Ohio Issues

League of Women Voters LINK TO CUYAHOGA COUNTY LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS WHERE YOU CAN LINK TO CONCISE EXPLANATION OF THE ISSUES AND THEIR PROS AND CONS

The voters of Ohio are being faced with a plethora of issues on November 8th. These issues are lengthy and confusing. The Mahoning County Board of Elections has published the issues and appropriate discussion in the Vindicator several times, taking up at least 8 pages of extremely small print. The Mahoning County Board of Elections has announced that it will allow voters five minutes to vote on November 8th, and voters should not count on figuring out the issues in the voting booth. In other words, know how you are going to vote before you go in to push the computer buttons.

Let's start with Issue 2, which would allow anyone to request a "Mail In" ballot approximately 30 days before the election, and mail his/her vote in instead of voting on election day. I am personally against it as I truly believe voting is a privilege, and the least we can do as citizens is to show up to vote on election day. It also lends itself to voter fraud, and the selling of ballots. Ohio already has liberal absentee ballot laws. But arguments for the other side are also compelling, so I will give this a rousing "whatever rocks your boat".

Issues 3, 4, and 5 are much more difficult to understand. Personally, my biggest problem is that these issues aren't normal initiatives. They amend the Ohio Constitution. For example, they would enshrine spending caps in the Constitution. On its face, that is a bad idea. That should be done by statutes or more normal types of initiatives that can be changed as times change.

My second problem is I don't really understand how they work. If any initiative is too complicated to understand, and is being touted as "reformist", I want to understand the reform and the ramifications of what the reform is before I vote for it. The television commercials on both sides of the issues are abysmal, and give no explanation at all. In those situations, I try to go with the devil I know rather than the devil I don't. Which leads me to my 3rd concern.

I am not sure who is funding Reform Ohio Now, the organization which is pushing these issues. I would like to see what big money is goring the ox of other big money. I suspect, although I haven't researched it, that most of the money for Reform Ohio Now is from out of state contributors with motives other than "reforming Ohio". It smells like the only reform they want is their side to win rather the other side to win. Until I see who is paying for these issues, I will not vote for them. On October 28, the Toledo Blade stated: "Out-of-state money continues to overwhelm in-state contributions for Reform Ohio Now" and cites contributions to this organization from as far away as Hawaii. That is significant because one of the provisions of these initiatives is that it limits contributions by Ohio citizens to Ohio campaigns, but does not limit out of state contributions to Ohio campaigns.

To summarize, without really knowing what these issues do, I will vote against them for the following reasons:

1) They amend the Constitution rather than act as statutory initiatives that can be changed later;

2) I don't know what they do. I know how the current system works. I don't know how it would work under these initiatives;

3) I don't know who is paying for this. If it is out of state interests looking to "reform" Ohio's system into victory for whatever cause they are touting, that isn't reform. That is manipulation. Show me the contribution list.

Please take the time to independently understand the issues before you vote. And above all, VOTE.

Comments

Anonymous said…
You got it right--partly. Most of the proposed amendments can best be better served at the legislative level and not the constitutional level. Further, if we are ever to amend the constitution--action I generally oppose--it is best done using simple language and with much time to thoroughly study the intent and the probable result. Therefore, I oppose the passage of these proposed amendments at this time.

However, I strongly support the concepts of Issues 2, 3, 4 and 5. The devil is in the details and nobody really knows how such moves would play out in real life. What we do know that changing the constitution is a difficult task--and should be. If things don't work better, changing or fixing them will be most difficult. The Legislature could take care of much that is intended by the proposed amendments.

I do have one exception to my previously stated position. I am undecided on Issue 5. It isn't perfect, but I think it is better than what we have and isn't all that expensive. But then again, my crystal ball is clouded and the devil is in the details.

Finally, we must remember: Today's solutions and tomorrow's problems.

Salubriously,

Albert
8:03 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Strouss-Hirshberg; Things That Aren't There Anymore

Image
Youngstown was at the heart of the American industrial revolution in the mid 1800’s. During World War I, more steel came from Youngstown than anywhere else in the world. It’s no wonder, then, that the area was home of some of the best of everything, including department stores. Strouss-Hirshberg and McKelvey’s were the Macy’s and Gimbels of northeast Ohio, and offered to local residents the best of what money could buy. Strouss will always hold a special place in the heart of this area. It is hard to believe that there are twenty somethings today that haven't heard of it, or go “huh?” when you mention it. I tried doing some research on its history. Believe it or not, it is hard to find. As near as I could figure, the Strouss Hirshberg Company was originally known as D. Theobald and Company. Isaac Strouss clerked there, and eventually bought the store in 1875 with his new partner Bernard Hirshberg. The store was incorporated in 1906. The Readers Digest version of the life of the ...
Read more

Hope vs. Aspiration

Image
Don't forget to visit http://www.markknowsitall.com/ Hope: to have a wish to get or do something or for something to happen or be true. Aspiration : a desire or ambition to achieve something. As the 2008 presidential campaign heats up, Barack Obama is in full gear selling his vision for the future of America. He is for “hope” and “change.” …and oh yes, peace. He is also for “peace.” Aren’t we all? Obama, the oratorical wunderkind with the speech cadence of Martin Luther King, is doing a fine job of telling us what we should hope for, and how he is going to give it to us. He is a riveting individual and a spell binding speech giver. Hope is a good thing, right? Obama believes Americans are “hope” deficient. Americans “hope” for universal (read “government run”) health care, even though 85% of Americans have coverage, and 25% of those who do not aren't American citizens, and an additional 14% of those who don’t can afford it but simply choose not buy it, and a portion of the re...
Read more

Donald Sutherland's Pants

An adult coming of age movie entitled Garden State made the rounds last summer. A friend of mine told me it was worth watching, so I bought the DVD. If you are a fan of movies filled with generational angst, which I am, this movie fills the bill. But if you are easily offended by casual sex, drug use, spoiled brats, and generally slovenly behavior, stick with Casablanca . Let's face it. A movie in which one of the protagonists is a grave digger who steals the jewelry off dead bodies prior to their being put in the ground is not exactly The Brady Bunch . Included in the movie soundtrack is a song called In The Waiting Line . It is a "head" song. Translated: play it while getting stoned. The lyrics ask the musical question: "Do you believe in what you see?" And that, my friends, is the topic of this week's essay. Animal House is the quintessential college frat house slob movie. It was fairly raunchy when it was released in 1978. By today's standards, i...
Read more