My Take, Ohio House of Representatives 20th District Race

This is an easier post to write than the last "My Take," mostly because of the absence of a strong 3rd party candidate.  It looks like the Lawrence Binsky campaign completely ran out of steam after getting it's candidacy certified on May 4th.  While I'm sure there's passion, good ideas, and thought-out positions in the person of Binsky, I have no way of knowing it.  This is exactly the sort of performance that leads major media to not even pay attention to most third party candidates.  At this point, I wouldn't even consider voting for Binsky.

Nancy Garland is the incumbent, and I'm not really fond of any Ohio Legislature member right now.  That being said, they can't ALL be a part of the problem, and I'm inclined to think Garland as a freshman legislator was more part of the solution.  I also like the "No" vote on transition funds...which seemed rather appropriate, given the context.  On the whole, I'm leaning towards giving Garland another shot at the Statehouse.

Matt Carle seems to be an extremely capable, accomplished person with a long history of political experience, albeit behind the scenes.  I'm sure his background would definitely enable him to be a successful legislator...but I'm not in favor of that happening, on an ideological level.  His experience working with so many prominent GOP candidates over the years just indicates to me a person who's values do not ideally match with mine, not to mention I've rarely agreed with a candidate endorsed by a Right to Life group on most social issues.  I really don't anticipate voting for Carle.

Ohio House of Representatives, 20th District: Lawrence Binsky

The Libertarian candidate for the 20th District is Lawrence Binsky, a small business owner in Bexley.

Binsky has lived in Bexley since he was nine, and now shares a home there with his wife and five children.  He attended OSU, and started Advantage Food and Beverage with one vending machine, and grew it to the current size of 21 employees.

Gleaning from his biography page, Binsky is running because of the obstacles put in front of small businesses.  He wants to make things easier for businesses, and thus create a better state.  He is also against the tax and fee burden and thinks a small government would be helpful in reducing that load.

Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be much to the Binsky campaign that I was able to determine.  Maybe this will change at the election date gets closer.

Ohio House of Representatives, 20th District: Matt Carle

Side note, I'm kicking it up to a 3 day a week schedule: Tuesday, Friday, Sunday.  Too many candidates/issues to cover in 2 months otherwise!

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Matt Carle is the Republican challenging Nancy Garland for the 20th House District.

A graduate of Westerville North High School and a current resident of Gahanna, Carle graduated from OSU and earned a law degree from Capitol University.  He's worked on several campaigns in recent years, including both Mike DeWine's and George Voinovich's Senate campaigns and Betty Montgomery's campaign for Auditor.

Other work Carle is involved with include being the Director of Development and Community Relations for the Ohio College Access Network, and his career as a real estate and zoning lawyer.  He is a member of the Columbus Bar Association.

Carle's stances include the standard "Smaller Government/Lower Taxes" found on GOP tickets, claiming his work with OCAN and others gives him a good grasp on where government waste is.  He also feels the disparity between urban, suburban, and rural school districts needs to be stopped.  His stance on health care is "minimizing the damage that could be caused by national health care reform" while making sure Medicaid is funded.  He also has a bullet point about protecting rights and freedoms with the right to bear arms being the only one specifically mentioned.

There's a well set up endorsements page on Carle's webpage, showing endorsements from the FOP, the Right to Life PAC, the Chamber of Commerce PAC, and others.

Ohio House of Representatives, 20th District: Nancy Garland

Nancy Garland is standing for reelection to her seat as the 20th District's Representative.  She's in her first term after being elected in 2008.

Some key votes over the past couple years can be found here, courtesy of Project Vote Smart.  I find it interesting the only "Nay" vote they list is against the transition fund amendments the senate tried to tack on to a campaign finance bill.

Garland lives in New Albany, and has a son at Ohio State studying political science while participating in Air Force ROTC and a daughter who is a practicing attorney after graduating from Miami University over in Oxford.  Before serving in the House of Representatives, Garland spent 7 years as the CEO of the Ohio Physical Therapy Association.  She also spent several years in Washington, DC in several positions, from legislative assistant to Director of Government Affairs for the American Physical Therapy Association.  Garland is also a clinical assistant professor at Ohio State.

Garland has three main issues listed on her website: Job Growth, Economic Development, and Health Care.  She emphasizes partnering with businesses small and large as well as the unemployed workforce to build new jobs, attract new industry, and help keep current organizations healthy and growing.  As for healthcare, it's the common line regarding the unacceptable numbers of unemployed Ohioans, and how we need to solve the problem in order to keep the state competitive nation wide.

Many groups have endorsed Garland, including the AFL-CIO, Ohio Association of Public School Employees and the Ohio Education Association, and more.

A BIGGER Budget??

