Does Privatizing Prisons Work?

Matthew Yglesias says no:

Privatizing prisons hasn’t been the boon that was promised:

The conviction that private prisons save money helped drive more than 30 states to turn to them for housing inmates. But Arizona shows that popular wisdom might be wrong: Data there suggest that privately operated prisons can cost more to operate than state-run prisons — even though they often steer clear of the sickest, costliest inmates.
The state’s experience has particular relevance now, as many politicians have promised to ease budget problems by trimming state agencies. Florida and Ohio are planning major shifts toward private prisons, and Arizona is expected to sign deals doubling its private-inmate population.

There are important general lessons here. The genius of the real private economy is that firms that are really poorly run go out of business. It’s not that some magic private sector fairy dust makes the firms all be runs soundly. Lots of bad businesses are out there. But they tend to lose money and close. Meanwhile, well-run firms tend to earn profits and expand. The public sector doesn’t have this feature. Just because a public agency is inept is no guarantee that it will go out of business. Resources are allocating according to political clout rather than any criteria of merit. It’s a problem. But it’s not a problem that “privatizing” public services actually solves. There’s no magic private sector fairy dust.

I'm not surprised that private prisons end up costing more than publicly-run prisons, as there has to be a profit factor figured in there.  But also, I would guess that while the private prisons pay guards and other workers much less, they end up paying executives more.  They also will end up handling more administrative duties that are spread out over all the prisons in the public system.  Therefore, they end up doing redundant work that adds up to higher costs than a similar publicly-run prison.  I think that higher executive pay and profits for the shareholders is considered a feature by Republican governors like John Kasich, not a bug.  They really don't care about how much government spends, they really care about where they spend it.

A Thought Experiment

What would Republicans in Ohio be saying if casino owners (or any other business) went Galt because Democrats were trying to change the rules of the game while the casinos were under construction:

The developer of casinos in Cincinnati and Cleveland announced Wednesday that they halted construction on both projects.

The developer, Rock Ohio Caesars, said construction would be suspended immediately in both cities.

According to Rock Ohio Caesars, the developers have disagreed with Gov. John Kasich and state legislators over plans to tax casinos' gross receipts without deducting winnings and payouts.

The developer issued a statement that said recent legislative discussion proposing significantly higher taxes and fees specific to the operation of Ohio's casinos have "created an environment of uncertainty concerning the projected economic vitality of our planned developments in both Cincinnati and Cleveland."

According to the statement, construction would remain suspended "until these issues have been resolved and a reliable State economic environment is in place."

Imagine how much Republicans would be howling about how Democrats were destroying jobs and placing ridiculous regulations on business.  I think the casinos are crying foul over nothing, but I think it is an interesting thing to think about.  Republicans had ample opportunities since the first time a casino issue appeared on the ballot in 1990.  They probably shouldn't have waited until 19 months after the casino issue passed to try to change the rules.  Even if the casinos don't win, the state is going to have to pay to fight the inevitable lawsuits from the developers.

Elections at Home

Thank you Ohio Republican Party.  Since you forced through your 20% state income tax cut, (resulting in savings of slightly more than 1% of income) our local school income tax rate went from 0.5% to 1%.  Today we receive the opportunity to raise it another 0.75%.  I'm glad you guys can feel good about lowering taxes, even though you are just passing the back to local governments.  You are true Profiles in Courage.  Bite my ass and move away, please.

City Council Befuddled By Request to Rename Street for Negro

First off, my use of Negro is in no way intended to be insulting or offensive to African-Americans.  It is expressly intended to be insulting to the members of the Troy, Ohio City Council.  Council rejected adding a secondary name to a street in Troy to honor early Troy civil rights activist Lucille Wheat.  Here is the story:

A city council committee on Thursday unanimously declined to recommend council authorize adding a secondary name for Elm Street. The action effectively rejects a request by Wheat's son, Sidney Wheat, to rename the 2-1/2 block section of South Elm Street between West Main Street and McKaig Road for his mother.

Lucille Wheat is recognized as a key civil rights figure in Troy during the 1950s through the early 1980s. She founded and chaired the Troy Community Action Committee, headed the Troy NAACP in 1966 and co-authored with Lois Davies a seminal book on race relations Troy title, "Some Self-Evident Truths."

