Guest blog: Joyce Early, Libertarian candidate, Lorain 3rd Ward

September 30, 2009 — buckeyerino

Editor’s note:  Joyce Early is the Libertarian candidate for Lorain City Council’s 3rd Ward seat.  If you would like to make a donation to her campaign, you may do so at the bottom of this page at the Joyce Early website. The early voting period for the general election has already begun.  Election day is November 3rd.  Buckeye RINO endorses Joyce Early.


Joyce Early

I’m running in a city known for Democratic Party majorities but I’m not running as a Democrat or Republican, I’m running as a Libertarian.  I can’t in my right mind identify with either of the big two so I chose the third party option.  It’s strange to be a Libertarian because only four years ago I didn’t even know the party existed, but then 4 years ago I was in a voter coma over politics so I wouldn’t have noticed anyway.  I was always unaffiliated as a voter never declaring a party and then in the same two year span declared both parties for candidates on the ballot.  In America we can switch back and forth every year if we choose.  I explain my actions by saying the two existing parties are not that much different in ideology.  But today I find myself able to identify with the “L” party because of their ideology.

My voter coma was induced by watching the nightly news.  I took their word and chose my candidate on their recommendation not really thinking about the direction that party was going.  Just three years ago I found myself with an insatiable appetite for politics.  I wanted to know history and how our government operated.  I was a victim of a public school education and knew very little about my government.  My self education was intense and enlightening.  For the first time in my life I was able to look at publications from the right, the left and the fringe and objectively hypothesize what really occurred.  Most people only read and listen to information from the side they identify with and so begins the voter coma.

The government we have is a wonderful meld of two sides of every issue.  We see a sprinkling of both sides in the House and Senate.  The check and balance style of government is an important one.  If only one side was represented we would see even more corruption than we do today.  Even a majority sometimes closes the discussion and still hurts America and the political process.

In our original Constitution, the President of the United States was the candidate with the most votes and the Vice President was the person who came in second.  This was a really clever idea because it forced two seemingly different philosophies to watch over each other and work together.  Imagine Obama and McCain having to run the country together?

The check and balance approach keeps communication open and honest.  Both sides have to defend their position and work together.  In Lorain, we have almost every elected position representing one party.  I feel this opens our city up to corruption because nobody at the table is asking questions and keeping the predominant side honest.  I’m not suggesting Libertarians should run our city or Republicans; I’m suggesting voters take an honest logical approach to how they would best be represented.  Even in a labor situation, labor and management have to work together and compromise.

For example, in the recent filing issue at the board of elections, would the voters have known a candidate hadn’t met the requirements if only one party worked at the board?  If we had a mixture of parties on city council, would the illegal borrowing (documentation p1, p2, p3) from the water department have ever taken place?  If we had a Republican law director rather than a Democrat would the CRA debacle ever have happened?  The city in all of these cases was a victim of corruption in a predominate party power structure.

I think voters need to look at the power structure of city government.  Certain positions can provide a check and balance.  A few city council members representing different parties would keep that arm of city government honest.  A law director could and would keep the cities dealings honest if they represented a different party.  And these positions aren’t powerful enough to change things, only influence and expose potential corruption and ultimately protect the citizen’s and save them from embarrassment when the truth comes to light like the CRA disaster.

If voters exercised their power to enforce a check and balance approach there would be less frustration and heartache.  Voters could be assured the two apposing sides were balancing things out so the best solution was arrived at.  Many of the challenges we have faced as a city were a direct result of absolute power. And everyone knows absolute power corrupts absolutely.

So my challenge to the voters of Lorain is to sprinkle in some checks and balances so you finally get the government you can be proud of.  A few players from the opposing team will only strengthen your government and make sure all players are following the rules with your tax dollars.

Joyce Early

Candidate for 3rd Ward City Council in Lorain, Ohio

Posted in Local Politics. Tags: . 2 Comments »

Absenteeism

September 30, 2009 — buckeyerino

Please remember to vote NO on Issue 3.  We shouldn’t amend Ohio’s Constitution to give a few out-of-state people special rights that are denied to all Ohioans.

Ohio’s absentee voting has begun.  Or should I call it the early voting?  After all, any registered Ohio voter can use the absentee voting method, even if you don’t plan to be absent on Election Day, November 3, 2009.  Here’s what the Ohio Secretary of State’s website has to say about absentee voting, FYI.

