New General Assembly wastes no time asserting Ohio’s sovereignty

The 129^th General Assembly is barely a week old, and already State Representatives Barbara Sears (R-Sylvania) and Ron Maag (R-Warren County) have introduced a bill (HB 11) to prohibit Ohio departments from enforcing the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (inelegantly referred to as “Obamacare”), unless it is pursuant to an act of the General Assembly, and the affected agency submits a report to the General Assembly with the following information. [For brevity, the word enforce below means to “implement and enforce” in each instance.]

•  A citation from the federal Act requiring the department to enforce the provision,
•  A list of waivers or options available to the state under the provision,
•  The steps the department would have to take to enforce the provision,
•  What individuals would be affected if the department enforced (or did not enforce) the provision,
•  The cost to the State of Ohio or its citizens of enforcing the provision, and
•  A list of consequences to the state if the department or agency does not enforce the provision.

 This bill does not duplicate the Ohio Project’s proposed Constitutional amendment exempting Ohioans from the requirement to purchase health care coverage. The Ohio Project is still circulating petitions for that amendment, which it expects to place on the November 2011 ballot.

I have included HB 11 on a new legislative spreadsheet, which may also be accessed from the Legislative Action tab above..

The perils of punditry

Experience has shown that relatively few posts in The Ohio Republic draw comments. This is both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, commenters to this space are either supportive, or are thoughtful in their criticism. We have been blessed by the absence of the childish sniping that too often occurs in comments to media and other blogs. On the other hand, there are times when I crave feedback and receive none.

My post on Monday so far has drawn an unusually large response – eight comments from others, three of them on the Facebook page. I would like to share one from an old friend, whose sympathies I know to be decidedly liberal:

Instead of trying to defend the indefensible (and how on earth do you defend Sarah Palin’s "reload" ...comments let alone all her other violent metaphors?),  why don't we just all agree the political rhetoric (from all sides) is poisonous and contributes to the agitation of those who are unbalanced. We need to respect each other despite our VERY different viewpoints on how to achieve progress for mankind.

I would not go so far as to argue that all political rhetoric is poisonous; but we clearly need to work toward eliminating all poisonous rhetoric. We need to reject all political rhetoric that calls for violence, even metaphorically.  Everyone of good will agrees that our society is very broken. Our (good) rhetoric should aim toward its rebuilding.

I do not apologize for my appeal to the Left (the need for which was thoroughly documented by Michelle Malkin); but as two commenters pointed out, the Right is not blameless. They support their charges with examples of a vitriolic statement by Glenn Beck against filmmaker Michael Moore and some tasteless t-shirts offered for sale to Tea Party followers.

In my second anniversary post (Sept. 13, 2009), I cited State Rep. Ted Celeste (D-Upper Arlington), who has campaigned for greater civility in political discussion. He said:

We politicians are as much to blame as anyone. Our discourse has become partisan and angry, thoughtless and hurtful and totally lacking in civility. We are headed down a very dangerous path, and this is not the type of leadership that our constituents expect of us.

Last Saturday, we saw where that dangerous path ends. While we are not responsible for what Jared Loughner did, we are responsible for what we say and the way we say it. Freedom of speech carries with it the responsibility to use it wisely.

Being human and passionate about the cause of liberty, I will make mistakes. And I am thankful for the commenters who make the effort to keep me honest, because it is the truth that will set us free.

Governor John R. Kasich

John Kasich is a passionate man. He is anxious to roll up his sleeves and solve the problems that have plagued Ohio for over a generation. Because he is passionate, he is vulnerable to being portrayed as the bull in a china shop and prone to the occasional gaffe (such as an opinion he expressed last month about state employees). He left a bad taste in many mouths for the rabid negativism of his campaign against Gov. Ted Strickland. It seems, however, that political campaigning brings out the worst in otherwise worthy and virtuous people. On the other hand, I remember him as an energetic Congressman who wanted to show the American people what fiscal responsibility looked like; and partly as a result of his prodding, the federal budget was balanced from 1998 to 2000.

The purpose of an inaugural address* is to set the tone for an administration, to help the citizens understand where the new Governor is coming from, and to provide a general direction. Policy matters are deferred to the State of the State address, usually given in March.

The inaugural address, which Gov. Kasich says he wrote on Christmas Day, did not convey the arrogance that sometimes came across during the campaign. Rather, it was a statement of his fundamental values: faith, family, friends, and teamwork.

On teamwork:

I want to thank Ohioans, all Ohioans, for giving me the chance to form a team. To form a team. And to transform our great state. You know, years ago, I used the word “I” an awful lot. I don’t know whether it is age or whether it’s prayer or it’s the constant beating that my friends give me, but it’s not “I” any longer. It’s “we.” I learned long ago working with my great pal [U.S. House Speaker] John Boehner, only teams, only teams can accomplish great things. And you know, ’ole Woody was right, there is no “I” in team. And together, we, as Ohioans, can get this job done.

You know, my inauguration, the conductor of a great orchestra, with all of you playing an instrument in that orchestra, my inauguration is your inauguration. I want everyone to understand that I hope you can realize we accept this responsibility together. I have a sense that across Ohio, people know we have a challenge. So today, we’re all inaugurated into a better day. You know, I’m only a servant, I am only a servant, a public servant . I report to the people. I report to you, the people.

And, later, he said with refreshing humility, “I am a servant of the Lord.”

