Crazy Right-Wing Tax Scofflaw Matt Lynch Is Running For Congress In Ohio

If you go over Ohio state Rep. Matt Lynch's record, you might be moved to ask, "how the hell did an extremist and fanatic like that get elected to office anywhere. Well, that would be a good question, since Lynch was appointed to his seat, a seat that Richard Hollington, Matt Dolan, Tim Grendell all resigned from in the last couple of years, Hollington twice. And now Lynch wants to abandon the Geauga County legislative seat as well, to run against Republican Congressman David Joyce in the May 6 primary. Geauga is, by far, the reddest county in OH-14. In 2012, the big GOP margin in Geauga (60-38%) gave Romney is narrow district-wide win over Obama. And Geauga was the only county in OH-14 that Josh Mandel took over Sherrod Brown. Joyce's hefty 69-26% win over Democrat Dale Blanchard in Geauga was the basis of his district-wide 54-39% win on the same day. Lynch, one of the most radical right members of the Ohio legislature, is a notorious tax scofflaw and a paranoid religious nut; several of his colleagues swear he is mentally unbalanced.

Lynch's website says moderate forces were targeting him for defeat in the Statehouse. Sarah LaTourette, the daughter of Joyce's mentor and congressional predecessor, Steve LaTourette, filed paperwork to seek Lynch's seat in Columbus.

"It should be no surprise that I am a target," his  website says. "After all, I was one of only 6 Republicans who voted against the Ohio State Budget that raised your taxes and increased spending by 8 billion dollars!! And I was one of only 5 legislators that filed the lawsuit to try to stop Obamacare Medicaid Expansion in Ohio. Even my support of the unborn and the 'Heartbeat Bill' is seen by some as radical."

In an early taste of the upcoming 14th District political brawl, Joyce's campaign released a statement critical of Lynch's voting record and his past history of late tax payments.

"Matt Lynch has a history of repeatedly not paying his own taxes, voting against a $2.7 billion tax cut for Ohioans, and against a balanced budget," said a statement from Joyce campaign manager Kevin Benacci. "We’ll contrast that any day of the week to Dave’s record of getting Washington on a budget for the first time in 4 years, and voting to repeal Obamacare every chance he's had."

Lynch has been endorsed by all the extremist groups on the fringes of the far right, from Freedom Works, and the local Tea Party groups to the National Association of Gun Owners and the Ohio Right to Life Society. His campaign is fueled by hate, ignorance and self-righteousness and crackpot statements like this: "Dave Joyce, supported by the anti-conservative Main Street Partners led by Steve LaTourette, unleashed a smear campaign against me this week."

This is a very bitter primary, as civil wars tend to be. When announcing their endorsement of Lynch over Joyce, Adam Brandon of FreedomWorks called Joyce a "bought-and-paid-for politician backed by the lobbying class and Republican establishment."

Steve Israel has been especially tone deaf to opportunities offered by Republican resignations and intra-party warfare. Fortunately, Ohio Democrats ignored him and pushed forward with a strong candidate for OH-14, Michael Wager, former chairman of the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority. Wishing he could just concentrate of the anti-Choice, anti-gay hate monger he recruited in a nearby district, Israel and his pathetic DCCC ignored Wager until about a month ago when they finally, grudgingly, put him on one of the fake lists, Emerging something-or-other. Wager is a forthright progressive, far from the mystery meat ideal Israel is looking for. He's a proud FDR Democrat and he's running on income inequality, an issue Israel is petrified of. Blue America endorsed him and you can contribute to his campaign here. This is what he told us about his motivations for running last February:

The core motivation for my candidacy is concern about the future of American participatory democracy as a result of protracted and worsening income equality. The oft-discussed issues of gerrymandering, election law abuses and campaign finance laws are certainly challenges to meaningful choice in our elections; however, it is unjustifiable economic inequality that weakens our social cohesion and erodes the American middle class. This is not a necessary consequence of American capitalism. Rather, it is mostly attributable to a federal tax and expenditure policies that favor narrow interests over most Americans.

Consider this. As our nation continues a slow recovery from the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, millions of American workers are unemployed or under-employed and wages have been stagnant for decades. Yet, the 113th Congress has not passed a jobs bill and fails to act on an increase in federal minimum wage. Instead, the Republican-led House of Representatives passed the "Ryan Budget," which, included no employment initiatives and relief for low wage earners but, among its parade of horribles, would have voucherized Medicare, raised its eligibility to age 67, and made massive cuts to vital social programs.

There is no simple or single solution to addressing America’s employment and wage issues. There are, however, several governmental actions that can commence real recovery for all American. Here are two:

• Infrastructure Investment. To remedy our deteriorating infrastructure, I call upon Congress to pass a national infrastructure investment program to repair or replace roads, bridges, ports, water and wastewater systems and electricity transmission. Investment in these job-creating projects is one of the most effective way to stimulate our economy and, at the same time, meet critical domestic demands and national security needs.

Infrastructure investments put people to work, stimulate consumer spending and increase local sales and income tax revenues. With an estimated investment of $120 billion (to meet critical demand), we would create over 2.5 million jobs.

• Raise the Federal Minimum Wage. In his State of the Union address, the President indicated that, by Executive Order, he would raise federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 per hour for direct federal employees and employees of federal contractors. This is long-overdue. Federal minimum wage has not been increased since 2009. While the President’s action brings some relief to 16,000 federal workers and up to 200,000 more employed by federal contractors, what about another 30 million workers that earn 150% of minimum wage or less? They must wait for Congress to act.

Some in Congress, including Speaker John Boehner and my opponent, freshman Republican David Joyce, claim that increases in minimum wage are "job killers." They are fundamentally inaccurate. While an increase in minimum wage may lead some isolated cases of job loss, most economists concur that increased wages for the lowest wage earners spur consumer spending and growth. A January 2014 Brookings Institution analysis calls this the "ripple effect" of increasing minimum wage.

These same opponents to a wage increase claim that low wage earners are "teenagers" and don’t an increase. This is just plain wrong. First, less than 3% of American workers are actually paid minimum wage, but over 30 million workers earn 150% of minimum wage or less. Only 12% are teenagers.

Opposition to an increased minimum wage is not based on data or logic. It’s the result of lobbyists for largest employers of low wage earners waging a campaign based on their narrow interests, falsehoods and bad economics. Democrats have introduced the Fair Minimum Wage Act. I call upon House leaders to take up this bill and begin to restore our minimum wage levels to a livable wage.

Michael plans to beat David Joyce in November. If he winds up running against Matt Lynch, it would in all likelihood be a landslide Democratic victory. Again you can help Michael's campaign here. Israel hasn't put this district on his Red-to-Blue list, but it's far more likely to go from red to blue than many of the districts he did put on there.