Opportunity Project of Indiana

While John Gizzi of Human Events is thinking that 2008 could be a repeat of 1974 for Congressional Republicans, George Witwer is thinking that ‘08 could turn out to be a statewide 1994. In ‘74 Republicans in Congress saw their numbers drop dramatically. The candidates that they ran for Congress in districts across the nation may have been good individuals, but they weren’t always the best individuals. In ‘94 of course Republicans, led by the brilliant Newt Gingrich, stormed Capitol Hill and gained a majority in the U.S. House.

George Witwer, as you may recall, ran as Stephen Goldsmith’s Lt. Gov. candidate in 1996. Mr. Witwer is also the founder and Chairman of the Opportunity Project of Indiana (OPI). The Opportunity Project focuses on electing conservative Republicans (emphasis on conservative) to state office in Indiana. For several years now they’ve not been as active as they were in the ’90s, however, as the stormy political climate in Indiana continues to rage and heat up, Mr. Witwer is dusting off the Opportunity Project and planning on playing a serious role in the ‘08 cycle.

A few weeks ago I had the chance to talk to Mr. Witwer about his plans for OPI and his thoughts about the upcoming election. He, like just about everyone else, thinks that property taxes will be the defining issue of the statewide ‘08 cycle. No, they are not the only issue, and may not be the most important issue, but they are a high profile example a broader problem of uncontrolled spending and government mismanagement. From school districts to the state budget, spending is on the rise, and now taxes are starting to catch up.

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Mr. Witwer emphasized the fact that property taxes prove that you don’t really own your home. Yes, you may have the deed to it, but if you happen to not pay your property taxes the government steps in and forcibly takes your home from you. While this fact has been true as long as we’ve had property taxes, the public is now realizing this fact more than ever before.

While we complain about property taxes rising, Mr. Witwer points out they’re rising to catch up with government spending. With the state spending money on health care programs and some education related items, and local governments spending money on new infrastructure and economic development projects, and school districts building palatial school buildings, no wonder our taxes have shot up. While it’s true that the state doesn’t get your property tax dollars, the fact that your property taxes have gone up to pay for local spending is a great lesson in what is going to happen, or may have already begun to happen, with state taxes and state spending.

When I asked Mr. Witwer about the marriage amendment and the role it would possibly play in House races, he said that it will no doubt be an issue that will motivate voters. With Pat Bauer so far going back on his word to allow a floor vote on the amendment, Republicans can strongly emphasis the fact that a House under Democratic control can only spend money and deny votes to legislation that a majority of Hoosiers support.

On the subject of illegal immigration Mr. Witwer pointed out how citizens have lost their trust in government to handle this issue. Although national borders are a federal issue, employer enforcement is something that can be done right here in Indiana. The people are unhappy about this, and conservatives have a chance to go out and talk about what they want to do to solve the problem.

With these three issues boiling right now, taxes and spending, social values, and immigration, OPI hopes to be able to encourage strong conservative Republican candidates to run in key House districts across the state. The OPI battle plan is fund and provide publicity support for conservative candidates who need help in winning tough races. In 2006 OPI endorsed Greg Walker in his race against Sen. Bob Garton. If ever there was an uphill race, that was one. OPI hopes to be able to help “outsider” candidates like Greg Walker defeat status-quo incumbents who have contributed to the current state of affairs even as they talk about solutions to the problems they helped create.