Sidney Wheat made the request in January to Troy mayor Michael L. Beamish, saying it was a way to recognize Lucille Wheat for her efforts. The Wheat's family home was located on South Elm Street, near the corner of West Main Street.

In early February, Beamish made an alternate suggestion: adding an secondary name in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to the entire stretch of Elm Street from McKaig Road to the northern city limits. The Buildings, Streets and Sidewalks Committee agreed and made a positive recommendation on Beamish's alternate suggestion.

But in the face of questions from Wheat and others, the item was pulled from the Feb. 7 council agenda and sent back to committee, where it has languished until Thursday. Committee chairman Jarrod Harrah blamed scheduling conflicts for the three-month delay in bringing the item back to committee.

Thursday, Harrah and fellow committee members Bobby Phillips and Tom Kendall said they could not back naming South Elm Street for either King or Wheat.

Harrah said streets are usually reserved for persons of note and also said developers of residential areas name the streets. He also suggested renaming a street was insufficient to honor Wheat and that a plaque, perhaps on the commercial building that now occupies the site of the former Wheat home, should be added instead.

"I just don't think a street does her justice," Harrah said.

Phillips noted that Wheat has already been enshrined in the Troy Hall of Fame (in 1984). "I question how many awards a person should have," he said.

Kendall said he has "never been a big proponent of renaming streets," at least partly because it could potentially open the city up to receiving a flood of similar requests.

"At this point, I think we should leave it as it is," Kendall said.

Wheat, 73, a life-long Troy resident, appeared at the meeting with his wife and expressed disappointment in the committee's position.

I have to agree with Mr. Wheat's quote at the end of the story:

"I had hoped for a better outcome, and more sincerity, than I'm hearing," Wheat said

I was not familiar with Ms. Wheat's work in Troy prior to this newspaper article.  I will look for her book at the library when I get a chance.  Apparently, she rubbed some people in Troy the wrong way.  I find it entertaining that instead of honoring a local person, the mayor suggested naming a street after Martin Luther King.  It is also entertaining that they took two months to review and rewrite the city's street naming policy, but they failed to come up with any worthwhile excuses for why they would reject the street renaming request.  This wasn't a case where the street name would change and force people to change their address, it was for adding a secondary sign with Ms. Wheat's name on it.  In neighboring Tipp City, they added a secondary sign to honor George W. Bush because his bus went down the street on the way to giving a political speech at an invitation-only event at the high school.

The changes in the street renaming policy:

After a line-by-line review of the new policy, which included several new sections, the committee made several minor changes.

New to the policy is a section saying that consideration for renaming will not be given to anyone who has already been recognized with an honor or award. Another addition to the policy states that individuals or groups requesting the renaming "shall bear all renaming costs."

Both of those issues were cited by committee members Thursday as factors in rejecting Wheat's request.

I tell you what, if the city is concerned about the cost of the signs, I will pay for them.

It is notable that the portion of street for which the secondary name was requested is in the historically black portion of Troy.  South Elm Street and North Elm Street were referred to as Slabtown and Hollywood.  I don't remember which portion was which, I only remember being told those were the names by my grandparents.  Anyway, I thought a city council in a city which has historical markers seemingly every 20 feet in honor of Clayton Bruckner and the WACO Aircraft Company would be interested in honoring a local civil rights activist.  I would assume that Clayton Bruckner didn't make certain white folks uncomfortable about their latent racism when he was alive.

In a side note, WACO went out of business in 1947, but the city is proud of their association with the company.  The company made some very neat aircraft in the 20's and 30's prior to making the "flying coffin" gliders used in airborne operations in WWII in Sicily, in Normandy and in Operation Market Garden.  As a veteran of the Airborne in World War II told me, "We lost a lot of good boys in those gliders."  He had no fond memories of the gliders.

Update:  I would also like to propose renaming Dye Mill Road in the vicinity of the city wastewater treatment plant after the Mayor and Council.  That area generally smells the same as this Council decision.  I will also pay for those signs.

