I wanted to answer the last question of the debate

October 15, 2008 — buckeyerino

The final presidential candidates’ debate between Barack Obama and John McCain has concluded.  The final question of the night was about education.  Having taught in both American and South Korean classrooms, I know something about why America doesn’t fare well in academics even though America pays the most money per pupil on education in the world.

The answer?  Other countries allocate their resources toward academic achievement.  America allocates its resources toward social engineering.  Want a prime example?  Bill Ayers.  Bill Ayers received grant money that Barack Obama distributed that was for social engineering purposes, not for academic achievement.  But not just private grant money gets diverted for tangential purposes, so does tax money.  Liberals use our schools as labs for social experimentation.  They are more interested in promoting group think and producing a society that isn’t stratified than they are about producing scholars that have a facile command of math, language, the arts, and the sciences, and that are able to think for themselves.

John McCain missed a clear opportunity to tie Obama to Ayers on the very important campaign issue of education.

In South Korea, parents and teachers just want their kids to master the subject material.  There isn’t any additional agenda competing for resources.  That’s the secret of their success.

Posted in National Politics. Tags: . 4 Comments »

Lorain needs to bridge the gap

October 15, 2008 — buckeyerino

Lorain has been experiencing a bit of a bridge problem.  Discussion of it has cropped up in the local print media and in local blogs.  To get a look at the problem, yourself, taka a look here, at That Woman’s Weblog (echoed here, at Muley’s Cafe), or have a look here, at Word of Mouth.  The severity of the problem is discussed here and here in the Lorain Morning Journal, as well as here in the Elyria Chronicle-Telegram.

These concerns illustrate what I wrote about here, here, and here which is why I’m still talking about stuff like this.
Lorain

Posted in Local Politics. Tags: . 1 Comment »

No on Issue 6: opportunity cost, multiplier effect

October 14, 2008 — buckeyerino

We study and try to understand economics because we do not live in a utopia.  Resources are finite, scarce, not unlimited.  We have to make decisions about where we will invest scarce resources because we cannot have it all.  We use many mechanisms to determine how to allocate resources.  We consider returns-on-investment, cost/benefit analyses, supply and demand curves, marginal revenue curves, lists of priorities, etc.  When we look at individual participants in an economy, we speak in terms of micro-economics, and when we look at aggregations of participants, including entire economies, then we speak in terms of macro-economics.  Sometimes, to understand what is happening on the macro level, we need to take a peek at what’s happening at the micro level.  Those analysts trying to get a handle on the housing crisis are doing just that.

So let me turn my attention to Issue 6, which would allow a casino to operate in Ohio.  On the macro level, I have often asserted that casino gambling siphons dollars out of the economy.  Siphoning dollars out of the economy would be a shrinkage risk to the economy, taking a toll on commerce, wealth, and employment, among other things.

Gambling is an industry that cannot sustain itself.  It is parasitic.  It sucks the economic life blood out of its victims, and must continually find new hosts to feed upon, or it eventually peters out.  Even  (perhaps, especially) proponents of casinos understand this, for, on the one hand, they try to limit competition (just one casino for all of Ohio, according to Issue 6), because they know that casinos on every street corner would be unsustainable, yet on the other hand, casinos can’t stand pat and stay where they are without expanding their scope, because they would fold for lack of new hosts to bleed dry.  In the state of Nevada, revenues from resort casinos that cater to tourists had leveled off.  To further boost gambling revenues, casinos with less frills that catered to Nevada residents spread across the Nevada landscape.  Despite all the gambling revenues across Nevada, quality of life hasn’t been on the rise.  In terms of public education of school children, Nevada is among the bottom 3 states, with Louisiana and Mississippi.  Nevada’s gambling revenue totals for the last 7 straight months have been down, and the trend shows every sign of continuing.  The housing market in Nevada is in crisis.  The foreclosure rate is skyrocketing.  The construction industry in Nevada is in the process of shutting down because of overbuild, just like Florida.  In an attempt to make ends meet in a sour economy, there are Nevada businesses that try to lower labor costs by hiring illegal immigrants.

