Politicians
“Politicians fascinate me because they constitute a paradox: they are an elite that accomplishes mediocrity for the public good” - George Will
(Sigh) Here we go again. Another Northeast Ohio business closes down, so there is another Kucinich town hall meeting. I'm sure the congressman has the best interest of these workers in mind, but anyone with a computer can easily see a ten-year chart of either Ford (F) or General Motors (GM) to learn that they have been in trouble for at least the past ten years. Take the late 1990s and early 2000s out of the equation and the picture looks even worse. The best time for these companies over the past 10 years was the tech bubble time of “irrational exuberance” when most stocks were over-inflated. Does anyone else sense a pattern here?
The steel industry had been hurting for some time. It was not until the
mills were ready to shut down that our congressman swooped in like superman to try and save the day. And, before anyone starts to blame NAFTA or free trade for this trend, it wasn't until a few hospitals in town wanted to close that he tried to salvage them. There is an ironic yet important lesson to be learned from the hospital closures. To this day, both the congressman and his supporters talk about government-run health care.
The main reason these hospitals shut down is that the majority of their
patients were on some sort of government-sponsored health care program to begin with, and the benefits that the government pays are just not enough for hospitals to make a profit. Call any doctor you've never seen before to make an appointment and one of the first questions you will be asked is whether or not you are on Medicare or Medicaid. Some doctors tell a patient right up front, be it in their yellow page advertisement, on the doctor's answering machine, or in the waiting room, whether or not they accept certain government-run plans. And yet, not only did our congressman want to save the hospitals, but (and this is important) he still wants all of us to have government-run health care. He proudly talks about it whenever he can and people in his
district vote for him because of it.
It should also be pointed out, on a side note, that when congress was finally ready to pass a Medicare drug plan, the bill had to be rewritten so that retired union workers who campaigned for and financed the congressman for years specifically because of this issue were not included in the bill. They realized their benefits were better than what the government could offer. Yet, the congressman still proudly talks about his stance on universal health care. People still vote for him because of his views on it, many of whom are single issue voters.
Furthermore, these hospitals closed down in 2001, before the World Trade
Center attack took the wind out of the stock market. Their demise (as well as the steel industry's demise) started long before President Bush came into office, so don't even start blaming him for these industries’ problems. Anyone looking at a national view of the economy can see that while Northeast Ohio (specifically Cuyahoga County) continues to lose jobs, industries, and population, many other parts of the county are growing in all these categories. Yet, Mr. Kucinich is still re-elected term after term.
It should also be pointed out that the congressman not only made statements when there was a hint of a foreign auto maker's plant coming here, but went as far as to protest it being built far outside of his district. Surely the local auto workers, given their possible near future, would be more than happy to have that plant now.
In all these cases--the steel industry, the hospital industry, and the auto
industry--the congressman rushed in to try to save the day at the last
minute. The trend doesn't stop there. The same thing happened with NASA. For those of you who still want "government-run this" or "government-run that," it should be pointed out that NASA has always been government-run.
As Mr. Kucinich stands up at the last minute to try and save this company or that company whose foot is already in the grave, the people of Northeast Ohio give him the nod at re-election time over and over again. This is too bad, because the last thing the 10th district needs is a man running around putting out fires. True leaders would either stop these industries from failing in the first place or attract new businesses to the area, regardless of how these or other industries are doing. Great leaders would do both.
Napolean once said, "A leader is a dealer of hope." Instead, we have a
dealer in causes whose hope is in some cases long gone. Now, don't get me wrong, the man deserves some credit for trying to help out these industries, but my point is it shouldn't have come at the last minute. Prior to the demise of the steel industry (and quite possibly the auto industry) in Northeast Ohio, Mr. Kucinich was touting, voting for, and proudly telling us his views on environmental issues. While these issues surely weren't the sole reason that the steel and auto industry have gone through hard times, they most certainly participated in their demise.
Almost everyone believes that these auto plants have gone to Mexico due to cheap labor and that steel is now made in Indochina due to the same reason. While this is partially true, it should be pointed out that these countries do not have the same environmental constraints that Mr. Kucinich has helped place on our county. And, once again, I don't hear of problems facing the foreign car makers who have opened up shop in Ohio or nearby states.
