Sue Lowden, a Republican candidate challenging Majority Leader Harry Reid for his Nevada Senate seat is refusing to back down from an earlier suggestion that America consider a medical barter system as an alternative to current health care solutions.
On Monday Lowden took the idea one step further.
"Before we all started having health care, in the olden days, our grandparents, they would bring a chicken to the doctor," Lowden told a local news station. "They would say I'll paint your house."
Now, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has launched a new website to ridicule Lowden for her support of the bartering proposal.
The website, Chickens for Checkups, calls Lowden's health care barter system "an old-timey solution for a modern problem," and says that such a program would ask Americans to "barter with their doctors for health care with things like chickens and house painting," items she referenced on a local news program.
"Do you need medical care?" the site asks. "Write a letter to Sue Lowden with your ailment and what you're willing to trade, and we'll make sure she gets it. It's just like the good old days!"
Lowden's campaign sent a letter to the Las Vegas Review-Journal Wednesday defending her stance and providing a testimonial of "Robin L. Titus, M.D." who claims that he has "bartered with patients -- for alfalfa hay, a bath tub, yard work and horse shoeing in exchange for my care." Her campaign has also been circulating an extensive background document explaining the perks of bargaining with your health care provider.
The DSCC isn't buying it.
"You have got to be kidding me," DSCC spokeswoman Deirdre Murphy said in a statement. "Sue Lowden is completely out of touch with Nevadans if she really thinks bartering chickens for checkups is serious health care reform."
Watch video of Lowden discussing her chicken bartering plan: