Mike Pence for Vice President
A couple of weeks ago, I attended a gathering at the Northwest Georgia Trade and Convention Center in Dalton that was called a Town Hall Meeting for the Trump-Pence Campaign. The Whitfield County Republican Party and the Tea Party of Dalton sponsored the event. Since I am not actively involved in any campaign for myself right now, it was the first time I have had an opportunity to see many of my political friends. There were people present from about every county in the 14th Congressional District. I did not hear of a count on the attendance but the room was filled and the walls had people standing around them. My guess would number them at above 1000. There were eleven video cameras from the media on the stand at the back of the auditorium recording the activities of the meeting. The guest of honor was Governor Mike Pence from Indiana, who is Donald Trump’s choice for Vice President. He was born after I graduated from college so it crosses my mind that he may be too young for this job. Checking it out this makes him 57 years old, so I guess he is old enough. If Trump and Pence are elected, he might run for President in eight years, which would make him 65 years old in that election.
His maternal grandparents emigrated from Ireland. The Pence family was also Irish. His father ran a chain of automobile service stations. He was raised in Columbus, Indiana, and his family on both sides were Irish Catholic Democrats.
Pence graduated from Columbus North High School in 1977. He graduated from Hanover College in 1981. He received his law degree from Indiana University Robert H McKinney School of Law in Indianapolis in 1986. Pence opened a private law practice, but his desire was to be in politics.
Pence ran for Congress in District 2 in 1988 as a Republican and lost by less than four percent. He then ran for the seat in District 2 again in 1990 and lost by nearly 10 percent. The Democrat Incumbent left Congress District 6 to run for Governor in 2000 and Mike Pence ran in that district and won the election against a Democrat, a Libertarian and an Independent. He served in the House of Representatives for12 years and left the Congress in 2012 to run for Governor.
Although Governor Pence still considers himself to be a Catholic, he attends an Evangelical Protestant Church with his family and states that his Christian life is at the top of his list of priorities. He states that the event that changed his life happened at Asbury College (Methodist) in Asbury, Kentucky.
While in Congress, Pence was a part of the Tea Party Caucus. As an individual Congressman he personally Sponsored 90 bills and resolutions. He attempted to defund Planned Parenthood, tried to eliminate birthright citizenship unless at least one parent was a citizen, co-sponsored a bill to require a balanced budget, opposed the TARP (Wall Street Bailout) and opposed raising the minimum wage from $7.25 per hour to $15.15 per hour.
Pence opposed Obama’s Stimulus Package for shovel ready projects and voted against the No Child Left Behind Act. He supported a bill for earmark reform and supported the Iraq War Resolution. He opposed setting a withdrawal date for our troops to leave Iraq. He opposes closing the Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp and believes the prisoners should be tried in a military court and given a permanent sentence.
He supports Israel and its right to defend itself against any enemies including Iran. Pence does not accept the scientific consensus that human activity is causing global warming. He led the Republicans fight to defeat the Cap and Trade Bill to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, which was sponsored by President Obama. He supports the development of our fossil fuel assets prior to spending millions on renewable energy such as solar which does not produce during rain, snow or clouds. As a Congressman, Pence voted with the rest of the Republican members of Congress and supported Free Trade to most countries in the Far East. Donald Trump favors what he calls Fair Trade, which allows countries to ship into the USA without import taxes if the USA can ship into their country without import taxes. Currently China and India can ship into the USA without import taxes but the USA is forced to pay high import taxes to ship into their countries. In addition to the labor cost difference the imported products pay no taxes into the USA Treasury while the USA manufacturers must pay a 35 percent tax on any profits that they make on their products sold in this country. This is not a level playing field.
Congressman Mike Pence did not run for reelection to Congress in 2012. Instead he ran for the office of Governor of Indiana. He won the election with just over a three percent margin. He was in the process of running for reelection as Governor when Donald Trump asked him to run for Vice President on his ticket. He was nominated at the Republican Convention.
As Governor, Mike Pence has balanced the budget and has a $200 million surplus for a rainy day fund. In education, 33,000 students received vouchers that allowed them to attend private and charter schools of their own choice. This is the largest education voucher program in the country. Governor Pence started the first Pre-K program in Indiana for poor children who cannot afford to pay for private teaching. Governor Pence convinced the Legislature to pass a bill that removed the education system in Indiana from the Federal Common Core program.
The Federal Government through the EPA has established an energy plan that requires each state to produce a certain portion of its electricity by renewable energy. Governor Pence has joined with other states in a lawsuit against the EPA to stop these requirements along with tougher requirements on emissions from coal-fired energy plants. He favors reducing some of the restrictions on coal usage in order to reopen the coal mines that have been forced to close by Obama’s EPA. He was able to get the Legislature to give tax cuts both for the citizens and the corporations in Indiana.
Governor Mike Pence endorsed Ted Cruz for President during the primary campaigns and it was a surprise that Donald Trump chose him for this position. He is a very qualified candidate and he certainly knows his way around the capital. He is well respected by the members of Congress and is capable of being president if the need arose.