Boehner speaks to high school and college crowd in hometown

Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) spoke in the city he calls home in Ohio's 8th District this morning to a crowd of high school and college students gathered at Westchester's Lakota West High School. The event was organized by Lakota senior Parker Novak, who is also a member of the SOB Alliance (Viking Spirit Blog) and is a very involved GOP grassroots worker in Southwest Ohio. Boehner spoke for about 25 minutes to the assembled crowd and covered several topics currently being debated in Congress. Boehner mused that Republicans largely lost control due to a combination of factors, but that too many of his colleagues valued re-election more than real results. Rep. Boehner urged finding solutions that lead to success in Iraq, lest the terrorists follow US troops home, and he spoke generally about developing a new group of Republican solutions to the problems being faced here at home with entitlement programs and fiscal matters.
More pertinent to College Republicans reading this would be the attendance of OCRF Chairman Brian Siler, and the surprise appearance of Morgan Wilkins, candidate for KFCR Chairman. One must wonder if anything was discussed between them, but to the best of our knowledge, the two do not see eye-to-eye on matters of consequence. This probably bodes nothing, but it still an interesting encounter.

Ohio AG Dann experiences need to compensate for shortcomings

Photo taken from today's edition of The Columbus Dispatch.

The Columbus Dispatch reports this morning that Ohio's new Attorney General Marc Dann (D-Warren) has purchased a new 2007 Chevrolet Surburban LT, valued at well over $40,000 for use as his personal transportation while in office. He bought the SUV from a campaign donor, to boot, and your tax dollars will foot the bill. It is five times more valuable than former AG Jim Petro's personal car, a 2003 Mercury Sable. The Dispatch also reports on the other statewide office holders' choices of vehicle, all of which besides Governor Strickland's are cheaper and get better gas mileage. Kudos to Treasurer Rich Cordray for using either his own vehicle, or a pool vehicle for his transport rather than springing for a new ride. But for Marc Dann, this is simply the latest in an embarassing line of decisions since being elected. No word yet on whether Dann will be speaking out against global warming from his new SUV ot not.

Ohio Educrats' Plan for School Funding: Feed the Addiction!

Ohio’s “never enough” crowd is at it again. You know the ones. The educrats and union reps surrounding Ohio’s public education establishment who believe (and say) that no matter how much the state legislature spends and allocates to education, it’s never enough. Motivated by the twin misconceptions that Ohio’s schools are under-funded as a whole and that more funding will lead to better schools, they’re proposing an amendment to the Ohio Constitution taking the form of a ballot initiative. This proposal will effectively write successive blank checks to the Ohio Board of Education which will be rendered untouchable by the state legislature and lead to unavoidable cuts in other state programs and Scandinavian tax increases to pay for them. In the meantime, however, nothing about Ohio’s schools or students will change.

The proposed amendment will effectively place K-12 funding in the hands of the Ohio Board of Education who would then dictate to the state legislature (you know, the ones who traditionally control the power of the purse in an electoral democracy) what that year’s education budget would be. Should the legislature dare to dissent, the Board’s plan could only be overridden by a three-fifths vote in both houses and even then would be subject to a ruling by the Ohio Supreme Court. Furthermore, the amendment to the Ohio Constitution classifies “a high-quality education” as an inalienable right, and one which doubtless would be open to interpretation by this unelected board and the Court. By daring to appose snowballing increases to education funding, the state legislature would therefore be denying Ohio children of this manufactured right.

With their hands tied by the “never enough” crowd and unable to meet their increasing demands, Ohio’s legislators would be faced with a choice between two bad options: cuts to vital state services like public safety and Medicare and increases in taxes to pay for it all. Proponents of this amendment have said quite plainly that they do not care about the very clear scarcity of Ohio’s resources or the competing demands of society for those resources. Instead, as William Phillis has said, “the amendment will put school funding on ‘autopilot’ in that the level of resources will be based on student needs and not residual budgeting.” For those of you who attacked the proposed Tax and Expenditure Limitation in such a manner, this should be your rallying cry. Mandated constitutional increases to state spending are just as dangerous for a state as mandated constitutional limits.

