2 minutes ago, Boomerang_Brian said:

The gerrymandering amendment that we voted on was the one the legislature wrote. It only happened because of the existing process - 1. Petitioners collect signatures on an amendment proposal, 2. If they get enough signatures, then legislature gets to write their own version, which amendment petitioners can accept OR go on to step 3, ANOTHER round of petition drives. Then step 4, it goes to the voters. The petitioners accepted the legislature’s version as a compromise to avoid having to go through another round of petition gathering, which was risky. In hindsight that was a bad decision, but at the time it was justifiable, as another petitioner drive would have been risky and expensive. The petitioner’s version of the amendment would have been superior and would have been much harder to circumvent, and we would have avoided this disaster. This is a great example of why we need the voter lead amendment process and why relying on the legislature is a bad idea.

 

I argued with David Pepper on Twitter about this very thing. He was convinced the courts would hold illegal maps accountable and Republicans wouldn't be able to do that. I tried telling him that was naïve. I figured they would have to do the 4 year maps, and it could actually make things worse by allowing the GOP supermajority to tweak the maps more frequently to get even more lopsided maps in phases. I didn't take into account the GOP just pretending the judicial branch doesn't exist.

37 minutes ago, Lazarus said:

 

 

Be careful what you wish for.  New constitutions promise all of that, meaning businesses and institutions of any type can't make long-term plans since anything and everything might dramatically change.  Everyone would come away from the convention pissed off and it would take years for the (new) courts to sort everything out.  

 

 

Which is *why* the strength of our Constitution, and indeed our form of government, is its consistency.

3 minutes ago, E Rocc said:

 

Which is *why* the strength of our Constitution, and indeed our form of government, is its consistency.

 

Also, the rigidity of things makes them fair.  For example, if we to start over and redraw 48 states based on the country's current population, the map would be unrecognizable.  But the very fact that all state borders have come to be preposterous is the very thing that makes them completely fair.  They are all equally unfair, and everyone deals with it.  

 

5 minutes ago, Lazarus said:

 

Also, the rigidity of things makes them fair.  For example, if we to start over and redraw 48 states based on the country's current population, the map would be unrecognizable.  But the very fact that all state borders have come to be preposterous is the very thing that makes them completely fair.  They are all equally unfair, and everyone deals with it.  

 

 

Free migration between the states has also led to a certain stability and comfort among the population.   It serves as a further check on bad government ideas as well.   If one state tries something that ends up being ill advised, people in other states note it and act accordingly.   Others even migrate to states with more conducive policies.

2 hours ago, E Rocc said:

 

That amendment was a classic example of voting on general simplistic principles without any responsibility to implement under complicated circumstances.

 

I can't think of anything more destructive and dangerous than regular conventions authorized to make major changes.    Leaving aside the possibility of attempts to influence them by mobs, terrorists, or both, the strength of American government is its consistency and resistance to rapid or radical change.

 

The intent of the amendment was crystal clear- to draw fair districts. The GOP completely failed to do that, intentionally. 

 

The point of a convention would not necessarily be about making major changes, though. No changes would be required whatsoever. It would be about assessing the state of society and whether the existing document and amendments make sense. Maybe they do, maybe some may need tweaks. Maybe we need additions. But we're not even really talking about whether we should do anything, and that's a problem. 

2 hours ago, E Rocc said:

 

Free migration between the states has also led to a certain stability and comfort among the population.   It serves as a further check on bad government ideas as well.   If one state tries something that ends up being ill advised, people in other states note it and act accordingly.   Others even migrate to states with more conducive policies.

 

Republicans are currently trying to legislate whether women can travel to other states for an abortion, so do they really believe that?

 

Also, wasn't there just a debate about whether political policy affected state migration? Many Republicans were saying it does not.

Edited May 11, 20232 yr by jonoh81

Republicans in disarray

 

Ohio GOP Wants to Create “Safe Space” at OSU for Conservative Thought

 

A Senate bill is trying to create new centers at Ohio State University and the University of Toledo that expand and affirm “intellectual diversity.” 

 

Senate Bill 117 — introduced earlier this month by Sen. Jerry Cirino, R-Kirtland, and Sen. Rob McColley, R-Napoleon — would create the Salmon P. Chase Center for Civics, Culture, and Society at Ohio State and the Institute of American Constitutional Thought and Leadership at UT’s College of Law. 

 

“There is a structural preponderance of one line of thought in our universities today,” Cirino said during a recent Senate Workforce and Higher Education Committee meeting. “One of the ways to change the structural preponderance of one line of thought is to set institutes like these up to assist our universities in moving forward with more intellectual diversity.”

