loutish behavior.  Voters should know what their representative is really doing.

Secondly, those who defended President Clinton during his impeachment, in Congress, in Hollywood, and the media, should never be given a credible forum to attack President Trump relating to sexual issues.  They are hypocrites and forfeited their moral high ground decades ago.

Thirdly, any candidate, of either party, should know that their personal failings will be fair game.  Projecting a loving family in campaign ads, while being an adulterer, should be considered “resume padding”.  They should be held accountable even more than someone who fakes being a veteran or a college graduate.

Holding the powerful accountable must become a major priority in rebuilding America’s civic integrity.

[Scot Faulkner advises corporations and governments on how to save billions of dollars by achieving dramatic and sustainable cost reductions while improving operational and service excellence. He served as the Chief Administrative Officer of the U.S. House of Representatives.  He also served on the White House Staff, and as an Executive Branch Appointee.]

TRUMP's FALTERING REVOLUTION

Also published on Newsmax.  #DEEPSWAMP  #RINOgator

President Trump made draining Washington’s Swamp the centerpiece of his Presidency.  The swamp is winning.  Its RINOgators are on the verge of destroying the Trump Presidency. 

Trump’s Executive Branch is now running on empty.  His appointment process is the slowest since Jimmy Carter in 1977.  He recently defended his depleted ranks of loyalists, “we don’t need all of the people. You know, it’s called cost saving.”  In fact, Trump not bringing in his loyalists means the Executive Branch is being run by Obama holdovers, and senior careerists, who run the government from acting positions.  They owe their last eight years of promotions and bonuses to their loyally enforcing and implementing Obama’s policies.

The swamp is exploiting Trump’s misunderstanding of “people equal policy”. 

The few political managers Trump has placed are completely isolated and outmaneuvered. Worse, most of Trump’s appointments are people who owe their loyalty to everyone but Trump.  The inner circles of the White House, and legions of political operatives in the Departments and Agencies, wish Jeb Bush was President.  Their disloyalty to Trump is manifest in leaks and their ineffectual and slow paced efforts to change anything.

Insiders explain that Trump dislikes people with government experience and that he feels Reagan and his appointees could have done more to shrink government.  If that is so, why is he fixated on bringing in Bush alumni who grew government? 

Trump declared that he would drain Washington’s swamp by not hiring lobbyists.  During the transition, countless personnel clearance forms were used supposedly to prevent lobbyists insinuating themselves. This failed.  USA Today reports that more than 100 former federal lobbyists are now working inside the Trump Administration.

Trump has been ill-served and misled from the very beginning.  During the Spring of 2016, key elements of the Reagan coalition, including Reagan Administration alumni and key think tanks, were ready, willing, and able to help Trump be successful.  They were ignored.

In June 2016, Trump realized he needed to prepare for being President.  Instead of turning to those conservatives who were openly and passionately supporting him, Trump turned to New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.  Where Trump conservatives would have opened the door to legions of proven change agents, Christie opened the flood gates to Mitt Romney and Jeb Bush operatives.  Where Trump loyalists would have worked for free, Christie spent millions on hiring the Boston Consulting Group to run the Transition.  The Boston Consulting Group had never run a Presidential Transition, but the Managing Partner in charge of the contract was the daughter of longtime Bush loyalist.

The Trump Transition ended-up preparing for the Romney/Bush Administration.  Even Steve Bannon was duped into believing only the Washington Establishment was capable of helping Trump prepare for his Presidency.  Highly capable conservatives, Reagan alumni, and professionals who were for Trump since June 2015, were systematically shut out.  Never-Trumpers, even ones who ran anti-Trump floor operations at the Republican National Convention, were welcomed.

The Romney/Bush Transition became the Romney/Bush Administration on January 20, 2017. At the same time, Reince Priebus and his minions from the Republican National Committee (RNC) took over core White House operations.  This included the Office of Presidential Personnel that clears and recommends all political appointees.  Priebus rightly deserves credit for quelling Republican rebellion in the final months of the 2016 campaign.  For this, Trump should have rewarded Preibus with the non-critical Ambassadorship of his choice.  Instead, Priebus became Chief of Staff and proceeded to fill Trump’s inner circle with RNC operatives, few of whom even liked Trump.  The RNC operatives in charge of Presidential Personnel placed their friends on Trump’s political front line.  They even conducted purges of the few Trump loyalists who had made it inside.  Ironically, Never-Trumpers got away with accusing Always-Trumpers of being disloyal.

While President Trump was signing Executive Orders and making inspiring speeches, the RINOgators of the Washington, DC swamp were commandeering key positions, making sure Trump’s vision would never become a lasting operational reality.  They are doing everything possible to protect their swamp.

The most tragic result of Trump being misled is that he is spending his time on actions that will be swept away with the next Administration.  The Washington swamp is drawing Trump into this trap.  Time magazine recently ran an alarmist cover story on Trump’s regulatory reductions.  Even Trump’s inner circle believes the hype. His communications director declared, “No President or Administration has deregulated or withdrawn as many anticipated regulatory actions as this one in this short amount of time.”  In reality, saving $560 million is a pittance against the $2+ trillion regulatory burden faced by America business.

At best, stopping new regulations is like trimming Kudzu.  All these bad policies and regulations have only been driven underground.  They remain in desk drawers and computer files ready to be unleashed. Unless the underlying policies, people, and laws are changed, all these sidelined regulations will spring forth the moment Trump leaves office. The people who would actually pull-up the regulatory Kudzu by its roots are not in place.  Washington, DC’s “RINOgators” have settled in to protect their status quo and wait out Trump.

Real and lasting change will happen only if Trump appoints sufficient numbers of his actual loyalists as soon as possible. He must act quickly and decisively to remove Bush/Romney traitors and replace them with those fully committed to his revolution.  Perhaps the dual attacks by Bush 41 and 43 will open Trump’s eyes to the treachery around him.

[Scot Faulkner advises corporations and governments on how to save billions of dollars by achieving dramatic and sustainable cost reductions while improving operational and service excellence. He served as the Chief Administrative Officer of the U.S. House of Representatives.  He also served on the White House Staff, and as an Executive Branch Appointee.]

COLUMBUS - UNITER NOT DIVIDER

[Published in Newsmax]

Columbus and his achievements are about unity. The forces of political correctness have no idea what they are talking about. 

Columbus’ discovery of the Western Hemisphere permanently reconnected the Earth for the first time since the Pangea super continent broke apart 175 million years ago.

A brief period of record low sea levels, caused by the last Ice Age, allowed pre-history humans to migrate into the Americas from Europe around 20,000 BC.  An Asian land bridge opened another short-lived migration corridor along the Alaskan coast in 12,000 BC.  The indigenous people of the Americas were actually its “first immigrants”. Rising seas then sealed them off from the rest of the world.

It was inevitable that humankind would ultimately reconnect.  It was only a matter of time.  The Viking sagas chronicle exploration and fishing settlements in Newfoundland around 1,000 AD.  This is when warmer global temperatures made Greenland and the Arctic waters suitable for navigation and far northern lands viable for habitation.  Others may have stumbled upon the Americas, but their interactions were short lived and isolated.  The reunification of Earth would have to wait another 400 years.

Unique forces of economics, history, and knowledge eventually led to reunifying humankind and the world’s ecosystems. 

The events that set Columbus and his three ships towards destiny began with the fall of Constantinople on May 29, 1453 to the Ottoman Empire.  The Islamic Ottomans took control of all the overland connections to India and China.  They made the Silk Road, and other lucrative trade links to the East, prohibitively expensive and problematic.

In 1412, the Portuguese began methodically establishing an alternative sea-based trade route to Asia.  In 1488, Bartholomew Diaz rounded the Cape of Good Hope. Portugal, with its line of African forts and massive fleet, aspired to join the Ottomans in controlling  Asian trade.

No other European power was capable of competing against these two international forces as most were locked in internal strife or were content with being regional powers.

On January 2, 1492, Spain defeated the last Islamic forces on the Iberian Peninsula.  The duel monarchy of Ferdinand and Isabella turned their vision of conquest to competing with Portugal.

Christopher Columbus was uniquely situated to make the Spanish Monarchs’ dream come true.  Besides being a skilled seaman, Columbus was a highly astute scholar.  He spent years acquiring knowledge about the Atlantic Ocean, including what would become known as its “trade winds”, which would speed travel.