Of course, increased spending to Ohio’s broken-down, monopolistic, bureaucracy-choked public education establishment would provide no incentives whatsoever to reform the system. On the contrary, it would reinforce the educrats’ belief that more and more funding is needed in able to support this inalienable right to a “high-quality education,” whatever that means. Ohio’s public education system is in desperate need of real reform, and monetary needs are only the tip of the iceberg. Structural reforms need to be implemented. Local property taxes must be eliminated from the funding equation. Competition from private and charter schools needs to be introduced. Allocation should be shifted from buildings and artificial boundaries and unions to parents and students in the form of vouchers. Ohio’s educational establishment needs a twelve step program, not more and more booze to feed their addiction.

Gov. Strickland lays out priorities in Inaugural Address

Earlier today, in a cold and wet Columbus winter morning, Governor Ted Strickland gave his Inaugural Address to Ohioans, and an interesting speech it surely was. Strickland quoted Winston Churchill, George W. Bush, the Bible, and told critics of Ohio to, "get thee behind me." The speech itself offered no real revelations on what Strickland intends to do while Governor, but it did offer much insight into the priorities and beliefs that he will bring to the Governorship. In this excerpt, Strickland talks about why Ohio is being held back, and high taxes and regulation are not the causes at fault in his mind: (Bolds are mine)

"Though significant, the road to our renewal is not blocked by overregulation or lack of infrastructure, or even high taxes. No, we are only being held back to the extent that our state fails, either from lack of investment or lack of innovation, to provide the opportunity for quality learning for every citizen."

Governor Strickland also spoke of Ohio's common values, and how he shares these priorities. Please note that the first value/priority listed in the speech is universal health care, and that the last priority in the speech is using wisely Ohioan's tax dollars, after protecting the environment.

"We all want health care for those who need it. We all want a solid education for our children. We want a system of higher education that is affordable and gives our kids the opportunity to remain in Ohio to raise their families -- strong families, where moms and dads can have living wage jobs. We all want to honor the contributions of our parents and our grandparents so they can feel secure in their retirement years. We want safe and secure neighborhoods. We want to protect our natural environment and to ensure the health and safety of our children. We all want a government that provides services that are needed, but we also want the government to stay out of our lives when it has no right or reason to be there. We want the price we pay for a civilized society -- our tax dollars -- to be used wisely -- with proper respect for the hard work that has made them available.

I am willing to, and going to, give Governor Strickland every chance to turn around Ohio, because Ohio most certainly needs turning around. However, it is going to take some hard realization to see that lower taxes and less restrictive government regulation should be on even footing with a better education system. If we simply educate our children without creating a good business environment, they will continue to move elsewhere to find work. Best of luck, Governor! The people of Ohio are counting on you.

4 More Years for Ohio Lawmakers?

Coming to a ballot near you next November, if Ohio's Democratic and Republican Chairmen have their way, will be an initiative to extend the 8-year term limits imposed in 1992 to 12-year limits. The Dispatch discusses the news in an article that merely puts an official sort of stamp on what has been rumored since the November 2006 elections: that ORP Chairman Bob Bennett and ODP Chairman Chris Redfern agree on the damaging effect of current term limits. Some would advocate term limits as a way to restrict and prevent corruption, but others see them as damaging to the legislative process in terms of the quality of laws enacted. Personally, I support the principle of term limits, but I would tend to agree that 12 years may better serve Ohio. Especially at the state level, so many incoming Assemblymen are rather inexperienced with the workings of state government, drafting legislation, and the working of the Assembly itself. It really takes a full term to get acclimated, in some cases more, and two more terms would only be four more years.

