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Remarks before the Beavercreek Women’s League Candidate Forum, January 25, 2008
Thank you Beavercreek Women’s League, and thank you all for coming out today.
I want to begin by asking this question, “Are you satisfied with your federal government?” If not, I am the only candidate who has a chance to fix the problems, and I want to emphasize “chance.” We have broad and deep problems in Ohio and even if we can get on track, it could take a long time to right the ship and may not be possible in my lifetime, but we have to get started. Here are some of those problems:
· Ohio is second to last in the nation in job growth,
· 25% above the national average in unemployment,
· Ohio ranks # 2 in foreclosed homes and delinquent mortgages,
· Ohio leads the nation in 20 to 39-year-olds leaving the state. That’s one reason we lost five Congressional House seats since 1980 – we’ll lose two more after the 2010 census,
· Fraud, waste, abuse and corruption continue to be growth industries in Ohio. Our last governor was Ohio’s first governor to be convicted of a crime while in office, and Ohio has two former Congressmen in federal prison, and let me assure you, that same corruption continues here in Greene County and the 7th Congressional District. And if you pay attention in the remaining days before the Primary, you will understand why I said that.
Where I have been challenging the failed policies and fraud, waste, abuse and corruption for almost a decade, there’s a strong argument that my three opponents are part of the problem. To explain:
Dan Harkins is Chairman of the Clark County Republican Party, and as such, the Ohio Revised Code allows him to appoint himself to a paid position with retirement and healthcare benefits on the Clark County Board of Elections. Mr. Harkins has held that position for almost a decade
Ron Hood was elected as State Rep in two different districts. One big reason for that is his day-job as a lobbyist. You can rest assured he will be knocking on other lobbyists’ doors to raise money to finance his campaign.
Steve Austria is the Senate Majority Whip, and he never would be in that position if he wasn’t taken out to the woodshed a few times to find himself on the wrong end of a whipping by previous Majority Whips.
But if you want a fresh face who has been opposing the status quo for almost a decade, you will have a choice on March 4th. The issues that set me apart from the other candidates are term limits and tax reform. If I was elected to Congress, I would clean out the barn by reforming the tax code and limiting myself to three terms in Congress. Both of those reforms would remove the incentives to be a career politician. As Sam Brownback said in an early Presidential debate, “We need to take the current tax code out behind the shed, kill it with a dull axe, and bury it”– all it does is provide job security for the lobbyists and special interests.
I’m running out of time, but I would like to invite you to visit www.reformcongress.com for a detailed explanation of my position on all the issues. Also, there’s some literature at the back table, including a few copies of my book.
Before I close, I’d like to identify another key difference between myself and my opponents. I believe it’s time to withdraw from Iraq. Whether or not you agree with being there, America has sacrificed enough in terms of lives and borrowing from our children’s future to pay for the war. It’s time to leave Iraq to the Iraqis and let them determine their own destiny.
Thank you again for coming out today, and I apologize for leaving early for a meeting which has nothing to do with the campaign, and everything to do with paying the mortgage and putting food on the table.
Contact information:
John Mitchel
937 427-8442
www.reformcongress.com
Paid for by Americans for John Mitchel
