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In new post-Roe era of “states rights,” voters told Ohio Republicans they can get their freak on
With the new emphasis the U.S. Supreme Court put on the importance of state government in this post-Roe v. Wade era, many Americans decided Tuesday to put some checks in place. They also roasted some conspiracy nuts over the camp fire. Abortion rights ballot questions were passed in five states, including GOP-dominated Kentucky to the […]
Ohio Republicans look to have picked up one Ohio Senate seat, and perhaps 2 to 4 in the Ohio House
Competing under maps declared to be an unconstitutional GOP gerrymander by a bipartisan majority on the Ohio Supreme Court, Ohio Republicans look to have picked up one Ohio Senate seat Tuesday and perhaps two to four seats in the Ohio House as well. With outstanding absentee and provisional ballots, these results could change in the […]
Ohio Democrats pick up one U.S. Congressional seat in midterm election
Ohio Democrats increased the number of U.S. House district seats they hold by one in the state’s midterm election Tuesday, though Republicans still hold 10 out of the 15 seats. Ohio lost one U.S. Congressional seat from the latest Census, and after Tuesday’s election, the delegation will go from 12-4 Republican-to-Democrat to 10-5 Republican-to-Democrat. The […]
Ohio Supreme Court races will determine whether Republican gerrymandering gets rubber-stamped
What could be more bitterly ironic than Republican Ohio Supreme Court justices being elected in 2022 in reflection of the 54-46 differential of average Ohio voter patterns, and then that new partisan Republican court rubber-stamping gerrymandered Statehouse and Congressional districts that give the GOP undue supermajority advantages that far out-kick the same differential? That might […]
Ohio is largely losing population and growing older except in the greater Columbus area, study shows
The vast majority of the state of Ohio is growing older, losing population, and losing workers — a trend offset only by growth happening mostly in Columbus and surrounding areas, a new report shows. From 2000 to 2020, the state of Ohio saw its population grow by 3%, but if the city of Columbus and […]
America is amusing itself to death and hack politicians are taking advantage
In 1985, Neil Postman’s crowning achievement, “Amusing Ourselves To Death,” provided the most prescient analysis and forecast of the current lobotimization of American public discourse. Postman’s work drew a distinction between the Orwellian vision of a totalitarian government seizing individual rights and Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World,” where freedom and rights were voluntarily sacrificed in […]
Ohio solar project killed due to local government opposition
A solar power project in Allen and Auglaize counties has been killed by state officials due to opposition from local governments, even though the application for the project was filed before a new Ohio law was put in place giving county governments the ability to nix such projects. In an opinion and order issued last […]
Householder defense in racketeering trial previewed in fight over campaign finance experts
A fight over expert testimony in the felony racketeering trial of former Republican Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder offers a window into the ex-legislative leader’s defense strategy over his alleged role in the $1.3 billion First Energy bailout, political bribery scandal. U.S. attorneys filed a response this week the U.S. Southern District of Ohio court […]
DeWine’s hypocrisy on American Rescue Plan dollars as garish as it gets
This is nothing new. Supposedly anti-“Big Government” state leaders slam D.C. politicians for “reckless spending” when D.C. gets things done on health care, education, infrastructure, the environment, stimulus, jobs, the economy. Then those state politicians turn right around and allocate billions in new funding, installing new federally funded programs and initiatives in their states. Then […]
Alleging continual pollution, advocates ask U.S. EPA to take over Ohio injection well permitting
Appalachian Ohio is a primary dumping ground for natural gas fracking waste. Nearly half of it is coming from neighboring states. A battle is underway to try to strip the Ohio Department of Natural Resources from its hold on the permitting process for these injection wells. A coalition of environmental activists and community groups in […]
Ohio Republican legislative leaders appeal congressional map to U.S. Supreme Court
Ohio Republican legislative leaders have appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court a bipartisan Ohio Supreme Court ruling that the state’s Republican-drawn U.S. Congressional map being used for the 2022 Election is unconstitutional. The map was passed along party lines in a vote of the Ohio Redistricting Commission (ORC) after the Republican supermajority General Assembly failed […]
Ohio among worst states for enabling billionaires and making inequality worse, think tank reports
By loosening trust laws for more than 20 years, Ohio has established itself as an “emerging enabler” of billionaires and wealth inequality, a new report from Washington think tank The Institute for Policy Studies says. The report ranks Ohio as tied for 7th worst in the nation for enabling billionaires and exacerbating inequality. “Billionaire wealth […]