A Coup in Plain Sight

The gerrymandering happening to us right now can, probably will, result in further voter suppression if allowed by the Ohio Supreme Court to proceed. Ohio Republicans are now and will continue to be unafraid of consequences in the Statehouse, can change voting laws, install Republican-friendly election officials in counties all over Ohio, and create ways for the executive branch, specifically the Secretary of State, to discard lawful votes and send Republican-friendly electors to the electoral college.

That is how it almost happened last time, and might succeed next time with a more practiced Republican effort:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCpyAirTZms 

 Ohio's Secretary of State Frank LaRose is already complicit in the illegal Republican efforts to crack and pack districts, to viciously block all democratic influence in Ohio elections. As a member of the Redistricting Commission, he approved two different heavily gerrymandered maps that very effectively eliminate any influence Ohio Democrats have in the Statehouse and in the US House of Representatives. 

 LaRose abused his opportunity to support democracy in Ohio, to follow voter preferences in the 2020 popular vote. Republican Donald Trump won Ohio with 53.27% of the vote, while President Biden received 45.24% of the popular vote. In his effort to lock Democrats out of influence, LaRose approved a map that gives Republicans a virtual 3:1 veto-proof Statehouse majority, not the roughly 5:4 ratio that represents voter preferences. 

Again, in support of an ongoing coup in plain sight, AG Dave Yost and Governor Mike DeWine abdicated THEIR responsibility to uphold the will of the voters, in lock step with Republicans Matt Huffman and Robert Cupp. The stage is set, the actors well rehearsed, Act 1, scene 2 is underway in the ongoing coup d'état.

And today the commission requested the court to give them a pass on the second unconstitutional map until after the 2022 midterms, after Chief Justice Maureen O'Connell retires, and after they install even more republicans in the Statehouse.

Edible Chemicals

"For the first time in the history of the world, every human being is now subjected to contact with dangerous chemicals, from the moment of conception until death." ~ Rachel Carson

https://news.yahoo.com/fast-food-items-contain-chemicals-104551921.html

Some infuriating lines from the article that taken together paint a damning picture of the FDA and our government in general.

1. "Currently, the Food and Drug Administration, which regulates the safety of food (editor note: and the equipment that processes it), has no legal thresholds limiting phthalate concentrations in food." (Why not? Do you think for a minute that the FDA knows nothing about phthalates or their effects on the human body, especially fetuses?) 2. "The FDA said in a statement that it will review the George Washington study and consider it as part of the body of scientific evidence." (Our civil servants are prevented from innovating and are reduced to putting patches on things the private sector has broken.) This is an example of how capitalism is failing: corporations, governed by their financial overlords, focus obsessively over short-term profits, leading to broken situations like this. This behavior is permitted because our own financial overlords have convinced us and our politicians that big government is evil and must be reduced, throttled, even cut off at the knees. So Congress defunds our regulatory agencies in the name of...what? Efficiency, budget, cost, FREEDOM? We get the government that we deserve because we believed since 1986 Saint Ronald's 9 scariest words: "I'm from the government and I'm here to help." As a result of Reagan’s public disparagement of his own government, we have been squandering its capacity to be an active value creator. Bottom line: we as individuals have no negotiating power to force corporations to consider the well being of us, the consumers. And we let it happen, drip by drip, over decades. Wow, I didn't start this post intending to write a critique of ruthless capitalism, but here we are.

Socialist Nonsense

The term socialist nonsense is an accusation made in a different post, but the real debate isn’t between capitalism and socialism, but about the appropriate balance between the two. I actually favor having a military, a police force, a fire department, social security, medicare, free and mandatory education to age 16, state universities. I freakin' love the:

- Small Business Administration, - National Science Foundation, - Federal Aviation Administration, - Federal Highway Administration, - Federal Transit Administration, - FCC, - Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology, - U.S. Department of Energy, - DARPA, - SBIRs, All of which are socialist constructs, all of which help us Americans. Our society could not function or would be much poorer without them. We balance between the two, and the ratios go back and forth depending on which party has more votes. On the other hand, I don't like social spending (government subsidies) for oil and other fossil fuels, and most of the special interest carve-outs in the federal taxation system (that’s socialism too). So we take the good with the bad. We all know the tax code is used to promote or encourage social programs. Otherwise, why would the tax code give a discount to you based on how many children you have? We need children, so we childless taxpayers pay you to have them. And after you have them and they move out, we take the discount away, thank you very much. An example of a social good subsidized by all who will benefit. Socialist nonsense... I don't consider myself a socialist, but you can accurately call me an antifa libtard.

