The event is the culmination of nine months of traveling the state, listening to Hoosiers and soliciting ideas on how the United States Congress can better serve its constituents to get America back on track and Hoosiers back to work.

Along the way, Dan has met people like TK Herman, President of Aptera, Inc., who is concerned about the mandates imposed on his small business by ObamaCare. Dan also met with health care professionals in seven cities such as Seymour, Vincennes, Newburgh and Crown Point, to discuss the uncertainty faced by those in the health care profession.

In Fishers, Dan spoke to the employees of Sallie Mae who were sold out in order to pass ObamaCare and in Wabash he toured 5-Hour Energy and met with the entrepreneurs behind a product supplying hundreds of good-paying jobs for Hoosiers in Northern Indiana.

It is Dan’s record and the ideas and solutions he offered during these travels that earned him the endorsements of the U.S. and Indiana Chambers of Commerce, National and Indiana Right to Life, Citizens Against Government Waste, Business Industry PAC, National Federation of Independent Business and the Susan B. Anthony List. The Indianapolis Star, South Bend Tribune, NW Indiana Times and Lafayette Journal & Courier added their voices to the chorus of those endorsing Dan.

At the end of the day Hoosiers have a choice: continue the status quo of big government, higher taxes and more regulatory mandates or a senator committed to fiscal responsibility and lessening the burden felt on Hoosier job creators.

[Disclosure: Pete Seat is the Communications Director for the Coats for Senate campaign.]

Shapiro’s is a family-owned institution in Indianapolis with three locations in the metro area and a slogan Kevin Costner himself could have penned, “Cook good. Serve generously. Price modestly. People will come.” Since 1905, it’s been a must-stop for folks looking for a good lunch and candidates wanting to connect with voters.

Tomorrow, Dan and Marsha will vote at their local precinct at 9:30am and join supporters and fellow candidates at Union Station downtown to watch the returns.

[Disclosure: Pete Seat is the Communications Director for the Coats for Senate campaign.]

After calling-in to WOWO 1190AM in Fort Wayne this morning, Dan headed to Deister Machine Company to meet with employees and tour the facility. A photo is below.

Among the reasons employees at Deister are feeling uncertainty is the impact of ObamaCare on their future health care costs. Back in April, Dan released his Hoosier Health Care Plan to address these concerns by putting forward ten proposals to reduce costs, increase coverage and retain personal freedoms all without breaking the bank.

You can read the entire Hoosier Health Care Plan here.

Deister Machine Company

Deister Machine Company, Inc. started in 1912 when Emil Deister began building mining machinery, and separating and sizing equipment. Now, the third generation, present officers Irwin F. Deister, Jr., Chairman of the Board and E. Mark Deister, President, continue to build upon that legacy. They are a manufacturer of vibrating feeding, scalping and screening equipment designed to significantly increase efficiency and productivity within the crushed stone, sand and gravel, asphalt, coal, coke, slag and ore processing industries.

All Deister equipment is manufactured in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The original 1912 facility, a 5,500 square-foot plant, is still in active use amidst a total operation that today spans more than 315,000 square-feet.

Other Stops Today

Dan will also make stops in Berne and Portland today to meet with voters. In Berne he will visit The Gathering House and in Portland he will stop at Buffalo Wings and Rings for lunch.

[Disclosure: Pete Seat is the Communications Director for the Coats for Senate campaign.]

Dan Coats discussed the need to lessen this burden on America’s next generation during a visit with Indiana University students in Bloomington yesterday afternoon.

Earlier in the campaign, Dan released his Plan for America’s Fiscal Health which would help return our country to fiscal responsibility by reductions in spending, reforming entitlements and balancing the budget. In addition, Dan called for reform of the broken earmark process and the implementation of the Line Item Veto.

You can see the entire Plan for America’s Fiscal Health here.

Today

As he did prior to the Primary Election, Dan visited with voters and enjoyed a meal at Flap-Jacks in Avon this morning after appearing on radio programs across the state.

This sentiment was clear in the three U.S. Senate debates held over the past week. Dan shared his vision for the future – lower taxes, less regulation and reduced spending to get America back on track and Hoosiers back to work. At every turn, his opponent, incumbent Congressman Brad Ellsworth, instead focused on personal attacks and ignored his record of supporting the Obama-Pelosi agenda nearly 90 percent of the time.

