Financial carnage coming to Ohio?

A writer for the Plain Dealer says look to New Jersey and see Ohio early next year, with a $7-8 billon shortfall. Here’s the link.

Unlike Ohio senators, clowns are professionals

Before passage of the Ohio budget in late December, Senate Republicans removed from the bill a provision that would have cut legislative salaries by five percent. This is great news to tax-weary Ohioans, knowing that legislators have so favored themselves because they only make $60,584 a year for part-time jobs with full benefits.

We appreciate their exemplary performance in not only representing their own interests, but for having frittered countless opportunities to do something important - anything important - but have used their time, instead, to bash political opponents as they try to influence the next election.

Thomas Suddes, whose political commentary is reproduced in the Dispatch, wrote on 12/13/09 “The only differences between the Republican-run Ohio Senate and the Ringling Bros. circus is that the Senate doesn't charge admission (unless you lobby), and Ringling clowns are professionals.”

In this essay he reports that of the 219 Senate bills introduced in 2009 three reached the governor’s desk. “That means (a) most Senate bills are just publicity stunts ... or (b) Republican senators ... aren’t dying of overwork.” Read his essay here. I personally favor the (a) option. And the (b) option.

While the solution for school financing has never been more distant in Ohio law books, our lawmakers nevertheless reserve plenty of time to interfere with lives of constituents. Consider wine purchases and auto wipers.

They had time to protect the interests of the Ohio Wine Producers Association with a new law that limits your household to no more than 24 cases of wine in one year. To understand the details, here’s a link to the Dispatch report.

Also, Ohio’s new law that makes little people turn on their lights when they use their auto wipers went into effect recently. That should draw international ridicule for crude and disruptive government interference.

It is, of course, one of those publicity stunts, but one that backfired with people who know in their hearts they are smart enough to figure out when to turn on their lights. Just when you think government has reached the limit for stupidity, along comes something like this.

Remember, on election day, not those politicians’ deprecating proclamations; remember their performance. If your public servants haven’t been part of the solution to your problems then they are a cause of your problems. That will be the only important point of focus when you step in the voting booth.

EDIT 1/5/10
State Rep. Jay Hottinger wasn’t in the crosshairs of this essay because he isn’t a senator. He is, however, among those I’ve indirectly criticized, without naming him, for what I’ve called, politely, “deprecating proclamations.”

I’m glad he called me 1/4/10 to brief me on his position regarding the state budget and other matters. As our representative from the 71st District we should keep up on what he’s thinking and how he’s voting, but unfortunately there is no easy way to do this, given the lack of interest by the Advocate and the Dispatch.

Related to the above essay, Jay said he supports the 5% pay cut for legislators and he voted against the windshield wiper bill.

He also addressed the state of Ohio economics. Most everyone who cares knows he is a loud and frequent critic of Governor Stickland’s budget. He said this is because it allows for a $5-$8 billion short-fall in a few years.

I said, ok, what are your solutions? He rattled off several possibilities, often adding that he wasn’t sure he’d fully support each of them or some such disclaimer. But from my hasty and incomplete notes, here’s what he said:

One source of more income would be a penny added to the sales tax. That would produce a billion dollars a year, he said.

The rest of his ideas were focused on the other side of the balance sheet: savings. Here are areas he would study: 1) Reform government pensions; 2) make cost-saving corrections in the way the state bids and awards construction projects; 3) prison reforms that would provide for fewer inmates; 4) reduced reimbursement to nursing homes by Medicaid; 5) privatization of the Ohio Turnpike; 6) repeal what are or will be non-funded mandates to schools such as the proposals for a) all-day kindergarten; b) adding 20 days to the school year; c) teacher ratio of 15 students per teacher (presently it is 21-1).

Without adding my thoughts about his thoughts at this point, that’s what he said.

Casinos - The fine print

If you want to know what Ohioans really approved when they voted 11/09 to allow big gamblers to move into our state, read the analysis of Thomas Suddes in a Columbus Dispatch column at this link.

