Stutzman up and Coats hopefully out

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Indiana Senate race - Stutzman gets applause, Coats gets outed

ERICK ERICKSON SAYS:

The beat goes on folks.
Jim DeMint is coming out for Marlin Stutzman. This comes on the heels of Dave Keene of the American Conservative Union and Mark Levin. Conservatives are rallying to the Indiana state senator.

Here’s the thing: this endorsement puts Jim DeMint out on a limb and really at odds with his colleagues in the U.S. Senate Republican Conference, particularly coming on the heels of his support for Ken Buck in Colorado.

Helping get Marlin Stutzman elected now has a lot to do with sticking up for Jim DeMint. He is going to bat for real conservatives. His record proves it. We need to stand up with Jim DeMint.
Go Marlin.

CONSIDER GIVING THROUGH THE SENATE CONSERVATIVES FUND WEBSITE SO JIM DEMINT KNOWS YOU SUPPORT HIM IN THIS.

It has been more than a decade since Dan Coats left the United States Senate representing Indiana and moved to North Carolina to take up lobbying.

I’m finding in my conversations with people that many remember a different Dan Coats than who was actually there. The pro-life Senator was squishy on a lot of other things. In fact, Dan Coats is pretty bad on gun rights and recently renounced some of his old positions, while still trying to defend them with language used by Barack Obama on gang violence.

But what about a pretty good measure of those issues on which Dan Coats was bad to remind people of Indiana that they have a real choice and Marlin Stutzman really is to the right of Coats? It’s not a measure of the man, but of his votes — we all accept he is a fine man and a social conservative. But those are rarely the votes that matter these days.

Republicans think if they vote pro-life we’ll give them a pass on everything else. But we can’t. So what of Dan Coats on all the other issues?

Dick Lugar, Indiana’s other Republican senator is widely seen as a moderate — one of those centrist Republicans beloved by the Washington media. So how does Dan Coats stack up against Dick Lugar?
They served together in the Senate. How about this record I’ve got together on their votes? You might be stunned. From nuclear energy to federal regulation to taxes, Coats is to the left of Dick Lugar.
Think about that then think about supporting Marlin Stutzman. Remember, it is not enough that we restore the GOP to power if we don’t change the nature of the GOP.

The chart is below the fold. We’ll see if Indiana really remembers the man who left in Evan Bayh’s care so he could move to North Carolina.

Vote Description	Coats	Lugar	Date	Vote #
Mandate that all banks have Check cashing service for Govt checks	Yes	No	6/27/1990	130
Expand Clean Air Act Mandates	Yes	No	3/21/1990	37
Mandate taxpayer funded benefits for laid-off auto workers	Yes	No	9/24/1990	246
Cut Funding for MX Missile Program.	Yes	No	9/26/1991	208
Mandate that employers provide 12 weeks of family and medical leave.	Yes	No	10/2/1991	215
Allow employers to provide family and medical leave in a more flexible manner	No	Yes	10/2/1991	216
Bail out pensions when companies default on pension obligations.	Yes	No	11/19/1991	257
Federal Regulation of Cable Television industry	Yes	No	1/31/1992	14
Federal Regulation of natural gas pipeline rates	Yes	No	2/19/1992	22
Pro-growth tax cuts.	No	Yes	3/11/1992	39
Eliminate the 20% state matching requirement for transportation programs.	Yes	No	5/20/1992	101
Federal Regulation of Cable Television Industry	Yes	No	2/19/1992	22
$1B in social welfare spending and CDBG Grants	Yes	No	7/2/1992	146
Federally Mandated Family and Medical Leave Veto override	Yes	No	9/24/1992	232
Federal Regulation of Cable Television Industry Veto override	Yes	No	10/5/1992	264
Tax incentives for employers who provide family and medical leave.	No	Yes	2/3/1993	1
Allow employers to provide family medical leave as part of cafeteria plans	No	Yes	2/3/1993	4
Federally Mandated Family and Medical Leave	Yes	No	2/4/1993	11
Increase statute of limitations for lawsuits by RTC	Yes	No	5/13/1993	119
Defund unauthorized earmarks	No	Yes	7/29/1993	226
Cancel the Space Station	Yes	No	9/21/1993	272
Prohibit the death penalty for any crime committed by someone under 18	Yes	No	11/8/1993	358
Federal crime against carjacking	No	Yes	11/9/1993	361
Mandatory sentences for using firearms in commission of drug or violent crime	No	Yes	11/9/1993	362
Habeas Corpus Reform	No	Yes	11/17/1993	374
Expand Federal spending on unemployment benefits with phony offsets.	Yes	No	11/20/1993	392
Bankruptcy Reform.	No	Yes	4/20/1994	95
Offshore Drilling	No	Yes	5/18/1994	120
Mandatory minimums for violent crimes with guns and death penalty for murderers.	No	Yes	5/19/1994	126
To provide military retirees the same COLA made available to civilian retirees.	No	Yes	7/1/1994	182
Require payment of fair market value for mining patents.	No	Yes	8/8/1995	372
Allow seniors to choose their own doctor under Medicare.	No	Yes	10/26/1995	508
Increase taxes on hardrock mining.	Yes	No	10/27/1995	540
Nuclear Power	No	Yes	7/16/1996	193
Condition repeal of Cuba Sanctions upon a Democratically elected govt in Cuba	No	Yes	4/30/1996	91
Repeal Davis Bacon wage mandates	No	Yes	5/22/1996	134
Nuclear Power	No	Yes	7/31/1996	259
Increase grazing fees on Federal lands.	Yes	No	9/17/1996	291
Nuclear Power	No	Yes	4/10/1997	36
Nuclear Power	No	Yes	4/15/1997	42
Alexis Herman to be Secretary of Labor in Clinton Admin	Yes	No	4/30/1997	54
Allow state and local control of discipline in schools.	No	Yes	5/14/1997	64
Increase taxes on hardrock mining.	Yes	No	6/26/1997	131
Increase taxes on mining certain substances.	Yes	No	6/27/1997	158
5% increase in taxes on mining.	Yes	No	9/18/1997	249
Require a frivolous taxpayer funded study of former welfare recipients for the purpose of proving welfare reform was unfair. (Coats was the only Republican to vote yes)	Yes	No	3/3/1998	19
Personal retirement accounts in Social Security.	No	Yes	4/1/1998	56
Increase funding for Juvenile law enforcement and detention by reducing juvenile delinquency “prevention” programs.	No	Yes	7/22/1998	220
Make it a Federal crime to tape a phone call unless all parties gave prior consent	Yes	No	7/22/1998	225
Prohibit paying court appointed defense attorneys in capital cases more than defense attorneys in such cases	No	Yes	7/23/1998	230
Increase taxes on hardrock mining	Yes	No	9/15/1998	268
Ban credit cards for individuals under 21 (unless parents assumed liability) Yes             (Lugar no)