There are two other points that should be made. Point one: Correct me if
I'm wrong, but the congressman did nothing to stop Westgate mall from becoming a huge mountain of rubble. One can throw out the urban myth that he is the champion of the little guy. Many westsiders got their first part-time jobs after school in the mall. Where was his crisis intervention session for them? Does he not tell us election after election that he's the candidate that is going to help the underdog?
The big rumor regarding this mall is that its new anchor store will be one or more “big box” stores that most of his biggest supporters have rallied against for years. The “circle of life” of the mall goes from busy suburban market place to mall used for people to walk back and forth in as exercise, to one or possibly two big box stores. Most of this change took place in the later stages of the mall’s existence, with Mr. Kucinich as our “leader.” Since the congressman and many of his biggest supporters are against the emergence of these “big box” chains, another circle of life will soon emerge. Union laborers will build the new stores, and then union laborers will protest outside them. They will all try to tell us that big box stores hurt our economy. Instead of telling us they should have been pounding down the congressman’s door long before the mall was leveled.
Point two: There is one company that the congressman did little if nothing
to save. The company wasn't some low-wage paying outfit. It had good jobs with decent salaries and great benefits. However, it seems that Kucinich has his priorities, and some things are more important to him than jobs. Go ahead, do a Google search and enter the name Kucinich and the letters TRW and you'll find nothing but articles about how he was opposed to this company even though it helped out the economy of Northeast Ohio. It seems that some things are more important to him than the Northeast Ohio worker.
Anyone who agrees with any of the points made above should print this out and take it with them the next time the congressman is up for re-election. If the web master and editor of this publication is truly concerned about the future of Northeast Ohio and the future of the city of Lakewood and its residents, this article will be reprinted shortly before the congressman's next election. We have for too long had a fireman
running around trying to put out fires and salvage what he could. A true
leader would not only have tried to prevent those fires long before they
happened, but also brought in businesses that aren't as prone to burn down to begin with.
(Sigh) Here we go again. Another Northeast Ohio business closes down, so there is another Kucinich town hall meeting. I'm sure the congressman has the best interest of these workers in mind, but anyone with a computer can easily see a ten-year chart of either Ford (F) or General Motors (GM) to learn that they have been in trouble for at least the past ten years. Take the late 1990s and early 2000s out of the equation and the picture looks even worse. The best time for these companies over the past 10 years was the tech bubble time of “irrational exuberance” when most stocks were over-inflated. Does anyone else sense a pattern here?
The steel industry had been hurting for some time. It was not until the
mills were ready to shut down that our congressman swooped in like superman to try and save the day. And, before anyone starts to blame NAFTA or free trade for this trend, it wasn't until a few hospitals in town wanted to close that he tried to salvage them. There is an ironic yet important lesson to be learned from the hospital closures. To this day, both the congressman and his supporters talk about government-run health care.
The main reason these hospitals shut down is that the majority of their
patients were on some sort of government-sponsored health care program to begin with, and the benefits that the government pays are just not enough for hospitals to make a profit. Call any doctor you've never seen before to make an appointment and one of the first questions you will be asked is whether or not you are on Medicare or Medicaid. Some doctors tell a patient right up front, be it in their yellow page advertisement, on the doctor's answering machine, or in the waiting room, whether or not they accept certain government-run plans. And yet, not only did our congressman want to save the hospitals, but (and this is important) he still wants all of us to have government-run health care. He proudly talks about it whenever he can and people in his
district vote for him because of it.
It should also be pointed out, on a side note, that when congress was finally ready to pass a Medicare drug plan, the bill had to be rewritten so that retired union workers who campaigned for and financed the congressman for years specifically because of this issue were not included in the bill. They realized their benefits were better than what the government could offer. Yet, the congressman still proudly talks about his stance on universal health care. People still vote for him because of his views on it, many of whom are single issue voters.