Dave Joyce: Infrastructure Bad

Open Letter to Dave Joyce (OH-14). I've been writing letters to our US House representative every week for a month. This is the latest one.

Representative Dave Joyce (Ohio-14) 8500 Station Street Suite 390 Mentor, OH 44060

Hello Rep. Joyce, This letter is intended to explain my disagreement with your inexplicable vote against the infrastructure bill. Your inaction is literally killing Americans. Decaying infrastructure is not a new or unknown problem: the Brent Spence Bridge in Cincinnati has needed repairs for years. Other catastrophes include Amtrak crashes, the Hoan bridge in Milwaukee, I-480 bridge in Webbers Falls, OK, C-470 overpass over I-70 in Golden, CO, Minneapolis I-35W bridge over the Mississippi River, all show that failure to invest literally KILLS Americans. Your “no” vote last week was not tied to any other bills, it was a clean vote, but you chose to deny incredibly important infrastructure investment that will be used by your own, and our, children and grandchildren. You decry deficit spending but this is timed investment. The bipartisan infrastructure bill, negotiated in good faith as you say, will be paid for, appropriately, by the users as it is used; by all of us, our children and grandchildren. You want to show how republican you are, knowing that the dems have us constituents covered, then you criticize them for doing it. I continue to be disappointed in your behavior as my representative, especially in your very safe R+5 district. Sincerely,

Tots and Pears - Texas

 School shooting. Again. In Texas. Ted Cruz and Gregg Abbott today offering tots and pears for yet another school shooting in Arlington, Texas. This is the same Texas that allows permitless carry anywhere.

Now is the time to talk about effective gun laws. Last year was a better time. Last decade even better. 1. Universal background check including no guns for those on federal no-fly list. 2. Violent misdemeanor prohibition, 3. "May Issue" permit laws (versus "Shall issue"), giving police departments discretion on issuing permits. 4. No permitless carry, concealed or open. The first three laws in combination results in 36% reduction in gun homicides. The most effective gun-control measures are those that regulate who has legal access to guns as opposed to what kinds of guns they have access to. Especially effective are measures that restrict the access of people with a history of violence. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-019-04922-x

So tired of hearing that only criminals will have guns. Those 3 laws will reduce gun homicides by a third. The "only criminals" argument is an NRA red herring. Nor do I ever want to hear about a good guy with a gun. They're the ones who get shot when the real cops show up.

Think about the text your daughter will send you when some jackwad with a gun walks into her classroom. Your heart will fall to the floor and shatter.

A Wish for America

This country belongs to all of us, not just the superrich. But for years, politicians in Washington have turned their backs on people who work for a living. We need tough leaders who won’t give in to the millionaires and the lobbyists, but will fight for good jobs, good wages, and guaranteed health care for every single American.

Yet Another Republican Lie

 Open Letter to Representative Dave Joyce. I continue my mission of tilting at windmills.

Hello Rep. Joyce, This letter is intended to explain my disagreement with your false statements about Build Back Better that you included in your most recent Weekly Wrap. You stated “The Build Back Better Act is estimated to result in $4 trillion in spending over the next 10 years and add up to $3 trillion to our debt.” That is blatantly false. Your own non-partisan Congressional Budget Office says different: The CBO said in its Nov. 18 report that the House bill, not including revenue from the IRS enforcement provision, would cost $1.7 trillion in spending and bring in $1.3 trillion in revenue over 10 years, adding a net $367 billion to the deficit. But once we factor in a $207.2 billion revenue impact from the IRS provision — a CBO estimate — the net increase to the deficit is $160 billion over 10 years. A deficit of $16 Billion per year for 10 years is not even remotely similar to $3 Trillion. It’s the cost to upgrade ONE of our 270 deployed F-35 jets. As a member of the House Appropriations Committee, you know that and should use the CBO estimates. Without any justification, you complain about spending $80 Billion on IRS enforcement capability to gain back $400 Billion in unpaid taxes. Your letter actually suggests $412 Billion, completely wiping out the deficit from Build Back Better. That is new money from those very tax cheats stealing from me and your other constituents. The Appropriations Committee is supposed to appropriate, not encourage and reassure millionaires and billionaires to put their tax burden on our backs. Finally, your “no” vote on negotiating drug prices kept 79,350 OF YOUR CONSTITUENTS with diabetes at the mercy of the rapacious drug manufacturers. They have increased the price of insulin by 10% per year, every year, FOR 17 YEARS and you voted to allow them to continue their relentless avarice. With that vote, you forfeited your right to lecture anyone about inflation. Sincerely,