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Ryan emphasizes foreign policy at Toledo airport stop

By
Brigitta Burks
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Paul Ryan, running mate to presidential candidate Mitt Romney, waves to the crowd during a campaign stop at Toledo Express Airport. Toledo Free Press photo by Joseph Herr

Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan talked to a crowd about his ticket’s plans for foreign policy, the economy and energy independence in the chilly Grand Aire hangar at Toledo Express Airport on Oct. 8.
“This is not an ordinary election. We’re not just deciding who’s going to be the next president for four more years. We are deciding the meaning of America. We are deciding what kind of people we are going to be and what kind of country we are going to have for an entire generation,” said the U.S. representative from Wisconsin.
“When President Obama came in four years ago, he inherited a tough situation, no two ways about that. Problem is, he didn’t make things better,” Ryan said.
Like his running mate former Gov. Mitt Romney did in Virginia the same day, Ryan called for a change in foreign policy, specifically citing the recent killing of Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans in Libya.
“If you go home after this and turn on your TV, you will likely see the failures of the Obama foreign policy unfolding before our eyes. If you look around the world, what we are witnessing is the unraveling of the Obama foreign policy,” Ryan said.
“Four Americans were murdered in a terror attack in Benghazi. The point is, in a Romney administration, when we know we are clearly attacked by terrorists, we won’t be afraid to say what it is,” Ryan said.
“This was not simply an isolated incident but indicative of a broader failure. Iran is closer to a nuclear weapon,” he continued.
“The Middle East is in turmoil. Nearly two dozen nations we witness on our television screen are burning our flags in protest and riots. If we project weakness abroad, our adversaries are that much more willing to test us, to question our resolve.”
Ryan said Obama’s possible defense cuts would strain the National Guard and Reserves even further.
Europe’s economy served as a warning many times in Ryan’s speech.
“You see in Europe, they waited too long. They kicked the can down the road. They came up with excuses,”
Ryan said. He added that youth employment in Europe is at 20 percent and 50 percent in Greece and Spain.
Ryan also said more than 50 percent of recent American college graduates aren’t  working or can’t find jobs in their chosen fields.
Romney has the leadership skills for job creation, Ryan stressed.
“The president has no new ideas. He doesn’t know how to grow thiseconomy. Mitt Romney knows how to grow the economy because Mitt Romney has the experience because he knows how to create jobs because he’s done it before,” said Ryan, later citing Romney’s experience in business and overseeing the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics.
The nominee also focused on the importance of small businesses, tax rates and creating jobs through pursuing energy independence.
“You see when we lower tax rates across the board, by closing loopholes primarily for the well-to-do, all that we are saying is, ‘It’s your money in the first place, you keep more ofit’,” Ryan said.
On the first day of a Romney/Ryan presidency, Ryan vowed to approve the Keystone Pipeline. This idea received a standing ovation from the crowd.
Ryan also said the ticket’s energy plan would make America energy independent by the end of the decade.
He added, “We will send less of our money to countries that don’t like us.
That’s a good idea.”
Ryan also emphasized God and religious freedom and their ties to the United States in his speech.
“[America’s] the only country founded on an idea,” he said. “That idea is so precious, Thomas Jefferson wrote it in the Declaration of Independence … our rights come from nature and nature’s God, not from government.”
Crowd response
Ike Parker, a minister from Delta, said that part of the rally spoke to him.
“I don’t like the things that Obama approves of, like abortion, gay marriage, pills for 14-year-old kids,” he said.
Parker said he had been a lifelong Democrat before Obama.
“I just hope that people will wake up and come to their senses [to] the way this country is going and the way Obama has driven it down the road,” he said.
Eventgoer Rita Gilbert of West Toledo said this is the first rally she has ever attended.
“Actually, this is hope and change we can really believe in,” she said.
Rita’s husband, Ron, who used to work for Marathon Oil, said he was interested in Romney’s and Ryan’s thoughts on energy and thinks the country should look more into coal energy.
“We have enough coal in Ohio, West Virginia and Indiana to produce energy for the whole United States for the next 200 years,” Ron said. “[The government’s] looking in the wrong direction, they really are. We could be totally energy independent.”
Head of the Lucas County Republican Party Jon Stainbrook, U.S. Rep. Bob Latta and State Reps. Barbara Sears and Randy Gardner spoke before the vice presidential nominee. Each drove home the need for Romney supporters to be vocal and go door to door.
Latta also praised Ryan’s financial know-how.
“There’s not one person in Washington or I don’t think in this country that understands the federal budget and what’s happening to this country better than the next vice president,”
Latta said.

Democratic response
During the Ryan rally, the Obama for America campaign had its own event. Lucas County Treasurer Wade Kapszukiewicz was at the airport Oct. 8 with a small group of Obama supporters and focused mostly on thepresident’s auto industry rescue.
“We’re glad Paul Ryan came to Northwest Ohio, but we’re disappointed he does not support the auto rescue plan which saved our local economy and we’re disappointed he has embraced the policies of Mitt Romney, which, if they were implemented, would have sent certainly this region if not the country into a depression,” Kapszukiewicz said.
He added, “We are better off today than we were four years ago. Four years ago when the president took office, unemployment was well above 8 percent. Today it’s 7.8 percent, the lowest it’s been in over four years. In Lucas County, unemployment has gone from 8.5 percent to 7.6 percent. When Obama became president this economy was losing 800,000 jobs per month, every month. Now we’re gaining 150,000 jobs per month, every month.”

