October 13, 2010 11:08 PM UTC

Ken Buck: No Science Foundation, No Public Disease Research

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• by: nancycronk

Supporters of Ken Buck love to say he is the moderate choice for the US Senate from Colorado. They have tried to distance themselves from the Tea Party, and quote him as “softening” on all kinds of issues. Progressives have another name for it — “Buckpedaling”.

But is Buck a moderate? According to the Washington Monthly, Buck believes the National Science Foundation and the Center for Disease Control is part of the nanny-state problem, as well.

The article points to a March interview with Aaron Harbor, where Buck says this:

During a March appearance on the Aaron Harber TV show, which airs on Denver PBS station KBDI, Buck discussed how wasteful and inefficient the federal government is and said, “I don’t believe that the federal government runs anything more efficiently than the private sector. […]

Harber then asked about privatizing the National Science Foundation. Buck replied it would be better to have industry work with the science foundation rather than have the government run it alone.

“How about the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention?” Harber asked.

“Absolutely, again, partnering with private foundations, private hospitals, states and local governments, far more efficient than … having the federal government run something…. I’m not suggesting that people shouldn’t get health care or that we shouldn’t have a function in our country like CDC. What I’m suggesting is that … folks that are in control of that program, if they’re in the federal government, are going to be a lot less efficient than if they’re in the private sector.”

Where does Ken Buck draw the line (here is where H-man and others will accuse me of hyperbole):

Police and Fire Protection: Why should we pay when someone else’s family member is murdered, or their house is on fire?

Public services? Shouldn’t we all build our own roads, hospitals and schools?

Water? Isn’t cleaning water and piping it into our homes also part of the “nanny state”?

Air: Isn’t that socialized, too, because we share it?

Clearly, the Republican extremist capitalist view of having everything privatized has reached the level of the absurd. Yet, Ken Buck’s quotes calling for these extreme positions are easy to find.

Buck supporters will accuse progressives of dragging up old quotes and using them opportunistically three weeks before the election. Progressives are justified in doing so; if Ken Buck and supporters won’t tell the truth about Ken Buck’s extremist ways, who will?