Revenues at long-established casinos in Detroit and in the state of Indiana have also leveled off.  Demand for casinos isn’t rising, it’s dropping.  Casinos in Detroit haven’t prevented the city from being the most poverty-stricken in the nation, nor have tax revenues from casinos helped improve Detroit’s public schools.  As backers of Issue 6 have noted in their commercials, their proposal for a casino within a short drive from Cincinnati has sparked a turf war with Argosy, who operates in Indiana.  With declining revenues, the last thing Argosy wants is someone competing in their market area, and if expansion into Ohio were permitted, it would be Argosy seeking to expand into Ohio in order to fend off falling revenues.  Backers of Issue 6 are also running ads trying to make Ohio covet the casino industries that have set up shop in neighboring states.  We, Ohioans, shouldn’t covet the casinos of other states, as they really haven’t been helpful to the economies of those states.  Michigan’s economy is worse than Ohio’s.  West Virginia and Pennsylvania have limped along for decades now, and gambling isn’t doing anything to turn that around.  Indiana used to have a growing economy, but it’s become sour.  There’s nothing about a casino that will cure Ohio’s economic ills.

In fact, it’s the opposite.  Casinos will exacerbate Ohio’s economic ills.  Let’s figure out why.

You do not have an unlimited income.  There are limits to what you can do with your money, because you don’t have much.  So, when you spend money on a new sofa, that’s money that can’t be used for something else.  When you go out to dinner, that’s money that can’t be used for something else.  When you money on a day at Cedar Point, that’s money that can’t be used for something else.  When you gamble money at a casino, that money you lost can’t be used for something else.  That’s called opportunity cost.  When you spend money on something, it eliminates the opportunity to do something else with that money.

Our economy has hinged on consumption to keep it vibrant.  There is a multiplier effect that causes the money you spend to ripple through the rest of the economy.  We can thank the supply chain for that ripple effect.

When you buy that sofa, you receive a tangible asset in exchange for your money.  A sofa can be quite useful in your home.  Meanwhile, the money you spent becomes useful to the merchant.  The furniture store uses the cash to pay for expenses, including the salaries of workers.  Those workers now have the wherewithal to do some spending, too.  But the benefit doesn’t stop there.  It continues up the supply chain.  Your purchase reduced the store’s inventory.  The store places an order from a distributor to replenish the inventory.  Dollars go to the distribution center.  The distribution center pays its expenses, including the salary of workers.  Those workers now have the wherewithal to do some spending, too.  But the benefit doesn’t stop there.  The distribution center places an order with the sofa manufacturer to replenish its inventory.  Dollars go to the manufacturer.  The manufacturer pays its expenses, including the salaries of workers.  It doesn’t stop there.  The manufacturer places orders with suppliers for lumber, fabric, nails, screws, etc.  Dollars go to the suppliers.  It doesn’t stop there.  The suppliers place orders for raw materials to make components out of.  That’s the multiplier effect.

When you spend money at a restaurant, the restaurant pays its expenses, including the salaries of workers.  You received a tangible benefit–food.  You ate it.  You get to survive to see another day because you didn’t starve.  The money you spent in the restaurant doesn’t stay there.  The restaurant orders more food from a warehouse.  The warehouse pays its expenses, including salaries for workers, but it doesn’t stop there.  The warehouse places orders with companies that process foods, like cheesemakers, and bakeries. The benefits don’t stop there.  Eventually, the dollars reach all the way back to the farmers.

When you spend money at Cedar Point, you are also probably spending money on gasoline, maybe even a hotel, restaurant, or retail store.  I should know.  I live in Sandusky.  Again, those expenses for gasoline, hotel, restaurant, and retail store send dollars rippling up those respective supply chains, creating multiplier effects on the dollars you spent, expanding the economy.  At Cedar Point, they pay their expenses including salaries of workers, and they reinvest some of their profits during the winter on R&D, and construction to build the newest, fastest, tallest, steepest, longest roller coaster in order to keep ahead of the competition.  Thus engineering and construction firms are at work every year even when the park is closed for the winter.  The perpetual construction means that more dollars are spent for lumber, structural steel, masonry, fiberglass, etc.  The dollars keep rippling through the economy.

