Archives for October 2016

The corn-based ethanol industry supports more than 25,000 Hoosier jobs. But Congressman Todd Young has consistently voted to gut Indiana’s ethanol industry.

Young co-sponsored a bill—the Repeal Ethanol Subsidies Today Act—that would eliminate the ethanol subsidies that support those Hoosier jobs.

Young voted multiple times to repeal ethanol tax credits and weaken or even eliminate the Renewable Fuel Standard, which requires a certain amount of ethanol mixed into regular gasoline and is responsible for tens of thousands of jobs in Indiana.

Indiana is the fourth largest ethanol producer in the United States and the ethanol industry is responsible for generating nearly $1 billion in the state. But Hoosier farmers can’t trust Todd Young to support it.

BACKGROUND:

ETHANOL PLANTS CREATE AROUND 25,000 JOBS IN INDIANA

Ethanol Plants Created Around 25,350 Jobs In Indiana. [Renewable Fuels Association, 2/21/13]

BUT TODD YOUNG HAS REPEATEDLY SUPPORTED AND VOTED FOR EFFORTS TO REPEAL SUPPORT FOR ETHANOL AND INDIANA CORN FARMERS

Todd Young Co-Sponsored Repeal Ethanol Subsidies Today Act of 2011.  [H.R. 1188, Accessed10/3/16]

Lead Sponsor Of Todd Young’s Repeal Ethanol Subsidies Today Act: “Congress Should Do Everything In Its Power To Eliminate Wasteful And Duplicative Programs” Like Ethanol Subsidies.” According to Congressman Lance: “In light of our Nation’s current fiscal challenges I believe Congress should do everything in its power to eliminate wasteful and duplicative programs that unnecessarily cost U.S. taxpayers billions each year,” Lance said.  [Congressman Lance, Press Release,4/19/11]

AND REPEATEDLY TRIED TO WEAKEN THE RENEWABLE FUEL STANDARD THAT HELPS INDIANA CORN AND ETHANOL

Todd Young Co-Sponsored Bill “Which Eliminates Corn-Based Ethanol Requirements, Caps The Amount Of Ethanol That Can Be Blended Into Conventional Gasoline At 10 Percent.”  According to Agri-Pulse: In April 2013, the four lawmakers introduced H.R. 1462, the RFS Reform Act, which eliminates corn-based ethanol requirements, caps the amount of ethanol that can be blended into conventional gasoline at 10 percent, and requires the EPA to set cellulosic biofuels levels at production levels.”  [H.R. 1462, 4/12/13; Agri-Pulse, 5/29/14]

Young: “I Am Cognizant Of The Difficult Long-Term Planning So Many Hoosiers Farmers Must Undertake Each Season. Such Planning Efforts Are, In Part, Made Difficult Through The EPAs Continual Delays And Changes To The RFS Requirements.” In a response to an April 2016 Indiana Corn Growers Association questionnaire, Congressman Todd Young wrote, “I am cognizant of the difficult, long-term planning so many Hoosiers farmers must undertake each season. Such planning efforts are, in part, made difficult through the EPAs continual delays and changes to the RFS requirements.” [Indiana Corn Growers Association, 4/25/16]

– Young: “I Promise To Work To Instill Free Market Principles In The Renewable Fuels Sector That Allows This Vibrant Industry To Operate Efficiently And Effectively Without The Need For Government Mandates And Market Distorting Subsidies.”In a response to an April 2016 Indiana Corn Growers Association questionnaire, Congressman Todd Young wrote, “I promise to work to instill free market principles in the renewable fuels sector that allows this vibrant industry to operate efficiently and effectively without the need for government mandates and market distorting subsidies.” [Indiana Corn Growers Association, 4/25/16]

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Tonight, Congressman Todd Young claimed “politicians forget who they work for.” But his record suggests that he does.

– Will he remember the 1,400 workers at United Technologies’ Carrier facility, who were told in February that their jobs were being sent to Mexico? Because he took a campaign contribution from Carrier’s parent company after the layoffs were announced.

– Will he remember the more than 20,000 Hoosier workers who participated in the Trade Adjustment Assistance program since he was elected? Because he voted against and claimed to be “philosophically opposed” to the program that provided job training and assistance to workers whose jobs had been shipped overseas due to trade.

– Will he remember the 1,200 workers at Evansville’s Whirlpool plant whose jobs were sent to Mexico? Because just a month before, Young praised trade with Mexico.