Ohio Taxpayers Subsidize Business Investment More than 48 Other States

From the Dayton Daily News:

Only two states - Maine and Oregon - have lower tax burdens for new business investments than Ohio, according to a new study released by the Council on State Taxation, a business-backed group, in conjunction with Ernst & Young, the professional services firm.
“Competitiveness of State and Local Taxes on New Investment” found that Ohio has an effective tax rate of 4.4 percent on new investment, lower than all states and the District of Columbia, except Oregon, with a 3.8 percent rate, and Maine, with a 3.0 percent rate, the lowest nationally.
The findings contrast with some other studies such as those done by the Tax Foundation, which has issued negative findings about Ohio’s business tax climate. The Tax Foundation in a report last year - 2011 State Business Tax Climate Index - rated Ohio 46th nationally in terms of a favorable tax climate.
The new study, released Tuesday, focuses on capital investments in industries that have location choices for factories and headquarters, not on investments tied to specific locations such as hotels and restaurants.

We're winning the race to the bottom.  Excuse me, big business is winning at our expense.

Kasich Goes Off Again, This Time At Obama

Governor Kasich blew off at President Obama for criticizing the Governor's assault on public-sector unions:

President Obama told Cleveland TV Station WKYC he disapproves of new laws restricting public employee unions in Ohio and Wisconsin. The president said states should not use the financial crisis as an excuse to erode bargaining rights. Governor Kasich responded this way:
Kasich:  “The President of the United States has I think...a 13 trillion dollar debt. Why doesn’t he do his job? When he does his job and gets our budget balanced and starts to prepare a future for our children, then maybe he can have an opinion about what’s going on in Ohio.”
Ohio Democratic Party Chief Chris Redfern said Kasich needs to remember it was Republicans who were in charge when wall street fell. Here’s what Redfern said when he was asked whether he thought Kasich was trying to set himself up for a presidential run of his own.
Redfern:  “Well, I can only hope for a Donald Trump, John Kasich ticket. One fellow has already clearly lost it and the other is on his way to losing it”

I wish I could get the audio to work, because you have to hear it to appreciate how big of a dick Kasich sounds like.  Personally, the last time I checked, the President is allowed to say what he thinks under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, even if said speech criticizes John Kasich.  Also, I think the President is well-aware of the debt issue.  Mr. Kasich might want to know that the debt is currently $14.3 trillion, of which $10.6 trillion was on the books before Obama got there.  But then again, John Kasich doesn't seem to care about facts.  Also, Governor Kasich, where were you during the Bush administration with your campaign for a federal balanced budget.  I think that is a brilliant way to tank the economy when consumers and businesses are currently net savers.  If I were the president, I would also mention that tax cuts for wealthy people and spending cuts for state and local governments are bad for the future, but I'm not the president, and thank God I'm not John Kasich. 

Kasich Blows Off Mouth, Again.

John Kasich can't help but put his foot in his mouth, which seems physically impossible when his head is up his ass:

Just weeks after approving a deal to give Bob Evans Farms Inc. $11 million in loans and grants to stay in Ohio, Gov. John Kasich remarked that the food and restaurant chain offers staff health care benefits that are “shabby, at best.”

The remark prompted union activists on Thursday to call on Bob Evans Farms Inc. to improve the benefits package offered to workers.

Ohioans Against Shabby Benefits, a coalition of citizens and labor unions, said it believes that all workers should have the right to good benefits.

Bob Evans, which is moving its headquarters from Columbus to the suburb of New Albany, has $1.7 billion in annual sales and 44,000 employees.

Hourly restaurant workers are offered a 401(k) and a 401(a) retirement plan, optional health insurance, voluntary life insurance, and half-priced meals while on the clock, according to the company website.

So the governor was making the case that public employees ought to get shitty benefits because Bob Evans employees have them.  That offends Bob Evans, which Kasich was also bragging about keeping in Ohio.  What a dumbass.  The only thing that could make me move from Ohio would be having a dipshit like John Kasich as governor.  I sure wish high taxes in Ohio made him move somewhere else.

Jimmy T Has Trouble With Saying Sorry

Dayton Daily News:

Ohio State Athletic Director Gene Smith said Tuesday the $250,000 fine levied against Buckeyes football coach Jim Tressel for violating NCAA rules may not even cover the cost of the investigation.