Toledo Free Press Managing Editor Sarah Ottney contributed to this report.

Cope and Allegrini: End of the romance

By
Don Lee
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By Liz Cope and Anna Allegrini

A Conservative’s dream: the chance to finally tell Mr. Obama some of the things I’d like to get off my chest. Certainly, I’ll never be invited to have a beer at the White House after this, but for what it’s worth, I’m asking him to hear me out. I won’t use a teleprompter – this comes scripted from the heart.  

Mr. President, when you ran in 2008 on “Hope and Change,” you struck a chord nationwide. In you, Americans saw a unifier, a bridge builder, a mold breaker. Americans saw old stereotypes fall away when a black man, a son of a single mother, a potential statistic, became President of the greatest nation in the world. You were portrayed as America’s perfect boyfriend, but now I wish we’d never dated.  

You promised “transparency” yet I am still trying to uncover the facts about Obamacare. You promised an economic recovery, but yet America struggles with high unemployment and a shrinking labor force. Over 46 million Americans are on food stamps and the poverty rate is over 15%. You promised to cut the deficit in half during your first term, yet each child born today will instead inherit over $150,000 in debt, and college grads face joblessness. You told me you inherited a “mess”, yet it is a mess you helped create, given that Democrats won control of Congress in January, 2007, and those same Democrats, including you, must take their “fair share” of responsibility for voting in the stimulus and budgets during fiscal years 2008 and 2009. You’ve left me with a big bill for your dinner. 

I now see that the “fundamental transformation of the United States of America,” of which you spoke on February 19, 2008, is actually the end for my beloved country.  Only a man who believes that our Constitution is a “charter of negative liberties” could call for such transformation; a transformation that would focus not on what the state and federal government “can’t do to you” but rather “what the Federal government or State government must do on your behalf”. Conservatives are not interested in fundamentally transforming America. Conservatives are perfectly content to build businesses and make decisions independently, and would appreciate it if Government would just stay out of the way.   

Only a leader with a certain disdain for my intelligence would celebrate a serious tax hike on the middle class and call it an improvement to our health care system.  Of course, to you, Obamacare is “not a tax”, though the Supreme Court ruled it to be so.  

Only a leader with a certain disdain for the Constitution would mandate religious institutions to offer health care options that are against their morals and conscious. Mr. President, abortion is not health care, particularly partial-birth abortions, which you support. In your stance, you are completely out of step with 75% of Americans, who do not support using taxpayer funds for any abortion procedure.  

And Mr. President, as much as you attack others regarding their integrity, your character is lacking. For example, in 2007 you gave an intense speech at Hampton University in Virginia accusing the Bush Administration of not waiving Stafford Act requirements for New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. You implied it was racially motivated, that New Orleans wasn’t considered “part of the American family”, like Florida or New York, yet upon investigation it was uncovered that YOU, Mr. President, were one of the 14 senators who actually voted against the bill waiving the Stafford Act for New Orleans, and have also refused to provide it following Hurricane Isaac. You say that conservatives are ‘Waging a War on Women’, yet your own campaign underpays female staff. You swore that the murder of Chris Stevens, our Ambassador in Libya, was due to an anti-Muslim internet video, yet it now comes to light that your administration knew it was a terrorist attack all along. Your campaign has ruthlessly accused your opponent of murder, being a felon and evading taxes – all of which are horrible falsehoods and completely un-Presidential.  

So here we are, hopefully at the end of our romance. You have proven to be quite oversold. Your charming persona has turned out to be hype. I don’t even know if I like you anymore. You’ve tried to make me buy things I didn’t want and you’ve not taken responsibility for your mistakes. And let’s not even discuss my “lady parts”, thank you very much. How rude! And now, worst of all, are all the bills you’ve left me with! I am not better off than I was 4 years ago and my credit cards are maxed, all thanks to you. Are you even listening? I don’t think you are… I feel like I’m talking to an empty chair. 

The Libertarian Perspective: Not working well for Joe

By
Kenneth Sharp
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I won’t get the chance to directly address the president with my questions, but both campaigns will spend a great deal of time in Ohio between now and the election, so maybe a staffer will see this and pass it on.

Mr. President, in your victory speech of November 2008 you said, “I may not have won your vote tonight, but I hear your voices. I need your help, and I will be your president too.” America is still divided. Partisanship is grinding the ability to govern to a halt, and some are thankful for that.

Within the federal government, as a Libertarian, I can nearly agree. Yet in the larger American landscape two grassroots movements emerged in your first term.

Both were eventually overtaken in large degree by the two major parties, but before that time, you clearly endorsed one over the other. You clearly voiced your solidarity with the Occupy movement, but not The Tea Party movement. The Occupy movement’s primary concern was crony capitalism whereas the Tea Party was concerned with taxes. Crony capitalism is a major concern, but as you have stated, so are taxes.

Why did you not support this effort as well? Why did you not hear so many voices?

In your State of the Union address, January 2011, you said, “In fact, the best thing we could do on taxes for all Americans is to simplify the individual tax code,” almost identical to Tea Party concerns. Instead, you and your Republican opponent call for more obtuse regulations.

