RAISING MONEY IS AN ASSET WHEN PAY TO PLAY IS THE GAME

Raising money is an asset when pay to play is the game
EDITOR:
The front page story Sunday quotes Bob Hagan as saying "the two most important qualities for someone filling a state legislative vacancy are raising money and being electable." He also said, "J.J. Cafaro has passed out a lot of money to the caucus and individual members." Sen. Hagan supports Capri Cafaro to fill the Senate seat vacated by Marc Dann.
The attorney general-elect has pledged to fight corruption and stop the pay-to- play policies of the past. I hope that includes Democrats who openly admit that the General Assembly is for sale.
DON JOHNSON
Hubbard
When will we learn that abatements are a bad deal?
EDITOR:
We the people of this state should be mortified that cities and counties in Ohio would give such tax breaks of up to 75 percent or more for 10 years to businesses who promise to rebuild. Then expect their workers to work with outdated equipment and to salvage parts to fix broken down equipment, when the tax abatement that they received was for the company to fix up the plant. Instead, they threaten to close their plant after only being here for a couple of years. When will our representatives finally penalize them? Too many industries have come to Ohio, received their tax break then closed their doors within a few years. It should not be up to hard working Ohioans to pay for the mistakes of cities or counties.
When large companies threaten to reduce employee's wages or shut down the plant, what kind of productivity are they expecting to receive in return? Do the CEOs of any company not realize that productivity would most likely increase if the workers were rewarded instead of threatened? If companies would truly put their efforts into rebuilding their companies instead of destroying them, most likely their productivity would increase.
In my opinion the CEOs of any company should think about this: is it truly justified for a man or woman to sit behind a desk and receive what is most likely an unreasonably high paycheck just for shuffling papers around while laborers are asked to take a pay cut? Doesn't it make more sense to start the pay cuts at the top of the ladder rather than at the bottom? It is, after all, the bottom of the ladder that actually makes any big business work. Without the laborers there would be no company.
If the company has plants in other parts of the country, maybe they should look at the cost of living differences in each area. Maybe if there are outside plants involved, they should wonder if they would be on the chopping block next.
When a big business has a contract with a local union, why is that a company tries to breach it with the "take a pay cut or we close the door" threat? Why is it that the cities and the counties let companies get away with such an outrage? What happened to building our communities?
Maybe it is time to put some new officials in office to protect our cities and counties. One who is out there looking out for our community and state.
These are your tax dollars that will be going up every time a business gets a tax abatement then closes its doors.
JUSTINE L. SHULER
Struthers
Freedom stops at tavern door
EDITOR:
After reading the article, "Say thanks to a veteran for your freedom," in the paper Nov. 9, I have a question. What happened to my freedom (that I fought for) to have a smoke while I drink a beer in a bar?
JAMES YORK
Youngstown