"If I Were a Rich Man" Tour to Visit Ohio's Richest Congressperson Jim Renacci Today

Jim Renacci, the congressman from Ohio's 16th district, has lots of money. And he's one of those rich people who seems to think government exists only to benefit the rich.

So he's one of the eleven congressmen and senators targeted for visits by a group of young progressive Jews to call attention to the issue of fair taxation (i.e. you not paying double the percentage of Mitt Romney) and the injustice of shredding the social safety net just so rich people can have more.

They will be at Teabaggin' Jim's district office at 4150 Belden Village Street in Canton from 3-4 p.m. today (Friday).

The sponsoring group is called Bend the Arc: A Jewish Partnership for Justice. It describes itself as "the nation’s leading progressive Jewish voice empowering Jewish Americans to be advocates for the nation’s most vulnerable."

http://bendthearc.us/

In the press release, the group's CEO Alan van Capelle says,

“Millionaires in Congress trying to force working people to pay more than their share in taxes is like a school yard bully stealing lunch money from kid. American Jews have never stood on the sidelines when we have seen injustice and we aren’t going to start now.”

The press release goes on to say,

Volunteers from the “If I Were a Rich Man Tour” are asking Representative Jim Renacci (R-Ohio) why when voting to balance the budget and reduce the deficit he is voting to line his own pockets and those of his millionaire buddies rather than voting for the best interests of his constituents.

I don't think they'll be getting an answer to that any time soon. I mean, what can he say? "I'm greedy"? But they can call voters' attention to why they should be supporting Renacci's opponent, Congresswoman Betty Sutton, who has been a champion fighter for regular working people in her two terms in Congress in a district the Republicans abolished, hoping to get rid of her.

http://www.bettysuttonforcongress.com/

Bend the Arc also has a petition you can sign, asking Congress to make the wealthy pay their fair share. You can find it here: www.bendthearc.us/jewish-action.

As a resident of Cleveland Heights, I was excited to see that among the other congressmen they will be dropping in on is the execrable Darrell Issa, now, thank God, of California. He's a Cleveland Heights High School dropout who managed to be on the fringe of a lot of shady activities while living in Northeast Ohio before moving west to make his fortune and become the wealthiest member of Congress. This is the medieval troll who held the February hearing on contraception in which he allowed no women to participate, saying it was a "religious freedom" issue that didn't concern them.

We're so glad he's left Ohio. Be sure not to give him our greetings when you go to his office, Bend the Arc.