Languishing in Congress is a Fair Tax bill, supported by the Libertarian Presidential candidate Gary Johnson, that would eliminate the convoluted and divisive rules. It would first eliminate the income tax and replace it with a national sales tax. It is the most studied tax plan in U.S. history and is given high marks for transparency and fairness. Nearly all agree it would bring back jobs from foreign nations and boost the economy. It is bipartisan in support, something you claim to want. It has its libertarian detractors. It is revenue neutral, meaning it would still raise enough to fund all current programs. Not something most libertarians want; also it is still a tax, something many libertarians dislike.

The Fair Tax offers a huge advantage to the Occupy folk as well. It eliminates corporate taxes, they pay in the same manner individuals would, but there would be less need for lobbyists. Corporations would have less incentive to cozy up to Congress in an effort to create rules in their favor or against the competition.

Tax compliance costs the American economy tens of billions of dollars a year. Money that could have gone to growing the economy is wasted on taxes. That would end. Those should all be positives, yet you and your major opponent still go down the old divisive road. Why will you not fight for the Fair Tax? Is it because all politicians use taxes as an election tool to hold over the citizens? Or, is it you haven’t been made aware?

If it is the latter, please see www.fairtax.org or www.gary johnson2012.com for guidance.

As a freshman senator, in 2006, you said, “The fact that we are here today to debate raising America’s debt limit is a sign of leadership failure.” After you were elected president, you explained that it is different when you are a senator than when you are the president.

Did the dire consequences of an escalating national debt magically disappear because you went from representing just the people of Illinois to representing the entire United States?

If the immense debt was a concern in 2006, isn’t the even larger debt a concern now? If it signaled a leadership failure then does it not signal the same today? Your plan, like Romney’s, pushes the can down the road but does little or nothing to tackle the hard truth. We spend and borrow too much.

Gov. Johnson has gone public with his plans that would reduce the budget 43 percent the first year and bring it under control (www.ontheissues.org/2012/Gary_Johnson_Budget_+_Economy.htm).

The deficit affects us now and our posterity. It is the greatest threat to our sovereignty and security.

Why have you failed in this key leadership role?

I had hoped to get into the issues on immigration, education, health care and many others, but my time is cut short.

If, Mr. President, you wish to hear them I can be reached at the email below. I will not try to make a career from it; it hasn’t seemed to work too well for Joe the Plumber.

Email Kenneth Sharp at [email protected].

Sixpence None the Richer to play Hollywood Casino

By
Vicki Kroll
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Leigh Nash and Matt Slocum of Sixpence None the Richer. Photo courtesy Sanctuary Arts Management Inc.

Sixpence None the Richer fires up “My Dear Machine” to start its new disc, “Lost in Transition.” It’s a familiar ride filled with sparkling pop and Leigh Nash’s pristine vocals.

“[Guitarist Matt Slocum] wrote the song not really about a specific car, but just about comparing something you love that you let get rundown, and I think he was kind of talking about the band, sort of ignoring it,” Nash said.

“When we got back together after breaking up, [we started] just sort of treating it better and kind of doing right by the band.”

Slocum and Nash formed the group in Texas in 1992 and based its name on a passage from the C.S. Lewis book, “Mere Christianity.”

In 1998, “Kiss Me” catapulted the band onto international charts. Sixpence scored hits with “Breathe Your Name” and covers of “There She Goes” and “Don’t Dream It’s Over” before breaking up in 2003.

“It had just been a really long time that we’d been making music and some of the times struggling, actually most of the time struggling, some of the time being very successful — and that was a really big surprise when we had the hits,” Nash recalled.

“All along, we kind of struggled with the business side of things. And I think in the end, around 2004, that started to get the better of us; I suppose it was 2003 when we decided to call it quits.”

It was a short hiatus.

“We reformed in 2007 because we missed the music and missed each other and what the other person brings musically to the table,” the lead singer said during a call from a tour stop in Annapolis, Md. “So it’s been very rewarding these past few months actually having the record out and touring again; it’s really been a lot of fun, very gratifying.”

Sixpence None the Richer — Nash, Slocum, drummer Rob Mitchell and bassist Justin Cary — will play a free show Oct. 18 at 9 p.m. in the Hollywood Casino Toledo H Lounge.

“I hear a handful of our songs when I’m getting gas or at the grocery store; T.J.Maxx is another good place to hear Sixpence,” Nash said and laughed. “I’m glad that we still have some visibility in that way, and hopefully people will remember us enough to give us a chance to play some more music for them, new stuff.”

Szyperski: So damn funny

By
Shannon Szyperski
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I recently had a lone, simple sentence suddenly pop up on my Facebook chat: “Why is your life so damn funny?” Without thinking about it too long and taking myself by surprise, I promptly responded, “It’s actually not funny, I’m just funny.”

The question came from someone who is somewhere between an acquaintance and a friend and, consequently, had no idea that I’ve just been through seven or so of the least funny months of my life. I’m usually overly cautious to remain modest, but the reality of how unfunny my life has been as of late compelled me to finally give myself a little credit. I’ve had little to laugh about, but for some reason I decided to keep on trying.

The craptacular theme that has defined the better part of my 2012 can unfortunately best be summed up as loss. The loss of loved ones. The loss of friendships. The loss of whatever few ounces of innocence I had managed to carry with me into my adult years. Hasta la vista, baby.