“It’ll probably eat up the whole $250 (thousand),” Smith said. “I’m not sure. We haven’t done any projections.”

Declining to address the ongoing NCAA investigation into Tressel’s violation, Smith also said he didn’t know when Tressel’s problems would be resolved.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Smith said Tressel was supposed to apologize in March at a news conference on the situation but failed to do so, and that only after meeting with Smith did the coach finally say he was sorry in a public forum.

What a bum. Later in the story:

 

After Yahoo! Sports broke the Tressel story in March, Smith, who was about to chair the prestigious NCAA men’s basketball tournament selection committee, hastily called a news conference. Tressel was supposed to apologize that night, but did not.

“Then we got with him and he got better at it,” Smith said. “It’s an emotional thing.”

On Tuesday, Smith said he regretted that the hurried news conference did not go better and said there were a number of things he wished he had done differently.

Yeah, it's hard for a hypocrite to admit he did anything wrong.  There is a timeline included with the article, and it is pretty obvious that Tressel had no desire for this scandal to ever come to light.  But this section of the timeline really stood out:

Dec. 9: Tressel says this is the first time he hears what federal officials know about the items. He makes no mention to university officials of his email exchanges with Cicero or any knowledge he has of the matter.
Dec. 16: OSU interviews for the first time the six players found to be involved with Rife (Pryor, tailback Daniel Herron, Posey, offensive lineman Mike Adams, defensive lineman Solomon Thomas and defensive back Jordan Whiting). Smith later thanks the players for their conduct in these interviews, “because they were honest (and) forthright.” Tressel does not disclose his knowledge of the memorabilia sales.
Dec. 19: OSU turns in a self-report to the NCAA and declares the six players ineligible.
Dec. 21: The NCAA conducts phone interviews with the players and then asks for additional information, which Ohio State provides on Dec. 22.
Dec. 22: The NCAA notifies Ohio State of five-game suspensions for five players and one game for Whiting. All must also pay to charity the equivalent of the money and services they received. But the NCAA does allow the players to participate in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 4.
Dec. 23: Smith and Tressel have a news conference to announce the sanctions. Tressel says the players must have known what they were doing was a violation of NCAA rules: “I suppose that would be something rattling around inside the head of each of them individually. We all have a little sensor within us, 'Well, I’m not sure if I should be doing this.’ ”

Way to be classy on December 23, coach.  I can't imagine many employers would be happy with their subordinate lying to them like this.  But then again, maybe we need to reconsider who's the boss:

March 8: Ohio State reports Tressel’s violation to the NCAA and calls a news conference to announce it has suspended Tressel for two games and has fined him $250,000. In the letter to the NCAA, Ohio State says, “The institution is very surprised and disappointed in Coach Tressel’s lack of action in this matter.” Yet at the news conference, university President E. Gordon Gee and Smith lavish praise on Tressel. Asked if he considered firing Tressel, Gee jokes, “No, are you kidding? Let me just be very clear: I’m just hopeful the coach doesn’t dismiss me.”

What an embarrassment.  You'd think the highest paid college President in the country would have a little more authority.  Why does that guy make $1.5 Million?  Ohio State football is a disgrace to this state.

Kasich Frequently Uses State Plane

Being an engineer, I immediately thought of the State Plane Coordinate system.  Here's the DDN:

Gov. John Kasich’s entourage for a 144-mile trip from Columbus to Cleveland last month was so large his office used two state-owned planes to transport the group, costing taxpayers $2,199.50.

In his first 81 days in office, the Republican Kasich used the Hawker-Beechcraft King Air planes for 16 in-state trips and four out-of-state treks at a total cost of $31,400. By comparison, former Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland spent $31,849 on plane travel during his first 13 months in office.

“There is no doubt about it: I can’t get to all these places if I’m not able to fly,” Kasich said on Friday. “And look, it is a tough budget, but it’s also critical that we don’t lose companies and that we can communicate across the state.” He added, “I understand that the plane is always going to be a sensitive subject but I only use it when we have to use it, when I think the schedule demands it and we’ve got to be in multiple places at the same time.”

John Kasich is the gift which keeps on giving.  He always manages to come off as an arrogant ass.

