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Sheriff, state AG speak at GOP dinner |
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Monday, April 27 2009 |
By Chris Meyers
Staff writer
As local Republicans gathered in the year of Abraham Lincoln’s 200th birthday, Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller spoke of what it means to him to be a Republican, and although his role is not as partisan as the role of a legislator, he said the values of the GOP still hold true for his position.
“As attorney general, if I do my job well, you may not recognize if I’m a Republican or a Democrat,” he said to a crowded room at Eberly’s Hall on Friday evening.
He said although partisanship often gets a bad reputation in the House or Senate, it plays an important role in the formation of legislation.
Republican county chair Jim Banks, however, was more forceful during introductions of local and state GOP office holders, saying he was grateful for their service, especially at the state level as they are fighting through a minority year in the house.
“There’s no question that the Democrats are the ones making messes down there,” Banks said of the state legislators.
He said the errors of the opposition to Republican leadership are also being carried to the national level.
“They can’t say it’s the Republicans causing the problems anymore,” Banks said.
Zoller focused on his office’s role once legislation makes it to law and staff must ensure the law is upheld and conviction rates stand.
He said one aspect of GOP beliefs he tries to carry into his role as attorney general is the concept of being fiscally responsible with his office having operated on a steady budget for the last several years under Steve Carter’s leadership.
Keeping in mind the Republican belief of limited government can also help prevent an attorney general from overstepping his bounds and trying a case in an area the office might not be familiar.
“Without respect of limited government, you’ve got the temptation to bring any case into state court,” Zoeller said.
Speaking of the respect for law, Zoeller mentioned Lincoln’s own upbringing, self-teaching of law, namely property law, and his inability to end slavery until he was able to become president and have more executive powers.
“As much as he hated slavery, he recognized he had no right to infringe on the property rights of others,” Zoeller said of Lincoln’s hesitation to try to end slavery until he was able to create the Emancipation Proclamation.
He said finding a way of ending slavery shows Lincoln went beyond what was expected, despite his respect for the law, and that mindset can be carried over to today’s legislation.
“As the party of Abraham Lincoln, we need to challenge ourselves to go beyond what’s expected,” Zoeller said.
As for his role as attorney general, he stressed the office’s goal to further elevate consumer protection beyond the successful do-not-call list.
“It eliminates an entire media by which people can scam you,” he said of the list.
A new endeavor from the office is an online option for people to freeze and unfreeze their credit so others can’t access it for fraudulent purchases.
Zoeller said his office received 500 reports of ID theft in March, so the creation of a way to protect a person’s private information was all the more important.
“When you get back home and have made your purchase, you can close your credit again,” he said of the new initiative.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, April 28 2009 )
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