Columbus was at the center of the debate over the size of the Earth.  Educated people knew the Earth was round, but they differed on its size.  No ship’s crew could be provisioned to sail west over a vast ocean all the way to China.  Columbus was armed with knowledge of the Vikings and knew a large land mass was much closer than current wisdom assumed.  His mistake was thinking it was Asia, not an entire undiscovered hemisphere. 

Columbus convinced the Spanish Monarchs it was good business and a wise investment to underwrite an expedition sailing west into the unexplored areas of the Atlantic Ocean.  The Monarchs knew that Spain would become a major world power by building their own trade monopoly if Columbus was successful.

Starting on August 3, 1492, the single most pivotal action in the Earth’s human history began.  On October 12, 1492, Columbus and his landing party stepped onto a Caribbean beach and nothing would ever be the same.

The “Columbian Exchange” fundamentally altered the Earth’s ecosystem and its human history.  The “New World” introduced dietary staples like corn, potatoes, peanuts, tomatoes, squash, pumpkins, pineapples, avocados.  “Old World” domesticated animals such as horses, pigs, cattle, cows, and goats fanned out through the Americas, while onions, lettuce, peaches, wheat, rice, sugar, and apples took root.

Detractors scoff, stating that the people of the Americas knew where they were and did not need to be discovered.  Anti-Columbus historians decry the spread of disease and conquest that devastated the first peoples of the Americas.  Reunifying the world after 175 million years had irreversible consequences, good and bad. None of Americas’ cultures had a maritime tradition outside of brief fishing and hunting sojourns within sight of land.  Reunifying the Earth was only going to happen from the “Old World”.  The mingling of flora and fauna created impacts that resonate to this day.

Columbus is rightly recognized as the person who changed the world.  He embodies humanity’s striving to acquire and apply knowledge, and our desire to explore.  Many South American nations, along with Italy and Spain, celebrate Columbus and the day everything changed. 

The United State celebrated the 300^th Anniversary of this epic moment in 1792.  It became our nation’s official holiday in 1937.

We should be honoring this unifying moment in history instead of trying to erase it.

[Scot Faulkner advises corporations and governments on how to save billions of dollars by achieving dramatic and sustainable cost reductions while improving operational and service excellence. He served as the Chief Administrative Officer of the U.S. House of Representatives.  He also served on the White House Staff, and as an Executive Branch Appointee.]

 

Beware the RINOgator

Also published on Newsmax.  #TRUMPING  #RINOGATOR

A very dangerous species is loose in Washington, DC.  If it’s not eradicated it will bring ruin to Trump’s Administration and the nation.

RINOgator is a subspecies of fake Republicans (as in Republican In Name Only) that lives in the swamp of our nation’s Capital.   The swamp is its natural habitat, filled with conflicts of interest, incestuous relationships, avoidance of accountability, hiding documents and information from the public; waste, fraud, and abuse. 

RINOgators’ role in life is to expand the swamp and to destroy anyone who tries to drain it. Any reduction in the swamp reduces their numbers and threatens the species.

RINOgators eat tax dollars and absorb energy from reform minded humans. They have insatiable appetites and are never full.  There is always one more meal to eat.

RINOgators are highly territorial.  They relentlessly defend their turf among Congressional Committees and special interests. It is far more important to maintain their turf than for anything to be accomplished.

RINOgators live in close-knit family units.  One generation promotes the next through education, internships, sinecures, and contracts.  There is constant intermingling and intermarriage with other RINOgator family units. 

RINOgators can also be highly incestuous. They will give awards, place media stories, hire, and promote family members at every opportunity.  Multi-generational RINOgator family units hold more territory and become impervious to elections.

RINOgators may migrate to corporate, academic, and media positions, to promote the swamp, but will always return to their native swamp.

RINOgators are pernicious.  They use their knowledge of the swamp to convince their prey that they are necessary.  Their prey willingly appoints them to office, listens to their advice, and invites them into their inner circles. Like cowbirds, RINOgators lay their eggs in the nests of reformers, setting the stage for their young to devour the souls of competing species.

RINOgators have a distinct call, which is heard on cable news, in policy forums, and reported in the mainstream media.  Its call is for maintaining the status quo, no matter what.  Lesser calls are for “further study”, new programs, new legislation, and more funding.  Squawks of alarm are heard whenever reformers call for accountability, transparency, “running government like a business”, “doing more with less”, privatization, and cutbacks.  Squawks are usually accompanied by assertions of “we are unique”, “it cannot be done”, and various lies about how the process “actually” works.

