Feb. 3, 2010, 11:02 a.m.
By Greg Giroux
Roll Call Staff

Coats, who retired from the Senate in 1999 and was succeeded by Bayh, released a statement to the Indiana-based Howey Political Report that said he has “become increasingly alarmed and frustrated about the direction of our country and the failure by leaders in Washington to listen to those they were elected to represent.”

Coats, now a senior adviser with the firm King & Spalding, drew support for his Senate bid from Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), who had considered challenging Bayh but recently passed on the race.

“I am very excited about the possibility that former Senator Dan Coats may run for the United States Senate in 2010 and I sincerely hope he does it,” Pence said in a statement. “His integrity and conservative record would make him the ideal candidate for Hoosiers. If he runs, I will support him.”

Meanwhile, in a sign that Democrats are concerned about having another seat put into play this year, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee released a statement that attacked Coats as a “federally registered lobbyist whose client lists include banks, private equity firms, and defense contractors.” It also described him as “a Washington DC insider.”

Coats would become the instant frontrunner in a May 4 Republican primary that already has four candidates, including former Rep. John Hostettler and state Sen. Marlin Stutzman.

Coats has about two weeks to collect the signatures of 4,500 Indiana voters, including at least 500 in each of the state’s nine Congressional districts.

Call your Senators and Congressman to let them know your stance on Pres. Obama’s version of health care reform.

U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh (D)

Bayh’s position: Fiscally responsible health care reform that will not increase the federal deficit or raise taxes.

Let Sen. Bayh know he must take a firmer stance against the current House and Senate plans that are void of any bipartisan input or support.

Contact

• Send Sen. Bayh an Email
• Indianapolis Office
  Call (317) 554-0750
• Washington, D.C. Office
  Call (202) 224-5623

Suggested Statement

Please let Senator Bayh know that as a Hoosier I want my Senator to vote NO against President Obama’s Health Care Plan. The President’s plan is too costly, and I do not want the Government in control of my health care. Any of my personal health decisions need to be between my doctor, my family, and me.

U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar (R)

Lugar’s position: An ailing economy is the wrong time for costly health care remedies.

Let’s support Sen. Lugar in taking the right position against the Democrats’ health care cure-all.

Contact

• Send Sen. Lugar an Email
• Indianapolis Office
  Call (317) 226-5555
• Washington, D.C. Office
  Call (202) 224-4814

Suggested Statement

Please let Senator Lugar know that as a Hoosier I support my Senator’s stand against President Obama’s Health Care Plan. The President’s plan is too costly, and I do not want the Government in control of my health care. Any of my personal health decisions need to be between my doctor, my family, and me.

U.S. Rep. Mike Pence, Indiana 6th District (R)

Pence’s position: A government option that competes with private sector insurance could lead to socialized medicine.

Let’s support Congressman Pence in his position that health care reform is important, but the nation’s focus should be on jobs and the economy.

Contact

• Send Congressman Pence an Email
• Anderson Office
  Call (765) 640-2919
• Washington, D.C. Office
  Call (202) 225-3021

Suggested Statement

Please let Congressman Pence know that as a constituent of his district I support him in opposing President Obama’s Health Care Plan. The President’s plan is too costly, and I do not want the Government in control of my health care. Any of my personal health decisions need to be between my doctor, my family, and me.

Email for the Fastest Response

For the quickest response, please correspond with your Senators and Congressmen using email. Note that postal mail can take approximately 3-4 weeks for delivery, due to security procedures. Mail sent via Fed Ex, UPS or overnight delivery also requires security procedures and takes about five days to arrive.

In this 2003 sound clip, the then-New York senator opened up both barrels on supporters of President Bush as she affirmed her patriotism.

I am sick and tired of people who say that if you debate and you disagree with this administration somehow you’re not patriotic. And, we should stand up and say we are Americans, and we have a right to debate and disagree with any administration!

Hillary Clinton “Sick and Tired” [CLICK TO LISTEN]

You go, girl! Yes, this Republican web site just endorsed the words of a prominent Democrat on behalf of all Americans who want a voice in government. Who says Republicans can’t be bipartisan?

Meanwhile, a wide swath of Americans are taking a beating by mass media and and being vilified by liberals in government. For these taxpaying Americans who express their opposition at town hall meetings, they are referred to as swastika-carrying, well-organized mobsters and even political terrorists. They would have you believe patriots are, in fact, “Evilmongers” who remind you of Ku Klux Klansmen and white supremacists. And that’s just from elected leaders. The liberal blogs are ever harsher. You’d think their columnists were henchmen writing Communist propaganda in China.

In the case of Washington bureaucrats, how did these Americans — if you can call them that — ever get elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate by making such preposterous comments?

• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D)
• House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D)
• 9th District Indiana Congressman Baron Hill (D)
• Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D)
• 15th District Michigan Congressman John Dingell (D)

Some of these legislators’ comments have provoked real-life weirdos to stalk and make threatening phone calls to one Pennsylvania woman who politely spoke out this week to turncoat Republican-turned-Democrat Arlen Specter. Specter favors Obama’s health care plan and is feeling the heat from voters in his district.

As Americans give a thumbs-down to Obamacare, let’s take a moment to reflect on the shameful behavior of our elected officials and ask ourselves if our leaders truly representing us.

Could you please explain to your Republican constituents how your conscience could allow you to:

1. Be one of the first Republican Senators to pledge support for Judge Sonia “Wise Latina” Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court, despite her dodgy answers on abortion and gun rights during confirmation hearings? (7/17/2009)
2. Vote to extend federal hate-crimes protections to people attacked because of superficial circumstances of sexual orientation or gender? (7/16/2009)
3. Vote to nominate gun-control advocate and transnationalist Harold Koh, who once said our Constitutional right to bear arms is “needlessly provocative,” to be the State Department’s Legal Advisor? (6/25/2009)
4. Sing the praises of President Obama’s Cairo speech to the Muslim world, also known as the Obama Apology Tour? (6/5/2009)
5. Vote in support of the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP), which was the largest part of the U.S. government’s $700 billion bailout of financial firms and car companies? (Late 2008)

FYI: Senator, you are leaning a bit too far to the left lately, and it’s causing some concern among us Republicans.

Links

• 3 Senate Republicans Endorse Sotomayor
• Senate Extends Hate-Crime protections
• GOP Hold on Koh Confirmation Comes to an End
  
• Obama’s (Cairo) Response Has Its Critics, Defenders
• Delaying the Day of Reckoning (TARP)