If term limits are extended, however, I would like to see a different way of drawing the districts. A Representative or Senator in the General Assembly should not be able to get elected once and coast for the next twelve years; districts should be at least competitive at the state level for no other reason than to productivity on the part of the elected. It seems that Speaker Jon Husted (R-Kettering) agrees with this notion, as he is quoted in the Dispatch piece as saying:

"It seems to me that we should have a fair way of drawing districts before we start talking about changing terms," Husted said. "The voters will be more receptive to it if they think elections really matter."

If you were reading Red State Rampage last week, we reported about Bennett, Redfern, and Husted all traveling together with the Ohio State University delegation to the BCS Championship Game last weekend. It is rather fair to assume this topic came up in discussion; it will be interesting to see what else, if anything, comes of that trip.

Minimum Wage Hike Hitting Consumers in the Pocketbook

As we covered earlier in the week, the Ohio minimum wage hike, and pending federal minimum wage hike, are having unwelcome consequences to consumers. The restaurant owner that I spoke of in the previous post is definitely not alone, as the Columbus Dispatch has a story today about rising prices due directly to the increased minimum wage that took effect on January 1, 2007. I also talked briefly about the fact that employers will not be able to hire as many workers or give current workers as many hours as usual in order to offset the costs, and this quote from the article about Columbus-based Max & Erma's perfectly illustrates that.

"The company also plans to improve its scheduling to make up the remainder of the pay boost’s total impact, which is estimated at more than $1 million a year at the chain’s 33 Ohio units."

By the way, "improve scheduling" is corporate-speak for cut hours and staff, for anyone who did not catch that. Another portion of the article talks about another Columbus-based restaurant chain, Bob Evans, and the negative impact that the higher minimum wage is having already on their stores.

"Bob Evans, which employs tipped servers and hourly workers, operates on slim margins, so any significant cost increase has an impact on the bottom line, said Tammy Roberts Myers, spokeswoman for the Columbus-based restaurant chain."

Beyond not actually helping workers, and being bad for business and the customers of those businesses in general, this hike is hurting Ohio-based businesses as well. Nothing says, "Ohio is open for business," quite like killing your homegrown companies.

Bill Todd for Mayor?

According to today's Columbus Dispatch, the Franklin County Republican Party is set to put forth Bill Todd as their candidate for Columbus Mayor in 2007. I was hoping to see Jennette Bradley, but she is apparently not interested in the race. I will hold out hope for a City Council run or something, because she is very electable in Columbus. Anyhow, Bill Todd is a noted elections attorney, and has definitely paid his dues in Republican politics. The article talks a bit about his campaigning past, and definitely puts it in a negative light. I, however, think Todd will be a solid candidate, even if he is not my first choice.

It is good to see Franklin County GOP putting up a good candidate, and putting up a candidate at all is an improvement over 2003, when there was no GOP candidate on the ballot against two-term Mayor Michael Coleman. Coleman seems to be moderately popular, but he strikes me as a buffoon, especially whenever I have been around him in person. Most notably would be his explosion on The Glenn Beck Program, and, for me personally, his actions prior to the 2006 St. Patrick's Day Parade. For quite some time, WNCI's morning show poked fun at the Mayor, who was only too happy to oblige in participating in the show's bit pieces.

Most shocking in the Dispatch article, though, was that Jim Petro had been asked about running for the office. Petro is a competent manager, even if I don't always like his politics or personality, but he came to Columbus after being a Cuyahoga County Commissioner. I have no stats or records in front of me to know for sure, but I would have to say such a switch would be unprecedented, to go from elected in one major city to another.

$6.85 Not Enough for Ohio's Congressmen

Yesterday in the U.S. House of Representatives, under the steady guidance of newly-elected Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, the Fair Minimum Wage Act was overwhelmingly passed by members of both parties. The Fair Minimum Wage Act, if it passes the Senate unchanged, will raise the minimum wage in three steps over the next 26 months to $7.25 an hour. While all Democrats voted for the bill, many Republicans crossed the line as well to support the measure. In all, only 116 Republicans voted against it, with 4 abstaining from the vote. It was no surprise that each of the Ohio delegation's Democrats voted for the wage hike, but six of the Republican members abdicated on the bill as well. Jean Schmidt (R-OH 2), Michael Turner (R-OH 3), Paul Gillmor (R OH 5), Steve LaTourette (R-OH 14), Deborah Pryce (R-OH 15), and Ralph Regula (R-OH 16), all were supporters of HR 2, and all should be on the receiving end of concerned e-mails, phone calls, and letters.

