Let's follow Michigan's lead

taxmanblog: Let's follow Michigan's lead

From the taxmanblog:

Keno is coming on board next month to a bar near you.

For a moment, forget that this is a state sanctioned theft of money from poor dumb asses which puts pay day loans to shame. But this is what really caught my eye in this article.

The new games is expected to rake in $73 million in profits for Ohio schools. Sales projections, the number of Keno retailers and other factors are modeled after Michigan's success with the game, Metelsky said. "We're not re-inventing the wheel here. We're looking at best practices and what has worked."

I know that's what we've been missing in this state..... great ideas from Michigan. That wonderful state with what? a 10% unemployment rate?

I'll say it over and over again. I'm not the smartest guy in the world so I make up for it by imitating what the smart guys are doing. Conversely, if Michigan's doing something, I think I'd pass on it. They're not the model of what I would call "success".

Comment: Great public policy by our useless Republican led General Assembly. We have a choice; we do not have to follow them. Say no to the ORP. Join the boycott today, before it’s too late for Ohio.

Ohio General Assembly Energy Failure

One Oar in the Water: Ohio General Assembly Energy Failure

From One Oar in the Water:

I came upon an interesting posting at the weblog Keane Observations about the recent comments made by T. Boone Pickens and the plan he is currently barnstorming to reduce our nation’s dependency on foreign oil. After reading the post and the attached articles I went to YouTube to find some videos with Mr. Pickens that might further explain his plan, and sure enough I came a across a detailed lecture he gives that provides a more than just surface data.

After watching the lecture I was struck by the amount of readily available U.S. Government (USG) data used by Mr. Pickens to support his plan, however I became angered when I research the same data specific to Ohio.

Here’s my beef; our moronic Ohio politicians led by Republican and House Speaker Jon Husted and the Democrat Governor Ted Strickland just gave away a large part of a $16 billion “jobs stimulus package,” our tax dollars and money we worked for, to “alternative energy” companies. And along the way they further strapped the citizens of Ohio with an additional burden because it’s now required by law to buy back the technology developed by these companies, proven or unproven, and will be installed on our state government buildings. Yet with just a quick cursory look at the data Mr. Pickens used from the U.S. Department of Energy clearly demonstrates Ohio is not geographically situated to exploit wind or solar. But one would think that our elected officials, Mr. Husted and Strickland, would have used the same USG data when they decided to create this corporate welfare give away program.

Now if that doesn’t make you angry, there was nothing in the $16 billion stimulus package for coal and nuclear production, which Ohio could significantly capitalize upon, create real jobs through, lower energy costs, and provide much needed assistance to the rural region of the Mid-Ohio Valley. These idiots gave away a huge chunk of the $16 billion package and it will not benefit Ohio! But I would also ask why should the State of Ohio be giving away tax dollars to private companies when all they would have to do is just get off the stick and remove the mountains of regulations restricting the building of coal and nuclear plants?

Husted and Strickland aren’t the only reckless ones; every elected politician in Congress, republican or democrat, originating from Ohio is culpable of the same nonsensical behavior since it has been their similar moronic actions hamstringing the construction of new energy plants in this country that has resulted in the loss of Ohioan’s jobs and higher energy costs. For years our Ohio politicians have signed onto laws that have shut down any growth in the energy sector and have greatly aided our dependency on foreign oil. No matter the party, our Ohio representatives in Congress should have been looking out for the Ohio citizenry, not the environmental special interest lobby groups like the Sierra Club and the Environmental Defense Fund, to name a few, that get rich on frivolous law suits costing US taxpayers money and jobs.

T. Boone Pickens has a plan; it’s simple and based upon common sense. Strickland and Husted have a plan and it’s based upon fantasy, socialism, and stupidity. Let’s face it, if we are going to get out of this energy mess it’s going to take leadership and some good old common sense; something in short supply in Columbus and Washington. We need energy, but before we can get it, we need a change in our state’s political direction.

Folks the time has come to get rid of these folks. If we don’t stand up today and hold the deficient political class accountable we might as well get used to the medieval way of life, because the republicrats and the demlicans are sending us into the dark ages real fast.