The amazing, counterintuitive thing I’ve discovered in the aftermath of loss, however, is just how much opportunity there is for gain in such situations. Perspective, wisdom, appreciation and love are all there for the taking if you open yourself up and let them in. As one friend told me, sometimes losing something creates a space for something there simply wasn’t room for in the past, something even better.

I’m now experiencing such space-filling on a regular basis. So many remarkable people have been flying around in my midst yet I am just now catching them on my radar. Others I have been aware of for some time but never fully understood their depths until now. In both cases, it was only through unexpected instability that I was able to recognize the most stable of those who surrounded me.

In fact, contradiction seems to be a recurring theme in questionable times. Out of murkiness comes clarity. Out of darkness comes light. Out of doubt comes confidence. And out of the extraordinarily unamusing comes a renewed gratitude for humor in the world.

Even when a situation isn’t itself funny, being able to find humor in other everyday matters can greatly take the edge off. When my life was at the height of unfunny this year, I made a conscious decision to remember to pay attention to the fun, happy stuff. Yes, I did have stints as Debbie Downer and Stressed-Out Sally, but thankfully I was able to rein Happy Harriet back in when needed. In whatever ways the post-weddings-and-babies midlife adult world may tend to crumble around us from time to time, rays of light and humor always remain close enough for us to grab onto for dear, wondrous life. Sunshine never seems more beautiful than when it’s randomly poking through the clouds.

The truth is that life isn’t inherently funny; we learn to make it funny in order to get by. Comedians don’t often reference their uncomplicated relationships, healthy bank accounts and unbelievably good fortune. In fact, most of them make a living by honing in on what isn’t decent or doesn’t make sense in the world and then detailing all of the ways we can laugh it off.

I’ve found the best way to laugh off my own struggles and runs of bad luck is to view my life from an outsider’s perspective. A baby suddenly covered in feces as you’re ready to walk out the door doesn’t always feel funny, but it no doubt has potential for the comedically open-minded. If giant messes, stretches of miscommunication, ill-conceived plans and flat-out irony are hilarious when they happen on “Three’s Company,” “The Cosby Show” and “Modern Family,” why can’t we just find humor when the same happens to us?

No matter what difficulties we may be facing, there are always enough rose-colored glasses, half-full glasses of lemonade and humorous undertones just sitting around and waiting to minimize the pain, ease the stress and help us move on. If we allow it, even the worst of times can be so damn funny.

Shannon and her husband, Michael, are raising three children in Sylvania. 

Miller: How are local media covering Obama vs. Romney?

By
Michael Miller
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Toledo Free Press cover illustration by DON LEE

I was raised to believe that anyone could be president of the United States. Certainly in my lifetime, the ascendencies of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush seemed to bolster that theory.

But with the news that President Barack Obama is nearing $1 billion in campaign funds, with challenger Mitt Romney not far behind, I wonder how true that once-bedrock American belief is. Would either of my two sons ever be in a position to access $1 billion? By the time they will be old enough to run, 30 years from now, $1 billion will seem like a quaint little figure.

Would I ever want either of my sons to be president? To experience the rancor, the lies and the open hatred many of our politicians endure?

Would I want to open a newspaper every day and see attacks, lies and attempts to destroy their characters and neutralize any chance they had at effectiveness?

As the election nears, media bias is an ongoing and legitimate concern. As a working journalist, I pay close attention to how local media cover politics. The inexorable acrimony that divides so many Americans has become an accepted element of the discussion; that is clearly seen in the rise of such media outlets as FOX News and MSNBC. More people seem to gravitate to news sources that present the side they believe in, thus depriving themselves of opposing viewpoints and messages.

How does this division and side-taking translate to local media? To investigate, Toledo Free Press commissioned researcher Mary McCartney to study the LexisNexis database and local media websites  (The Blade, Toledo Free Press, 13abc, WTOL/FOX and WNWO NBC)  to determine whether our hometown media have taken sides in Obama vs. Romney.

Our research studied the period from June 1, 2012 — the week Romney sewed up the GOP nomination with a Texas primary win — through Oct. 3, 2012, just after the first presidential debate. The focus was on which candidate dominated the reporting of each published or broadcast story — which candidate was discussed in more depth, with more words — than his opponent. Each story was determined to fall into one of three categories: Balanced, Obama or Romney. We focused on campaign-specific stories, discounting news coverage of Obama’s presidency if the story did not invoke the campaign. We included opinion columns and analysis pieces alongside news stories, under the belief that total presentation of each candidate was important.

We did not attempt to characterize the tenor of the coverage; judging slant, positive or negative, takes the conversation down a subjective road, far from any empirical analysis. Our study guides you through each media outlet’s volume of coverage. It is up to you to determine if that coverage is fair to your chosen candidate.

Television stations

The broadcast media were firmly entrenched in balanced reporting. All three stations relied on Associated Press reports for website pieces of any depth (as defined by word count); local reporting was limited to local candidate visits.

  • WNWO NBC presented 34 Balanced stories, 34 Obama stories and 34 Romney stories, a perfect balance for a total of 102 stories. A check of the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) database shows WNWO President/CEO Chris Topf has donated to the National Associaiton of Broadcasters Political Action Committee (PAC), but not to any specific candidate.
  • WTOL/FOX Toledo included 11 Balanced stories, 17 Obama stories and 24 Romney stories, leaning GOP in its total of 52 stories. An FEC check shows WTOL General Manager Bob Chirdon has donated to the Liberty Corporation Federal PAC, but not to any specific candidate.
  • WTVG 13abc offered 8 Balanced stories,  11 Obama stories and 8 Romney stories, leaning slightly Democratic in its total of 27 stories. FEC records do not show that WTVG General Manager John Christianson has donated to any specific candidate.