Thanks for nothing, Big Brother

For all the posturing governments large and small do over their role in keeping you safe, their aim couldn’t be worse.

Consider, for instance, the newest annoyance to motorists in the name of traffic safety: Ohio legislators recently decreed that you must turn on your headlights whenever you use windshield wipers.

Now you don’t have to determine that you’re not safe, even though there may be plenty of daylight. Columbus rulers have made that decision for you.

There, Bunky. Feel better, now that Big Brother has given lawmen yet one more excuse to arrest you?

Never mind that Ohio still doesn't outlaw cellphones in the hands of drivers, and lawmen refuse to seriously patrol for tailgating - surely the two most dangerous and stupid of driver addictions.

The lights-on law is every bit as worthless to traffic safety as the ticketing machines in Heath - a city I’ve visited only three times since Reflex cameras began making Australians richer.

There are stores similar to Heath’s in many other nearby places and I’m using them. Heath, I’ve learned, is an easy habit to break.

Government greed, intrusion, and profiteering at drivers’ expense operate behind a smoke screen sold as “safety.” So far it’s worked in Heath and Columbus, but that may change. Big Brother, I hope, has misjudged the degree to which drivers want to be “protected.”

Legislators, amputate this taxpayer tit

Now that the editorial clout of newspapers is a thing of the past, maybe Ohio legislators will have the courage to cut off the taxpayer tit defined as “legal advertising.” It was always an overkill in costly verbiage; today it is foolish waste.

It has always been overkill because of the unnecessary requirement to reproduce the lawyer talk which - as anyone who’s ever tried to read this stuff can easily determine - is virtually incomprehensible and, except for the barest summary, is unnecessary. Take, for example, surveyor descriptions in foreclosure ads. Beefcake for newspaper publishers; available by reference to court records to anyone who needs it. That’s a decades-long rip-off by newspapers, paid for by taxes, courtesy of politicians.

These days it’s an abundantly apparent waste because it can and should - for easier access and comprehension - be published at no charge to taxpayers on the web.

USA Today published an article about the trend that will eventually amputate this taxpayer tit. Read it here.

Ohio legislators can now safely support it, because newspaper readers are jumping ship and the ship’s editorialists are passing gas to empty pews.

Feedback on school suggestions

Immediately after I published my ideas on how the Ohio school system should be modernized and made efficient I e-mailed them to Ohio Senator Tim Schaffer and Ohio Representative Jay Hottinger.

Yesterday, Sen. Schaffer’s office advised me that he is sharing those ideas with the state K-12 Education work group of which he is a member.

Earlier, our Representative’s assistant told me that Mr. Hottinger would be taking a “careful look” at those ideas and will eventually respond.

I am honored and thankful that the ideas are being studied.

Ohio schools are no longer local; deal with it

Recognizing that “local” school districts are no longer local is the first step in a real fix for Ohio’s broken system. 

Schools stopped being local when the state stepped in decades ago and decreed that authentic local schools should consolidate into district-wide systems. Since then the legislature and the governor have increasingly intruded in matters for which bureaucrats have no expertise. The ability to draw votes does not an educator make.  

As the heavy hand of bureaucracy weighed ever-heavier, Ohio’s school system became one massive and inefficient conglomerate.

Thousands of expensive school employees will object, but Ohio must stop the inefficiency and massive expense of requiring each community to support “local” school districts that are no longer local. Schools of Ohio belong in a single, statewide system.

 

Imagine the cost-effectiveness if Ohio were to:

1 - Move to the state level all administrative functions that do not directly involve individual school buildings. The top local school administrators should be building principals.

2 - Move from the local level to the state level all purchasing of supplies and provision of services such as busing. Services and supplies would be provided by private companies, selected by lowest and best bids.

3 - Pay school employees throughout Ohio the same, with variance according to the cost of living in each community.

4 - Remove state interference from the art and science of teaching. Let teachers take over that responsibility again, but provide for ways to weed out incompetent teachers and financially reward the better ones according to a statewide measure. All schools would teach the same classroom subjects and offer the same extra-curriulars, as mandated by a commission of educational experts.