One of the issues Dan is “on point” on is how we get our economy moving again. In early August, Dan unveiled his Plan for Economic Growth & Job Creation to reignite our economy and get Hoosiers back to work. His plan would oppose tax increases, reform the tax code, support small business & manufacturing and prioritize education and job training. Here’s a quick glance at the main parts of the plan:

· Fight Tax Increases

· Reform a complicated tax code

· Make the 2001 & 2003 bipartisan tax cuts permanent

· Repeal the estate tax

· Reduce regulations being placed on entrepreneurs

· Lift the burden of the costly, mandatory health spending bill

· Reduce the corporate tax rate to match industrially competitive countries

· Provide tax incentives to encourage businesses to return jobs to the U.S.

· Promote Flexibility in job training programs

· Encourage lower cost post-secondary educational options

Today’s Events

Dan will take a tour of Crane NSWC, have lunch with College Republicans at Indiana University, then take a tour and speak to employees at Overton & Sons Tool and Die in Mooresville.

Overton & Sons employs 60 people in Mooresville and another 30 in Franklin, Indiana. The company serves the automotive, energy, defense and safety industries, among others.

[Disclosure: Pete Seat is the Communications Director for the Coats for Senate campaign.]

CBS’ Mark Knoller noted yesterday that, “The National Debt stood at $10.626 trillion the day Mr. Obama was inaugurated. The Bureau of Public Debt reported today that the National Debt had hit an all time high of $13.665 trillion.”

• Congressman Ellsworth, after supporting 8,500 earmarks totaling $7.7 billion in a single bill and rubberstamping the highest deficits on record, how can you claim to be “very fiscally conservative?”

By the end of Obama’s first term, he will have piled on more debt than President George W. Bush did in his eight years in office, according to Knoller.

“The Administration has projected the National Debt will soar in Mr. Obama’s fourth year in office to nearly $16.5-trillion in 2012. That’s more than 100 percent of the value of the nation’s economy and $5.9-trillion above what it was his first day on the job,” Knoller wrote.

Back in July, Knoller reported the debt “doubling between now and 2020 when it’s forecast to hit over $26 trillion” due to the spending spree policies of Obama-Pelosi-Ellsworth.

[Disclosure: Pete Seat is the Communications Director for the Coats for Senate campaign.]

That ‘Summer of Recovery’ hasn’t panned out as the Vice President and Congressman Ellsworth promised.

On June 2, 2010, Charlie Rose asked Vice President Biden how he would “assess the success of the stimulus program in creating jobs first or in preventing more job loss?”  The Vice President went on to declare the stimulus “an absolute success” and claimed he was “right” in his created jobs predictions.  (Note: He was only 5.2 million jobs off.)

Channeling his inner-Biden, Congressman Ellsworth claimed the stimulus would “save or create an estimated 75,000 jobs in Indiana alone.”  (Mark Bennett, “Ellsworth Votes ‘Yes’ on Stimulus Bill.” The (Terre Haute, IN) Tribune Star, 2/13/09.)

Department of Labor data released on September 21, 2010, tells the real story.  Indiana has a net job loss of 34,100 jobs.  Hoosiers are experiencing a 109,100 job deficit based on the Obama-Biden-Pelosi agenda Congressman Ellsworth voted for on February 13, 2009.

When they are together in Washington DC today, Congressman Ellsworth and the Vice President might want to spend more time looking for the jobs they promised Hoosiers instead of lining their pockets with special interest money.

[Disclosure: Pete Seat is the Communications Director for the Coats for Senate campaign.]

Our economy has shed another 95,000 jobs keeping the unemployment rate at 9.6 percent and sending the broader underemployment rate – including those with part-time jobs seeking full-time employment and others who have given up altogether – up to 17.1 percent.

What’s even more troubling is our nation’s “jobless rate has now topped 9.5 percent for 14 straight months, the longest stretch since the 1930s.”

Washington’s spending spree habits have contributed to our perpetual jobless economy. A Monthly Budget Review by the Congressional Budget Office released yesterday reported that, “The 2010 deficit was the second-highest shortfall—and 2009 the highest—since 1945, relative to the size of the economy.”

