Many of you may not know Rep. Doc Hastings (R-WA), even though he's been in the House of Representatives since 1992. That's because, in seventeen years in the House, the most prestigious thing he has done is sit as Chair of the House Ethics Committee in one of the most corrupt sessions of Congress in US history. Republicans were in control at that time, of course.
Other than that, Doc has been the perfect model of a rubber stamp. Did Bush approve of it? Vote yes. Do Democrats approve of it? Vote no. Vote for the TARP bailout but against the stimulus, then decry "socialism" while accepting $2 billion per year in Hanford cleanup money.
I don't much like, Doc, (whom by the way, is no doctor of anything. He does have a high school diploma, though) as you can probably tell, and I'm a little bitter at having been misrepresented for nearly two decades. So I wanted to point out his latest episode of schmuckdom, a horrible push poll on his own website, and I wanted to ask for your help.
So Doc is predictably against any health care reform. In an editorial today in the Yakima Herald-Republic, he wrote that he wanted Congress to slow down on health care reform, calling the House plan:
...a massive government takeover of health care that would increase taxes, eliminate choices, cut Medicare, force Americans out of their current plans, put federal bureaucrats between you and your doctor, place billion dollar mandates on small businesses and increase costs.
Besides being a load of bellicose BS and a predictable mirror copy of Republican lying points, he also claims we should of course limit lawsuit liability in medical malpractice cases because, after all, those lawyers usually support Democrats, then he says we can reform health care if we "focus on putting patients first and lowering costs." Brilliant. He's always been wonderful with a slogan, folks. In fact, in opposition to dam removal on the lower Snake River, he had people at his rallies yelling "Science, not slogans!" which is, of course... a slogan. No mention anywhere in his editorial that drug and insurance companies get away with everything from highway robbery to murder. Not surprising when you consider that the health professionals and insurance companies are #3 and #7 on his top donor list for the 2008 cycle.
So if you go to his website, (hold your nose and wear a mask first) you'll notice a push poll that asks the question:
Do you support health care reform if it means you might be forced out of a plan that lets you see your current doctor?
This tells you how concerned he is with measuring actual constituent support for reform. Kind of like asking, "Do you support health care reform if it means you won't have any friends, and your dog will die?"
So let's take his push poll and push it right off his website by voting "Yes" en masse. As soon as it crosses the 50% yes line, I bet they'll take it right off the website. There's only about 800 votes total, so with some Kossack help, it should be easy to do. So please, go to this bonehead's website and vote yes in droves.
Besides, it'll save me a visit to my therapist.
Update 1 The yes vote is up to 26%, up 6% so far - keep it up! 350 more yes votes and we're there! Tell your friends! (and thanks)
Update 2: as of 3:20 PM PST we are now at 30%! Keep going! This is great!
Update 3: 39% as of 4:57 PM PST - only 182 more yes votes! Spread the word...
Update 4: 43%! I love the smell of victory in the morning! Only 127 more yes votes
Update 5: VICTORY!!!! Rum and cokes all around...