Then there are casinos.  You spend your money.  You lose your money.  You get nothing in return.  The casino pays its expenses, including the salaries of workers, and the rest of the money goes to the casino owners.  And that’s as far as your money goes.  No inventory needs to be replenished.  There is no supply chain.  You might have bought gasoline to get to the casino, but you might not have enough money to buy gasoline to get home.  You lost so much money, you feel sick.  You can’t eat.  You want to sleep it off, the casino comps you a room upstairs for the night, for the casino is selfish.  Once you enter, the casino doesn’t want you to spend a dime at other restaurants or hotels.  They want every dime to be spent on their property.  That’s what restaurants and hotels in downtown Detroit found out.  The casinos don’t share the wealth.  There’s been no uptick in the amount of business the restaurants and hotels do in Detroit since the casinos opened.  The casinos are selfish.  Your gambling losses line the pockets of some shady fat-cat casino owners.  What do they do with the wealth?  Greedy as they are, they probably try to shelter it, by off-shoring the money in some Swiss bank account, or in the Cayman Islands.  That money has left the economy for good.  You got nothing in return.  You go home, you still have to pay for the mortgage.  Can’t pay it?  You’ll end up in foreclosure.  You’ve got bills to pay.  Can’t pay them?  You might file for bankruptcy.  Forget the credit cards, you’ll have to cut them up when you file for bankruptcy.  Want to go shopping?  Forget about it.  You lost the money at the casino.  Opportunity cost.  The money you lost at the casino is lost to you forever.  You can’t get it back.  You can’t put that money to better use.  That money is not rippling through the economy.

The economy contracts.  As the economy contracts, there is less exchange of goods and services.  Businesses fold.  Workers lose their jobs.  The cycle embarks on a downward spiral.

Vote NO on Issue 6.  Casinos siphon money out of the economy.  That’s not going to help Ohio.

Posted in gambling, State Politics. Tags: , . 24 Comments »

AP writer masquerades vote fraud editorial as news

October 13, 2008 — buckeyerino

As I was scanning through the headlines of the Lorain Morning Journal, there was one in particular that caught my eye: “Ohio GOP plays voter fraud card.”  I took a closer look, because such a headline belongs on an Op/Ed page.  The MJ could have chosen the wording of the headline and not realized the bias contained within it, so I checked the AP article itself, to see if it was straight news or if it was an editorial.  Alas, Stephen Majors, an Associated Press writer is passing this off as a news story.  It ought to be an editorial.  I’d already offered the counterpoint to the AP writer’s views here on my blog.  Furthermore, the MJ ought to know it’s an editorial based on election stories it has run in the past.

Let’s turn back the clock to 2004, when Ken Blackwell was Secretary of State instead of Jennifer Brunner.  As I mentioned in a blog entry about Oberlin College students taking advantage of early voting, I lived in Oberlin in 2004.  I had to wait for two-and-a-half hours to cast a ballot.  I was also a candidate for office that year (but I lost by a wide margin).  Really heavy turnout in the cities of Lorain County resulted in a Democrat sweep of county offices, not just a majority vote in favor of John Kerry:

High numbers of Oberlin College voters contributed to Republican losses on Tuesday, according to Robert Rousseau, chairman of the Lorain County Republican Party.

”It had a tremendous effect on the election,” Rousseau said. ”All these students went in there and they voted the entire ticket. This was the highest turnout ever in Oberlin and 99 percent of them were Democrats.”

In the run-up to those elections, there had been question marks about problematic voter registrations, and the MJ wrote about them.  Oberlin, itself, raised eyebrows at the number of voters registered compared to U.S. Census Bureau population estimates.

As a person who has collected campaign petition signatures in Oberlin, and a person who had regular interactions with others in the community while a resident there, let me add my own two cents on the very real potential for voter fraud.

