Trending
During his 16 years in Congress, U.S. Rep. Timothy J. Ryan, D-Howland, said he's won $300 million for local projects, fought issues like unfair trade, globalization that hurts the local economy and has been forward thinking in job creation by helping fund Warren's Tech Belt Energy Innovation Center and America Makes, the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute in Youngstown, plus more.
It all sounds good, and we don't deny Ryan has tried to work hard for our district. But the reality is northeast Ohio still struggles following significant manufacturing job loss, and we worry that Ryan too often follows the liberal Democrat line when he's in Washington on issues that often don't best serve his constituents here.
Consider, for example, that Ryan now supports an effort to decriminalize recreational marijuana, often referred to as a gateway drug to other more hard-core drugs.
He says marijuana crimes cost us $7 billion each year, so we should legalize it, tax it and use that $7 billion instead to combat drugs that are killing people, not marijuana, that he states isn't killing anyone. Ryan adds that the same types of laws and workplace rules that govern use of alcohol would then apply to marijuana.
"You don't show up to work drunk, you can't show up to work high. You can't drive a car drunk, you can't drive a car high. It can be regulated," Ryan, 45, said.
The fact is, though, marijuana, unlike alcohol, remains in the body for weeks, and we believe it would further add to frustrations of employers already struggling to find hires who are drug free. Youngstown's City Machine Technologies CEO Mike Kovach, for instance, recently said he seeks good skilled people to fill openings but has struggled, saying, "We definitely need to get youth to stop using marijuana and other drugs."
Why add new hurdles to employers already challenged to find good workers?
Ryan's opponent, Republican Christopher DePizzo, a Youngstown native living in Cuyahoga Falls, disagrees, saying not enough research exists to justify jumping into a long-term marijuana legalization plan. Instead, he suggests working with states that already have legalized recreational marijuana for both funding and analysis of the social and economic effects.
We think that is a more logical approach.
On other topics, we believe DePizzo will take a more hardline approach on illegal immigration issues facing our nation than Ryan and other Democrats have.
Regarding the economy, Ryan opposed last year's federal tax cuts and continues to speak out against them. The fact is, government revenue contines to increase, but not at the rate of spending. The tax cuts have provided new opportunities for businesses, and many have passed that newfound savings on to workers.
We believe DePizzo would fight for an improved economic environment involving taxes and regulations to contribute to business expansion and, in turn, new jobs.
It's true, DePizzo is young. But at age 31, he is one year older than Ryan was when he first went to Washington.
We think after 16 years, it is time for a change in our 13th Congressional District. We believe the real difference between these two candidates is their philosophies, and we think our nation and our district will be better served with Chris DePizzo.