Fellow Republicans,
Last week, I traveled to San Diego for the annual RNC summer meeting with Republican Party officials from every state. I wanted to convey to you the sense of excitement that was shared by those in attendance-it's at a level I have not seen in several years. You'd never know that just a few months ago the national media was beginning to write the obituary for the Republican Party - they were wrong again because we are definitely alive and kicking!
The excitement comes from two places. First, we're on the right side of the issues. The more Americans learn about the policies of Barack Obama, the more they don't like them. Our steadfast opposition and willingness to offer alternative solutions that protect taxpayers is paying off. Obama's cap-and-tax energy plan has stalled in the Senate. His health care plan is slowly being watered down, is falling apart and may ultimately fail. His stimulus plan has failed to create the jobs he promised and Americans are having second thoughts about how far his "hope" and "change" can get us.
That leads to the second area to be excited about: Republican activists are becoming reengaged and reenergized with a new intensity. All across the country they are showing up at town hall events and rallies, they are e-mailing and calling their Congressmen so much that voice mail and e-mail accounts are full, and they are writing letters to the editor and calling in to radio shows to express their dissatisfaction. We've even seen this in Indiana, as nearly 600 demonstrators showed up to "greet" President Obama when he came to Wakarusa on Wednesday.
We have no illusions that next year will be easy. In Indiana, though, we are a step ahead of Republicans in other states. Nationally, we have some work to do to gain back the trust of the American people, but in Indiana the voters have full confidence in Mitch Daniels and Republican leadership-as evidenced by his 18% victory last fall and 69% approval rating this past spring. Nationally, we must present an alternative vision for getting the country back on the right track, and Indiana's ability to weather the economic storm better than the rest of the Midwest is proof that vision exists. The headwinds of the last two elections are dissipating and we could be trending toward a good year in 2010, but we need your help. Please call or e-mail your Congressman, write a letter to the editor, or call in to talk radio shows to say that the policies of Barack Obama will hurt our economy at a time when we can't afford it. After you do, please e-mail us at newsgroup@indgop.org to let us know about your experience.
Sincerely,
Murray Clark
Chairman
Indiana Republican Party
Fellow Republicans,
President Obama took to the airwaves last night to try to sell his health care proposal. But instead of answering serious questions or going into much detail, he tried to convince us it's more important to get this health care legislation done quickly than to get done it right. The fact of the matter is there is not enough time in the next week to ensure that this 1,000 page bill does not increase the cost of health care, does not increase taxes on businesses and individuals, does not decrease our quality of care, and does not limit the accessibility or availability of private insurance.
I fail to understand how the President, as smart as he is, can convince himself that it's appropriate to attempt to reform this huge part of our economy inside an arbitrary and dangerously condensed time frame. His original goal was to complete the bill in three weeks; it's not unusual for a family to take longer than that to purchase a house. It took the President six months to pick out the right dog for his children, but he thinks Congress can decide what to do with health care in three short weeks! Yet, despite calls from members of his own party to slow the pace, he continues to push a reckless timetable for his risky health care experiment.
Friends, we must not let this legislation increase the cost of health care, raise taxes, hurt the quality of care, or force you to drop your private insurance for a public plan. We must take a stand and tell our representatives in Washington, D.C. that they are doing too much too quickly, and the results will be staggering and painful!
Please join me in taking this stand today by sending an email to Sen. Evan Bayh's office asking him to oppose this legislation. Or tell Rep. Joe Donnelly that Hoosiers know a bad deal when we see one, and this hastily thought out plan is clearly a bad deal. Or let Rep. Brad Ellsworth know that Hoosiers deserve a plan that won't penalize businesses or tax individuals. Or encourage Rep. Baron Hill to oppose President Obama's reckless experiment before it's too late.
As always, I appreciate all that you do for the Republican party.
Sincerely,
Murray Clark
Chairman
Indiana Republican Party
Fellow Republicans,
It took 175 days, a special session, numerous newspaper editorials, and the threat of a government shutdown, but Speaker Pat Bauer has finally freed his fellow Democrats and allowed them to vote on a state budget. After finally passing both the Democrat-controlled House and the Republican-led Senate, the result is a responsible budget that protects taxpayers.