Comment: For too many years we have watched the Republican led General Assembly waste our tax dollars on inefficient pork projects and have piled on mountains of government regulations that have killed the business and agricultural life of this state all to please silly lobbyist groups. We must stop this assault on our prosperity from this defunct political tyrannical class.

Folks we are dieing here in Ohio. We have been amidst a depression for over 15 years and yet the party in power uses the socialist playbook of the Democrat Party, slowly killing this state in
the process. The only hope for Ohio is for true republican norms and ideals to re-emerge through the dank dark socialist infested halls of the State General Assembly.

Join us today and fight this self-gratifying political class; boycott the ORP and tell them not one red cent until republican norms return to the great State of Ohio!

Ohio Law Would Allow Forced Blood Draws by Police

One Oar in the Water: Ohio Law Would Allow Forced Blood Draws by Police

From One Oar in the Water:

Ohio legislature votes to allow police to make forced, warrantless blood draws from anyone accused of DUI.

Wow! I missed this one! Sadly Strickland signed this bill.

Ohio: Law Would Allow Forced Blood Draws by Police

Via the website Loose Change 9/11:

"A proposed law currently awaiting the signature of Ohio Governor Ted Strickland (D) would remove any barrier to a police agency that wishes to forcibly remove blood from motorists accused of driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI). State Senator Timothy J. Grendell (R-Chesterland) introduced this anti-DUI measure which sailed through the state House with an 87-6 vote and a 33-0 vote in the Senate earlier this month.

"Grendell’s bill is designed to extend the concept of implied consent beyond a mere breath test. Anyone who obtains a driver’s license automatically would agree to allow his blood to be taken at the request of any police officer. Moreover, the consent doctrine would also apply to anyone who uses water skis or anything else “watercraft-related” in Ohio.

"'A law enforcement officer who makes a request pursuant to this division that a person submit to a chemical test or tests shall advise the person at the time of the arrest that if the person refuses to take a chemical test the officer may employ whatever reasonable means are necessary to ensure that the person submits to a chemical test of the person’s whole blood or blood serum or plasma,' the proposed law states. 'A law enforcement officer who acts pursuant to this division to ensure that a person submits to a chemical test of the person’s whole blood or blood serum or plasma is immune from criminal and civil liability based upon a claim for assault and battery or any other claim for the acts, unless the officer so acted with malicious purpose, in bad faith, or in a wanton or reckless manner.'

"Although the law specifies that only “a physician, a registered nurse, or a qualified technician” can draw blood from a motorist, a number of North Texas police agencies have devised a twenty-four hour course that certifies traffic police to take blood as technicians. Ohio’s program will go far beyond that of Texas, however, by removing the requirement that a judge must issue a warrant before the blood can be drawn.

"Last year, the Minnesota Supreme Court struck down warrantless blood draws as a violation of the Fourth Amendment (view ruling), while a New Jersey appellate court upheld the concept and dismissed a complaint against police officers who caused permanent injuries to a motorist during a forced blood draw (view ruling).

"The Ohio legislation will become law by July 4 unless the governor vetoes the bill. The full text of the proposal is available in a 450k PDF file at the source link below.

Source: Senate Bill 17 (Ohio General Assembly, 6/26/2008)

Comment: OK folks; is there a need for this? The correct answer is absolutely no! So why the hell are “Republicans” like Grendell doing this, who I thought was a “liberty” oriented man? Well he obviously lost his moral and ethical compass, as did every other knucklehead in the Ohio General Assembly that voted for this. They have opened even more intrusion into our lives and viciously attacked the 4th Amendment to the US Constitution.

Please consider joining the boycott of the Ohio Republican Party. This is one more example of the lost bearing by our Republican political class. This my friends is an example of police state socialism found in the former Soviet Union, Communist China, North Korea, and Cuba, not Ohio or the United States.

Comment: Is there any reason for such a law and to draw blood at a roadside check? Sadly this went through with full support of both parties and 100% affirmative vote in the Senate. Whatever happened to Republicans that stood up for individual liberty and freedom without the tyranny of a police state search?

