1.
Doc Hastings' main accomplishment has been in pork barrel funding for Hanford
projects. While this Government funding keeps the Tri-Cities economy afloat, it
does little to transition the economy away from Hanford reliance. This pork
barrel funding goes primarily to the Prime Contractors who don't try very hard
to subcontract to local small businesses as mandated by their own DOE negotiated
quotas. Don't believe me, speak to other small business owners in the area who
have tried to get subcontracts from these Primes.
2.
While Doc Hastings claims to understand the needs of small business, he
has done little himself to economically diversify the local economy. He
has not ensured the Government funding he brings in is properly
subcontracts by the Primes, yet he has no trouble hooting about his great
accomplishments that only benefit big business. He has left the tasks of
economic diversification in the hands of
TRIDEC, their latest accomplishment, high
turn-over minimum wage jobs from the Amazon call center. Instead of
supporting small business, he has supported BIG business who donate in
great quantities to his campaign.
3. Doc Hastings' focus on Hanford has resulted in the
situation Tri-Cities now faces, a bleak future. With the failure of the Fast
Flux Test Facility, he has demonstrated he does not have a clue to effective
economic diversification of the Tri-Cities. Hanford is nothing more than a mop
up job, clean up on isle 6, being done by Prime contractors who "buy the
contract" then are forced to lay-off many of their employees when they can't
afford them. Like many others, Doc Hastings has a death-grip on the Hanford past
which blinds him to the bleak future.
4.
Doc still has a lot of support from people of
his generation and they have all the time in the world to go out and vote.
Personally, I think he has mentally checked out and no longer wishes to be
congressman for this district, but those large Hanford primes keep convincing
him to run in order to keep that steady flow of Government funds to Hanford
projects. On several occasions I have heard him respond with canned responses to
questions that had nothing to do with what the question really asked. One woman
at the townhall meeting a year back asked him specifically what he would do to
alleviate the situation at Walter Reed Hospital, where veterans who had recently
lost their limbs were being forced to pay for their own transportation and meals
out-of-pocket. His response was on how hard he fought to make sure the Walla
Walla VA hospital was not shut down. I asked him personally at the State of the
District speech a year back about Hanford prime subcontracting to Veteran
businesses. Again, he heard nothing other than the word Veteran, and spat out
the same canned response on how hard he worked to keep the Walla Walla VA
hospital open. His supporters might be willing to overlook the fact that he
can't answer questions, but I sure as hell won't. The man is not listening to
his constituents. He seems tired and burned out, and is no longer fit to lead.
