Steele Announces Bid For Congress In Fifth District
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
David Steele, Democratic congressional candidate for the Fifth District, made a stop in Warsaw Thursday on his whistlestop tour of 20 counties.
"We have already given him the endorsement of the Fifth District," said Steve Haines, Kosciusko County Democratic chairman, "which is unusual but he's, as far as we're concerned, a far superior candidate."
Steele emphasized his "Five for Fifth" campaign during a meeting at the Kosciusko County Justice Building Thursday morning.
The five points he emphasizes are: superior schools, better infrastructure, stronger families, smarter government and brighter futures.
Noting that the kindergarten through 12 grade levels "are not doing so well," Steele said the federal government needs to set standards which are worked out by the public. The financial support for those standards should be worked out by those in Washington.
He also said some schools are doing very well but without proper funding and resources, they cannot keep up with the high ideals and goals they desire.
By shutting out some of the national, intellectual, and political resources, we have isolated some of the crisis areas, said Steele.
"We can't afford to let anybody say that, just by virtue of local control they are allowed to let their school systems fail," he said.
Steele also said infrastructure needs should be emphasized. He said many counties in Indiana have similar highway and water problems.
"We've not had somebody from the Indiana delegation on the transportation committee and that's tragic," he said, "I'm hopeful that Mr. Buyer is able to get us more funding this year, but it's going to be too little and too late as far as I'm concerned. And when we're done, we aren't going to be in a place of leadership like we should be."
"Family-friendly" policies that reflect the ideas and views of the Fifth District are vital to creating strong families, he said.
Trade agreements such as NAFTA have not reflected the best interest of families.
"We have to put a lot of emphasis on the issue of fair trade," said Steele, who believes more emphasis should be placed on how short-term decisions affect families in the Fifth District.
He believes NAFTA is "underwriting subhuman conditions elsewhere around the world and undermining our stability here in the country."
Steele intends to reject some of the traditional ways of casting debates. He believes the Democrats have been too easy in letting the other side dictate the terms of agreements.
It's important that terms are appropriate and reflect the values that are at stake, so people who vote are making "informed decisions" instead of "habitual decisions," he said.
"We (the Democratic Party) get pegged as advocating big government and the other side gets all kinds of credit for just downsizing and cutting services," he said. "And the fact of the matter is the real solution, and the solution that reflects the practical approach of the Fifth District is smarter government."
A smarter government, according to Steele, involves a different set of standards for communication within government as well as across the different levels.
Steele said he is representing a generation that views itself as disconnected from the government process. Because of that, they view the government with a lot of cynicism. He feels this generation should be worried about things like Social Security and Medicare.
But, he said, it's the way the government approaches these problems, in terms of values, that will make a difference in whether the people view government with cynicism or optimism.
Because of the high number of Republican voters in the district, Steele said winning the district would be a challenge. But Haines said that having Evan Bayh on the ticket will actually help Steele.
"Now there's two good reasons for crossing over," said Haines.
Steele said the Republican incumbent, Steve Buyer, hasn't distinguished himself. He also said the approach Buyer takes isn't representative of the typical voter in the Fifth District.
"It's not the way problems will be solved in Washington," he said.
Steele is currently administrator at Purdue University's Krannert School of Management. He has a master's degree from Notre Dame and a bachelors degree from Ashland University in Ohio.
He and his wife of nine years, Deborah, live in Logansport. [[In-content Ad]]
David Steele, Democratic congressional candidate for the Fifth District, made a stop in Warsaw Thursday on his whistlestop tour of 20 counties.
"We have already given him the endorsement of the Fifth District," said Steve Haines, Kosciusko County Democratic chairman, "which is unusual but he's, as far as we're concerned, a far superior candidate."
Steele emphasized his "Five for Fifth" campaign during a meeting at the Kosciusko County Justice Building Thursday morning.
The five points he emphasizes are: superior schools, better infrastructure, stronger families, smarter government and brighter futures.
Noting that the kindergarten through 12 grade levels "are not doing so well," Steele said the federal government needs to set standards which are worked out by the public. The financial support for those standards should be worked out by those in Washington.
He also said some schools are doing very well but without proper funding and resources, they cannot keep up with the high ideals and goals they desire.
By shutting out some of the national, intellectual, and political resources, we have isolated some of the crisis areas, said Steele.
"We can't afford to let anybody say that, just by virtue of local control they are allowed to let their school systems fail," he said.
Steele also said infrastructure needs should be emphasized. He said many counties in Indiana have similar highway and water problems.
"We've not had somebody from the Indiana delegation on the transportation committee and that's tragic," he said, "I'm hopeful that Mr. Buyer is able to get us more funding this year, but it's going to be too little and too late as far as I'm concerned. And when we're done, we aren't going to be in a place of leadership like we should be."
"Family-friendly" policies that reflect the ideas and views of the Fifth District are vital to creating strong families, he said.
Trade agreements such as NAFTA have not reflected the best interest of families.
"We have to put a lot of emphasis on the issue of fair trade," said Steele, who believes more emphasis should be placed on how short-term decisions affect families in the Fifth District.
He believes NAFTA is "underwriting subhuman conditions elsewhere around the world and undermining our stability here in the country."
Steele intends to reject some of the traditional ways of casting debates. He believes the Democrats have been too easy in letting the other side dictate the terms of agreements.
It's important that terms are appropriate and reflect the values that are at stake, so people who vote are making "informed decisions" instead of "habitual decisions," he said.
"We (the Democratic Party) get pegged as advocating big government and the other side gets all kinds of credit for just downsizing and cutting services," he said. "And the fact of the matter is the real solution, and the solution that reflects the practical approach of the Fifth District is smarter government."
A smarter government, according to Steele, involves a different set of standards for communication within government as well as across the different levels.
Steele said he is representing a generation that views itself as disconnected from the government process. Because of that, they view the government with a lot of cynicism. He feels this generation should be worried about things like Social Security and Medicare.
But, he said, it's the way the government approaches these problems, in terms of values, that will make a difference in whether the people view government with cynicism or optimism.
Because of the high number of Republican voters in the district, Steele said winning the district would be a challenge. But Haines said that having Evan Bayh on the ticket will actually help Steele.
"Now there's two good reasons for crossing over," said Haines.
Steele said the Republican incumbent, Steve Buyer, hasn't distinguished himself. He also said the approach Buyer takes isn't representative of the typical voter in the Fifth District.
"It's not the way problems will be solved in Washington," he said.
Steele is currently administrator at Purdue University's Krannert School of Management. He has a master's degree from Notre Dame and a bachelors degree from Ashland University in Ohio.
He and his wife of nine years, Deborah, live in Logansport. [[In-content Ad]]