ORP Driving up the Cost of Insurance

Buckeye Institute Blog: Driving up the Cost of Insurance

From the Buckeye Institute Blog:

“In an indication that Republican legislators’ disdain for the free market extends not only to lending but also to health care, the Ohio House unanimously passed another health insurance mandate yesterday. This mandate forces insurance companies to cover costs associated with cancer clinical health trials.

“I’m not questioning the merits of clinical trials and I do not necessarily think that insurance companies should exclude coverage of them. However, I do not think it is proper for government to force insurance companies to cover them. Mandates of this sort drive up the cost of insurance and play a large role in making health insurance unaffordable for some Ohioans.

“If people want to purchase a policy that in return for costing less does not cover clinical cancer trial coverage, they should have the freedom to do so. Your legislators, however, want to force you to pay more for insurance even if you do not want this particular service covered. When looking for an answer as to why some people cannot afford insurance, look no further than your local legislator.”

Comment: ORP disdain for the free market, say it isn’t so?

GOP Turns its Back on the Free Market

Buckeye Institute Blog: GOP Turns its Back on the Free Market

Via the Buckeye Institute Blog:

In their quest to continue one-upping Democrats in taking away your freedom, Republicans in the General Assembly introduced legislation yesterday to effectively ban payday lending in Ohio. Based on the notion that some people are too stupid to make their own financial choices, this legislation should illustrate how far the supposed party of the free market has embraced the fatal conceit that the government should dictate your financial choices.

House Speaker Jon Husted makes this clear with his assertion that “While a lot of people would prefer that we minimize some of the regulations regarding borrowing, clearly as a nation and as consumers we cannot handle it very well.” Yes, some people cannot manage their own economic lives well. However, some others cannot manage the state budget very well. Has Mr. Husted forgotten about the financial difficulties facing the state? Perhaps when legislators solve those problems — and also find a way to stimulate growth in Ohio’s economy — they can lecture the rest of us on how we “cannot handle borrowing very well.”

Comment: Husted continues out stride the socialists in the ODP. Way to go Jon!

Not One Red Cent until republican norms return to the Ohio!

Despicable - Even for Team Arshinkoff

Ben Keeler: Despicable - Even for Team Arshinkoff

Ben Keeler reports on a despicable act from Summit County that may have serious reverberations throughout the state, pitting Summit County Republican Chairman Alex Arshinkoff and Senator Kevin Coughlin once again.

Comment: Certainly more facts will emerge as the media becomes involved in what appears to be part of one long saga of infighting within the Summit County Republican Party. However, as we sit back and watch from a distance, this event only serves to illustrate to our group why we are fighting the Ohio Republican Party (ORP). Simply, Republican politics in Ohio is focused on power, rather than good stewardship based upon republicans norms.

None of us are so naive to believe that hard ball practices do not occur everyday and at every level of politics; but what Ohio Republicans have done for well over the last 20 years has been to abandon the norms of limited government, fiscal restraint, and family and community bearing for quick score shortsighted populist measures that are frankly socialist in nature and have become a huge detriment to the state’s moral and fiscal wellbeing.

Our agenda is posted here on the weblog site so we will not rehash it in detail, but in a nutshell we will not give one red cent until leadership change occurs and republican norms return to the ORP, and we hope you will do the same.

We urge to send a letter or email to as many members of the ORP leadership, county Republican parties, republican members of the Ohio General Assembly, and elected Republican officials in Congress letting them know you are not donating any money until the change comes to Ohio. Then please write your friends and families letting them know about this boycott. And if you have a website, please cut and paste our sign and link in your site as an act of solidarity.

We have only two choices; continuing to elect and prop up the same old Republicans and expecting change to happen, or holding back support until change comes. We choose the latter and we hope you do too.

Not One Red Cent until republican norms return to Ohio!

Reduces Spending

Anti-Positivist: Reduces Spending

Via Jim Fedako, The Anti-Positivist:

"In a real twist, it's the Democratic governor of Ohio committing to reduced spending.

"Locally, things are much different. The Olentangy district is increasing costs, all with your hard-earned tax dollars. In a troubled economy, the district still wants to provide its employees with 6.5% salary increases, plan another 12% increase in healthcare costs. About time to tighten belts a little, don't you think.

"Keep in mind that Scott Galloway, board president, is the treasurer of the Republican Party in Delaware County. Based on his desire for more of your tax dollars, it seems like it's time for a change in party leadership.

"Who speaks for fiscal restraint anymore? Just the governor?"

Comment: One of the many missing core norms of the Ohio Republican Party, fiscal restraint. Not One Red Cent until republican norms return to Ohio!

Landmark Energy Policy for Ohio; Really?

One Oar in the Water: Landmark Energy Policy for Ohio; Really?

From One Oar in the Water:

From the Ohio Republican Party Website:

“Ohio House Speaker Jon Husted (R- Kettering) today led the Ohio House of Representatives in the passage of a landmark energy policy for the state of Ohio that helps to establish price stabilization for consumers and embraces new concepts for the state in the areas of advanced and renewable energy.

“‘Our work represents an energy policy that will protect consumers and provide jobs and cleaner, greener energy for Ohio,’ Husted said.

“The legislation is Ohio's best strategy for ensuring price stability and an adequate supply of energy generation in the future. The hybrid model offered by the Ohio House, in the form of Senate Bill 221, addresses the needs of businesses, industrial users and residential consumers while also moving toward a greener and cleaner environment through provisions and benchmarks for renewable and advanced energy.

