Congressman-Elect, Andy Harris, Anesthesiologist
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This is where decisions are made. We can grumble all we want on here, but Dr. Andy Harris will help us have a voice on the hill.
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Best $500 contribution I've made in a long time.
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First time I've given money to a guy who actually won ...
what does his presence mean for the future of the profession? Is one voice in Washington out of 435 in the house significant enough to truly affect anesthesia/crna legislation?
And also...how has crna/md issues been resolved in the past. Like was the CRNA-opt out clause a bill in and of itself, or are CRNA issues typically passed through laws scattered inside the texts of wider health-care bills?
And Congrats, guys! This was actually a great year for physicians (45 ran for the house/senate, with 41 of them being Republicans). Based on results it is shaping up to be the most physicians in congress to date. In fact, I think most, if not, all of the 41 republican docs campaigned on repeal/defunding of obamacare.
And also...how has crna/md issues been resolved in the past. Like was the CRNA-opt out clause a bill in and of itself, or are CRNA issues typically passed through laws scattered inside the texts of wider health-care bills?
And Congrats, guys! This was actually a great year for physicians (45 ran for the house/senate, with 41 of them being Republicans). Based on results it is shaping up to be the most physicians in congress to date. In fact, I think most, if not, all of the 41 republican docs campaigned on repeal/defunding of obamacare.
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I think that organized medicine needs to target and fund physicians to become lawmakers. A medical degree can lead to clinical practice or to the halls of power.
I think that organized medicine needs to target and fund physicians to become lawmakers. A medical degree can lead to clinical practice or to the halls of power.
I might be 3 for 3 tonight on donations...
Rand Paul -- Ophthalmologist -- Senator elect (KY)
Andy Harris -- Anesthesiologist -- Rep elect (MD)
Paul Gosar -- Dentist (who pushed the ADA to fight against the creation of dental midlevels who sought to provide dental care to rural parts of the country [sound familiar, eh?]) -- Possible Rep elect (AZ)
Rand Paul -- Ophthalmologist -- Senator elect (KY)
Andy Harris -- Anesthesiologist -- Rep elect (MD)
Paul Gosar -- Dentist (who pushed the ADA to fight against the creation of dental midlevels who sought to provide dental care to rural parts of the country [sound familiar, eh?]) -- Possible Rep elect (AZ)
The Alaska Senate election is interesting too.
Looks like the Republican candidate endorsed by by Sarah Palin and the Tea Party lost to a write-in candidate (another Republican who lost the primary).
41% write-in (Murkowski, R)
34% Miller (R)
24% McAdams (D)
Apparently a write-in candidate hasn't won since 1954.
Maybe even Alaskans are finally tired of Sarah Palin.
Looks like the Republican candidate endorsed by by Sarah Palin and the Tea Party lost to a write-in candidate (another Republican who lost the primary).
41% write-in (Murkowski, R)
34% Miller (R)
24% McAdams (D)
Apparently a write-in candidate hasn't won since 1954.
Maybe even Alaskans are finally tired of Sarah Palin.
Interesting, but not as surprising as one might think. Sen. Lisa Murkowski is the incumbent and comes from a stronger lineage of Alaska Politics. Her loss to Miller in the primary was a bit of a fluke (IMHO) and reflected strong activity and turnout by the Tea Party faction of Alaska's Republican Party, along with typical primary apathy by the Republican base. What we saw last night was both traditionally Democrat supporters crossing party lines as well as a representation of the broader Republican Party bringing her back on the ship. For example, Hon. Don Young (R) was at Sen. Murkowski's rally, not Miller's.
A loss by Murkowski would be another big hit to Alaska who is already reeling from the recent loss of seniority due to the hatchet job performed on Sen. Stevens. Alaskans may talk big about independence from the federal government, but we know who's teat we suck on and what it takes to keep the milk flowing. I know several historically Democrat friends who planned to vote for Sen. Murkowski.
- pod
Interesting, I didn't know anything about that race except the 3 lines of indepth CNN web reporting I read after seeing "write-in" in the lead.
Heh, Yeah, I love the breathless soundbites we get on CNN too.