Such a system could be employed to relieve the unfair burden on property owners, eliminate the expense and frustration of levy balloting, reclaim from labor unions their stranglehold on public welfare, save vast sums on school administrative functions and purchase of services and supplies, improve classroom performance, and make educational opportunities and advantages equal for every student, every teacher, every community.

NCS levy signals call to arms

Anyone who considers the passage of the $5.9-million-per-year levy a sign that the community is poised to kiss and make up with the Newark City Schools should go read the outpouring of rage in comments to the Advocate on-line news report.

The NCS tax take has grown by $230 a year per $100,000 value. That’s added to the $892 per year already in place, plus a 1 percent income tax, plus state and federal taxes giving Keith & Company a total of $12,693 per student, per year, plus an estimated 9.3% increase in state and federal aid over the next two years. 

Still NCS will not have enough, they say, to fully bus students, or fully fund the extras for students, but they do anticipate having enough for staff raises which are needed because the NCS classroom teachers’ average salary is only $55,331 for nine months’ work before benefits - and NCS has only one employee for every 4.9 students, and the superintendent makes more than the governor of Alaska.

That Keith & Company strategized a winning shell game on property owners comes as a call to arms. Sitting in front of a computer screen screaming insults back and forth may be therapeutic, but it’s a lousy solution. 

What has to happen next is state intervention into the rape of property owners. It has to happen before Keith & Company come back to rape again, and they will because it’s never enough no matter how much it is.

There are three people who are responsible for doing this, but who won’t do anything meaningful for property owners unless they are made to do it. One is State Representative Jay Hottinger, another is State Senator Tim Schaffer and the third is Governor Ted Strickland.

Jay Hottinger has practically grown to adulthood as our link to state government. Because of that, I think he is as responsible as any member of government for schools’ rape and re-raping of property owners in Newark, Licking County, and Ohio.

So here’s a suggestion for you guys sitting there moaning about having to pay yet another $5.9 million each year on top of an already-excessive tax bill:

Call Jay Hottinger’s office - 614/466-1482 - and ask him precisely what he’s going to do to solve the problem. If you don’t understand his answer, ask again. 

Then call Senator Schaffer at 614/466-5838 and ask him the same thing. Ask the same question as many times as it takes until you understand it.

Then call Governor Strickland at the constituent helpline 614/644-4357 and ask him what he’s going to do to solve the problem. Make sure you understand exactly what he intends to do before you hang up.

When you have done so, please leave a comment here about your experience. The number and kind of comments received will indicate how serious you are about dealing with the problem, rather than whining about it.

Hottinger works for more efficient government

Ohio Representative Jay Hottinger is co-sponsoring a bill that may lead to more efficient state government. It would create a commission comprised of business leaders to study how the State of Ohio can become more business-like. They might recommend combination, improvements or elimination of agencies and functions.

How many times have we wished government were run like a successful business? Well, Jay is among those opening the door for that and I hope folks at the Statehouse will rally to this cause.

The bill, HB66, would ensure that the 12 members of the commission could not personally profit from their decisions. Their work would not drag on forever, but end with a final report due 1/31/11.

Jay explains how this commission would work in a news release 3/13/09 entitled “Making State Government More Efficient” I have reproduced it at the Newark Tea Party web site at this link.

Ohio sales-tax boost touted by analyst

Among ideas for Ohio government survival until the recession ends, there is one that seems to me worth considering. It was put forth not by a government official, but by newspaper columnist.

Thomas Suddes, op-ed columnist for the Columbus Dispatch and a former legislative reporter for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, argues convincingly for a small, temporary sales-tax boost at this link.

Let's help Strickland during next election

Ohio governor Strickland's budget does not raise taxes but.. my God, check this out:

Ohioans will pay more to farm, drive, enjoy the outdoors, keep the environment clean and do business under Gov. Ted Strickland's proposed budget released Monday.

Strickland plans to balance his two-year $55 billion spending plan with help from increases in 120 state fees.

This guy needs help. Let's all give it to him next election.

