How I am Voting in the Upcoming Ohio Primary

I have voted as a Democrat for over 30 years, and this is most likely the last time.  Now that I saw how corrupt the party is in Cuyahoga County, I am going to drop my affiliation and become an Independent.  I want to vote against some of the stuffed shirts I met when I bid for the County Council position.  I was shocked at how the party infrastructure did not care about issues or platforms or the positions of candidates on corruption, reducing poverty or in fact anything.  They did not want to know your history of solving problems, implementing public policy or even how many people you as a candidate helped to vote.  All the party leaders cared about was patronage and who's turn it was for the seat.  So, I am leaving the party that appoints people as a thank you for their service instead of the value of their ideas or their ability to get things done.  

In those 30 years, I have never voted for a Republican so I could never jump to that corrupt party.  The Dems in Cuyahoga County have squandered their previous power and have absolutely no authority down in Columbus.  They have been in power in Cuyahoga for 35 years and have no fear of losing any of their positions of power here locally. They are comfortable controlling the County, the City and most of the inner-ring suburbs.  There is no pressure to solve problems and make tough decisions.  Even massive corruption did not knock them out of their positions handing out contracts and work.  It is my belief, the Cuyahoga County Democratic party is rotten to the core, and I don't need the headache. 

Republicans are also rotten but on a much bigger scale.  They are a party that is in power exclusively to enrich the wealthy while campaigning as the party of the people.  The Republicans have fooled people into voting against their own interests for decades.  They are a party of hate for immigrants, hate of poor people and anyone different from them.  They run for office with two made up goals of being against abortion and any raising taxes, but the reality is that if abortion was illegal the Republican Party would disappear.  The tax cut from last year is going to cripple our country for decades, and the reality is that if they don't like government so why run for to administer that government? It is like Al Gore campaigning to be CEO of Exxon.  The Republicans see failings in people and try to find a legislative solution to "reform people" like forcing work among the disabled or the hungry.  So, the Republican party rots from the head while the Dems are rotting from the tail.  

Here is who I am voting for in the Ohio May Primary, and I know I am just some guy from Cleveland Hts.  You don't need to read any further because what do I know?  I don't have a huge following; I don't influence groups of people, and I am just a low paid service worker.  

1. I am voting for Joe Schiavoni for governor. I love Dennis Kucinich, and I went to Iowa to work on his Presidential campaign.  He was one of the best US Representative I have ever seen because of his constituent services, but working for Fox News cost him my vote in the primary. Also, his defense of Syrian Butcher Assad is pretty hard to swallow.  I have also decided that I am not voting for anyone over 70 years old from now on.  These old folks need to retire and let younger citizens take these jobs.  I like Cordray, but he seems like a good boring candidate with no real fixed positions especially on guns in our society.  I would rather see a person run who has some strong positions (that they advertise on their website) especially against assault weapons in our society. I could never vote for Judge O'Neill, because of his odd behavior, his age and his protest against the Browns who took a knee.   I wish Betty Sutton was still a candidate she is an honest and an honorable politician.  No matter what happens, I will vote for one of these guys in November, because the two Republicans are deplorable candidates who will do harm to Ohio.  

2. I am voting yes on the statewide ballot issue for redistricting, but it will only help a little.  It will still allow the Rs to gerrymander, but just not as much. 

3. Blaine Griffin is a good guy for Central Committee. I worked with him at the City.

4. Jeff Johnson is better than Williams for State Senator, but only because he is so outspoken.  He was found out to be a corrupt politician, but he at least listens to people. He will call out the hypocrisy down in Columbus.  Williams does nothing and is basically a wall flower in my opinion. 

5. For Common Pleas judge  Kilbane is far better than her competition. I use the Judge4Yourself website for my judicial pics.

6. McGinty is the highest rated judge over Santoli who was endorsed by the Plain Dealer. In my book, a Plain Dealer endorsement is a strike against a candidate, because the editors are normally wrong.