Adding it all up, Toledo’s TV stations offered 53 balanced stories, 62 Obama stories and 66 Romney stories for a relatively fair total of 181 stories.

Toledo Free Press

Although Toledo Free Press is certainly more conservative-leaning than The Blade, I was surprised to see the results of our study. Toledo Free Press presented 4 Balanced stories, 5 Obama stories and 12 Romney stories for a total of 21 articles. I was surprised because, working with Toledo Free Press Managing Editor Sarah Ottney and News Editor Brigitta Burks, we have striven to cover Obama and Romney appearances equally. Looking at the details, the source of the disparity is clear. Opinion pieces by conservative writers Tim Higgins, Thomas Berry, Gary Rathbun and Dock David Treece tip our content way in Romney’s favor. I do not apologize for any of our writers’ opinions, but it does help to be aware of the specifics in the gap in our opinion content.

The FEC database shows no donations from Toledo Free Press Publisher Tom Pounds or Toledo Free Press Editor in Chief Michael S. Miller.

The Blade

Given Blade Publisher and Editor-in-Chief John Block’s open endorsement of Obama (remember the 2008 Page One Blade photo of Block giddily reaching to embrace then-candidate Obama?), his 2008 donation to Obama for America and his attendance as one of very few guest list media people at the March 14, 2012 State Dinner for U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron, combined with his newspaper’s stalwart liberal philosophy, it would not be surprising to see Obama dominate The Blade’s campaign coverage. And the numbers do show a disparity.

During our study, The Blade reported 56 Balanced stories, 86 Obama stories and 62 Romney stories for a total of 204 articles. The total contains some interesting trends by reporters, presumably covering specific beats. Blade reporter Jim Provance has been credited for 8 Balanced stories, 28 Obama stories and 9 Romney stories; reporter Tom Troy has a byline count of 22 Balanced stories, 25 Obama stories and 36 Romney stories. All other Blade writers had numbers relatively evenly divided between the two candidates.

FEC records do not show any candidate donations by John Block during this election cycle. Block Communications Chairman Allan Block has donated to Romney for President Inc. and the National Republican Congressional Committee. He is also a contributor to Republicans Sen. Rob Portman, Rep. Bob Latta and U.S. Senate candidate Josh Mandel, and Democrat Rep. Marcy Kaptur.

WSPD 1370 AM

This guy right here

In tracking WSPD (disclosure: I host a pop culture radio show for WSPD, for no compensation), which features a conservative lineup led by Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity and local hosts Brian Wilson and Fred LeFebvre, an interesting trend emerges. Obviously, the station mentions Obama and Romney with a frequency too great to count during the course of four months. FEC records do not list any donations from General Manager Andy Stuart. But WSPD is the only local news source that consistently covers Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson. Johnson has been a guest on the station’s local shows and his platform has been regularly discussed in-depth on its airwaves.

To contrast, Toledo Free Press has mentioned Johnson once during the study period. Another review of The Blade for the four-plus months examined showed only three mentions of the Libertarian candidate. Two of those mentions were in passing; one article reported on the visit to Toledo by his vice presidential candidate, Jim Gray, and the main theme of the story was the candidate’s position on same-sex marriage. A study of local television websites shows a number of Associated Press articles.

Summation

Across all media reporting in Toledo, it appears the press tends to slightly lean in favor of the president, with an attempt at balanced reporting across all the organizations. There were 406 stories total: 113 Balanced, 153 Obama and 140 Romney. So while national media may clearly be divided by bias, at least locally, in this study, we can be pleased to have a relatively balanced media.

Unless you’re a Gary Johnson fan.

Michael S. Miller is editor in chief of Toledo Free Press and Toledo Free Press Star. Email him at [email protected].

Rathbun: 7.8% — Really?

By
Toledo Free Press
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Earlier this year I tried to bet 1370 WSPD’s Brian Wilson a dollar that the unemployment rate would be below 8 percent by November because no president has been re-elected with unemployment over 8 percent. Brian, being the student he is of politics and economics, wouldn’t take the bet.

This past week, the government came out with the unemployment rate for the month of September.  The number surprised most people, coming in at 7.8 percent compared to 8.1 percent for August.  I should be a dollar richer now.

Now, I don’t normally lean very strongly toward conspiracy theories because I’m not sure you could get two bureaucrats to agree that it is daylight outside, let alone agree to cook a large set of numbers with many people involved and publish the results. That being said, there is something fishy about these numbers. Even by the most liberal standards of the mathematically inept, the sum simply doesn’t add up.

Let’s take a look at some of the data surrounding the conclusion.