The minimum wage is an issue that is never given honest debate in the public arena, because anyone who wishes to speak against its merits is simply shouted down with accusations of hating poor people, when the opposite is actually true. Raising the minimum wage only affects workers in entry-level positions, a very small percentage of the workforce and an even smaller sector of workers supporting a family on that salary. According to Dept. of Labor statistics, a mere 479,000 workers were paid at the minimum wage last year, which does not even equate to 0.25% of the American population! Let us think logically then, considering the fact that most of the entry-level jobs in America (fast food, restaurant workers, grocery store clerks, and public recreation employees like lifeguards and YMCA referees) are worked by either high-school or college age students who are not relying on their part-time work as their sole means of income.

That leaves us with the very small group of workers who are relying on these jobs to feed their families. Raising their hourly wage feels good, doesn't it! Boy, it sure does! But, as with most government solutions in history, raising the minimum wage will create more problems than it is worth for these workers. The grocery stores they shop for food at will have raised their prices to offset the wage increases, the public recreation facility that they send their children to as a means of babysitting will charge more, the gas stations will raise their prices to compensate for their higher pay, and on and on. All of these factors will combine to eat away at most, if not all, of their pay raise, making it a moot point. Aside from price increases, firms will not be able to hire as many new workers, making jobs scarce as well for those who need them.

Who does the minimum wage help, then? Well, unions who operate on contracts with set pay raises certainly benefit. When it comes time to renegotiate their next deal, if they wait that long, unions can simply point to the unskilled laborers making $7.25 and demand more based upon their status as skilled labor. Then, the same thing happens to these firms as did the entry-level firms: they have to raise prices to make up for the wage increases.

In Ohio, voters recently passed an increase to the state minimum wage that raised it to $6.85, effective January 1, 2007. The law also increased tipped employee minimum wage to $3.43 an hour, and instituted an annual increase tied to the rate of inflation. Given a conservative, steady amount of inflation, 3%, in 2008 Ohio's minimum wage will rise over $7.00, and in another few years we will be talking about minimum pay near $10 an hour, as there is no cap written into the legislation.

Recently I spoke with a Columbus-area restaurant owner who estimated that the current wage hike in Ohio would require his business to make at least $0.30 more off of each customer walking through his doors. What do you think he is doing to keep his business from losing money? That is right, he is being forced to raise his prices to compensate. The kicker to this story is that he is not paying any higher wages to his kitchen staff, as they already begin at $9 an hour or higher, but simply to his serving staff for their mandated wage increase of over 61%. Even more ridiculous is that his servers receiving the wage increase typically garner around $10 an hour simply in tips and gratuity on a bad night. He told me, as well, that most other restaurant owners he had spoken with where in the same boat: raise prices to avoid losing money.

A friend of mine relayed this story about a major Ohio city's YMCA, where many inner-city youth are able to enjoy low-cost sports leagues, swimming classes, and after-school activities. They recently inquired about returning to work part-time while in college, and was told that the minimum wage increase had effectively prevented them from bringing on any extra help. The YMCA was also forced to drastically raise membership costs, as well as enrollment fees and league fees, in order to stay afloat. As a result of this, many of the inner-city children who are able to receive guidance and a safe haven to have a good time in through the YMCA will no longer be able to afford it.

