Bayh makes stops for Obama in western Indiana

Birch Bayh talks with local business owner Mario Martinez at the Double-N-Diner Monday morning during his stop in Brazil. Bayh was here to campaign for Presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and local democrats that are running for office.

Birch Evans Bayh II stopped in at the Double-N-Diner Monday and talked to locals about politics, at the national and local level.

Bayh served in the Indiana House of Representatives from 1954-62 and was a state senator from 1963-81. He was also a candidate for the democratic presidential nomination in the 1976 election.

He was instrumental in the 26th amendment, which lowered the minimum voting age to 18.

He is also known for influencing the passing of the Higher Education Act, which gave women equal opportunities in sports and academics in public education.

"I am here today to help elect a new president," Bayh told patrons. "We are at a point where our local and national government needs leadership."

He talked about how residents can have an impact on what goes on in Washington.

"I won by two votes per precinct for senate, that means one person from each precinct voted for me, and because of that, I was able to make a difference."

"If you give the tax cuts to the working people, then they spend the money on stuff that they need such as new roofing or other projects," he said. "The money that they spend is used to hire people to make those products, and so on. That is how the economy is suppose to work."

While discussing tax cuts, Bayh talked about how Obama would provide tax cuts to the middle class.

"The middle working class needs the tax cuts," he said. "Barack Obama will cut the taxes for the middle working class and give tax breaks to companies that keep their jobs in the United States instead of going overseas."

When patrons started asking about Social Security, he didn't hold anything back.

"John McCain was trying to privatize social security and put it into the stock market," Bayh said. "Can you imagine what your Social Security would be like right now?

"I love this country, this is the best country in the world, but the last eight years has ruined our reputation in the world standing," he said.

Another patron commented on education and how we must keep up with a global market to provide a better education for our children.

"The most important things in our life are our children," Bayh said. "I agree with Barack's education plan and providing more resources for our children."

"We have a lot of talents Barack's message is for each of us to be a little more of a participatory democracy," he said. "Each of us has a responsibility to make a change."