»Nationwide Unemployment is at 9.6 percent; Indiana’s at 10.2 percent – The most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics Report released on October 8, 2010, reported that our economy shed 95,000 jobs in September keeping our unemployment rate at 9.6 percent while the broader underemployment rate rose to 17.1 percent. (Jeannine Aversa and Christopher S. Rugaber, “Jobs crisis extends to unemployed.” Associated Press, 10/8/10)

»The AP reported the “jobless rate has now topped 9.5 percent for 14 straight months, the longest stretch since the Great Depression.” (Jeannine Aversa and Christopher S. Rugaber, “Jobs crisis extends to unemployed.” Associated Press, 10/8/10)

»Obama’s OMB says unemployment to remain between 8 and 9 percent through 2012 - According to the Office of Management and Budget’s Midsession Review, our unemployment rate is expected to average 9 percent in 2011 and 8.1 percent in 2012. (Office of Management and Budget, “Midsession Review.” 7/23/10)

»Ellsworth Claimed “[A]ny economist will tell you, if you spend money, it will create jobs.” – One-hundred economists disagreed with Ellsworth’s assessment and sent a letter to President Barack Obama “that his economic stimulus has failed and that ‘immediate action is needed to rein in federal spending.’” (Thomas Langhorne, “Change of Direction.” Evansville Courier & Press, 2/19/09; Peter Roff, “Economists: Stimulus Not Working, Obama Must Rein in Spending.” U.S. News and World Report, 6/10/10)

• Ellsworth said in March 2010 that his vote for ObamaCare “improves access to affordable insurance options.” (Congressman Brad Ellsworth, “Ellsworth on Health Care Reform: ‘In My Core I Know It’s the Right Decision for Hoosiers.’” Ellsworth Congressional Website, 3/19/10.)

»Health Care Costs Expected to Rise – A recent story by the Wall Street Journal reported, “But some companies, citing the new mandates, say costs are rising too fast: In a survey of more than 1,000 employers, Mercer, a human-resources consulting firm, found that corporate health-care costs would rise by 10% next year if firms made no changes to their plans. Many are finding that they have little choice but to switch a greater share of costs to employees.” (Avery Johnson, “Get Ready for Higher Health Care Plans.” Wall Street Journal, 10/9/10.)

• Congressman Ellsworth, in a March press release, said ObamaCare “reduces costs.”(Congressman Brad Ellsworth, “Ellsworth on Health Care Reform: ‘In My Core I Know It’s the Right Decision for Hoosiers.’” Ellsworth Congressional Website, 3/19/10.)

»Obama’s Debt Commission Co-Chair Said ObamaCare “Didn’t Do a lot to Address Cost Factors in Health Care” – Erskine Bowles, former Chief of Staff to President Bill Clinton and Co-Chair of President Obama’s Debt Commission said health care costs will not change contrary to claims by President Obama and Congressman Ellsworth and will continue to “really eat us alive.” (Jon Ward, “Obama fiscal commission co-chair pans health bill’s impact on costs.” Daily Caller, 7/15/10)

»ObamaCare Will Add News Taxes, Mandates and Other Government Expansions – The minority caucus on the Joint Economic Committee released a flow chart showing the impact of new taxes, mandates and regulations. (U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee, “Your New Health Care System.” Accessed 10/9/10.)

»New 1099 Requirement Will Cripple Businesses – ObamaCare included a requirement that businesses submit an IRS 1099 form for every business-to-business transaction over $600. The National Taxpayer Advocate Service – an independent organization inside the IRS – expressed concern that the new requirement “may impose significant compliance burdens on businesses, charities, and government agencies.” (National Taxpayer Advocate, “Mid-Year Report.” 7/7/10.)

• According to TAS, about 40 million businesses and other entities will be subject to the new requirement, including roughly 26 million non-farm sole proprietorships, four million S corporations, two million C corporations, three million partnerships, two million farming businesses, one million charities and other tax-exempt organizations, and more than 100,000 government entities.”

