Under the Radar - A Battle Between Myths and Facts

Did you know that there was a congressional debate here in Indiana this past week?  With all the hubub surrounding the Democrat National Convention, and then Senator McCain’s VP announcement, it was pretty easy for it to slip through the cracks.

But this past Thursday, Congressman Steve Buyer and challenger Nels Ackerson had a debate….the same night as Obama’s speech.  I wonder why Ackerson wasn’t with his fellow Democrats in Denver whooping it up and crying tears of joy at the very site of Obama?  Oh that’s right.  So he could spread falsehoods in a debate.  There were so many, the Buyer camp had to issue a lengthy press release just to clarify all of Akerson’s myths.

Buyer Campaign Sets Record Straight

Brownsburg, IN – Today Congressman Steve Buyer’s Campaign is setting the record straight on some of the distortions and inaccuracies that Nels Ackerson made against the Congressman’s record during Thursday’s night debate and at other appearances.

MYTH: Buyer has introduced his pro-drilling bill to benefit the oil companies and only for political purposes. Buyer has been in Congress for 16 years so why is he now just doing something about the energy crisis?

FACT:

Congressman Buyer has always supported drilling and incentives for alternative fuels and in fact:

· 91% of House Republicans have historically voted to increase the production of American-made oil and gas

· 86% of House Democrats have historically voted against increasing the production of American-made oil and gas.

· Oil price is largely a function of supply and demand. Most experts agree that if we increase supply here at home and increase our refinery capabilities consumers would benefit. Steve Buyer’s plan, H.R. 6001, is a comprehensive energy policy that includes drilling along with support for the research and development of additional alternative fuels like clean coal, ethanol, bio-fuels, and others.

· The Congressman’s opponent seems content to force Hoosier families and American families more broadly to pay higher gas prices.
· Buyer’s legacy of involvement in alternative fuels dates back to his earliest days in office. Steve Buyer was backing alternative fuels while his opponent was making millions as a Washington D.C. trial lawyer.

(There’s a very lengthy list of “facts” that Ackerson got wrong about Buyer after the leap)

MYTH: The Fourth District is 434th out of 435 in the amount of federal contracting dollars coming back to the district.

FACT:

· In typical Washington, DC trial lawyer fashion, Buyer’s opponent picks and chooses the information and then uses innuendo to create a false impression. He sought to confuse people that there is no difference between Federal contract dollars with Federal grant dollars. Congressman Buyer has a strong record of support for bringing funding to Indiana both individually and in bi-partisan cooperation with the other members of the Indiana delegation.

· Indiana’s fourth Congressional district, not counting the U.S. postal service, does not have a federal facilities i.e. military installations or federal research facilities. If Congressman Buyer’s opponent had lived in Indiana for the past 30 years he might better understand that many dollars go to businesses located near, but not in, the 4th district. As a large suburban and rural oriented district, the 4th district contains thousands of workers who live in the “donut” counties but work in manufacturing areas in Marion County. For instance, Buyer has been a strong supporter of defense funding which has benefited the employers of 4th district residents including Rolls Royce, Raytheon and Allison, as well as support for Crane Naval Warfare Center. It is obvious that Ackerson does not understand that Lilly is located in Lafayette and contracts with the VA as well as Medicare, Medicaid and community health centers for pharmaceutical. This season Panther Racing, which is headquartered within the district, partnered with the National Guard Bureau to sponsor the National Guard Car that competes in the Indy Racing League and was built in the Fourth Congressional District.

· In terms of research funding, Steve Buyer has been a strong supporter of Purdue and Indiana Universities, regularly meeting with university officials and soliciting support for their funding priorities. Both Purdue and IU have recently announced record funding levels for their research initiatives.

From the Aug. 4, 2008 Indianapolis Star – “Purdue University said today that it generated a record $333.4 million in sponsored research funding during the 2007-08 fiscal year, fueled by a 36 percent jump in research activity at Discovery Park.

Purdue posted solid funding increases from such federal agencies as the National Science Foundation, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the U.S. departments of Agriculture, Defense, Energy, and Health and Human Services. Industries, foundations and international institutions also played larger roles in growing Purdue’s research portfolio.

From a July 31st Indiana University press release - “BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Grants and awards to Indiana University for research and other sponsored programs increased 21 percent in the 2007-08 fiscal year to a record total of $525.3 million, IU President Michael A. McRobbie announced today (July 31).

Of that, $263.4 million came from federal sources, such as the National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation — a 25 percent increase over the previous year. That total was also a new record for IU.

McRobbie said these are remarkable achievements because competition for research funding, especially at the federal level, has been rapidly increasing over the past five years.

· Buyer’s opponent’s criticisms are the political fantasy of a desperate campaign, unsubstantiated by facts.

· Federal Assistance by Congressional District (Source: Office of Management and Budget)

4th CD of Indiana

FY 2006

$2.6 Billion in FY 2006

2006 Rank: 159 of 435

Top Recipients of Federal Assistance:

Purdue: $151M

Purdue Research Foundation: $6.4M

City of Lafayette: $4.9M

Veterans Hospital: $4.3M

CityBus: $3.2M

Grants and Cooperative Agreements: $386M

Crop Insurance: $288M

FY 2005

$2.4 Billion in FY 2005

2005 Rank: 158 of 435

Recipients of Federal Assistance:

Purdue: $144M

Purdue Research Foundation: $11M

Morgan County: $5.8M

Veterans Hospital: $5.0M

Grants and Cooperative Agreements: $370M

Crop Insurance: $244M

CONTRACTS IN 4th CD

CONTRACTS performed in FY 2007 in 4th CD

Total Dollars: $22.4 million

Rank: 380 of 435

No. of contractors: 121

Ie.: AMTRAN, Purdue, Eagle Creek Aviation etc.