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

Twittering

September 27, 2009 — buckeyerino

To keep up with politics and the blogosphere, I’ve decided to give Twitter a try.  I once (briefly) tried Facebook, but there was too much drama on there for my taste, and it took up too much of my time to maintain my page, so I pulled the plug on it many months ago.  I’m hoping that Twitter will be much easier to manage.  I’ve added my Twitter feed at the bottom of the right-hand sidebar.

Posted in Announcements, Political Blogosphere. Tags: , . 3 Comments »

Police don’t have the tools to hold casinos accountable

September 26, 2009 — buckeyerino

As a follow-up to my prior story that asks questions about Cleveland cops, their ability to fight corruption, and the FOP endorsement of Issue 3, I see anecdotal evidence in the Sandusky Register that casinos will run circles around law enforcement.

As you may recall from an earlier post, Erie County has been investigating fraudulent signatures from Issue 3 petitions, including signatures of dead people.

The county prosecutors want to enforce the law against the perpetrators of the fraud, but so far, they haven’t been able to make heads or tails of the evidence at their disposal.  In a second hearing on the matter, Ian James, CEO and founder of Professional Petition Management (the **cough**cough** astroturf**cough** company that circulated the petitions in Erie County) was as snarky as ever, offering whimsical fantasies about how everything was done according to the letter of the law, no fraud occurred, and that there are innocent explanations for how more than 60% of the signatures gathered were invalid.

If law enforcement officials don’t even possess the abilities to police the petitions for the casinos, how are they going to sift through the web of money laundering, kick backs, organized crime, bribes, contract steering, dope dealing, and prostitute pimping that will escalate once we allow casinos to begin operating?  I don’t think law enforcement is able to keep up in other states, either, and politicians don’t frankly care.

It’s up to us, the voters, to stop this madness, because no one else will.  Don’t sit at home this election.  Get out to the polls and vote NO on Issue 3.

Posted in gambling, Local Politics, State Politics. Tags: , , . 9 Comments »

Perplexing questions about Cleveland cops

September 26, 2009 — buckeyerino

In the unfolding drama of political corruption in Cuyahoga County, where do the local forces of law enforcement fit into the picture?

The scandals we are learning about in 2009 have been going on for years and years.

Newspaper reports tell of FBI investigators cracking the case and federal prosecutors lining all the ducks in a row.

Without the FBI, would local law enforcement have ever brought the scandals to light?  The scandals have been under the noses of local cops for a long, long time.  Due to proximity to and familiarity with the prime suspects implicated in these scandals, local law enforcement officials should have pounced on the tell-tale warning signs a long time ago.  What happened?  Why isn’t this unfolding saga a tale of the heroism of local cops doing the right thing amidst a backdrop of graft?  Were they looking the other way?  Were key law enforcement officials complicit in covering things up?  Are they, themselves, active participants in the scandalous behavior?  Do they merely lack the tools to police these kinds of crimes?

Or, are local police organizations the unsung heroes of this purging of corruption?  Are local police officers the ones who initiated the process that’s culminating in Federal prosecutions, but they aren’t getting any credit for it?  Were they the ones who tipped off the FBI, realizing that the FBI could bring more resources to bear, and invited the FBI to widen a probe already begun by local police?  In the ongoing FBI investigations, has the FBI continuously been furnished with crucial help from local police, without which, the FBI probe would have been doomed and gone nowhere?  Have local police forces served as irreplaceable foot soldiers in this epic battle to beat back corruption?  Has the FBI been absorbing the lion’s share of the credit for this crackdown when the local police are chiefly responsible for bringing the corruptocrats to justice?

Which, of these two competing pictures, is the true portrayal of the various police forces within Cuyahoga County?

Or is it messier than that?  Is there a dichotomy of both heroic cops and dirty cops that, taken together, convey a murky picture of their overall role in breaking the case wide open?

How soon can we find out the answers to the questions I’m posing?

Why is it important to know the answers to the questions I’m posing?  I can at least attempt to answer the immediately preceding question from looking at just one facet (though there are countless other facets to look at).  Issue 3 will appear on Ohio’s election ballots this November, a proposal that would amend the Ohio Constitution to allow out-of-state entities to own and operate casinos in Cleveland, Toledo, Cincinnati, and Columbus.  Ohio’s Fraternal Order of Police, a labor union for police officers, has gone on the public record urging passage of Issue 3.  Police officers in those four cities constitute a huge chunk of the overall membership of Ohio’s FOP.  Cops from Cleveland and its suburbs have an enormous amount of say in whatever endorsement decisions are made by Ohio’s FOP.

