Joe Heck's Social Media Town Hall Really Was Insightful... But Not As He Wanted.

As you can see, I participated in Congressman Joe Heck's social media town hall last night. I asked him about renewable energy investment, as well as about college affordability. And to his credit, Heck did respond to me last night... Though he wasn't the only one responding.

So at least he's interacting with constituents this time... But is he being fully honest? Let's look at some important issues discussed last night to find out. Oh, and if you'd like to keep score yourself, keep this voting record handy.

On clean energy, Joe Heck talked about a handful of bills he added his name to, but neglected to mention his going along with the G-O-TEA agenda to enrich the fossil fuel industry at our expense. Instead of taking action to bring more clean, green jobs to Nevada, he's instead pledged to protect big oil companies' profits.

Now regarding holding back the doubling of the interest rate on student loans, Joe Heck did vote for a bill to do that. However, he neglected to mention that the bill he voted for would have paid for that by ending a critical Affordable Care Act provision that invests in preventive health care. In essence, it was the classic "Rob Peter to Pay Paul" scheme as House Republicans wanted to look like they were doing something about student loan interest rates. But really, their plan would have done something at the cost of killing efforts to save money in fighting diseases by preventing Americans from contracting them.

And speaking of college students, it was interesting how Heck declined to say anything about President Obama's new immigration directive and/or the DREAM Act. I guess he's just following G-O-TEA standard operating procedure there.

I guess we can also say that about Heck's continued bungling of all things Medicare & Social Security. He talked about "preserving programs for future generations", but neglected to mention his everlasting support for Paul Ryan's "tea party" wet dream of a Medicare busting budget. And in case that alone wasn't bad enough, the Joe Heck approved Ryan Budget also slashes Medicaid to death, along with police funding, food safety protections, and food stamp assistance for working families in need, all so the G-O-TEA can keep safe those "billionaire bailouts" in the federal tax code that really do nothing to create jobs.

And funny enough, a few Nevada GOP operatives jumped into the townhall to toss in some fluff questions on job creation. So of course, they didn't mention the G-O-TEA's continued obstruction of the BIPARTISAN transportation infrastructure bill that would create 1.9 MILLION jobs if enacted. But wait, Heck actually did bring this up indirectly... By touting the calamitous Keystone XL pipeline that would do nothing to create jobs here in Nevada, even as it enriches a Canadian oil company while destroying fragile ecosystems both in Canada and in the US. Long story short, Heck is joining his G-O-TEA colleagues in blocking the transportation bill that really can create jobs because it doesn't include approval of the Keystone pipeline that does next to nothing to create jobs. Wow, talk about priorities (that are clearly out of whack)!

All in all, it seemed like Joe Heck was trying to "soften" his image in last night's Twitter and Facebook town hall. But in the end, he really couldn't hide his real "tea party" approved record. Seriously, if Joe Heck's biggest accomplishments are denying health care to Nevada's working families and protecting Wall Street fat cats instead of middle class investors, then his priorities really are out of whack.

Hey, perhaps that's the best part of last night's town hall. We caught a rare glimpse of Joe Heck's true priorities.