You might not have realized it, but last year there was a congressional race going on right here in east central Indiana. Perhaps you missed it because the challenger, Mel Fox [D] ran such a feeble and catchpenny campaign that the incumbent, Mike Pence [R] didn't feel much pressure to campaign himself for our votes. Shame on them both. If Ms. Fox wasn't going to make a purposeful effort, she shouldn't have accepted the nomination. Regardless of what Fox did in her "campaign," Pence should have had the respect for us as constituents to at least campaign vigorously to ask for our votes.
Pence was originally elected in 2000 and re-elected in 2002 and 2004, with both campaigns as an incumbent coming up against Fox who failed to collect 35 percent of the vote in either election and has seemed downright scared to actually challenge Pence on any issue. Their only debate turned into a circus and was actually mocked by Newseum.com. Fox certainly did no favors for the voters of our district when she played the role of the Washington Generals and allowed Pence to dominate the campaign and debate, Globetrotter style. The end result? We re-elected a Congressman without knowing much about his views, especially on economic policy. However, there's still time to learn before I run against Pence in 2006.
Pence was recently quoted as saying there was "no higher priority" than Bush's re-election, a goal that could be "enormously persuasive" in convincing republicans to put aside personal beliefs for the party's greater good, according to seacoastonline.com. Of course, each side wants its party's candidate in office, but Pence's job is not to campaign for Bush; it is to represent the people of Indiana's 6th district, even when our wants differ from W's.
On Jan. 20, Pence said, "We have to get our fiscal house in order" in reference to House conservatives coming together to reduce the deficit. However, according to Pence in an article he wrote for Human Events' Nov. 15 issue, he says it is a top priority for him and other conservatives to pass "Additional tax cuts to ensure continued economic growth" as well as "The Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution." Despite the big talk on fiscal responsibility, Pence has never offered any kind of plan to reconcile increasing spending with a decreasing source of revenue. Any illusions Pence would do his part to keep "pork" spending to a minimum were dispelled this week when he secured a $1 million grant to obtain new buses for MITS in Muncie. Perhaps he supports lower taxes because 85.2 percent of his PAC contributions came from the business lobby, as opposed to only 1.5 percent from labor, according to opensecrets.org. Is that representing the people of the 6th district? Even fiscally conservative Mitch Daniels has come to understand the problems of a deficit and the need for tax revenue and a responsible policy on spending. You can't have it both ways, Mike.
As students attending a public university where you pay approximately $7,464 (bsu.edu) for a year of tuition, as opposed to $22,250 (Butler.edu) at our closest private alternative, you are getting at least 60 percent of your tuition costs paid by the taxpayers of Indiana. This money has to come from somewhere, as does the $7.4 million we spend each hour in Iraq, according to Americanprogress.org. We all want to take care of our troops, keep our country safe, get a reasonably priced education and balance the budget so our children don't have to pay off our bills, but this requires funding. Through our elected officials, we can choose now to be heroes to the next generation as previous generations have done for us, or we can choose to be a great drain on the America of the future. We can ensure funding for schools, secure borders and social security, or we can take the money and run. When you get in the real world, and if you earn the average salary for a first year graduate of $30,152, you will see $6 per week extra in your weekly check based on the tax cuts thus far, according to naceweb.org. Is this Venti-« Latte each week really worth the harm it has caused our nation's financial future?
Write to Robb at Robb614@aol.com
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