Considering the opacity of the casino industry, an opacity that makes casinos the preferred venue for money laundering, and considering the demonstrated proficiency that the gambling industry has for buying politicians, are local police forces up to the task of policing the casinos?

Can we trust the local police to enforce the transparency, accountability, and compliance with the laws that are needed to keep casinos honest and above-board?

UNLESS (that’s a big “unless”) the local cops are the true, unmitigated heroes in reining in the corruption of Cuyahoga County, I place no faith whatsoever in their endorsement of Issue 3.

Posted in gambling, Local Politics, State Politics. Tags: , , . 6 Comments »

The managed economy

September 22, 2009 — buckeyerino

The managed economy.  Not to be confused with the free market economy.

I could provide dozens of examples, but this one, concerning University Hospitals in Cleveland, as reported in the Plain Dealer, works about as well as any.

Ohio’s legislators in DC are already naming the price at which their votes can be bought for the Obamacare bill:  earmarks for University Hospitals.

Apparently, this is not a move that all hospitals in Ohio would agree upon.  Cleveland Clinic decried the move as favoritism.

Many voters are catching on to this trend of political manipulation of the marketplace since Obama took office, but, unfortunately, our pay-to-play legislators have been picking winners and losers in the marketplace for years.  It happens at the state level, too, so there’s not a level playing field, and we’ve seen up close how that drives business away from Ohio.

In a free market economy, consumers do the picking and choosing.

If we want to return to a free market economy, government will have to relinquish the reins and stop trying to micromanage it.  That’s partly why I feel a campaign slogan of “DO LESS!“ would appeal to me, as a voter.

Posted in National Politics, State Politics. Tags: , . 5 Comments »

DO LESS!

September 22, 2009 — buckeyerino

Want my vote for Congress next year?  Want my vote for state elections in 2010?  Then let “DO LESS!” be your campaign slogan.

One caveat would be that our nation needs to retain its leadership role internationally, but on the domestic front, the people of our nation are highly literate and highly technologically advanced compared with earlier eras in our nation’s history.  Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness can be maintained more readily through decentralized government in this era than through any prior era in our history.  Paradoxically, the centralization of government, the consolidation of power, continues to flow away from the people, away from the communities, and toward the state capitals, and especially toward DC.  We, the People, are better equipped than ever before to take responsibility for ourselves.  Stop trying to baby us.

Even if you politicians lack confidence in We, the People, you need to rein in government spending, anyway.  The economy can’t sustain the government’s growth.  We, taxpayers, can’t sustain your growth.  By fiscal necessity, you must shrink, whether you think it’s prudent or not.

Don’t try to do more with less.  DO LESS with less.

I want my government to do less.  I want bureaucracies merged or eradicated.  Non-profit organizations that depend on big government to award them funding as if our national and state treasuries are Santa Claus?  Sorry, but non-profits, like the for-profit sector, will have to downsize in this economy, too.

Pay raises in government?  Don’t even think about it.  What’s the justification you always try to hoodwink us with?  Doesn’t it go something like this?  “We need the best people, and the private sector could lure them away if we don’t offer competitive compensation.”  Well, I tell you, in this economic environment, such justification is PHONEY!  Let them go to where the compensation is more to their liking.  We need the most selfless people, not the most selfish people, in our government.  Don’t kid yourselves that you had the best people to begin with, anyway.  Can’t you see that those “best” people have created a mess?

The government’s social safety net?  Make it a smaller net.  The most important net should be private-sector employment.  If employment opportunities are curtailed because of the safety net, guess what?  Employment gets higher priority.  Apparently, you aren’t listening, because unemployment is on the rise.

Politicos in Columbus, stop issuing bonds.  They have to be repaid with interest.  If the objectives that we financed with bonds are important enough, then we can budget them out of current expenditures.  If they aren’t important enough that we’d budget for them out of current expenditures, then they aren’t important enough to issue bonds for, since we must pay interest on on them.

Stop fretting that eliminating programs will hurt the most vulnerable members of society.  Under the current regime that you’ve concocted, we’re all being hurt, we’re all vulnerable, and the members of society most capable of sustaining the rest of society are being penalized the most.  If private sector employment rises, it not only benefits the most fit, it also increases opportunities for those who are less so.

There are too many government agendas.  They must be streamlined and prioritized.

Case in point:  Merge the ORSC, the Ohio Rehabilitation Services Commission, with ODJFS.  Right now, the ORSC has separate offices from ODJFS, but I have no idea why.  Merge the Department of Aging with ODJFS, as well.  Merge all the social service delivery systems into one to eradicate duplication.