  • Whenever I circulate petitions, I use a “walklist” that I obtain from the county’s Board of Elections that lists registered voters and their addresses.  This helps me to make sure that I am collecting valid signatures.  One can obtain walklists that show a voter’s party affiliation according to what ballot they requested the most recent time they voted in a primary.  Also, one can obtain lists that show whether voters voted in the most recent election, or if the voter hasn’t cast a ballot in four years and are on the verge of being purged from the list.  I can tell you for certain that there are some addresses on those walklists that do not exist.  The house number given matches no house number on the entire street.  How do such individuals remain on the voter rolls without getting purged?
  • Also, some addresses have shown two families registered to vote at an address, but only one family actually residing there.  How did the family not living there gain access to the ballot box?
  • A large number of Oberlin College residents are from out-of-state.  While there may be sufficient checks and balances to prevent someone from voting in multiple locations within Ohio, there aren’t sufficient checks and balances to prevent someone from voting in Ohio at their college address and then voting absentee by mail via an out-of-state permanent address.
  • Those canvassing to increase voter registration came to our door at least 6 times while I was at home.  Some of them even knocked at both the front door and then the back door to make sure they weren’t two separate residences.  Friends down the street who owned an adjacent house that they rented out to foreign students enrolled at Oberlin told us that multiple attempts were made to register the tenants even though the tenants told the canvassers they were Japanese citizens, not U.S. citizens.  Several of the students had a driver’s license, so, what if the zealous canvassers registered a few foreigners?  Are the checks and balances sufficient enough to prevent foreign nationals from voting when they have a valid address and can produce a driver’s license for ID?

County Boards of Elections are not allocated sufficient manpower to take these walklists and audit them by going door to door.  When I find discrepancies on walklists during petition drives, I don’t know of anything I can do, as a lay person, to red-flag the registration for further investigation by authorities.  Clearly, when voter registration exceeds population, somebody needs to be purged from the voter rolls.  Also, while a person has to attest that they are a citizen on a registration form, I don’t know what checks and balances are in place for verification.  With elections procedures set forth on a state-by-state basis instead of a national basis, I don’t know what checks and balances are in place to disallow persons from voting in more than one state if they have a temporary address that differs from a permanent address, let alone prevent “homeless” persons from being bused in from another state.

The Associated Press writer has this to say:

But do the arguments come with supporting evidence that voter fraud is prominent, or that the current election system isn’t catching it when it does happen? No.

Are we, as lay persons, even permitted to gather supporting evidence?  If so, I wouldn’t mind using Oberlin as a case study to reveal whether the system is being gamed or not.  I don’t think Brunner wants us to gather supporting evidence, as her spokespersons merely state that checks and balances are in place without offering explanation as to what those checks and balances are, as she refuses to answer media questions herself, and as she hasn’t permitted election observers during the early voting period.

Posted in State Politics. Tags: , . 3 Comments »

Jeff Wagner for Ohio House 81st District

October 12, 2008 — buckeyerino

I’m generally not very keen on endorsing incumbents for the General Assembly, even within my own party.  If anything, I’m looking forward to a time when voters will “clean house” with by electing politicians who aren’t seeking long political careers.  “Cleaning house” would mean selecting politicians that seek laws that are fair to everyone, not laws that are favorable to campaign contributors to the detriment of those who didn’t donate to the campaign.

I do, however, endorse Jeff Wagner for state rep in Ohio House District 81.  If elected, Wagner will serve his 4th 2-year term.  After that, he would reach the end of his term limits.  I caught up with him at the Seneca County Republican Party Lincoln Day Dinner just this past spring and asked him what he’d do once he reaches his term limits.  His response?  Perhaps nothing political at all.  Just farming.  I find that refreshing.

The kinds of measures Wagner has been vocal about in the Ohio House of Representatives have been more humanitarian than they have been mercenary, which is why he’s one of the few incumbents I favor.  His hallmark, perhaps, has been his attempts to improve the foster care system in Ohio.  Most state reps wouldn’t care to investigate such an issue because well-heeled PAC’s aren’t lined up to donate campaign funds to the politician that tries to iron out such wrinkles.  He’s been responsive to the concerns of local law enforcement and safety forces, too.

The Tiffin Advertiser-Tribune offers a snapshot profile of Wagner and his Democrat challenger, Andrew Kashmer.

There’s a lot to like about Kashmer.  I see similarities between him and myself.  He’s been an Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts, and so have I.  He’s worked in the public schools, and in special education classrooms, and so have I.  He’s got a platform geared toward improving public education, and so do I.  So Kashmer has some positives that would rank him ahead of a number of incumbent state reps around the state.