RINOgators have an array of formidable defenses.  Their most effective is delay. Their other defense mechanisms include the ability to erase memory, dismiss facts, and divert attention so reformers pursue only irrelevant or tactical issues.

RINOgators are chameleons.  They adopt the rhetoric of their enemies to better blend in until the right moment to strike. 

The Trump era has become a major threat to the RINOgators and their swamp.  The RINOgators did not see Trump as a threat until he had entered their territory. 

That is why the RINOgators have forged elaborate family groupings, nesting on Capitol Hill, to thwart Trump initiatives.  RINOgators chose not to attack the past foibles of Obama and Hillary.  They think it is better having Democrats on the offense against Trump instead of on the defense.

RINOgators have the innate ability to rebound after being stunned.  That is why, after being surprised by Trump winning the nomination, they insinuated themselves into Trump’s transition planning, transition team, and Administration.  Legions of RINOgators wrote Trump Transition briefing books and developed personnel “vetting” processes that slowed the staffing of Trump’s Administration to a crawl. They adjusted selection criteria to favor swamp preservationists and surrounded incoming Trump Executives with them, instead of swamp drainers.

RINOgator eradication efforts have been sporadic and only partially successful.  The main barrier to eradication is convincing people RINOgators exist. Their chameleon defenses allow them to avoid detection.  RINOgators and their allies have the unique talent of reflecting problems and disappointments back onto Trump.  This reflective surface is a key part of the RINOgator’s outer armor.

Thankfully, RINOgators have weaknesses.  They are susceptible to sunshine when light is shown on their true selves.  They are too smug, leading them to make wrong assumptions about the American people.

The RINOgator eradication program must begin with Americans unmasking the species and ripping away its reflective surfaces.  RINOgators are especially vulnerable during primaries. 

Trump and the nation must track down and wipe-out the RINOgator, before it is too late.  This is critical to draining the swamp.

[Scot Faulkner helps private corporations and governments save billions of dollars by flattening organizations; achieving dramatic and sustainable cost reductions while improving operational and service excellence. He served as the Chief Administrative Officer of the U.S. House of Representatives.  He also served on the White House Staff, and in Executive Appointments, during the Reagan Administration.]

TRUMPING THE PARKS

#TRUMPING

[Also published http://www.newsmax.com/ScotFaulkner/trump-national-parks-preservation-friends-groups/2017/05/01/id/787459/] 

President Trump signaled his commitment to the National Parks by donating his first quarter’s salary to their upkeep.

America’s nationhood is based upon ideals.  America’s National Parks are the physical touchstones that reaffirm who we are and why we are.

America remains America if our Parks remain integral to our lives.  It means making our Parks relevant and relatable to all Americans through the 21^st Century and beyond.

National Parks have three primary customers.  Each requires diverse actions to meet their needs.  Visitors are one customer.  However, the environmental and historical resources a Park protects are also customers with their own unique needs. 

Making sure a Park’s plants and animals are healthy and thriving is grounded in science linked to creativity.  The 1995 reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone National Park was a master stroke that is improving the Park’s environment on a daily basis.

Making sure the historical resources of a Park remain viable is a daunting challenge.  Natural parks even have historic structures, sites, and viewsheds.  Time, the elements, and visitors constantly assault this historic fabric and context.  A leaky roof today may become a collapsed one a year later. Unfortunately, Park maintenance has been neglected by Presidents and the Congress far too long.

Making sure visitors gain the intended insights, and leave with a sense of civic renewal, is complex.  Young people no longer bring to their Park experience the language, historical, geographical, or scientific knowledge of previous generations.

There exist highly successful best practices that will help President Trump, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, and the Park Service address these challenges.

Expanding Partnerships – every National Park should have its own Friends Group, corporate partners, and, where appropriate, Cooperating Association.

Lack of funding has devastated America’s National Parks for more than a generation.  There are less than 100 Friends groups among the 415 National Parks.  These groups are formed by local citizens and chartered by the Department of Interior.  Friends groups generate support within the communities surrounding each Park.  Partners can supplement Park resources with volunteers to staff special events.  They also serve as advocates to win preservation battles.

