Arthur Foulkes
The Tribune-Star
TERRE HAUTE —
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dan Coats took a tour of a Terre Haute manufacturing business Thursday as part of a statewide “jobs” tour ahead of the November election.
Coats, a former Republican senator and former member of the U.S. House of Representatives, stopped for about an hour at Glas-Col, a local maker of laboratory heating and mixing equipment, for a plant tour. Glas-Col, at Seventh and Hulman streets, is one of several Hoosier businesses Coats has visited during his tour.
“What I’m hearing from everyone is the same story,” Coats told reporters.
“The imposition of higher taxes, more regulations, health care mandates, is creating a great deal of uncertainty about the future … and as such, it’s freezing innovation, it’s freezing expansion in place until people get a clearer picture of what they need to comply with.”
Coats will be facing Rep. Brad Ellsworth, D-Evansville, in a race for the Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Evan Bayh. Coats took over the House seat vacated by Dan Quayle after Quayle was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1980. Coats would later fill the Senate seat vacated by Quayle after Quayle became vice president. Coats served in the Senate from 1989 through 1999.
Coats said the new U.S. health care law has harmed existing health care plans, including the employee health plan at Glas-Col.
“They have a very creative health care plan here that has been worked out between the employer and the employees,” Coats said. When the “‘Obamacare’ plan kicks in, they will not be able to offer this plan … the option will be to eventually turn this [plan] over to the government,” he said.
A Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of likely Indiana voters recently found Coats with a 50 percent to 29 percent lead over Ellsworth. The poll, published August 10, showed Coats doing better among voters who believe Indiana’s economy is getting worse while Ellsworth was stronger among those who believe Indiana’s economy is improving.
Coats also spoke Thursday about recently announced unemployment claims figures released by Washington. The U.S. Labor Department announced Thursday that initial unemployment benefits claims rose by 12,000 last week to 500,000 – the highest level since November and the third straight increase.
“Clearly this model coming out of Washington right now is not working,” Coats said. “Unemployment numbers are going up, not down. The stimulus is not stimulating.”
In a news release issued Wednesday, Coats spelled out an “economic growth and job creation” plan that calls for, among other things, implementing the line-item veto, passing a balanced budget amendment and reforming the “broken earmark process.”
“I think we have too much stuff coming out of Washington,” Coats said. “We need less taxes, not more. We need fewer regulations, not more.”
After visiting Glas-Col, Coats was headed Thursday for Brazil, Spencer and Bloomington, one of his aides said.
For more information on Dan Coats, visit his campaign Web site at www.coatsforindiana.com. For more information on Brad Ellsworth, visit www.ellsworthforindiana2010.com.
Arthur Foulkes can be reached at (812) 231-4232 or arthur.foulkes@tribstar.com.