Eliminate the Department of Development.  You already have a Department of Commerce.  In fact the Department of Commerce could absorb the Department of Transportation, the Department of Insurance, the Department of Travel and Tourism, among others.

The Ohio Department of Public Safety could absorb the Department of Corrections, the Ohio EPA, and the Department of Youth Services, among others.  Why do we need these additional line items in our budget?

We don’t need a Department of Education as it is currently structured.  We don’t need a state superintendent.  School districts can handle this at the local level.  For collecting data from the school districts across the state, all you need are clerical workers.  You don’t need a think tank staffed with expensive consultants.  If local school districts need some help along that vein, they can consult with the education faculties at our state universities.

When you incumbent politicians campaign, don’t brag to me about what funding you secured for whatever lofty noble goal or whatever down-on-their-luck constituency.  I don’t think your worth to us taxpayers is measured by the $$$$ you spent.  I think the $$$$ you saved us is more worth our while.

The more you politicians do, and the more you spend to do it, the more burdened We, the People are.  Not only are you costing us money, you are costing us liberty.

Want my vote?

DO LESS!

Posted in National Politics, State Politics. Tags: , . 2 Comments »

Ohio Supreme Court says We, the People, will be able to vote on Strickland’s slots plan

September 21, 2009 — buckeyerino

I’m pleased to say that the Ohio Supreme Court has determined that the people of Ohio may hold a referendum on Gov. Ted Strickland’s lottery expansion plan that would have introduced Video Lottery Terminals to Ohio’s horsetracks.

Here’s a report on the story from Cleveland’s Plain Dealer.

Had the decision gone the other way, the checks and balances that the people have, to hold the state accountable for how it raises revenue, would have been . . . obliterated!

Posted in gambling, State Politics. Tags: , . Leave a Comment »

Gambling buys politicians

September 18, 2009 — buckeyerino

I’m glad somebody besides me is starting to connect the dots, even though the proposed remedy is garbage.

Please read this article about a proposal from state senator Keith Faber (R-Celina) from The Daily Briefing section of The Columbus Dispatch.

There is finally an acknowledgment that the various gambling cartels (lottery vendors, casino tycoons, race track owners, off-track betting parlor operators, etc.) routinely buy up politicians.  It doesn’t matter whether you are Democrat, Republican, or even Libertarian, campaign money donated by gambling interests is shaping your political party and shaping Ohio’s elections.  For the most part, those politicians that are the most ethically-challenged are the ones that are able to retain office thanks to gambling contributions to political coffers.

So, if you, voters, would like to “clean house” of the corrupt rascals that reside in the halls of government, you’d do well to size up how politicians have aligned themselves on the issue of gambling.

Faber’s bill would limit contributions to candidates for state offices from the gambling industry to just $500.  This is well-intentioned, and shows, like I said, that someone besides me is connecting the dots, but this “remedy” would be a huge flop, much like McCain-Feingold in the federal campaign finance arena.  Just as there are gaping loopholes in McCain-Feingold that you can drive a truck through, Faber’s bill would be just as flimsy.

The Issue 3 crowd has the Fraternal Order of Police stumping for it.  Even if candidates could only accept $500 from the gambling industry, the FOP could leverage considerable influence in election races on behalf of the gambling industry.

So many officeholders of both major political parties favor one gambling faction or another (completely out of proportion to the allegiances of Ohio voters who’ve rejected the past four gambling issues that appeared on statewide ballots) that one ought to question whether the gambling industry already picks and chooses the frontrunners in primary contests.

Don’t believe me?  Please read this Mark Naymik article from the Plain Dealer (read the WHOLE THING), and ask yourself, what’s Bob Bennett doing, calling Republican operatives all over the state asking for support for Issue 3?  Are you starting to get the picture?  Is it dawning on you yet?  And what would Faber’s bill do to the flow of donations from the gambling industry to political parties?  It would increase it, since the direct flow to candidates, themselves, would be restricted.  This adds to the gambling industry’s leverage of party insiders who anoint and appoint.

But, like I said, this isn’t just a Republican Party phenomenon.  Read this article about interim Ohio Treasurer Kevin Boyce’s campaign from the Dayton Daily News.  The gambling industry, under Faber’s bill, would only be able to contribute $500 to the Boyce campaign, but Charlie Luken, former Democrat mayor of Cincinnati and current lobbyist for Key Bank who hosts fundraisers for Boyce, also happens to be a chairperson for the Issue 3 campaign.  Faber’s bill does nothing to address this.