Cooperating Associations are another vital Park partner.  These groups run Park bookstores, build a membership base, raise funds, and co-develop and present interpretive programs. 

Corporate partners have provided vital funds for major maintenance projects. Target raised $5 million to help repair the Washington Monument in 2000, while Chrysler CEO, Lee Iacoccca, spearheaded raising $36 million for the restoration of the Statute of Liberty in the 1980s.

Embedding Parks in Schools – Young people must grow up with National Parks being an important part of their life.  Parks need to be a learning resource. This will help the next generation embrace the role Parks play in preserving America’s civic culture. 

Harpers Ferry National Historical Park (HFNHP) has been at the forefront of highly successful education initiatives.  In 1988, the Park partnered with the local county schools to create an award winning living history immersion.  Each year the Park provides educational material to local K-12 schools, including a full day Civil War simulation where students experience being raw recruits.

In 2009, the Journey Through Hallowed Ground and HFNHP developed “Of the Student, By the Student, For the Student” video workshops.  8^th grade students studied a major Park theme (i.e. John Brown’s 1859 raid) and then, working with media coaches, wrote, acted, directed, and produced short videos on some aspect of that theme.  The multiple avenues of learning, from history to film making, has become a national model for engaging young people.

Making Parks Virtual – iPhone and Android screens have become our window to the world.  Bringing the Park to the visitor, creating unique experiences, is one way of engaging more people, without expanding the number of Park staff.

Recently, HFNHP launched “Time Trek” which uses smart phones and virtual reality to immerse young people in history.  They peer through their smart phone cameras with images from historical story lines overlaying their surroundings.

Google Street View now has technology for mapping trails and off-road environments.  “Guide by Cell” and applications like “Wikitude” and “Detour” enable nonlinear tourism.  Imagine virtually hiking the Appalachian Trail from your own home or having real time access to experts in a park you are visiting.

President Trump’s and Secretary Zinke’s leadership and vision can make Parks Great Again.

[Scot Faulkner is President of Friends of Harpers Ferry National Park and a former Trustee of the Journey Through Hallowed Ground. He helps private corporations and governments save billions of dollars by flattening organizations; achieving dramatic and sustainable cost reductions while improving operational and service excellence. He served as the Chief Administrative Officer of the U.S. House of Representatives.  He also served as Director of Personnel for Ronald Reagan’s Presidential Campaign and on Reagan’s Transition and White House Staff.] 

TRUMPING HEALTHCARE

The blamestorming has begun over the failure to repeal and replace Obamacare.

Congressional Republicans have only themselves to blame.  Since returning to majority in the House in January 2011, Republicans have formally voted 54 times to address all or part of Obamacare.  Six were votes on full appeal.

In 2015, H.R. 132 is typical of these efforts.  It simply stated: “such Act is repealed, and the provisions of law amended or repealed by such Act are restored or revived as if such Act had not been enacted.”  Why didn’t Republicans vote on this last week?

Republicans did not vote on simply going back in time, because they thought government should play a significant role in healthcare.  It should not. Crippling regulations need to be changed and the private sector needs to be encouraged.  Last week’s legislation did not clear the way for these solutions.

The Republicans’ problem is squandering six years with legislation designed more for fundraising and campaigning than governing.  Instead, they could have viewed their repeal & replace efforts as prototyping or beta-testing a new product or APP.  They could have tested ideas and built Republican consensus.  Not doing this led to disaster.

What next?

In 2013, I outlined a patient-centric versus politician-centric approach.  Maybe now it will be followed.

Those wanting an expanded governmental role in healthcare and those opposing it are fighting the wrong battle in the wrong way.

The debate over national healthcare policy has lasted over a century – intensifying during the Clinton Administration. It has always been about coverage, liability, and finance, never about care protocols and patients. http://kaiserfamilyfoundation.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/7871.pdf

If making health affordable is everyone’s stated goal then why not focus on the actual care, health, and wellness of Americans?

America remains the best place on Earth to have an acute illness or shock-trauma injury. Our nation’s emergency rooms and first responder protocols are unequaled. Princess Diana may have lived had her car accident happened in New York City instead of Paris. America’s diagnostic methods and equipment are unequaled. That is why patients from all over the globe seek answers to complex symptoms by visiting the Mayo Clinic, the Cleveland Clinic, Johns Hopkins, Sloan Kettering and countless other world class facilities.

