To the editor:
Republican politicians claim that the solution to our economic problems is the free market. They endorse a free market that lays off our workers, closes our factories and sends our jobs to China. They champion a free market that opposes Social Security, Medicare, unemployment compensation, workplace safety regulations, COBRA, clean water, clean air and anything else that might affect profit. They praise a free market that fostered the greed that caused the collapse of the financial and housing markets and led to the loss of our homes and retirement savings. They believe in a free market that will reduce our wages and benefits to the level of those in China.
Republican politicians say that they would have done nothing to stop the loss of jobs or the collapse of our financial system. Instead they would have permitted the free market to take its course and would have allowed GM and Chrysler to fail. If the Republicans had gotten their way, the Jeep factory in Toledo, the Chevrolet plant in Lordstown and the Wally Armour and Lavery dealerships in Alliance would have gone out of business.
Republican politicians want to take away our right to purchase health insurance. They want to impose lifetime limits on health insurance coverage and limit our ability to sue health care providers for malpractice. And if that's not enough, they want to deny health insurance to children with cancer.
Republican politicians insist that the economy depends on lower federal income taxes for the wealthy even though federal income tax rates are lower than at any time since World War II. The wealthy have enjoyed these tax rates for the last 10 years. Republican politicians say that the benefits of lower taxes for the wealthy will trickle down to the rest of us. However, during these 10 years the wealthiest 10 percent of our population controlled about 85 percent of this country's financial wealth while the rest of us lost ground. Tax breaks for the wealthy did nothing to prevent the worst recession since the Great Depression.
The answer to our economic problems is not lower taxes for the wealthy or the Republican free market that puts profit above all else. The answer is an American business model that harnesses our innovation and entrepreneur spirit while rewarding job creation in the United States; a business model that is profitable while preserving the rights of employees and customers. This is the business model championed by President Obama and endorsed by our Rep. John Boccieri and our Gov. Ted Strickland.
Bill Oberjohn
Alliance
