EVANSVILLE —
Since the 2010 mid-term elections, House Speaker John Boehner and his blindly dedicated Republican followers have not introduced a single bill for job creation. Not one. Instead of prioritizing the legislation of bills that could make it easier for businesses to do business, Republican congressmen have focused their energies on cutting Social Security and Medicare. While Republican leaders are making cuts that hurt America’s middle class and those working to get there, our local leadership should develop practical and locally applicable solutions to get more Hoosiers working.
The Democratic Party is developing ideas to provide small businesses with tax credits for hiring American troops who are back at home. While we must help our most committed defenders and service people, we should also expand the policy so it applies to all new hires. Small businesses could benefit from receiving additional tax breaks, and American workers can get working again. Let’s close corporate tax loopholes to make up revenue that should be shared fairly by all Americans. Nobody — liberal or conservative — likes paying taxes, but that is how we maintain socially shared spaces, public schools, and roads and infrastructure projects that allow our system to function more effectively in the long run.
We must fix our regulatory policies. Regulation has failed systemically in recent years. From the Gulf Oil spill to breakdowns in the financial sector, our regulatory agencies have not operated as they should. There exists a revolving door between private corporations and regulatory agencies that have corrupted proper regulation. In order to prevent future cataclysmic disasters, we must monitor and reduce these corrupt practices. Our regulatory failures should not be an excuse to remove regulations altogether — which is an oft-stated “solution” for our regulatory problems.
Effective regulations, for example, can ensure that our drinking water is clean, food is free from harmful contaminants, and drugs are effective. An increase in transparency and a paper trail that closely follows the financial inputs and outputs associated with regulation would be steps toward the right direction.
We must demand more from our local leaders. What is Congressman Bucshon doing to help businesses create jobs? Where are his priorities? Instead of lining up as a quintessential Republican yes-man and defending corporate jet owners from being taxed for their private planes, he should have developed realistic plans for his fellow Hoosiers and Americans. Instead of creating new plans for our community, he has supported cuts to Medicare and Social Security. He helped defend the wealthiest Americans — who do not need the help — at the expense of our elderly citizens. We cannot stand for this.
We should continue to fight to make I-69 a reality now. This infrastructure project allows more possibilities for local and regional economic development. New businesses will develop alongside I-69, which will increase employment opportunities. Transportation costs between Indianapolis and Evansville will decrease due to reduced travel periods. Increased mobility reduces barriers for businesses to do business within the state. We can create local solutions, but we have not seen anything tangible happen since the 2010 elections.
Blind spending and blind cutting aren’t solutions to our nation’s ills. We must approach our problems with a discerning eye. What has worked in the past? What has not? What novel approaches could help our system develop sustainability? Our current leaders are ignoring the most basic questions. Their policy decisions appear to be mostly politically motivated. When a few of the current crop of GOP presidential candidates state that our government should have defaulted in the recent, artificially created debt-ceiling debate, we know that rationality and reality are not present in the baseline thinking processes of these individuals.
I am running for Congress because I want to make sure that the American dream remains in reach. I want to create policies that help grow the middle class. I want to inject realistic policies into the public sphere. I grew up in the Evansville community among working class Hoosiers who fought for their livelihoods and supported their families without fail. We cannot continue to waste time debating without action — we must force our leaders to act efficiently and effectively. This fight is bigger than any individual — I need your voice, and I need your energy. Join me, and let us together re-affirm our dreams and improve our community together.
Terry White is a life-long resident of the Evansville area, a former governor of Indiana Kiwanis International, an attorney, and a small business owner. He is a Democratic candidate for the 8th Congressional District. He resides with his wife of 35 years in Newburgh.
Flashpoint
FLASHPOINT: Congress must help keep American dream within our reach
- Flashpoint
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FLASHPOINT: A legislative session of missed opportunities
Given the nature of politicians, grand claims of accomplishments and overblown rhetoric about “historic” efforts are to be expected at the close of any legislative session.
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FLASHPOINT: Again in 2013 General Assembly, middle class generally ignored
Last year, the people of Indiana entrusted the Republican Party with some of their most precious possessions.
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FLASHPOINT: Indiana lawmakers reinforced school safety mechanisms
Nothing is more important to me than the safety of my children. Every parent has felt that instant, apprehensive rush when their child plays too close to the street or falls down while playing soccer and it is our responsibility as parents to implement every safety mechanism we can muster to protect our kids.
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FLASHPOINT: Lessons from the legacy media — get it right, first
Enough mistakes and maybe we’ll learn: When in doubt, leave it out.
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FLASHPOINT: Hoosiers got steady hand in recent session
As the General Assembly began its work last November, as Speaker of the House, I pledged a renewed spirit of bipartisanship with legislators working together to solve our state’s most pressing challenges. As this year’s legislative session concludes, representatives from throughout the state — Republican and Democrat — have joined together to address those issues at the forefront of Hoosier minds: maintaining our state’s fiscal integrity, spurring job creation and expanding education opportunities for every Hoosier family.
