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

To Vote or Not to Vote

So the issue is voting in the primary. Because of the Ohio voting laws, I can vote as an independent but will be affiliated with the party I vote with. For example, I want to vote for Obama for the Democratic nomination. That's fine, I can do that. But it makes my party affiliation "Democrat."

My dilemma is I don't want to BE affiliated with a party. Even for the nomination process. My girlfriend made the point today that if I don't vote, I can't complain about who's on the slate.

I usually feel ok complaining, because it's wrapped up long before I could even think about this problem. However, with the way this years race is going Ohio is a key state for the Democratic campaign. Huckabee is still hanging in there, and you should all know my thoughts on Huckabee.

While normally I'm all about the "JUST FRIGGEN VOTE" position, I can't reconcile that with becoming affiliated with a party. I do not want to support a two party system that discourages compromise.

So...I don't know. Part of me wants to vote, since Hilary seems to be making a stand here. Or maybe for McCain, just to make sure it isn't just the Evangelicals in the state (think Gay Marriage Ban) voting.

But there's another part of me that says I don't wanna affiliate with a party, because it's not what I'm all about.

We'll see how these things play out by next Tuesday. Also, now that somehow an "O" in my last name became an "A," I'm not sure I could vote if I wanted to. Meh!

...And Now for Some News...

Mourning for Sugary Refinery Victims, from NPR

Turkish Troops Enter Iraq, from BBC

Ohio Battling Emerald Ash Borer, from WCBE

Voter Registration Confirmation

Sorry for the late post. The day jobs kinda got in the way.

I was going to post a picture of my voter registration confirmation card, and explain it, and maybe even the voter ID laws (which apparantly still give people fits).

But as I'm trying to photoshop some of the more sensitive info out of the picture, I realize they have my name wrong. They put an "A" where there should have been an "O." Meh.

So now we're gonna look at how to fix this instead. Take it as a lesson about checking your confirmation postcard carefully.

Step one is to check out my local board of elections. In this case, it's Franklin County.

Step two is checking to see if I'm registered under my real name or not. I can check my registration by clicking the link on the left hand sidebar.

*searches for name*...

And the search function is apparantly broken, since it asked me to call the office of the Board of Elections. Nice.

I'm assuming I'll need to have my name changed, so I can actually vote without having to cast a provisional ballot. (What's that? A new post topic? Hrm...). When that happens, I'll simply fill out another voter registration form and mail it in.

Of course, I should prolly call the BOE just to be sure.

...And Now for Some News...

McCain and Obama Win Again, from NPR

Family Brings Soldier's Dogs Home, from NPR

Bhutto Widower Rejects Idea of Being Prime Minister, from BBC

Israeli MP Blames Gays for Earthquakes, from BBC

Electronic Voting

So Cuyahoga County has an idea where it will have everyone fill out a ballot card, collect them at all precincts, then send them into a central location for scanning and counting. That's all a result of the issues they've had in the past w/ the on-site machines being FUBARed.

The ACLU is against this idea basically because it doesn't allow voters a chance to correct their ballots if they mess up. They suggest scanning them immediately at the voting site. That's how I've voted in the past...fill out the paper ballot w/ ink, then feed it into the scanning machine. That provides the paper trail AND the ease of electronic votes.

I think the ACLU has a good point. I'd hate to find out (or not, rather would be the case) that I'd messed up my ink job and lost my vote. Revolutions have started over things like that. The best solution is probably for Cuyahoga to get on the ball like the rest of the state, give up their touch screens, and scan the ballots at the voting stations.

Some people just don't like the idea at all...they don't trust the machines, the software, any of it. They think the old punch cards work better. Personally, I think the electronic ones DO pose a slightly higher risk for fraud (look at "Man of the Year") but then again, paper ballots let George Bush steal the election.

It's like anything else electronic, in my opinion. People assume the worst, that never happens.

...And Now for Some News...

Wisconsin Next Battle Ground for Hillary and Barack, from NPR

911 turned 40 Sunday, from NPR

Pakistan Parliamentary Elections Today, from BBC

EU to Meet in Response to Kosovo Independence, from BBC

Ohio a Do-or-Die State for Clinton, from Ohio NPR via WCBE

Cincinnati Fire Dept Accredited to Train Paramedics In-House, from WVXU

3rd Parties

Since digging through the websites of the two national parties last week, I've been doing some searching and some reading on 3rd parties you can find here in Ohio. It's really about time we had some viable alternatives.

