Indiana Democratic Party 12-19-15 Podcast

Chairman John Zody and this week’s Indiana Democratic Party weekly radio address: “So after 149 (and counting) days of “studying” LGBT rights, as he says he’s doing, Mike Pence is still mulling over whether or not he would finally support LGBT rights.”

TRANSCRIPT:

This is Chairman John Zody, bringing you the weekly podcast for the Indiana Democratic Party.

This week, Hoosiers once again proved to Mike Pence that it’s time for him to set aside his ideology and solve one of today’s pressing problems facing Indiana.

A new Indy Star/Ball State poll this week showed that a whopping 70% of Hoosiers favor protections for the LGBT community.

Further, the business organization Indiana Competes announced their membership has reached more than 300 businesses that formally echo the call for across the board protections for LGBT Hoosiers.

There’s no sugarcoating just how out of touch Mike Pence truly is on LGBT rights. The governor is officially late to the game – once again.

Gov. Pence told the media this week he believed he “calmed the waters” since the RFRA mess this last spring.

Democrats, we know Mike Pence is wrong here, and all Hoosiers should be angry with our governor’s words.

Since RFRA was signed into law this, Indiana’s economy was thrown into a $250 million economic panic and while our state’s “Hoosier Hospitality” reputation was place in jeopardy.

Indiana became known as an unwelcoming state – all because Mike Pence put his ideology above the opportunity to lead our state into the future.

So after 149 days of “studying” LGBT rights, as he says he’s doing, Mike Pence is still mulling over whether or not he would finally support LGBT rights.

This is the kind of political gaming we see from ideologues – not governors.

But what was more telling was when Gov. Pence was asked if he thought he was an ideologue.

Instead of admitting the obvious, Governor Mike told the media that “didn’t focus a whole lot on labels” and certainly thought “name calling had no place in politics.”

And while that may be true, does Mike Pence forget that at a Values Voter Summit in Washington, D.C. in 2010, he preferred to be called and known as a “Christian, a Conservative, and a Republican” – in that order?

Those sound a lot like labels to me.

And finally, Indiana’s infrastructure continues to crumble as this week I-65 had to be reduced to a one-lane operation after a large two foot-by-two foot hole was found on yet another bridge.

Add this I-65 bridge crisis to the list of the glaring problems showing that Indiana’s D+ rated infrastructure is literally crumbling before the eyes of Hoosier motorists.

Problems like the large hole on another I-65 bridge put Hoosiers at risk, and all Mike Pence can do is come up with short-term funding solutions that don’t even go into effect until summer of 2016 – if approved by General Assembly in the first place.

Hoosiers want to see action now, and they are tired of Mike Pence playing political games with every problem facing the state.

It’s time Indiana has a new governor who will lead the state into the future instead of crumbling behind the rest of the nation.

Hoosiers, we can do better than having Mike Pence as our governor. This begins by electing Democrats who will bring forth commonsense ideas that would help lead Indiana our country into the future.

We deserve better than Mike Pence and Statehouse Republicans leading our state. We must come together and make sure we elect John Gregg Governor, that we elect a Democratic US Senator – people who will unite and improve the lives of all Hoosiers across Indiana – and we must return Glenda Ritz to the Superintendent’s office in 2016.

Until that time comes, Democrats in Indiana will continue to talk about ways in which we can do better for Indiana’s economy, our education system, and for the overall well-being of Hoosiers.

Thank you for listening.