You may remember that prior to the start of the special session, Governor Daniels gave a televised statewide address in which he outlined five simple conditions he needed met in order to sign a budget: No tax increases; at least $1 billion left in state reserves; that legislators cut $1 for every $1 they spent beyond his proposed budget; that one time funds be spent for one time purposes; and that no gimmicks were used.
After weeks of grandstanding and foot dragging, House Democrats have finally joined with legislative Republicans to ensure those conditions were met.
This budget is good for Hoosiers for a variety of other reasons. Foremost, when you look around the country, you'll see most states are looking at tax increases or massive cuts, including education. Indiana is doing neither, and that's a credit to our governor and our Republican legislators. In fact, not only are we increasing education funding, but the governor's 'education trigger' has been preserved to drive more money to our schools if revenues are better than projected.
The budget also addresses many other issues that are important to Hoosier families, especially as far as the education of our children is concerned. For instance, there are no caps on the growth of charter schools; money is provided for a scholarship tax credit that could help many low-income families send their children to non-public schools; and for the first time ever, Indiana is exploring the possibility of online schools that extend learning beyond the traditional walls of the classroom. These are the kinds of reforms that will aid Dr. Tony Bennett and his work on behalf of Hoosier kids.
None of this would have been possible without you. We know that legislators heard your phone calls, read your letters to the editor, and saw your support for the Republicans' responsible budget. Thanks for all that you do, and for supporting our party.
Sincerely,
Murray Clark
Chairman
Indiana Republican Party
Dear Fellow Republicans:
Tomorrow marks the beginning of the special session Governor Daniels has called to pass a budget. In tough economic times where so much is at stake, differences in opinion about state government's priorities certainly exist. It's indeed a time for discussion and debate, which requires a thoughtful evaluation of where Indiana is today and where we want our state to be in two, five and ten years from now. Without rival in the country, Indiana continues to weather this recession in a strong position. If we continue to be disciplined in our spending, when America emerges from this downturn Indiana will continue to lead the pack.
To give some context to what the legislature will be debating, I've included an article about Michigan's experience and how they face enormous cuts that will now cost their state hundreds of millions of dollars in new road construction. Thanks to Major Moves and Governor Daniels' strong leadership of the state budget, that issue is off the table - and Indiana continues to have record road building that helps our economy every day.
I wish the governor and the legislature the very best in their deliberations.
Sincerely,
Murray Clark
Dear Friends:
It is a rare circumstance that we as party officials are compelled to wade into the debate on a particular bill before the Indiana General Assembly. Of course, we all have ideas and positions on the big topics our legislators are considering, such as the budget or education reform, and may indeed share our opinions with our Republican Senators and Representatives from time to time. However, the late-hour passage of Senate Enrolled Act 209 (SEA 209) has highlighted a set of issues that require your attention.
For most of you this will be new and necessitates some background on SEA 209. In short, it made several election law changes, some good and others not. Specifically, we were enormously concerned about a section of the bill that would have eliminated the requirement for election boards to vote unanimously on the location of satellite early voting locations. On final passage, the House vote was 55-43 and the Senate vote was 48-0.
You all know better than anyone that for election day to even take place the two parties must be able to work together in a bipartisan fashion. It's not a simple undertaking, so cooperation is paramount. This particular change to how satellite locations would be handled was a complete contradiction to years of tradition and practice.
Yesterday, the governor vetoed SEA 209. His veto message read as follows:
"While this bill contains provisions that would make the act of voting more convenient, it does not contain sufficient safeguards against fraud and abuse and removes long-standing bipartisan checks and balances in the conduct of elections."
The governor deserves our highest praise for his decision, which was not an easy one. I'm regularly impressed by his leadership, and this was yet another example of his sound judgment. Thank you, Governor.
I would encourage you to contact your legislators on this issue to emphasize that before deciding on matters that impact the work of Republican Party officials, the full consideration of the county party, the district committee, and the state committee should be considered. Anything less overlooks the critical role you all play.
Please, as always, don't hesitate to contact me if you have questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Murray
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