He went on to say that university faculty are predominantly liberal.

 

“This causes a single ideological perspective to dominate academia,” Cirino said. “With the passage of this legislation, we are giving students and their parents’ options within the market to choose an education that is best suited for them.” 😒

 

Both centers would begin this fall if the bill is able to pass quickly enough, McColley said.

 

“I’m hoping that our institutions will embrace this as something that is going to help them move the dial just a little bit in favor of true intellectual diversity,” Cirino said. 

 

He said using public funds to create centers at colleges is not unheard of. 

 

“Both Arizona State University and the University of Florida have created similar centers to aide in establishing diverse viewpoints at their respective universities,” Cirino said in his testimony.

 

SB 117 would give UT $1 million in fiscal year 2024 and $2 million in fiscal year 2025 for the Institute, and Ohio State $5 million in fiscal years 2024 and 2025 for the Center. 

 

More of the worst timeline below:

https://columbusunderground.com/ohio-gop-wants-to-create-safe-space-at-osu-for-conservative-thought-ocj1/

 

^ Could this effort be described as "Right Wing Affirming Care?"  

20 hours ago, Boomerang_Brian said:

Republicans in disarray

 

Would hardly call that disarray. Merrin and Stephens hate each other. Especially after Stephens stabbed Merrin in the back when his father was on his deathbed and stole the speakership from him. Merrin has not been shy about trying to thwart Stephens authority in numerous cases where he could. Merrin had the support of the majority of the GOP caucus, so Stephens obviously had to tread semi-carefully around him. It appears that maybe Stephens has strengthened his position with the right flank of the state party that he feels more secure in his ability to take on a potential political rival and not receive blowback from the majority of the caucus. From Stephens POV, he would want Merrin out of the committee chair as fast as politically possible.

 

Personally, I like Merin, he is a good man, but if anything, that action shows stability in the party and not disarray. It shows that Stephens has closed the gulf between him and the majority of the GOP caucus that supported Merin and were upset when he sought support of the democrats to give him the speakership.

Edited May 23, 20232 yr by Brutus_buckeye

9 hours ago, ColDayMan said:

Ohio GOP Wants to Create “Safe Space” at OSU for Conservative Thought

 

A Senate bill is trying to create new centers at Ohio State University and the University of Toledo that expand and affirm “intellectual diversity.” 

 

Senate Bill 117 — introduced earlier this month by Sen. Jerry Cirino, R-Kirtland, and Sen. Rob McColley, R-Napoleon — would create the Salmon P. Chase Center for Civics, Culture, and Society at Ohio State and the Institute of American Constitutional Thought and Leadership at UT’s College of Law. 

 

“There is a structural preponderance of one line of thought in our universities today,” Cirino said during a recent Senate Workforce and Higher Education Committee meeting. “One of the ways to change the structural preponderance of one line of thought is to set institutes like these up to assist our universities in moving forward with more intellectual diversity.”

He went on to say that university faculty are predominantly liberal.

 

“This causes a single ideological perspective to dominate academia,” Cirino said. “With the passage of this legislation, we are giving students and their parents’ options within the market to choose an education that is best suited for them.” 😒

 

Both centers would begin this fall if the bill is able to pass quickly enough, McColley said.

 

“I’m hoping that our institutions will embrace this as something that is going to help them move the dial just a little bit in favor of true intellectual diversity,” Cirino said. 

 

He said using public funds to create centers at colleges is not unheard of. 

 

“Both Arizona State University and the University of Florida have created similar centers to aide in establishing diverse viewpoints at their respective universities,” Cirino said in his testimony.

 

SB 117 would give UT $1 million in fiscal year 2024 and $2 million in fiscal year 2025 for the Institute, and Ohio State $5 million in fiscal years 2024 and 2025 for the Center. 

 

More of the worst timeline below:

https://columbusunderground.com/ohio-gop-wants-to-create-safe-space-at-osu-for-conservative-thought-ocj1/

 

 

Terrible idea.  Things like this don't operate as safe spaces, they operate as ghettos.  The entire campus needs to be a safe space for conservative thought--not safe as in "free from challenge," but safe as in "given the same platform opportunities as progressive doctrine and without personal or professional retaliation against the person advancing the conservative position."  Bubble-world centers like these give tacit license for the rest of the university, all its mainstream departments, to not be a safe space for conservative thought.  "Oh, it's fine to be a conservative here, you just go over there and don't bother the rest of us."

 

The Hoover Institute at Stanford University has a sterling reputation within national conservative think tank circles.  Doesn't mean it's done squat to increase intellectual diversity within the larger Stanford community.