The other side of American healthcare is its failings in chronic care, expense, and a system that is controlled by the medical profession, pharmaceutical companies, and insurance industry. This triad of entrenched interests has prevented the widespread use of substances and therapies deemed effective in most of the world.

Thankfully, an increasing number of healthcare professionals are embracing global best practices, virtual technology, and patient-centric methods. Some are even exploring homeopathic and nutritional treatments that are common place around the globe, but viewed as “nontraditional” in America. These innovations are improving the health of patients while driving down costs. This is the arena where policy-makers should check their partisanship at the door. Seeking ways to improve healthcare, not health financing, will ultimately make health affordable to us all.

I have personal experience with the convergence of these worlds. Since 2007, I have been the primary caregiver to several family members with serious chronic conditions. These conditions have been punctuated by emergency care and major surgeries. Making decisions and managing treatment across this spectrum has been a real education.

This education has helped me identify four major areas of opportunity for healthcare improvement. These four areas will improve our health and healthcare, while addressing the affordability of private and public health services.

First, not all ailments require doctors and prescription medications. Government and industry policies drive people away from cheaper and more effective natural remedies. Herbal remedies have been successfully used since the first humans. For example, Apple Cider Vinegar has completely solved acid reflex. Cayenne Pepper has improved heart function. However, natural substances are not covered as a medical expense either by insurance or tax deductions. Instead, acid reflex sufferers must pay for over-the-counter treatments (which are also not covered by insurance or tax deductions), or must obtain expensive prescriptions after paying to see a doctor or a specialist. Being a natural treatment, the vinegar regime also avoids side effects and drug interactions. http://www.healthcentral.com/diet-exercise/c/299905/155581/potential?ic=506048  Why not go “back to the future” and find ways to support these more affordable and effective treatments?

Second, nurse practitioners form one of the new front lines of care http://www.aanp.org/. The overwhelming majority of my family’s office visits are with a nurse practitioner interacting with the patient and the lab technicians. Occasionally, a doctor will review the information and discuss treatment options with the patient. Supporting the evolution to Nurse Practitioners through education, professional certification, protocol modifications, and pricing would bring down costs and expand health opportunities both for professionals and patients.

Third, community caregiving is another new frontline of achieving and sustaining wellness. In 2009-2011, I was part of the planning team for developing a community-based care system for the Atlanta area. We found a disturbing pattern - patients, especially Medicare/Medicaid patients, arrive in hospital emergency rooms when their chronic conditions, such as Diabetes, congestive heart failure, and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), become acute. These patients are treated at the most expensive point of care (emergency room). Once they are released, many do not have the support (family, friends, neighbors) or the capacity (some form of dementia) to follow a treatment regime that would prevent the next emergency room visit. These revolving door patients drive-up costs and end-up in a cycle of deterioration.

Our solution was to develop a community-based healthcare network. Such networks are known as “Accountable Care Organizations” (ACOs) http://innovation.cms.gov/initiatives/aco/.

They break-out of traditional hospital and doctor office environments to forge partnerships with the community – churches, social workers, local government, neighbor associations, and nonprofits. A needy patient with chronic conditions is assessed holistically. This includes risk factors (i.e. smoking, alcoholism, drugs) and environmental factors (family & home environment). A care plan is developed and assigned to a multi-faceted care team (comprising community resources) and a care manager. Doctors and nurses are part of the team. The majority of health actions take place among family and community - driven by Electronic Medical Records, aided by remote sensors and virtual care, and guided by the managed care team.

The result of this holistic approach is improved care, sustainable health, and reduced costs. It is the one way Medicare and Medicaid costs can be substantially reduced while enhancing quality of life. There are initiatives to promote this methodology within the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), but it is occurring too slow and is too isolated.

ACOs are making a difference, but no major politician has embraced the concept and neither party has promoted them as a way to reduce Entitlement costs.

Fourth, families have always been a pivotal component in healthcare. Whether it is a parent staying home to care for sick children, or adult children caring for ailing parents, family caregiving is vital, but also emotionally and financially draining.