– Will he remember the 765 auto workers at Marujun whose jobs were sent to Japan? Because just days before their layoffs were announced, Young, a “vocal supporter” of TPP Fast-Track, voted to approve Fast-Track authority for the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

– Will he remember the 23,000 Hoosier workers who were furloughed during the 2013 government shutdown? Because while those Hoosiers—including defense workers and veterans—were either not working or working without pay, Young quietly took his paycheck for the shutdown.

– Will he remember Indiana’s more than 25,000 workers in the Ethanol industry? Because he co-sponsored a bill to repeal the subsidies supporting their jobs and voted multiple times to end the Renewable Fuel Standard.

– Will he remember Indiana’s 100,000 auto jobs? Because he wanted to let the industry go “belly up,” and called the rescue that saved these Hoosier jobs “a waste.”

– Will he remember Indiana’s college students? Because he wrote a plan that would explode their student debt by nearly $6,000.

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INDIANAPOLIS – Eric Holcomb has been hiding after Rexnord announced that more than 350 Hoosier jobs would be shipped to Mexico. In fact, it appears that Holcomb would rather not talk about it at all. Eric Holcomb was supposed to attend a groundbreaking announcement today – but flaked at a last moment’s notice.

Why is Eric Holcomb hiding?

“It’s no coincidence Eric Holcomb has chosen to be quiet following the Rexnord announcement as he was a part of the team that shrugged to Carrier when it shipped more than 1,400 jobs to Mexico,” said Drew Anderson, communications director. “Hoosiers are fed up with seeing their high-wage jobs being replaced with lower pay jobs that make them work more for less. Eric Holcomb refuses to admit that he’s a part of the problem that’s been driving Hoosier wages down in the last four years.”

Earlier this year, Carrier workers were blindsided when their employer decided to ship their jobs overseas. Aside from their choice to not meet with workers, what was Mike Pence and Eric Holcomb’s response? A shrug. Eric Holcomb went even further and said, “There is nothing that Indiana could have done to keep those jobs.”

But you’re wrong, Eric. Union workers across the state have protested that the Pence-Holcomb Administration could have done more to help. Earlier this month, the AFL-CIO launched a “Protect Hoosier Jobs” tour where they highlighted how the state could have held Carrier accountable for abandoning its workers instead of blaming the federal government.

WISH: “Holcomb blamed for losing Carrier jobs to Mexico”

“The AFL-CIO is supporting Democrat John Gregg in the race for governor and it’s blaming Republican Eric Holcomb for the loss of Carrier jobs because, it said Holcomb supports the Mike Pence policies that led to the job shift.” […]

“AFL-CIO President Brett Voorhies complained that the Pence administration gave incentives to Carrier and failed to recover all of them when the company decided to leave.

‘The Pence/Holcomb…that’s all they did,’ he said, ‘is just basically shrug their shoulders, you know, sorry we can’t get ya a deal, bye bye, you’re going on to Mexico.’”

NWI Times: “Unions launch campaign to defeat Holcomb”

“The Indiana State AFL-CIO kicked off a Protect Hoosier Jobs tour at Laborers’ Local 41 headquarters on Tuesday, aimed at defeating what it calls the “Pence-Holcomb agenda.”

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Congressman Todd Young has spent his last six years as a Washington insider putting himself and the special interests first, all at the expense of Hoosier families. He’ll have a lot to defend tomorrow night, but here are the top 10 questions on his anti-Hoosier record he needs to answer:

1. Does Congressman Young still believe that Social Security is a “Ponzi” scheme and that Medicare relied on by 1.1 million Hoosiers is simply “welfare”?

2. Does Young stand by his plan that would turn Medicare into a voucher program and increase health care costs for Hoosier seniors by an average of $6,400 a year?

3. What would Todd Young say to the 1,400 Carrier workers whose jobs were shipped to Mexico and are now eligible for Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) funding – after he voted against the program and was “philosophically opposed” to said benefits?

4. Does Congressman Young still think the auto rescue was “a waste” and that the industry should have gone “belly up”?

5. Why did Congressman Young rail against the use of taxpayer-funded political mailers in 2010, but now has spent more than $600,000 on these very same mailings, more than anyone else in the Indiana Congressional delegation?