Sorry it's late today...don't hold it against me too much!

Evidently, the House Democrats are being even more optimistic with their revenue projections than Strickland was. You see, they've expanded the budget to $54.4 billion...with worthy programs, sure. But I dunno how wise the spending is, never the less. My inner conservative is coming out.

It's only the first round of changes before the full House vote tho, so...we'll see. Check it out at the Dispatch.

That's all I have today, folks...I'll be bringing you a round up of stories from around the Ohio blogs on Friday!

Negotiations Bear Fruit on Transport Budget

So you remember me blogging about Strickland's transportation plan? Negotiations between Senate Republicans, House Democrats, and the Governor's office created a compromise bill. Main items? (From the Columbus Dispatch)

• Truck speed limit will rise from the current 55mph for commercial vehicles to 65mph like the rest of us.
• Construction zone cameras are nixed, no ifs ands or buts.
• Cops still won't be able to pull you over for not wearing your seat belt (they have to have another reason to pull you over).
• The Cleveland-Columbus-Cincinnati-Dayton rail line is moving along, with the Senate Republicans agreeing to let the Controlling Board have the final say (letting the planning/approval process move forward in time to compete for federal funds.
• Strickland wanted to raise the cost of regular vehicle registration $5.75, but that was rejected. Other fees like vanity plates WILL go up to raise State Patrol funds.
• The negotiating teams also worked out extra unemployment benefits for some workers (though I'm kinda lost on why this is in a transportation bill).

Total price tag? $9.6 billion. I don't see anything that gets me all riled up...but I haven't tracked down the actual legislation and dug through the details, either. I'm mostly curious to see what happens with the rail line...we really, really, really need to push mass and rapid transit much more than we typically do.

Candidates This Fall

As you may know, I'm a big fan of Smart Voter.org. It's the League of Women Voters who organize volunteers in several states to contact Boards of Election and compile sample ballots and candidate info in simple, easy to read formats. Go check it out.

It's still early in the season for the full, official sample ballots. Those should be ready after 9/30/08 Issues are still being fought about in court, petitions still being signed, etc etc. But most of the national and state contests are listed, and here's the ones for the 12th Congressional/3rd State Senate/20th State Rep district in Ohio.

If you want the full Franklin County, Ohio list of national and state contests, go here.

Congress:

• Pat Tiberi (R)
• David Robinson (D)

State Representative:

• Nancy Garland (D)
• Jim McGregor (R)

Ohio Supreme Court:

6 Year Term Starting 1/1/09

• Joseph D. Russo (D)
• Maureen O'Connor (R)

6 Year Term Starting 1/2/09

• Evelyn L. Stratton (R)
• Peter M. Sikora (D)

Ohio Court of Appeals:

6 Year Term Starting 2/9/09

• David Goodman (R)
• John A. Connor (D)

6 Year Term Starting 7/1/09

• Richard D. Brown (D)
• Lisa L. Sadler (R)

Note, there are no US or State Senators being elected in this district in 2008. Gotta love those longer terms.

I couldn't find a damn thing about Richard D. Brown or Lisa L. Sadler, except Lisa L Sadler's entry in the Yellow Book. I also want to point out the majority of hits on John Connor were about his suspension and various misconducts...but you can look at the search results here.

Check it out, kids. Have fun.

Welfare State?

Taxes piss me off as much as the next person. At least income tax...taxing money before I can use it is just offensive to me. It sucks my income. Tax my property, my transactions...but let me USE my whole earnings, please.

And it does grate on me to think people are living off my tax dollars, when they could just go out and work.

But...I actually employed those people. The types who worked at a breakneck pace all day long serving ungrateful people, just to get $352.80 every two weeks. Do the math...that's $705.60 each month.

I pay about $400 for rent on my apartment, on the edge of the sketchy part of town. That'd leave $305 for car payments, gas, food, utilities, etc...

Try raising two or three kids on that.

And yeah, I know..."If you can't afford kids, DON'T HAVE THEM." I know. And it sounds great on paper.

But what about the family that got started when Mom and Dad were making $18/hr at the sock factory? Did they become bad people when the factory moved to Honduras, and the only open job was a closer at Wendy's for $7/hr?

Black and white arguments scare the hell out of me, and all the arguments against Welfare and other assistance are black and white.

I was reading this post and comment thread from the archives of Scalzi.com on what it means to be poor...and it reminded me that no matter how hard you try to prevent the lowest common factor from cheating a system, all you really do is screw the honest people. Cheaters will always find a way.

So...I support Welfare, within limits. I think some key policies can be used to protect our investments in those down on their luck, who deserve a chance to get over their troubles and without being screwed for life.

...And Now for Some News...

