The Indiana Republican Party launched a new web video about Congressman Brad Ellsworth’s campaign continued use of hypocrisy as a campaign tactic.

Even though he reports 55% (nearly $900,000 out of $1.6 million) of his Senate contributions on the line for Political Action Committees, Ellsworth and Indiana Democrats continue to bash special interests and make that the central focus of their campaign. Clearly, there is no issue with Ellsworth accepting PAC contributions in and of themselves. What’s discouraging is that Congressman Ellsworth blatantly says one thing then does another over and over again. The list of which PACs gave to him is not actually that important. Only in light of his rhetoric does it become an issue.

This issue is one of trust and credibility, and Congressman Ellsworth has established that he currently deserves very little of either one from Hoosiers voters. He cannot continue to have it both ways: he cannot make fighting ‘special interests’ the centerpiece of his campaign if ‘special interests’ are providing him with the majority of his campaign cash. Not only is it misleading, and quite disingenuous, but it continues to keep the focus of the race off of the issues that matter to the voters and should be driving the debate.

The Evansville Courier & Press ran an article this morning in which they confirmed that Congressman Brad Ellsworth spent the weekend at a fundraiser in Canada hosted by a special interest lobbying group that represents trial lawyers. The hypocrisy of Rep. Ellsworth collecting special interest money just days after launching a TV ad that decries special interest money is extremely disconcerting.

But Ellsworth and Indiana Democrats have tried to excuse it, telling the Courier & Press that it was OK to raise money from special interests groups in Canada because Dan Coats worked as a lobbyist. That sort of response is not only blatantly arrogant, but it also misses the point: The issue for Congressman Ellsworth isn’t that he’s raising money from special interests, it’s the continued hypocrisy of saying one thing in an ad and then contradicting that with his own actions.

Rep. Ellsworth constantly rails on Washington, even though he has been a part of it for three plus years. He condemns Dan Coats for lobbying, yet parades the support of Birch Bayh, a long-time Washington lobbyist. He derides special interest groups in TV ads paid for with money he is raising from special interest groups. It’s clear Congressman Ellsworth will say just about anything and doesn’t believe he will ever have to answer for the hypocrisy of his actions.

In case you missed the Courier & Press story, here’s a clip:

Republicans are blasting Democratic U.S. Rep. Brad Ellsworth for a fundraising trip he and several of the party’s other Senate candidates made to Canada over the weekend.

Ellsworth, who faces Republican former Sen. Dan Coats in November, attended an event hosted by a Washington-based trial lawyers’ group called “Committee for a Better Future” on Sunday night. Others who were there include Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. …

Republicans, though, noted that Ellsworth made the stop in British Columbia the week after his first television advertisement, which takes aim at special interests, hit the airwaves. They said the former Vanderburgh County sheriff’s actions contrast with his message.

“Hoosiers now have all the evidence they need that Congressman Ellsworth is the sort of disingenuous politician who only says what he thinks voters want to hear,” said Trevor Foughty, a spokesman for the Indiana Republican Party.

“Just days after his new TV ad decries the influence of special interests in Washington, it turns out he’s traveling to Canada for a fundraiser with those same special interests. His smoke-and-mirrors act has finally caught up with him as his rhetoric once again falls far short of reality.”

Over the weekend the “Committee for a Better Future,” a joint venture of the Democrat Party establishment and Washington-based lobbyists for the trial lawyers’ association, held a fundraiser for some U.S. Senate candidates.  But despite benefiting U.S. Democrat candidates, the fundraiser was held in Canada.  One of those U.S. Senate candidates listed on the fundraising form was Rep. Brad Ellsworth (click here to see a PDF version of the form).

Rep. Ellsworth’s has repeatedly  campaigned against special interests, including in his new TV ad that started running last week.  That ad has already been panned by the media for being misleading because it rails on Washington even though Brad Ellsworth has served in Congress in Washington for the last four years.  It appears the ad is now doubly misleading, because he’s taking money from the same special interests he says are bad!