Ending property tax cap would be dangerous

Property owners in Ohio may get rear-ended by a sneak attack from the state legislature. Apparently there is pressure coming from schools to lift the 1976 cap that keeps property taxes from rising when house prices rise.

Why this is dangerous and dumb is the subject of a column by Thomas Suddes in today's Dispatch - Democrats could be in for a shock if they touch property-tax cap

Suddes is, by the way, the most refreshing and intelligent of Dispatch columnists. Maybe that's because he isn't a staffer, but writes from Ohio University. To find his essay on the Dispatch web site you have to enter his name in the search box.

Anyway, his essay today exposes the seriousness of those protecting property from more tax by Big Brother: "Democrats like to claim that Social Security is the third rail in national politics: touch it, and you die. They might find out, and soon, that Ohio politics might have a third rail, too: property-tax caps."

Newark citizens are a money pit to be mined

The notion that government should be allowed to spy on citizen-drivers with robotic cameras was odious to many when first conceived by local governments in cahoots with robo-cop inventors.

About three years ago a plan was hatched by for-profit traffic enforcers - local and not - that would allow so-called "traffic safety cameras" to photograph cars running red lights and, in effect, issue tickets.

Local governments would rake in untold fortunes and camera vendors would skim off a pile of profit.

Folks howled and the state legislature responded. Then-Representative Dave Evans co-sponsored a bill - and then-Senator Jay Hottinger voted for its senate version - to prevent these scavengers from preying on drivers because, for one thing, these cameras record information that goes beyond the infraction and the plate number. And, by turning a profit for a vendor, this gig is not exclusively for the purpose of reducing violations. The bill mandated that a police officer operate the camera or at least be nearby. Think of the inconvenience.

Those bills passed both houses but was vetoed by our then-consistently-anti-citizen Governor Taft, so now this gig is legal in Ohio.

Seizing the moment - as he did on the auto-tax boost and the ride-to-the-hospital-in-city-vehicles-for-a-price - Newark Mayor Bob Diebold, who never passed up an opportunity to screw citizens if it meant an extra buck for the city treasury, is pumping the idea that Newark should team with Redflex Traffic Systems to give local drivers a $85-to-$125 chunk of grief for stop-light violations.

If the conspiracy works as it does in Dayton, Newark will keep just 35 percent of the profits for this plunder and the rest will go to the Scottsdale Arizona smoothies whose MO was recorded in USA Today under the title Smile! You're on a Redflex camera.

Key sentence in that report is this: "You've probably never heard of them, but Redflex may someday get to know you better than you'd like."

From just that much, Newark Ohio already knows it better than we'd like. Also, Newark Mayor Bob Diebold.

ODNR is dangerous

For some weird, off-the-wall, undeniably goofy reason, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources wants bears roaming free in Ohio.

Kill one - even one in your own yard that is threatening you - and they can put you in the pokie for a year, fine you $1,000, and take your gun. Oh, and make you pay "restitution" for the bear, whatever that is. What kind law is letting these ODNR idiots loose on people?

If you ever get into a conflict with a bear running your neighborhoods, you better fear the ODNR. That's the implication of events reported in a Dispatch article today.

It tells about a Coshocton County man getting in all sorts of trouble for killing a bear that came into his yard twice in one night, threatening him and his dog. The bear was seven yards away when he pulled the trigger.

This incident points - again - to a government bureaucracy that is running amuck, and, as a consequence, keeping citizens from defending themselves and their property.

What legal system gives these Ricky Rangers the authority to endanger citizens of Ohio by excessive pandering to dangerous wildlife? And why doesn't the Ohio legislature put reasonable limits on their authority?

Lets build a nuclear plant in Granville

Thanks to Gov. Strickland and state legislators, Ohio is facing the threat of more nuclear reactors.

Associated Press wrote a good summary of this situation. I didn't see it in print anywhere but located it instead via Google. Here's the link.

Congratulations to Ohio government for this decision, and to the media for alerting us after the fact. Well, no, media haven't really done that yet.

