Between 7th Congressional District congressman Bob Gibbs (Republican - Holmes County) and the 16th's Jim Renacci, they represent about 90% or better of Stark County.
Gibbs is a make "no bones about it" right-wing Republican (if not and out-and-out Tea Party type) who thinks he is safe for reelection (due to gerrymandered redistricting) and therefore is not interested in representing the many thousands (many of whom are citizens of Stark County) who are:
- traditional conservative Republicans,
- one of the few remaining conservative Democrats,
- middle of the road Republicans and Democrats, or
- that real rare bird in a county like Stark - a left wing, liberal Democrat.
Leading up to his reelection bid in 2012 (in the "new" 16th which includes north-northwest Stark County), having defeated Democrat John Boccieri (then of Alliance in the "old" 16th which included all of Stark County); Renacci made much ado about his having formed what he call "the breakfast club" which he ballyhooed (per editorial writer Steve Hoffman of the Akron Beacon Journal) as being a group of:
... 10 Republicans and 10 Democrats, the group operates outside the glare of television lights, tackling ... tough issues such as weak economic growth and the debt, or, as the congressman puts it, “the real problems that Americans care about.”Recent reports indicate that Ohio, notwithstanding Governor Kasich's largely "out-of-the-public-view" JobsOhio trumpeted cure for what ails Ohio's economy, is now in a "job-losing" mode.
Recently, it was revealed that Ohio lost 8,200 jobs in August apparently with a large share of them coming in the northeast Ohio corridor which includes the Stark County area.
Moreover, Ohio unemployment has hoovered at 7.3% for some time now.
From examiner.com, this report:
Appearing on NBC's Meet the Press Sunday [October 27th] with Democratic Kentucky Gov. Beshear, Kasich admitted the Ohio "economy is stalled," ... .So one must ask Congressman Renacci whether or not the loss of jobs in Ohio and concomitantly in Stark County is "one of the real problems that [Ohioans/Stark Countians/16 District constituents] care about."
Of course we all know that rhetorician/politician Jim Renacci would say: "absolutely! it is."
But his actions belie his words.
He and his fellow Gibbs (insofar as Stark County representation in Congress is concerned) voted lock-stock-and barrel with the 144 "continue the shut-down-the-government Republicans" in Congress.
From Gibbs, the vote was expected.
But Renacci's vote should have been different in the light of his highly publicized "reaching out,' no?
"The breakfast club" founded by Renacci, as he approached the 2012 election in which he was facing a center-left Democrat (Betty Sutton) from Summit County, apparently motivated in wanting to appear that he understood that even the "new" 16th is composed of many, many more voters who are not right wing Republicans than who are.
But now that the election has come and gone, he seems to think that his future political threat (had he not voted with the 144) was more from the political right than the political center, left of center and so "the breakfast club" thing has lost it political utility and appeal.
Hence, shouldn't we now think of Renacci as being a political huckster, or, to put it in very "Stark" terms (no pun intended) as a shameful and cruel political con artist?
The consequence?
Renacci with his 144 alignment certainly has lost all credibility with the "let's talk" supposedly bipartisan group of 20, no?
The voters of the 16th should also now view Renacci as "a man of the forked tongue"
So Ohio and Stark County gets no help whatsoever from the federal government on "the real problems" [i.e. job stimulation] that [Ohioans and Stark Countians] do indeed care about.
With his "the breakfast club" thing, hasn't Congressman Renacci perpetuated a cruel political hoax that amounts to nothing less than a shameful political con job?
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