Doyle McManus’ Sept. 25 column (“What the presidential polls really show”) cites Mitt Romney’s claim that he would be better than the president at creating new jobs. Romney gives three reasons: He is a businessman, his proposed tax cuts would spur new investment and the stock market would rally if he won. On all three, facts and history suggest otherwise.
First, yes, Romney is a businessman, as were Herbert Hoover and George Bush.
Second, his tax cuts would add to the $3 trillion languishing in bank and corporate treasury accounts looking for investment opportunities. Paul Krugman and Joseph Stiglitz, both Nobel laureates in economics, have written that our economic malaise reflects a lack of demand, not a lack of investment capital.
Third, over the past 80 years, the stock market has performed better under Democratic presidents than Republican presidents.
Krugman’s book, End This Depression Now!, calls for additional stimulus to bring the economy to full employment. Will Romney convert the Senate Republicans who were poised to filibuster Christina Roemer’s $1.2 trillion stimulus recommendation in 2009? How about the 37 of 40 Republicans who voted against the $800 billion stimulus that ended our descent into depression and is credited with creating 2.7 million jobs by the bipartisan Blinder/Zandi report?
The $400 billion in stimulus that Obama couldn’t get in 2009 showed up in 2010 as the “jobs bill.” House Republicans voted it down. It was introduced in the Senate in 2011. Republicans filibustered and a cloture vote failed.
Republicans have appeared more interested in seeing Obama run against a backdrop of high unemployment than in creating jobs for idle workers. That’s compassionate conservatism at work.
Bill Clinton’s administration saw over 20 million jobs created. The George W. Bush record was less than 3 million in the same time span.
Republicans talk a good game. Their actions reveal a different agenda. The polls suggest voters have learned to separate Republican jobs rhetoric from their dismal efforts.
John D. Willert
Canton
Forget the polls. Just vote
Regarding the Oct. 1 Beacon Journal front page headline “As it stands, second term within reach for Obama,” the message to conservative voters was clear: Sorry, the election is a done deal.
I keep reading headlines in the Beacon Journal with this same wishful-thinking message: According to the polls, according to studies, according to analyses, Obama has basically won.
A few elections ago, reporting “results” before the polls closed across the nation was no longer allowed because it discouraged later voters (local and national) from casting their votes since it appeared to them the outcome had already been determined. It was found to be unfair to the candidate who was not in the lead at the time of the reporting — because supporting voters felt the election was already decided; their votes could not change the lead.
Do these Beacon Journal published polls, studies and analyses in these last days before the election send this same message to the public now, even though they are not actual “results”?
Are the early voters going to be influenced by these polls, studies and analyses? Are conservative voters going to stay home, already defeated by “as it stands”?
My plea to Akron, to Summit County, to the state of Ohio: Vote. Don’t let studies, polls and analyses determine the outcome of this presidential election.
Let the as-of-yet unpolled population determine the outcome. Let the actual voting public determine the outcome.
Let each person speak with his or her own voice and not the voice of the Beacon Journal. Be very mindful, the outcome is not the headline “As it stands.” The outcome, instead, is as you stand.
Jan Oros
Ellet
Change the redistricting game
If the Browns played the Bengals, and the Bengals provided all the umpires and referees, would you expect that the game would be fair? These judges are paid by the NFL because no one can expect fairness when one side or the other has them in their pocket.
State Issue 2 deals with the same problems, but in the political game, not football. Those backing the issue, among them the League of Women Voters, are not politicians, and are noted for being nonpartisan.
They have studied the problem of how political districts are drawn and made the recommendation for a citizens commission after serious study. The opposition has responded by acting like a child who does not want his toy taken from him.
Yes, the new commission that would be created would have the power to set salaries, but those salaries must be paid from funds governed by the legislature.
It is possible that there are adjustments needed in the future, but the legislature has the power to propose those adjustments.
I strongly recommend a vote of “yes” on Issue 2.
H. Doyle Smith
Canton
Two lawmakers,
one in action
The difference in our political parties today is Republicans have decided to take the path of doing nothing, refusing to compromise and disguising themselves as fiscally responsible in order to pass their agenda of tax cuts for the rich.
Democrats actually want to improve the country, offering plans to strengthen the middle class and put people back to work.
Take Jim Renacci, who has jumped on the GOP bandwagon. He signed Grover Norquist’s pledge to never raise taxes — a sign that he is unwilling to compromise.
He also voted for the Ryan budget, which doesn’t balance the budget for more than two decades, and in the meantime cuts programs like Medicare and Medicaid, not to mention giving giant tax cuts to the wealthy.
Meanwhile, Betty Sutton has acted. She wrote legislation that helped revitalize the auto industry, which is responsible for over 800,000 jobs in Ohio. She voted to ensure taxes do not go up on the middle class and to ensure our seniors have access to affordable health care.
The two representatives are facing each other in the 16th U.S. House District, and it’s important to re-elect Sutton to guarantee the success of our economy and our country.
Patrick E. Tummel
Atwater Township
A most amazing running experience
This past weekend in Akron, I ran my first marathon, and it was by far the most amazing running experience in my life. This past weekend was just another reason why my wife and I feel most at home here, after living in many different places in the country.
It may not seem like much, but the fact that there are people who will take time out of a cool Saturday morning to cheer on thousands of total strangers is very heartening to those who have decided to take on that challenge. I wanted to pass on my personal gratitude to all of you.
For me, that extra boost of encouragement helped me when I wanted to make one of your front lawns my resting place.
To all of the sponsors, organizers, and volunteers, I have the same amount of gratitude. I hope none of you went away feeling that your efforts went unnoticed; they were crucial. The planning, organization and hard work that goes into an event such as this is no small feat. It’s hard to make thousands of people feel like this event was personally for them, but it came through at every level.
Scott George
Hudson
What matters to teachers
In response to your coverage of Chicago teachers, I agree with the teachers. More often than not, the issue for teachers is not money. In most cases, raises have been frozen or funds are unavailable.
The issue is often the classroom environment, whether it is concern over extensive data-gathering and testing, which take away from teaching time; discipline codes, which ensure a safe, productive environment; and a supportive administration, which ensures collaboration between administrators and teachers.
Teacher evaluations are an issue, not because teachers do not want them (they encourage objective evaluation), but because they want a fair way to include student progress.
Imagine a doctor’s wages being tied to how healthy her patients have become, or a mayor’s wages being tied to the amount of crime in his city. What about a lawyer’s wages being tied to her success in winning a case, or a dentist’s wages being tied to how many teeth she saves?
Just as I am sure these outcomes are at times out of the control of the practitioners mentioned above, teachers can be outstanding in the classroom and still not achieve the success for which they hope. Let’s not make teachers the enemy. They strive for your child’s success each day and need your support.
Jan Shipe
Akron
