We've enjoyed offering an independent look at Brad Ellsworth, but frankly, we're not impressed with what we've seen. We simply don't think he's the right man for the job. Therefore, we've decided to lend our support to his challenger, Greg Goode, and in so doing we will henceforth be contributing to Paint the 8th Red, a superb blog providing a look at the 8th district. Together we expect our voices to be magnified and offer you a one-stop shop for all the latest news regarding Indiana's 8th.

The Indy Star listed the federal requests from Congressman Ellsworth totaling $10.4 million plus $4 million in joint requests.

A question from one of our readers in Gibson County...asked if there was an earmark request for the Interstate 69 project.

EW has yet to find any such appropriation, but hopefully one of the local media outlets can find the answer to that question.

In a recent article in the Indianapolis Star, the amount of federal funding requests by Indiana's federal representatives was finally made public. While Congressman Visclosky and Burton were able to secure huge multi-million dollar requests in various House spending bills, the rest of Indiana's delegation was also quite successful in the "earmarking" process.

As EW has highlighted in the past, most of Indiana's delegation made campaign promises to publicize their "earmark" requests to shed light on this process. After all, the Democrat pledge of "changing the culture of Washington, DC" filled the air waves leading up to election day. Congressman Ellsworth was one of those individuals that has broke that promise and still refuses to make his request list public.

However, we have to give the Indy Star credit for the article, specifically one paragraph that highlights the problems surrounding the "earmark" process in the US Congress:

Although recent influence-peddling scandals have focused more attention on funding for special projects, the fundamental nature of earmarks hasn't changed. They are distributed based more on clout -- including lawmakers' committee assignments, whether their party is in the majority and whether they face a competitive re-election bid -- than on comparative merit. And those in the best position to get earmarks are magnets for campaign contributions

It looks like it is business as usual in the US Congress. So much for the "change" promises from the last election...

As the US Congress is in recess, the American public is continually losing faith in their federal representatives.

According to a new Gallup poll conducted on August 13-16th 2007, it was concluded that only 18% of Americans approve of the job Congress is doing.

Check out this interesting result from the poll:

The nine-point drop in Congress' job approval rating from last month to this month has come exclusively from Democrats and independents, with Democrats' ratings dropping 11 points (from 32% to 21%) and independents' ratings dropping 13 points (from 30% to 17%).

At the same time, the Gallup poll also shows President Bush currently has a 32% approval rating.

Can it get any worse for Democrats leading the US Congress?

According to the Greg Goode for Congress website, the GOP candidate attended the Owensville Watermelon Festival Parade in Gibson County and the "Ham and Jam" Festival in Sullivan County on Saturday, August 11th.

EW made inquiries to contacts that attended both events to see if Brad Ellsworth participated. The answer from numerous sources was NO!

According to the US House official calendar, August 6-31st is marked as a "District Work Period."

This coincides with a rumor that Mr. Ellsworth simply didn't show up for his scheduled appearance at the annual Boys State event in Terre Haute a couple months ago.

This all seems to be a common theme...

During the recent Congressional session there were 50 amendments offered to strip outrageous pork projects from the 2008 appropriations bills. The Club for Growth has compiled a RePORK Card of all members' votes on all 50 anti-pork amendments. The average Republican score was 43%. The average Democratic score was 2%. Indiana's own Brad Ellsworth scored an abysmal 0% and voted against every single amendment.

To follow up on the last post...

As we mentioned in late July, the US House passed its version of the Farm Bill and a last minute provision included a $10 billion tax increase on businesses.

During Congressman Ellsworth's recent tour of the Toyota plant in Princeton, he was quoted in saying,

It's important to know the needs of employees and executives of businesses in his district and visiting them gives him first-hand insight into their operations.

That's odd...Ellsworth voted "yes" for the Farm Bill, which included the tax increase that is essentially a "slap in the face" to foreign-owned companies operating in the US.

According to the House Republican Leader John Boehner;

The tax hike in the Democrats’ Farm Bill jeopardizes the jobs of millions of working families by driving American jobs out of the country. At a time when China, India and Russia are opening their doors to expand their economies and attract investment, these tax hikes send the signal to every potential investor in the global economy that it’s not worth the hassle to invest in America.

We wonder if the employees at Toyota were aware of this latest vote that makes it tougher for its company to do business in the US?

Last week, Terre Haute native Greg Goode traveled around Indiana's 8th congressional district in a brand new Toyota Tundra to announce his candidacy for US Congress. Goode proudly told his supporters that the truck was indeed built at the Toyota plant in Princeton and praised companies willing to invest capital in the 8th District, employing hard-working Hoosiers.

Ironically, Congressman Ellsworth initiated an "industry tour" throughout the 8th District that following Monday...and his first stop was the Toyota plant in Princeton. During the plant tour, Ellsworth also reminded the accompanying media that he indeed owns a Tundra as well...

Seriously, what's next? It's almost pathetic that Ellsworth is already following Goode's lead this early in the campaign.

Following the flurry of activity yesterday with the announcement of Greg Goode's candidacy, Congressman Brad Ellsworth released the following written statement to the media:

It is a long time between now and the election in November 2008. I wish him well in the primary season; I'm going to keep my focus on serving the people of the 8th District.

Seems interesting that Ellsworth is now being so cordial in the public eye...when it has been widely spread around Terre Haute that numerous calls had been made diswaying Goode from entering the race.

Well, we have 16 months to compare the candidates...it should be a fun ride!