He is weak, however, on economic issues.  As we know, the economy is issue number one.

One of the economic issues that Kashmer is most outspoken about is the minimum wage.  It wasn’t long ago that Ohio upped its minimum wage requirements.  The Ohio economy didn’t blossom as a result.  Kashmer points out that the current minimum wage is $6.85 per hour, but says that in order to obtain a living wage, one must earn $13.50 per hour.  He says he wants to correct that discrepancy.  Let’s think about that for a minute.  Even if ratcheting up the minimum wage didn’t cause any job losses in Ohio, employers in the private sector may face sharply higher overhead costs, which they would have to pass on to consumers, which would raise the cost of living higher, which would mean a “living wage” would turn out to be more than $13.50 per hour.  Taxes might have to be raised, too, in order to increase the minimum wage for public sector employees, thus taxes might take a bigger bite out of the minimum wage paycheck, too.  So then what?  Raise the minimum wage again?  And then again?  And then again?  And keep on going until wage increases eclipse any globally competitive advantage our workers may have had in terms of productivity?  Of course, we know that jobs would leave Ohio if the minimum wage was almost doubled.

I can think of better ways to help workers earn a living wage.  In many other states, the wage rates are being eroded by the labor of illegal immigrants.  Securing our borders and enforcing immigration and labor laws would help shore up wage rates.  Policing and eliminating any underground market activity, thus protecting the above-ground market economy, would help.  A large part of the cost of living is housing costs, yet the government is trying to intervene with bailouts to prevent a correction in the housing markets.  Let supply and demand determine what these housing-based assets are worth.  The markets won’t be able to stabilize until true housing values are known.  If home prices are permitted to decline, then perhaps it wouldn’t be necessary to earn $13.50 per hour to obtain a living wage.  Perhaps it would be less.  Also, schoolchildren have to be pro-active about their future.  Do they think that they have a bright future if they leave high school for minimum-wage job opportunities?  Or are they going to blaze a way for them to earn much higher incomes?  Despite unemployment figures, there are careers that pay much better than minimum wage that fail to draw sufficient numbers of job applicants, thus creating demand for workers from overseas to fill those jobs.  There are enormous opportunities in nursing, engineering, the sciences, and information technology, to name a few.  Are we paving the way for kids to follow those career paths?  Or are we going to allow them to think they can make do as a drug dealer, street thug, rap-star-wannabe, local skateboard champion, reality TV show personality, porn star, pimp, or tattoo artist (or full-time blogger–LOL!)?

There are a number of things that can be done to ease our population out of poverty.  There are even measures that can be passed into state law by state representatives that would improve our economic outlook.  Arbitrarily raising the minimum wage just won’t cut it, I’m afraid.  Sorry Kashmer.

The 81st Ohio House District is comprised of Sandusky County, the western two-thirds of Seneca County and a chunk of southern Ottawa County.

Posted in State Politics. Tags: . 3 Comments »

TBMD: Vote NO on Issue 6, keep the zombies away

October 11, 2008 — buckeyerino

The Boring Made Dull is a blog that is neither boring nor dull.

Ohioans have voted down casino proposals, but they keep coming back.  We kill casino issue after casino issue, and even though these casino issues are dead, dead, dead, they keep on approaching us.  That’s why TBMD warns us about “The Zombie Amendment” to Ohio’s Constitution, which will appear on our ballots this November as Issue 6.

In true Halloween season fashion, TBMD recaps some of the horrors of Issue 6.

Please vote NO on Issue 6 and keep the zombies away for at least another day.

Posted in gambling, State Politics. Tags: , . 4 Comments »

Palin probe unveiled

October 10, 2008 — buckeyerino

The MSM is reporting that a probe by Alaska’s state legislature has ruled that Palin abused the power of her office.  What did she do to abuse power?  She didn’t rein in the First Dude when he phoned various personnel in state government to talk about Trooper Wooten, an ex-brother-in-law who’d run afoul of workplace rules in the past.

It is a spot on Palin’s record.

Having said that, I wish that’s the worst that could be said about many of our current crop of politicians.  I realize people are human and prone to error, but there are so many politicians, some still in office, that are guilty of much more egregious behavior that I think should have been given the heave-ho a long time ago.