Do you see the many tentacles extended just by one gambling faction, the cartel that is pushing Issue 3?

What if I started showing how far the tentacles of MTR, a rival gambling faction, stretched?  The spouse of Democrat Party chair Chris Redfern purportedly lobbies on behalf of MTR.  Strickland’s betrayal of his campaign pledges stand to benefit MTR as the vendor of the VLT slot machines that would be installed at racetracks on behalf of the Ohio Lottery.

Sandy Theis works as a spokesperson for both TruthPAC (mostly funded by MTR) and Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner.  When it came time to choose the pro and con arguments of Issue 3 that would be presented to Ohio voters, TruthPAC got the nod for the con side, while Ohio Roundtable, a truly anti-gambling organization, was shut out of the debate by Brunner.

MTR owns one of the Ohio horse tracks, and the horse track industry, in addition to it’s Democrat supporters, named above, has, in the past, also been backed by Republican heavy hitters like former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder.  The bio of state representative Terry Blair (R-38) clearly places him in the horse track camp.

Let’s not forget past gambling issues, and who was involved in supporting those efforts, too.  Prominent Cuyahoga County Republican Jim Trakas was a backer for last year’s failed Issue 6.  In 2006, Ohio Chancellor and prominent Cuyahoga County Democrat Eric Fingerhut was ushering another Issue 3, “Ohio Learn and Earn,” to the ballot.

A complete and exhaustive list of which Ohio politicians are bankrolled by which gambling factions would be difficult to compile due to length (and also due to the fact that some politicians play their cards close to the vest, hiding the gambling allegiances they have).

Do you see how wide the gambling industry has spread their nets to reel in politicians?  Or do I have to keep connecting dots?

All of this leads to the question:  What is inherently wrong about government favoring gambling? This is a question Libertarians are prone to ask, but many Republicans and Democrats ask the same question.

Some long answers to that question, from the perspective that gambling shrinks the economy, can be found here, here, here, and here.

The short answer is that the ethically-challenged politicians charged with the task of being gambling’s gatekeepers are able to consolidate their power through gambling’s redistribution of wealth.  I’ll let this sign from the 9/12 rally in DC spell it out for you:

redistribution

Remember that the gambling industry produces nothing. It exists just to plunder and redistribute wealth. The wealth is redistributed to help entrench the political status quo.

Also remember that just as we can’t tax our society into prosperity, we also can’t gamble our society into prosperity. Tax proceeds and gambling proceeds are used by elites for the same purposes: To consolidate, hold, and wield power and to subjugate the people.

Final question:  What do we do about it if Faber’s proposal won’t work?

We vote against Issue 3, we get a referendum for Strickland’s VLT plan on the ballot and vote that down.

We clamor for full transparency of political finances.  We inform voters.  We identify which politicians back gambling.  We recruit and support candidates who oppose gambling to challenge the candidates that back gambling.

Ideally, the state stops propping up the horsetracks and OTB parlors, allowing them to fail if they can’t remain profitable, and, finally, we put the Ohio Lottery, itself, back on the ballot for reconsideration, and urge voters to repeal it.

If we do these things, we will have empowered the people, toppled the status quo, improved the state’s economy, and put a huge dent in political corruption.

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

Another reminder that Mark Stewart needs challengers in 2010 Lorain County Auditor election race

September 17, 2009 — buckeyerino

Lorain County residents, take inventory amongst yourselves and scrounge up some opposition for Mark Stewart in the race for Lorain County Auditor next year. I’d like to see a Democrat challenge him in the primary as well as see some competition in the general election. In 2006, Mark Stewart waltzed to re-election with no competition.

Lorain’s Morning Journal provides us with yet another example of how Mark Stewart hurts the county.  Past valuations by Stewart’s office for the property that once housed Ford’s Lorain Assembly Plant stand at $28 million.  The current owners say that the property is actually worth $2.3 million.  I’m not suggesting that we automatically believe the assertion of the current owners, but common sense will tell you which number is closer to actual market value.

A silver lining behind the cloud of declining property values amidst Ohio’s broken economy should be that it’s now cheaper for companies to invest in Ohio’s real estate.  Mark Stewart’s outlandish property valuations rob Lorain County of that silver lining,  deterring companies from investing in the county, and thereby derailing economic resurgence that could lead to improved employment numbers.

