Yesterday my one student, Juwan, and I went to see President Obama. And a great day it was.

When I was Juwan’s age, in 1964, I made it to downtown Dayton to hear Barry Goldwater. He spoke on the steps of the Dayton Court House, standing on the very steps where Abraham Lincoln also once had made a speech. I simply caught a bus and went downtown and joined a large crowd. It was a memorable experience and I wanted Juwan to have a similar experience.

Now in 2012 to see the president, one has to have a lot more determination and a lot more stamina. I first waited in line at the Obama HQ on Fifth Street. There was a long wait and my name was put into a computer and I was given a numbered ticket and told that I would need personal identification at the gate.

Juwan and I made it to Island Park at about 11:45 and then the waiting started — long lines snaking back and forth. As it turned out, the president would not speak for another four and one-half hours. Everyone seemed in good spirits and the fact that it was such a beautiful day helped. But the line moved slowly. Everyone had to go through security similar to that at the airport. And then we were all packed together.

Here is the New York Times report:
“Appearing with Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. at a raucous rally before 9,500 people in Dayton, the president went into a spirited assault, using his new favorite attack word — “Romnesia” — to highlight his rival’s position on the auto bailout, which the White House says was vital to saving jobs in Ohio and throughout the Midwest.
“Last night, Governor Romney looked me right in the eye, tried to pretend he never said, ‘Let Detroit go bankrupt,’ ” Mr. Obama said, one of many instances all day when he suggested Mr. Romney was not being honest about his positions as he seeks to appeal to a general-election audience after a Republican primary campaign in which he emphasized conservative stances.”
I took my camera and shot a lot of video — too much, as it turned out. Shortly after the president began to speak, my camera indicated that the memory card was full. We were standing a ways back from the president — about in the middle of the crowd, so my video shows the event from the standpoint of an average participant. Here is a section of the president’s speech from a better perspective — made by Marc Kovac at Ohio Capital Blog — where he tells of the symptoms of “Romnesia.”

At the end of the speech, the president and vice-president moved into the crowd to shake hands. Most people where we were standing started to leave, but Juwan wanted to press forward. We got within ten yards of the president, and I wish I had had a workable camera. I told Juwan that I was pretty sure that he had waved directly to us.

As we were leaving, I spoke to a man walking next to us. He said that he had finagled to get a “red” ticket — evidently that ticket put him closer to the podium — and, in fact, he said the president had grabbed his hand.

I said, “Then, let me shake your hand.”

And I did, and so did Juwan. Wow. What a day. Exhausting but memorable. And, we shook the hand of the hand that shook the president’s hand.

Nick Kuntz, Montgomery County Juvenile Court Judge, met with our South of Dayton Democratic Club this week. Kuntz has served as Juvenile Judge since 1994 and this year is on the ballot for re-election. He thanked the club for supporting his reelection campaign. He said that he loves his work and that during his tenure he has worked to make a lot of good improvements in the county’s juvenile court system. He said that he has visited over 100 other juvenile court systems and has not found a juvenile court system better than Montgomery County’s.

I was very impressed — not only with the judge’s words, but also in his matter-of-fact, yet compassionate attitude.

Kuntz said that he was surprised to have competition in this re-election effort and that, although his opponents are good people, they have little or no experience in dealing with the type of cases he has encountered in his life’s work.

Judge Kuntz spoke briefly about some of the programs for juveniles that he has helped developed in Montgomery County. Kuntz said that in administering juvenile justice, he does not shy away from using the word “punishment,” but believes that punishment must be seen as a first step to rehabilitation.

Kuntz’s web-site is outstanding in its thoroughness. It shows the judge’s resume. It tells the judge’s philosophy and gives details about the programs either initiated by or established during his administration.  Judge Kuntz notes that juveniles who are in trouble usually lack a good support system, a good value system, and they lack hope. His web-site explains:   

“We need to do whatever we can to give them support, teach them values, and give them hope for the future. We believe in punishment (appropriate consequences) because rehabilitation begins with appropriate consequences.

Incarceration, in and of itself, does little to solve the problem. The trick is to know which ones need to be locked up to protect the community and which ones to treat in the community setting. Experience teaches this.

We believe in utilizing Evidence Based Programs, proven to be successful.

We believe in building on the strengths of the child and their families (Strength Based Service) rather than concentrating on their weaknesses.