12 minutes ago, Gramarye said:

The Hoover Institute at Stanford University has a sterling reputation within national conservative think tank circles.  Doesn't mean it's done squat to increase intellectual diversity within the larger Stanford community.

And it should also be noted that the Hoover institute has come under attack from numerous campus groups for not falling in line with the orthodoxy and groupthink pushed by many campus progressives. 

37 minutes ago, Brutus_buckeye said:

Would hardly call that disarray. Merrin and Stephens hate each other. Especially after Stephens stabbed Merrin in the back when his father was on his deathbed and stole the speakership from him. Merrin has not been shy about trying to thwart Stephens authority in numerous cases where he could. Merrin had the support of the majority of the GOP caucus, so Stephens obviously had to tread semi-carefully around him. It appears that maybe Stephens has strengthened his position with the right flank of the state party that he feels more secure in his ability to take on a potential political rival and not receive blowback from the majority of the caucus. From Stephens POV, he would want Merrin out of the committee chair as fast as politically possible.

 

Personally, I like Merin, he is a good man, but if anything, that action shows stability in the party and not disarray. It shows that Stephens has closed the gulf between him and the majority of the GOP caucus that supported Merin and were upset when he sought support of the democrats to give him the speakership.

“This isn’t disarray” and then a bunch of words describing disarray. 
 

Also, Merrin is a vile, horrible person and an embarrassment to the state of Ohio. 

1 minute ago, Boomerang_Brian said:

This isn’t disarray” and then a bunch of words describing disarray. 

See I would describe it as the caucus was in disarray before as there were 2 factions. You had the Stephens faction (who had the power of the speaker) and the Merrin faction who had the majority of the Republican caucus. After 6 months, it appears that Stephens has been able to pull support from Merrin and consolidate his power amongst the caucus and essentially unify a caucus that was in disarray. 

 

This is not disarray, it is the exact opposite. it is the consolidation of power. 

1 hour ago, Gramarye said:

Things like this don't operate as safe spaces, they operate as ghettos. 

 

Yikes dude. Conservative "safe spaces" are like the Warsaw Ghetto, yeah ok sure. Oof.

 

When were you last in college? Your description of college seems so fox news'esque and disconnected.

Edited May 23, 20232 yr by GISguy

1 hour ago, Gramarye said:

 

Terrible idea.  Things like this don't operate as safe spaces, they operate as ghettos.  The entire campus needs to be a safe space for conservative thought--not safe as in "free from challenge," but safe as in "given the same platform opportunities as progressive doctrine and without personal or professional retaliation against the person advancing the conservative position." 

 

Sen. Cirino's response to this post is "you're right, we should give UT and OSU $460,000,000 of taxpayer money to fund our initiative!" 

11 hours ago, ColDayMan said:

Ohio GOP Wants to Create “Safe Space” at OSU for Conservative Thought

 

A Senate bill is trying to create new centers at Ohio State University and the University of Toledo that expand and affirm “intellectual diversity.” 

 

Senate Bill 117 — introduced earlier this month by Sen. Jerry Cirino, R-Kirtland, and Sen. Rob McColley, R-Napoleon — would create the Salmon P. Chase Center for Civics, Culture, and Society at Ohio State and the Institute of American Constitutional Thought and Leadership at UT’s College of Law. 

 

“There is a structural preponderance of one line of thought in our universities today,” Cirino said during a recent Senate Workforce and Higher Education Committee meeting. “One of the ways to change the structural preponderance of one line of thought is to set institutes like these up to assist our universities in moving forward with more intellectual diversity.”

He went on to say that university faculty are predominantly liberal.

 

“This causes a single ideological perspective to dominate academia,” Cirino said. “With the passage of this legislation, we are giving students and their parents’ options within the market to choose an education that is best suited for them.” 😒

 

Both centers would begin this fall if the bill is able to pass quickly enough, McColley said.

 

“I’m hoping that our institutions will embrace this as something that is going to help them move the dial just a little bit in favor of true intellectual diversity,” Cirino said. 

 

He said using public funds to create centers at colleges is not unheard of. 

 

“Both Arizona State University and the University of Florida have created similar centers to aide in establishing diverse viewpoints at their respective universities,” Cirino said in his testimony.

 

SB 117 would give UT $1 million in fiscal year 2024 and $2 million in fiscal year 2025 for the Institute, and Ohio State $5 million in fiscal years 2024 and 2025 for the Center. 

