While Indiana Democrats are preparing to engage Republican U.S. Senate nominee Richard Mourdock on the Chrysler rescue and jobs, the Republican will attack Democratic nominee Joe Donnelly on the Affordable Care Act, or “Obamacare.”
Mourdock took aim at Donnelly in an email to supporters on May 31, saying, “Last week, Notre Dame and 42 other Catholic institutions sued the Obama Administration over ObamaCare’s blatant violation of religious freedom. I unequivocally stand behind Notre Dame’s Obamacare lawsuit.”
Mourdock asked, “Joe Donnelly? He was one of the deciding votes on Obamacare. Not only that, even after seeing healthcare costs skyrocket after its passage, the Northwest Indiana Times reports that ‘Donnelly [is] not running from Obamacare vote.’” He added, “We must elect someone who will repeal ObamaCare and replace it with common sense free-market reforms — not someone who proudly supports it. We need to allow employees to deduct 100 percent of their healthcare expenses from their taxes, improve Health Savings Accounts, and let groups create association health plans.”
At a May 24 press conference in South Bend, Mourdock told the South Bend Tribune, “It’s ironic that a graduate of Ball State should be here defending Notre Dame when a Notre Dame graduate, my opponent Joe Donnelly, refuses to do so. He refuses to separate himself from the policies of Obamacare, from the policies of stimulus, from the policies of bailout.”
In the May 20 Times article, Rep. Donnelly took on his Republican critics, pointing to presumed Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, who as governor of Massachusetts, pushed and signed universal health care. “First, they ought to talk to Mitt Romney because he basically laid out so many of the premises in it,” Donnelly said. “If they want an argument, they ought to start with him.”
“My daughter and millions of other Americans who may have diabetes or a heart condition or cancer can get health coverage for the first time because of the health care bill,” Donnelly said of his daughter, Molly, who suffers from rheumatoid arthritis. He said the law gives seniors prescription drug discounts and helps students just graduating from college. “For young adults — 21, 22, 23 — who are getting their first jobs in a tough economy where the employer might not be able to offer health care, they can stay on their parents’ health care,” Donnelly said. He added that if he’s elected to the U.S. Senate, he’ll work to improve the law. “My job is to go there and try to make things even better,” Donnelly said.
Donnelly was one of the last Democrats to announce support for the health care reforms. In a statement on March 21, 2010, Donnelly explained, “From the beginning of this debate, I’ve remained consistent in fighting for the principles I believe should be a part of health insurance reform. We need to prohibit insurance companies from denying coverage to folks who suffer from serious illnesses and we need to extend the life of Medicare. We need to lower the costs of health insurance that are squeezing families and small businesses and we must allow people to keep the insurance they have — if that’s what they want to do. We need to ensure that any reforms prohibit the use of federal funds for abortion-related services and do not add to the national debt.”
Club for Growth President Chris Chocola, who Donnelly defeated in the 2nd CD in 2006, told me that he believes Obamacare will propel Mourdock into the Senate, despite polls by Howey/DePauw Indiana Battleground (tied at 35 percent), Global Strategies Group for Donnelly (tied at 40 percent) and Rasmussen Reports (tied at 42 percent) that shows the race a current “tossup.” Club for Growth invested almost $1.8 million in Mourdock’s primary battle against U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar, with Mourdock winning 61-39 percent. Chocola said that Donnelly is only known in the 2nd CD, but believes Republican assaults against him over Obamacare will allow Mourdock to emerge as the winner on Nov. 6.
A Dec. 11-13 Public Opinion Strategies Poll conducted on behalf of the Indiana Association of Realtors revealed that 57 percent oppose the health reforms while 35 percent favor. On the question of repeal, 55 percent supported and 35 percent opposed. The POS poll did not break out the various issues that make up the ACA and what levels of support they have.
Nationally, a March Associated Press/GfK Poll found that 35 percent of Americans support the health care law overhaul, while 47 percent oppose it. A Kaiser Foundation Poll in March revealed that 53 percent of Americans are “confused” about the law.
There are several wild cards. When Mourdock says he will “repeal” Obamacare, that will be virtually impossible unless Republicans get a 60-seat Senate majority in November, and I’ve seen nothing that indicates that will happen.
The most likely avenue for repeal will be later this month when the U.S. Supreme Court rules on the constitutionality of the ACA. If the law is struck down, it is anyone’s guess as to how that will shift the political dynamic. One school of thought is it will push Senate nominees to discuss what will replace the ACA. Mourdock is likely to continue to criticize Donnelly for his vote, but the Democrat could try and shift the debate on what U.S. Sen. Dan Coats has articulated as “repeal and replace.”
Opinion
BRIAN HOWEY: Mourdock will use Obamacare against Donnelly
- Opinion
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RONN MOTT: Mushrooms = Hoosier happiness
Someone wrote or said a few years ago a statement that would define the word “Hoosier.” According to this urban legend, a Hoosier is somebody dribbling a basketball around the Indy 500 while eating a fried, morel mushroom. It did not define me, at the time.
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EDITORIAL: Insult to an independent press
Distrust of government secrecy has been elevated to an exceptional level with the disclosure the Justice Department covertly examined two months of Associated Press phone records to determine who leaked details to the AP about a foiled terrorist plot.
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READERS' FORUM: May 17, 2013
Hinduism doesn’t deserve ridicule — Shefali Purohit, Terre Haute
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RONN MOTT: Israel’s Air Force
Recently the Israeli Air Force bombed and rocketed a convoy leaving Syria going to Lebanon with rockets that were going to be used to attack Israel. It did not get there. It was destroyed.
