Friday, January 15, 2016
The backers of the anti-fracking Community Bill of Rights in Youngstown that lost by only 2.46 percentage points in the November 2015 election will sit out the March 15 primary.
But Frackfree Mahoning Valley will seek to put it on the ballot for a sixth time during the Nov. 8 general election, said Susie Beiersdorfer, a Frackfree member.
The charter proposal failed twice in both 2013 and 2014 with the margins of defeat ranging from 8.3 percentage points to 15.4 percentage points before the close vote last November.
Meanwhile, New Day for America, a Super PAC backing Ohio Gov. John Kasich for president, is looking for volunteers to call potential Republican primary voters in New Hampshire. Those interested should be at the Mahoning County Republican Party headquarters, 621 Boardman-Canfield Road in Boardman at 11 a.m. Saturday.
“The only requirements are a wifi connection, a smart phone/tablet, and a willingness to help,” county GOP Chairman Mark Munroe wrote in an email.
Munroe, who backs Kasich, also wrote: “We are glad to work with any of the campaigns who request help. Our No. 1 goal is to return a Republican to the White House!”
The reactions to President Barack Obama’s last State of the Union address from Democrats and Republicans were predictable with the former praising it and the latter criticizing it.
That’s to be expected. It’s politics and it’s partisan. While we’ve had moments of cooperation between the two political parties, they’ve largely disagreed with each other for decades.
You can probably take a response to the address from a Democrat and a Republican and wonder if they were at the same speech.
Shortly after the address, the area’s two U.S. representatives – Tim Ryan of Howland, D-13th, and Bill Johnson of Marietta, R-6th – provided lengthy responses.
During the Democratic president’s address, Ryan took to Twitter to post passages from the speech. Members of Congress, the media and others had copies of it before Obama started speaking.
In his statement after the address, Ryan, who is in the minority in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, said the “speech is a needed reminder to Congress that in order to move our country forward, we must come together. The United States should be the definition of a successful democracy and we have a responsibility to live up to that role both at home and abroad.”
He then went on to praise Obama.
“There is no doubt that our country has come a long way since President Obama looked out over the National Mall and took the presidential oath of office. We were reminded tonight of where our country was when President Obama delivered his first address – in the midst of the worst financial crisis in recent history, losing almost 820,000 private-sector jobs during President Bush’s last month in office. But thanks to President Obama’s leadership, we have seen 70 consecutive months of job creation, adding 14 million new jobs to the American economy and cutting unemployment to 5 percent. We heard President Obama boldly and clearly lay out his plan for how we can move this great nation forward. But in today’s connected world, we understand that all countries’ economies are interdependent, and we need to remain vigilant to protect these economic gains and ensure that all Americans are financially secure.”
Ryan said that in the past year, the United States led the way to help eradicate Ebola in Africa, brokered an “unprecedented climate agreement” among 195 countries, “ended 53 years of failed foreign policy in Cuba,” and brought China, Russian and Iran “to the table to achieve a landmark nuclear agreement.”
Ryan said the president pointed out that we are living in a “time of extraordinary change,” and events are developing faster than ever.
“In the midst of all this change, the year ahead, or even the next five, might look scary, but despite any lingering uncertainty there is little doubt in my mind that a better future for our families and our nation is within reach. What we need is the courage and the clarity of thought that the present demands of us to make the right choices for the American people.”
Johnson saw the speech and Obama in a completely different light. On Johnson’s Twitter feed during the speech he wrote: “No mention of the war on coal and the jobs lost with it,” and later, “Why did [Obama] wait so long to address important issues regarding foreign affairs?”
Johnson’s statement after the address started with: “Never in my lifetime have I seen a President seem so small and insignificant in the face of so many tremendous global challenges – challenges that require American leadership abroad, and the ability to unite at home. Tonight’s speech didn’t change any of that, and he continues to preside over the downsizing of the American Dream – with a record number of Americans pessimistic about the future. I found it particularly stunning that this president, after seven years of dividing our country more deeply than we’ve been in generations, is now, in his final year, calling for civility.”
Johnson followed by saying that terrorism in general, and ISIS specifically, “is on the march across the globe.”
He added: “While ISIS gained strength and influence in the Middle East, President Obama sat on his hands – choosing to ignore his “red line” in Syria and focus on his need to close the terrorist prison at Guantanamo Bay. Vladimir Putin continues to push President Obama around on the global stage, and longstanding allies, like Israel, are wondering where they stand with a White House that has chosen to cozy up with Iran.”
Johnson also criticized Obama’s domestic policies saying the “national debt is spiraling out of control at a historic pace,” that the president is “actively trying to destroy the coal industry,” and that he’s now “trying to make it more difficult for law-abiding citizens to exercise their Second Amendment rights and protect their families.”
While Obama envisions getting a lot done during his final year as president, it’s a ridiculous premise. Many of his major initiatives stalled or were watered down in Congress during his first seven years as president.
As a lame duck during a presidential election year, it’s hard to imagine any of the key proposals Obama outlined in the address will be approved by a Republican- controlled Congress.