Bear in mind...these lists and write ups are not endorsements...just trying to give you a heads up on what else is out there. They're also listed in the order I found them...no special preference. I will confess that in some cases you might be able to read my actual thinking on the party and it's beliefs...sorry, but I'm human and do my own editing.

• There's the Green Party. Their introduction reads "The Green Party is composed of grassroots activists, environmentalists, advocates for social justice, nonviolent resisters, and regular citizens who've had enough of corporate-dominated politics. Our goal is to be the electoral wing of the nation-wide movements against war and corporate power." They also give a list of their Ten Key Values to show how they differ from other parties.
  
• There's also the American Reform Party. The main page has a long list of goals over a variety of subjects from economy to health care to immigration. Some of them include normalization of ties to Cuba, a single-payer national health care, and cracking down on immigration.
  
• Then we have the Constitution Party. This looks like a pretty robust website, and one of the first things you see is a news reader that says (at the time of this writing) a blurb about the anniversary of Roe vs. Wade. Not in a positive way. There's also a lot of anti-Huckabee language on here. They list seven principles of the Constitution and their interpretation of them (ie, Family = Husband, wife, plus children; Life = Protection from conception to natural death).
  
• Following them, we have the Independent American Party. The main page seems to be pretty much a blog, with little articles and stuff like that. They have a long bullet point list of purposes, ranging from "To restore our Constitutional Republic, restore Constitutional Law, and restore all rights, liberties, and properties rightfully belonging to the people and to the states" to "To preserve and honor our Judeo-Christian heritage, and the rights of all religions."
  
• The Libertarian Party seems to be all about getting on the ballot, according to the home page. Their six principles seem to revolve around tiny government and personal responsibility. "#2 Nobody spends somebody else's money as carefully as he spends his own." "#5 Sound policy requires that we consider long-term effects and all people, not simply short-term effects and a few people."
  
• Next up is the Natural Law Party, which evidently has no current national-level activity. I looked into their history and explanation a bit...near as I can surmise (and I welcome correction if I'm wrong) it looks like they're based on the principle that natural laws (eg, gravity) don't change, and we should thus adjust public policy to be more in line with them. Their statement of purpose is straight forward, but I'm already out of space.
  
• While it's not a party per se, Independent Voting did show up in my searches. The organization has a stated goal of making independent (non GOP or Democrat voters) more of a driving force in politics. Their efforts include a magazine, legal and monetary support to local independent activists and organizations, and a general dissemination of information. Probably the best website I saw during this search.
  

...and Now for Some News...

Solider Loses Custody of Child Because of Iraq Tour, from NPR

Gunman at Northern Illinois University Named, from NPR

Kenyans to Review Polls, from BBC

Kosovo Pledges to Protect Minorities, from BBC

Parents, Principals, and Teachers Working Together, from WCBE

Cincinnati Neighborhood Summit Saturday, from WVXU

Congressman

Ok, so I suck w/ this schedule thing. I blame starting a new job and throwing my weekend outta whack...so now here we are.

Again, I moved recently. So now I'm not represented by the Schmidt woman, who couldn't be farther from my values if she tried. Let's go see who now claims me as a constituent.

Looks like Dave Hobson. District 7 really is Central Ohio, ranging from Lancaster to Dayton. I'm kinda impressed, and thus not at all surprized at the fact it's a GOP district.

It's all small town farm country, or nice suburbs. With a few token urban regions (like my crime-infested economically depressed neighborhood) for show. I wonder if that has anything to do with the fact that the GOP has had an uninterrupted majority in the state legislature for years?


The guy's page is quite robust actually...go check it out. Doesn't seem bad at all. And he won 61% of the vote in 2006...not too bad, considering the nation's mood at that point.

We'll look into him more at length...so...yep. That's all I got for now. Enjoy your Legislation Wednesday!

...and Now for Some News...

Obama, McCain Winners in "Potomac Primary," from NPR

Roger Clemens Denies Steroid Use, from NPR (Whatever. Sold out Red Sox, used steroids...)

Top Hezbollah Leader Killed by Bomb, from BBC

Spielberg Steps Down from Olympic Committee, from BBC

Columbus Council Approves Budget, from WCBE (you'll have to listen to the story for details)

Hamilton County Adminstrator Gets Passing Grade, from WVXU