As I’ve noted in a prior blog article, you may be wondering why your property taxes aren’t decreasing even though the real estate market has been in freefall.  The best way to tackle this is to vote Stewart out of office, and to do that, we need to recruit candidates for the auditor’s race.

It’s not too early to file a Designation of Treasurer form to organize a candidate campaign committee and start raising funds.  Asking voters to donate funds should be easier in this race than for any other race, because supporting a challenge to Stewart could mean the end of being gouged on property taxes.

Posted in Local Politics. Tags: . 2 Comments »

Pics from DC on 9/12: It was crowded

September 17, 2009 — buckeyerino

Here’s my pictorial recap of the events of 9/12 during my trip to Washington DC.

This first picture is blurry, but that’s because I’m standing in a moving subway car as I’m snapping the photo.

dcsubway

When I stepped on the DC Metro’s Red Line subway in Rockville, Maryland, I encountered several people from Norwalk, Ohio, who had boarded the subway at the Shady Grove station. The reason for their subway trip was obvious by the protest signs they held: They were on their way to the 9/12 rally. They spotted me and said “There’s somebody from Ohio!” I made an excellent choice in choosing to wear an Ohio State Buckeyes t-shirt on 9/12, because I was greeted by Ohioans everywhere I went. Not only did I meet Ohioans from Norwalk, I met them from all over the state: Amherst, Lorain, Cleveland, Youngstown, Columbus, Cincinnati, Sharonville, Mason, Delaware, Toledo, Newark, Marion, Portsmouth, Lebanon, Lima, Moraine, Akron, Sidney, Perrysburg, Maumee, Westlake, North Olmsted, Fairborn, Beavercreek, Enon, New Carlisle, Lancaster, Powell, and so on and so forth.

When the subway rolled into DC to pick up local commuters, you should have seen the looks on the faces of the locals. I don’t think they’d ever before seen such a collection of independents and conservatives descending upon the capital in droves. I think they’d only seen liberals march on Washington before. The look on faces of the locals? They looked like they were seeing ghosts.

When we hopped off the subway, I guess we had supposed that the rally would be like a political party convention, grouped by states.  We were more amateur than that.  It was messier than that.  We combed through crowds, looking at everyone’s signs, seeing if there was a designated gathering point for Ohioans.  Apparently, there wasn’t.  Whoever the speakers were for the rally, it didn’t matter, because the low, faint rumble emanating from the feeble sound system wasn’t intelligible in the ruckus of the oversized crowd that couldn’t even fit onto Freedom Square.

onthemarch2

After a while, some got tired of milling around the square unable to hear the audio, so they began heading down Pennsylvania Avenue toward Capitol Hill about half-an-hour to an hour ahead of schedule.  It was good that they got underway, even though it was early, because there wasn’t enough space for all of us to converge on Freedom Square at once, anyway.

onthemarch3

After people started marching down Pennsylvania Avenue, I caught a glimpse of Ohio’s distinctively-shaped State Flag, and I gravitated toward it, as many Ohioans followed suit.

onthemarch4

Do you see the Ohio flag held high aloft between two lamp posts on the right half of the photo? There’s another Ohio flag on the left half of the photo, not held quite so high, as well as an OSU Buckeye banner almost dead center above the crowd. I tried to stay within about three blocks of the flags. When I, and others, were concerned that we’d strayed beyond the Ohio contingent, we’d reassure ourselves that we were still surrounded by fellow Ohioans by shouting “O-H,” which would receive the thunderous response of “I-O!” That’s how we stayed in touch with each other through the densely-packed mayhem of the march to the Capitol.  It was plainly evident to me that thousands, yes, thousands, of Ohioans were present, not to mention that I encountered individuals from all 50 (57?) states during the day’s events.

onthemarcdh1

Can you see the Capitol’s dome in the chasm between the buildings that line Pennsylvania Avenue?

During the march, cheers erupted as marchers beheld the side of a building which had the words of the First Amendment etched into the stone.

first amendment

The steps of the Capitol were cordoned off, so there were limits as to how closely we could approach. Also, near the Capitol, I encountered a C-Span staffer who was bemoaning his plight to a DC security officer. Apparently, the crowd was so packed, the C-Span staffer couldn’t wend his way to the media camera banks, and, in fact, he told the security officer he wasn’t exactly sure where the camera banks were set up, as he hadn’t even been able to catch a glimpse of the camera banks.  I briefly accosted the C-Span staffer to ask if it was possible for the public to tour the C-Span studios.  He said “no,” that one must know somebody on C-Span staff to gain access to the network’s facilities.

capitol dome

I feel sorry for the families who brought their kids along on the march, as public toilet facilities were so scarce that I don’t know how people with little bladders were going to make it through the day’s activities. Yes, there were a few port-a-potties, but the operative word is “few.” Just as the sound system was inadequate for the size of the crowd, so was the number of port-a-potties.

