Tim Ryan's Comments are Laughable

Naturally, I am delighted that the company decided to locate here. Someone asked me what I would have done differently had I been the Congressman.

Here goes. First, I wouldn’t have spent $20,000,000 million of tax payer’s dollars to purchase and “clean” land for a privately owned, foreign company. I don’t think there is a provision in our Constitution allowing it.

Beyond not being a constitutionally permitted use of tax payer’s dollars consider this. If they spent $20,000,000 to create 400 jobs, it comes to $50,000 thousand per job. I have a small business that employs six people. Do you think I should be entitled to $300,000 for some expansion if I create six more jobs?

Here are a few more questions. Did anyone ever explain why it takes $20,000,000 to clean up the land? What was done to that land that requires $20,000,000 to clean up? And, is the government going to go after who ever it was that left the pollution? And why does it have to be cleaned at all if all your going to put there is a steel mill?

Also consider this. Does anyone believe that a company that planned on spending $900,000,000 million dollars would scrap the project because it didn’t want to spend $20,000,000 on land? Our $20,000,000 amounted to less than 3 percent of the project cost. Doubtful a savings of three percent made the difference in their decision to go ahead with the project.

Here is what you should understand about business. As long as a cost could be factored into a business plan without adversely effecting profits, it poses no problem. What businesses abhor is uncertainty, simply because it can not be factored in. My belief is that the most important factor to the V&M star owner’s decision to locate in our country was the failure of the Cap and Trade bill. You can bet that the owners knew that the Cap and Trade bill would be costly to them. What they didn’t know though, was how costly. No one is going to invest a billion dollars into an industrial plant with those unknown costs hanging over their heads. Early on, I said that you can bet that V&M Star is not going to make a decision until they find out what is going to happen with that Bill.

Tim Ryan is patting himself on the back for getting the money to clean up the land, but overlooks the fact that his “yes” vote for Cap and Trade would more than likely have been a deal killer had the Bill become law. The V&M Star folks did what my dad used to do when he bought a new car. I remember he would always say, “If you throw in the floor mats, we got a deal”. He asked for that simply because he knew that would be given. It was something for free. That’s what V&M Star did; they got the free floor mats.

Dan, it troubles me that you continue to speak out about something prior to educating yourself on all the facts. What's even more troubling is that even after I provided you with an expert article (written 8 months ago) that states that Cap and Trade would have HELPED the natural gas industry and V&M, you continue to spew misinformation based solely on your political ideology and not on fact and real world examples. To refresh your memory, here's the link again.

http://www.energybulletin.net/node/49298

Mr. Moadus,

You stated in your opening remarks that you were asked what you would have done differently. You took the time to attack Mr. Ryan but you did not answer the question.

This leads me to ponder the fact that we are dealing with two very typical politicians and neither deserve our consideration at this juncture.

Michael, the entire country experienced a sharp increase in unemployment, not just the valley. Since you are finding fault with Tim Ryan for the increase here locally, I'm assuming that you find his republican counterparts at fault as well for the increase in unemployment in their respective districts. Columbiana county is not much better off than Mahoning or Trumbull, and they are predominately conservative. When are you going to speak out on the mismanagement of the Columbiana county government by the conservatives in charge there?

And please clarify what you mean in regards to Youngstown in its heyday. Is it reasonable to think Youngstown will experience a population boom and get back to 180,000 people? No. Is it reasonable to think that we can lower the unemployment rate, raise property values and household incomes to what they were relative to 50 years ago? YES. If you don't think this is an attainable goal, then why do you devote your time to promoting the area?

mr. moudas, the 20 million was used to make land suitable for rail development. If that did not happen than V and M would not have even considered the idea. If you want Cinderella to go to the Ball with you, you got to look presentable.

If V and M was worried about the effects of cap and trade, they would have located in Australia instead of the United States. (This project has been going on for two years)

Mr. Ryan is not patting himself on the back. Mr. Ryan knows this was a community wide project that took over two years of behind the scene work. This project is proof that this area can work together to achieve something successful. It was the wonderful, prosperous community of your beloved Girard that nearly ruined the deal through selfishness.

Props to Mayor Williams, the Regional Chamber, Mr. Ryan, Mr. Strickland, the local representatives, and thank you Mr. Melfi and the wonderful city of Girard for not holding this deal hostage for a postage stamp of unusable land.

Mr. Moudas how would you have attracted V and M and other businesses. How would you lower the unemployment rate? I don't want the silly "lower taxes" argument, a little more detail. Lowering taxes only increases demand slightly at best.

Alright where to begin here?