 

More of the worst timeline below:

https://columbusunderground.com/ohio-gop-wants-to-create-safe-space-at-osu-for-conservative-thought-ocj1/

 

 

 

Sounds like a place to meet these guys:

 

https://www.theonion.com/gop-maintains-solid-hold-on-youth-that-already-look-lik-1819595704

 

1 hour ago, Gramarye said:

 

Terrible idea.  Things like this don't operate as safe spaces, they operate as ghettos.  The entire campus needs to be a safe space for conservative thought--not safe as in "free from challenge," but safe as in "given the same platform opportunities as progressive doctrine and without personal or professional retaliation against the person advancing the conservative position."  Bubble-world centers like these give tacit license for the rest of the university, all its mainstream departments, to not be a safe space for conservative thought.  "Oh, it's fine to be a conservative here, you just go over there and don't bother the rest of us."

 

The Hoover Institute at Stanford University has a sterling reputation within national conservative think tank circles.  Doesn't mean it's done squat to increase intellectual diversity within the larger Stanford community.

The desired state that you describe is exactly what already happens on university campuses. Unless you think racism, sexism, and/or discrimination against LGBT people are conservative thoughts that need to be protected.

50 minutes ago, Boomerang_Brian said:

The desired state that you describe is exactly what already happens on university campuses.

 

This is so hilariously out of touch that I don't even know where to begin.  I could begin with the heckler veto mobs, or the lawsuits against DEI-addled bureaucracies run amok, or the absurd ideological imbalance among tenured faculty (which doesn't just happen organically and was terrible even before the developing trend of loyalty oaths to progressive shibboleths as a condition of employment), or "diversity" requirements in both orientation trainings and credited coursework that present postmodernist/deconstructionist progressive ideological nonsense as not only indisputable fact, but a nearly mandatory religious conviction.

 

At best, what you could possibly mean by this is that it is still technically possible for a conservative undergraduate to navigate those waters for four years with their brains, principles, and GPA all intact.  Yes, it is.  I did so.  There's a huge gulf between that and "that desired state I describe."

 

52 minutes ago, Boomerang_Brian said:

Unless you think racism, sexism, and/or discrimination against LGBT people are conservative thoughts that need to be protected.

 

The real issue is that progressive-crusader definitions of those terms are vastly broader than they should be, and in some cases overbroad enough to be genuinely actionable, e.g., the $44 million judgment against Oberlin for what they in their own blinded minds probably thought was a committed "anti-racist" move.

1 hour ago, Gramarye said:

 

This is so hilariously out of touch that I don't even know where to begin.  I could begin with the heckler veto mobs, or the lawsuits against DEI-addled bureaucracies run amok, or the absurd ideological imbalance among tenured faculty (which doesn't just happen organically and was terrible even before the developing trend of loyalty oaths to progressive shibboleths as a condition of employment), or "diversity" requirements in both orientation trainings and credited coursework that present postmodernist/deconstructionist progressive ideological nonsense as not only indisputable fact, but a nearly mandatory religious conviction.

 

At best, what you could possibly mean by this is that it is still technically possible for a conservative undergraduate to navigate those waters for four years with their brains, principles, and GPA all intact.  Yes, it is.  I did so.  There's a huge gulf between that and "that desired state I describe."

 

 

The real issue is that progressive-crusader definitions of those terms are vastly broader than they should be, and in some cases overbroad enough to be genuinely actionable, e.g., the $44 million judgment against Oberlin for what they in their own blinded minds probably thought was a committed "anti-racist" move.

I’m consistently impressed at conservatives’ ability to perceive persecution where there is none and ignore it where it is obvious. Which would be fine in a vacuum, but when it’s used as justification for dismantling critical institutions and introducing policies that hurt people, I take issue.

 

There are countless examples of people whining about cancel culture and as soon as one digs even superficially past the headline, we realize that either the supposed victim was genuinely being awful, or they weren’t actually cancelled at all. As with so many conservative grievances, it’s all projection. 

6 minutes ago, Boomerang_Brian said:

I’m consistently impressed at conservatives’ ability to perceive persecution where there is none and ignore it where it is obvious. Which would be fine in a vacuum, but when it’s used as justification for dismantling critical institutions and introducing policies that hurt people, I take issue.

 

There are countless examples of people whining about cancel culture and as soon as one digs even superficially past the headline, we realize that either the supposed victim was genuinely being awful, or they weren’t actually cancelled at all. As with so many conservative grievances, it’s all projection. 

 

The irony here delights the English major in me, but not the citizen.

3 hours ago, GCrites80s said:

 

 

Sounds like a place to meet these guys:

 

https://www.theonion.com/gop-maintains-solid-hold-on-youth-that-already-look-lik-1819595704

 

 

A lot of teenage punk rockers move to the suburbs and start voting Republican after they have kids.  

 

 

 

3 hours ago, Boomerang_Brian said:

The desired state that you describe is exactly what already happens on university campuses. Unless you think racism, sexism, and/or discrimination against LGBT people are conservative thoughts that need to be protected.

