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Vote for Kaptur or Move out of Town
Bunchs Lunchbox | 08/19/2010 7:00 am
For being such a kind, sweet woman,
Marcy Kaptur is a bad ass. As the senior most female Democrat in the
House, Representative Kaptur holds true to her title, she represents,
and she represents hard. Anyone who's seen the clips of her on the
House Floor talking about foreclosure, famously aired in Michael
Moore's film Capitalism, knows what I mean.
Yesterday, Wednesday, August 18, Kaptur visited one of my favorite watering holes, The Ottawa Tavern for a Meet and Greet where - holding one of Jules Webster's (of Shine Ceramics) "Chicago Doesn't Need You - Viva Toledo!" shirts - she delivered a speech that gave me chills. I wish all of Congress was filled with such bright, intelligent, brave, passionate, and dedicated people.
Speaking the Truth
Naturally, Kaptur's speech was about
Toledo. For someone who's been reppin' for the city for more than 20
years, Kaptur is keenly aware of the problems Toledo is dealing with
and the obstacles it's facing. This wasn't just a dreamy feel-good
speech. It wasn't an "it's all gonna be OK" chat. Instead,
it was a call to arms.
To paraphrase, since I was too caught up in the moment to remember to record, Kaptur said that Toledoans are hard working folks, they always have been, and that's what gives us our edge for turning this ship around. The tools for doing so? Art, Agriculture, and Industry. We're lucky to have someone so in touch with what's happening on the ground floor.
Kaptur spoke at length about the rich
arts scene in Toledo, and about the artists that are working hard to
redefine our community. She mentioned the Arts Commission of Greater
Toledo and its dedication to using arts as a tool of economic
development. She didn't ask, but demanded that Toledo become a fully
sustainable community by investing in the remarkable work of groups
like Toledo GROWS and their community gardens projects. In fact, she
announced for the first time yesterday that Toledo will officially
become a model for building sustainable resources and community
gardens, and that our city will be the hub of training for those
around us as the largest urban farming center in Ohio.
Kaptur is thrilled about the idea of making use of our incredible natural resources: The fact that the largest tributary flowing into the Great Lakes - the largest fresh water supply on Earth - runs right through the center of our city, the fact that we are sitting on a deep bed of very fertile earth, that Toledo has the most trees per size of any city in the nation, and the fact that the culture Toledo has defined is one of a people that aren't afraid at all of rolling up their sleeves and working hard for what they want.
Tantalizing My Roots
My skin tingled as this political
figurehead mentioned the Toledo arts scene, my passion since moving
to the Old West End in 2005, the Arts Commission, my employer,
ToledoGROWS and the gardens, the most exciting thing I think that has
happened to Toledo in 30 years, and the Alexis Rd. GM plant that is
the most productive GM plant in its worldwide operation, where the
transmission for the new Chevy Cruze will be manufactured (in fact,
most of the vehicle, which boast 40 mpg, will be manufactured in Ohio). My grandfather and
my father worked at that plant and in the Local 14 UAW across the
street for the better part of 30 years turning it from a near-defunct
facility into the most productive, employee-centered manufacturing
facilities in the nation.
Everything I hold dear about my community, my representative shouted out from the stage and told the crowd of probably 75 people, We're not going to let them tell us it's not possible. We're not going to let them take this away from us! ... I'll let you guess who 'they' are. Just a hint, they are the people stonewalling anything remotely progressive and hopeful.
As for the Controversy ...
It's no secret that Republicans have raised a ruckus recently over the deficit. She ackwoledged a singular truth the media loves to ignore - When the Republicans piled up the deficit, they didn't say peep. When they lauched expensive wars and racked up deficit like raking leaves, it wa all OK. She took the debate head on: Without Obama and the Democratic Congress's stimulous packages, Toledo, Ohio, and a lot of other communities would be much worse off. She rattled off a list of tangible projects that the stimulous has benefited locally, keeping thousands of people employed. Most recently, they just sent 6,000 Ohio teachers back to work. (Visit Recovery.gov to see how funds are being spent. Tip: Search your community by Zip).
I've been in a Congress that balanced the budget, she said, I know how this works. In hard times, the government goes into debt, it's like a teeter-totter, one end goes up, until it kind of balances out and the private sector becomes stable enough to pay it back, and then it evens out, just as GM has paid back their loans, with interest, that the American people gave them so they could get back on track.
As for the Earmarks debate you've been reading about in the papers, Kaptur, ever fearless and confident in her virtue said, and again, I'll roughly paraphrase, My opponent has criticized me for trying to bring money and jobs back home. Do I feel guilty about that? No way! That's my job. When my job turns into me going to Washington and just sitting there as a figurehead doing nothing, I'll tell you what, I'm not interested in it anymore, she said.
In Conclusion
As a former line worker at Jeep, Marcy
Kaptur has never forgotten her dedication to Toledoans, real
Toledoans, not corporate power-holders, et al, and has never backed
down from a fight in which she believed she was right. Thankfully,
what Kaptur believes is right is whatever is best for the people of
the Ohio's Ninth Congressional District. She is a selfless entity
that has served us well for two decades, and still has her ear to the
street enough to know that independent of what anyone else has to
say, Toledoans are taking charge of their communities via the arts
and creating sustainable food and energy sources that will make our
lives better, healthier, and more affordable.
Why would you even consider voting for someone else?
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