Questions Proposed To Ann Ennis By The CCO
Why did you decide to run for State Representative?
For more than 10 years I have been a tireless advocate for open admission public education as the key to our American democracy. Our representative has voted time after time to stymie local control and over-rule parents by mandating big government rules on education: well beyond what federal law demanded. He supported five years of constantly changing assessments, standards and tests that have been flawed at best and a money-wasting fiasco in reality. He represents testing companies, out-of-state charters and Indianapolis rather than his district. After three years of no response to a call, email or letter, I said he did not deserve the role of representative.
Our representative is weak on stopping meth production. Meth and now heroin are killing our nieces and nephews, children and grandchildren. Working against law enforcement in drug crimes is not SW Indiana leadership.
Our local county officials want long-term solutions to road and bridge funding problems. Opposite of our current representative, I will listen to what the counties want and work to provide adequate and ongoing funds to care for our bridges and county roads .
Why should I vote for you?
I am tireless and steadfast in supporting local control. I say what I will do and do what I will say. My words are clear and in direct. (I will not write a blog or a speech one month and turn around the next with the opposite vote.) If you support local direction for your kids’ education and government letting our schools alone, then I am your representative. If you support community direction rather than taking orders from big government or out-side the state interests, then I am your representative.
My commitment is to local decisions on schools and testing, to open up infrastructure funds so counties can make their decisions on infrastructure maintenance and improvement, and to listen to the local voices of everyday citizens when battling illegal drugs and their manufacture.
What is your education agenda?
Local control in choosing from among diverse tests (Indiana does not need a unique ever changing test). Local control over grading for rapid turnaround. Funding for remediation: immediately. State government rolls back multiple mandates, and as per the new Every Child Succeeds Federal Law, reduces mandated testing to one test. Approved School Choice and SGO tax credit schools must accept 30 percent low income or complex students. Report data for teacher and school assessment by tracking per student and not groups of students. Include complexity score in reporting test results.
Are you prolife?
Yes. As Roman Catholic Archbishop Wenski of Miami said at Nativity Church in Evansville last fall, “No man should be seen as being a problem.†Pope Francis has said that getting rid of a person cannot be a solution to any problem. I stand pastorally with the Roman Catholic Church and the US Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Do you support the Second Amendment?
Yes. The Constitution secures the right of the people to keep and bear arms. It is an obvious and popular right. I advocate for better training for all Americans on gun safety, and tax credits for persons who buy gun security devices like owner recognition locks and safes.
Do you support Freedom of Religion and RFRA?
The First Amendment assures religious liberty, which for perceived good or ill, does gives religion a right to discriminate. For example, despite getting public money from vouchers, religious schools can refuse children whose parents are not married. The questions can be big: Can religious hospitals or a nurse of a particular faith refuse to treat an atheist or an adulterer? These are difficult questions. With the Catholic Church, I am for mercy and inclusion.
Are you a “friend of coal?â€
Yes. My father drilled exploratory wells all over northern Vanderburgh and Gibson counties mapping coal seams. Coal is the least expensive source of energy we have. As a daughter of a drilling contractor, I will not turn my back on coal, oil, or miners and roughnecks. That said, the future of a coal miner’s 11-year-old is best served outside the mine and job growth is best served in new energy technologies.
Do you support making pseudoephedrine a prescription medication?
I support Indiana’s prosecutors and police. I support stopping substance abuse and making it hard for meth makers to exist. No one is half-way addicted to meth. There is no half-way solution to the problem of addiction. We will be judged if we take half- hearted measures for dubious reasons. If it inconveniences us to keep one young woman from becoming a meth-slave to an abuser, then we need to accept the inconvenience.
Do you support higher taxes for roads and bridges?
I support a long-term funding plan for our roads and bridges that are approaching 50 or more years of age. We cannot only repair bridges when we have a budget surplus. Cigarette and Gas taxes must be considered.
Citations for my positions.
Legislative agenda of the SW Indiana Chamber of Commerce: Support legislation that provides schools and teachers in Indiana communities with more freedom and flexibility to structure education to better fit the needs of students and employers
Infrastructure agenda of the Indiana Chamber of Commerce: House Bill 1001 originally provided means to address Indiana’s $900 million+ annual transportation funding shortfall. We deserve and need a real plan rather than a stop-gap proposal. House Bill 1001 (was a) plan to best meet both immediate and future needs for federal, state and local roads and bridges. This included support for to increasing the amount of our seven-cent sales tax on gas used for transportation infrastructure. The Chamber also viewed HB 1001’s original increase in cigarette taxes as an option to fill hole left by increase in percent for roads from gas tax.
FOOTNOTES:  You can reach Ann Ennis at 812 483-5671 or e-mail her at Annennis85@gmail.com
EDITORS FOOTNOTES: Our next “IS IT TRUE” will be posted on this coming Wednesday ?
Please take time and read our newest feature article entitled “HOT JOBS”. Jobs posted in this section are from Evansville proper.
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Todays “Readers Poll” question is: Do you feel that the Evansville Brownfields Corp should provide the general public with annual audits and copies of their meeting agenda?
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“For more than 10 years I have been a tireless advocate for open admission public education as the key to our American democracy. ” (Ann Ennis)
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Ms Ennis, there is no “American Democracy”, and it troubles me that you do not seem to understand the distinction.
The key difference between a Democracy and the Constitutional Republic we live in lies in the limits placed on government by the law, which has implications for minority rights. Both forms of government tend to use a representational system where citizens vote to elect politicians to represent their interests and form the government.
However, in a republic, a constitution or charter of rights protects certain inalienable rights that cannot be taken away by the government, even if it has been elected by a majority of voters. In a “pure democracy,” the majority is not restrained in this way and can impose its will on the minority.
This:
“Pope Francis has said that getting rid of a person cannot be a solution to any problem.”
Seems to not really jive with this:
“The Constitution secures the right of the people to keep and bear arms. It is an obvious and popular right.”
Given that in DC. v. Heller SCOTUS confirmed the right of an individual to own firearms for lawful use, including lethal self-defense (that would be ‘getting rid of the person’ who is trying to harm or kill you, which in turn ‘solves the problem’ you are facing).
I would hire a photographer stat.
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