YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Republicans wasted little time blasting the Obama Administration in advance of Vice President Joe Biden’s announced visit to the Mahoning Valley this week.
Within hours of the announcement by President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign that Biden would speak at M7 Technologies here and a car dealership in Martins Ferry, the Republican National Committee had issued a media advisory targeting President Obama’s loss of 40% of the Democratic primary vote in nearby West Virginia to a federal inmate, and the campaign’s highlighting a company that outsourced jobs to Hungary in its latest television ad.
“After highlighting a company in an Ohio TV ad earlier this week that outsourced jobs to Hungary, Vice President Biden’s visit next week will only remind Ohioans that they’re worse off after three years of Obama and Biden’s failed policies,” said RNC spokesman Ryan Mahoney. “Whether it’s the Obama Administration’s skyrocketing energy prices, or soaring debts and deficits, Ohioans simply can’t afford four more years of Barack Obama.”
The email points to the Obama ad featuring Brian Slagle, an employee at Johnson Controls, which received $299 million in federal stimulus funds to build electric batteries. According to the email, the company only built one new plant, which is operating at half capacity, rather than the planned two plants, due to weak demand, and announced layoffs at its Wisconsin headquarters after weaker than expected earnings, even though it was expanding in Hungary.
The RNC advisory reported that Johnson Controls was fined for exposing its workers at the plant where Slagle works to lead poisoning, and that the company shut down plants in China after the government said it was poisoning children with lead.
The email also targets the administration’s position on coal, pointing out that the administration only included coal on the website for its “All of the Above” energy strategy after outcry by Republicans.
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.