<img style="margin:5px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1f/Aerial_view_of_the_Capitol_Hill.jpg/250px-Aerial_view_of_the_Capitol_Hill.jpg" alt="" width="296" height="198" align="right" />Watching the Massachusetts Senatorial election results yesterday, started me thinking back to the Presidential campaign of not so long ago... 

back in the days when BOTH candidates campaigned on themes of CHANGE. 

If we look back on <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/01/17/us/politics/AP-US-Obamas-Year-Timeline.html" target="_blank">President Obama's first year in office</a>, few would argue that it has been a Year of Change.  But most would agree, that in one way or another, it was also a year fraught with disagreements across many sectors.  The election of Scott Brown on January 19, 2010 to the Senate seat long held by Senator Ted Kennedy underscores that. 

<strong>A Beltway Scramble</strong>

Beltway Warriors on both sides of the aisle are now scrambling to develop new strategies on key issues, especially the highly publicized Health Care legislation that is so lengthy, so complicated, and so contentious that if you asked anyone - anywhere  if they agreed with ALL of it,  you would be hard pressed to to find anyone who could answer with a resounding YES!  It's so full of <a href="http://jkw.typepad.com/corepurpose_joan_koerberw/2010/01/promise-and-compromise.html" target="_blank">Promise and Compromise</a> that what started out to be a race horse now looks like a camel.  Some fear it may never even make it to the finish line when most would agree that change is needed.  Others fear it might.

<strong>It's time for Innovation in Washington D.C. not Change.</strong>

Innovation to me has a simple definition.  INNOVATION IS DOING SOMETHING IN A NEW WAY TO MAKE LIFE BETTER FOR THE PEOPLE THAT MATTER. 

So here's my suggestion for a true innovation.  Let's shift from change we can believe in to Change we can AGREE ON and get it done NOW.

<a href="http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/st_healthcareproposals_20090912.html" target="_blank">This listing</a> from the Wall Street Journal takes a look at the House and Senate Healthcare Proposals side by side.  In it there are some things that most of us can agree on like
<ul>
	<li>removing the ability for the insurance industry to place restrictions on pre-exiting conditions</li>
	<li>restricting insurance companies from dropping coverage when people actually get sick</li>
	<li>extending the time period that young adults can be covered under their parents insurance policies</li>
	<li>making healthcare accessible and affordable for a broader section of the population through incentives or subsidies. </li>
</ul>
<strong>A REAL change could be HOW we get it done.</strong>

Now is the time when the House and Senate are tasked with bringing the two proposals together in a final form.  This is an opportunity to do something in a NEW WAY.  Instead of more horse trading, side deals, and compromises, SIMPLIFY THE PROCESS. 

Pull out each of the key items/issues one piece at a time, prioritize them based on the degree of agreement, and put them to a vote as a stand alone issue. 

Talk about transparency.  No more thousand page documents with hidden deals.  It's all there nice and clear.  You agree or disagree then vote to decide, send  it over to the appropriate agency to implement if it passes, and move on to the next item.

This would be change the American people could believe in and a change that we could  agree on.  Who knows - we might just make life better for the people - remember us. 

<strong>Thanks for stopping by.  Stay Tuned.</strong>
<blockquote>Joan Koerber-Walker</blockquote>
[Joan Koerber-Walker is a wife, a mother, a small business person, and a voter who lives in Phoenix, Arizona.  Her journey includes executive roles in corporate America, as an entrepreneur, as a community volunteer, and as a non-profit leader.]
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