Axios: National GOP eyes working-class future

ICYMI: Governor Eric Holcomb described minimum wage jobs as a “minimum expectation”, U.S. Senator Todd Young opposed to increasing the minimum wage

Washington Post: State and local GOP committees attack any Republicans who dare turn on Trump

INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana Democratic Party, the organization that advocates for the future of Indiana and its families, today chose to highlight the conundrum the Indiana Republican Party finds itself — torn between following the dangerous, anti-democracy Trumpism (branded as “working class”) or reverting back to the fictitious platform of “local control” or trimming the national debt, which the INGOP has all but abandoned. This very problem is why the INGOP finds itself in a long-term civil war — even top state Republican officials admitted it (see Thursday’s Howey Politics for the interview). 

Whichever path the Indiana Republican Party ultimately chooses, they will by default be viewed as hypocrites who only care about holding power, not improving the lives of Hoosiers families. This very fact is why voters are losing confidence in the INGOP, because they stand for absolutely nothing. 

Here’s how each scenario will play out, and here’s how the INGOP will be hypocrites: 

The INGOP decides to embrace Trumpism (branded as “working class”)

Job Creation

IndyStar: Indiana lost more ‘good’ jobs than it gained, study says

“The analysis, performed in conjunction with the Brookings Institution Metropolitan Policy Program and the American Enterprise Institute, indicates that Indiana added more than 181,000 new low-paying jobs during that time while losing nearly 104,000 middle-wage jobs.

Researchers said the loss of middle-wage jobs reduced Hoosiers chances of securing a “good job,” one that pays a family-sustaining wage and offers employer-sponsored health insurance.”

Minimum Wage

NWI Times: “What I don’t want people to be caught up in is tethered to some appeal to a minimum expectation of anything in their life.” – Governor Eric Holcomb

U.S. Senator Todd Young: “Great meeting with Rep @JoannaKing. As a small business owner, she informed me how raising the minimum wage would negatively impact growth and stunt job creation in her small business and those she represents in Elkhart County.”

The INGOP reverts back to a “local control”, “fiscal conservative” platform

Local Control

IndyStar: Business community criticizes lawmakers for ‘heavy handed’ bills targeting Indianapolis

“In a rare move, 65 business, religious and community leaders, have signed a letter criticizing Indiana lawmakers for repeatedly targeting Indianapolis with legislation that would strip control from city officials on everything from law enforcement and zoning to public transportation.” […]

“’A recent pattern of legislative proposals,’ they wrote, ‘attacks local control in ways that would slow our economic recovery and risk long-term progress on public safety.’

Republican lawmakers have introduced at least a dozen bills this legislative session that would take away control from local Indianapolis-area politicians, including bills making it challenging for the city to change its name, giving the state control of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department and seizing control when local prosecutors refuse to punish certain crimes, such as possession of marijuana.”

Fiscal Conservatism

Washington Post: Trump’s most enduring legacy could be the historic rise in the national debt

“The national debt has risen by almost $7.8 trillion during Trump’s time in office. That’s nearly twice as much as what Americans owe on student loans, car loans, credit cards and every other type of debt other than mortgages, combined, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. It amounts to about $23,500 in new federal debt for every person in the country.

The growth in the annual deficit under Trump ranks as the third-biggest increase, relative to the size of the economy, of any U.S. presidential administration, according to a calculation by Eugene Steuerle, co-founder of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center. And unlike George W. Bush and Abraham Lincoln, who oversaw the larger relative increases in deficits, Trump did not launch two foreign conflicts or have to pay for a civil war.”

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