The Plain Dealer printed a highly laudatory article on retiring Sen. George Voinovich and his long public service to our city, state and nation (Nov. 29). Voinovich undoubtedly has been an honest public servant, who suffered a grievous loss with the untimely demise of a beloved daughter, and I applaud his decision to remain in Cleveland's Collinwood neighborhood.

But a recent drive through Collinwood left me filled with tears as I observed abandoned factories and the economic devastation caused by the ruinous free-trade policies promulgated by members of Congress over the last 20 years.

No enemy in wartime that could have conquered the United States would have so destroyed our cities as have our globalist, free-trade politicians in league with the giant corporations. And the trickledown effect is enormous, encompassing schools, municipalities and hospitals, all operating in the red due to the loss of factories, businesses and high-paying jobs that generated valuable tax dollars.

So have any of the politicians really helped our nation by staving off the horrible economic conditions that must surely follow such folly? I think not. So while Voinovich deserves much praise, I wish he and his colleagues could have done more to preserve jobs in our state and nation.

Stanley J. Niemiec Cleveland