Also, the First Dude’s efforts were geared toward greater integrity among state troopers.  It still fits within Palin’s framework of putting government on the side of the people, even when the government is doing what it can to resist it.

Let’s not forget that Palin bucked the system to get to where she is, not riding anyone’s coattails, and taking on dirty politicians within her own party, let alone taking on those outside the party.  That kind of track record is bound to make enemies among the political elites.  These political elites that have been spurned by Palin are hoping that they’ve opened a window that will allow them to regain ground that they lost to Palin.

Personally, I wish we had a bunch of politicians in Ohio that had Palin’s attitude about putting government on the side of the people, and not letting entrenched interests stand in the way of that.

Posted in National Politics. Tags: . 5 Comments »

Brunner hurt by ACORN

October 10, 2008 — buckeyerino

Even before this general election season, I’d already thought the case against Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner was strong.

With the election upon us, the case grows stronger.

Brunner’s reputation isn’t really being threatened by Ohio Republicans, though.  As anyone knows, the Republican brand in Ohio has been damaged, so even though a number of GOP voices have been outspoken against Brunner, those dissenting voices haven’t had much sway over Ohio’s electorate.

The Ohio electorate is taking another look at Brunner, however, and not necessarily in a positive light.  ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) is under investigation in eight states for potential voter registration fraud, and is receiving national attention on all the news networks.  The MSM is investigating what checks and balances are in place to preserve the integrity of elections, and when the scrutiny turns to Ohio and Brunner, there are question marks.

The coverage of ACORN’s excesses is what has the electorate of Ohio scratching their heads about Brunner.  So far, Brunner’s strategy has been to shoot the messengers.  I don’t think that strategy will pay off when 2010 arrives.

Posted in State Politics. Tags: , . 10 Comments »

What would be fair for Provenza?

October 10, 2008 — buckeyerino

The Sandusky Register is reporting that a man who rammed a truck into a motel room was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Time to make a comparison to someone else.

Mark Provenza, Law Director for the city of Lorain, crashed his vehicle into a house, demolishing a porch, in Lakewood.  It’s the 4th time Provenza has been charged with a DUI since he became Law Director.

What penalty should Provenza receive?

Posted in Local Politics. Tags: . 8 Comments »

[UPDATE] A few McCain supporters need a reality check

October 9, 2008 — buckeyerino

The MSM has been floating reports that there’s been at least one voice raised at McCain rallies saying “Kill him,” referring to Obama as the target.  The audio is garbled, so I’m not sure if it really happened, but if it did, someone needs a personal visit from a cadre of Secret Service agents pronto.  If I ever heard someone raise that cry, I’d do my best to lead the Secret Service straight to the perp.  I don’t know if any readers have had the privilege of attending a McCain rally, but I certainly hope that you’d help single out such a perp, too.

[UPDATE] This Times-Leader report says that the Secret Service can find no one who can corroborate the allegations of a solitary journalist that someone shouted “Kill him” at a McCain rally.  There is a phone number, though, if a witness wants to call in.

Posted in National Politics. Tags: . 3 Comments »

JMZ not writing and talking like she used to

October 9, 2008 — buckeyerino

Most of Ohio’s political bloggers are rank amateurs, and that includes myself, whose blogging comes from inward motivations.  Most bloggers, like me, don’t make any money to blog.  There are a few that have a little bit of advertising.  There are a few that are professional, like Progress Ohio, that has its own office space, or Openers, which is a blogging arm of a newspaper (in this case, the Plain Dealer).  For those few blogs that aren’t purely amateur, they have an exposure, however slight, to external editorial constraints.  Therefore, for the most part, bloggers write what they want to write without outside interference.

Jill Miller Zimon, of Writes Like She Talks (WLST), once abandoned an arrangement with the Plain Dealer ostensibly because she sensed that some entity or entities desired to influence what she wrote or didn’t write.  Writes Like She Talks was one of my favorite left-of-center blogs to read. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Political Blogosphere. Tags: . 29 Comments »

Carnival of Ohio Politics #137 posted

October 9, 2008 — buckeyerino

Check out the Carnival of Ohio Politics for the best of what the Ohio political blogosphere has to offer for the past week.  Installment number 137 is now posted.

