Keep your germs at home

Keep your germs at home

EDITOR:

I was shopping for groceries the other day for the first time since having surgery nine days earlier when I noticed a young woman with three children who were talking to one of the store employees. When he asked the oldest girl why she wasn’t in school, she replied that she was too sick with a high fever to go to school.

While I certainly understand the difficulties of a single parent, please parents, if your children are too ill to go to school, keep them home so they don’t infect anyone else. This should be especially obvious in a grocery where there is quite a bit of fresh food that is uncovered and can pick up germs from anyone who is ill to be passed on to the person who buys it.

I feel it takes all of us to protect ourselves and each other against all of the illnesses out there, especially the H1N1 virus.

SHERYL ECKERT

Youngstown

Strickland took high road

EDITOR:

There are a number of definitions of political leadership, including being willing to do the right thing no matter the consequences. Recently, when the Ohio Supreme Court blew a billion dollar hole in the state’s education budget, Ted Strickland proved once again that he is a real leader while Republicans demonstrated conclusively that they can’t even spell the word.

Forced to choose between a number of less than attractive options that included raising the state sales tax, delaying — but not cancelling — the fifth in a series of small income-tax cuts passed during the Taft administration, or forcing public schools, including those in the Mahoning Valley, to lay off teachers and slash critical programs, the governor did the right thing. He stepped up and called on the Legislature to delay the tax cuts. As a result, Ohioans will still pay lower taxes in 2009 than they did in 2008 while the quality of education in the state will not suffer.

Sadly but predictably, some Republicans immediately accused the governor of increasing taxes, even though he had not, offered no solutions of their own, and gleefully predicted that the governor and House and Senate Democrats would be punished by the voters in 2010.

Sound familiar? It’s the same strategy the GOP is using to fight health- care reform: lie about the existence of “death panels,” use overheated rhetoric to scare the public, and, in the end, do nothing to solve a crisis that is killing thousands of Americans every year.

Fortunately, the people of Ohio are smart enough to see through the political games Republicans are playing with their future. As 2010 approaches I am confident that when the public compares our doing the right thing to their doing nothing, our courage to their cowardice, our leadership to their indifference, our faith in the future to their doubt about tomorrow, our optimism to their cynicism, they will reward us with their votes, and our position as Ohio’s majority party will be secure for years to come.

For in the end, the question is not whether taxes are being raised, it is whether we want to make our schools better, make college more affordable, create and retain good jobs and ensure that Ohio can compete and succeed in the highly competitive global marketplace. Gov. Strickland has answered with a resounding yes. Some Republicans, as usual, haven’t a clue.

Atty. DAVID J. BETRAS

Canfield

X The writer is chairman of the Mahoning County Democratic Party.

Life in Dave’s World

EDITOR:

Imagine if we all lived in Dave’s World (Betras that is). Everyone like the auto industry would get a bailout check and private developers not begging for government freebies like the casino groups would be exiled to places like Pittsburgh. Oh, I forgot, they just opened a beautiful new casino on the river by Heinz Field.

We could all live in poverty ... not just a few. Forget the fact that Cleveland, Cincinnati and Toledo all just cracked the U.S. poverty top ten.

Everyone in townships outside of Youngstown could boycott the Covelli Center. After all, they didn’t get a convention center built for them.

Initiative like that shown by those working to get Issue 3 passed would be crushed, and whining would be the official language. After all, Dave could have led the charge for a Youngstown casino and could in the future lead a similar campaign, but that would require effort.

High unemployment with extended benefits would be law, jealousy the religion, and Marc Dann would officially be crowned a good guy who got a bad rap.

TIM RYAN

Newton Falls

The PBGC strikes again

EDITOR:

And so it goes. The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. has denied the appeal of employees of Republic Technologies International, and it is stripping our pensions from me and many of my co-workers. Oh, we do have options. For me I can take $70 a month minus 10 percent to pay back the $28,000 or so that they’ve already paid me since 2002. That’s right. They want their money back. Or I can take nothing till I’m 65 and get a whopping $275 a month minus 10 percent. So think about those figures, Delphi people, when you go from $2,000or $3,000 to $1000.

And if you think Ryan or any of these other politicians are going to help you, think again. They may say nice things or make a big speech somewhere but it’s all cosmetic. It’s just like Jim Traficant says, “We can take care of people all over the world, but we can’t take care of our own.” Say what you will about him but I believe he was the only politician that I know of who really cared about his constituents, and I hope he runs again because he’s got my vote.

