Letters: Doubtful about Ohio Republicans' promises to families; Tim Ryan and Emilia Sykes

Who can make Ohio great for families?

It seems that the Republicans, facing a wave of resentment and anger for their efforts to restrict women’s healthcare rights, are backpedaling madly to pacify voters. The latest example of this hypocrisy is Gov. Mike DeWine’s proposal of several ideas to make Ohio "the best place in the nation to have a baby and raise a family," as he stated in the Oct. 3 article "DeWine pitches tax break on baby items."

Right now, Ohio is nowhere near that standard. According to U.S. News & World Report, our state is in the bottom third of rankings for education, health care and our economy. We’re near the bottom in the state rankings of our natural environment. In 2010, Education Week ranked Ohio fifth in the nation with respect to the quality of our schools. After 11 years of Republican rule, we’ve plummeted to 27th.

Why have DeWine and other Republicans, so eager to take choice away from women and families, waited until now to talk about providing safe, healthy communities with good schools? My guess is that it’s just another ruse to mollify voters until after Nov. 8, when we’ll hear no more about these policy proposals.

Don’t fall for it. Democrats have campaigned on these very proposals for years. They will deliver on their promise to truly make Ohio a great place to raise a family.

Joe Jiamboi, Cuyahoga Falls

Maintain democracy with Ryan, Sykes

As a former Air Force officer with a top-secret clearance, I almost found Donald Trump’s recent claim laughable. Actually, the fact he believes he can declassify classified information by simply thinking it to be declassified is frightening. The removal of classified materials to his residence and the “thinking” powers he believes he possesses are but further examples of how dangerous the leader of the Republican Party is to the safety of you, me and our country.

Trump is upending our democracy through his election lies and violation of the rule of law. When he endorses Republican candidates, he demands a pledge to promote the same lies and extreme anti-democratic practices that he espouses. He is now all in with the QAnon conspiracy, an antisemitic movement that promotes violence. Trump and Republicans propose to be tough on criminals. Yet he offers hundreds of pardons to lawbreakers like Oath Keepers and other attackers of the Capitol on Jan 6. The lies he promotes with his so called “tough on crime” Republican followers and extreme far-right political candidates make law-abiding citizens less and less safe.

Fortunately, there are OhIo candidates repudiating Trump’s lies and promotion of violence. They are fighting to keep us safe and stop Republican attempts to change our democracy to an autocracy. Tim Ryan, running for the U.S. Senate, and Emilia Sykes for the U.S. House, have pledged to serve those who support truth and democracy. Their opponents, J.D. Vance and Madison Gesiotto Gilbert, have pledged to follow the values of Trump and the far-right Republican election deniers. Please cast your vote for Ryan and Sykes to help maintain a democracy and keep us safe.

Richard King, Akron

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Sincerity of Mike DeWine's promises to families questioned