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8th District hopeful outlines jobs plan
TERRE HAUTE —
When asked to sum up his message in a word, Trent Van Haaften said, “jobs.”
The Democratic candidate in Indiana’s 8th Congressional District race returned to Terre Haute on Wednesday evening for dinner and discussion on behalf of the National Association of Letter Carriers at the Holiday Inn. Van Haaften was also in Vigo County earlier for Fourth of July festivities as well as the fair Tuesday evening.
The Posey County prosecuting attorney and Mount Vernon resident said those currently serving in Washington, D.C., simply don’t know how to put Americans back to work.
“If Washington had their act together we may have been better prepared to prevent companies like Pfizer from closing their doors and leaving town,” Van Haaften said.
Offering those in attendance an outline of his goals, Van Haaften described his five-fold “Plan for Hoosier Jobs.”
Closing the corporate tax loopholes that encourage American companies to move jobs overseas is first on that list, followed by rewarding small businesses with tax credits for hiring local workers. Reducing the deficit and slashing “wasteful spending” are also points on the plan, in addition to leaning down the government’s bureaucracy.
The fifth point, he said, is fixing “our so-called free trade agreements. Free trade has only meant that our jobs are free for the taking by China and Mexico. It is time for fair trade that puts Hoosiers back to work manufacturing and selling Hoosier products.”
And if those trade agreements are altered, Van Haaften said American manufacturing can compete with any on Earth.
“We’ve got to change the way we do things in D.C.,” he said, naming multiple spots within Vigo and Vermillion counties which offer unlimited potential for manufacturers.
And “green technology” is part of that potential. Indiana might not be able to develop wind farms, he said, but local factories can build the parts.
Bill Treash, president of the Wabash Valley Central Labor Council, said he likes what he hears from Van Haaften. “We support him 100 percent,” he said.
In November, Van Haaften faces off against Republican Larry Bucshon, a cardiovascular surgeon from Newburgh, for the 8th District seat being vacated by Rep. Brad Ellsworth (D-Evansville) as he makes a bid for the U.S. Senate.
Brian Boyce can be reached at 812-231-4253 or brian.boyce@tribstar.com.
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