7. I wish that there was a Democrat running against Judge John O'Donnell.  He found the cop who got up on the hood of Timothy Russell's car to shoot the two unarmed homeless people to death in East Cleveland not guilty.  His grandstanding decision by getting off the bench and reading his verdict while walking around to describe the scene was excessive. I would never vote for this guy for letting Officer Brelo off because the People could not prove that his bullet was the one that killed Russell or Williams.  It is insane logic to miss the forest for the trees. "I am sorry your honor but all of the bank robbers fired on the security guard and you cannot prove that it was my bullet that killed him, so you will have to find me not guilty of murder."  

8.  In my opinion, Rendon is the best of the other judicial race from Judge4Yourself over Rucker and Hagan. The other two candidates got "not recommended" by the Bar Associations in this crowded field. 

9. Vodrey is one of the best rated in the other competitive judge race in a crowded field.  He was a housing court magistrate while the other two higher rated judges were prosecutors (Howard) or very wealthy (Rein).  I would give the nod to a housing magistrate anytime. 

9. Finally, County Council is the race that I applied for and am not happy with either candidate.  Houser has close ties to our troubled County Executive, and had no ideas for what he wants to do in this office.  So, at least Cheryl Stephens is female and from Cleveland Hts..  She has experience in the Cleveland Hts Council, so I am going with her.  She is more likely to be forced to actually do something, while Houser is just looking for the next opportunity.  

But what do I know?

Brian Davis

The Ohio Nightmare

by Max Johnson

I just don't understand Ohio voters at all. I keep pressing refresh on Nate Silver's NY Times blog hoping that it will change the polling for Ohio Senate and Governors Race. How could the polls have the two worst possible candidates in the lead for election in these critical offices for Ohio? The big picture here is that the Ohio Republican party has been in power for most of the last 25 years, and where are we? Voters gave one of the worst Governors ever, Bob Taft, two terms in office. The Republicans have won basically on the pledge to cut taxes. In good times and bad, their only platform is to cut taxes. It is a winning strategy to get elected, but a losing strategy to govern a state. This is like telling your bank that you will balance the budget of your business only by reducing expenses. "I will not even consider working to create additional resources for my business. Any price increases or new product offering is off the table." See how long your banker would tolerate this recklessness and keep extending credit to you.

They are the party of "no." They have done nothing when they were in power and now they want their old jobs back. I understand throwing the bums out, but do not understand putting back the guys who got us in trouble. They have isolated us on the international stage, and have preached fiscal responsibility without acting responsibility. I never get the sense that the Republican elected officials have ideas for solving problems, but are great at marketing. This is the party of Abramoff and Gingrich who were run out of Washington for mismanagement and scandal. This is a small tent party that has alienated its traditional base in Hispanics with no answer to immigration issues except building fences and law enforcement. They preach small government, but don't mind if government gets involved in the sex life of our soldiers and wants government involved in deciding who can marry and what pain relief doctors can prescribe. The Republican party is the party of hypocrisy and slogans.

In Ohio, John Kasich is the Republican nominee for governor. This is a man who was employed at the now bankrupt Lehman Brothers. He made millions off of the misery of Ohioans. This was a company that was up to its eyeballs in subprime lending. This is a company that destroyed many neighborhoods in Ohio, and Kasich was their point man in Ohio. Kasich stands for Wall Street and Wall Street caused the near depression that we witnessed. He picked a woman as his running mate who shipped jobs to Florida. He has advocated destroying the Ohio budget by eliminating income taxes. As a commentator on Fox News, he adopted extreme positions to get face time, and the guy does not have a compromise bone in his body. We have a huge debt in Ohio, and we need all options on the table. I just can't imagine a worse candidate for office.

Rob Portman has a lead over the weaker Democratic candidate Lee Fisher. Ms. Brunner would have energized more Democratic voters, but Fisher is more of a main stream candidate who can attract independents. What do we actually know about Rob Portman? What are his signature positions that he is running on besides not agreeing with Obama? I think that all we need to know is that he served in the Bush administration. He was a loyal soldier in the administration that took us to a useless war, began torturing people, allowed a city to drown, and gave corporations a free ride. Portman was in charge of two areas of the administration that could only be considered a failure. The US trade deficit went from a negative $390 billion to $670 billion during the decade of the Bush administration, and Portman was the US Trade Representative. Bush and Portman excelled at not paying for the Iraq war or prescription drugs, or no child left behind or the 2001 tax cuts while Portman was at the Office of Management and Budget. This is really all I know of Portman, but that alone would seem to make him unelectable. Not in Ohio. This is a nightmare. How can this happen?