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EDITORIAL: Noteworthy in the news: Dashing finish for the Sycamores
It’s always thrilling to see Indiana State University’s athletic teams do well in high-level competition, and two specific teams rose to impressive heights last weekend in the Missouri Valley Conference outdoor track and field championships.
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Readers' Forum: May 16, 2013
Moving Deming folks sounds ‘nuts’
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Readers' Forum: May 15, 2013
Participants rise to the challenge: I would like to write a letter congratulating all the Wabash Valley Roadrunners that competed in the One America Indianapolis Mini Marathon.
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RONN MOTT: Media merry-go-round
Round and round it goes, where it stops nobody knows. That isn’t a unique phrase to this writer or to this era in time. But, when it comes to the musical chairs of broadcasting, it certainly applies.
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LIZ CIANCONE: Courts see a different appearance than cops
Have you ever noticed the transformation between the arrest of an accused lawbreaker and the first appearance in court?
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READERS' FORUM: May 14, 2013
ISTEP failure exposes flaws
Community hasn’t changed its spirit
Egregious threat to nation’s defense
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READERS' FORUM: May 13, 2013
• Women’s group criticizes Bucshon
• Let’s hope this doesn’t come true
• Many get thanks for fest success
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MARK BENNETT: Life at face value: Mom’s simple advice still presents a valuable daily challenge
Most moms don’t base their advice on scientific research.
(Unless, of course, your mother is a scientific researcher. If so, carry a No. 2 pencil and take good notes.) -
EDITORIAL: Better monitoring needed to prevent local environmental messes
The nasty, hazardous messes lurking in the community raise a bottom-line, red-flag question. Could these environmental problems have been monitored and, thus, prevented?
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GUEST COLUMN: Nursing more than medicine and bandages
Being a nurse … Like most nurses, I chose this profession because I had a strong desire to help others and no other career would allow me the opportunity to touch lives the way I have been able to through nursing.
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READERS' FORUM: May 12, 2013
Vigo Youth Football, entering 45th year, seeks new support
Media ignoring important case on abortions
Proud to be old-fashioned
Guns in school? What’s next?
Promoting hate not a ‘brave’ act
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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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RONN MOTT: ‘Raccoons II’
In the Algonquin Indian language, raccoon means “working with hands.” They are really cute little fellows until they injure a child, or a pet, or leave feces around where you certainly do not want it.
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Readers’ Forum: May 11, 2013
I just wanted to express my disappointment at the lack of response shown by President Obama after the Boston Marathon bombings.
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Readers' Forum: May 10, 2013
CANDLES event plants new seed: On April 26, CANDLES Holocaust Museum and Education Center hosted an event called “Sowing Seeds of Peace: A Celebration of Spring” at the Apple House. Our purpose was to introduce people to our concept of forgiveness as a seed for peace.
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RONN MOTT: ‘NRA Convention’
At the recent NRA Convention in Houston, Texas, where the right-wing political hot air almost lifted the convention's building off its foundation, the NRA trotted out the forever yours political dame of the right wing, Sarah Palin. Sarah did not disappoint.
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EDITORIAL: Memo to U.S.A.: You can ‘SPPRAK’ just as we do in Vigo County
Our kids, truly, are ‘Making a Difference’
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Some words in praise of boring government — Indiana’s
A conservative Republican governor has super majorities in both branches of the legislature. One might suspect such one-party government leads to major changes in public policy. This did not happen in 2013 in Indiana.
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EDITORIAL: Doc’s prescient prescription
Viewed through a 2013 prism, Doc Bowen’s response to the AIDS epidemic looks merely prudent, routine.
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RONN MOTT: ‘Heritage gone’
The last high school I attended was being torn down just a few days ago. I didn't learn about it until I saw classmate Dick Mills on television and a display he had put together about State football championships in the middle 1930's. I began elementary school with Dick Mills. That was Matthew South Elementary School on South Sixth Street in Clinton, Indiana. After seeing Dick on TV, it dawned on me that all schools I had attended in Clinton have been torn down.
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LIZ CIANCONE: We always want more than we need
Washington seems more preoccupied with the unemployment rate than they are about the constant stalemate. Still with thousands out of work and the unemployment rate hovering somewhere between 7 percent and 9 percent, it does deserve more than a passing nod.
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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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READERS’ FORUM: May 6, 2013
• Money drives our newfound ‘needs’
• Guns not the only dangerous objects
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MARK BENNETT: Should I stay or should I go?
Some have their Bill Clinton-era Cavalier packed (with the trunk bungee-ed shut), apartment cleaned (except for the fridge), and iPhone GPS locked onto the fastest route out of Terre Haute. Others are staying — until they find a better job, or because they’re starting a career here, or because this town feels like home. In each case, a new stage of life begins today.
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EDITORIAL: Education remains worth the cost
Within the next few weeks, each of the local colleges will have conducted graduation ceremonies. A few days later, a different Class of 2013 will don caps and gowns for commencement — the seniors at five Vigo County high schools. It is still a smart, worthy aspiration for those high school grads to replicate the achievement of those college students by earning a higher-education degree.
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College Class of '13 gets a little extra advice
Local college grads will hear commencement speakers offer life and career advice this month. We’re offering them an extra dose here from folks who’ve found success in various vocations and regions of the nation. Many have Terre Haute roots.
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