* Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted, a Republican, is trying to make it as difficult as possible for Ohioans to get absentee ballots. In the past, applications for absentee ballots were routinely mailed out automatically by counties. This year, in an effort to put up some roadblocks for voters, Husted and the Ohio Republicans are changing access to the ballot. Isn't this just what we expected?
WTAM:
Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted has ordered all 88 county boards of elections to stop mailing unsolicited vote-by-mail applications to all registered voters, but Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald says that's not the right thing to do.....
Contact your local Ohio Board of Elections by checking this list from the Secretary of State's website and request an absentee ballot application.
I think that Ohio's Republicans must have a campaign called "Block the Vote" because of their efforts to make it as difficult as possible for citizens to get a ballot. I have a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach that we will see some of the same voting problems we saw when Blackwell was in power.
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*** Once again, Gov. Kasich is being criticized for his recent refusal to help the unemployed. Truthout has Thom Hartmann's response to Kasich's rejection of help:
The unemployed are screwed in Ohio. With an unemployment rate around 9% - Republican Governor John Kasich put aside his war on unions – and is now going after the jobless. Yesterday was the deadline for Ohio to apply for $176 million in federal funds as part of the 2009 stimulus act to boost the state’s unemployment program. Even though the money could have helped some of the 529,000 desperate people who can’t find a job in Ohio – Governor Kasich doesn’t want the money – saying, “it makes no sense” to take it since the state’s unemployment program is already in debt – logic that makes no sense to me either. Democrats in the state senate offered up legislation to force Kasich to take the money – but Republicans shot it down. What Kasich – and most Republicans – fail to recognize is unemployment benefits are one of the best forms of economic stimulus out there – as one dollar spent on unemployment benefits translates to $1.64 in economic stimulus. But I guess Kasich is being a loyal soldier, following the national Republican strategy of causing so much economic pain that people in 2012 will vote against President Obama.
If there was an option to get special funding for Ohio's millionaires, Kasich would apply for that.
* Even though the Kasich administration is bragging that the governor is going to Detroit to speak to auto manufacturers, he is not meeting directly with the CEO's. Kasich is only a legend in his own mind.
> When Tea Party Republican Josh Mandel served in the Ohio House, he did not even sponsor one piece of legislation. Mandel was a co-sponsor on only 4 bills with the co-sponsors numbered at 3-5 dozen on each bill.
Project Vote Smart:
| 02/17/2009 | Transferable Tax Credit for Film Production HB 6 | Co-sponsor |
| 02/07/2009 | Campaign Finance Amendments HB 5 | Co-sponsor |
| 09/18/2007 | Abortion and Ultrasound Bill HB 314 | Co-sponsor |
| 06/13/2007 | Lethal Force Against Intruders SB 184 | Co-sponsor |
Mandel was clearly in the light weight division in the Ohio House of Representatives. Previous to his time in the Ohio House, Mandel also served on the city council of Lyndhurst, Ohio. The huge population of Lyndhurst, according to City-Data, was 13,728 in July 2009. Once again we see that Mandel might not have the background for the legislative work required for higher office.