Due to your recent statements regarding being a fiscal conservative, rolling back farm subsidies, and a general need for transparency in politics, I am again calling for you to start telling the whole truth when you talk to voters. The voters deserve the rest of the story.
You have touted in multiple venues your vote to eliminate the 4-to-1 pension match that was previously available to Indiana legislators, which sounds very fiscally conservative on the surface. The problem is that the same bill that you reference created a 2-to-1 pension match, which is still a lot of taxpayer money, and also increased your base salary from $11,600 to $20,700 annually (instant 78 percent pay raise) plus per diems. The voters deserve the rest of the story.
During the time period from 2006-2008, while you were in the Indiana House of Representatives, you were also collecting a check for being former Congressman Mark Souder's special assistant. In addition to your self-allocated State of Indiana raise, you collected $31,083 in 2006, $32,013 in 2007, and $18,341 in 2008 in federal funds. This payment was for part-time work and at the taxpayers' expense, again. I bet a lot of local workers would jump at a part-time job that paid that well. The voters deserve the rest of the story.
The most shocking event came in the last couple of weeks.
Agriculture is the base business of our rural communities of northeastern Indiana. Farm subsidies are a necessary part of keeping food prices low and small farms in business. United States agriculture provides the food that sustains our nation and the world. As a local agriculture advocate, imagine my surprise when The Goshen News reported on your recent visit to the Goshen Rotary Club. Your remarks included, "I think it's time to get rid of farm subsidies. The subsidies only manipulate the market." Since you also state on your campaign website, "I would never support a federal bailout of a private business," the farm subsidy statement in Goshen fits your position. Again, the voters deserve the rest of the story.
As it turns out, through your co-ownership of Stutzman Farms in Indiana and Michigan, you have received nearly $1 million in subsidies over the past few years. Since you would never support a federal bailout of private business, does this mean you will not accept farm subsidies anymore? Since you state that you firmly believe in market principles when it comes to business, would our local farmers, who run privately owned operations, be left in the dust? The voters deserve the rest of the story.
As you have referenced in your speeches, politicians need to be open and transparent. It is time for you to start telling the voters the rest of the story, or they can just start following the money. The story will tell itself.