Voters went to the ballot box in Ohio on November 7, and in Congress yesterday, and made a decision rooted simply in making a good stage show. Raising the minimum wage sounds great, and, of course, if you vote against it, you hate poor people. Our kudos go out to the five Ohio Congressmen who stood up for what was right, rather than what was easy: Steve Chabot (R-OH 1), Jim Jordan (R-OH 4), David Hobson (R-OH 7), John Boehner (R-OH 8), and Pat Tiberi (R-OH 12). One of the quotes given by a Republican in opposition sums it up best. Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) said, ""In America we can either have maximum opportunity or we can have minimum wages. We cannot have both." This is a bad deal for the poor in America, and every single one of the Representatives, Republicans and Democrats alike, who voted for this hike should be ashamed of themselves for placating this small group of America's poor.

56th Carnival of Ohio Politics

The 56th Carnival of Ohio Politics is now up and ready for your viewing pleasure, so go check it out. Here are the three stories from Red State Rampage in the past week that are featured in the 56th Carnival:

Who's OSU taking to the Dance?

Rob Portman on Tour

Ohio Losing Two House Districts in 2012?

Who's OSU taking to the Dance?

When the Ohio State Buckeyes play Florida in the inaugural BCS Championship Game in Glendale, Arizona, on January 8, The Ohio State University will have a very large contingent of guests in attendance. The Columbus Dispatch has published the list of all official guests of the university, and there are no real surprises, simply a lot of the likely suspects (suspects may be a bad choice of syllogism when speaking of politicians, eh?). Ohio GOP and Ohio Democratic Party Chairmen are both on the list, with ORP Chairman Bob Bennett taking his wife Ruth Ann Bennett, and ODP Chairman Chris Redfern taking his fiancee Kim Kahlert. Among other Ohio politicians in the General Assembly attending include:
-Speaker Jon Husted (R)
-State Rep. Steve Reinhard (R)
-State Rep. Michelle Schneider (R)
-State Rep. Robert Hagan (D)
-State Sen. Steve Stivers (R)
-State Sen. Jay Hottinger (R)
-State Rep. Jim Carmichael (R)
-State Sen. Steve Austria (R)
-State Rep. Jon Peterson (R)
-State Rep. Tom Letson (D)
-State Rep. Jim Hughes (R)
-State Rep. Matt Barrett (D)
-State Rep. Ross McGregor (R)

Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman (D) is attending, as is outgoing City Council President Matt Habash (D). Ohio Secretary of State-elect Jennifer Brunner (D) will be on the flight, as will Ohio 5th District Congressman Paul Gillmor (R). All of the politicians are paying their own way, at $2,100 per person. Other notables include ambitious OSU Student Senate President Nick Benson, whose trip is being paid for by the university from the bowl payout, and Undergraduate Student President Ryan Fournier, whose trip is covered because he is working on the trip. The Board of Trustees also is on the list, part of which will be paid for by bowl proceeds. Notable Republicans on the Board of Trustees include RNC Co-Chair JoAnn Davidson, outgoing Auditor of State Betty Montgomery, disgraced former Taft aide Brian Hicks, and GOP campaign treasurer extraordinaire Bill Curlis. Of these four, only Curlis is paying his own way.

One interesting side note to this list are the few Republicans who will get to spend a plane ride and a weekend with Chairman Bennett, no doubt discussing 2008 ambitions and beyond. State Sen. Jay Hottinger, rumored candidate for Congress in the 18th District is one of these to note, as are Speaker Husted and Rep. Hughes, who have both been rumored replacements for 15th District Congressman Deborah Pryce if she retires. State Rep. Steve Reinhard is also a rumored candidate to replace term-limited State Sen. Larry Mumper in 2008. It also is not known if Governor-elect Ted Strickland will be making the trip.

Rob Portman on Tour

In another sign that former Ohio 2nd District Representative and current White House Budget Director Rob Portman will be a candidate for public office soon once again, he is criss-crossing Ohio in the coming week, with stops in Cleveland and Columbus. The City Club of Cleveland is hosting Dir. Portman this Friday for a noon luncheon, where he will be the featured speaker. Next Wednesday, the John Glenn Institute for Public Policy at The Ohio State University and the Concord Coalition are hosting Portman at the Blackwell Inn (on OSU's campus) as a panelist on the Fiscal Wake-up Tour, put on by the Concord Coalition.