Despite the inadequacy of the sound system, there was a moment on the Capitol Hill lawn when the whole crowd took notice of a sound that came from the microphone. Someone had started to sing our national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner,” and everyone stood at attention and doffed their hats. The crowd joined in the singing, but the crowd sang along in a whisper, whether to avoid drowning out the singing that could be faintly heard from the microphone, or whether from the inability to sing louder on the account of being emotionally choked up, it was hard to say. For me, I was emotionally choked up, and I silently mouthed the words during the occasions when my voice faltered. Applause erupted at the conclusion of the song, and faint garbled speech resumed.

The ground is fairly level in DC, so it was impossible for me to access a vantage point where I could snap a picture to encompass the entire crowd, but I tried.

capitol rally

Though I was in attendance, I really have no idea how many people were there. If you’re looking for a discussion of the numbers in attendance, I suggest that you take a look at Pajamas Media, where Charlie Martin has two articles, here and here, that attempt to estimate the size of the crowd.

Posted in National Politics. Tags: . 2 Comments »

Pics from DC on 9/12: Women have the best signs

September 16, 2009 — buckeyerino

I just got back from Washington DC a little over 24 hours ago, so I have some catching up to do.  I’m sorry I didn’t have the capability of uploading my pics sooner, when the events were more current.

I didn’t take any signs with me to the rally.  There wasn’t a shortage of signs, though.  Since the loudspeakers weren’t loud enough for featured speakers to be heard throughout the venues (perhaps they were expecting smaller crowds?) many of us circulated throughout the throngs to read people’s signs and ask people where they were from.  Since so many had never participated in a political rally before, it was difficult to sustain chants like the the professional astroturf mobs do so well.  We were just a bunch of grassroots amateurs, amazed at our surroundings, amazed at the turnout, amazed that we found ourselves even doing such a thing, and amazed at how far and we had trekked (and at what cost) to do it.

As I mentioned in the title of this piece, I think women hoisted the best signs at the rally.  I’m sure the men felt sincere about the messages that they displayed on their signs, such as “Taxed Enough Already,”  but they were . . . how shall I say it? . . . boring and repetitive.  If there were signs that brought a smile to my face, women were the ones brandishing them.  Here’s a sampling:

sign1

sign2

sign3

sign4

Posted in National Politics. 5 Comments »

Sep. and Oct. town halls with state rep Terry Boose

September 10, 2009 — buckeyerino

Mark your calendars!  September 17–Wellington.  September 24–Attica.  September 27–Vermilion.  October 8–Bellevue.  October 17–Norwalk.  State Rep Terry Boose (R-58) will be conducting town hall meetings in these communities on these dates.

Previously, Boose held town halls in Willard, Amherst, New London, LaGrange, and Grafton.  So, if you happen to be in one of those communities and you missed those town halls, you can still make your voice heard at the upcoming town halls.

A press release from Rep. Boose’s office appears below:

Local Legislator Terry Boose announces additional Town Hall Meetings

COLUMBUS— State Representative Terry Boose (R- Norwalk) announced today that he will be holding additional town hall meetings in his district.

“The town hall meetings we have had were a success,” Rep. Boose said. “It was great to get a chance to hear what is on the hearts and minds of the people I serve, and I look forward to hearing from more people in my district.”

Below is a list of the upcoming Town Hall meetings:

Thurs. 9/17/2009        Wellington      7:00pm – 8:30pm        Lorain County Community College Wellington Center

Thurs. 9/24/2009        Attica               6:00pm – 7:15pm        Attica Village Hall (Prior to Attica Council Meeting)

Sun. 9/27/2009           Vermilion        5:00pm – 7:00pm        Vermilion-on-the-Lake Clubhouse

Thurs. 10/8/2009        Bellevue          7:00pm – 8:30pm        Bellevue City Hall Council Chamber

Sat. 10/17/2009          Norwalk           11:00am – 12:30pm    Sheri’s Coffee House

The 58th House district includes Huron County, Western and Southern Lorain County, and Eastern Seneca County.

