Coats: Leadership and the ‘Hoosier way’ can fix the economy

If President Obama wants to solve the country’s fiscal problems he should follow what Sen. Dan Coats (R-Ind.) refers to as the “Hoosier way,” Coats said in the weekly Republican address.

“The Hoosier way is quite simple – we work hard and we live within our means. In Indiana, we understand that you cannot spend more money than you take in. When our state fell off course, a leader stepped up with solutions to steer it straight, and the people of Indiana responded,” Coats said on Saturday.

{mosads}“Gov. Mitch Daniels, like the President, inherited a weak economy. In 2005, Indiana faced a $200 million deficit and had failed to balance the budget for seven years,” Coats said. “And while other states increased spending and raised taxes, Indiana reduced spending, cut taxes and paid down its debts. Thanks to our governor’s leadership and the resolve of Hoosiers, our state is now the most attractive place to do business in the Midwest.”

Coats cited Daniels (R) as an example of a legislator who solved budget problems by reducing spending and cutting taxes. Indiana has an unemployment rate of 8.2 percent, which ties it for 26th lowest in the Labor Department’s May ranking of state-by-state unemployment.

“The Hoosier model is a necessary first step to repairing our country’s finances,” Coats continued. “And this week, every Senate Republican took that step by committing to a Balanced Budget Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The Speaker of the House has committed to bringing the Balanced Budget Amendment to a vote later this month, and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell has committed to fighting for a vote in the Senate as well. Broke or balanced, that’s the choice before us.”

Coats’s address comes as Republicans Democrats dig deeper into their positions on respective sides on essential parts of a debt ceiling increase compromise. Democrats have called for additional revenues to be raised as part of a compromise while Republicans have said that they couldn’t agree to any deal if it raised taxes.

On Wednesday President Obama delivered an animated speech at a press conference in which he criticized Republicans for refusing to play ball on debt ceiling negotiations and rejected that he has been absent from his responsibilities as president.

Congress will not get any additional time to hammer out a deal to raise the debt limit from the Treasury Department, which announced Friday that Aug. 2 is still the latest it can continue borrowing funds without a boost.