 

No bullhorn stuff happens at branch campuses or at community colleges.  It's all at the main campuses or the small, very expensive private schools.  

 

I forgot about that Oberlin bakery situation.  I looked it up and Oberlin's tuition is currently $60k/yr.  

 

 

 

 

 

2 hours ago, Gramarye said:

3 hours ago, Boomerang_Brian said:

The desired state that you describe is exactly what already happens on university campuses. Unless you think racism, sexism, and/or discrimination against LGBT people are conservative thoughts that need to be protected.

The real issue is that progressive-crusader definitions of those terms are vastly broader than they should be, and in some cases overbroad enough to be genuinely actionable, e.g., the $44 million judgment against Oberlin for what they in their own blinded minds probably thought was a committed "anti-racist" move.

College kids are so caught up in these "microagressions," and come to believe that these slights or perceived rude comments are nothing more than racist or sexists or homophobic screeds that come out instead of taking the speaker at his word and maybe chalking the comment up to inarticulate phrasing or maybe a general misunderstanding. 

The biggest issue on college campuses is not racism, sexism, homophobia, but people constantly looking for ways to be offended by others and society in general. People used to live their life and not look for every little slight in which to take offense. We were much better off then. We were a whole lot less angry with each other for sure. 

At SSU there's one 2x2' concrete square that allows preachers. The rest of campus is off limits. And they won't tell you which one it is. You have to find it on your own.

Yeah, 99% of the college student population is either 1) cramming for exams or 2) getting blitzed out of their mind. No one had the time or desire to hold rallies on campus or "cancel" professors they disagreed with or to go looking for "microaggressions" to get offended about. I'd say the closest thing to open "leftist" discourse I ever saw in 6 years of college was the group of kids who tried to get UC to divest from fossil fuels. 

 

Places like Oberlin can be obnoxious (the whole "banh mi is appropriation" thing was kind of dumb), but the entire student body of that college is half the size of just the undergrad enrollment in UC's engineering school. People who act like that are rounding errors.

17 minutes ago, BigDipper 80 said:

People who act like that are rounding errors.

Love this.   Going to appropriate this quote for my own uses! 😂

49 minutes ago, BigDipper 80 said:

Places like Oberlin can be obnoxious (the whole "banh mi is appropriation" thing was kind of dumb), …

The whole “banh mi is appropriation” thing was actually yet another example of the right wing outrage machine totally blowing an innocuous situation WAY out of proportion. (NY Post in this case.) Literally started with a quote in the student newspaper from a foreign student basically complaining about the food. (Note well: NOT some leftist American student.)
 

https://www.vox.com/platform/amp/identities/2019/11/5/20944138/oberlin-banh-mi-college-campus-diversity

 

“The story begins with Ferdinand Protzman, a former New York Times foreign correspondent who was teaching a journalism course at Oberlin, a highly ranked liberal arts college in Ohio with a reputation for being politically left wing. Protzman had instructed his students to be on the lookout for potentially good stories on campus; one of these students, who was Vietnamese, pitched him on a piece on international students grousing about the nature of the Asian-inspired cuisine in the dining hall food. Protzman told Patel [NYT reporter who later reported on the situation] that he was initially skeptical of the story, but was won over by the sheer absurdity of the situation:

“The more he learned, the more Protzman, a former foreign correspondent for The New York Times, thought his student might have a useful local story. The bánh mì wasn’t just inauthentic — it didn’t even resemble bánh mì. Instead of grilled pork, pâté, pickled vegetables, and fresh herbs, the sandwich used ciabatta bread, pulled pork, and coleslaw, according to the student. And the ‘chicken sushi,’ Protzman said, was just chicken loaf draped over a little mound of bad rice.

‘I don’t know what culture it wouldn’t offend,’ he says.

In other words, the dining hall was making food that’s almost nothing like the dishes it was allegedly inspired by — hardly a cosmic injustice, but certainly something that a journalism student could write up for class or publish in a campus paper.”

 

Furthermore, the complaining students then got an opportunity to sit down with the food planners and got an agreement that the food service team would no longer use a food name that had nothing to do with the dish that was being prepared. Win-win for the actual adults in the room (specifically this group of foreign students, the student reporter, the company responsible for good service, and Oberlin’s administration). But more fodder for the outrage machine of the intellectually incurious morons that run right wing media in this country. And based on it getting sited in this discussion, this garbage works!
 

20 years!

 

https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/29/politics/larry-householder-ohio-speaker-sentenced-bribery-scheme/index.html

14 minutes ago, Pablo said:

20 years!

