“What I say to every company that comes in to see me is if you want do business in Ohio, create, build and be additive to our communities we’re going to welcome you with open arms. But if you’re coming into Ohio to break apart out companies, destroy our industries and pillage our communities you will not only not be welcome here –we will chase you out of here like a dog,” said U.S. Senator – Ohio Bernie Moreno.

Columbiana County Republican Party Chairman Dave Johnson welcomed the attendees, joking that the annual dinner was a Republican town hall in reference to a group of protestors outside the venue calling for U.S. Rep Michael Rulli, who spoke at the dinner, to hold a town hall with his constituents.

Johnson described the annual dinner as an opportunity for the party to celebrate all the elected officials, candidates, party officers, donors and volunteers that make up the Republican Party, and to thank them for their hard work. He introduced all the officials and volunteers in attendance. Johnson also championed the renewal of the 1% county sales tax on the ballot for Tuesday’s primary election, noting that 70% of the county’s budget went directly to funding the sheriff’s office which would face budget cuts if voters chose not to renew the tax.

“The only person who benefits from that are the criminals,” said Johnson.

Both state and federal officials were in attendance for the annual Lincoln Day Dinner Friday. Shown from left are Senator Bernie Moreno, Representative Michael Rulli, and Ohio Supreme Court Justice Daniel Hawkins. (Photo by Morgan Ahart)

The event featured remarks from both Rulli, and Senator Bernie Moreno, with Rulli centering his remarks on contrast between Republicans and “the opposition party.” Rulli said that he was introducing a bill to support “the production of clean coal” within the United States while his Democratic colleagues on the Energy and Commerce Committee focus on green energy technologies like solar and wind which he said they “insist are the only future for energy production.” Rulli said that he knows from his experience serving on Ohio’s energy committee that solar and wind power are problematic long-term and that the “only way forward” for clean energy technology was natural gas. Rulli also championed the work and dedication of Moreno who he served with during their tenures as Ohio state representatives, calling him “one of the best senators this country has ever produced.”

Moreno asked attendees to consider “what really happened on November 5” when President Donald Trump was elected, calling it “a revolution of common sense.”

“We have gone past the point of Republican Issues or Democrat issues to what is just common sense. Does it make sense to raise government spending from $4.5 trillion dollars, which is what the budget was the last year of President Trump to $7.3 trillion which was the last year of Joe Biden’s [presidency] think about that number,” said Rulli.

Rulli attributed the “inflation at generationally high levels” experienced in recent years to that increased spending. He also suggested that energy production and its link to climate change were another “common sense issue.”

“You can be a tree hugger and say climate change is an existential threat. Okay, let’s go with that idea. Is it better to produce energy here in America, or in China? What’s better for the planet?” asked Moreno. “So, imagine these lunatics wanting to shut down our energy production and have it all happen in China. What’s the net of that? You’re going to see dramatically worse results for the planet; that’s not anything other than common sense.”

Representative Michael Rulli speaks on the contrast between the Republican and Democratic parties. (Photo by Morgan Ahart)

Moreno urged those in attendance to go out and speak with people they usually would not, noting that many people are simply uninformed.

“Your homework tonight is to go out and talk to some of the people; now not the people across the street protesting [representative] Rulli … you’ve got to go out and talk to people you otherwise wouldn’t talk to, and I know that social media makes us want to be angry but part of it is they just don’t have the data,” said Rulli. “I find if you give them the information they crumble like that, because they’re watching CNN, they’re watching MSNBC; heaven forbid they’re reading the Cleveland Plain Dealer. They think that [stuff] is real. That’s the worst part. You’ve got to go to them and approach them from that angle.”

Moreno said that what “has really separated America from any other country on earth” was the existence of a “thriving growing and prosperous middle class,” noting that rich and poor alike exist in countries the world over. He said that it was that middle class which built the country “into a powerhouse unlike anything ever seen in world history.” He also suggested that the growth of China’s economy came at the expense of the American middle class. Defending Trump’s economic policy and tariffs.

“Twenty-five years ago, the United States government signed the U.S. China Normalization act, which set the stage for China to have most-favored nation trading status with the United States and allowed them to enter the World Trade Organization. At that point in time China’s [gross domestic product] was 1.2 trillion dollars per year. Next year they’ll hit $20 trillion dollars — $1 trillion to $20 trillion in 25 years, who paid the price?” asked Rulli “I don’t have to ask all of you, you know who paid the price. If you’re in Richmond County you know who paid the price. If drive through Mahoning County you know who paid the price. If you’re in Trumbull County you know who paid the price.”

Moreno concluded by saying that the thing which drives him in his daily work is the story a Rich Olson, a 59-year-old man who worked at the Mead Paper Factory in Chillicothe, Ohio before it was purchased, and shut down by a Miami based private equity company.

Senator Bernie Morino discussed a range of subject, encouraging those in attendance to speak with people they normally wouldn’t and sharing the story of Rich Olson, a 59-year-old man who worked at the Mead Paper Factory in Chillicothe, Ohio before it was purchased, and shut down by a Miami-based private equity company which he said motivates him in his daily work as an elected official. (Photo by Morgan Ahart)

“He spent his entire career working where his dad and his grandfather worked. Woke up, went to work every single day, did a good job, raised three kids, owned a home and a car, was able to send his kids to school, could go on vacation and was looking forward to retiring in a couple years knowing he had lived a good life,” said Rulli. “April 19, he was at home on a rare day off and gets a text message from a friend of his that they’re shutting the place down immediately. His retirement benefits, his pension, his job, gone. No future for him or the 863 other people that work in his community.”

He said that the job of elected officials is to make “have the back” of people like Rich Olson. He said that rather than following “apparatus that [officials] normally rely on” to focus on job retraining programs and expand employment benefits in the area, he approached the company directly with an ultimatum.

“I said to this private equity company you have two choices. Option one you give me time to find you a buyer for this factory which means you agree to keep this thing going until the end of the year, and I’ll find a buyer, and someone will come in and operate this business for another 200 years, that’s option one. Option two, I will make your life miserable. I will use every tool of the federal government to chase you and your family for generations, you pick. They chose option one, and as a result we’re going to find a buyer for that facility.”

A group of protestors formed across the street from the Timberlanes Complex as much as a full hour before the start of the annual Lincoln Day Dinner Friday. Protestors carried signs expressing several grievances including one which read “real town halls don’t have paywall$” and shouted demands for U.S. Rep Michael Rulli to hold a town hall for his constituents. (Photo by Morgan Ahart)