Having been the care manager, Medical Power of Attorney, and patient advocate for both my parents and my wife, I know how much time is spent with ailing family members. Current IRS regulations provide for listing parents as dependents based only upon financial support. http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p501.pdf

However, there are no tax credits or deductions for those who have the Medical Power of Attorney and devote countless hours to direct care or acting as the patient’s advocate for managing their care. Politicians at both the state and federal levels should provide relief for this indispensable and growing volunteer service sector.  Supporting Family-based assistance will save billions in public assistance.

According to the National Alliance of Caregiving, 70 million Americans provide unpaid assistance and support to older people and adults with disabilities. Forty percent of these caregivers provide care for 2-5 years, while approximately 29 percent provide care for 5-10 years. Unpaid caregiving by family and friends has an estimated national economic value (in 2004) of $306 billion annually—exceeding combined costs for nursing home care ($103.2 billion) and home health care ($36.1 billion). This value is increasing as the population ages. http://www.caregiving.org/data/CaregivingUSAllAgesExecSum.pdf

These four areas of opportunity will not address every health issue or entirely diffuse the fiscal bombs strapped to medical entitlements, but they are a good nonpartisan start. It is time for politicians to focus on the wellbeing of patients, not themselves.

[Scot Faulkner was Chief Administrative Officer for the U.S. House of Representatives. He served on the ACO team for the Southeast Atlanta Health Care System [SAHCS], as an advisor to Kinexum, a medical research consortium, and as an advisor on professional standards and ethics to the American College of Dentists. He has been the Medical Power of Attorney and primary caregiver for his spouse and parents since 2007. http://citizenoversight.blogspot.com/ ]

HILLTOP BOOGEYMAN

By Scot Faulkner

Published at http://www.journal-news.net/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/2017/03/harpers-ferrys-hilltop-boogeyman/

There are many scary issues surrounding the long running battle over the future of the Hilltop House property.  The collapsing Hilltop House structure is a favorite spooky site on Youtube.  Neighbors worry about the 81 police incidents that have made the Hilltop House the center for drugs, vandalism, and worse.

The latest scare is “by right”.  Spokespeople for SWaN Investors, the Hilltop owners, have used their ominous voice to threaten that terrible things will happen if they do not get their way.  Their current boogeyman of choice is that SWaN will build a new hotel on a 1.25 acre commercial site “by right”.

“By right” sounds scary, but it is just the legal term for “grandfathered”, a right granted to any property owner.  “Grandfathered” does not sound as scary, which is why SWaN avoids it.  The better to spook Harpers Ferry’s elected officials and townspeople.

In 2015, a major fire destroyed three commercial buildings in the lower town of Harpers Ferry.  These buildings are slowly being rebuilt “by right”.  It is totally legal to build “like for like” when something needs replacing. 

Harpers Ferry is a National Historic District, administered by the Department of Interior and the President’s Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.  In order to comply with these national organizations, the town has very strict and detailed ordinances governing what can be built or rebuilt.  Architectural style and building materials must be approved to preserve the integrity of the Historic District.  The three buildings destroyed by fire are being rebuilt within these guidelines, even though they are “grandfathered” in terms of commercial use and their overall dimensions.

The Hilltop House owners can proceed, right now, with a “by right” or “grandfathered” hotel on their one and a quarter commercially zoned acres.  SWaN tries to make this sound terrible.  They are proposing an alternative that will develop an area nearly seven times larger, turning private residential lots into commercial space, and taking over three public streets.

SWaN’s “overlay district” is the real boogeyman.  Their “overlay” creates an area devoid of all ordinances and restrictions, which govern the town’s Historic District. 

Once approved by the Harpers Ferry Town Council, this seven times larger “overlay district” will become the new “by right” area where SWaN can tear down historic structures, clear cut trees, blast, jack hammer, take over public land, alter streets, and bulldoze with impunity. 

SWaN’s “overlay district” will allow them to build whatever they want in any style, shape, and size they want.  SWaN and its Town Council allies are already pushing for expedited permit approvals, some of which would be issued administratively without public notice or comment.

It is very scary in Harpers Ferry.  People shouldn’t worry about the ghosts of old, but fear the demons being created.