Ohio Losing Two House Districts in 2012?

(UPDATED 1.3.07: Commenter Kelly has pointed out that the Congressional redistricting takes place in the Ohio General Assembly and is simply a bill the Governor at that time will sign into law. The Apportionment Board draws the lines for both houses of the Ohio General Assembly, although both processes will be occurring at roughly the same time. My apologies for getting my facts mixed up there, but it is corrected in the post below now.)

When reapportionment comes around next in 2012, current population and migration trends indicate that Ohio will likely lose at least one Congressional district, and possibly two. This would continue a trend of lessened national influence, leaving Ohio with just 18 electoral votes and 16 U.S. Representatives to complement the two Ohioan U.S. Senators. With redistricting due in 2010, Ohio appears to be in for major changes on the statewide political scene. The two districts to be eliminated would be chosen by the party controlling the Ohio General Assembly, although with the current map, it would be tough to eliminate two seats currently held by the same party. For something so earthshaking, the story is drawing almost no coverage, even in the blogosphere.

Obviously this will not take place for another few years, but it is most certainly on the horizon. The rapidly shrinking population in Ohio loses an average of 250 residents each day to Florida alone, and the onus is most definitely on the governing body to reverse this trend. Governor Bob Taft failed to do so during his eight years, but regardless of party affiliation, we would be happy to see Gov.-elect Ted Strickland do well in this regard. Ohio must keep its young talent, the thousands who graduate every year from Ohio's higher education system, and even those who have just received their high school diplomas. We must also create a more business-friendly environment, in order to bring in new jobs and keep the jobs already in Ohio home. However, if we hope to reverse the trend, we need to be concerned with effecting that change now, and not in five years.

Red State Rampage back in 54th Carnival of Ohio Politics

Red State Rampage is back for more in this week's Carnival of Ohio Politics after taking a week off for the holidays. Go check out what other Ohio bloggers are saying about the events of the past week in Ohio and nationally, and broaden your horizons a bit. Here are the three posts I submitted from Red State Rampage in the past week, if you have yet to read them:

Columbus AM Radio Shakeup: Beck, Air America Out; Savage, Ingraham, Rome, and Riley In

Ohio Politics: My Late Two Cents

Giving a fox keys to the henhouse: Tubbs-Jones to Chair House Ethics Committee

Check them out, and hit up the 54th Carnival while you are at it!

Ohio Politics: My Late Two Cents

Over the last week, between traveling twice for Christmas and working on other side-projects, I have neglected a few rather important Ohio stories. Most of them are still topical, and everyone is still talking about them, so I will throw in my two cents, albeit slightly tardy.

-One of the measures passed by the General Assembly before the end of this session was HB 690, essentially the enacting/enabling bill for this November's Issue 2, which raised the minimum wage in early 2007 to $6.85. Issue 2, which also requires a yearly raise of the minimum wage to adjust for inflation, was backed by groups who did not even pay their petition circulators the current minimum wage. No one ever accused liberals of being intellectually honest, though. Issue 2 passed in November, and so the General Assembly reacted with HB 690, the language of which enables the enforcement of Issue 2. The issue was penned with sloppy language (a la the TEL Amendment that was dropped earlier in 2006), so the legislature cleaned it up as they saw fit. If you don't want the issue you put on the ballot to be messed with, then learn how to write legislation! All of these half-cocked issues campaigns kill me, because half of them are ill-conceived, and the rest are written so poorly that they are never enacted in the manner intended. As far as minimum wage increases go, I will go ahead and tell you that this hike is another nail in the Ohio economy's coffin. Prices will rise, benefits will fall, and the inflation alone caused by this will negate any of the short-lived benefits.

-After running a campaign for Attorney General here in Ohio against Betty Montgomery, during which he lambasted her for perceived ties to felon Tom Noe, Attorney General-elect Marc Dann wishes to have Noe's attorney as his second-in-command. Tom Winters may be a fine lawyer, and he may do a great job in the end. However, picking a guy who worked for Tom Noe as your number two, especially when you ran your race almost entirely against Noe's GOP connections, is high hypocrisy. Dann, a camera seeker if there ever was one, is not off to a good start in his AG tenure.