Property owners will have no voice in where these things go. Could be Granville, for all we know. And how about stockpiling the nuclear waste out on West Main Street?

Whether it works out that way or not, you can bet the bureaucrats and energy companies are going to destroy the safety, security and property values of some nice neighborhoods.

They will, that is, unless Ohio citizens intervene.

The care and feeding of Ohio legislators

Ever wonder just how lavishly Ohio taxpayers treat the folks who go to Columbus and make laws? Read about it here - Legislative Benefits, Privileges, and Restrictions of Office.

In summary: They do very well, thank you (as you might expect), including salaries of at least $58,934; and up to $91,865 for the House speaker and Senate president. Add $6,500 to $10,000 for committee chairpersonmanship.

Then there is a list of bennies that go with all that - insurance, retirement, whatnot.

But maybe the best thing is the vacation. Get this: They just went on summer break and won't return for work until the week after the elections; a whooping five-month vacation. Nothing is too good for government employees.

That figures out to $8,419 per month of work at the bottom of the scale, not counting bennies.

Not too shabby. Try to match that in the real world, bunky.

We should test drivers for impairment, not for birthdays

An older driver went into the wall of McDonald's last week and it was her age, not her impairment (if any) that came under attack. Commentators to the Advocate report chirped about the need to remove older folks from the roadways.

As a 73-year-old driver with my first McDonald's wall - or anything else - yet to be hit with my car in 57 years behind the wheel, I'm pretty sure I can drive at least as well as any of those commenters. I have the added advantage, most of the time, of a 69-year-old wife yelling in my ear about approaching hazards, many of them thousands of feet away and most of them imaginary.

Old age itself does, I admit, eventually become an impairment and whenever I get penalized by age I fully intend to arrange for transportation by others. It will be a sad day, and I hope it will be many years from now, but I promise to peacefully submit my keys.

In the meantime I don't want to hear anymore crap about taking the keys of, or requiring special tests for, folks unfortunate enough to grow older.

What I do want to hear is about sensible laws in Ohio that identify and penalize impaired driving - by people of all ages.

Start with the definition of - and reliable tests for - driving while "impaired." Such a definition would include not what is in one's bloodstream, urine, or breath but instead a computerized measure of the driver's ability to think, control his body, react to emergencies, and read both speedometer and distant traffic signals.

As mentioned here yesterday, the present law measures only chemicals deemed to be "controlled substances" found in body fluids and breath. It ignores effects of medicine - prescription and otherwise - which slow you down, make you light-headed, make you pass out and even, fer God's sake, cause weird things such as "anal leakage." Having anal leakage while driving would surely impair anyone's ability concentrate or to steer in a straight line.

Meantime, there is a Nintendo gamester thing called Wii Fit, described by Business Week as "a sturdy board slightly larger than a bathroom scale, about an inch high, that communicates with the Wii console wirelessly. Players step onto the board, which senses their movements, balance, and center of gravity. Included software features dozens of activities based on strength training, aerobics, and yoga..."

Seems to me that if Nintendo can mass-produce a "game" that can do all that, Ohio lawmen can do better than make suspects blow into a tube or pee in a cup - poor excuses for tests that will get dangerous drivers off the road.

Frank Stare is a recovering hugger, but all's well that ends well

Because of Frank Stare, I'm going to at last get my Advocate delivered to my doorstep and not to the adjoining snow, flowers or grass. Finally I found a law that will resolve this issue!

They used it on Frank Stare during his trial as a hugger. It's Section 2917.11 of the Ohio Code. They nailed Frank with this law for trying to be nice because in doing so he was considered by the hugee to be annoying. He was convicted for being annoying in a city so full of annoying people they can't be counted, one of whom is supposed to put the Advocate on my doorstep.

Nobody on the face of the earth is more annoying than a paper slinger who walks through the neighbor's flowers (though she was twice asked not to do that) and across my yard (instead of the sidewalk) and approaches my house for a distance of maybe 13 paces. Nothing wrong with any of that except for the neighbor's flowers. Nothing except that if she were to walk one single step farther, she could get the paper on my doorstep and not in the crack by the doorstep that can only be seen if I open the doors and walk out on the step. Just one more freakin' step. How annoying can it get?