 

https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/29/politics/larry-householder-ohio-speaker-sentenced-bribery-scheme/index.html

Nice to see a couple of these scumbags finally face real accountability. 

And the law Cellholder put through for First Energy is still on the books.

14 hours ago, Clefan98 said:

And the law Cellholder put through for First Energy is still on the books.

 

^ this.

17 hours ago, Clefan98 said:

And the law Cellholder put through for First Energy is still on the books.

 

Because the other Republicans still like the law. Don't worry everything is fixed since one or two guys went down.

So much for the small government crap that is fiction.

The Ohio Republican Party 

https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/politics/ohio-politics/what-deputies-saw-when-they-arrived-at-scene-of-alleged-assault-by-ohio-lawmaker

 

The alleged assault
According to a Summit County Sheriff's Office report, [R State Rep Bob] Young was arguing with a friend at his home around 1 a.m. on July 7 when his wife stuck her hand up in front of his face to "stop him from yelling." The lawmaker then grabbed her arm and struck her face with an open hand during the argument, the report states. She threatened to call the police, but Young took her phone and threw it into the pool.

One hour later, Young's wife arrived at the home of her brother-in-law [Michael Young]. She went there to "seek safe haven," according to the report.

….

Glass covered the ground outside Michael Young’s home as he detailed the fight with his brother, state Rep. Bob Young (R-Green), in body camera footage from deputies obtained by News 5's media partners at the Akron Beacon Journal.

"He came, and I just lowered and charged," Michael told deputies. "And he went through the glass — landed right over there."

Michael says he was defending his home from his brother.

Republican Rep Bob Young strikes again

https://x.com/morgantrau/status/1696636491714224430?s=46&t=7i2eCUyWNZMfcPIb8zesTg

“Ohio State Rep. Bob Young arrested for second time in last 2 months

 

A local lawmaker, state Rep. Bob Young, was arrested for the second time in two months after he violated a protection order stemming from his first arrest, according to the Summit County Sheriff's Office.

 

The Republican legislator is being held in Summit County jail on a misdemeanor charge of "recklessly" violating a protection order, according to the Barberton Municipal Court. 

 

To recap, he's now facing three total charges. They are: domestic violence, assault and violating a protection order. All three are first-degree misdemeanors.

It would be hilarious - and Marcy Kaptur would be much appreciative - if JR Majewski wins the R primary again. Also hat tip to everyone's least favorite Cleveland business owner.

 

Ohio Republicans Regrouping After 2023 Election Losses

 

Lawmakers are back to work this week, and Ohio Republicans are wrestling with the fallout of last week’s passage of Issue 1. In any other circumstance, a 13-point victory amounts to voters sending a clear message. But when it comes to the reproductive rights amendment, some right-wing lawmakers aren’t listening.

 

Defiance

 

On the heels of Issue 1’s passage, 27 state representatives signed a letter promising to “do everything in our power to prevent our laws from being removed.” They argued Issue 1’s language was “vague” and “intentionally deceptive.”

 

It’s worth noting, however, that the amendment’s language was perhaps the most heavily contested territory of the campaign. Opponents of Issue 1 distributed a marked-up version of the proposal’s text with annotations warning — against the opinion of a wide variety of legal experts — about the loss of parental rights and expansion of gender affirming care. Nevertheless, voters overwhelmingly approved the amendment.

 

Following the letter, the conservative organization Ohio Values Voters sent out a press release with the anti-abortion group Faith2Action. Several current and former state lawmakers railed against Issue 1.

 

Rep. Jennifer Gross, R-West Chester, argued without evidence that “foreign billionaires” bankrolled issue 1’s campaign. Her office did not respond to calls or emails requesting an explanation. Faith2Action president Janet Porter piled on, suggesting “what’s to stop the Chinese from funding a forced-abortion amendment next?”

 

More below:

https://columbusunderground.com/ohio-republicans-regrouping-after-2023-election-losses-ocj1/

 

Ohio GOP Pushes for Income Tax Cuts, Despite Proof of Economic Benefit

 

Some Ohio lawmakers have proposed eliminating the state income tax, saying it would strengthen the economy. But a majority of economists surveyed on the matter disagree.

 

Republican lawmakers in both houses of the General Assembly filed a bill that would eliminate the income tax and the commercial activities tax by 2030 on the rationale that it would stimulate the economy.

 

“Ohio is ready to reclaim our role as the economic engine of the Midwest,” state Rep. Adam Mathews of Lebanon said in a January statement. “This step ensures Ohio is a destination for businesses to grow and attract people who want to work and live here, raise a family, and truly thrive.”