Quoting the CBO as saying the rise in spending was “somewhat faster than in recent years” the Washington Times called the report “a stark evaluation at a time when President Obama and Congress are working to convince voters they are pursuing a fiscally frugal course in Washington.”

Considering this news, here are a few questions for incumbent Congressman Brad Ellsworth:

• Do you still believe the stimulus bill – which you supported – has helped revive the economy? Even the federal government’s own estimates say it hasn’t.
• The two highest deficit years on record were under your watch – how can you claim to be a fiscal conservative after passing the deficit-inflating legislation that caused this?

Coats on the Road

Dan Coats visited Evansville yesterday where he spoke at the Southeast Indiana Chamber of Commerce breakfast followed by greeting festival-goers at the Fall Festival. Today, Dan will give the keynote address at the 28^th Annual Meeting of the Hoosier Heartland Corridor in Huntington.

[Disclosure: Pete Seat is the Communications Director for the Coats for Senate campaign.]

You’ll recall last week incumbent Congressman Ellsworth made a charge that would be offensive if it wasn’t so laughable.  In an act of desperation, he tried to connect Dan Coats to the loss of over 800 jobs at a now shut-down automotive factory in Wabash.

The nonpartisan FactCheck.org analyzed the claim and came to a simple conclusion: false.  Here’s what they wrote (emphasis added):

In Indiana’s Senate race, Democratic Rep. Brad Ellsworth falsely alleged

that his Republican opponent Dan Coats was involved in the closing of an

automotive plant that left more than 800 people out of work.

So, the question is: will Congressman Ellsworth admit to knowingly spreading false information in an attempt to distract Hoosiers from his record of supporting higher deficits, more spending and job-killing liberal policies?

Associated Press on Ellsworth’s Failing Campaign

After spending a few days in Indiana, a national correspondent for the Associated Press had this to say about Congressman Ellsworth’s campaign:

Trailing in the polls and lacking money to sustain a television campaign,

Ellsworth’s bid to succeed retiring Sen. Evan Bayh hobbled through the

summer and, thus far, has failed to inspire enthusiasm with just five weeks

left before the election.

Jeffersonville Round-Up

Dan spent Friday in Jeffersonville touring Geo. Pfau & Sons as well as enjoying lunch at Tommy Lancaster’s in New Albany.  Talking to Louisville’s WAVE news, Dan discussed the importance of keeping the bipartisan 2001 and 2003 tax cuts in place and his opposition to the Obama-Pelosi health spending bill – which was dutifully supported by Congressman Ellsworth.

From WAVE:

In talking about potential tax hikes if those Bush-era cuts evaporate,

Coats says any tax hike for any income, “just stifles growth.  You’ve

got to lower taxes or assure people that their taxes aren’t going to go

up if you want to send signals that companies should expand and people

will have more spending money in their pocket so this idea of raising

taxes on anybody at this point and time is a failed policy,” Coats said.

Coats said he is adamantly against the new healthcare bill.

“I could not have supported that bill.  I’ve never been in favor of this one

size fits all, jam everything and 1/6 of the economy into one big piece of

legislation.  No one fully understands this thing and we are now learning

things about the bill that are posing new taxes and new regulations and

we’re talking about doctor shortages,” Coats said.

[Disclosure: Pete Seat is the Communications Director for the Coats for Senate campaign.]

This morning, the Dan Coats for Senate campaign launched a third television ad. ‘The Choice’ highlights Congressman Brad Ellsworth’s support for Washington’s pork-filled spending spree agenda – including the Fiscal Year 2009 omnibus bill with over 8,500 earmarks totaling $7.7 billion added spending on the backs of the next generation of Americans.

In contrast, The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste PAC announced their endorsement of Dan Coats citing him as a “principled advocate for lower taxes and smaller government.” They added, “On November 2, 2010, voters in Indiana should support these candidates so that they can fight for fiscally conservative principles that are vital to the taxpayers in the 112^th Congress.”

The contrast is clear: Dan Coats will work to reduce spending and lower taxes while Congressman Ellsworth rubberstamps the liberal Obama-Pelosi spending spree agenda.

[Disclosure: Pete Seat is the Communications Director for the Coats for Senate Campaign.]