Rep. Brad Ellsworth has some explaining to do to Hoosiers.  Specifically, Rep. Ellsworth should tell us if he traveled across the U.S. border to raise money in Canada from the same special interests he so often decries. Don’t hold your breath for an answer, though, because his entire campaign has been one long marathon run from his record.

For the past two months, Hoosiers across the state have waited patiently for Rep. Brad Ellsworth to talk to them about issues that matter most to them—issues like Ellsworth’s vote in favor of a government takeover of healthcare.  Yesterday, Ellsworth momentarily realized he has been in Congress for four years, dropped the sheriff shtick, and penned an op-ed on his healthcare vote.

So which Indiana-based newspaper ran the long-awaited discussion of issues?  The Journal Gazette? The Courier-Press?  The Indianapolis Star? Actually…it was the New York City-based Huffington Post, an ultra-liberal website that doesn’t exactly speak to mainstream Hoosiers (but New York was a recent location for Evan Bayh to raise money on Brad Ellsworth’s behalf, so maybe that was the connection).  It’s one thing for Brad Ellsworth to address only like-minded people in his defense, but it’s quite another when he still can’t muster the courage to talk to people in Indiana—those same people who he is asking to elect him—about the votes he has cast in Congress.

Indiana deserves better representation than a Congressman who pretends he isn’t a Congressman as he talks about issues important to Hoosiers with anyone but Hoosiers in publications that aren’t based anywhere near the state he wants to represent.  Confused yet?  So are we.

During a speech in Columbus on Saturday, Rep. Brad Ellsworth said he isn’t running away from his record in Congress and that he is more than willing to talk about the votes he made. The Columbus Republic notes:

Ellsworth, a U.S. representative from Evansville, said his campaign has “the truth” on its side in its race against Coats, a former U.S. senator.

“Truth and honesty matter in what we say,” Ellsworth said. “I’m proud of what I’ve done. I’ll stand by every vote I’ve made, every single one.”

Predictably, Brad Ellsworth then reverted to running away from his record by launching a string of attacks.

However, since Ellsworth is now on record as saying he stands by his votes and has no problem talking about his record, we decided that he deserves a second chance to make good on that promise.  Specifically, the Indiana Republican Party wants to know if Brad Ellsworth will finally explain his healthcare vote, especially in light of some stories from the past few days.

1. Accord to a story in Politico, more than 1 million Americans will lose their employer-sponsored insurance coverage because of new regulations:

Part of the health care overhaul due to kick in this September could strip more than 1 million people of their insurance coverage, violating a key goal of President Barack Obama’s reforms.

Under the provision, insurance companies will no longer be able to apply broad annual caps on the amount of money they pay out on health policies. Employer groups say the ban could essentially wipe out a niche insurance market that many part-time workers and retail and restaurant employees have come to rely on.

1. According to a report released today by PricewaterhouseCooper, healthcare costs are expected to rise 9% in 2011—despite Brad Ellsworth justifying his healthcare vote by saying it would make coverage more affordable:

The accounting firm surveyed more than 700 employers and interviewed health plan actuaries to determine the expected rate of increase for 2011.

The survey showed health care costs are expected to grow 9 percent in 2011, down from the 9.5 percent growth rate in the 2010 report. At the same time, the majority of health insurance deductibles will be $400 or more for the first time.

Factors that are driving costs are the shifting of Medicare costs on insured patients, implementation of electronic medical records and consolidation among medical providers.

The federal government continues to cut reimbursement rates for Medicare services, forcing health care providers to raise costs for insured patients to make up for the payment gaps.

Since Brad Ellsworth says he stands by his votes, we are eager to hear him explain his vote that causes individuals to lose their employer-sponsored healthcare plans and causes the cost of healthcare coverage to go up. If he is sincere in his promise to talk about his record, this would be a great place to start.

The question for Brad Ellsworth, then, is this: Does Brad Ellsworth still stand behind President Obama and his plan for a government takeover of healthcare?