 

Politicians — particularly those on the right — have long claimed that tax cuts have a stimulative effect on the economy. 

 

More below:

https://columbusunderground.com/ohio-gop-pushes-for-income-tax-cuts-despite-proof-of-economic-benefit-ocj1/

 

Ohio GOP Divided Over Springfield Conspiracy Theories

 

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost on Wednesday did his bit to amplify a conspiracy theory that Haitian immigrants legally present in Springfield, Ohio are stealing and eating pets, ducks and geese.

 

The conspiracy has been debunked by the Springfield mayor, city manager and chief of police, as well as by Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine. Yost is looking to succeed DeWine as governor in 2026.

 

“Citizens testified to City Council,” Yost posted on X Wednesday. “These people would be competent witnesses in court. Why does the media find a carefully worded City Hall press release better evidence?”

 

Many of Springfield’s public buildings were closed for much of the day Thursday due to bomb threats after former President Donald Trump on Tuesday repeated a widely debunked conspiracy theory that Haitian immigrants were stealing people’s pets and eating them.

 

“They’re eating the dogs. They’re eating the cats. They’re eating the pets of the people that live there,” he said during a debate with Vice President Kamala Harris.

 

A day earlier, on Monday, Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, posted on X that “Reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn’t be in this country.” 

 

More below:

https://columbusunderground.com/ohio-gop-divided-over-springfield-conspiracy-theories-ocj1/

 

Project 2025 Leader Spoke in Columbus Last Week and Was Met with Protestors

 

A few dozen college students and faith leaders rallied outside the Greater Columbus Convention Center while inside the man behind Project 2025 was giving his keynote address.

 

The Center for Christian Virtue hosted the first day of the Essential Summit last Thursday, with speakers including Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts, Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman and Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost. CCV is listed as a hate group, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.

 

Project 2025 is a Presidential Transition Project written by the Heritage Foundation that spells out the first 180 days in office for the next right-wing administration. Former President Donald Trump has tried to distance himself from Project 2025, but former Trump administration officials helped create the policy book, which heavily leans on Christian Nationalism values.

 

In response to the Essential Summit, the Ohio Student Association and the Ohio Organizing Collaborative’s Amos Project organized a rally and a press conference.

 

More below:

https://columbusunderground.com/project-2025-leader-spoke-in-columbus-last-week-and-was-met-with-protestors-ocj1/

 

1 hour ago, ColDayMan said:

CCV is listed as a hate group, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.

It’s disgusting that this trash group is across from the state house and is probably working with Yost to make this state one of the most backward in the country. 

Study: Xenophobia on the Rise in Republican Party

 

Public opinion research conducted in October shows a shift in one political party that might make Donald Trump’s election on Nov. 5 less of a surprise. A majority of the party now agrees with a sentiment about immigration that has previously been associated with organized hate — that they are “poisoning the blood of the country.”

 

While October marked the first time respondents were asked that question, responses to others indicated a hard shift against immigrants by Republicans and white evangelical protestants — especially after Trump became president.

...

“There were a number of questions that, as a social scientist, I found myself having to ask that I never thought I’d have to ask,” Jones said of the most recent survey.

 

One was prompted by Trump’s statement a year ago that immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country.” The statement has ominous implications because Adolph Hitler, who murdered 6 million Jews along with millions of other targeted groups, made several versions of the statement, including that a male Jew “poisons the blood of others…”

 

In the survey, Jones asked, “Do you agree or disagree that immigrants who are entering the country today are poisoning the blood of our country?”

 

A full 34% of Americans agree. 

 

More below:

https://columbusunderground.com/study-xenophobia-on-the-rise-with-republicans-ocj1/

 

2 hours ago, ColDayMan said:

Study: Xenophobia on the Rise in Republican Party

 

Public opinion research conducted in October shows a shift in one political party that might make Donald Trump’s election on Nov. 5 less of a surprise. A majority of the party now agrees with a sentiment about immigration that has previously been associated with organized hate — that they are “poisoning the blood of the country.”

 

While October marked the first time respondents were asked that question, responses to others indicated a hard shift against immigrants by Republicans and white evangelical protestants — especially after Trump became president.

...

“There were a number of questions that, as a social scientist, I found myself having to ask that I never thought I’d have to ask,” Jones said of the most recent survey.

 

One was prompted by Trump’s statement a year ago that immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country.” The statement has ominous implications because Adolph Hitler, who murdered 6 million Jews along with millions of other targeted groups, made several versions of the statement, including that a male Jew “poisons the blood of others…”

 

In the survey, Jones asked, “Do you agree or disagree that immigrants who are entering the country today are poisoning the blood of our country?”

 

A full 34% of Americans agree. 

