Republicans are on the rise

Republicans are on the rise

The minds in the Valley are changing, and Democratic Party leadership knows it.

In response to Rachel Hanni’s May 26 letter to the editor, Ms. Hanni is correct: citizens should elect officials based on whose values are closest to their own. To that point I would challenge the members of the Mahoning County Democratic Party to examine the values their leadership appears to espouse over the last 30 years of corruption and greed.

Ms. Hanni has recognized that the Democratic leadership in Mahoning County is increasingly losing support by voters who no longer feel that their values are being shared.

This most recent round of damage control, following former Democratic Party Chairman and Treasurer Lisa Antonini’s resignation, goes to show that local Democrat leadership is fearful of the disconnect that is growing in the community. For those of us who frequently read the paper and watch the news this is unsurprising. The corruption of county officials, the lack of results from our state representatives, and the mess that was left behind by former Gov. Ted Strickland, are all contributing factors to the public’s change of attitude here in the Valley.

The question I would pose to Ms. Hanni as well as other local Democratic Party leadership is simple: in the multiple decades you have had control, what achievements can you claim that have not been over shadowed by corruption and greed?

I know she doesn’t have an answer; fortunately for Mahoning County, the voters are realizing this as well.

Jim Shaw, Canfield

Switch to GOP? Not so fast

In a recent letter, a vice chair- man of the Youngstown State College Republicans laments the fact that another Mahoning County Democrat has brought shame upon the party and the county. He goes on to suggest that people should give the Republican Party a try.

His suggestion to give the Republican Party a try sounds benign enough, almost as though he’s saying “Tired of hamburgers? Give chicken a try.”

The problem with his suggestion is that to become a Republican you would have to forsake the values you live by as a Democrat. You would have to buy the Republican philosophy that government is too big, too bad and needs to leave people alone. You would have to agree to abolish all regulatory agencies that, among other things, regulate the quality of the air that we breathe, the water we drink and the food we eat.

Republicans want us to keep our hands off of the banks, letting them charge whatever fees they want. Republicans don’t believe that every American deserves health care. Republicans believe that our teachers, police officers and firemen are overpaid and that unions that represent them should be abolished.

And more recently, we’ve found out about the Republican plan to kill Medicare, while refusing to end the tax credits on millionaires and billionaires.

Give the Republican Party a try? Umm ... no.

G.J. Jones, Boardman