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4 candidates take issue with Ryan’s health vote
By DAVID SKOLNICK
YOUNGSTOWN
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M.E. 'Bing' Henderson
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Dan Moadus
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U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan (D-17)
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Robert Crow
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Jim Graham
U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan’s two Democratic primary challengers and the two Republicans running for his seat in that party’s primary disagree with the congressman’s vote in favor of the health-care bill.
The four say Ryan’s support for the bill shows how out of touch he is with his constituents.
But Ryan, of Niles, D-17th, said his vote in favor of the bill is the most important one he will ever cast as a member of Congress.
Also, Ryan said most people he speaks to about the bill support it. There always will be a “hard-core, small” minority who always will oppose it — even if they benefit from it, he said.
If re-elected, Ryan said he would continue to be actively involved in economic development in his district.
That work, he said, resulted in multimillion-dollar expansions at V&M Star in Youngstown and Girard and at General Motors in Lordstown as well as financial help for high-tech businesses in downtown Youngstown and a new business incubator in Warren.
For the first time since his 2002 election, Ryan is facing opposition in the Democratic primary.
Challenging Ryan in the Democratic primary are Dan Moadus of Girard, owner of an auto-painting business in Warren, and Robert Crow of Youngstown, a liquor agent for Continental Airlines who also owns a business that buys and rehabilitates houses for resale.
Moadus has run 15 previous times for political office in Girard. He’s won four races for Girard City Council’s 4th Ward.
Calling the health-care bill a “new entitlement program,” Moadus said, “It’s a bad idea and not sustainable.”
Moadus wants to lower taxes. But when asked where the revenue to offset those cuts would come from, Moadus said, “I don’t know what I’d cut.”
Moadus also said the nation needs to take a “25-year hiatus” on providing funding to develop alternative energy.
Crow unsuccessfully ran in 2008 as a write-in candidate in the 13th Congressional District and applied to be appointed later that year to the then-vacant 33rd Ohio Senate District seat that went to Joe Schiavoni, a Canfield Democrat.
Regarding the health-care bill, Crow said, “I would have liked to see it go down the drain rather than have it passed.”
Jim Graham of Cortland, manager of clinical pharmacy operations for Humility of Mary Health Partners, and M.E. “Bing” Henderson, head of the Affinity Medical Center’s Department of Occupational Health in Massillon, are running in the May 4 Republican primary.
Neither has run for elected office before.
Graham said it isn’t health care that needs to be reformed but health-insurance companies.
“We have quasi-monopolies of health-insurance companies,” he said. “Insurance companies need oversight.”
Graham said, if elected, he’d focus on job creation by removing taxes and regulation on businesses.
The Congressional Budget Office places the cost of the health-care bill at $940 billion over 10 years.
“It will cost a lot more than what has been said,” said Henderson, who couldn’t give a projected cost. “I don’t believe the Congressional Budget Office’s numbers. The government hasn’t operated programs effectively.”
Henderson wants the federal government to develop policies to make the country energy independent.
The primary winners will face Elaine R. Mastromatteo, a Green Party candidate, and any independents who file by the May 3 deadline in the November general election.
The congressional district includes portions of Trumbull, Mahoning, Portage and Summit counties.
DEMOCRATS
TIM RYAN*
Age: 36
Home: Niles
Education: A law degree from the Franklin Pierce Law Center; a bachelor of arts degree in political science from Bowling Green State University; a Warren John F. Kennedy High School graduate.
Employment: A congressman.
Family: Single
Priority: Job creation, specifically in alternative energy, manufacturing and technology. My legislation regarding Chinese currency manipulation will also assure that the Chinese are on a level playing field with U.S. products, which will ultimately enhance our sale of manufactured goods.
ROBERT CROW
Age: 50
Home: Youngstown
Education: A master’s degree in business administration and a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Akron; a St. Vincent-St. Mary’s High School graduate.
Employment: A liquor agent for Continental Airlines and owner of Aguilar Property Acquisition, which purchases and rehabilitates houses.
Family: Wife, Martha.
Priority: Economic growth, employment and retirement pensions need to be re-secured to stabilize this economy. Also, promote safer neighborhoods, promote community involvement on issues, and promote bills and legislation that will bring jobs, eliminate retirement concerns, and bring economic growth to our region.
DAN MOADUS
Age: 63
Home: Girard
Education: A high school graduate.
Employment: Owns Wy-Cam Inc., an auto-painting business.
Family: Wife, Carole; three sons.
Priority: To stop out-of-control spending. To stop governments control of, and encroachment into the private sector. To restore the governments compliance with our Constitution.
REPUBLICANS
M.E. “BING” HENDERSON
Age: 61
Home: Tallmadge
Education: A doctorate of osteopathic medicine from the Kansas City College of Osteopathic Medicine; a bachelor of science degree from the University of Wyoming.
Employment: Medical director of the Affinity Medical Center’s Department of Occupational Health in Massillon.
Family: Wife, Karen; two sons and one daughter.
Priority: To help get the country back on sound economic footing by building on the strengths and values of the our people, using the energy and innovation we possess here in northeast Ohio and in our nation. Also, establish energy policies to gain our energy independence and thereby revitalize our economy and provide for optimal national security.
JIM GRAHAM
Age: 56
Home: Cortland
Education: Doctorate of pharmacy and a bachelor of science degree in pharmacy from Ohio Northern University; a Warren Western Reserve High School graduate.
Employment: Manager of clinical pharmacy operations for Humility of Mary Health Partners.
Family: Wife, Claudia; two sons.
Priority: Jobs — focusing on lifting burdens on business including tax rates, fees and regulations as well as harnessing energy sources.