Will Obama come empty handed?

“On Tuesday, May 18, President Barack Obama will visit the Youngstown, Ohio, area to discuss jobs and the economy.”

That was the initial announcement from the White House of the president’s planned stop in the Mahoning Valley — the second one in seven months.

The keyword in the announcement is “discuss” — which generally means “to talk about …”

The White House communications office would do well to come up with a different word — one that reflects the suffering caused by a 9.9 percent national unemployment rate, and a 14.5 percent Mahoning Valley rate.

Coming to Youngstown to discuss jobs and the economy is tantamount to Obama saying, “I’ve got nothing concrete to offer you but words of encouragement.”

Mr. President, we in the Mahoning Valley have been hearing talk about jobs and the economy for more than 30 years since the steel mills closed. Presidents and governors and Cabinet officers have been trekking through this region telling us they feel our pain.

Projects

So, while your second visit since taking office in January 2009 is being hailed locally as a good thing for the Valley, it’s important to point out several projects that you, the most powerful leader in the free world, can bring to fruition with the flourish of your pen:

Forum Health. The hospital system’s future remains uncertain. Although there are encouraging signs that Ardent Health Services of Nashville, Tenn., could take over Forum, which is in bankruptcy, intervention by the White House would certainly seal the deal.

After all, there are three hospitals, North Side Medical Center, Trumbull Memorial Hospital and Hillside Rehabilitation Hospital, that must be preserved. Without Forum, Humility of Mary Health Systems would be alone in providing health care for this area.

In pushing through the health-reform bill, you made it clear, Mr. President, that the goal is to provide affordable care for all Americans. There are many Valley residents who cannot afford health insurance coverage. You should announce Tuesday that you will be sending your secretary of health and human services, Kathleen Sebelius, to Youngstown to help guide Forum through this economic storm and facilitate the purchase by Ardent, if that becomes a reality.

Thousands of jobs are at stake.

General Motors’ Lordstown assembly plant. As a follow-up to your tour of the GM facility, during which you got an up-close look at the Chevrolet Cruze, you should announce that the administration is working to secure a second product.

Although your visit to Lordstown in September received minute-by-minute press coverage, the fact of the matter is that you had very little to do with the plant winning the intense competition for the Cruze. It was labor and management, Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland and his predecessor, Republican Bob Taft, and area officeholders, led by Congressman Tim Ryan of Niles, D-17th, who were instrumental in making GM an offer it couldn’t refuse (an unfortunate choice of words given the Valley’s Mafia history).

To be sure, your administration’s bailout of the auto industry prevented the collapse of General Motors and Chrysler, but the heavy lifting for the Cruze was done with little involvement of your White House.

You can truly leave your mark on the Valley by securing another product — an electric car, a hybrid or some hi-tech, environmentally sound truck — for Lordstown.

Thousands of jobs would be created.

Youngstown City School District. It has the distinction of being the worst academic performing system in the state of Ohio. Mr. President, the Youngstown schools have imploded fiscally and academically. They are under state-mandated emergency.

You have made education a key component of your administration’s agenda. An announcement that you’re assigning Arne Duncan, secretary of education, to lend his office’s expertise will grab headlines.

Youngstown Business Incubator. This highly touted and successful non-profit corporation that accelerates the formation, growth and success rates of technology-based businesses needs $1.5 million ASAP to keep a cutting-edge company that’s ready to go global in downtown Youngstown.

How about a check presentation, sir?