Certainly a hug is far less annoying. But Frank admitted doing the hugging crime - though likely it was only a sort of a half a crime, as you can visualize when a guy his size tries to reach across a stack of election signs to deliver any sort of full-blown annoying hug. Nevertheless, the lady (who had just been given a free ride and a sympathetic ear regarding her troubles) was annoyed and righteously pursued the case right up to the point where she would have had to publicly testify about her annoyance.

Never mind that Frank's public service career is probably over, and never mind that he also had to go to court and had to be made the subject of a big photo in the Advocate as he sat in court, and he had to screw around with attorneys and legalities and detectives and he ended up having to pay a $50 fine and the hugee never had to testify nor be publicly identified.

This Ohio "gotcha" law lists all sorts of ways in which the legal system can jerk around anyone unfortunate enough to be standing in the wrong place. While "hugging" as such isn't mentioned in the Ohio Revised Code section 2917.11 (which you can read at this link) it does say that you may not cause inconvenience, annoyance, or alarm ... etc." and so my legal advice is that anyone with hugging in mind better get a written permission slip.

But all's well that ends well. Frank is now a recovering hugger; one less hugger we have running the streets of Newark thanks to a diligent city prosecutor, police detectives, safety director, court system and a gaggle of news reporters.

Even better than this city being rid of a hugger, I now have the legal ammunition to go after that Advocate delivery person. Pretty soon she just might be a recovering miss-the-doorstepper.

Textbook boondoggle in Columbus should be a warning for Newark

A bill introduced to Ohio legislature by Newark's own Jay Hottinger would wipe Ohio's anti-tobacco foundation off the map and liquidate its $270-million endowment from lawsuits against tobacco companies.

Thus would that money be available to Hottinger, Strickland and the rest of them to give away to businesses in what is being billed as a sure way to get "new jobs" for Ohio.

Here's how this move was described in part by "gentlben" in one of the reader comment sections: Ohio "joined a class action suit against the tobacco companies with other states because of the expense sick smokers were causing the state treasury. Part of the argument, which earned them all a nice annual cash settlement, was that if they win the suit, they would spend the cash award to reduce the impact of smoking in Ohio, thus reducing the amount of debt the state incurs becasue of it. So they win their suit, and millions of dollars yearly and what do they do with it? Throw it in the general fund, and now they will abolish the agency responsible for spending it as it was intended to be spent. Hm! Sounds like the same scam they pulled on us when they said lottery money would go to education."

If Ohio's governor and legislators are ballsie enough to pull this switcheroo on citizens they serve, what might one suppose Newark is going to do with the auto tag tax money being pushed by Mayor Diebold, Council Member Irene Kennedy, and some others to benefit street repairs?

Same boondoggle will be involved here, except the tag tax profits will not be nearly as easily traced as the state tobacco fund. The city purse on auto tags will eventually be folded over into the treasure chest that provides for more and bigger government. Diebold and Kennedy will fade away, but the tag tax will be ours to keep forever.

Self-defense by force isn't just a guy thing

The Ohio Senate unanimously agreed that Ohioans should be able to respond with force in defense of their lives and family. Further, that doing so should not open them to civil lawsuits.

State Senator Jay Hottinger of Newark is to be congratulated for his vote on this, the Ohio "Castle Doctrine."

We should use the occasion to remember that this isn't just another NRA Second Amendment fight, though the NRA is leading this law through state legislatures. SB 184 - the fight of law-abiding citizens who want to live safely in their own homes - now goes to the House for consideration.

We also need to remember that this isn't just a guy thing. Many, if not most, homes today are headed by the "weaker sex," mostly the sex that needs emboldened for self-defense. They need to buy guns and learn to use them safely, and this might be a small impetus.

That Ohio and other states need to "legalize" something so fundamentally necessary as the "right" to defend oneself in one's own home against criminals is pretty sick. It is just one more sign of how far off the edge the legal profession has pushed rights of regular people.