HUNG CAO UNFIT FOR DUTY IN CONGRESS
Hung Cao doesn’t get it: Renewable energy is a mystery, economics isn’t his strong suit and he’d like us to forget that Ukraine is fighting for democracy.
He seems to think that solar energy doesn’t work on cloudy days (how about at night?) and that Russia’s war in Ukraine – which he’d like the United States to abandon – isn’t to blame, even a little bit, for the worldwide inflationary spike.
During the final debate between Cao and Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton on Thursday, she never went on the attack, nor did she need to, as Cao voluntarily made clear that he is unfit to serve in Congress.
While she came armed with data and a record of accomplishment – from funding Metro’s expansion to passing legislation cutting the cost of prescription drugs – his debate style lacked concrete proposals relying instead on attacks against Rep. Wexton and a litany of complaints about modern culture.
It went like this:
On renewable energy policy: “…solar and wind, that's great, but … what happens (if the) sun doesn't come out or wind doesn't blow?” (That’s not how it works.)
Besides, “I can’t afford a Tesla”, he said, therefore recent legislation that “allows for a lot of charging stations and things … I can’t reap those benefits,” thus he saw no reason for the federal government to prepare America for a future when electric cars will surpass gas-powered vehicles.
Asked to comment about how “The war in Ukraine has impacted America in several economic ways, from rising energy prices to uncertainties and international markets…” he rejected the premise: The increase in oil “prices did not happen from the war.” Instead, he claimed “that happened on Day One of Joe Biden’s presidency when he signed all of those regulations…” (Really? And it took 2.5 years for prices to spike, coincidentally just as Russia cut energy supplies to the West?)
Further, on the topic of Ukraine, Cao said defending democracy there is too costly, that it’s running up the deficit, and he strongly objects to “depleting our national reserves of weapons.” Really? Like the Pentagon isn’t replacing those munitions?
On healthcare and the Affordable Care Act, Cao rambled, claiming that health costs are out of control – ignoring that ACA has brought down costs and ignoring the measure recently signed into law by Democrats controlling prescription prices. He insisted “We need competition. Competition … brings in lower prices,” which, in fact, is true of generic drugs but has little or no impact on the all-important, cutting-edge pharmaceuticals developed in the past two decades.
Asked about immigration, Cao touted Trump’s border wall and then inelegantly pivoted to culture war dogma on education: “We also need to get the political agenda out of the classrooms. The right of the parents should always prevail.”
YES! Finally, something we agree on: WE are parents and WE say stop injecting your right-wing, extremist views on race, religion, gender and culture into our children’s classrooms.
As soon as the debate ended, Cao and his entourage ran for the exits, ignoring questions from voters and the media, as a celebratory crowd of Wexton supporters shouted, “Wexton! Wexton! Wexton!”
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