"No Country for Old Men" Wins Four Oscars, from NPR (it WAS a good flick)

Ruling to Shut Down Leak Website Called Censorship, from NPR

Russia Pledges Support to Serbia, from BBC (I Paraphrase Billy Joel: Haven't they Heard we Won the Cold War?)

Pakistan's Top Army Medic Killed in Bombing, from BBC

Bringing Back Streetcars Discussed in Cincinnati, from WVXU

Only Two Key Issues Being Worked in Columbus, from WVXU

Who's in the State House?

Since I now life only about 15 minutes from the State House, I think it's time to look at who represents me now.

My State Senator is Ray Miller, the Minority Leader. Looks pretty solid...BS in Political Science, MA Public Administration. President and CEO of Professional Employment Services of America. I'll look into sponsored bills...later.

My State Representative is Tracy Heard. First term in office, went to the University of Akron...in good company, from all I've heard. Again, I'll check out some of these 48 bills later.

I just have to update some links.

...and Now for Some News...

Clinton and Obama Still Locked in Struggle, from NPR

McCain is Far Ahead the GOP Leader (but Romney and Huckabee Won't Quit), from NPR

Italian Parliament Dissolved to Set Stage for Snap Elections, from BBC

CIA Chief Admits to Waterboarding, from BBC

OSU Tickets to Cost More Next Season, from WCBE

Foster Care Bill Hits Governor's Desk, from WVXU

Separation of Church and State

Mike Huckabee has some good points. The weight loss thing is impressive. I've heard his tax plan is actually on the level. Anyone who can be an executive of a state has to be a capable, functioning human being, and I respect that.

But.

This little blurb on his website says it all. "My faith doesn't influence my decisions, it drives them."

Huckabee says a lot of things on that page that are hard to disagree with. He throws in a line about being a steward of the earth. He talks about how the 1st Amendment says religion shouldn't be preferred or prohibited. But the fact he talks about religion and politics mixing at all fills me with a dull dread.

I am not comfortable with a Christian President, just as I wouldn't be comfortable with an Islamic President. Nor would I be comfortable with an Atheist President. Historically speaking, heads of state who make state decisions based on the Bible have really made a mess of things. We are a secular nation of secular laws (mostly. Why can't I buy beer on Sunday morning?). I don't want anyone's faith being allowed to change that.

Jimmy Carter is an incredibly religious Southern Baptist. I didn't know that for years. I admired him as a President and for his work post-Presidency without ever having religion enter into it. Did his faith factor into decisions made as President? Of course! Did he take instructions from the Bible and other Christian teachings? I don't think so.

The fact Huckabee is so popular among heavily Christian voters is a mark against him in my book. Those were the same people who voted Bush into office. The fact he is running on a platform that implies faith-based governance offends me.

Separation of Church and State. It's the concept that makes us not Iran.

...And Now For Some News...

Bush's Final State of the Union Address Tonight, from NPR.

Mormon Leader Dies at Age 97, from NPR.

New Unrest in western Kenya, from BBC.

Egypt Tries New Tactics to Seal Gaza Border, from BBC.

AC Units Not Safe From Scrap Thieves, from WCBE.

Busy Week for Ohio Legislaters, from WVXU.

Find Your Elected Folks, Part 3!

So...thus far, we've found the President, my Congresswoman, my Senators, and the Governor of Ohio. What's next, you ask? Isn't that all?



Excuse me while I laugh. Because we're just getting started.



After this week tho, I plan on shaking it up a bit, don't worry. But for this fine Thursday morning, more elected reps!



Let's look at my State Senator. Or Senators? How does that work, exactly? I dunno...but I know where to start.

1. Go to the Ohio homepage.


2. On the right hand side of the page, you should see a blue box with the Governor's photo on it. Above him, there are some tabs...one of them says "Legislative." Click it.


3. We've got some options. We've got 5 links, one each for the Senate, the House, and the General Assembly, plus one each for Find Your Senator and Find Your Representative. (I'm glad we did this, 'cause I had no idea these legislative webpages were here).


4. I'm going to search for my Senator. Punch in my Zip Code, and I get the scoop on Robert Schuler (this is a neat service!)


5. Just for kicks, let's do my Representative too. Again w/ my Zip, I meet Michelle Schneider.

Go try it...it's fun!

Now for Some News...

• House Approves Spending Bill Tied to Troop Withdrawal (Too bad the Senate will never go for it), from NPR
• Mitt Romney Has Trouble Ahead Because of Mormon Faith, from NPR
• Airport Security Not Very Secure, from NPR
• Bishops Issue Voting Guidelines, from NPR
• Good News, Bad News About Iran, from BBC
• Musharraf Names Interim Prime Minister, from BBC