Email From Lugar

When the debt ceiling votes were before us, I emailed Senator Dick Lugar to ask him to vote against raising it, and to cut spending dramatically, primarily by ending the wars. Here's his response:

Dear Mr. Kole:

Thank you for contacting me. Under President Obama and the Democratic Party controlled Senate, our federal debt has ballooned from $10.6 trillion to more than $14.3 trillion. This spending is unsustainable and unacceptable.

I have voted against numerous policies promoted by the Obama Administration which contributed directly to high deficits, including the so-called stimulus bill, the health care bill, the annual spending bills, and the bureaucratic financial regulatory reform bill.

I have cosponsored, supported, and voted for numerous Republican proposals to rein in spending including the Cut, Cap and Balance Plan and a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution. I likewise supported the Ryan Budget and the Toomey Budget plans. I have supported and will continue to support efforts to overhaul, repeal, or restrain out of control spending policies.

On August 2, 2011, I voted for the Budget Control Act of 2011, the final default avoidance plan that substantially reduces government spending by at least $2.4 trillion and does not raise taxes. The legislation also advances the cause of a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution, a measure I have supported 16 times since my election to the U.S. Senate. The passage of this legislation is a step toward long term spending reform, while also preventing a default on our nation's debts. Thank you, again, for contacting me.

Sincerely,

Richard G. Lugar
United States Senator

Obviously the US Senator isn't going to address me personally. I know that I have to expect a form response, since I haven't given him five figures lately. Or, ever. In fact, not even one figure. Still, this is a pretty lame response. What I was hoping for was a response that read, "Yes, Mr. Kole. I will vote against increasing the debt ceiling." Or, "Yes, I will vote to reduce the spending". Well, that would have required a timely response. Barring that, I would have settled for, "Mr. Kole, I voted against raising the debt ceiling".

Can you tell he's thinking ahead to the primary election, still some 9 months away? He blames the Democrats and President Obama, and brags on how he voted against Democratic legislation. Clearly, he is hoping I'll read this and remember it as I go to the Republican primary... something I would never do, being that I am not a partisan Republican. But, he voted to raise the debt ceiling! This, of course, is conveniently left out of his email, as were all of his votes supporting the Republican bloating of the debt during the Bush years.

Why cite all of this year's failed bills that he supported, when the thing that mattered- the item he voted for that passed into law- did the opposite of what I asked for? Simple: He's trying to bullshit me. A deception.

There really wasn't much chance that I was going to vote for Lugar if he makes it to the general election in November of 2012. Now there is no chance whatsoever.

If I didn't get this load of BS, I probably wouldn't have posted at all about my email exchange with the Senator's office. But since I did get a steaming load...

Interesting Immigration Letter

I was advised recently by Brad Klopfenstein that he was taking a letter to US Senator Dick Lugar, regarding immigration reform. Here's the text:

Small Business Petition to Congress for Real Immigration Reform

Dear Senator Lugar:

We need immigration reform that will protect American jobs; will require all immigrants who are in the country illegally to register with the government, undergo background checks, study English, and pay taxes; enforce our laws and protect our borders; protect employers; and provide local governments with the funding and tools they need to implement comprehensive reform. Small businesses need immigration reform to do our part for economic recovery and to ensure a stable workforce for Indiana. We, the undersigned small businesses of Indiana, urge you to pass just and comprehensive immigration reform this year. We must prevent unscrupulous employers from exploiting undocumented workers and undercutting honest competition. We need you to move forward with a common sense solution that upholds our values of fairness and justice while securing the border, offering a
pathway to citizenship, and modernizing our immigration system.

The time for action is now.

I've long been of a mixed mind on this issue. At the core, I really want to see open borders. That's the idealist in me. But the realist keeps intervening.

It bothers me that non-citizens come into the country to frequently take jobs under the table, so they aren't paying taxes. Then, they often take advantage of services collectively provided for, such as schools or emergency rooms. I don't believe it just to provide services to non-citizens.

Could local employers not give jobs to illegal immigrants? Sure, but I understand why they do. The tax burden on employers is so high that they can pay someone off the books far more than they can someone on, and be money ahead. So, if they can pay an illegal way less than someone on the books, they get way ahead. There's the incentive for employers willing to take a risk. Those competitors not willing to risk running afoul of the law are at a comparative disadvantage.

So, the issue needs to be addressed. I'd like to see us get to where my own ideal can prevail, but we're giving away the store at a time when there's very little in the till anyhow.

Pence Has It Right

(Fishers, IN)- Here's something positive to note, in the dim bleakness that is our political landscape, from an AP article:

Indiana Rep. Mike Pence said Sunday that he opposed the financial industry rescue plan that the House is expected to vote on today.

"We now have a deal that promises to bring near-term stability to our financial turmoil, but at what price?" the Columbus Republican wrote in a statement to his colleagues Sunday. "Economic freedom means the freedom to succeed and the freedom to fail. The decision to give the federal government the ability to nationalize almost every bad mortgage in America interrupts this basic truth of our free-market economy."

It isn't just nationalization that is worrisome. It's that we can count on getting more of anything that is subsidized. We know that to be true by watching the subsidization of corn and ethanol. What are we subidizing with this bailout? Bad decision-making. If we prop it up, we tell lenders they don't have to be careful with extending credit. We tell borrowers they don't have to afford their mortgage payments. We tell all that someone else will deal with their messes. It's rotten policy.

So, freedom to fail is important. Bad decisions should fail. They shouldn't be rewarded.

Kudos and thanks to Mike Pence. Nice to see some rational thought eminating from our state every now and again.

Update: Doug Masson offers what he calls 'cynicism' in a comment, not believing that his stand is principled. I find this cynicism wholly reasonable, what with the general absense of principle in the Congress. Besides, news stories don't always pick up the whole thing, so I went to Pence's site for the whole statement. Here's what's pertinent for me:

Republicans improved this bill but it remains the largest corporate bailout in American history, forever changes the relationship between government and the financial sector, and passes the cost along to the American people. I cannot support it.

Before you vote, ask yourself why you came here and vote with courage and integrity to those principles.

If you came here because you believe in limited government and the freedom of the American marketplace, vote in accordance with those convictions.

Now I like Pence's statement even more. Sure, we'll never know what kind of horse trading takes place behind closed doors, but what the man put in black & white is exactly what I want to see and hear. Link to Pence's statement.

Democrats can oppose this bailout in accordance with their own stated principles as well. I'd really like to see it from one of Indiana's Congressional Democrats.