Not that it really matters, but for the second time in recent weeks I'm wondering if Third District Rep. Mike Turner has decided to take the "go-along to get-along" path as the new presidential administration remains ever popular in its first 100 days.
I said this almost a decade ago when the Republicans gerrymandered Highland County into the Third District: We simply don't matter. And when you look at the numbers, we don't. Less than 5 percent of the congressional district's voters live in Highland County. It is therefore not surprising that we are an afterthought in the more calculated political decisions.
As long as President Obama remains popular in Montgomery County - and he probably will - I suspect Congressman Turner will refrain from too much undue criticism of the executive. That's likely the most expedient method of operation, to be sure.
Some conservatives have found it questionable that Turner was one of only seven Republicans to support a controversial bill that would allow judges to reduce mortgage debt for borrowers who file for bankruptcy. As the Dayton Daily News reported earlier this month, the House voted 234-191 in favor of so-called "cramdown" legislation.
"The bill, which Turner first co-sponsored last year, predates a series of measures President Obama recently unveiled as part of an effort to alleviate the foreclosure crisis," DDN reported.
President Obama supports the bill.
Turner said the bill would keep homeowners from entering into foreclosure; and by allowing judges to redo mortgages, it will give banks a chance at recouping some of the money loaned.
Overall, as Times-Gazette readers know, I think Congressman Turner has represented Ohio's Third District quite well, the relative lack of attention to Highland County notwithstanding. This is what, his fourth term in Congress? But as I said, we're not important - never have been in the current district, thanks to the Republicans a decade ago.
In his Web site biography, http://turner.house.gov/Biography/, Dayton or Montgomery County are referenced in seven consecutive paragraphs. There is no mention of Highland County. Moreover, in a link to the Third District, local villages like Buford, Leesburg, Lynchburg and Sinking Springs (sic) are listed as cities. They are not. And, for the record, it is Sinking Spring (no "s").
Of course these are petty issues. Unless you happen to live in Sinking Spring, which is a crown jewel of southeastern Highland County. Some of the area's most scenic countryside is in and around Sinking Spring and Brush Creek Township. And the people there could not be friendlier. (Especially those who allowed our basketball team the use of the old school gymnasium all winter. Thanks!)
Getting back on topic, though, my primary recent complaints with the congressman are these:
• The uncharacteristic lack of any response whatsoever to two e-mails to his office related to House Resolution 45, introduced by Illinois Democrat Bobby Rush;
• The congressman's proposal for a new 10-member commission "devoted to rooting out the causes of the mortgage crisis;" and,
• Relatively trite column offerings of late.
With so many significant issues in the proverbial percolator - a pork-filled spending bill, high unemployment, AIG, etc. - the congressman submits less significant, "fluff" pieces on internships.
Ohio's Third District is hemorrhaging jobs and we get to read about internships? It's something, I guess.
Meanwhile, Highland County's unemployment rate stands at 12.7 percent - and climbing; Clinton County's is 10.3 percent; and Montgomery County's is 11.2 percent.
This week, the congressman submitted a column that jobs in Ohio's colleges and universities "fuel the economy."
"Each of these institutions provide(s) our region with many high-paying jobs," Turner said.
Well, yes, they do. But everyone in Ohio cannot obtain one of these "high-paying jobs." In fact, everyone cannot work for the government - unless, of course, you want socialism.
As the Buckeye Institute's Marc Kilmer pointed out in yesterday's Times-Gazette, Ohio State University alone has more than 150 employees making in excess of $250,000 a year, including its president, Gordon Gee, who receives between $1.6 million and $2 million annually.
And, Kilmer wrote, OSU also created a job for former state House minority leader Joyce Beatty with a salary of $320,000 a year. Go BUCK$! Indeed.
I agree with Congressman Turner that higher education is a wonderful thing. But in an area with double-digit unemployment and headlines of job losses at DHL, ABX, Weastec and elsewhere, some of us might prefer a stronger focus on private-sector job growth.
Turner's most recent column is about as seemly as the Entertainer President going on "The Jay Leno Show," or filling out his NCAA basketball brackets. Seems to me there are higher priorities right now.
With all due respect to the congressman and his staff, I'll suggest they read "Anatomy of a Train Wreck" by University of Texas professor Stan Liebowitz before re-inventing the wheel with a new 10-person commission. Better yet, read the professor's book, "Housing America: Building Out of a Crisis." (See www.independent.org.)
American taxpayers have done enough. We don't need to fund yet another inefficient and unnecessary committee.
As former Ohio Board of Regents Chancellor Rod Chu was fond of saying, "A committee is a group of people sitting in a room, admiring a problem." (Some of us miss Rod Chu, by the way. I know I do.)
Professor Liebowitz has done the legwork, if anyone really cares to get to the root of the mortgage meltdown. And he's no Johnny-come-lately to the debate. He traces today's problems to 1993. "The relaxed lending standards, whose mechanics were put in place beginning in 1993, increased the pool of potential homeowners."
The relaxed standards led to an alarming increase in the number of people buying homes who, under previous standards, could not. Therein lies today's problems and the current banking bailouts.
Liebowitz predicted today's foreclosure crisis back in 1998. And as he points out, even the liberal New York Times in 2004 blamed the Clinton administration for turning the "American dream of homeownership into the American nightmare of homeownership."
"The political housing establishment remains committed to flexible underwriting standards, although it is unwilling to accept responsibility for the havoc those standards have wrought," Liebowitz said.
"Unless this attitude is corrected, soon, today's bailout crisis will only be the first, with more to come."
That was published in National Review on Oct. 20, 2008. How prophetic.
Do we really need a new commission to give us a tremendous grasp of the obvious?
If we do, at the very least, let's introduce them to Professor Liebowitz and many other reputable economists who can comprehend the obvious: If you can't afford it, don't buy it.
I learned that simple lesson when I was about 9 years old and had my first full-time job.
Rory Ryan is publisher and editor of The Times-Gazette.
Reader Comments
Posted: Saturday, March 21, 2009
Article comment by:
Tom
wow, this must be why repubs have so much trouble. all the obama peopl ethink they're crazy right wingers, and all the crazy right wingers think their too liberal. god bless turner for being a good guy and working his butt off.
Posted: Friday, March 20, 2009
Article comment by:
David Mayer
A recent search of the top 10 employers in Ohio were mainly government with DHL (now smaller) and General Electric the only private sector employers. Government work is a great job if you can get your nose in the trough. Witness the "BIG BUCKS" paid to the OSU administrators.