  • A survey of 50,000 households is used to determine the rate.
  • 78.8 percent of the 2.184 million household jobs created this year happened in the months of January and September.
  • September’s number was 873,000, of which exactly 66 percent were part-time for “economic reasons.”
  • The sampling error for the above number is plus or minus 280,000 jobs.
  • Households in inner cities are purposely not surveyed due to higher minority unemployment.
  • The Obama administration announced that 114,000 jobs were created last month.
  • The U-6 number was unchanged at 14.7 percent.
  • The sampling error for U-6 is plus or minus 100,000 jobs.
  • The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) had new software installed in August to seasonally adjust the numbers.
  • The labor force shrank by 2.648 million year over year in September.
  • The age 20-24 sector had a September positive increase of 310,000, seasonally adjusted to 380,000, for the first time in history.  Until 2012, this has always been a negative number.

Does all of this add up to a conspiracy to get President Obama re-elected?  I don’t know.  I doubt it.  But it does add up to a series of changes in how the numbers are put together that make it possible to skew the results.

They just don’t add up.  The BLS publishes the numbers used to determine the U-3, and yet they must be using different numbers.  The size of the labor force grew by 418,000 in September.  In 2009 the labor force was about 160 million people, today it is about 155 million.  As Mitt Romney stated, “If the same share of people were participating in the workforce today as on the day the president got elected, our unemployment rate would be around 11 percent.”

If you start to count all of the people who are “permanently discouraged workers” we reach a rate of close to 24 percent!

So to sum up, the U-3 number is 7.8 percent, the U-6 number is 14.7 percent and the total number of all of the above plus the permanently discouraged is 24 percent.

Recently, it also came out that a couple of the economists and the BLS both contributed to President Obama.  I don’t give this any thought because 1) they can contribute to whomever they want, 2) it would take a lot more than two people to manipulate all of this data and 3) I am sure there are economists out there who probably contributed to the Romney campaign as well.

Finally, why am I talking about all of this and what does it have to do with how you invest your money and plan for the future?  The most important aspect of this is to not let numbers and headlines such as these influence your decisions without digging deeper into the reports and the numbers.  I know that not many people are math geeks but it doesn’t take any more math than balancing your checkbook to see through these numbers and know that they don’t add up.

Look at how the market reacted when the news hit. First it was up significantly and then it came back down as the day went on. First it was a reaction to the headline and then the action based on the reality (or the un-reality) of the numbers.  Most importantly, look around you and see what the economy is doing and form your judgments from there.

Gary L. Rathbun is the president and CEO of Private Wealth Consultants, LTD. He can be reached at (419) 842-0334 or email him at [email protected].

‘From secretary to the corner office’: KeyCorp CEO Beth Mooney committed to community banking

By
Toledo Free Press
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Beth Mooney, CEO of Keycorp, and Jim Hoffman, president of the banking company's Michigan and Northwest Ohio District. Toledo Free Press photo by Joseph Herr

When Cleveland-based KeyCorp made Beth Mooney its new CEO in 2011, the Michigan native became the first — and so far only — female CEO of a Top 20 American bank.

“When I got that job it was clearly a headline because I was the first female in an industry that has been dominated by men, so it was a big deal,” Mooney, 57, told Toledo Free Press during a recent visit to the Toledo area, where KeyCorp operates 22 KeyBank branches. “It would be a great statement if, when I retire, the fact that I was the first female is a footnote, not the headline.

“It’s a tremendous opportunity, but also, in the best sense of the word, a tremendous obligation to be the first female CEO,” Mooney said. “I take that very seriously. I want to do this well because it reflects on women in our industry and it will make it easier for the next woman to have this opportunity. I think about that every day. And perhaps if I work a little harder, it’s not to prove myself [to men], but to make sure it’s a good example for others to follow.”

Secretary to CEO

While in Toledo, Mooney met with a group of female KeyBank employees, sharing with them her personal journey “from secretary to the corner office” and reflecting on how much the workplace has changed in only one generation.

“I graduated from the University of Texas — Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude — and as I went looking for jobs, people asked me if I could type,” Mooney said. “I would like to believe that doesn’t happen anymore. While there are always still challenges for people as they build their careers, it has become a totally different world and, I believe, a fundamentally fair world within 30 years.”

After college, Mooney worked as bank secretary until she was able to persuade a reluctant Dallas bank manager to place her in his management training program.

“Actually I refused to leave his office until he hired me,” Mooney said. “Most places wouldn’t even let me pass go. In that day, at least in Texas, there weren’t a lot of women in the training programs. I was in his office for three hours. I begged, I bullied, I just wasn’t going to go home without a job.”

When he finally agreed, Mooney looked him in the eye and said, “You will never regret it.” She entered the training program, enrolling in night school at Southern Methodist University to earn her MBA.

KeyCorp CEO Beth Mooney and Jim Hoffman, president of Keybank’s Michigan/Northwest Ohio district.

“I’ve been told I’m relentless from time to time,” Mooney added. “I guess that three hours was the beginning.”

Years later, Mooney looked him up and thanked him.

“We reminisced. He said he indeed remembers me,” Mooney said, laughing. He told her he thought he would “send her packing” within five minutes, but her persistence eventually convinced him to give her a chance.

“Your story in life is always shaped by the people who give you opportunities and then the other half of the story is what you do with them,” Mooney said. “I’ve always been grateful I got a chance to tell him what an opportunity he gave me.”

Mooney was recently ranked No. 49 on Fortune magazine’s list of the 50 most powerful women in business, one spot in front of Oprah Winfrey. Last year, she was ranked No. 96 on Forbes’ list of the 100 most powerful women.

