Indiana Democratic Party 3-12-16 Weekly Radio Address Podcast

Chairman John Zody and the Indiana Democratic Party’s 3-12-16 weekly radio address:  “How would a Hoosier sum up the 2016 General Assembly that just concluded Thursday night?  One word: FAILURE!”

TRANSCRIPT:

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

• How would a Hoosier sum up the 2016 General Assembly that just concluded Thursday night?

• One word: Failure. From refusing to support protections for LGBT Hoosiers, to ignoring public education, to not offering long-term solutions to fix the state’s crumbling infrastructure – Mike Pence and his Republican Statehouse failed the state of Indiana. It was only by taking Democratic ideas that a temporary fix to our state’s infrastructure was passed at all.

• After three years, Gov. Pence is finally listening to Democrats – but only in an attempt to salvage his re-election campaign.

• And what about his re-election campaign, and the Presidential race?

• Last fall, Donald Trump confessed on national television that he believed wages for the everyday American worker were too high.

• Does Governor Mike Pence agree with him? If you looked at Mike Pence’s record of attacking union workers and the state’s per capita income plummeting to 39th, down from 33rd in 2004, the answer would be “yes.”

• Mike Pence has a history of siding against the Hoosier worker, and it’s causing the state to fall behind the rest of the nation.

• Wages for Hoosiers have fallen from about $53,000 in 2000 to just under $47,000 in 2013. And just this last year, Governor Pence led the charge to repeal Indiana’s common construction wage law – including using money from his own campaign.

• Governor Mike Pence believes a low unemployment number is the ticket to re-election, but the fact is – wages continue to plummet and the Hoosier worker is falling behind the rest of the nation.

• As Donald Trump continues to lock up Republican primary races, many in Indiana’s GOP Congressional delegation remain silent on their potential endorsement of the frontrunner, including U.S. Representatives Marlin Stutzman and Todd Young.

• Does front-runner Marlin Stutzman and finger-pointing Todd Young formally endorse Trump’s candidacy?

• With both candidates putting their out-of-touch ideologies ahead of the state and even one candidate, Todd Young, relying on the establishment to bail him out after his failure to abide by state election laws, Hoosiers are developing informed opinions of Stutzman and Young.

• Hoosiers deserve to know who these individuals will support for President.

• So, it’s a simple question: do Marlin Stutzman and Todd Young endorse Donald Trump to be the Republican nominee for President of the United States?

• Hoosiers, 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 Baron Hill to the US Senate – 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 infrastructure, our education system, and for the overall well-being of Hoosiers.

• Thank you for listening.