Indiana Democratic Party 1-9-16 Weekly Radio Address

Chairman John Zody and the Indiana Democratic Party weekly radio address podcast:  “The truth is, educators and parents simply aren’t buying Mike Pence’s sudden about-face when it comes to school accountability – an about-face designed to save his career in an election year.”

TRANSCRIPT:

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

This week, Governor Mike Pence is trying to sell to Hoosiers the idea that he has long been concerned about the overall well-being of Indiana schools following the dramatic drop of ISTEP test scores across our state.

Just last November, Pence told Muncie teachers who were upset about the ISTEP scores to “not take it personally” when their jobs were potentially on the line.

This comes after Gov. Pence flip-flopped on the issue – where he previously advocated for school accountability to be tied to ISTEP scores.

The truth is, educators and parents simply aren’t buying Mike Pence’s sudden about-face when it comes to school accountability – an about-face designed to save his career in an election year.

The good news is — Glenda Ritz foresaw this problem and called for Indiana to move away from the one-size-fits-all, high stakes approach of the ISTEP+ testing system.

Mike Pence can’t save face on this issue and Hoosier parents and educators know who their real advocate on education is at the Statehouse: Glenda Ritz.

Also this week, Mike Pence chose to ignore LGBT rights when he revealed his upcoming legislative agenda to the media.

This move shouldn’t be considered shocking, as time and again Hoosiers know where Gov. Pence stands on issues most important to LGBT Hoosiers.

In fact, Mike Pence’s ‘study’ session last year should receive an ‘F’ grade after he chose to ignore LGBT rights and play the card of an ideologue – not the one of a governor.

Even as Indiana’s top businesses rejected the blatant discrimination against LGBT Hoosiers, Mike Pence still firmly believes that his out of touch ideology wasn’t what sent the state spiraling into a $250 million economic panic after he signed RFRA into law.

How many more times must Mike Pence put Indiana’s coveted ‘Hoosier Hospitality’ reputation in jeopardy?

Hoosiers deserve to have a governor who will restore the state’s welcoming reputation and use commonsense to solve today’s problems for them.

This governor will be John Gregg – who believes across the board protections are necessary to help lead Indiana into the future.

But before John Gregg is elected our governor, we must defeat Mike Pence – and he is going to have a lot of help from the Republican Governor’s Association and the Koch Brothers.

The latest example is this week when fundraising reports showed Mike Pence needed a last minute bailout from the RGA and the Koch Brothers – totaling $1.1 million.  

Taking away The RGA and Koch Brothers contributions, Mike Pence only raised $2.4 million. Four years ago, he raised $3.4 million.  

What that tells us is that Mike Pence’s support is weakening in large part due to RFRA and his out of touch ideology as governor.

Because he is so vulnerable, The RGA is trying to bail him out from Washington, D.C.

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 and 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.