We believe in (seamless services) actually connecting our clients to outside resources, rather than simply referring them, and then keep them engaged.”

Judge Nick Kuntz has initiated and/or supported a number of very important youth programs that have been of significant benefit to the community and to the yourth that they have helped. These programs include:

• Reentry Court Program
• LIFE (program for girls) 
• Start Right Program
• Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC) Program
• Start-Up of the Juvenile Court Alternative Rehabilitation Effort (JCARE) Program
• Successful Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative
• Center for Adolescent Services 
• Reclaiming Futures 
• Juvenile Court Accountability Program
• The Crossover Youth Practice Model 

Congressman Mike Turner represents Ohio’s Tenth District. He was first elected to Congress in 2002

It’s hard to understand why Dayton voters keep returning Mike Turner to Congress. The “Campaign for America’s Future” tracks ten key congressional votes dealing with the economy and the middle class, and Mike Turner, my congressman to the U.S. Congress, according to this organization, is the worst of the worst and deserves a score of zero.  In its report, the CAF analyzes ten pieces of legislation and, Mike Turner, in every case voted against the middle class. Turner voted for the Ryan Budget, voted against a jobs bill, voted to diminish consumer financial protection, voted to weaken unions, voted to repeal Obamacare. Here are the ten votes:

1. Voted for the Republican FY 2013 Budget
 (The Ryan Budget)  — Would slash domestic spending including converting Medicare into a voucher program,
2. Voted against the FY 2013 Progressive Caucus Budget for All
 — H.Con. Res. 112 amendment would reduce long-term federal debt through short-term job-creation measures, such as increased spending on rebuilding roads and schools.
3. Voted for the Job Protection and Recession Prevention Act
 — Extends the Bush tax cuts giving millionaires an average bonus of $160,000 next year.
4. Voted for the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act
 — H..R. 10 would allow Congress to exercise veto power over the health, safety and environmental regulations the executive branch writes to implement legislation.
5. Voted for the Consumer Financial Protection and Soundness Improvement Act — 
Guts the ability of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to protect consumers.
6. Voted for the Workforce Democracy and Fairness Act
 — Diminishes the rights of private-sector workers to hold union elections.
7. Voted for the South Korea Trade Agreement
 — H.R. 3080 lowers tariffs on U.S. auto exports to Korea while maintaining incentives for outsourcing of U.S. jobs.
8. Voted for the Surface Transportation Extension Act
 — H.R. 4348 would weaken environmental protection efforts, fast-track the controversial Keystone XL pipeline and widen the gap between transportation needs and available funding.
9. Voted for the Interest Rate Reduction Act
 — H.R. 4628 keep student loan borrowing costs low for 7 million college students but at the cost of ending a vital public health program.
10. Voted for the Repeal of Obamacare Act
 — The 31st failed attempt by Congressional Republicans to repeat the Affordable Care Act.

The Campaign for America’s Future explains:

There are many guides that seek to measure how “liberal” or “conservative” an elected official is, but this guide takes on the unique task of measuring members of Congress against the kitchen-table needs and concerns of middle-class voters. Put another way, this is an effort to look at the votes and priorities of Congress through the lens of the daily economic struggles of working families, unemployed people, students, retirees — all those who consider themselves members of the middle class or who are trying to climb their way into the middle class.

That focuses this guide on a particular set of priorities: an economy that produces ample numbers of good jobs — jobs with living wages and strong benefits; health care that is affordable and accessible; top-quality education that fully equips children for the challenges of tomorrow without crippling them with debt; watchdogs who stand against those who would prey upon consumers or poison the environment; economic protection for those going through hard times, simple dignity for seniors at the end of a long worklife., and a democracy in which the voices of ordinary citizens are not drowned out by the rich and powerful.

The key votes in the 112th Congress graded in this voter guide symbolize this range of priorities. It is not a comprehensive measure of all of the consequential decisions that were made on the floor of the House and Senate that impacted middle- class voters. Before Congress went on its August 2012 summer recess, the House had passed 263 bills, and the Senate had passed 66. Many of these bills would have had significant impact, for better or worse, on the day-to-day lives of working people had they been signed into law. (Many of these bills are featured on TheMiddleClass.org.)

The key votes in this guide serve as a clear measure of whether legislators were defending the interests and concerns of the broad middle class. The bills were chosen before we compiled how legislators had voted.

 

Sharen Neuhardt is the Democratic challenger to Mike Turner