Furthermore, these hospitals closed down in 2001, before the World Trade
Center attack took the wind out of the stock market. Their demise (as well as the steel industry's demise) started long before President Bush came into office, so don't even start blaming him for these industries’ problems. Anyone looking at a national view of the economy can see that while Northeast Ohio (specifically Cuyahoga County) continues to lose jobs, industries, and population, many other parts of the county are growing in all these categories. Yet, Mr. Kucinich is still re-elected term after term.
It should also be pointed out that the congressman not only made statements when there was a hint of a foreign auto maker's plant coming here, but went as far as to protest it being built far outside of his district. Surely the local auto workers, given their possible near future, would be more than happy to have that plant now.
In all these cases--the steel industry, the hospital industry, and the auto
industry--the congressman rushed in to try to save the day at the last
minute. The trend doesn't stop there. The same thing happened with NASA. For those of you who still want "government-run this" or "government-run that," it should be pointed out that NASA has always been government-run.
As Mr. Kucinich stands up at the last minute to try and save this company or that company whose foot is already in the grave, the people of Northeast Ohio give him the nod at re-election time over and over again. This is too bad, because the last thing the 10th district needs is a man running around putting out fires. True leaders would either stop these industries from failing in the first place or attract new businesses to the area, regardless of how these or other industries are doing. Great leaders would do both.
Napolean once said, "A leader is a dealer of hope." Instead, we have a
dealer in causes whose hope is in some cases long gone. Now, don't get me wrong, the man deserves some credit for trying to help out these industries, but my point is it shouldn't have come at the last minute. Prior to the demise of the steel industry (and quite possibly the auto industry) in Northeast Ohio, Mr. Kucinich was touting, voting for, and proudly telling us his views on environmental issues. While these issues surely weren't the sole reason that the steel and auto industry have gone through hard times, they most certainly participated in their demise.
Almost everyone believes that these auto plants have gone to Mexico due to cheap labor and that steel is now made in Indochina due to the same reason. While this is partially true, it should be pointed out that these countries do not have the same environmental constraints that Mr. Kucinich has helped place on our county. And, once again, I don't hear of problems facing the foreign car makers who have opened up shop in Ohio or nearby states.
There are two other points that should be made. Point one: Correct me if
I'm wrong, but the congressman did nothing to stop Westgate mall from becoming a huge mountain of rubble. One can throw out the urban myth that he is the champion of the little guy. Many westsiders got their first part-time jobs after school in the mall. Where was his crisis intervention session for them? Does he not tell us election after election that he's the candidate that is going to help the underdog?
The big rumor regarding this mall is that its new anchor store will be one or more “big box” stores that most of his biggest supporters have rallied against for years. The “circle of life” of the mall goes from busy suburban market place to mall used for people to walk back and forth in as exercise, to one or possibly two big box stores. Most of this change took place in the later stages of the mall’s existence, with Mr. Kucinich as our “leader.” Since the congressman and many of his biggest supporters are against the emergence of these “big box” chains, another circle of life will soon emerge. Union laborers will build the new stores, and then union laborers will protest outside them. They will all try to tell us that big box stores hurt our economy. Instead of telling us they should have been pounding down the congressman’s door long before the mall was leveled.
Point two: There is one company that the congressman did little if nothing
to save. The company wasn't some low-wage paying outfit. It had good jobs with decent salaries and great benefits. However, it seems that Kucinich has his priorities, and some things are more important to him than jobs. Go ahead, do a Google search and enter the name Kucinich and the letters TRW and you'll find nothing but articles about how he was opposed to this company even though it helped out the economy of Northeast Ohio. It seems that some things are more important to him than the Northeast Ohio worker.
Anyone who agrees with any of the points made above should print this out and take it with them the next time the congressman is up for re-election. If the web master and editor of this publication is truly concerned about the future of Northeast Ohio and the future of the city of Lakewood and its residents, this article will be reprinted shortly before the congressman's next election. We have for too long had a fireman
running around trying to put out fires and salvage what he could. A true
leader would not only have tried to prevent those fires long before they
happened, but also brought in businesses that aren't as prone to burn down to begin with.
Volume 1, Issue 12, Posted 08.36 PM / 09th December 2005