[Scot Faulkner has been an active member of the Harpers Ferry community since 1987]

TRUMPING STATE

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/trumping-state-scot-faulkner

Also published on Newsmax.    #TRUMPING

President Trump’s budgetary assault on the Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is long overdue.  He is forcing a rethinking that will benefit America and the world.

The State Department is one of the most bloated of federal bureaucracies.  Front line consular officers, many just starting their careers at State, actually help Americans abroad. However, there are also countless “Hallway Ambassadors” who aimlessly roam from irrelevant meeting to obscure policy forum killing time and our tax dollars.

Legions of these taxpayer funded drones fill the State Department.  Some are reemployed retirees who travel to overseas missions conducting “inspections” to justify their additional salaries. 

The American Foreign Service Association (AFSA) is to the State Department what the Teacher Unions are to public education.  It exists to protect tenure and to prevent any accountability or reduction among the State Department drones.

The Bureau of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance (AVC) is a uniquely harmful part of State.  This Bureau’s main mission has been to create photo ops of treaty signings.  The arms control treaties have usually been unenforceable with sworn enemies of America.  The Bureau’s agreements with the Soviet Union undermined U.S. security.  The Bureau’s bureaucrats developed elaborate procedures for justifying the minimizing or overlooking of blatant treaty violations.  They are using this same play book for the Iranian Nuclear deal.

Headquarters waste and dysfunction are just the beginning of State Department ineffectiveness.  In the mid-1980’s, I viewed State Department field operations personally while serving as Director of the U.S. Peace Corps in Malawi.

The most egregious problem was the un-American culture that permeates career Foreign Service Officers.  Except for toasting America at the July 4^th Embassy party each year, being pro-American is viewed as unprofessional. Long serving Americans would advise me that rising above nationalism and acting “world wise” was the mark of a seasoned diplomat. 

Not only did these U.S. foreign bureaucrats avoid Americanism, they avoided the host country.  The Embassy team members spent their business and recreational time with diplomats from the other Embassies and with European expatriates living in Lilongwe, the capital city.  Their only sojourns outside the capital were to Salima, the lakeside resort, or to the Ambassador’s vacation home on the Zomba Plateau.

As Country Director, I eliminated the chauffeur-driven luxury car used by my predecessor and reallocated the chauffeur to other duties.  At the wheel of a Nissan Patrol, I spent the majority of my time in the field with my seventy-five volunteers.  This meant absorbing in depth knowledge of Malawi and its people.

State Department versus reality was proven many times over.  The most blatant was the 1985 fuel shortage.  Malawi was land-locked.  The Mozambique Civil War closed off its closest ports.  A problematic network of rail lines brought goods, including gasoline, to Malawi via South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Zambia.  My volunteers told me a Zimbabwean labor dispute was going to cause a five week disruption of fuel to Malawi.  I dutifully reported this to the Embassy Team.  They scoffed, assuring me that their British friend running Mobil-Malawi was telling them no disruption would occur.  I directed my staff to begin stockpiling gasoline.

The disruption occurred.  The Embassy team kept dismissing my reports and telling themselves the disruption would be short-lived.  By week four, the Embassy motor pool was without fuel.  Staff was delivering messages via bicycle.  By week five, the Ambassador asked to purchase fuel from the Peace Corps, which had remained fully operational.

The Embassy was blind-sided on an even more important issue.  Air Malawi announced it was going to purchase a new fleet of passenger jets along with a comprehensive parts and maintenance agreement.  At this point the State Department replaced the Embassy’s Commercial Attaché with a Hispanic who could barely speak English.  Instead of sending this person to Spanish-speaking Equatorial Guinea, they posted him to the most Anglophile country in Africa.  He was miserable and totally ineffective.

Alternatively, the German Ambassador moved about Malawi’s 28 regions, equaling my zeal for the field.  When Boeing’s sales team arrived they were given a proper, but cool reception.  The Fokker team arrived to a hero’s welcome and the multi-million dollar deal was signed shortly thereafter.  American business lost a huge contract.

USAID has spent over $1 trillion on overseas projects since its founding in 1961.  Empty buildings and rusting tractors are silent testaments to its failures.  What funds were not diverted to corrupt government officials went for unsustainable efforts, driven more by academic theories than practicality.

State Department and USAID need a fundamental review and a day of reckoning. This is fertile territory for President Trump and Secretary Tillerson to implant business principles and common sense.