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Home > Blogs > Butler County News and Issues > Archives > 2010 > August > 02
Monday, August 2, 2010
More press releases to come
In response to several comments on my more recent posts (below), I feel I should clarify what we’re doing here.
These are not news articles. These are blog posts.
It can be a confusing distinction, as I do frequently post news articles on the blog (usually with a link to the original story).
But I also post press releases, to give readers a full picture of what’s being said. Usually, you would only see a paragraph or two from a release (if we do anything with it at all), and one of the features of this blog is to give readers more background than they would receive in a news story.
In addition to posting financial records, meeting agendas and other documents, press releases are some of what I called in my very first blog post the “little snippets of the greater debate that historically ended up on the cutting room floor.”
I will always let people know when I’m posting a press release and where it comes from, so they can make the appropriate assumptions about the biases of the statements therein. If we write a full story, I will usually update the post with a link to that as well.
If you disagree with that practice, don’t hesitate to let me know (I’m sure you won’t).
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TweetCoussoule calls for earmarks to help Grand Lake St. Mary’s
Press release from campaign for Justin Coussoule, the Democrat running against U.S. House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-West Chester Twp., in the fall:
Absence of Leadership from the Minority Leader
Coussoule suggests Boehner “get out of the way”
In yet another colossal failure of representation and leadership, Friday John Boehner sputtered through a meaningless list of talking points in response to a clandestine meeting in Celina, regarding the catastrophic toxic algae blooms currently poisoning Grand Lake St. Mary’s. Although the meeting was held at Boehner’s request, with a record of playing golf 119 times in a year, he is surely more familiar with the water hazards at Pebble Beach than the bodies of water inside his district.
Justin Coussoule (kuh-soo-lee), the 2010 Democratic candidate for the Ohio 8th Congressional District, challenges Mr. Boehner to do his job and help the residents, small business owners, and communities that he claims to represent.
Coussoule has taken the time to listen to concerned community members and understands that Grand Lake St. Mary’s, the largest inland lake in Ohio, is nearly dead. Justin is well aware that the current toxicity of Grand Lake is not only an economic challenge for the area’s tourism and agriculture, but is also an actual health hazard. Justin has done enough research to know about work being done to try and save the lake and the economic interests of the people who live in the area.
“There is potential for solutions, that will protect the tourism economy without requiring the agricultural community to take on the total burden of the cost,” Justin observes. “I think it is important for our federal representative to support the search for alternatives, such as the continued study of ways to create an algae load in the lake that not only is less toxic but has the potential to provide biofuel and possible agricultural feed.”
Justin elaborates “Mr. Boehner should stop hiding behind an empty stance against earmarks (that he only seems to apply to the 8th District and the rest of Ohio) and fight for federal dollars to help pay for the cost of cleaning up Grand Lake St. Mary’s, as well as eliminating the sources of contamination to the lake.”
Justin appreciates the numerous members of the community around Grand Lake St. Mary’s who brought this matter to his attention like Maria Suhr RN, who offers, “After months of us begging Mr. Boehner to come to visit our Lake, he finally comes here for a practically closed door meeting where he offers nothing? If this is the type of ‘help’, we can expect after 20 years of representation under this man, we must all work very hard to make sure the country doesn’t call him ‘Speaker’ Boehner.”
Justin Coussoule is prepared to lead on important issues and invested in what is affecting the lives of the people of the 8th district. “I won’t take the constituents for granted. I will be involved with what matters to the people here and suggest that with his complete absence of leadership in the district Mr. Boehner get out of the way.”
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TweetBoehner on paper
As a follow-up to this story, U.S. House Minority Leader John Boehner sent a letter last week to President Barack Obama in response to local paper workers’ call for an end to China’s paper industry subsidies.
Here’s how Boehner’s office prefaces the letter in a release:
Congressman John Boehner (R-West Chester) yesterday sent a letter to President Obama urging Congress and the Administration to work together now to create thousands of American jobs and foster a more vibrant manufacturing base. The letter, written after recent meetings with constituents who are concerned about the future of Ohio’s paper industry, encourages President Obama to act on several pending trade agreements that promise to create Ohio jobs and boost the economy without adding to our staggering deficit.
It’s worth noting, this is different from another letter signed by more than 100 members of congress (the letter local paper workers were asking Boehner to sign).
Here is a copy of Boehner’s letter:
Dear Mr. President,
The forest and paper industry is an important part of our nation’s manufacturing base. As you may know, a petition has been filed with the International Trade Commission and Department of Commerce to investigate possible subsidies and dumping of certain paper products. While I believe it is critical that these investigations proceed unimpeded by politics, I also believe the Administration and Congress should work now to create new export opportunities in order to foster an even more vibrant manufacturing base.
Specifically, I encourage you to act on your commitment to move the three pending trade agreements with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea - trade agreements that stand to benefit the paper industry in Ohio and across the country. As you have said, passage of the pending agreements will increase trade, which is a step towards your stated goal of doubling our exports in five years. You have often noted that increasing our exports by 1% will create more than 250,000 jobs. Independent reviews by the International Trade Commission estimate that implementing pending trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea will increase U.S. exports by more than one percent. As I mentioned, the paper industry in Ohio, and across the country, stands to benefit tremendously from passage of the pending trade agreements. Between 2005 and 2007, the U.S. exported $725 million worth of paper and paper products to South Korea. Upon implementation of the agreement, 100% of duties will be eliminated immediately. In 2007, the U.S. paper industry exported $234 million worth of products to Colombia and $72 million to Panama in 2006. Most tariffs will be eliminated immediately upon implementation of these agreements, with remaining tariffs being phased out over a period of ten years or less.
Ohio’s paper industry and scores of other manufactures across the country stand to benefit greatly by the adoption of the pending trade agreements. Opening doors to overseas markets creates jobs and new opportunities without costing the taxpayers. I urge you to act on these agreements.
Mr. President, as you know, nearly 1 in 10 Americans today is unemployed. In my district, Ohio’s Eighth Congressional District, families continue to struggle with a jobless rate that is nearly a full point higher than the national average. As I listen to the small business owners who are essential to getting our economy moving again and creating new jobs, I hear concerns about new taxes, mandates and obstacles that are filling them with uncertainty and keeping them from hiring, investing, and leveraging their hard work and innovation to take advantage of new opportunities at home and abroad.
I appreciate your attention to this issue, and I look forward to working with you to address the tough issues that face our country’s economy.
Sincerely,
John A. Boehner, Member of Congress
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