-All outgoing politicians are given farewell speeches, sort of like their last meal, and outgoing State Rep. Geoff Smith (R-Upper Arlington) was no exception. He raised a few eyebrows, especially Speaker Jon Husted's, during his nearly half-hour diatribe with several off-color comments. Most notable among the shocking remarks was a quip about fellow Columbus-area State Rep. Larry Flowers (R-Westerville), involving his wife needing "more hose" in the bedroom. I am all for our politicians speaking their mind and against most all political correctness, but Smith went a little bit over the top in the whole speech. He even had the audacity to call his speech brief, and say that he hated droning on, after 26 minutes! That is long, even for a politician! Smith also was very brash in saying that he often did not do what was best for his district, being very easily talked into voting otherwise. I am not a very big fan of Smith, in full disclosure, but this was a bit much to keep quiet about.
H/T to Right Angle Blog on the YouTube clip of the speech, found here.

-Columbus City Councilman Mary Jo Hudson (D) was appointed to be Director of Insurance under Governor-elect Ted Strickland. Hudson will still have to be approved by the Ohio Senate, but I am not too surprised by this move. First of all, given the ineptness of the GOP in Columbus municipal elections of late (0 GOPers on City Council and no candidate for Mayor in 2003), incumbency is not even a needed advantage for Columbus Democrats. Secondly, Hudson has a background with the Ohio Dept. of Insurance, so this makes sense. Anyhow, a lot of my fellow GOP and conservative bloggers are up in arms over this appointment, because Hudson is openly gay. I say this: who cares? So long as she does her job, why does it matter? If Hudson strays from her duties, I will be sure to call her out on it, but I would do that with anyone not doing their job. Get over it, and move on to more important things.

-Another bill under consideration in Ohio would cap union donations to political campaigns under the premise that unions are businesses. Anyone who still sees a union as a non-profit entity should ask themselves why all of the union bosses are getting rich quick off of their membership dues? I will not get into the relative irrelevancy of unions in modern America, as one must only look to their flip-flop on illegal immigration to see their own desperation. That is another topic for another day. I personally am not a big fan of campaign contribution limits and all of the ridiculous restrictions that McCain-Feingold brought us nationally, but if we are going to cap donations, unions should not be exempted. If you will go back a year to 2005, it was Democrats in Ohio who were trying to limit personal and business contributions further, and they were soundly rejected. It is also telling that Democrats have railed against corruption in Ohio, yet when given the opportunity to end a form of pay-to-play, choose not to do so.

Rant #2: Why the GOP lost Ohio

While I am on a good roll (and my head is still on the verge of exploding) I am going to tackle a topic that I have not covered yet on Red State Rampage: why the Republicans lost elections in Ohio. Can everyone stop blaming the right-wing nutjobs or the RINOs or the religious right for one freaking second? All three groups share some of the blame for Republicans losing, because THEY ARE ALL DAMN REPUBLICANS! The Religious Right did not turn out to volunteer like they were promised, a lot of the RINOs did not vote or support GOP candidates in this cycle, and the right-wing nutjobs, well they were simply along for the ride. Bob Taft and Tom Noe and Bob Ney did not all conspire to lose the election for us, as ridiculous and malignant as their actions may have been. Yes, that hurt, but where were Ohio Republicans calling on Taft to resign after his guilty plea (or his 6% approval rating)? Where were they in the two years that the Ney investigation was going on (because you don't all of a sudden become guilty at the tail end of an investigation)? Bob Bennett did not solely lose the election; the Ohio GOP actually did quite a phenomenal job considering the circumstances. College Republicans did not lose the election by not giving 24 hours a day; to count on a 24/7 commitment from college kids is ridiculous to expect in the first place (can someone tell campaign staffers this?). We did not lose because of terrible candidates; if this were true then Sandy O'Brien would not have received roughly the same number of votes as the rest of the ticket. We did not lose because of the Iraq War, because if this were true, we would have lost more Congressional seats than one.

