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Thompson doesn’t deserve so much criticism about Ormet

Not to be a nudge, but I fail to see how Andy Thompson of District 95 could possibly single-handedly do anything about the closing of Ormet. Sure, workers didn’t come solely from Monroe County; they came from Ohio and West Virginia. Yet, Clarington, where the now-idle plant sits, is squarely in District 96, Jack Cera’s district. It’s like Barry McGuire’s song “Eve of Destruction” goes: “A handful of senators don’t pass legislation…” In this case, a handful of state representatives can only do so much to persuade the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) to further persuade AEP to charge less for a private corporation’s operation. Perhaps, futile at best. $14 million is a lot of money per month for electric, I agree. Yet, when you have a privately, hand selected board of people on the PUCO, picked by our governor (not voted in by us), then what do you expect? After all, AEP is a business itself, subject to PUCO regulations, but at the same time, they still incur a cost, at the time $14 million, to create electricity for the Ormet plant’s six lines. In this case, a business, Ormet, could not meet the demands to pay the electric bill. The PUCO has a role to play, but even so, if a business is not profitable enough to keep the lights on, whose fault is it really? It wasn’t the electric company. It wasn’t Ormet. No, it’s called supply and demand, the market, and unfortunately we’ve gotten used to the idea of businesses too big to fail that when one as large as Ormet fails to meet market values to stay afloat to pay its operating cost, all the while cutting corners on the people who made the business work, it seems such a tragedy. However, perhaps, it’s really not any one person’s fault; maybe there is a moral here. Maybe we can finally realize that governments are corrupt and do not make the best decisions for us, and private business should be allowed to fail-before they become so overburdened with debts to the market and to their workers, that they wither away to leave a detritus on society.

As well, unions, despite their effectiveness for wages and work environments, rely highly on the politics of the social collective, and in an environment of business that relies heavily on the politics of the macroscopic and monetarily motivated, there are often clashes which otherwise seem symbiotic. Yet, it is also of difficulty to say, that unions rely on a host to survive, and sometimes that host dies. It’s a fact of life, harsh and cruel. As good as unions are, the collective can fall harder together when that bond relies so partially on the connection to its source of sustenance. As it goes, other factors play in this game, such as market forces, inflation, government red tape and corruption, and even corporate mismanagement. They all affect the host, and ultimately those individuals, the many, who tried their best at what they’re good at, simply cannot succeed.

As for Andy Thompson being the representative for District 95, of course the shills out there will call names and muckrake mostly harmless legislation and levies and turn it into something that sounds so horrible that the representative must somehow be an evil man. Unfortunately, that’s all it is; the calling of names and the throw away of good campaign slogans to somehow sway the masses into believing what they hear, instead of them actually having to think for themselves. Perhaps Daniels might be good. Who knows? That’s the prerogative of the people. Of course in two years, people will be name calling and pointing fingers at him too. It’s inevitable, as politics go. As for Andy Thompson, it would seem wise to to take a glance at his stance to protect the U.S. Constitution and Ohio’s Constitution, the right to bear arms, competition in schools and opposition to Common Core, intrusion of the federal government and protection of state’s rights, free speech and more. Of course, call me what you will, a shill for Andy Thompson, I believe we focus more on politics and far less about the reality of policy, and this is our detriment. It is our downfall to allow blind fear lead us.

Stop and think.

Sam Ludtman

Reno

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