U.S. Congress - Indiana's 5th District
Incumbent: Dan Burton (R)
Challenger: Mary Etta Ruley (D)
The 5th district is my home district. It used to be the 6th district and it's been home for Dan Burton since 1982. I moved to the south side of Indianapolis in the summer of 1982. Dan Burton has been "my" congressman for most of my life (I lived in NJ for 18 months). The district includes most of the south side of Indy, the east suburbs, booming Hamilton County and meanders its way north and east to include the outskirts of the Fort Wayne area. It is another nice piece of gerrymandering by the state of Indiana.
Ah... Dan Burton... First off, I have to say that Danny has one of the better websites that I've seen thus far. It is interesting that he has a special section devoted to debunking the myths of Dan Burton. Kind of funny. While it seems clear to me that Dan does not write on his own blog, it is at least kept up-to-date. He voted against the bailout. His stance on the issues is not too different the other incumbent Republicans we viewed. I do give him trying to drive additional accountability in government spending. However, he is hawkish on defense and the "War on Terror". The "War on Drugs" also holds a special place in his heart.
Mary Etta Ruley is also no stranger to Washington. She has worked alongside members of Congress and the Executive Branch. On the plus side, she means well and she's not Dan Burton. However, she supports many of the Democratic policies that I just can't get along with. On one side, she wants to bring manufacturing jobs back to America which have been lost; but, on the other side, she wants to increase minimum wage and promote union membership. These are contradictory goals. It just does not work. She has a degree in economics and wants to promote math and science education, yet she supports the "windfall profits tax" and states clearly that health care is a "Right!" (her emphasis).
Oh boy... I can't believe I'm going to do this...
Endorsement: Burton
Prediction: Burton
4 comments:
Is the underlying message here that fiscal responsibility is more important than human rights or personal freedom? That's certainly a reasonable position to hold, I can't say I agree though.
No. That is not the underlying message. I apologize if that is the impression that I have given.
If those are my three choices, I would say that the order I would pick is human rights, then personal freedom and finally fiscal responsibility.
Personal freedom is very important to me - and I believe it to be a subset of human rights. Both candidates have positions which I believe infringe upon personal freedom. In fact, fiscal irresponsibility is also a violation of personal freedom.
I think that Ms. Ruley's approach to government will do more to harm this country than Mr. Burton. Without a third, fourth or fifth option, I'm set with Burton.
That's probably fair since I don't really know that much about Ruley. I guess just from the fact that your biggest objections were her support for labor unions and health care, I would support her over someone who wanted to put aircraft carriers “off the coast of Bolivia” (that wiki entry is hilarious btw).
Of more immediate importance is the lack of coverage on this blog for Independent Presidential candidate Jeffery “Jeff” Boss—as he is listed on the official New Jersey ballot, as a candidate for the “Vote Here” party. His most noteworthy viewpoints include his strong stances against Government corruption, the NSA, and lower-case letters.
I can't support people who don't support lower-case letters.
I totally hear you and consider this one a bit of a toss-up (and the 6th). Each of them has more cons than pros in their column. At the end of the day, my most immediate fear is the destruction of our economy. I give Burton the edge. I'm still not happy about it.
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