No, Republicans lost for one simple reason: we continually have campaigned as conservatives and governed as, well, whatever the heck we feel like doing. Sure, everything else played a role, but people were absolutely sick of being two-faced. More than anything, voters want results, and they are going to go with whomever it is that they think will get them results. And, when it comes to results, the GOP has not exactly delivered in Ohio. How do you get the 3rd highest tax burden in the nation with 16 years of fiscal conservatism? It doesn't exactly add up, now does it?

What amazes me is that it took this long to get the GOP thrown out for making promises they never kept. I guess that this can be chalked up to the continuing naivete of voters who do not trust politicians one iota, until it comes to election time when they believe all of the baloney they are being spoon-fed. I know that the majority of our elected GOPers in the General Assembly are not crappy lawmakers; simply look at what has been accomplished by them in the last month alone. Voters lit a fire under their collective ass and things are getting done!

So where do we go from here? Well, that is another topic for another post, one not so full of piss and vinegar. But, rest assured, it is coming soon.

One Year Anniversary for Carnival of Ohio Politics

This week's edition of the Carnival of Ohio Politics is a special one, as the Carnival is celebrating its one-year anniversary. Along with the normal weekly update of the Ohio blogosphere, this edition includes an archive of sorts linking to highlights of the first year. We here at Red State Rampage are proud to be making a return appearance in the Carnival, and wish that there will be many more anniversaries to celebrate.

Ohio Political Roundup

-My Congressman, Deborah Pryce, has (almost) officially won her bid for re-election, but due to the close margin of victory, another automatic recount will be taking place. Ever the optimist (or opportunist, you pick one), Mary Jo Kilroy is waiting to concede until after the recount is complete. I would post the still frame of her press conference in the Dispatch today, but it sent me in search of Pepto Bismol after a just a quick glance so I will spare you that misfortune. By the way, their 'recount strategy' is to make sure every vote counts, even the fraudulent ones. How dare Deb Pryce and the GOP disenfranchise fraudulent voters!

-Ohio Senate Democrats have filled two vacant seats left by Charlie Wilson's election to the US House and Marc Dann's election to Attorney General. It really showed that they searched high and low, near and far, for the best and brightest candidates to fill the posts; their commitment to cleaning up corruption and qualified politicians shines through brightly. Failed Congressional candidate Capri Cafaro is finishing up Dann's term, and Jason Wilson, who happens to be Charlie's son, will serve out his time. If Cafaro decides to become a media whore a la Marc Dann, at least she will look good on camera. Besides that, she will be a great fundraiser, and I will go ahead and guarantee that all of the cash will come on the up and up. I am sure that the donor gave it freely after being knee-capped and fitted for concrete shoes. The junior Wilson will also prove to be a great asset to petition drives taking place in neighboring districts; he did great work while coming up short on 50 valid signatures for his dad's last campaign (after which he was fired). He is a true scholar.

-The Ohio GOP Headquarters building on South Fifth Street in downtown Columbus has been vandalized no less than five times in the past month; it is clearly not politically motivated. Evidently, the latest in Democratic campaign strategy (or what qualifies for strategy) is to bankrupt the GOP by forcing them to make repeated costly repairs to their facilities. ORP spokesman, John McClelland, claims that they caught the culprit on video camera, which is not surprising because of the plethora of surveillance cameras on site there. My theory is that Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman is still perturbed at the GOP for running out of coffee at March's St. Patrick's Day Parade. He was told that there was Irish coffee available, but apparently his wife is the only one who likes it Irish.

-Look for a better sense of where the next General Assembly will be headed after session begins in January. The budget will be on the table (dripping with pork, to be sure), term limits will likely be addressed, and redistricting and campaign contribution reform will likely be broached by springtime as well. In order to get anything accomplished, there will have to be some cooperation due to the divided government coming into power.