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FLASHPOINT: Time has arrived for overhaul of TV news
Former FCC Chairman Alfred Sikes gave an address in 1992 in which he claimed television news was too superficial and too focused on visuals.
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FLASHPOINT: Fiscal cliff, Obamacare have already raised taxes enough
Our history is rich with stories of people who have immigrated to the United States for a chance at the American Dream. The American Dream, in its truest form, is the opportunity to achieve success by working hard and playing by the rules; to make it on your own and to say, “I earned this.”
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FLASHPOINT: Expanding Medicaid coverage makes sense for Indiana
Since last summer’s U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on the Affordable Care Act effectively gave states the option to expand Medicaid, policymakers across the country have debated if and how to extend health programs to millions of uninsured Americans.
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FLASHPOINT: Improve public education, stop experimenting with it
In January, the four of us who serve as the Democrats on the House Education Committee outlined our hopes for the 2013 session of the Indiana General Assembly, particularly in joining with Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz to offer common sense solutions to improve the quality of education for our children. With the halfway point of this session past us, we remain optimistic that positive steps can be taken … but that optimism is tempered by the reality that education policies are being directed by a legislative majority that has a radically different agenda.
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Healthcare law anniversary no reason for celebration
March 23 marked three years since the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was signed into law, yet this is not an anniversary that deserves celebration.
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FLASHPOINT: Defending state’s authority is attorney general’s obligation
The law of the land recognizes the authority of states to license marriage.
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FLASHPOINT: Stability key for state’s future
Hoosiers have the unique luxury of being the fiscal envy of the nation due to the sound fiscal policies of the last eight years.
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FLASHPOINT: House budget offers Medicaid solution for Indiana
This week, my U.S. House Budget Committee colleagues and I introduced a federal budget resolution for fiscal year 2014. Our budget is a responsible plan that stops spending money and balances in 10 years — largely through making key reforms to drivers of our debt like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.
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FLASHPOINT: Problem gambling in Indiana: A new understanding of community concern
The week of March 3 was designated as National Problem Gambling Awareness Week.
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FLASHPOINT: Eastern time in Indiana defies common sense
Nobody complains more than Hoosiers about changing their clocks. And there’s a valid reason — daylight-savings time in Indiana’s Eastern Time Zone is painful.
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Praying for civil resolution to debate over gun control
Guns are lively ammunition for passionate debate these days.
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FLASHPOINT: It’s not too late to expand health services
This week, state leaders euthanized the biggest, boldest Hoosier jobs proposal of the 2013 session of the Indiana General Assembly.
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FLASHPOINT: You can’t go back again — and that’s OK
Our progressive colleagues have been telling us for years that the 1950s were a horrid time.
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FLASHPOINT: The fierce urgency of now — nation needs to protect youth
The alcohol-fueled alleged serial rape of a 16-year-old Ohio girl by two of her similarly impaired classmates — not to mention the drunken videotaped commentary of others — points yet again to the imperative that adult America renews its commitment to address as a true national community those issues that most threaten the health, safety and forward development of youth.
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FLASHPOINT: A pastor speaks out against Sullivan’s ‘traditional prom’
I am a pastor in Sullivan, Ind., and I am outraged.
Recently, two young students applied to walk the Grand March together in the school prom in Sullivan. -
FLASHPOINT: 0wning firearms is a First Amendment exercise, too
Following the hysteria generated by gun prohibitionists in the wake of the Sandy Hook tragedy, a nationwide rush on gun stores began as citizens bought semiautomatic modern sporting rifles, handguns and ammunition, in effect “making a political statement” about proposals to ban such firearms.
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FLASHPOINT: Maintaining the priority
Recently a newspaper article has been written about a change in the by-laws of the Indiana High School Athletic Association which speaks directly to attempted undue influence exerted upon students below the level of grade nine and their parents.
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FLASHPOINT: The fairness of marriage
What is the current Indiana law concerning marriage? Our state defines marriage in a singular way — between a man and a woman.
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FLASHPOINT: We ask state legislators to abide by their oath of office
All of us relish giving unsolicited advice to our elected representatives.
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FLASHPOINT: Mentoring is having major impact on public education
While managing local utility services, Mike Martin found a new way to energize his community, and students are starting to benefit.
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FLASHPOINT: Common Core standards should be common sense
Years ago, when state officials and education experts came together to create new model standards for schools, they probably never expected it to be controversial.
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FLASHPOINT: Milestone year for Rose-Hulman
The Rose-Hulman campus traditionally quiets down this time of year, yet for me I sense a renewed energy from the phenomenal year just closing.
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FLASHPOINT: ISU’s reasoning flawed in flight school planning
ISU and the taxpayers of Indiana and Vigo County are being led down a path of deception once again.
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FLASHPOINT: Incessant attacks on Christianity by the ACLU
It is obviously apparent that the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is continuing its onslaught against religious freedom in the United States.
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FLASHPOINT: Americans deserve more value for their tax dollars
While traveling the 8th District and listening to fellow Hoosiers during my first term in Congress, I have reached the conclusion that many constituents do not believe they are getting value for the tax dollars that come out of their paychecks and are sent to Washington, D.C.
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