Letter: Hold politicians responsible for their decisions instead of finding others to blame

It was recently written by our Republican State Treasurer, “These Hoosiers don’t have a lobbyist in Washington. They don’t have a seat at the table when a $33 billion deal gets signed.”

Republicans have been the majority party in Indiana for more than a couple of decades. Any problems we have are the fault of their regulations, legislation, or lack thereof.

A few years ago, the Republican Party’s strategy for addressing a problem was to “blame up” until they hit a democrat to pin it on. 

However, republicans are the majority party in many of our local, county, and state governments, including our federal representation. They have been for decades. Unfortunately for that strategy, they now have the Presidency.

So, what does the author do when there are no democrats to blame? He blames lobbyists.

This is a deliberate misdirection. Ask yourself, “How do lobbyists do their job? Who are they convincing? Who do they have access to that we don’t?”

The author is right, Hoosiers don’t have lobbyists. We elect senators and representatives to be our proxies and to lobby on our behalf. We elect mayors, councilpersons, and commissioners to protect our community and have our backs.

The author blames lobbyists, but conveniently fails to mention who really failed us, the politicians who hold office. That is who the lobbyist is convincing. That is who the lobbyist has access to that we don’t. And, from where I sit, that is Republican all the way up.

The author opines, “[The farmer] cannot afford to have his power bill become a political statement.”

Truthfully, it is his party that cannot afford to have power bills become a political statement.

It has got to be tough for republicans complaining about the state of our state when they are who put us here.

Dennis Tedrow
Dubois County Democratic Party Chairman