These are dark times within the Ohio Republican Party and Ohio and it is time for a change my friends. We must turn back the socialist leanings of the ORP if we are to have even a glimmer of hope in Ohio.

Fight these people; stand up to this deficient group of people that do not represent Ohio. Join boycott today!

Why does Jon Husted hate veterans?

Stubborn Liberal: Why does Jon Husted hate veterans?

Jon Husted, Republican Speaker of the Ohio House, apparently hates military veterans. Husted did not want to have a vote to give bonuses to the Ohioans who are Iraq and Afghanistan vets or their surviving families. Husted blocked a vote on the bonuses. According to the Dispatch, Ohio Treasurer Richard Cordray originally proposed the bonuses and Gov. Ted Strickland was in support of the special payment to the vets. However, Husted would not schedule a vote for the Ohio House. (The measure had passed in the Ohio Senate.)

Here is a little more from the Dispatch:

....Cordray complained that legislators "were able to find over a billion dollars in bonded debt for projects in their districts" but were unwilling to approve bonuses for veterans. He referred to the recently approved capital-improvements bill....

Jon Husted, who often pads projects for his own district, should be told that his refusal to help our veterans is not appreciated. You can contact Husted at

Telephone: (614) 644-6008Fax : (614) 719-3591Email Address: district37@ohr.state.oh.ushttp://jonhusted.wordpress.com/

Comment: Considering the amount of money Husted just doled out from our tax dollars, a larger portion from the $16 billion jobs stimulus package, to unproven “alternative energy” and “bio-medical” companies, the General Assembly could see there way for those that are here to help Ohio when water rise above the levies and go to a questionable war.

Folks Mr. Husted has lost his way. From my position it seems as if he believes himself to be above the people. Sadly this is the general disposition of the political class within the Ohio Republican Party.

Folks it time we stood and said no more. Please join the boycott today and write or email your county Republican Party and tell them not one red cent until republican norms return to Ohio.

Join the Boycott Today

How long can you sit back as business after business leaves the State of Ohio? How long can you sit back while second-rate leadership in the Republican led General Assembly raises taxes, increases the size of government, and gives away millions of our tax dollars to pie and the sky fantasies? How long can you sit back as our Republican congressional officials dig this nation deeper and deeper into economic misery through fiscal deficits and oppressive government regulations?

If you have had enough of these RINOs and will not sit back any longer, then join the boycott of the Ohio Republican Party (ORP) and tell ORP “NO” money until republican ideals return to Ohio!

We need to send a big message to Bob Bennett and Kevin DeWine that we are not going to put up with the weak leadership and “liberal” agenda that our elected republican officials are advancing. But it takes two things for the ORP leadership to understand we are serious: a strong voice on the outside, and your withholding of donations from the inside.

We need your support so please join our group so our numbers will grow and we can mount a tough protest in the coming months. At the same time, send a note to Bob Bennett and Kevin DeWine telling them “NOT ONE RED CENT” until republicans ideals return to Ohio.

Join the boycott today by first sending an email to saynotoorp at gmail. Together we can bring change to Ohio, but we can only do it together. Please join today.

Ohio's Keynesian Revolution

Anti-Positivist: Ohio's Keynesian Revolution

Via the Anti-Positivist:

Bad ideas never die, they are simply recycled and repackaged.

Turning their backs on the supply-side economics of Reagan, the Ohio Republicans at the statehouse have embraced the ideals of the FDR Democrats; the Republicans are now trying to spend their way out of recession.

First off, these folks are spending our money on programs that benefit special interests. Not you or me, but those who lobby and contribute to campaigns. That's how government works.

To justify their largess, the Republicans claim that the extra $1.57 billion will create 57,000 jobs over the next five years. Now, it is possible that the spending scheme will create 57,000 jobs, but the Austrian School of economics has shown that at least 57,001 jobs will be lost over the very same period.

Government interventions in the market never create or improve, they simply switch, distort, and enervate.