Top Services: Passenger Air Charter, Engineering

CONTRACTS performed in FY 2006 in 4th CD

Total Dollars: $17M

Rank: 405 of 435

No. of contractors: 163

Including - Cook, Tyco, Bosma Industry for the Blind, Griffin Analytical, Purdue, FC Tucker

Top services for contracts:

Space Science, Aeronautics and Space Tech., Medical/Surgical Instruments

MYTH: Steve Buyer violated a pledge to term limit himself to six years when he first ran in 1992.

FACT:

· Buyer supported term limits and signed a term limits pledge to support legislation which would apply to all members of Congress and has voted in favor of term limits. The legislation failed due to lack of a constitutional majority. Congressman Buyer has never endorsed a unilateral term limit on himself which would not apply to all members.

· Congress is a seniority based system and state delegation’s power and influence is often ranked based on leadership positions and committee chairmanships held by its members. These appointments are based directly upon length of service in office. Any member who limits him or herself, while not limiting all members automatically ensures that the legislator will never rise to the senior leadership ranks of Congress, thereby diminishing that legislator’s effectiveness and his or her ability to advocate on equal terms for the constituents of the Congressional district.

MYTH: Buyer has not been fiscally responsible and is at fault for the large national debt.

FACT:

· Congressman Buyer has long been a supporter of fiscal responsibility and has voted against the last two Democrat budgets that would have created a $680 billion tax increase. These tax increases would have been the largest tax increases in American history. This translates to an average tax hike of more than $2700 for each Hoosier family.

· Buyer is also a co-sponsor of H.J. Res 1 which is an amendment to the Constitution of the United States that would require a balanced Federal budget. Before the attack on our county on September 11, 2001 Congressman Buyer voted numerous times for balanced budgets that led to hundreds of billions of dollars in surpluses.

· Buyer has received honors from the Indiana Chamber of Commerce for being a ‘Champion of Hoosier Business’ for reducing taxes and government waste and by the National Federation of Independent Businesses.

Myth: Congressman Buyer has voted 100% with the Bush Administration.

FACT:

· Buyer believes that his votes represent the beliefs and values that he shares with the people of the fourth district. He has voted against the Bush Administration policies on several occasions including recent legislation on blanket amnesty for illegal immigrants and by not backing the President’s veto of the Farm Bill.

· His opponent speaks glowingly of his bi-partisanship in an effort to cast a shadow over his lifetime of being a partisan Democrat. During the past decade, he has given thousands of dollars in partisan political campaign contributions – 100 percent of his political contributions have been to Democrats.

MYTH: Congressman Buyer went to Washington with the best of intentions but is now out of touch with people in Indiana.

FACT:

· Congressman Steve Buyer was born in Indiana, raised in the district he represents, raised his family here and returns to his home in Monticello every weekend.

· Buyer has a strong record of constituent service for citizens of the fourth district. He has been directly responsible for millions of dollars of economic development investments including the Ronald Reagan Parkway in Hendricks County, a sewer project in Crawfordsville, a water project in Linton, a water project in Martinsville, the East/West corridor in Johnson County, 6th Street project in Monticello, and the Hoosier Heartland Corridor in Tippecanoe County.

· Buyer’s office also provides services to constituents by holding hundreds of office hours with helpful case workers throughout the district and has hosted 105 Medicare forums that educate seniors about their Medicare choices.

· Buyer has also hosted seven Hoosier Job Fairs that have offered nearly 13,000 jobs and have had over 7,000 attendees. The first job fair was in Franklin, the second in Lafayette, the third in Bloomington, the fourth in Lafayette, the fifth in Bloomington, the sixth in Bedford, and the seventh in Avon. Buyer will be hosting his 8th job fair in Frankfort this September.

· Most recently, Buyer and his staff spent weeks in the flood ravaged areas of his district, helping to coordinate disaster response efforts, meeting with local officials and serving individual constituents.

MYTH: Steve Buyer has one of the worst voting attendance records of anyone in the Indiana Delegation.

FACT:

· Historically Congressman Buyer has over a 93.1% voting attendance rating since he has been in Congress. When Buyer has missed votes it has mostly been because of serious family medical issues or deaths, cancelled airline flights, or to attend his children’s school events.

· When Buyer was first elected to Congress he and his wife Joni decided that it was important for their children to grow up as they did here in Indiana. Since then the Congressman has returned to Indiana every weekend to be with his family and be an active parent within his community.

· During the debate, Congressman Buyer asked his opponent to apologize to his wife. While Buyer’s family situation is well known in the local community, Ackerson has only recently moved to Indiana and registered to vote in August of 2007. Prior to this year the last time he lived in the district was when he was a student at Purdue from the fall of 1963 to the fall of 1967. He does not own a home in the fourth district, and has been a longtime resident of Potomac, Maryland where he still has a homeowner’s deduction. The house in which is renting in Zionsville someone else is claiming it as a homeowners deduction. The Ackerson law firm is located in Washington, D.C. His gaffe is reflective of someone who has little or no knowledge of the district he seeks to represent and at this time he has not yet apologized to Joni Buyer for his insult.

This will be a living document and will be updated as Congressman Buyer’s opponent continues to make inaccurate statements and distortions about Buyer’s record.