Conversations with the Candidates

Last night, I went to Conversations with the Candidates which was sponsored by ECCOhio (Ecumenical Community for Compassion Ohio). I am trying to work and partner with them a little more as my time permits. I think that it is very important for us as churches to work together and do it for a pupose of "compassion" for those we live with on a daily basis.

Anyways, the candidates that were there were the candidates for the State Legislature. There were for candidates there. They were the following:

House

Ron Amstutz (R)
Merle Joe Miller (D)

Senate

James Riley (D)
Bob Gibbs (R)

I have to admit that the evening was a little boring. However, I did want to get there to hear what they had to say because it is an election year and they were dealing with two key issues last night: energy and health insurance.

There are times that I wish that in these forums and discussions that the candidates would be "pushed" more and that they would be held accountable to their answers and for us to see their thoughts on all of the angles of the issue.

For example !!!!

On conserving energy and development of alternative resources ...

Bob Gibbs states: we need to look at muliple resources. We speciaaly need to look at corn/ethanol for our fueling needs. It is cheaper and cleaner.

On the surface, this sounds good. However, I would like to have two questions addressed before "buying" into this idea FROM YOU.

1. What will this do for us as a nation with our food prices and do we have enough corn/ethanol to make tis a reality ?

2. THE BIGGER QUESTION !!! How does this impact your pocket book Bob ? Just in case people do not know you, let me give your background:

Representative Gibbs has been involved in the agriculture community for years, having served as president of the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation. He has also been a board member for various organizations, including the Farm Bureau Bank, Ohio Livestock Coalition, the Ohio Cooperative Council and the Ohio Farm Bureau Alliance Group. He has served as president of the Holmes County Extension Advisory Committee, the Holmes County Farm Bureau and as a supervisor for the Holmes County Soil and Water Conservation Service.

With your agriculture background, is there any profit that you will gain from the switch ?

While I am on Bob, I will continue to shed "negative" light on him. He seems very confused in he aspect of free market vs. regulation and the current bailout options that are on the table. This came up during a strange question from the audience that dealt with government homes being used as a "testing lab" for energy resources. He believes that the free market is the way to go to get us out of the financial mess HOWEVER he believes that WASH needed to "regulate" prior to the fiasco.

To finish my complaint on Gibbs, his response and attitude on health insurance and health care for the uninsured was less than impressive and definitely not where I am at. Later on, when I have more time, I will go into more of the conversation and the other candidates and not beat up on Mr. Gibbs.