Congressional Shenanigans

Ezra Klein relates how the Democrats almost tricked the Republicans into passing the Republican Study Committee's We Hate Our Government budget on Friday:

I haven’t paid much attention to the Republican Study Committee’s budget, as it wasn’t going to pass. It wasn’t even going to come close to passing. This is a document, after all, that House conservatives released to make Paul Ryan look like a squishy moderate. No one was going to vote for it. No one, that is, until earlier this afternoon, it almost passed.

Here’s what happened: In the House of Representatives, a simple majority can pass a bill. But you can do more than just vote “yes” or “no.” You can also vote “present.” So a bunch of Democrats — 172 of them, to be exact — either voted “present” or, more sneakily, switched from “no” to “present.” As the number of “no” votes dwindled, the confused Republican realized their “yes” votes — votes that were friendly expressions of conservative solidarity rather than an actual effort to pass the RSC’s plan — were becoming a majority. The result, as Brian Beutler says, was “chaos” on the House floor, as Republicans, once they realized what was going on, rushed to switch their “yes” votes to “no” votes to make sure the RSC budget didn’t actually pass.

I wonder how long the Democrats have been saving that trick.  Jim Jordan, who heads the Republican Study Committee is the ultimate do-nothing backbencher.  I wouldn't be surprised if he never voted for any of the final Budget Bills in his 12 years in Columbus.  I remember him opposing a couple of the budgets because the sales tax had been increased to avoid making big cuts.  He swears he won't raise any taxes ever, and is one of the people who will vote against any compromise because he wants to maintain ideological purity.  But, he's guaranteed to continue winning elections in West Central Ohio, so we'll have to keep paying him to do nothing.  That is better than if he gets to slash up the government like he wants to.

Kasich Hires Consultants on Gambling

DDN:

Gov. John Kasich’s administration on Thursday announced that two companies have been selected as consultants to “advise the state on how best to harmonize Ohio’s gaming policies and optimize gaming’s benefits to Ohio.”
The companies, who will be paid about $400 per hour, are Spectrum Gaming Group of Lindwood, N.J., and Moelis & Company of Los Angeles, Calif., an investment bank, a press release said.
The total cost has not been projected because the scope of the contract with each firm still is being worked out, said Molly O’Reilly, spokeswoman for the Department of Administrative Services.

$400 an hour sounds like a good chunk of money to this farmer.  The consultants will work with the state to write rules and regulations.  If the Republicans in the Legislature weren't religious nuts, they could have done all of this in an open process 10 years ago and allowed bidders to bid for licenses instead of letting potential casino owners write them in a Constitutional Amendment which gives them a monopoly on casinos.  Instead they didn't, and Ohioans have been going to other states to gamble since.

Kasich Still Considering Turnpike Privatization

The Blade:

A section in Governor Kasich's budget proposal would authorize the directors of ODOT and the state Office of Management and Budget to negotiate and enter into a turnpike lease with a private party. No specific private party is named, and Mr. Wray said there have been overtures from several potential bidders for a turnpike concession, if one became available.
While a $3 billion revenue target has come up in discussion, the ODOT director said there is no firm amount for which the turnpike might be leased. He was adamant, however, that the administration is not interested in a lump-sum lease like Indiana's and said the 75-year term Indiana agreed to is too long "in my personal opinion."
Another possibility, he said, is making the turnpike a unit of the Ohio Department of Transportation, rather than maintaining the separate Ohio Turnpike Commission.
If the turnpike were to be leased, the request-for-proposal process could take anywhere from six to 18 months to complete, the ODOT director said.
Mr. Wray pledged that proceeds from any lease would be dedicated to infrastructure improvements such as highway construction and harbor dredging and would focus on northern Ohio, through which the turnpike runs.

I still think it is a bad idea.  At least he must understand where the tolls go now.  If the state brings in a certain amount of income on the turnpike, and they aren't going to allow the bidders to increase tolls much, where does the private company's profit come from?  Won't that just lower the amount of up-front money the state gets?

