Call Hatch Mr. Moneybags - ACTION ALERT >>>> (we raised money for Helen)

[helderheid]

http://www.sltrib.com/utahpolitics/ci_3721810

WASHINGTON - Sen. Orrin Hatch continues to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars in his bid for a sixth term in the U.S. Senate, bringing in about as much in the first three months of this year as all the contenders combined for the other congressional seats.

Hatch raised $455,507 and spent about $306,000 in the first quarter, leaving him with a war chest of about $2.28 million, according to campaign reports filed over the weekend.

Democrat Pete Ashdown, who is vying to oust the Republican Hatch from his seat of nearly 30 years, raised a pittance compared with Hatch's big numbers, bringing in $21,387 this past quarter and spending $4,500, according to his filing. That leaves Ashdown with nearly $19,000 cash on hand.

"I knew from the start that Hatch was going to be way ahead of me as far as money he's raised," Ashdown said Monday when asked about his campaign chest. "Hatch's campaign probably spends that much (the $19,000 Ashdown has) in a week."

Please DU, help Pete Ashdown out - Check out his issues (he is a true progressive) here:
http://vote.peteashdown.org/issues

and then PLEASE DONATE to Pete!

https://pashdown.org/contribute

Website:

www.peteashdown.org

[helderheid]

1. kick for Pete - KICK HATCH OUT.

[FormerRepublican]

2. I can vouch for Hatch being the lowest of the low.

I'm STILL angry at him for having an aide in his office who said she'd press the button to execute me because I'm disabled.

We don't need that kind of creep in public office.

[helderheid]

3. HOLY CRAP - she SAID THAT TO YOU??

[FormerRepublican]

5. Yup. Nice guy we have in office, eh?

Hatch has turned my stomach ever since.

[helderheid]

7. That makes me furious. Please recommend this thread - let's get DU on this

Thanks!!

[Norquist Nemesis]

4. That's despicable. She should be fired for a comment like that!

It also shows the type of people Hatch surrounds himself with. :grr:

[FormerRepublican]

6. That was my take on it, too.

If these are the aides he has working for him, I have no doubt it reflects his own political views.

[helderheid]

9. By the way, I LOVE your sig line!

[FormerRepublican]

12. Thanks.

I added it after the last despicable thing Hatch did - defending Bush's right to violate the Constitution at will, and suggesting the Constitution was broken because it didn't say Bush could do whatever he wanted willy nilly. I caught that in the illegal wiretap hearings. I was so revolted that I made a contribution to Ashdown and emailed a copy of the receipt to Hatch. Lordy, that man makes me ill with his stupidly blind support of Der Fuehrer.

[helderheid]

13. oh hey now THAT is a good idea! Send the receipts to Hatch! LOVE it!

[helderheid]

11. She absolutely should be fired.

:mad:

[EFerrari]

8. Kick

[helderheid]

10. Thanks my friend!

:hug: :hi:

[EFerrari]

14. My pleasure.

:hi:

[helderheid]

15. If you don't like Hatch, you have a dog in this fight.

[helderheid]

16. Election Reform

Election systems open to inspection, from the hardware to the software, are essential to preserving our faith in democracy. An audit trail, from beginning to end, is also important so voters are assured that their intent is recorded properly and so any recounts are efficient. I question the march to electronic systems at the expense of accuracy and accountability. There are open-source solutions available at all these points; however, they are continually ignored by the government bid process. I will advocate for these systems if electronic voting is required.

The Presidential electoral college system is flawed on many levels. First, it is an antique from a bygone era when land-based communication was all we had. Second, it disproportionately concentrates power and campaign focus on a few "swing states;" this focus usually translates into pork politics. Third, it disillusions political minorities from the electoral process. All Americans elect the president, and all Americans should be empowered to cast their vote in a popular election.

While I favor instant-runoff voting, I believe that voting should be as simple as possible. Unless it has been demonstrated to be workable in national elections, I do not think it should be used in a Presidential election.

Campaign finance is an issue that I am intimate with through this campaign. It is arduous for non-incumbents and heavily advantagous for incumbents. I support public financing in the same model as what has been done in Arizona. Anyone should be encouraged to run for any office; right now, however, finance is an enormous wall that stops most people from considering candidacy.


http://vote.peteashdown.org/issues/election-reform.html

[helderheid]

17. health care

Health Care

As a small business owner for the past thirteen years, I am intimate with the cost of healthcare for my employees. Premiums have risen drastically and benefits have dropped. If my business had a million-dollar bankroll, I would most likely abandon health care insurance altogether and pay costs out of pocket. Most small businesses do not have this luxury and are barely able to get by as it is with existing health care plans. Health care has grown from a deep problem for American citizens to an acute economic problem.

Government programs for health care aren't lacking in quantity: Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, the VA, CHAMPUS, FEHB, are among the dozens of programs administered by the government to give benefits to a variety of groups. Replacing these groups with a single entity devoted towards complete health care insurance for all Americans would be an ideal that I would work towards.

Health care costs are skyrocketing because the current system inflates demand for the most expensive approaches to care. New drugs and new techniques are often marginally better than those they replace, but cost ten times as much. We can correct this from both directions. We can reduce demand for the most expensive drugs by regulating prescription drug advertising to ensure it's targeted to the doctors who prescribe the drugs instead of uninformed patients. We can improve the supply of more cost-effective treatments by targeting research grants toward development of more efficient technologies that help large numbers of patients at a reasonable price, instead of complicated heroic procedures that help researchers' academic prestige more than they help real patients.

A 1994 RAND study found that drug treatment is far more effective than any other form of drug enforcement. Including drug treatment as part of a health care system for all Americans could greatly reduce the amount of tax funds required for enforcement.

Private insurance advocates are against this plan, but for the duration of their existence they have failed to close the gap on the uninsured. Medical professionals overwhelmingly have decried the profit motive in our health care system to me. If the private cost of health care is considered as a tax like the rest of the industrialized world views it, Americans are the most taxed individuals on earth. It is time our country works together on health care for the benefit of all, rather than continuing the betting game on an individual's health.

Healthcare itself needs optimization with patient records and transfers. Billing records that show a $60 box of alcohol-wipes shows the lack of "free market" competitiveness inherent in healthcare. All too often the primary motive is not the health of the patient, but the profit of the hospital. Whether or not sound alternatives exist is something that needs further investigation.

General Motors on Health Care
Convicted Crack Dealer, 74, Avoids Prison - "Man Says He Sold Drugs To Pay Wife's Medical Bills"
Utah Health Alliance
Former Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber on Health Care

http://vote.peteashdown.org/issues/health-care.html

[helderheid]

18. Nuclear Testing

Nuclear Testing

I am firmly against reopening the Nevada test range. It is unnecessary and it exposes Americans to dangerous and lethal radiation. An estimated 80,000 Americans have suffered from the effects of past nuclear testing, of those an estimated 15,000 died. Underground testing offers no guarantees of public safety, and is certainly not safer than no testing at all.

I am against renewed nuclear testing

IEER Report on Effects of Nuclear Testing
1970 Underground Baneberry Test Accidental Venting

http://vote.peteashdown.org/issues/nuke-testing.html

[helderheid]

19. kick - kick -kick

[EFerrari]

20. Too bad we don't burn calories doing this. lol

:kick:

[helderheid]

21. I literally laughed out loud!!

:rofl:

[EFerrari]

22. Hey, pm me an email addy. There's an audio file I'd like to

send you. I'd post it here but it's too big. I'll Pando it to you.

:hi:

[helderheid]

23. you got it! Expect a PM next... :)

[helderheid]

24. kick - kick -kick