Natural leader

Jim Hoffman, president of KeyBank’s Michigan/Northwest Ohio district and a University of Toledo graduate, said Mooney is a natural leader.

“Beth can analyze situations and see solutions clearly and quickly,” Hoffman said. “She’s got a great staying power around things that need to get done.”

Mooney’s leadership at the helm helped KeyCorp weather the economic recession.

“I’m very proud of the decisions our company made and how we are positioned at this point in time,” Mooney said. “Our future is bright.”

KeyBank has been profitable for nine quarters, Mooney said, and was one of five large U.S. banks and the only large bank operating in Northwest Ohio to earn a five-star rating from BauerFinancial, which rates the financial strength and stability of financial institutions each quarter.

“Our lending this year is up 75 percent over last year — and it’s in consumer lending, small business lending, commercial banking — so it’s very broad,” Hoffman said. “We think that’s the role of a bank, to recycle dollars and help this economy get on its feet, which leads to jobs, which leads to prosperity for everyone.”

Community focus

KeyBank is committed to community banking, Hoffman said.

“Key is one of the few large banks that decentralizes and pushes the decision-making for hiring, staffing, loan decision-making and anything to do with the customer down to the local level,” Hoffman said. “It allows us to better understand the customers’ needs and make the decisions that serve those needs best. Very few large banks do that. Key is very different and we think that difference is so noticeable.”

The company is also committed to supporting the communities it serves. KeyBank Foundation recently donated $1 million to Susan G. Komen for the Cure. The grant trained volunteer community health advisers to help minority and medically underserved women gain access to breast screenings and cancer treatment.

“It’s already helped six women discover they have cancer and they are getting help,” Mooney said. “That’s in the first month. It’s a wonderful program.”

KeyBank Plus

On Oct. 1, the company debuted its KeyBank Plus program in 34 Northwest Ohio branches. The program allows people without bank accounts to cash checks, offering a low-cost alternative to payday lenders, Hoffman said. Free financial literacy classes are also available.

“One part of the  community that has always found it difficult to access financial services is the low- to moderate-income population in the community, sometimes referred to as the unbanked or the underbanked,” Hoffman said.

The program was launched in Cleveland in 2004 and has since been introduced in nine other markets, including Akron-Canton. The program has served nearly 55,000 clients, educated more than 22,000 people through financial education and cashed more than 300,000 checks totaling $200 million, according to a news release.

The check-cashing fee is 1.5 percent of the value of the check, lower than the 3 to 7 percent most Toledo check-cashing businesses charge, according to the release. Clients can also use up to five fee-free money orders each time a check is cashed.

“It really hits the tone of the times,” Mooney said. “It says, ‘We will meet you where your need is. We will help teach you how to use the financial system and then as you either grow in your comfort level or your capacity, we will introduce you to more traditional products.’ It really is bridging a whole population. It’s something I think we’re doing that’s very distinctive.”

Hard work ahead

Although she sees a bright future, Mooney acknowledged there is still hard work ahead.

“Part of what I think is great about being a banker is we’re in a position to really influence  the strength of the economy, the ability for people to expand and grow, to hire people, to buy homes, to educate their children,” Mooney said. “I believe in this country and I believe we will get through it. We are still in a slow period, but that’s a whole lot better than being in a recession. Slow and steady will get us there.

“There will never be a stable and sustained recovery in this country without a strong banking system, so that’s part of why I think it was so important for banks like Key to return to such a position of strength. This is the part of the cycle where we will help the economy recover and start growing again.”

Barhite: Muslim convert believes arson was ‘cry for knowledge’

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Toledo Free Press
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A Toledo woman who worships at the Perrysburg mosque isn’t who you might expect to see huddling under the tent to pray.

But her fair skin actually doesn’t matter because her husband, Wesam, and the Muslim community he grew up in, are as welcoming as Islam professes to be.

“I didn’t convert until three and a half years after we were married and I was pregnant with our first child,” said Lisa Hawary, who previously worshipped in a Presbyterian church. “This is the most open-minded, broad-based humanitarian religion I could see myself raising my children in. You learn about religion from the beginning of time. It isn’t about just being a Muslim; it is being a well-rounded person.”

Hawary said worshipping in a tent outside the mosque since last month’s arson has been uplifting. She is surrounded by many cultures and voices.

Still, she said it is upsetting that an Indiana man allegedly set fire to the mosque’s prayer room, intentionally.

“It hurts your heart,” she said. “When you are in prayer with God, it is a personal moment and a loving moment in the day. You want that space back; you want that time back.”

Many people don’t understand what Islam’s philosophy entails.

“I couldn’t grasp having that much animosity and hate in my heart. It is a huge cry for help. It is a cry for knowledge. It is cry for understanding. It is a cry for love,” she said.  “If this happened at a temple, a synagogue or at CedarCreek, I would say the same thing. That person is searching for love and understanding.”

Hawary was interested in Islam even before meeting her husband, whose family is from Lebanon.

“I was learning about Islam before meeting him. I was going from church to church and not finding what I was looking for. I was left struggling with concepts I didn’t understand.”

Her husband and mosque members answered her questions and gave her material to read. Even when Hawary was fairly certain she wanted to convert, they advised her to wait.

“If Islam is something you are thinking about, wait six months and think more. Make sure this is truly what you want to do in your heart,” she said they told her.

