democracy

March 13, 2014April 18, 2020

Could Local Versions Of JobsOhio Be Coming To Your City?

images of the Hancock County Ohio commissioners

Hancock County (OH) commissioners (clockwise) Phillip A Riegle, Mark D Gazarek, & Brian J Robertson

It seems the now secretive work of economic development to hide giveaways to corporations who may or may not create any jobs in Ohio has arrived in Hancock County. On Tuesday, the county commissioners went into executive session to secretly discuss what they claimed was economic development issues. It seems the Ohio state legislature put in the recent budget law a section that allows county and city governments to close meetings to the public when it will be discussing economic development. How much do you want to bet that soon we will see county taxpayer supported slush funds for corporate giveaway like the state’s JobsOhio.

January 21, 2013April 18, 2020

Great Inauguration Speech By President Obama

President Obama giving 2nd Inauguration speech 01/21/2013

Loved President Obama’s 2nd Inauguration speech given today. I heard the social contract in his words. In a post on my iHumanism blog I highlighted some of my favorite parts of the speech.

December 26, 2012April 18, 2020

Rights Shouldn’t Be Subject To A Popular Vote

Imagine if we took votes on what people could believe in, speak about, or who people could love? That doesn’t sound fair at all, right? People who support gay marriage know what I mean. That’s why when I read almost 250,000 people had signed a petition on the White House website to legally label the Westboro Baptist Church a hate group, I actually had a problem with the petition. While I agree with the point, Fred Phelps and his church are way off the crazy scale, just imagine if you were on the wrong side of popular opinion. As much as I dislike the Westboro Baptist Church, this petition shows why we shouldn’t let rights be put up for a popular vote – PERIOD.

Here is the text of the petition:

September 12, 2012April 18, 2020

FCC Database Now Shows Local Station Political Ad Buys

image of a For Sale sign with Democracy at the bottom

I discovered today that the local station political ad buy forms the FCC required to be put online and the broadcasters fought, are available to search. The database went online on August 2nd but didn’t have to include any information before that date. But even the short time it has been collecting information there is a lot you can learn from the information if your station is in a battleground state like Ohio. Here is a brief tutorial on how to find information if you want to find it.

August 7, 2012April 18, 2020

Redistricting Reform Amendment Certified For Ohio Ballot

On Monday August 6th, Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted certified a constitutional amendment for the Nov. 6 ballot that would reform the way congressional districts are drawn after each census in Ohio. It would restore democracy in one important part of our political system by taking the redistricting out of the hands of the people it benefits – the politicians. If voters are tired of the partisanship of our current system then they should pass the amendment on election day.

What the amendment would do: