Minority Leader John Boehner Faces GOP Primary Challenge In His Home District

Feb. 3, 2010 - PRLog -- Faced with bleak economic prospects, and an eroding job base that leads national and state unemployment figures, many conservatives in the 8th Congressional District are growing disillusioned with their own representation in Washington.

Now, longtime Eaton Ohio, resident and businessman, Manfred R. Schreyer, has formally announced his campaign bid for the Republican seat in this spring’s primary race.

“The people of the 8th District of Ohio did not send John Boehner to D.C. to spend over 100 days on the golf course headlining fundraiser for Republican National Committee. We sent him there to represent the people of the 8th District,” says Manfred, citing Boehner's finance records. “We all have friends who have lost their jobs and been forced to tighten their belt because of the economic crisis, and we expect our representatives to be working for the people in this district, not out working on thier tan and politicizing national issues.”

Schreyer believes that without a fundamental challenge to the guiding philosophy of the leadership in the 8th District, Ohio will continue to suffer. He states, “Boehner has presented a conflict in his leadership. He made some early commitment to not bring any earmark investments back to our district from D.C. in protest of the political system. But, in September of 2008, Mr. Boehner stood in solidarity with Nancy Pelosi and Barney Frank by voting to bail out the bankers with our tax dollars, and then Boehner went further to publicly scold other conservatives who refused to go along with the scheme by saying ‘Now is not the time for ideological purity’."

“What is ideologically pure about Mr. Boehner telling other Republicans to agree with Pelosi by voting to give our tax dollars to the bankers, but then refusing to work to help bring jobs back to the people in his district?”, asks Schreyer.

Schreyer states, “I realize that Mr. Boehner still enjoys some support in the GOP. However, the primary vote is when we define the direction of the party, and I believe that stubborn refusal to compromise with our neighbors has brought us to this era of extremist views. It might be working for the rest of the Republican Party, but it’s not working out very well for the 8th District of Ohio.”

Manfred’s campaign committee has launched a campaign website at http://www.imwithmanfred.com, where Schreyer just released a video interview with William V. York III, a resident of New Paris, Ohio. Situated on the Ohio border near Richmond, Indiana, New Paris has lacked the infrastructure necessary to attract business development and jobs, and cannot support bond financing with the existing tax base. “The infrastructure exists on the Indiana side, so Route 40 is already a thriving commercial center. But it all disappears when you cross the border because there’s no water or sewer,” says Schreyer.

Starting in the late 1990s and as recently as 2008, York began contacting Congressman Boehner’s office for assistance, and was told that even though the potential return is estimated to be hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars in tax revenue, the $4 million investment required sounded too much like an earmark request. Representative Boehner has refused to pursue earmarks since his first term in office.

“There are more ways to develop opportunities like this,” Schreyer stated, “but rather than exploring other solutions, Mr. Boehner simply refuses to help this community.” On his campaign website, Schreyer links to a USDA press release dated January 14, 2010, which announced $49 million dollars in direct grant funding to communities throughout the State of Alaska for water and sewage infrastructure development. Some individual communities were awarded nearly $6 million with the express purpose of creating jobs.

Schreyer says, “We pay our taxes to Washington like everyone else, and if Mr. Boehner won’t help us create jobs by exploring ways to develop opportunities like the one in New Paris, then I will.”

"Boehner spends his time on the golf course and in the media politicizing national issues, but right now we need a concentrated focus on our own district. We need to stop relying on Washington to bail us out of everything and start working to grow our own recovery," says Schreyer, "This means we need a representative that will focus on the issues inside of the district, and fight for those issues instead of fighting other people's battles somewhere else."

Representative Boehner's district comprises of mostly rural, working communities that have been hit by job losses and seen the continued erosion of the manufacturing base. Schreyer believes that it's time to make the distinction between global business interests, and small business interests that primarily serve the middle class.

"We can't parade around as being pro-business, and then support trade policies that serve only multinational corporations while destroying the larger middle class customer base for the rest of the small business community. Boehner supports trade agreements that continue to destroy living wage jobs in our district, and he does nothing to promote any solutions to replace the lost dollars," says Schreyer.

"John Boehner lives in the most affluent neighborhood in the entire district, and rarely ventures out into the rest of the communities to listen to the needs of the people here," Schreyer comments, "He's out of touch with his district, and it's time for a change in leadership here."

The Ohio Primary Election is May 4, 2010.