“The energy plan additionally includes a provision for a state advocate to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The position would help protect Ohio's interests at the federal level by requiring the advocate to proactively address federal issues that affect the price and reliability of electricity in Ohio.

“In addition to promoting the use of new, cleaner forms of energy, the legislation also creates an energy efficiency standard, which would require utilities to meet a cumulative 22 percent standard by reducing usage, beginning with a .3 percent reduction by 2009 and increasing to a 2 percent reduction of use by 2025. Benchmarks and penalties for lack of compliance are also included for this portion of the proposal.”

Comment: For a better understanding of this bill, check out this link, and read the text for yourself. I read it four times, and became angrier each time I read it.

I don’t see anything “landmark” in this bill; what I see is the compilation of nonsense written by a bunch of pandering politicians that care nothing about Ohio, limited government, nor the free market. This is riddled with waste and regulations, and it saturated with the lexicon of the environmental leftists.

Do you really think that funding a couple of small solar companies, and then mandating all of our schools incorporate the same solar technology is going to create jobs for Ohio? Do you really think that solar is going to solve our dwindling industrial dilemma? Do you think a couple of solar panels on our state buildings with some windmills on the coast and a few farms in the North West are going to supply Ohio with enough energy to actually to make it affordable? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions you either write for the socialist rag “DailyKos” or are an elected Republican politician.

What was needed in this bill was more nuclear and more coal; but you would be hard pressed to find anything in this bill that even mentioned this form. A vibrant energy sector will only survive and grow when there is “actual” de-regulation of the industry. We have to let the market dictate the form of energy we will use, not Husted and Strickland.

Sorry folks, this is one more example of poor governance exhibited by the Republican led General Assembly. The end result of this bill will be higher energy prices, an aging energy production capability, less jobs, and more migration as Ohioans seek a better community to work and raise their children. Once again, Ohio’s Republican leadership let us down.

Comment: Mr. Husted certainly does not understand republican norms; Not One Red Cent until change come to the ORP!

The Earth is Shaking in Ohio

Matt Naugle of NaugBlog is reporting that State Rep. John Adams, R-Sidney, along with 19 other legislators, is forwarding a bill that would eliminate the income tax. This is very good indication; now lets see if the Ohio Republican party gets behind this and makes it part of its platform.

From Lima News:

COLUMBUS — A group of legislators wants to phase out the state’s income tax in 10 years and said doing so would halt Ohio’s population loss to other states and create jobs.

State Rep. John Adams, R-Sidney, and the region’s other legislators are part of a group of 19 pushing the bill introduced Monday.

“This idea is not conservative or liberal, left or right, it is just simple economics,” Adams said. “When we tax the risk takers and job creators, we will have less of them.”

Other states are flattening their top rates and nine states have no income tax, Adams said.

Reducing the state’s tax burden will draw more business and capital to the state; more people paying other kinds of existing taxes make up the difference, they argue.

With the socialist Third Frontier Program and Gov. Strickland’s foolish plans to “invest” tax dollars in risky job creating schemes, Rep. Adams’ plan is the only real, long-term way to encourage more economic growth and job creation within Ohio. Ohio’s state and local tax burden, according to the Tax Foundation, is the 5th worst in the nation. If the goal is “economic stimulus”, there would be no better shot in the arm to Ohio’s economy than scrapping the state income tax.

Too bad there aren’t enough real Republicans in the Ohio legislature to get the job done.

Comment: Mr. Naugle said it all.

More on Not One Red Cent!

A supporter of this boycott sent us comments from an Ohio based conservative-republican discussion board, and not surprising they were hostile to this endeavor. Actually one person said that we were working for the infamous communist George Soros. We can assure you, we do not.

Our goal is simple; to convince Ohio Republicans that the Ohio Republican Party (ORP) has strayed too far from authentic republican norms, and through a statewide boycott of the ORP’s “88 in 08” donation effort, affect change in the party leadership and direction, and the direction of legislation in the General Assembly.

How will we know if we are successful; this in itself is a difficult task. However, we have mulled around a couple potential milestones that we might use, which will indicate if the ORP is moving in the right direction:

1. Party Chairman Bob Bennett either steps down from his position or is voted out;
2. The tax rate in Ohio is reduced; specifically, elimination of the income tax for all Ohio, and the reduction of the corporate tax rate;
3. Advance above the 25th position in the business tax climate ranking conducted by the Tax Foundation.
4. Advance above the 25^th position in the personal tax climate ranking conducted by the Tax Foundation.
5. Advance above the 10^th position for education ranking conducted by American Legislative Exchange Council.
6. Reduce Ohio’s unemployment rate to below 4.5 percent; this would take us below the national average by 0.5 percent;
7. Reduce government spending by 15 percent;
8. Reduce the regulatory constraints preventing new construction of energy power plants and develop a comprehensive plan to increase the number of energy plants;
9. Regain the Governor’s seat;
10. Regain the lost seat in the United States Senate.

These are only a few and I am sure we will examine other areas that would certainly indicate a return to republican norms, such as reducing the gigantic Medicare beast. We also hope that fellow republicans reading this weblog would offer their opinions as well.

But we should be clear that it is not our goal to destroy for the sake of destruction. Since the time of the French Revolution such actions of destruction have been the hallmark of the left. Our goal is to destroy only the cancerous tumor that is causing illness to the body. Ohio needs the ORP, but it must be healthy and focused on republican norms. Otherwise we will be faced with a very dismal outlook, and one only needs to look north to Michigan for our potential circumstances.