6. Does Todd Young still support tax breaks for companies that ship Hoosier jobs overseas?

7. How does Young account for his campaign’s fine after accepting nearly $100,000 in prohibited donations?

8. How would Congressman Young explain to Indiana corn farmers his staunch opposition to ethanol tax credits, despite the fact ethanol supports 25,000 Hoosier jobs?

9. Why won’t Todd Young renounce Donald Trump, when his Republican colleagues from Sen. McCain to Sen. Ayotte have already rescinded their support?

10. What would Congressman Young say to Hoosier students after he voted to take away Pell grant funding?

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INDIANAPOLIS – Ahead of today’s manufacturing forum in Kokomo, will Eric Holcomb admit to workers in Kokomo that he adamantly opposed the auto rescue – a rescue that saved nearly 100,000 Hoosier jobs? Holcomb, in fact, supported Richard Mourdock’s lawsuit against the rescue, saying “this is what real leadership looks like.”

Tell that to the hardworking Hoosier middle class.

“Hoosiers needed leadership during the Great Recession, and Eric Holcomb left them to fend for themselves. Holcomb didn’t just support Richard Mourdock’s lawsuit against the auto rescue, he advocated against the 100,000 jobs that were on the line in the state,” said Drew Anderson, communications director. “The fact is, Eric Holcomb sided with an ideologue like Richard Mourdock instead of advocating for the Hoosier middle class.”
BACKGROUND INFORMATION: WITH 100,000 JOBS ON THE LINE, ERIC HOLCOMB AGREED WITH RICHARD MOURDOCK’S LAWSUIT AGAINST THE AUTO RESCUE

Holcomb Defended Richard Mourdock’s Law Suit Against The Auto Rescue, Said Suit Was “About Standing Up For The Rule Of Law.” According to a Mourdock Campaign Release, “Eric Holcomb, Chairman of the Indiana Republican Party commented, ‘This was about standing up for the rule of law and having the character to do so. As Governor Daniels has said in interviews and in his book, Richard Mourdock showed us what real leadership looks like.” [Mourdock Campaign Release, 10/2/12]

• Mourdock Said Auto Rescue Was “Illegal.” An October 2010 op-ed in the South Bend Tribune said: “By any traditional legal analysis, fundamental elements of the Obama administration’s Chrysler bankruptcy plan were illegal. It turned 200 years of U.S. bankruptcy law on its head by awarding more value to a select group of unsecured creditors than to secured creditors. Others are apparently willing to tolerate the violation of federal bankruptcy laws simply because they liked the result: It helped their friends. But most Americans, including the Hoosier retirees who had their property stolen away, see such picking and choosing by the federal government as fundamentally un-American.” [South Bend Tribune, Mourdock Op-Ed, 10/9/10]

Without Auto Rescue, 100,000 Hoosier Jobs Would Have Been Lost

Indiana Would Have Lost Nearly 100,000 Jobs Without The Auto Rescue. According to the Center for Automotive Research, failure to implement the auto rescue would have meant 95,709 jobs in Indiana would have been lost. [Center for Automotive Research, 5/26/09]

• Mourdock Challenge Endangered 100,000 Indiana Jobs. The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette reported, “More than 1 million U.S. jobs – and more than 100,000 in Indiana – are riding on whether the bankruptcies of Chrysler LLC and General Motors Corp. are quick and orderly, according to a prominent research center’s study. But if Indiana Treasurer Richard Mourdock is successful in stopping the proposed sale of Chrysler – in which state bondholders would take a $6 million loss – it could drag out that bankruptcy and convince some GM bondholders to do likewise, experts said.” [Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, 6/9/09]
• Colwell Column: “No State, Other Than Michigan And Ohio, Benefitted More Than Indiana From The Successful Effort To Save The American Auto Industry.” According to South Bend Tribune communist Jack Colwell, “No state, other than Michigan and Ohio, benefited more than Indiana from the successful effort to save the American auto industry. Yet some Hoosier politicians, knowing better but shamelessly seeking to take advantage of voter dislike of anything termed ‘bailout,’ claim that the decisive, successful government effort to save General Motors and Chrysler was neither successful nor needed. Chrysler, rather than liquidating and sending the unemployment rate in the Kokomo area to higher than 20 percent, adds jobs and announces investments there. The still-too-high rate there is dropping, down from 12.6 percent a year ago to 11.7 percent, not much above Indiana’s statewide rate.” [South Bend Tribune, Column, 10/3/10]