Taxes exert a huge burden on a rustbelt state, discouraging firms from moving here. Yet, the boneheads at the state -- and in the Republican Party -- believe in taxing and spending.

Keep in mind that government interventions distort economies, always. When the state provides fund for certain programs, investment occurs within those areas. Once government funding stops, those very same areas suffer job loses. This is true because government never spends in areas that are productive. Why? If those areas had any chance of being productive, the areas would have attracted private investment. That's how markets work.

To believe otherwise is to believe that the folks at the statehouse can predict the markets better than the entrepreneur and invester; sort of like believing in the Chimera.

This is why programs, once started, tend to continue: Government fears the "recession" in the sectors distorted by previous government interventions. There is no other way to explain the amount of money wasted on "research" at OSU. The state fears having to lay-off all those researchers who produce nothing of any real value.

In the end, Republicans are now Democrats, taxing and spending. I must have missed the sign that said, "Entering the rabbit hole."

Comment: Jim’s comments certainly bespeak the poor leadership displayed by Rep. Jon Husted and Senator Bill Evans. It seems as if the only two words they understand are tax and spend.

Send the entire Ohio Republican Party a big message; tell them you are tired of the tax and spend black hole and want real economic change for Ohio. Tell them you will not give one red cent until republican norms return to Ohio!

Fascism, Tiberi style

Anti-Positivist: Fascism, Tiberi style

Via the Anti-Positivist:

US Rep Pat Tiberi is tauting a plan that would have put Mussolini to shame. According to Tiberi and his fellow Republicans in DC, the state and industry must conjoin in order to solve the supposed energy crisis.

This ambitious plan was brazenly lifted from Italy of the 1920's and 30's, with Tiberi functioning as Ohio's Giovanni Gentile.

When did the Republicans drop the individual for the collective?

To think, if it wasn't for the voices of those like US Sen Robert Taft -- aka Mr. Republican -- the US would have continued down FDR's fascist path in the 1930's and 40's -- the very same path that Tiberi believes will solve our economic woes and lead to Tiberian Utopia.

Hey, Tiberi, the problem is folks like you; those whose ambitions and plans exceed their abilities. Read Mises's Socialism or Omnipotent Government, or Hayek's Fatal Conceit.

Times change things. And now it's the Republicans with the big plans for big government.

From Tiberi's most-recent constituent email:

Dear Friend,

Today was the 15th consecutive day that the average price of gas per gallon set a record high. During the coming holiday weekend, I know many of you are changing your normal Memorial Day weekend plans, just like you’re changing your normal routines to pay for filling up the tank so you can drive to work or drop your children off at school.

When Democrat Nancy Pelosi was elected Speaker of the House gas was $2.33 and now nearly 16 months later, paying $4 for a gallon appears to be coming. While it may seem we’re playing the “blame game,” the truth is the rising price of gas is not a Republican issue it’s not a Democrat issue, it is an American issue because it’s affecting every single family across the country regardless of their political ideology. The thing is, in the House the Democrats are in the Majority and they control the bills that are brought to the Floor for a vote. As gas prices are causing rising prices at the grocery store and around every corner, the time for leadership is now.

I have voted in favor of increased gas mileage standards, I have voted for suspending deposits to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, I have voted for alternative energy incentives, I have voted to give the U.S. the ability to investigate OPEC nations for alleged price fixing, and I have voted for the federal gas tax holiday. But it will take more. We have a production deficit in this country. The bottom line is among many approaches like those above, we also need to increase the production of energy to see a real dollars and cents difference in gas prices. Below is a plan outlined by House Republicans this week to do just that and I’d like to share it with you.

This plan is not set in stone. We’ll all have to give a little – gas producers and conservationists, Republicans and Democrats – to get to a real solution. But I am committed to increasing energy production, whether that is the production of biofuels or gasoline, I know the status quo, is unacceptable. I hope as we move into the summer the Majority will allow us to debate elements of this plan so we can transition to a 21st century energy plan.

