Archive for the 'Newsroom' Category
Nels is ready and willing to debate Steve Buyer, but Steve Buyer isn’t so sure. In this Frankfort Times article, the 16-year incumbent makes it clear that he’s far from eager to meet his challenger in public:
Halfway home.
The Times’ joint effort to sponsor a debate within Clinton County between U.S. Congressman Steve Buyer (R IN-4) and his Democratic challenger, Nels Ackerson, has one of the candidates ready to participate.
“I am in favor of multiple debates and I know the people are in favor of multiple debates,” said Ackerson, during a break from touring the Clinton County and 4-H Fair on Thursday. “There are too many important issues to just allow people to send out press releases and tell their own story.
“That’s important, but it’s also important to be submitting to questions, and going back-and-forth with persons having differing views.”
Buyer, however, has yet to commit to participating in a debate within Clinton County, an area solely represented in U.S. Congress by the eight-term incumbent.
The Times sent a letter to Buyer’s Monticello office in June, requesting his participation in a debate.
After no answer, an e-mail was sent on Wednesday, and a phone call made on Thursday to Buyer’s Communication Director, Anjulen Anderson.
“As the Congressman thinks the invitation for a debate is worthy of consideration, the Congressman has always discussed debates amongst the campaigns in the fall,” Anderson wrote in an e-mail response to a Times’ request to speak to Buyer about a possible debate.
Nels made the front page of today’s Lafayette Journal and Courier with a great story about his campaign efforts. Check it out!
Steve Buyer is the first to admit that having a cash advantage is one of the most important elements in a campaign.
But according to first quarter financial filings on www.opensecrets.org, the challenger to the eight-term U.S. congressman representing Indiana’s 4th District is raising money faster.
Through April 16, Buyer had raised $301,129 — compared to $308,602 raised by Democrat Nels Ackerson, a lawyer who hails from Boone County.
“I’ll still be able to maintain a three-to-one cash advantage to him” in the total election cycle, Buyer said.
But Ackerson, who campaigned Thursday in Lafayette, continues raising funds and putting in long days on the campaign trail. He plans to defeat Buyer in November.
“I don’t underestimate the challenge,” Ackerson said, referring to Buyer’s years in office.
“But (the race) is not just about incumbency but being well-known. I’ve been working hard for a year and I have a lot more to do.”
After speaking at a Rotary meeting Thursday morning, Ackerson visited a downtown coffee shop to shake hands and pass out campaign literature. He’s canvassing the district to talk about issues and build name recognition.
Ackerson hopes to capitalize on a growing attitude he says voters have to reform government and eliminate partisanship. He’s counting on support from the “independent-thinking” residents in the 4th District — which includes Tippecanoe County and spans a section of west-central Indiana.
You won’t want to miss this article in the Bedford Times-Mail about Nels hitting the campaign trail, listening to and chatting with Fourth District residents in Lawrence County:
WILLIAMS — Chirping crickets provided background music as Nels Ackerson, standing in front of an assortment of fishing tackle, addressed a small but attentive gathering of citizens Tuesday morning at White River Bait & Tackle.
Ackerson, candidate for Indiana’s 4th Congressional District seat, was casting for votes. How many the Zionsville Democrat lands is yet to be determined, but he clearly garnered a few nibbles of interest.
During several stops throughout the county, he detailed the differences between him and incumbent Steve Buyer.
The most obvious, he claimed, is on the issue of veteran benefits.
“Our government has simply dishonored a sacred contract with our veterans,” Ackerson said. “There is no difference in this election greater between me and Steve Buyer than on that issue.
“He claims to be supporting our veterans. He claims to be supporting our troops. But he led the effort to reduce veteran benefits.
“I look forward to the day I can stand with him in a debate and he tries to justify that decision.”
Asked if any debates have been scheduled, Ackerson said, “I’ve offered several invitations. He has yet to accept one.
Check out this recent coverage of Nels and his opposition to experimental drug testing on veterans from the Frankfort Times:
The treatment of the country’s soldiers has come into question and the two men vying for Indiana’s Fourth District Congressional seat are among those calling for an in-depth investigation.
The Washington Times reported on Tuesday that U.S. military veterans have been recruited for government testing of pharmaceutical drugs associated with severe side effects.
“Everyone in the country should be concerned,” Indiana Fourth District Congressional candidate Democrat Nels Ackerson told The Times Thursday. “Any abuse of our veterans is a shame and an outrage.”
According to The Washington Times report, the tests included use of the anti-smoking drug Chantix. The article alleges Veterans Affairs doctors waited three months before notifying veterans about potential side effects such as suicide and neuropsychiatric behavior.
Former U.S. Army sniper James Elliot, 38, was recruited for the Chantix testing, for which he was paid $30 a month. He suffered a mental breakdown months into the study, The Washington Times report states. It further indicates he had previously been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder after a 15 month tour in Iraq.
“Lab rat, guinea pig, disposable hero,” Elliot told the Washington paper of his experience.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 18, 2008
Contact: Nels Ackerson for Congress, 317-733-8468
Ackerson calls for investigation into drug testing on war veterans
Challenger says Buyer made no effort to stop government experiments
Fourth District Congressional candidate Nels Ackerson today called for an investigation into the Department of Veterans Affairs’ practice of testing dangerous experimental drugs on war veterans in exchange for small cash payments.
“Congress stood idly by while our government experimented on the men and women who’ve fought for our country and our freedom,” Ackerson said. “It’s an absolute outrage.”
A recent Washington Times investigation revealed that hundreds of veterans participated in a government program that paid them a small monthly stipend in exchange for taking drugs with severe side effects like psychosis and suicidal behavior.