I want to thank you for your gripping, lead story about the tombstone for "Shit Head" the dog in Union County. I was really worried that Greg Goode's announcement that he was seeking Indiana's 8th district congressional seat would overshadow the important news about "Shit Head". I know that the 8th congressional district in Indiana is expected to be one of the most-watched, most important and closest races in the country, and so an announcement like Goode's has the potential to crowd out other stories. Luckily for us, though, you kept Goode's nonsense to a short 10 second clip buried mid-way through the broadcast. Your journalistic integrity and impeccable wisdom made sure "Shit Head" the dog was covered much more in depth with an extensive lead story, and a full fledged reporter on the scene. Kudos to you, News 25, and please keep up the good work.

Well, it's official. Greg Goode formally announced his candidacy for Indiana's 8th congressional seat this morning to a packed room at the Centre in downtown Evansville.

Vanderburgh County Councilman Lloyd Winnecke introduced Goode as an "adopted son of our city" and praised his commitment to "common sense conservatism."

While noting displeasure in the direction of leadership of the US House of Representatives, Goode often emphasized his past congressional experience working on transportation and energy policy.

Goode spoke for about 15 minutes and closed with this...

President Reagan often referred to this country as a "Shining City on a Hill" on which all eyes from the nations of this planet - our friends and enemies - cast their gaze. We owe it to President Reagan, to the generations of Americans who precede us and the generations to come, to stand firm with faith, optimism, and courage.

More coverage to come...

Last Friday, the US House of Representatives passed a $286 billion, five-year farm bill that includes a provision, at labor unions request, that will cost Hoosier taxpayers over $100 million thereby making Indiana continue a failed program to help the needy. According to critics, the bill is less about agriculture programs and conservation as only 11% of the bills funds goes to agriculture programs and more about raising taxes on businesses to support increases in the food stamps program.

Here is what Indiana Congressman Steve Buyer had to say about the passage of the bill in a press release;

In a highly unusual and heavy handed procedural move after the bill left the House Agriculture Committee, language was inserted in the bill which included a $10 billion tax increase on businesses.

"The past several farm bills that I have been involved in were bipartisan and focused on the family farmer. I represent so many in the agriculture community who work hard and help provide for our nation's national security with a safe and plentiful supply of food," Buyer said. "It is unfortunate that a process which began in a bipartisan effort ended with language inserted for labor unions and a tax increase on business inserted in the dark of night."

A highly partisan measure was included in the bill that would cost Indiana over $100 million by not allowing states, like Indiana, to continue with their federally approved plans to modernize their Food Stamp program. The language in the bill hurtful to Indiana was included at the behest of labor unions who say that states like Indiana, who contract with private entities to help implement the food stamp program, are a threat to union membership.

"When Governor Mitch Daniels came into office the State's administration of child welfare programs was in disrepair. It had the most child deaths in the foster care system and ranked last in reducing its welfare caseloads. The Food Stamp program was a paper process and provided poor service. These are not proud achievements by any measure," Buyer said.

Governor Daniels worked to improve the services to needy Hoosiers and the State's plan has been approved by HHS and USDA and is in implementation. The current Welfare system is almost completely paper-based providing poor service and in need of modernization.

During consideration by the House Agriculture Committee, an amendment was proposed to the Nutrition Title by two members of the Indiana delegation but it was drafted in such a way that it would not have aided Indiana's efforts to improve the Food Stamp Program. The amendment offered by Rep. Donnelly and Rep. Ellsworth was not supported by the governor of Indiana.

"The standards set forth in the amendment were so onerous that Indiana could not have met them therefore the amendment would not have helped Indiana. It would not have alleviated the $100 million cost to taxpayers. It was a throw-away amendment. In short the amendment helped union bosses but hurt Indiana taxpayers. The amendment put the face of the unions ahead of the faces of needy families who need food stamps," Buyer said.

"Despite the benefits that this bill has for our farmers, I cannot vote for a provision that hurts Indiana welfare modernization efforts and brings a cost of over $100 million to Hoosiers. Nor, can I support a $10 billion tax increase that was inserted behind closed doors. It is bad policy. The farm bill should take on a new name since only 11% of its funding actual goes to farmers while 66% is spent on the nutrition title and the remainder to renewable fuels and other programs," Buyer commented.

EW is hearing rumors this morning that Terre Haute native, Greg Goode will be announcing his candidacy for US Congress on August 1st. More details to come...

As you've undoubtedly heard, Democratic leaders in the US House are working to push through a provision in the farm bill that would cost the state of Indiana millions of dollars. The provision would effectively shut down the progress that Indiana has made in modernizing the system of welfare and food stamps by making contracts such as the deal with IBM illegal. If Democrats are successful, Indiana would have to cancel a 1.1 billion dollar contract and lose 1,000 jobs in the process.

If you are under the impression that EW is simply exaggerating, check out the Wall Street Journal article that explains how unions are once again flexing their muscle in the US House.

It should be noted that Indiana's Joe Donnelly and Brad Ellsworth tried to pass an exemption for the state of Indiana. Unfortunately, the Democratic leadership (that was elected by Joe & Brad) did not listen.

For the past several months, interns and legislative staff on the Hill have been clamoring to make The Hill's "50 Most Beautiful People on Capitol Hill." While 90% of those featured on this notorious list of socialites are young staffers, few Members actually make the cut...

But of course, Indiana's own Brad Ellsworth was voted #1.

Nice to see our congressman is making headlines in the nation's capitol...