Sincerely,

Pat Tiberi
Ohio’s 12th Congressional District



Courtesy of the Republican Conference:

The Change America Deserves: Lower Energy Prices

When it comes to energy production, while our global competitors are pursuing 21st Century technologies, America is stuck in the 1970s. On electricity production alone, for example, just to keep up with new demand, by 2030, the United States must build 747 NEW coal plants, 52 NEW nuclear plants, 2,000 NEW hydroelectric generators, and add 13,000 NEW megawatts of renewable power. The dire need to increase domestic oil and gas production is no different. Yet, the Democratic Majority refuses to lead.

Republicans are committed to a comprehensive energy reform policy that will increase the supply of American-made energy, improve energy efficiency, and encourage investment in groundbreaking research in advanced alternative and renewable energy technologies. With 21st Century technologies and the strictest standards in the world, America can and must produce more of our own energy right here at home and protect our environment at the same time. That’s the change America deserves.

How Republican Solutions Will Fix It:

The Change America Deserves: Meeting Our Energy Needs with American Made Energy



The comprehensive House Republican plan will fund research and development of technologies and innovations which advance the use of renewable and domestically available energy sources, increase energy efficiency, and ease the environmental impacts of energy use.


1) Increasing the Production of American-Made Energy in an Environmentally-Safe Way
a. Support actions that reduce America’s dependence on energy from unstable foreign governments and dictatorships by increasing environmentally-safe production of oil and natural gas in areas such as the arctic coastal plain and in deep ocean energy resources; and
b. Promote unconventional fuels such as coal-to-liquids technology and recovering our vast oil shale reserves by:
Increasing access for environmentally responsible development of conventional and unconventional domestic oil and natural gas production;
Providing coal-to-liquids financing and tax incentives;
Advancing the commercialization of the nation's two trillion barrel shale oil resource, 80 percent of which occurs on government-owned land in the West. This is enough to supply America's energy needs for over two centuries.
2) Promoting New, Clean, and Reliable Sources of Energy

a. Encourage more production of environmentally-safe energy to increase the use of our vast domestic supply, reduce emissions, and keep coal-dependent communities strong; and
b. Expand emissions-free nuclear power, including long term nuclear waste storage solutions and recycling spent fuel by:
Providing production and investment tax credits for all new base-load electricity projects such as advanced nuclear power and clean coal; and
Providing production and investment tax credits for all new base-load electricity projects such as advanced nuclear power and clean coal; and
Allowing immediate expensing for new renewable or zero emission power.
3) Cutting Red Tape and Increase the Supply of American-Made Fuel and Energy

a. Expedite permitting for enhanced oil recovery projects, including CO2 delivery and injection, as well as permitting for new refining capacity;

b. Improve environmental review and permitting to encourage the deployment of technologies which increase the efficiency of existing power plants; and

c. End ill-advised policies that have led to the proliferation of unique gasoline and diesel fuel formulations known as “boutique fuels,” which have fragmented our motor fuels distribution system, choked off supply, and exacerbated the already-painful Pelosi Premium.

4) Encouraging Greater Energy Efficiency by Offering Conservation Tax Incentives

a. Support technologies to help increase energy efficiency in all sectors of the American economy, including removing bureaucratic regulatory barriers that prevent businesses from upgrading their facilities with newer, more efficient energy technologies, by:

Making home energy efficiency upgrades tax deductable;
Providing incentives for home builders and homeowners to make their homes more energy efficient;
Offering investment expensing for industrial and commercial building efficiency upgrades;
Extending the residential and business solar and fuel cell investment tax credits, with enhancements to the residential solar credit ($2,000 per ½ kw installed);
Extending the fiber-optic distributed sunlight investment tax credit; and
Increasing the energy efficiency of government-owned buildings.

Comment: Jim’s comments resonate across the entire GOP, “Times change things. And now it's the Republicans with the big plans for big government.” It seems as if this is the template they have chosen without much thought given to history, logic, or the consequences. And certainly Ohio stands to be one of the greatest failures of this GOP template considering we have been in a form of economic depression for over 15 years.

We’ll continue to beat the drum and beat it loudly: NOT ONE RED CENT until republican norms return to Ohio.