While you’re at it, please welcome our new editor for the Carnival, who has been blogging for some time now at The Boring Made Dull.

Posted in Political Blogosphere. Tags: . 1 Comment »

Yawn! Boring debate

October 8, 2008 — buckeyerino

I can’t fault John McCain and Barack Obama, though.  The questions put to them were about the same topics they’ve talked about again and again and again.

The only insightful forum so far that these two presidential candidates have participated in was at Saddleback Church.  McCain got a boost from it.

Since the MSM is in the tank for Obama, when they have moderated debates, they have ensured that the questions posed are in familiar territory for Obama.  Dull.  Boring.  Same-old same-old.

It would be nice to mix things up a bit and break some new ground during these debates, wouldn’t it?  But that might showcase Obama’s lack of experience and reveal rifts between Obama and the general public on the issues.

The most glaring omission?  The issue of illegal immigration.  Americans have an opinion on the issue.  I think we’d like some elaboration from both Obama and McCain on the issue.

It would even be nice if they were asked questions about legal immigration.

Apparently, the MSM, though, doesn’t view issues through the same prism as the general public.  There’s only one debate left, and the chances are dwindling that the MSM will pose any questions about illegal immigration to these candidates before Election Day.

There are many other questions that could have been asked that weren’t, even within the realm of economics and foreign policy, that would have broken fresh ground.  For example, on economics, the candidates could have been asked about trade policy, or their views on the prospects of reviving domestic manufacturing, or probing the behavior of the insurance industry.  On foreign policy, the candidates could have been asked about foreign affairs within our own hemisphere, since there have been schisms between the USA and Bolivia, Venezuela, and of course, Cuba.  Wouldn’t it make sense to ask about Cuba?  What should the USA be doing about the most unstable nation in the western hemisphere, Haiti?  Can Canada and Mexico be counted on as partners in weaning all of North America off foreign oil?

I’m not holding my breath, though.  I can sense that the fix is in.  I don’t think the MSM wants to raise such issues for fear that more Obama vulnerabilities will be exposed.

Posted in Politics in the MSM. Tags: . 2 Comments »

Alt for Seneca County Treasurer

October 8, 2008 — buckeyerino

As the Tiffin Advertiser-Tribune points out, Marguerite Bernard has been Seneca County Treasurer since 1979.  In a county position that usually doesn’t get spotlighted, incumbency has its advantages, and Marguerite Bernard has enjoyed those advantages for many, many years.

But all is not well in the Seneca County Treasurer’s office.  I’ve blogged about the problems before, noting the copious and merited attention the Advertiser-Tribune has given to imbalanced county checking accounts.

Her opponent for the Treasurer’s office in the upcoming election is Damon Alt.  Casting a vote for Alt is not just a protest vote.  Casting a vote for Alt is not just a referendum on Bernard.  Alt is a superior candidate for the Treasurer’s office.

Damon Alt is both a C.P.A. and a lawyer.  This is a time when the Seneca County Treasurer needs to be a person who makes sure that all the “i”s are dotted and all the “t”s are crossed.  Alt will restore accountability to the Treasurer’s office, making sure all jots and tittles are in their proper places.

The county checkbook imbalances were not caused by embezzlement or misallocation of funds.  They were caused by inattention to detail.  Bernard did not match bank statements against her own paperwork.  Had the bank errors been caught right away, tracking them down would have been easy.  But since months and months and months passed, tracking down the bank errors has been time-consuming and difficult to nail down.

Perhaps, in addition to voting for Alt, Seneca County should also shop around for a new bank.

Posted in Local Politics. Tags: . 3 Comments »

Silcox for Huron County Commissioner

October 8, 2008 — buckeyerino

Canoeing?

More shopping?

Norwalk tourism?

Whose priorities are those?

The Democrat candidate for Huron County Commissioner, Sharon Ward is putting the cart before the horse on some of her proposals, some of which are beyond wishful thinking–they are pipe dreams.

Her opponent, Larry Silcox, has a much more level-headed approach. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Local Politics. Tags: . 4 Comments »
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