Initiative

Ohio's problems started with single party majority and will never end until Ted Strickland is in office. We need a man with a real plan and vision to launch our once-great state back into the foreground where it belongs.  Participate in Democracy. Register new voters, discuss the issues, be informed, make phone calls, go door-to-door, email, build your own web sites, blog, and for the love of God VOTE!  We, as a people, must realize and recognize that the single greatest thing we can derive from freedom is the opportunity our government gives us every year to have our voices heard.  Just remember... If you didn't vote for your guy, you voted for the other guy.

The most important thing about promoting a candidate the caliber of Ted Strickland is to be informed and emphasize his record. Strickland has made a career based on integrity, honesty and doing exactly what he says. Listed below are some of the letters I have had printed that push Progressive issues.

Printed in the Lancaster Eagle Gazette, Oct 27, 2006

Printed in the Newark Advocate, Oct 27, 2006

Printed in the Lancaster Eagle Gazette August 11, 2006 

To the Editor,

Last month President Bush issued the first veto of his two terms regarding passed Senate legislation for stem cell research that could have helped find cures for a vast number of diseases that plague humanity today. The President justified his position by saying, "I do not condone the taking of innocent life to save life." Given that we know innocent civilian lives have been spent by the thousands, couldn’t you say that this is the justification for the Iraq War? We have had 5 different lies now as to why we are in Iraq. The President is using the exact same line to hold down stem cell research as he is to prolong the Iraq blunder. Now with over 2,580 U.S. troops murdered and thousands of Iraq civilians murdered, shouldn’t someone call W back from vacation? When was the last vacation our troops had?

Where is our President’s head? Where is our Congress backbone? This November, go vote. Vote your conscious. One party rule is awful; Ohio is the blueprint for that. Neo-cons have the White House... Give the Democrats the chance to fix America.

Ben Bryant

Lancaster OH

Printed in the Lancaster Eagle Gazette July 20, and the Athens News Aug 3, 2006

To the Editor,

We are currently approaching another election in November that could either seal America’s fate, or pull her up from the quicksand that is dragging her under. There is only one party who has the vision, determination and plan to rescue our poor, embattled country.

The Democratic party has a clear, concise plan for America. This is how it is framed....

1. Honesty and openness back in government- Our Government lied to us to justify the Iraq war, they classify documents everyday that belong to us, and now are attacking the 1^st Amendment to quiet dissent in the pursuit of the truth.

2. American jobs stay in America - 10 years with 40% inflation is too long. Raise the minimum wage. If we create our own energy, we create jobs. Bottom line.

3. Energy independence as a new industry- Oil is a dead end street. Wind, solar, E-85, hydrogen are all ideas being used all over the world. The U.S. has fallen behind in this field badly.

4. A heath care system that works for everyone - 36 other industrialized countries have this problem taken care of. You may be healthy now, but someday we’ll all need prescriptions and most of us don’t have the connections Limbaugh has.

5. Real Security and a Strong National Defense - Our war is being planned by men who have no military experience. We are fighting it in the WRONG COUNTRY! The only reason we have any bright moments is a testament to the men and women in uniform. We need to reunite American families, restore the American community, thus restore America’s greatness.

6. Retirement Security/Pension Reform - We will never get health care or the economy under control until we achieve a balance budget. Only Democrats balance budgets these days.

7. Economic prosperity and education excellence- College tuition cost is at an all time high. Republicans are really good at sending their kids to college and other peoples kids to war. And they love a tax break. Lets combine the two; How about a break for parents of college kids?

America needs our help. I never thought I would have to defend America against her own government. Help me root out corruption and incompetence in the Fall.

Ben Bryant

Lancaster OH

Printed in the Pomeroy Daily Sentinel June 26, 2006

To the Editor,

The American worker is under full scale attack. It all started with the birth of the Nation when slaves toiled for their bourgeoisie master. During the Industrial Revolution, elitist learned that they could make more money by not keeping their employees in housing and health care. Conditions in early factories got horrific, with death and dismemberment an everyday occurrence. Safety precautions were nonexistent because if one poverty-raped worker was incapacitated, another poor American was waiting for his crummy job. Families suffered as fathers died or were crippled so the children went to work to pay the bills that went right back into the pocket of the man who had indentured them. Faced with no other choice, workers got smart and united.

In Columbus, Ohio, on December 8, 1886, the American Federation of Labor(AFL) was born. This was the first organization that was successful in allying different labor groups to work together for a common goal. Fair working conditions, fair pay, and a chance to rise up and break the chains of poverty.