 

More below:

https://columbusunderground.com/study-xenophobia-on-the-rise-with-republicans-ocj1/

 

 

Well, I for one am just shocked by this totally unexpected news. 

Edited December 10, 2024Dec 10 by jonoh81

Ohio GOP Wants Sales Tax Removed from Guns & Ammo

 

Two Republican state senators in Ohio have reintroduced a measure eliminating sales tax for guns and ammunition while dangling tax incentives to lure firearm manufacturers to the state. The sponsors contend Ohio is losing out on gun sales as buyers travel to neighboring tax-free states, and that Ohio has an opportunity to add new jobs if it takes steps to attract businesses.

 

State Sen. Tim Schaffer, R-Lancaster, who sponsored a similar bill last session has filed the proposal again. He’s joined by state Sen. Al Cutrona, R-Canfield, who moved from the House to the Senate following last year’s election and previously backed similar proposals in the lower chamber.

 

Everybody else is doing it…

 

In committee, Schaffer argued Ohio should forgo taxes on firearms and ammunition because gun buyers are likely to cross state lines for cheaper purchases.

 

“Senate Bill 59 will make the related businesses in our state more competitive with those in neighboring states,” Schaffer argued. “In 2021, similar language was adopted into law in the state of West Virginia and that highlights the necessity of this legislation to ensure Ohioans support Ohio businesses.”

 

Although West Virginia has adopted a sales tax exemption for gun and ammunition purchases, none of the other states neighboring Ohio have taken similar steps. A handful of other states, Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire and Oregon, don’t charge sales tax on guns either, but that’s because they have no state sales tax at all.

 

More below:

https://columbusunderground.com/ohio-gop-wants-sales-tax-removed-from-guns-amp-ammo-ocj1/

Yet West Virginia has sales tax on food. Grocery store unprepared food.

6 hours ago, GCrites said:

Yet West Virginia has sales tax on food. Grocery store unprepared food.

When the GOP says "Make America Great Again," remember that West Virginia is their vision for this. 

Angry Voters Call Out Moreno and Husted for Failing Ohio Constituents at Weekend Event

 

An enthusiastic crowd of about 1,400 Ohioans on Saturday packed the Valley Dale Ballroom to say their federal officials aren’t representing them — and that they’re not standing up to President Donald Trump as he allows the world’s richest man to slash federal programs.

 

The event, staged by Indivisible Central Ohio, was facetiously called a town hall. 

 

Chairs were placed on the stage for U.S. Sens. Bernie Moreno and Jon Husted, both Republicans. They sat empty, and organizers said the senators’ offices didn’t even bother to say they wouldn’t be coming.

 

Instead, organizers asked the questions they would have put to the senators to the AI program Chat GPT. The program said that the massive layoffs and cuts to federal programs would cost Ohio jobs, harm university research and stunt the biomedical sector. 

 

More below:

https://columbusunderground.com/angry-voters-call-out-moreno-and-husted-for-failing-ohio-constituents-at-weekend-event-ocj1/

 

Ohio GOP Applaud Shutdown of Department of Education

 

Ohio Republicans praised President Donald Trump’s executive order to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education. 

 

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine joined other Republican governors in attending Trump’s signing of the executive order Thursday afternoon at the White House. The executive order does not automatically close the department since eliminating a federal agency requires congressional approval.  

 

“I joined President Trump and several fellow governors at the White House in support of the president’s proposal to return education back to the states,” DeWine said in a statement posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. “By giving states more authority over education, we will have the flexibility to focus our effort on tailoring an educational experience that is best for our children and meets Ohio’s needs, rather than trying to chase federal priorities.”

 

More below:

https://columbusunderground.com/ohio-gop-applaud-shutdown-of-department-of-education-ocj1/

Ohio GOP Wants 16+ Age Verification for Social Media Platforms

 

Two Republican Ohio state lawmakers want to ensure kids under 16 can’t join social media apps without parental consent. They contend kids face an avalanche of content from likes and friend requests to cyberbullying and sextortion. Their proposal will help parents protect their kids, they say.

 

If all that sounds familiar it’s because the General Assembly tried it two years ago. The law has been tied up in the courts ever since.

 

But Ohio state Sen. Michele Reynolds, R-Canal Winchester, and state Rep. Melanie Miller, R-Ashland, believe a different approach, one which drives a wedge between social media companies like Meta and the Apple and Google app stores, might survive court challenges. Instead of requiring individual apps verify a user’s age, Reynolds and Miller want the app store to impose a minimum age.

 

More below:

https://columbusunderground.com/ohio-gop-wants-16-age-verification-for-social-media-platforms-ocj1/