»New $20 billion Tax on Medical Device Manufacturers Will Cost Jobs, Hurt Research – According to the Associated Press “A 2.3 percent excise tax…will cost medical device manufacturers an estimated $20 billion in new taxes over the next decade. And they say that will force them to lay off workers and curb the research and development of new medical tools.” (Steve LeBlanc, “Medical device makers: New tax will cost jobs.” Associated Press, 6/7/10)

»Ellsworth Announced His Support for ObamaCare Before the Stupak-Obama Executive Order Compromise – According to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops,
the health care bill supported by Congressman Ellsworth includes
provisions to federally fund elective abortions regardless of the
executive order. In January 2010, Congressman Ellsworth said he would
never vote for such a bill. He said “[I] will not support a bill that I
believe would result in federal tax dollars being used to pay for
elective abortions. Period.” (Congressman Brad Ellsworth, “Ellsworth Reaffirms Support For Pro-Life Protections In Health Care Reform,” Ellsworth Congressional Website, 1/13/10)

»Ellsworth Supported Over 8,500 Earmarks Totaling $7.7 billion in Added Spending – The Fiscal Year 2009 omnibus spending bill supported by incumbent Congressman Ellsworth included over 8,500 pork-filled earmarks totaling $7.7 billion. (H.R. 1105, Roll Call Vote #86, 2/25/09.)

»Over Seven Times More Debt Was Piled on in the Past Four Years than in the First 200 Years of Our Nation’s History

• On June 30, 1976, just days before the 200th anniversary of our founding, national debt was roughly $620.43 Billion (U.S. Department of the Treasury, Bureau of the Public Debt, http://treasurydirect.gov, Accessed 10/10/10)
• When incumbent Congressman Brad Ellsworth was sworn in – national debt was roughly $8.67 Trillion. (U.S. Department of the Treasury, Bureau of the Public Debt, www.treasurydirect.gov, Accessed 10/9/10)
• As of October 7, 2010, national debt was roughly $13.61 Trillion. (U.S. Department of the Treasury, Bureau of the Public Debt, www.treasurydirect.gov, Accessed 10/9/10)

»Debt to GDP Ratio Projected to Top 100 Percent in 2012, “Level at Which Growth Has Historically Declined” – Mark Knoller of CBS News reported a “doubling between now and 2020 when [national debt is] forecast to hit over $26 trillion.” (Mark Knoller, “National Debt to Top 100 Percent of GDP.” CBS News, 7/23/10.)

• Knoller added debt equaling 100 percent of GDP is projected for 2012 and will “stay there for the remainder of the decade.”
• University of Maryland economist Carmen Reinhart said when debt-to-GDP ration exceeds 90 percent we hit a “level at which growth has historically declined.” (Walter Alarkon, “U.S. debt reaches level at which economic growth begins to slow.” The Hill, 5/26/10.)
  

»Joint Chiefs Chairman Calls Debt the ‘Biggest National Security Threat’ – Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has repeatedly said, “Our national debt is our biggest national security threat.” (Laura Bassett, “Adm. Mike Mullen: ‘National Debt Is Our Biggest Security Threat.’ Huffington Post, 6/24/10.)

»Ellsworth Voted Twice Against An Effort to Bar the Use of Taxpayer Dollars to Close Gitmo (H.R. 2847, Roll Call Vote #360, 6/18/09; H.R. 2847, Roll Call Vote #361, 6/18/09)

»Ellsworth Voted Against an Effort to Reject the Transfer or Release of Guantanamo Bay detainees into the United States (H.R. 2647, Roll Call Vote #769, 10/8/09)

»Ellsworth Voted Against an Effort to Prevent Guantanamo Bay Detainees from Being Brought into the United States for Prosecution (H.R. 2892, Vote #783 , 10/15/09)

• The New York Times reported the vote “was a step forward for President Obama’s efforts to close the Guantánamo prison.” (David Stout, “House Backs Detainee Transfers.” New York Times, 10/5/09.)

»During a Campaign Stop in Jeffersonville, Ellsworth Admitted Supporting the Closure of Gitmo – The News and Tribune reported Ellsworth “supports closing the detention facility and Guantanamo Bay…” (Matt Thacker, “U.S. Senate hopeful Ellsworth calls for opponent to pull TV commercial.” Jeffersonville News and Tribune, 8/31/2010)
»Ellsworth Recently Affirmed His Support for President Obama’s ‘Cut-and-Run’ Afghanistan Strategy - In an interview with Indiana Public Broadcasting, Ellsworth said “There comes a time where you take those training wheels off and you let the bike go. Sometimes it falls over and you scrape some knees and that but you’re not going to see a perfect government. It’s unstable, no question about it but we’ve given them all the means necessary to regulate themselves.” (Marianne Holland, “Coats and Ellsworth Discuss Iraq and Afghanistan.” Indiana Public Broadcasting, 10/6/10.)

»FactCheck.Org Has Disproved Ellsworth’s Recent Attacks - The nonpartisan FactCheck.org analyzed a claim by incumbent Congressman Ellsworth that Dan was involved in shipping Hoosier jobs elsewhere and came to a simple conclusion: false. They wrote, “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.” (Kelsey Ferguson, “False Claim on Plant Closing in Indiana.” FactCheck.org, 9/24/10.)