I am Barry Welsh and I am running straight at Mr. Mike Pence, Indiana’s 6th District Congressman.
The most important part of this writing is this;
Shortly after 6:30 PM on May 2nd, I was called and told we had been declared the winner of our primary and there would be six debates in the fall. He pick three and I pick three, and we pick right then and there. I was on the road between County Party Headquarters when I got this call, but I picked job loss, education, and healthcare. No surprises there.
He picked IRAN, Immigration, and balancing the budget.
He knows Iran will be the topic of the fall.
So I said let’s start that debate now, and released this when a few words on IRAQ were requested:
barry,
pence told reporters that iraq would not hurt republican chances to keep the house this fall this begs for a comment. send some words.
Thanks
{name withheld}“Hoosiers are smarter than that, and so are most Americans. The comment that Iraq will not matter in the upcoming Congressional elections tell us a few things. First, how out of touch The Congressman is, even with die hard Indiana Republicans who are questioning the war in Iraq, second, how hard he is trying to sell the Bush Agenda to Hoosiers who have had enough, instead of working for the good of the people. Finally, we must ask if he knows we will be in war with Iran, without finishing Iraq, and he knows that is where the focus will be? Is he actually telling us in advance that it will be IRAN and not Iraq? That it is already planned as a way of distracting attention from all of the current problems, corruption, and upcoming elections?
War is not a game of ‘Battleship’ that you fold up at the end of a car trip. War should not be used as a political tool by parties trying to stay in power. This country has already seen what happens when we are lead into a war that was never necessary. We were fooled with Vietnam, and we were fooled with Iraq. I fear The Administration and those in lock-step with it, like The Congressman, who proves this with his statements, votes, and actions, want to lead us to war with Iran, while burdened with Iraq, for election purposes, without thought to American cost in lives lost and increased debt, and with total disregard to global consequences. If my fears are true, then an election is not a reason to go into an additional war.”
We went to war with Iraq because of WMD’s that Iraq said were not there, that the UN Inspectors said were not there, that American inspectors said were not there, and Congressman Pence declared from the floor of The House of Representatives he knew WERE there, and we expect IRAN to trust what this administration says? The time of credibility and meaningful diplomacy from this administration has passed. If we are forced into war with Iran or provoked, with an army already spread thin, then double the shame upon those that lead us to Iraq, and left us unprepared.
The Iraq War has brought the United States loss of life, loss of credibility worldwide, higher gas prices, never before seen National Debt, exposed torture and inhumanities, and what will War with Iran bring? War with China, who holds a majority of our debt? War with Russia who still hold Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles? If the reason for War with Iran is an Islamic Nation should not have an atomic bomb, then shouldn’t we be dealing with Pakistan, an Islamic Nation that Has atomic weapons? If an upcoming War with Iran is already a foregone conclusion, Congressman Pence needs to tell us the reasons why, and it should be now, not when it is convenient for election strategy.”
I know that is much more than you wanted or will be able to use, but it all needs to be said, and if he wants IRAN for his first debate topic, there is a reason for it, and let’s start that debate now, for the good of the world.
Barry
There has been no response from Mr. Pence on the President’s Immigration proposal, so we took the offensive and released this:
Indiana 6th District Congressional Challenger responds to The President’s Immigration Policy
As every one now knows, President Bush said he was going to order National Guard troops to the Southern border of the United States. At least the President is attempting to face this issue but his plan brings up some real concerns for myself as a potential Congressman, which I share with Homeland Security Czar Michael Chertoff. He expressed them best when interviewed by Fox News Bill O’Reilly in December of 2005:
O’Reilly asked, “Why don’t you put the National Guard on the border to back up the border patrol and stop the bleeding, and then start to increase the Border Patrol, the high-tech and all of that?”
Michael Chertoff, dismissed the idea out of hand. “Well, the National Guard is really, first of all, not trained for that mission,” Chertoff told O’Reilly. “I mean, the fact of the matter is the border is a special place. There are special challenges that are faced there.”Chertoff added that that it would take a huge number of National Guard troops, and that they would need new training.
But couldn’t the National Guard pull it off, O’Reilly asked?
“I think it would be a horribly over-expensive and very difficult way to manage this problem,” Chertoff said. “Unless you would be prepared to leave those people in the National Guard day and night for month after month after month, you would eventually have to come to grips with the challenge in a more comprehensive way.”
I agree with Mr. Chertoff, he is the Head of Homeland Security and should best know what will work. We need to know what this will cost, we need to know where these troops will come from, and we need to know how long they will be there. We also must ask, What impact will this have on recruitment, when we are in a war on terror? Our military is stressed with increased and multiple deployments. Is this really a solution, or an appeasement to a political constituency? Does this violate the Posse Comitatus Act?
President Bush admits his plan does not seal the borders. It may make entry more difficult in areas where troops are deployed, but it will not stop those that continue to come in illegally.
To stop that we must cut off the availability of jobs that make it desirable for people to take the risk of illegal entry. We must enforce our existing laws and punish those that break them, specifically those that employ illegal workers. If you take away the illegal jobs, you remove the motivation for breaking the law and crossing the border illegally. We must not discriminate against those here legally, but we must remove the incentive for any to come illegally. We must fight this at the source, and that is the employer. Unfortunately, most of those that employ non-documented workers are members of the same political party that is in control of all branches of government. Until the monopoly of single party domination changes, there is little hope for real answers to the multitude of problems our country’s citizens face. I hope you agree it is time for a change.
Barry Welsh
6th District Democratic Party Congressional Challenger
On Depleted Uranium; This recent diary is about Mr. Pence sweeping under the rug, yet another Bush issue. From Big Orange.
I am honored that I have been asked to sign a pledge to the most senior among us, by the United Senior Action of Indiana and Indiana Alliance for Retired Americans at a Monday Town Hall Meeting click to read the points of the pledge on our website.
Some more Positives;
Saturday June 3rd is The Indiana Democratic Party State Convention. There is going to be a meet and greet for me after the convention from 4 to 6 PM. It will be downtown Indianapolis but an exact location has not been finalized. This is being put on by Indiana for Democracy (the Indiana DFA group) and I want to let all of the Indiana blog community to know that they are invited and we can have a netroots table or two reserved if necessary.
Barry Welsh Indiana 6th District Democratic Party Congressional Candidate
