My name is
Barry Welsh and I am the Democratic Congressional Candidate in Indiana's 6th District. I am running against Mike Pence.
First, I had an interview this morning with Jason DeParle of the New York Times.
Last night I was honored to be a Co-Keynote Speaker with Baron Hill (IN-09) at the Bartholomew County, Indiana, Jefferson Jackson Dinner.
It was the second time in five days that former Congressman Hill and I have shared a stage. Baron and I do not agree on all things. But as was said "We will both stand up to Bush, and you cannot say that about the two Mike's." (Pence and Sodrell)
More below
I spoke first and among other things said:
We should have never been distracted from those that wish to do as harm by Iraq.
We were lied to, we were mislead, and the military continues to be misused and mislead, all the while veterans benefits are cut, and enlistment requirements are lowered to try to find replacements.
They call me someone that wants to "Cut and Run" because I call for redeployment. I call them, people who want to "Stay and Sink" because that is all we are doing in Iraq.
I have been using "Stay and Sink" to counter "Cut and Run" and it is working. I asked the crowd if that is not what they thought was happening in Iraq, and it was met with silence. They were thinking about it, and then they started nodding.
I finished my talk, and Baron began.
He told us how I was right and that the administration lied to all of us, and went on to tell how he was not told the truth to get his vote for the war. He said he was not where I was yet and ready to redeploy, he was close, and thought by election time more and more would be agreeing with me.
We cannot stay and sink in Iraq.
I am running against Mike Pence, chair of the Republican Study Committee who is going to run for President in 2008. He is trying to gain national attention with his Immigration Plan.
Here is my response:
I do not support Mr. Pence's immigration plan. His plan gives a blanket
amnesty to those that entice illegal immigrants with illegal employment,
and sets up a system to insure an increase in below-minimum-wage labor, for
generations to come. The purpose of his plan is to benefit big corporations
and special interests, and the result of his plan will be to undermine
American workers.
My plan to deal with illegal immigration is quite simple: We have
immigration laws, we have employment laws, and we should enforce them!
The problem arises when employers illegally entice people to enter this
country illegally. If we bring serious penalties upon those that break the
law by hiring illegal workers, it will not take long for the practice to
stop. If a business is behaving in an illegal manner, we should not just
take a percentage of the illegal profits in fines, and then allow the same
firm to conduct more business. If a business or company will lose all
assets and licenses when caught hiring illegally, that is real consequence.
The lure of illegally entering America will not be nearly as great, when
the jobs are no longer available to those here illegally.
Legal immigration is welcome. This is not about our Latino citizens or
residents that are here legally. This is not about our citizens or
residents that have come from Africa, or Asia, or the Middle East, or any
corner of the globe, that are in this country legally.
The answer is not mass arrests or race-based harassment of workers - nor
mass amnesty programs. The answer is to address the problem at its source:
requiring corporations who seek to profit by evading our minimum wage laws
to obey the laws of the land.
To those that claim they have to hire illegally to stay in business, I say,
"If you have to break the law to stay in business, you should not be in
business. By law, you must pay living wages to American workers."
To those that are here illegally, I say, "I understand you came to better
yourself, and do not blame you for that, but you must return to your home
lands and await your turn to enter legally as others have before and will
in the future."
Mr. Pence visited the US-Mexico Border and New Orleans to see if there is any need for aid to that area. If Mr. Pence has a similar report as when he goes fact finding in Iraq, we must take what he says with a tablespoon full of salt because one grain will not do.
Finally, for those in driving distance and that includes candidates and campaigns, The Welsh Campaign is going to be part of the "Crashing The States Documentary" and we will be having a rally on October 5th. The site for the rally is still under debate, but we want all of the netroots people from all around the Midwest to come and be part of this filming, so mark your calendars now.
More details to come of course.
No more Stay and Sink, get'em out of Iraq.
Barry Welsh Indiana 6th District Democratic Congressional Candidate