We're #1

According to an analysis in the NYT, Ohio's anti-union law is tougher than Wisconsin's:

It is perhaps surprising that Ohio faced more limited public demonstrations considering that its bill, which Gov. John R. Kasich signed Thursday, goes further than Wisconsin’s in several important ways.
While both laws severely limit public employees’ ability to bargain collectively — they both prohibit any bargaining over health coverage and pensions — the Ohio law largely eliminates bargaining for the police and firefighters. Wisconsin’s law leaves those two groups’ bargaining rights untouched. Ohio’s law also gives city councils and school boards a free hand to unilaterally impose their side’s final contract offer when management and union fail to reach a settlement.
Notwithstanding the differences in legislation, the push by those states’ Republican governors and Republican-dominated legislatures points to a pendulum swing away from what many unions and Democrats see as a fundamental right for public employees: the right to bargain over wages and benefits.

I guess it will probably come down to whether the unions can get it on the ballot and repeal it.  I would guess that in an off-year election they'll have a hard time.

Why States Have Budget Deficits

From the Miami Herald (h/t Yglesias):

In his new budget proposal, Ohio Republican Gov. John Kasich calls for extending a generous 21 percent cut in state income taxes. The measure was originally part of a sweeping 2005 tax overhaul that abolished the state corporate income tax and phased out a business property tax. The tax cuts were supposed to stimulate Ohio's economy and create jobs. But that never happened once the economy tanked. Instead, the changes ended up costing Ohio more than $2 billion a year in lost tax revenue; money that would go a long way toward closing the state's $8 billion budget gap for fiscal year 2012.
"At least half of our current budget problem is a direct result of the tax changes we made in 2005. A lot of people don't want to hear that, but that's the reality. Much of our pain is self-inflicted," said Zach Schiller, research director at Policy Matters Ohio, a liberal government-research group in Cleveland.
Schiller's lament is by no means unique. Across the country, taxpayers jarred by cuts to government jobs and services are reassessing the risks and costs of a variety of tax reductions, exemptions and credits, and the ideology that drives them. States cut taxes in hopes of spurring economic growth, but in state after state, it hasn't worked.
There's no question that mammoth state budget problems resulted largely from falling tax revenues, rising costs and greater demand for state services during the recession. But questionable tax reductions at the state and local level made the budget gaps larger — and resulting spending cuts deeper — than they otherwise would have been in many states.
A 2008 study by Arizona State University found that that state's structural deficits could be traced to 15 years of tax cuts, mainly income-tax reductions that "were not matched by spending cuts of a commensurate size."
In Texas, which faces a $27 billion budget deficit over the next two years, about one-third of the shortage stems from a 2006 property tax reduction that was linked to an underperforming business tax.

Thanks to Republicans, no state can raise taxes, all must cut them.  If you live in a rural area, you are going to be screwed.  Luckily, your wealthy fellow residents in the suburbs will still have twice as good of schools as your kids do.  But they deserve it and you don't.

Jon Stewart Takes Note of John Kasich

The Daily Show - Gov Hurts
Tags: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

I have yet to figure out why these Republican governors came in to office knowing that serious sacrifices were going to need to be made, then swore off raising taxes, in many cases cut taxes (benefitting the wealthiest individuals and corporations), then shoved as many things as they could up the hindquarters of state and local workers, and now don't understand why they aren't popular. Maybe I'm just biased, but rewarding the best off in society while screwing everybody else doesn't seem like the best way to "share sacrifice." All of the Medicaid cuts by definition fall on the poor and the elderly. The vast majority of the tax breaks go to the extremely wealthy.

It just seems like Republicans go out of their way not only to screw the least fortunate and benefit the most fortunate, they go out of their way to do it without the least shred of decency, tact or class. They seem to revel in being assholes, and their supporters seem to show more respect for their leaders if they are bigger assholes.

It concerns me that the party which claims that the United States is a Christian Nation governs in the least Christian way possible. When President Obama nominated Justice Sotomayor for the Supreme Court, he was derided by Republicans for saying that he chose her because of her empathy for others. What characteristic is demonstrated more often by Jesus in the Gospels than empathy for the least powerful and influential people in society? If I have to pick the characters in the Gospel best represented by Republicans, it would have to be Jesus archenemies, the Pharisees.  Republicans govern as Christians only in Bizarro World.

Update: Thanks to the sister for bringing the video to my attention.