A little more background.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski was appointed to the seat vacated by her father, Sen/Gov Frank Murkowski, in 2002 when he was elected Governor of Alaska 3 years into his fourth term as Alaska's junior senator. Although a successful senator, his career as a governor was a disaster and he was voted out of office in 2006 after a single term. He concluded his tenure with an approval rating of 14%, one of the lowest approval ratings ever, lower even than Ohio Governor Bob Taft who was under indictment at the time. This led the infamous Alaska radio announcer Bob Lester to state, "with all due respect, sir, The greatest thing you ever did for this state was appoint your daughter to this senate seat," at Sen. Lisa Murkowski's election night rally in 2010. Gov. Frank Murkowski was succeeded by a little known mayor from Wasilla, Sarah Palin.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski was subsequently elected to the seat in 2004 in a narrow victory over prior Alaska Gov Tony Knowles (D). She was assisted in this effort by Sen. Ted Stevens who shot some ads for her campaign.
So this seat has been held by a Murkowski for over 28 years at this point.
- pod
A little more background.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski was appointed to the seat vacated by her father, Sen/Gov Frank Murkowski, in 2002 when he was elected Governor of Alaska 3 years into his fourth term as Alaska's junior senator. Although a successful senator, his career as a governor was a disaster and he was voted out of office in 2006 after a single term. He concluded his tenure with an approval rating of 14%, one of the lowest approval ratings ever, lower even than Ohio Governor Bob Taft who was under indictment at the time. This led the infamous Alaska radio announcer Bob Lester to state, "with all due respect, sir, The greatest thing you ever did for this state was appoint your daughter to this senate seat," at Sen. Lisa Murkowski's election night rally in 2010. Gov. Frank Murkowski was succeeded by a little known mayor from Wasilla, Sarah Palin.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski was subsequently elected to the seat in 2004 in a narrow victory over prior Alaska Gov Tony Knowles (D). She was assisted in this effort by Sen. Ted Stevens who shot some ads for her campaign.
So this seat has been held by a Murkowski for over 28 years at this point.
- pod
His role would be to educate the 435 members congress. So yes, one voice does matter, especially once it is multiplied. Better patient safety will hopefully be on its way.👍
Oh, it absolutely will turn more and more like that. As medicine continues to be a big political issue, you will see more and more people from the profession start to wield influence on Capitol Hill. I'm predicting it to be a big political trend in the next 5-10 years.
Joe Heck D.O. is an emergency medicine physician that won a House of Representatives seat for the Nevada 3rd district. The more physicians we have in Washington the better. 👍
https://joeheck.worldsecuresystems.com/bio
https://joeheck.worldsecuresystems.com/bio
👍 👍...also have Larry Buchson elected from Indiana, a heart surgeon. Rand Paul and Nan Hayworth, both opthamologists. There were 45 doctors running with 40+ republicans, so while I don't know how many won off the top of my head, it is possible that a substantial physician population will be entering D.C. come January. Which could really help with pushing for defunding/repeal of ObamaCare and coming up with better alternatives.
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gov-elect in alabama is a derm
Louisiana has 5 MD congressmen
Oklahoma has Senator Tom Coburn (Family Med) and Governor-elect Mary Fallin (who has a stepson that's an intern in our anesthesia program)
That's great news.
Sen. Coburn is FM, and Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY), the junior senator from that state, is an orthopod. With 2% of the US Senate being physicians, and the newer getting there in 2007, they don't seem to have been vocal at all pertaining to physician interests. (Currently, there is only 1 astronaut - Bill Nelson from Florida - I mention this because I always wonder which is the more exclusive fraternity/sorority - the US Senate, or becoming an astronaut. Jack Schmitt - last man on the moon, John Glenn, and Bill Nelson all did it before the Senate, whereas Jake Garn was a Senator when he went up.)
(On a separate tack, I know people that know people in Wyoming - everyone there knows their Senators and Representative; Dick Cheney is NOT loved in WY - almost uniformly, he is thought of as a complete *******, but one who gets results. There is reliable intel about Sen. Barrasso that I can share with interested parties. It's not strategic, but lurid.)
I thought Coburn was OB. Maybe he was FM but just did mostly OB.
My billing company sent a comprehensive list of physicians in The House and Senate for the upcoming session.
So that is 23 members (although it is more like 22 since Del. Donna M.C. Christensen, MD (D, Virgin Islands), family physician only has voting rights in the committees that she serves on (Energy and Commerce and Natural Resources) and not on the floor.
Looks like we need to get some more physician senators in there. Are there any nominations from the floor?
-pod
So that is 23 members (although it is more like 22 since Del. Donna M.C. Christensen, MD (D, Virgin Islands), family physician only has voting rights in the committees that she serves on (Energy and Commerce and Natural Resources) and not on the floor.
Looks like we need to get some more physician senators in there. Are there any nominations from the floor?
-pod
