Dock the Pay of Obese Politicians

By Rick Pearcey

"Companies seeking to cut rising health care costs are starting to dock the pay of overweight and unhealthy workers," reports the Washington Times.

Among these companies is "Clarian Health, an Indiana hospital chain, [which] will require workers who smoke to pay $5 out of each paycheck starting in 2009. For workers deemed obese, as much as $30 will be taken out each paycheck until they meet certain weight, cholesterol and blood pressure standards."

Should companies impose their business policies on the private lives of workers? I have my doubts. Americans suffer already from too much corporatism.

However, there may be a lesson here for the federal government, which is immensely overweight and unhealthy, due largely to acts of unconstitutional gluttony performed on the pocketbooks and freedoms of American citizens.

What to do? Try docking the pay of politicians and cutting the budgets of programs -- and even programs themselves -- until political health is achieved, as measured by the scales of constitutional standards.

Some on Capitol Hill may scoff, you say.

We can fix that, too. Fatcat scoffers of constitutional government should be sentenced to unending appearances and gnashing of teeth on NBC's "The Biggest Loser."

Finally, a program they disapprove of.

"Firms Dock Pay of Obese, Smokers," by reporter Gregory Lopes, appears here.

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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (archives).