AND RENACCI CRITICIZED BOCCIERI OF BEING IN LOCK-STEP WITH PELOSI AND ADDING TO THE DEFICIT?

Revised 02/17/2011 at 3:00 PM

Congressman Jim Renacci (Republican - 16th District - Ohio) Republican primary foe Matt Miller (Tea Party favorite) and other Tea Party-esque candidates in the May, 2010 Republican primary election have to be scratching their collective heads today and asking themselves:  "What did we change when we sent Republican Renacci to Washington to replace Democrat John Boccieri?"  After all, 16th District voters did vote 31,289 to 30,358 for the tea party position.

It appears:  not much.

However, Tea Party influenced congressmen did make a difference and delivered on their promises to the American public to cut wasteful spending even if it meant crossing party lines to vote with the opposition.

Renacci pretty much based his campaign on how Boccieri was joined at the hip with then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (voting with her 94% of the time)  and Boccieri's failure to keep the then $13 trillion overall federal budget deficit.

Well, so far Renacci is voting 100% in accordance with the wishes of fellow Ohioan and House Speaker "So Be It" John Boehner (when it comes to reducing recently added federal jobs; probably more like 20,000; not the 200,000 Boehner says).

Had the vote on an amendment to the defense appropriations bill gone his way (he voted "no" on the cut) yesterday; Renacci would have added $450 million to the still increasing deficit which is over $14 trillion budget deficit now.

For years now, the military and Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama have been saying that a second engine for the F35 fighter jet, the GE version, was not wanted and that the government ought to stop funding its development.

One of Washington's most influential congressmen; namely, the aforementioned John Boehner had a stake in keeping the unwanted engine in production.  It supported the employment of about 1,000 people at a GE facility just outside his district.

So Congressman Jim Renacci was in perfect position to show he meant what he said about being different than Boccieri and voting to kill the wasteful spending and, what's more, to show that he could separate from the Republican leadership.

Well, it seems that all 16th District voters have done is to replace one automatic with another automatic in terms of party and leadership loyalty.

The only pause for thought on this score is that all of Ohio's congressional Democrats voted for the Boehner desire that the wasteful F35 GE engine funding continue.

Obviously, Renacci will seize on the Democrats joining in as cover for his vote.  But all that proves is that they too are intimidated by the power of the Speaker and also worry about voting to - in effect - end 1,000 Ohio jobs.  For it is less than two years that they have to run again.  Given the horrible state of Ohio's economy, it would not have looked good to have voted to eliminate 1,000 jobs.

But the point remains the same, whether Republican or Democrat, politicians will not do what is good for the nation as a whole, they are only looking to the next election;  be it Jim Renacci or John Boccieri.

Renacci and Ohio's congressmen in toto are all for some other congressional district/state bearing the brunt of reining the national debt in.