At least one of the experiments specifically targeted veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. One veteran involved in that experiment referred to himself as “a lab rat for $30 per month.”
Ackerson said he was appalled and expressed disappointment that Congressman Steve Buyer, the ranking Republican on the House Veterans Affairs Committee, did nothing to oppose the experimental testing.
“The brave Hoosiers returning to the Fourth District look to their Congressman for leadership and protection,” Ackerson said. “Steve Buyer has been in office for 16 years and claims to have veterans’ interests at heart, but he didn’t exercise the oversight available to him.”
According to federal campaign finance records, the pharmaceutical and health products industry was Buyer’s top contributor in the 2006 election cycle. He already has received $38,000 from the industry this election cycle.
“We need to elect people to Congress who will stand up for the little guy, not bow to the special interests,” Ackerson said. “I’ve spent the last two decades taking on government and big corporations in the courtroom, and I’ll bring that same spirit and dedication to Congress.”
Nels is running for Congress to bring much-needed change and bipartisan leadership to Washington on behalf of Hoosiers in the Fourth District. From his childhood years on the family farm in Eagletown to a decades-long legal career representing the “little guy” against powerful governments and corporations, Nels has always stayed true to his Hoosier values. He is a champion of individual rights and economic opportunity who believes there is nothing we can’t accomplish by working together. Nels and his wife, Sharon, live in Zionsville. They have four grown children and a granddaughter. Learn more at www.nels4congress.com.
The Hendricks County Flyer reports:
A recently approved House Bill amendment drafted by Congressman Steve Buyer (R-4th District) is drawing criticism from Buyer’s Democratic challenger in the upcoming November election.
Nels Ackerson, a Zionsville attorney running against Buyer in the November election, accuses Buyer of grandstanding in an election year and maintains that the congressman “took the lead in proposing an unprecedented tax on veterans to pay for their healthcare.”
Those claims come amidst a new press release from Buyer’s office crediting the Congressman’s amendment for an increase in healthcare and readiness of the nation’s active and inactive troops.
Buyer’s proposed amendment was attached to the Duncan Hunter National Defense Authorization Act and calls for an increase in dental readiness funding to $22.3 million and $8.5 million for demobilization of reserve components during the 2009 fiscal year.
His office says that poor dental health among Army Reservists and those in the National Guard has become a growing problem for the Department of Defense which has been forced in some cases to declare personnel unfit for deployment.
Officials from the DOD did not return telephone calls seeking comment on the issue.
Ackerson maintains that the new amendment does not erase what he characterized as an era of unprecedented increases in the taxation of military veterans.
“Mr. Buyer’s cuts in veterans’ health benefits have been painful and I don’t begrudge a small step but we need to look at the whole package and so far that package has been dismal,” Ackerson said. “He has a record of very substantial cuts to veterans’ benefits over his years in Congress and he has occasionally come back to make some smaller increases in military benefits and this seems to follow that pattern.”
According to the Daily Journal in Johnson County:
Two Democrats were the top vote-getters in Johnson County.
In first place, Nels Ackerson, who is trying to unseat U.S. Rep. Steve Buyer in the 4th Congressional District. Ackerson, an attorney, got 12,900 votes from his uncontested spot on the Democrat ballot.
In second place was U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton in her race to win the Democratic nomination for president. Clinton was running against U.S. Sen. Barack Obama. Clinton got 11,536 votes in Johnson County, beating Obama’s 9,188 votes. She won statewide with 51 percent of the vote.
Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels tallied the third-most votes with 10,917, followed closely by Democrat Jessica McElvoy, running to be a state convention delegate, who got 10,432 votes.
May 6, 2008 - Zionsville, IN - Claiming a victory in today’s primary, Nels Ackerson visited polling sites in all 12 counties of the 4th Congressional District. On a day that saw record voter turnout, Ackerson won nearly twice as many votes as that of his fall opponent, incumbent Steve Buyer.
“Mr. Buyer must be held accountable to the people of the 4th District.”, says Ackerson, “It’s time for him to defend a 16-year record in Washington as one of the most ineffective and partisan members of Congress.” Ackerson continued, “My opponent has put party politics over the people in his district and they deserve an explanation. I invite him to meet me in a series of debates over the coming months.”
Ackerson challenged the incumbent to identify any bill that he has authored during his eight terms which addresses the current problems facing our country. Mr. Ackerson says, “With a faltering economy, soaring gas prices, and the ever increasing costs of health care, voters should ask, ‘In 16 years what has my Congressman done for me and my family?’”
The Ackerson campaign is appealing to voters of all parties with a message of bipartisanship and a call to return to principled leadership.
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For interviews or questions contact Jim Hurst. 317-733-8468 or jim.hurst@nels4congress.com
WBAA News
Ackerson tours CAT plant; talks about economy
LAFAYETTE, IN (2008-04-29) A candidate for Congress is touring the Lafayette area, talking about the economy.
Democrat Nels Ackerson toured the Caterpillar plant Tuesday afternoon.
He wanted to see the facility and hear about the 350 new jobs being added there.
Ackerson says the Lafayette area has a lot to offer manufacturers, but thinks there should be more work coming into businesses.
He says the 4th Congressional District ranks near the bottom of the list when it comes to receiving federal contracts.
Ackerson says if he’s elected, he’ll be an advocate for the area and bring tax dollars back to the area.
The Zionsville attorney does not have any primary opposition.
He likely will challenge incumbent Republican Steve Buyer in the General Election. © Copyright 2008, WBAA
