| January 18, 2010
Here is my first 'political' editorial in today's, Monday's, issue of The Vindicator.
Last Thursday, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded $2 billion in federal funding to economically depressed areas to spur economic development and jobs. Of that $2 billion, the Mahoning Valley will be receiving nothing. Although Congressmen Tim Ryan, D-17th, claims he is, “shocked and obviously disappointed” by the news, nobody in the Mahoning Valley should be surprised.
For much of the past 40 years, notwithstanding the six years Republican Lyle Williams served in Congress, the Mahoning Valley has blindly voted for the Democratic Party to serve us at the local, state, and national level. Time after time, the Democrats we elect take the Mahoning Valley for granted because they know they will continue to be elected whether they deserve it or not. As far as I am concerned, the status quo politically in our area is despicable and embarrassing to say the least.
Let me provide some examples of the Democrats failing our area over the years. In June of last year, local communities teamed up and applied for $33.2 million in HUD funding to be used for economic development, to create jobs, and to aid in demolition efforts throughout the Mahoning Valley. Despite having two Democratic congressmen, Democratic mayors in Youngstown and Warren, and giving Barack Obama 63 percent of the vote in the Mahoning Valley, our area received nothing in return.
In 1992, President Bill Clinton promised a Government Accountability Office right here in the Mahoning Valley; 18 years later, there is no such office.
In addition to those two failures, job creation has been nonexistent in the Democrats’ reign over the past 40 years. Thirty years after the steel mills began to close at a rapid pace in our region, our economy is still without any new industries to create good paying jobs in our area. Why is it that Pittsburgh, a city that faced similar problems to ours, is now a booming metropolitan area, while we sit on the sidelines? I will tell you why: Their politicians did not sit on their hands and take their voters for granted..
I am challenging the voters of the Mahoning Valley to go one election without voting down the party line and giving the Democrats complete control of the Mahoning Valley. If there was ever a time to hold Tim Ryan, Charlie Wilson, or any Democrat holding a statewide position accountable, this is the year. It is time for Independents and Republicans to have their shot at improving the Mahoning Valley, because the Democrats have failed to improve our area.
MICHAEL METZINGER
Youngstown
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