By Arthur E. Foulkes
TERRE HAUTE — Groups supporting President Barack Obama’s first budget are launching a TV ad campaign in Terre Haute and around Indiana this week aimed at pressuring Hoosier lawmakers to support the Obama spending plan.
Americans United for Change, a group formed in 2005 to fight President George W. Bush’s plans to partially privatize Social Security, has joined with environmental and labor groups to air a TV commercial supporting the Obama budget in states with “moderate” congressional lawmakers, an official from the organization said Wednesday.
“For eight years, the Bush administration has turned our economy into a house of cards and last fall that house came tumbling down,” said Jeremy Funk, press secretary for Americans United for Change, a Washington, D.C.-based organization. Obama’s budget is “a blueprint for rebuilding and renewing America’s economy.”
In addition to Indiana, the left-of-center coalition is running their ad in 11 other states, Funk said.
In a conference call with members of the news media Wednesday, Funk was joined by representatives of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and a field organizer with Environment America, a coalition of state environmental groups. Three members of the Indiana House of Representatives, who were scheduled to take part in the call, were unable to join the conference.
Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh is one of more than a dozen senate Democrats seeking to negotiate possible changes in the Obama budget. MSNBC reports Bayh is the “target” of a campaign by left-of-center groups, such as MoveOn.org, which accuse him of blocking Obama’s programs.
Rep. Brad Ellsworth, D-Evansville, who represents Indiana’s 8th District, is waiting to see what the Obama budget states before deciding how he will vote, said Liz Farrar, a spokeswoman for Ellsworth in Washington.
The pro-Obama budget TV ad, which encourages Hoosiers to call their members of Congress, “doesn’t mention any [lawmakers] by name,” Funk said, adding that “we hope the ad provides encouragement to the entire Indiana delegation to stand up to the special interests that are trying very hard right now to maintain the failed policies of the last eight years.”
In response to a reporter’s question, Funk could not specifically identify the special interests in Indiana trying to block Obama’s budget. However, he said, “I’m sure [Hoosier lawmakers] are hearing it from big oil interests” and “big insurance.”
The coalition of left-of-center groups behind the TV ad plans to spend $700,000 running the commercial across the country, Funk said.
Obama won Indiana over Sen. John McCain by about 1 percent of the vote. He lost the state in the Democratic Party primary to Sen. Hillary Clinton.
“Without the president’s budget, we’re concerned that our school systems … will collapse because they don’t have the money available and the state does not have the money available,” said Lettie Oliver, associate director of AFSCME District 62, which is based in Indianapolis. “We’re also looking to ensure that we have health care for everybody. … I’m more concerned about the price tag and the devastation of American citizens without the president’s budget.”
“President Obama has in two short months set our country in a new direction when it comes to global warming and transitioning to a clean energy economy,” said LuCinda Hohmann, an organizer with Environment America, who also took part in the telephone news conference. Obama’s budget will create millions of jobs, especially in the “green energy” field and increases funding for the Environmental Protection Agency by 34 percent, she said.
Later this year, Environment America plans to work with Obama to pass “quick and bold” energy legislation concerning energy policy and global warming, Hohmann added.
The coalition supporting the Obama budget is casting the upcoming congressional votes on Obama’s budget as a battle between the national interest and special interests. Opposition to the budget is coming from special interests, Funk said.
Under former President Bush, special interest groups were allowed to “run amok,” leading to the current economic crisis, Funk said. “We believe the president’s budget fully turns the page.”
Arthur Foulkes can be reached at (812) 231-4232 or arthur.foulkes@tribstar.com.