Fast forward to 2006... American workers are being bombarded with unfair conditions once again. An outsourcing has forced employees to train their replacements if they ever hope to collect the severance they thought was a guarantee. Health insurance has skyrocketed so much that 50% of Americans have no coverage whatsoever. The federal minimum wage has been stuck for 10 years now with inflation at more than 40%.

The city of Columbus this week shelved a proposed agreement that would have required nonunion contractors to observe union rules during construction of a new downtown courts building. This was never a closed bid to non-union contractors. This rule is less about siding with labor than siding with labor-detractors and against workers best interests.

There is one reason why labor unions still exist today... They are needed, now as much as ever. The blatant disregard for employee safety and lack of concern for employee health and welfare make them a necessity. If your employer has safety precautions at all, thank a union. If you have health benefits at all, thank a union. If you make a living wage, thank a union because corporations and the elitist’s owners and management damn sure have never been worried about America’s greatest resource...It’s working men and women.

Ben Bryant, Proud member of Teamsters Local 284

Lancaster OH

Printed in the Lancaster Eagle Gazette Sunday Edition April 2, 2006

To the Editor

America is dying. While American men and woman are losing benefits, being gouged by local utilities and Exxon, and suffering from wage freezes, our legislators are in Congress and the Senate quibbling over abortion, school prayer and AMWR. Issues that mean nothing to the real problem; Daily sustenance and the decline of the middle class.

In 1997, Congress raised the federal minimum wage to $6.25 an hour, the rate it remains to this day. Recently, they defeated a proposed minimum wage hike due to "no need, judging by the rate of inflation."(inflation has risen 35% on daily goods and 100% on gasolene since President Bush took office.) Apparently there is a need for greater wage, though, for Congress has voted themselves 8 pay raises since 1997.

According to Business Week, the Average C.E.O. made 42 times the average workers pay in 1980. By 2000, the average C.E.O. ‘s pay had skyrocketed to 531 times what the average worker made. So the problem, it would seem, with employers paying for healthcare or wage increases isn’t the high price of heath care costs as much as it’s the high price of C.E.O.’s and corporate schmoozing.

Labor Unions are the key. The balance between high employee turnover and unfair corporate practice. A strong union means quality employees that stay with the company. Less turnover means more money for training and quality work from seasoned employees. A strong union means fair wages, health insurance and fair representation.

Mike DeWine is running for reelection in November. Senator DeWine has a consistent anti-union voting record that has earned him a 0% rating from the AFL CIO. The thing elitist don’t understand is that they need middle class workers to maintain their companies and investment. What workers need to understand is that they need unions to maintain their standard of living, whether DeWine wants us to have one or not.

Ben Bryant

Proud member of Teamsters Local #284

Printed in the Lancaster Eagle Gazette Sunday Edition June 11, 2006

To the Editor,

The University of Cincinnati conducted a poll that showed that "Strickland has slight lead in close race". The article showed that Ohioans are tired of being the laughing stock of the nation and truly want change.

Governor Taft and his stable of trained subordinates like Blackwell have left Ohio to the wolves. Ohio ranks 50th out of 50 states and the District of Columbia in its ability to attract and hold onto well-educated young people ages’ 19-24. Ohio ranks 50th in small business ownership rates. Ohio's education system is rated 46th, with practically every system in financial despair, including Lancaster City Schools. Our state is rated 43 in the creation of jobs by the U.S. Department of Labor. Governor Taft was rated 49th by Time Magazine on the list of greatest state Governors. Ohio used to be the "Heart of it all", now, we're the "joke of it all".

I literally laughed out loud when I saw the comment made by Blackwell spokesman Lara Mastin that Mr. Strickland was "Inexperienced, out-of-touch," and had an "inability to get things done". What a fool, this Mastin. Ted Strickland has been a distinguished United States Congressman since 1992. In that time he has served as a member of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and is the ranking Democrat on its Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. A six term Congressman, Methodist Minister, a psychologist, and a college professor. I urge anyone to point anyone out to me with even comparable credentials.

You suggest Blackwell? O.K... Blackwell calls himself an evangelical. Blackwell has never associated himself with any religion at all. He says he fervently opposes abortion, yet to this day, makes money off of it (Barr Pharmaceuticals, manufacturer of the morning after pill) and opposes gambling, yet makes money off of it (International Game Technology). Just what is it that this chump opposes, anyway? This is the problem. The real inexperience is in this choice again. It’s sad, too, because they had a better man than the thing that won the primary.

Ted Strickland is the only real choice for Ohio in 2006. He is a real Ohioan at heart and a true American. Wouldn’t it be nice to have an Ohioan who has Ohio in his interest’s? Vote Ted Strickland for Governor of Ohio in 2006.

Ben Bryant

Lancaster OH

"I was no party man myself, and the first wish of my heart was, if parties did exist, to reconcile them."              —George Washington