While pressing national issues have been at the forefront of media coverage, it should be noted that our state government is also in dire straits, particularly since the budget will have to be revisited.  Previously, Rep. Boose expressed his own views on the state budget.  These town halls are opportunities to express your own views on the state budget and any other matters facing Ohio.

Posted in State Politics. Tags: . 2 Comments »

Round-up of Issue 3 posts to date

September 3, 2009 — buckeyerino

Collecting My Thoughts, a right-of-center blog appearing in my blogroll under the State of Ohio Blogger Alliance heading, has posted an excerpt of an email discussion about Issue 3, the casino issue that Ohioans will see on the November ballot.  The right-of-center bloggers of Ohio are not of one mind on the gambling issue, and the excerpt shown was an attempt, on my part, to advocate against this and other gambling issues.

Another fairly recent blog entry against Issue 3 appeared at Writes Like She Talks, wherein JMZ points out that this year’s Issue 3 contains many of the same shortfalls as the Issue 3 (Learn and Earn) of 2006.

Madrigal Maniac has also fairly recently posted an entry against Issue 3, highlighting friction between proposed casinos and charitable organizations that raise funds via bingo.

Glass City Jungle has posted multiple Issue 3 entries.  Blog author Lisa Renee Ward has made a conscious effort to report the issue fairly, and her posts are generally quite newsy.  The charitable bingo angle is covered at GCJ, too.  The pro-casino lobby likes to recycle FOP endorsements, but mixed in with that coverage is opposition from Catholics and opposition from a rival gambling organization that calls itself TruthPAC.  Among the GCJ entries that struck a nerve with readers was one that noted a former supporter of the issue is now an opponent.

Kyle Sisk’s blog has also contained entries that have attempted to allow both sides to have their say (three installments to date.)  Also making an appearance on the blog was a guest post by yours truly, pointing out that gambling is akin to piracy.

My own blog, has a history of opposing gambling, and my most-viewed blog entry of all time dates back to last year’s failed Issue 6 casino issue, examining the shortfalls in terms of the microeconomics principles of opportunity cost and multiplier effect.  Prior Buckeye RINO coverage of this year’s Issue 3 includes  a post consisting of my email communications with casino spokespersons, a post showing the Issue 3 proposal is far inferior to the principles that led to the founding of the famous Monte Carlo casino, a post that points out the special rights that would be granted by the Ohio Constitution to special people who are not Ohioans, a post containing a rebuttal from casino proponents with my reply, a repeat of the post that appeared on Kyle Sisk’s blog, and a post questioning the massive amount of fraudulent signatures appearing on the petitions that the casino proponents filed.

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

Write-ins surface for Lorain’s November elections

September 3, 2009 — buckeyerino

Lorain City Treasurer Tom Urbanek will have opposition after all, though Karen Shawver’s name will not appear on the ballot.

Wednesday, Sept. 2, was the deadline for filing as a write-in candidate for November’s general election.

If you go to the polls intending to vote for a write-in, and you suffer a momentary loss of memory, not remembering the name, or perhaps unsure of the proper spelling of the name, of the write-in you intended to vote for, you can ask polling place workers for a list of write-in candidates prior to voting.  Upon request, poll workers can also instruct you how to cast a write-in vote if you are unfamiliar with the procedure.

Also filing as a write-in candidate was R.J. Budway for the Lorain City Law Director race.  Budway’s write-in candidacy is the local Democrat Party’s insurance policy.

Interim Law Director Patrick Riley’s name was placed on the November ballot by a vote of the county’s elections board when there were no paper documents establishing Riley’s candidacy.

Budway won’t be campaigning so long as Riley isn’t knocked off the ballot by legal challenges.  Republican candidate Mike Scherach, so far, has asked the elections board for a hearing which seems unlikely to be granted, and hasn’t committed yet to taking the matter to court.

Elyria’s Chronicle-Telegram has the coverage of the write-in candidacies.   Republican elections board member Bob Rousseau had something to say about the latest move by the Democrats:

“If they’re hedging their bets, doesn’t that tell you they’re not confident in their case?”

Indeed, documentation of Riley’s candidacy is entirely missing, and an unusual elections board vote is the only verifiable strand of evidence placing Riley’s name on the ballot.

As for Urbanek, the Lorain City Treasurer, he created a stir this summer when he did not join in the salary belt-tightening that other city employees endured in consequence of Lorain’s faltering finances.  Furthermore, it was revealed that Urbanek, from his work office during office hours, was posting self-serving comments on conversation forums at LorainCounty.com under a pseudonym.

Posted in Local Politics. Tags: . 4 Comments »
« Older posts