She wasn’t even Muslim when she was married in the mosque, but the imam (leader in the church) was open-minded and wanted to get to know her spiritually. He told her marriage is a partnership and she has the right to stand up to her husband.

Hawary said she didn’t change her first name as customary when converting to Islam, and she doesn’t wear a hijab.

Once a classmate asked one of her three children, “Why isn’t your mom wearing one of those black things?”

The response showed what Islam is about.

“She doesn’t have to wear one. It is her choice.”

PASSPORT program helps seniors stay at home

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Toledo Free Press
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The PASSPORT program enabled Stella Bailey, right, to stay in her own home until her death at age 104. Also pictured: Her husband Jay, left, and home health aide Lori Kott. Photo courtesy Area Office on Aging of Northwest Ohio

When 104-year-old Stella Bailey died Oct. 9, she was exactly where she wanted to be — at her Rossford home of 90 years, with her husband and family close by.

“She didn’t suffer none. That’s the good part,” said 96-year-old Jay Bailey, Stella’s husband of 60 years.

Family members had visited just before she died, Jay said.

“She was laughing and joking with the little baby,” he said. “She lived a ripe old age.”

Stella was able to remain at home with the help of PASSPORT, a state Medicaid waiver program funded through the Ohio Department of Aging and the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.

The program, administered in Northwest Ohio by the Area Office on Aging of Northwestern Ohio (AOoA), links Medicaid-eligible seniors with long-term care services, such as home health aides, home-delivered meals, medical equipment, medical transportation, adult day care and more.

PASSPORT services usually supplement care provided by family members, said Pam Wilson, AOoA’s vice president of long-term care.

“Many of the people we serve do have families who are dedicated to keeping them at home and are actively participating and assisting with the care,” Wilson said. “Our services wrap around that family unit and provide support in places where the family may be struggling.”

Stella started using PASSPORT in 2003. Home health aides assisted Jay in caring for Stella seven hours a day, seven days a week.

“She’s been real good,” Jay said of primary aide Lori Kott of Maumee-based Nursing Resources. “I wouldn’t have made it without her.”

Most older adults prefer to stay home as long as possible, Wilson said.

The PASSPORT program helped 104-year-old Stella Bailey stay at home until she died. Also pictured is her husband, Jay Bailey, and home health aide Lori Kott.

“It’s often where they’ve lived for many years and a place where they are comfortable and want to stay,” Wilson said. “Being in the home lets you feel more a part of your family and a part of your community. It’s just that familiarity. Every time someone makes a physical move, it’s disruptive to the person, it’s disruptive to their health. It’s very common that people become disoriented, even though they may not have been disoriented in the past, if they end up in the hospital or they go from hospital to a nursing home. It’s trauma.”

PASSPORT also helps the health and well-being of caregivers, Wilson said.

“If you have those supports in place, families can often be caregivers for longer periods of time because they have the support and don’t burn out as they may if they were doing all the care themselves,” Wilson said. “It’s not uncommon that we hear, ‘Gosh, I wish I knew about you a couple years ago.’”

If the primary caregiver is a spouse, PASSPORT gives them more time together, Wilson said.

“A lot of times it’s stressful on the caregiver to make those regular trips to the nursing home when they want to go every day and stay for hours,” she said.

PASSPORT services are also cheaper than a nursing home, saving taxpayers money, said Justin Moor, AOoA’s vice president of planning and program development. A year of nursing home care in Ohio costs about $62,000 on average, whereas a year of PASSPORT services costs about $21,000, Moor said.

“PASSPORT is about a third of the cost to taxpayers, so for each senior that gets their care through PASSPORT, the savings to taxpayers is about $40,000 a year,” Moor said.

When PASSPORT started in July 1990, about 90 percent of Medicaid dollars for long-term care went to nursing homes and 10 percent to home care services. Today, it’s closer to 60-40, Moor said.

“It’s working well. It’s been growing every year,” Wilson said. “We do feel it’s one of those cost-saving options to help with state budget issues.”

About 2,800 Northwest Ohioans participated in PASSPORT in 2011 and the program has served more than 20,000 Northwest Ohioans since 1990, Wilson said. Statewide, more than 31,000 Ohio seniors participate in PASSPORT each year.

To qualify, applicants must be 60 or older, need help with at least two daily living activities such as bathing, dressing or walking, and meet Medicaid’s financial eligibility guidelines, which include an income of no more than $2,090 per month and no more than $1,500 in assets, not including their home.

AOoA’s nurses and social workers oversee the service plans and perform the initial eligibility assessment. The services are provided by more than 120 contracted agencies.

PASSPORT does not negate the need for nursing homes, Wilson said.

“We certainly support the need for nursing homes. We know we can’t do all the care in the community,” Wilson said. “We want people to get the care they need and nursing homes are doing a wonderful job with rehab after illnesses and surgeries, but we don’t want them to feel like they are going to be stuck there.”

Wilson said too many people don’t know about PASSPORT and the AOoA.

“Our goal is to make sure people know we’re here and not to wait to call for help,” Wilson said. “A lot of people don’t look for the kinds of services we offer until they need help and then generally they need it immediately. Having a little support in place lets us be able to add some additional supports when something happens. Whether Medicaid-eligible or not, we’re always willing to help connect people with those community resources that can help a person stay at home.”

For information, visit www.areaofficeonaging.com or 2155 Arlington Ave., or call (419) 382-0624.

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