The Song Remains The Same

When is someone going to Challenge These Jokers?
by Max Johnson

Representative Tom Price of Georgia appeared on Weekend Edition with Scott Simon on September 11 to lay out the game plan for the November election for Republicans. I do not understand why the media never challenges these guys. This is the Contract with America all dressed up for the 2010s. Here are the three things that Price said was the winning ticket for Republicans:

1. Decrease spending in the federal government to provide some stability.
2. No increases on taxes on anyone. (EVEN BILLIONAIRES???)
   
3. Provide an incentive to job creators.

Price stressed repeatedly that he did not want to "punish job creators." Let's go back to the source. Here are a few of the relevant passages from the Contract with America:

1. THE FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY ACT: A balanced budget/tax limitation amendment and a legislative line-item veto to restore fiscal responsibility to an out-of-control Congress, requiring them to live under the same budget constraints as families and businesses.

5. THE AMERICAN DREAM RESTORATION ACT: A $500 per child tax credit, begin repeal of the marriage tax penalty, and creation of American Dream Savings Accounts to provide middle class tax relief.

8.THE JOB CREATION AND WAGE ENHANCEMENT ACT: Small business incentives, capital gains cut and indexation, neutral cost recovery, risk assessment/cost-benefit analysis, strengthening the Regulatory Flexibility Act and unfunded mandate reform to create jobs and raise worker wages.

Why couldn't Simon ask these questions of Price as he was spouting the party line:

1. Which specific programs do you want to cut in the federal budget?
2. Why did you not make the Bush tax cut permanent when you had all the power?
3. At what point in our history are Republicans going to call for tax increases? I mean if the thinking is do not raise taxes after just coming out of a recession then why was it the same policy in 2004 or even 1998 when we had record surpluses?
4. When do Republicans propose to fix our infrastructure, solve homelessness, get everyone in America healthcare, reduce poverty, expand access to higher education?
5. In light of financial trickery on Wall Street that led to the collapse, the poor response to Katrina by government, the food scares that caused huge egg recall, and the inability to protect the gulf coast against the oil spill, do you think that we should expand government's oversight role and provide more dollars for regulations?
6. If you support the troops, how do you intend to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan without tax increases?
7. On a related issue, how do you intend to pay for the veterans suffering traumatic brain injuries in the next 30 years without a tax increase? If you truly care about our troops and this is not just a slogan for you then you would propose a way to make sure that our veterans receive the best possible care when they come back injured fighting the wars that you sent them to fight.
8. There were 18 specific pieces of legislation proposed in the Contract with America, and three were passed. The last few Congresses of the Bush Administration were called "Do nothing Congresses." So, what can you point to from the last 20 years that Republicans have done while in power that would give taxpayers confidence that they could trust you with the keys to the economy and democracy?
9. If your upcoming election strategy is "don't punish the job creators," are you going to apologize to America for denigrating the automobile bailout, which has saved millions of jobs in America?
10. Isn't the easiest way for government to generate more jobs is to create more government jobs? So, why not support a massive state budget bailout to prevent massive numbers of layoff and some expansion for mine safety, food safety, and thinning the forests to prevent forest fires in the West?

The media has to stop letting these guys off easy. In an attempt to seem balanced, they let stupidity pass. If an elected official says something stupid like "don't punish the job creators," they have to challenge them. No one is ever asked to prove it or told to stop spouting slogans. Politicians are allowed to say outlandish things like increasing taxes to the level they were in 1998 on rich people will hurt job creation, and the media isn't forcing them to prove it. The Republican party is no longer about leadership, but has become the party of slogans. "We will reduce your taxes" is not a strategy to govern.