We probably will file a lawsuit against PBGC. Will it do any good? It’s hard to be optimistic, I only wish Jimbo would have been my congressman the last eight years because I feel I would have gotten a lot more help. No signs of intelligent life in this area. Not in office and not in de Souza’s columns. So like the man says, “Beam me up.”

JACK THOMAS

Struthers

Saving energy makes sense

EDITOR:

Moving America forward with clean energy will put us back in control of our economic future and create millions of new jobs that will help get us out of this recession. That’s why news that the Senate advanced clean energy and climate legislation is so important.

People need jobs right now, and moving to clean energy is a way to create them. Recent reports show that we can create 1.7 million new American jobs with comprehensive clean energy and climate policies — good-paying jobs for working people installing wind turbines, retrofitting buildings and building fuel efficient cars. Clean energy can restore America’s manufacturing base, rebuild the U.S. economy for the long run, and create more than 850,000 manufacturing jobs in all 50 states. By using clean homegrown energy, these will be jobs that can’t be shipped overseas. Moreover, by transitioning to clean energy, we’ll tap into the unmatched innovation, ingenuity and hard work of America’s greatest resource: our workers. The American workforce is still one of the most highly trained and flexible, and that’s an asset the can help put this country and the world back on track to prosperity. Creating more sustainable wage jobs in this economy would be a good thing for everyone, by increasing the tax bases in our communities, reinvesting in our national energy infrastructure, and providing a decent future for generations to come.

While the big oil companies are spending millions trying to resist this change, it’s clear that the status quo isn’t working. Our average household energy spending increased $1,000 between 2001 and 2007. We just can’t afford more of the same. Even if someone doesn’t agree with the science behind disruptive climate change, it still makes sense to save money by increasing our efficiency. We need to act quickly because the rest of the world will not wait for us to lead the way this time. We as a nation are falling behind in yet another movement. With countries like China investing $12 million every hour of every day in things like wind turbines and solar panels, we are slipping behind the rest of the industrialized world. We cannot afford to stand idle while the rest of the world takes advantage of an emerging climate change movement.

We have the workforce, we have the training and the knowledge, and we have the need for effective climate change legislation. Now, we need to put this country back to work by supporting the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act.

GEORGE CALKO

Cortland

We need casinos in Ohio

EDITOR:

After Hurricane Katrina, the rebuilding of casinos in Mississippi brought countless jobs to the South. Those casinos still provide numerous positions that are greatly assisting in the growth of this beautiful area on the gulf.

Other states in the South do not allow casinos, mainly due to religious reasons. Most Southern Baptists believe gambling to be a sin. Ever so many Catholic churches here thrive on money received from gambling in their establishments though. One wonders how many of the catholic faith do not want casinos in Ohio as they fear such businesses would encroach on the money the church reaps.

Casinos in Ohio would bring a plethora of jobs, even to Youngstown. From construction to management and every position in between, as all aspects are important. Casinos are built in large cities or lovely places to vacation, neither of which describe Youngstown. Why not support the well-being of this entire state — not just what you wish would happen around the block from you or continue in a church’s basement?

I will vote yes for casinos in Ohio as this state, more so this crime ridden town, desperately needs every bit of help possible.

E.D. DAVIS

Youngstown

Peace Race was a success

EDITOR:

I want to commend the city of Youngstown for having the Peace Race again, for the 35th year. This was my second Peace Race and it really is one of the nicest races in our area.

Second Sole in Boardman and the Roadrunners Club of Youngstown and all the other sponsors should get a first- place ribbon for all of their efforts.

The night before the race Second Sole had a very good inspirational speaker come to town. I wish more people would have gotten a chance to hear Dick Beardsley. He was a world- class runner who came in second during the 1982 Boston Marathon in one of the closest marathons ever. His talk was about his life as a runner and his life as it is today after what he had to go through and “staying the course” (as one of his books is titled).

His talk inspired me and carried me during the race. There were many runners young and old who ran in the Peace Race. I ran with a friend of mine and his son whom I had met at last year’s race, and I appreciated their kindness and patience with me and my running ability.

It was great to see people unite for something good in Youngstown. As I was nearing the end of the race, I came upon one of the water stops the race committee had set up and children from Fairhaven School were passing out water. When I reached out to grab a water, I could have just reached out and hugged those kids. They were so excited to hand us all a drink and to make us feel good. That’s the kind of people we have here who make up the Peace Race.

TONY BALL

Hubbard