Tancredo to Get $400 Haircut to Support Autism Research

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Republican Presidential Hopeful Tancredo to Get $400 Haircut to Support Autism Research
ANN SANNER
AP News
Nov 15, 2007 13:28 EST
Republican presidential candidate Tom Tancredo is getting his hair clipped for a cause while poking fun at a Democratic rival's high-dollar haircuts.

Tancredo, a Colorado congressman, will pay $400 for a haircut on Friday — a play on former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards' $400 cuts, which appeared on campaign spending reports in April.
Tancredo's $400 fee will be donated to the Autism Society of America, said David Holden, owner of the Hair Biz Salon in Concord, N.H., where the candidate's coif will get trimmed.
Holden said he got the idea for raising charitable funds after hearing about Edwards' pricey haircuts, but didn't immediately pursue it.
"That's not of any interest to us," Holden said in a telephone interview. "We had no intention of being malicious."
Holden's 12-year-old son, Costica, has autism. Offering the candidates $400 haircuts was a way to raise money for the disorder and learn about government-funded research, he said.
Holden, who typically charges $17 for a man's haircut, said he has also trimmed Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee's hair for a $400 donation to the autism society.
Holden declined to identify his party affiliation.
"It's not about who I vote for," he said. "It's about raising awareness for autism."
Source: AP News

Go figure! I used to live in Tancredo's district (southern Denver suburbs) before moving to the northern Denver suburbs. I couldn't stand having such a disgraceful person as my representative, but maybe Tom's not such a bad guy after all.

Is it altruism or is it politics? Would he give $400 if he wasn't running for office (with a campaign chest of millions)? Call me a skeptic. Is this a stunt like a politician kissing a baby?

There are thousands and thousands of terrible diseases. Giving points to a candidate because they appear at this fundraiser or that fundraiser makes no sense. What I am looking at:

1) Overall support for medical research
2) Interpretation of Americans with Disabilities Act
3) Increasing the number of people with health insurance.

The first one for me includes stem cell research. I also think some diseases (like breast cancer) are over-funded compared to other diseases for emotional reasons.
The second includes the right to file a lawsuit - without lawsuits, the ADA law doesn't get enforced.
The third - no pre-existing conditions, no cherry picking and charging higher rates for less desirable patients, ideally, universal coverage.