Day: October 24, 2006
Short version: Kinky Friedman wants childless adults to pay the most while getting fewer benefits. A friend of ours from a couple of LJ communities sent Mr. Friedman a less than polite email regarding this policy. The response from his staffer? “Fuck off.”
“The first thing we need to do is put the humanity back in healthcare,” Friedman said in a statement.
Following is our response, as posted by the husband, with my input and complete concurrence:
I wrote up that e-mail I promised. It was sent to various addresses at his domain, and it was also sent to most of the places he will be interviewing tomorrow. I wanted them on the CC list, but it was all webforms, dammit.
Feel free to post this elsewhere.
Mr Friedman,
A friend of mine recently wrote to you with their concerns on your health care proposal. Now, this e-mail was not worded particularly politely, nor was it from a resident of Texas. A proper response would've addressed how your proposal was fair to those without children, or how it did not violate the Equal Protection clause of the Constitution, or how it did not violate the various Federal laws prohibiting discrimination based on familial status, all of which have been concerns of mine and would be addressed in any sane governmental policy. Or, considering the lack of standing of the author in the Texas elections, the e-mail would've been completely ignored. Sad to say, neither of these possibilities was what happened. Curse my expectation of simple civility and decorum, but the response was short and simple, consisting of two words – “fuck off”. Those two words, that have, at a minimum, cost you the votes of me and my wife.
We are childless, and we vote. We are sick and tired of being a piggy bank, abused with out so much as a heartfelt “thank you”. Enough is enough. I was willing to overlook my misgivings on your proposal since I am so much in alignment with other portions of your platform. Well, those two words so simply tossed out by your staff have brought those misgivings to the forefront, and have swung our vote away from you. In case you doubt our original willingness to vote for you, please feel free to check the signatures gathered at the <petition signing location> You will find both my name, and my wife's name there. What we so proudly signed at the time is now something we regret.
Please think over any hasty responses, as this missive, and all replies will be publicly posted on the internet. Welcome to the information age.
<our names>
Austin, Texas