I'm in Oregon's 4th Congressional District. My Congressman is Peter DeFazio. I think he's great: sensible, independent, and works extremely hard for all his constituents--including the many very conservative constituents here in southern Oregon.
Peter DeFazio is being challenged by Art Robinson. Art Robinson is notorious for the Oregon Petition, a sham "survey" that Art is touting as disproving anthropogenic global warming.
Peter DeFazio's campaign has up a new website, exposing some of the whackaloon written and oral declarations by Art Robinson: Public schools should be abolished, radioactive nuclear waste should be sprinkled over America and/or put into our homes, and all taxes and regulations of the oil and coal industry should be abolished.
It gets crazier. More after the fold.
Update: I've been rescued by a Rescue Ranger! Thanks! More importantly, Peter DeFazio held his first debate with Art Robinson two nights ago. Peter DeFazio kicked some major 'bag, but it's unclear any of Robinson's supporters were swayed. If Robinson says, “They want to turn us into a socialist state where the government controls everything we do,” well then, it must be so. Art can read minds; Peter can read facts. Too bad for us, unless we get to work, further exposing Art Robinson for the nut he is! Please visit WhoIsArtRobinson.com, and put a link to it in every blog/posting, whatever you can, so that this nut-job will be exposed. Thanks!
And thanks for taking the poll. Most of you think nuclear waste is just YUMMY!
On this, you agree with Art Robinson.
Joe
"Every tax, regulation, law or other impediment that currently inhibits any energy-producing industry should immediately be abolished and no new such tax, law, or regulation should be created until the total flow of useful energy across the borders of the United States is strongly outward...Simultaneously, and for the same period of time, all local, state, and federal taxes should be waived for all persons employed in the energy industries, and these industries should operate with no government oversight whatsoever."
Art Robinson, Access to Energy, Nov. 2006
Got that? No taxes, no regulation, sell half our energy to foreigners while we pollute America and raid our own resources.
Art Robinson is an expert on nuclear waste disposal, too: You need radioactive nuclear waste in your floors, walls, insulation, and you need it raining down out of the sky like a blessing.
"While ocean dispersal would have long ago turned the radioactive waste disposal issue into a non-problem had pseudo environmentalism not intervened, the best place for that waste is in the concrete foundations and insulation of homes and buildings. Suitably diluted, radioactive substances in our homes would provide a hermetic radiation dose and significantly prolong our lives."
Art Robinson’s Access to Energy newsletter, September 2003.
Here is an earlier (1997) quote:
All we need do with nuclear waste is dilute it to a low radiation level and sprinkle it over the ocean – or even over America after hormesis is better understood and verified with respect to more diseases.
Art Robinson’s Access to Energy newsletter, April 1997.
Meet Art Robinson:
He was born in 1942. His father was killed in the crash of Air India 101 (Art apparently used to say it was probably a CIA plot, but hasn't said that publicly for a while), and his mother committed suicide.
Art got his PhD at CalTech and published a few papers of decent quality in peer-reviewed journals (though not many at all for someone who insists on the title of "Professor" and "Doctor"), and did work with Linus Pauling. He and Pauling fell out, he sued Pauling, and settled for a gob of money.
He and his wife started the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine, which currently has six "faculty" and no student body, but gets millions in donations. His wife, Laurelee, died, leaving Art with six young children, who were all home-schooled; in the process of home schooling, the Robinson's developed a home-school curriculum that they sold; it included the King James Bible, the 1910 Encyclopedia Britannica, a similar vintage Webster's, and other public-domain works. Art's kids appear to be major successes, at least academically. Kudos to him.
Art's politics are ultra-conservative. He is getting major support from outside of Oregon, and he boasted recently about meeting some big money out East: I suspect it is Koch money, because of Art's belief that we should not tax the Koch brothers or their ilk.
Art wants to abolish public education (including colleges):
“All tax-financed schools should be abolished.”
“If all tax-financed schools in America closed tomorrow, and no other governmental action whatever were taken, within six months every child in America would have access to better educational opportunities provided by the free market--and every child who could not afford these opportunities would be educated without cost.”
Got that?"(E)very child who could not afford these opportunities would be educated without cost.”
Art believes in free lunch.
I'm gonna vote for Art Robinson and get a free lunch and a free pony! And free nuclear waste! And some love from the Koch brothers!
You, on the other hand, may wish to support Peter DeFazio on ActBlue
For fun, you should go to WhoisArtRobinson.com and browse. And barf.