Damn Ohio Republicans

Two bills which are in the Ohio House caught my attention, and raised my blood pressure.  First, the House passed a new photo ID bill, which would require each voter to show a government-issued ID card at the polling place, while providing a photo ID for free if a person can't afford one.  This is "intended" to cut down on voter impersonation, according to the bill's sponsor.  When barely half of all registered voters vote, I seriously doubt that this is a problem.  The Republicans don't even claim that they know of any cases having ever occured.  If they were honest, it would be called vote suppression, because their only goal is to turn away the poor and the elderly voters who don't have photo IDs, and won't know about the restrictions or won't go out and get the photo ID to vote.  It is an extremely cynical and anti-democratic bill, and frankly unnecessary.  Republicans have done their math, and they know that old white people are going to be a minority, so they have to prevent as many people as possible from voting.

Secondly, Republicans are proposing an amendment to the Ohio Constitution which would attempt to block the health insurance mandate in the Health Care Reform bill.  It would be placed before voters on the fall ballot.  My question is, why should people be allowed to not carry insurance and be a free rider on the system?  This mandate is a Republican idea.  How cynical can these jackasses be?  In the photo ID bill, Republican supporters will tell you that poorly-informed voters shouldn't vote, yet these same people are extremely poorly-informed, getting their "news" from Fox News and bullshit artists like Rush Limbaugh.  I don't understand why people who have insurance provided by their employers are opposed to the insurance mandate.  If they lose their jobs and can afford health insurance, would they refuse to buy it?  If so they are idiots they are free riding on the system. 

If anyone has read the Ohio Constitution, they will notice it is chalk chock-full of stupid amendments like this one, along with more than a dozen amendments for various bond issues, because the 1851 Constitution outlawed the state issuing bonds after the canal debt crisis after the Panic of 1837 in the 1840's.  Now, every state bond issue, such as highway construction bonds, must be added as amendments to the Constitution.  The Constitution includes amendments for selling bonds to pay bonuses to veterans of WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam and the current wars.  We also amended the Constitution to outlaw gay marriage in Ohio, which will look absolutely stupid in 10 years. 

One provision of the Constitution places a question on the ballot every 20 years to vote for a Constitutional Convention to review and amend the state Constitution.  It was passed in 1912 at the last such Convention, which installed the referendum system and other Progressive Era reforms.  It has never been passed since then.  I think it is high time that we undertake the process, make the state Constitutionally allowed to issue a certain amount of debt indexed to state finances or GDP, get rid of the gay marriage ban as a business-friendly and creative-class friendly move, dramatically reform the referendum process, revisit the casino amendment and change or remove many other stupid or outdated amendments.  The only problem is that Republicans are not up to the task, leaving half of the potential convention members lacking in sense.

More Wisconsin News

From Yahoo:

Wisconsin Treasurer Kurt Schuller has drafted a bill that would eliminate his position and the office of the secretary of state. The resolution would amend the state constitution to cut both offices by 2015, Schuller said Wednesday. Schuller, a Republican, promised during his campaign that he would only serve one term if elected and would work to get rid of the treasurer's office, which has little power.
If either the treasurer or secretary of state's office is eliminated, the elected officer's seat on the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands would be filled by the lieutenant governor. If both offices are cut, the superintendent of public instruction would fill the remaining seat.
Schuller said Republican Rep. Scott Krug of Wisconsin Rapids will introduce the bill in the Assembly. If the Legislature approves the measure in two consecutive sessions, voters could provide final approval through separate statewide referendums. Voters could eliminate one or both offices. Legislators would have to reapportion any duties not designated by the constitution.

I am torn on this issue.  I really think there are several Constitutionally required jobs, especially at the county level, that could be eliminated.  At the same time, the fact that they are elected positions means that they are accountable to the public.  As far as Treasurer goes, I think the amount of money the state invests would be more likely to go to campaign contributors if the Treasurer is appointed by the Governor, especially if it is a Governor like Scott Walker.  If this were to take effect, I would prefer to see career public servants and not political appointees in charge of the office.  The political appointees could make changes, but only in a very public and open-bid manner.  I doubt that is what Republicans will do in this bill.  I don't trust them any farther than I can kick them.  Democrats aren't much better, but they don't completely kiss the ass of Big Business.