1. Cap and Trade, or as I like to call it Cap and Tax, is DEAD. The thing stands no chance of passing before the Republican Uprising this November when we take back the US House and come close to taking back the US Senate. If it did pass, everyone knows that taxes will skyrocket, jobs will be lost, and we can kiss good-bye to the strong coal industry in this part of the region.

2. Steve, I live in Mahoning County, not Columbiana County. If you are proud of 8.2% unemployment when this nations economy was strong, then you set the bar awful low. I'd love to know how anyone can find 8.2% unemployment a respectable number. It is terrible number and at the time, was one of the very worst in Ohio. I am not blaming it all on Tim Ryan, but if he is going to be out there as Mr. Cheerleader, then I question what he is cheering about because the economy has gotten worse since he took office.

3. Finally I have made it clear how I would try to move this area forward. If I were Jay Williams, I'd setup a meeting with Dr. Anderson, the new President of YSU, as soon as possible to talk about the importance of YSU in this community and how we can work together to get projects done. I think it would also be in the best interest of our politicians to get a deal setup with an energy company to begin natural gas exploration in the Valley. If they succeed, there is no doubt more jobs would come.

Steve,
It is most certainly "laughable" to question how properly educated Dan is when clearly the facts have been stated, they do not lie, have not lied, and if you simply take the blinders off you can clearly see this for yourself. The area never ever (mark my words) will get back to the days of old with such failed leadership with puppets in office such as Tim Ryan. Is it that difficult to look at his accomplishments (or better there lack of) since he took office, the statistics, data, and all else into account?.

The bottom line here is that Tim is nothing more than a cheerleader and that is all he will remain being throughout the remainder of his time in DC. You need to put all else aside and merely looks at the facts as they speak volumes in many more ways than one.

http://www.forbes.com/2010/02/11/americas-most-miserable-cities-busine ss-beltway-miserable-cities_slide_19.html

Youngstown isn't the worse off in Ohio I guess. Be grateful for that at least lol.

He is at least doing something. Granted this might be the only "big" thing he has done for Youngstown and getting jobs. Plus I think you are putting a little bit too much stock into YSU. If you look at that link, Akron and Toledo have Universities (bigger than YSU) and they are still struggling. You need to think of more diversity. And I don't completely disagree with you on this, scrub.

Tim, my next article is going to address that ranking and another 'better' ranking out yesterday as well.

Akron and Toledo, obviously, haven't put as much stock into their universities then. Akron still has rubber, Toledo still has glass, while Youngstown has hardly any steel left.

Youngstown needs to be proactive in utilizing our university to get this area educated. From what I have read, this community has the fewest percentage of college educated people in Ohio. Tell me what businesses would want to come here knowing that fact?

Memo to the Honorable Congressman

The issue is not to pursue the impossible of breaking the time continuum to return to the thirties, forties and fifties, in my humble opinion. Rather, court newer industries such as lithium batteries being developed in places, say, like Austin, with the skilled labor still available in the Mahoning Valley and catch up with the teens, but without the political nonsense still in ready supply as well.

I've worked in steel engineering for over 20 years, all around the world.

There is one reason that V&M chose to expand in Youngstown, and not in Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, or Louisiana, like all other mini mills in the last 20 years: Marcellus Shale Project. The luck of having an existing steel mill planted right on top of the biggest natural gas deposit in the U.S., and recent decisions to allow drilling for the gas is the ONLY reason for getting the V&M expansion in Youngstown, not Tim Ryan. After winning the tarriffing of Chinese-dumped steel pipe, a lobbying effort that required huge financial investment by the U.S. steel pipe manufacturers, and supported by Mr. Ryan.
If the gas wasn't there, Ryan would be have zero reasons to cheer now (what has really happened in creating good-paying jobs in his district since his professional political career? Can you name one?). He's riding the luck, nothing more. I've worked in steel pipe management for over two decades - mini-mills are now located in low tax districts located near easy transport, in areas where union greed can't come in and decimate the company's hopes, and of good proximity to the end customer. That's why ALL of the new steel mills have been located on or near the Mississippi River in low tax districts, centrally-located in the U.S. for distribution.
It is Marcellus Shale natural gas, not Tim Ryan.
The jobs never came in spite of his years in office (they left, actually), and the V&M Project would have happened if Tim Ryan, or you, or I were congressman.

Mr.Novotony...You want facts try this on 8 cities got $34.4 MILLION DOLLARS in PORK due to TIMMY RYANS help in 2009,while Youngstown got$4.4 million. I don't like PORK, but in all reality that is the way it is and TIMMY is really out there to helps....R..I..G..H..T! (figures from Open Secrets)