He shares an observation I have made in this space many times:

You see, Ohio has wide horizons, we have unlimited opportunity. Ohio is an exciting place. And I have come to understand as a grown man what Ohio is all about. We are about common sense. [Emphasis added]

Common sense. Reforming state government so it provides better services at less cost. With respect to doing more with less, this has been a mantra in state government since Gov. George Voinovich used those words in his first inaugural address twenty years ago. If anyone can bring innovation to Ohio government, it would seem to be John Kasich. It helps that he is supported in both houses of the Ohio General Assembly by Republican majorities.

Not that innovation will be easy:

It’s our mountain to climb. Can you see it? Can you see that mountain? I know you can. We can climb it. One step at a time. Helping each other to be strong. Together, that mountain, we will reach the summit.

When the going gets tough, when the legislature balks, when the newspapers are nipping at your heels, remember you said this, Gov. Kasich, and keep those words in your heart. In so doing, you will find success.

Best wishes for a successful Administration, Gov. Kasich.

* Text of Gov. Kasich’s inaugural address, from the Columbus Dispatch.

Advice to the Left: Look in the mirror

In the wake of the mass killings committed by Jared Loughner in Arizona, we are now hearing pious words from commentators like MS-NBC's Keith Olbermann (see Washington Post article), who charges that the Tea Party movement is inciting violence with its rhetoric. He also wants us to believe that Sarah Palin's crosshairs logo applied to a list of incumbent Congressmen she wants to defeat are having the same effect, and that Glenn Beck is inciting revolution.


Please.

No one of sound mind condones what Jared Loughner did. He should be prosecuted and given a fair trial according to our rule of law. If he is competent to stand trial and the evidence is conclusive that he committed the crime, he should be tried and, if found guilty, sentenced appropriately.

So far, reports of Jared Loughner's politics have shown considerable ambiguity. The hook the Left seems to be trying to use against the Tea Party and conservative commentators is that he favors a gold-backed currency (honest money). 

I have followed the Tea Party movement very closely almost since its inception, and I can say with complete confidence that neither the Tea Party movement, Sarah Palin, nor Glenn Beck* have ever advocated the use of violence in pursuit of liberty. There may be a few commentators in the extreme fringes of the militia movement doing so on short-wave radio; but they have small followings, and they deserve to be condemned (but not censored) for their views.

It has been evident for several months that the Left has desperately sought to find a violent event on which to hang the liberty movement, and apparently they think they have found one here. But the truth is, the liberty movement believes strongly in the rule of law. Our principal objections to recent Administrations has been their contempt for the rule of law as embodied in the Constitution of the United States.

The Left needs to look in the mirror. Can its followers honestly say that our rhetoric is any more violent than that of Saul Alinsky or Van Jones? Or for those few who can remember history, the radical movements so beloved by the Left in the Sixties, such as the Weather Underground and the Black Panther Party?

My challenge to the Left: Use reason to attack our positions. Stop trying to run us out of the public space. If you want domestic peace, respect honest dissent.

Update 1/10: The Hill, a newspaper and blog reporting on Congress, notes that "Rep. Robert Brady (D-Pa.) reportedly plans to introduce legislation that would make it a federal crime to use language or symbols that could be perceived as threatening or inciting violence against a federal official or member of Congress." Of equal interest is the comment below the post by Creed, reminds me that I have a short memory:

But putting cross-hairs on Pres. Bush, while he's making an address, on CNN or adding the words "s[***]er wanted" when his picture is posted on a late-night talk show is all right? Or a "documentary" on the Day the President Died (Bush, of course) That's not inflammatory rhetoric, is it?

 No. Only when it comes from the Right, apparently.


* Faithful readers of this space know that I have vigorously criticized both Mrs. Palin and Mr. Beck when the occasion called for it.

Georgia introduces "Honest Money" resolution

From Michael Boldin at the Tenth Amendment Center  Unindented portions below are also quoted from the Tenth Amendment Center site. The term "Constitutional Tender" is a more formal synonym for what we in Ohio call Honest Money. Honest Money is the only practical way we can protect ourselves from the hyperinflation in Federal Reserve Notes that will come when investors lose confidence in the dollar.

In the 2011 legislative session, Georgia will consider House Bill 3 (HB3), which states, in part:

The General Assembly finds that, as mandated by Article I, Section 10 of the United States Constitution, the state shall not “make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts.” Federal Reserve Accounting Unit Dollars, having no redeeming value in gold or silver coin, shall not be made a tender in payment of debts by the state.

and further:

silver coins, silver eagles, and gold eagles shall be the exclusive medium which the state shall use to make any payments whatsoever to any person or entity, whether private or governmental. Such coins shall be the exclusive medium which the state shall accept from any person or entity as payment of any obligation to the state including, without limitation, the payment of taxes; provided, however, that such coins and other forms of currency may be used in all other transactions within the state upon mutual consent of the parties of any such transaction

The result? Bill Greene sums it up best in a recent Tenth Amendment Center op-ed:

Over time, as residents of the State use both Federal Reserve Notes and silver and gold coins, the fact that the coins hold their value more than Federal Reserve Notes do will lead to a “reverse Gresham’s Law” effect, where good money (gold and silver coins) will drive out bad money (Federal Reserve Notes). As this happens, a cascade of events can begin to occur, including the flow of real wealth toward the State’s treasury, an influx of banking business from outside of the State (as citizens residing in other States carry out their desire to bank with sound money), and an eventual outcry against the use of Federal Reserve Notes for any transactions.

You can download the Constitutional Tender Act template here:
http://www.tenthamendmentcenter.com/legislation/constitutional-tender/

Track Constitutional Tender legislation in the states at this link:
http://www.tenthamendmentcenter.com/nullification/constitutional-tender/

How decentralism works

This article in LewRockwell.com, by my friend Michael C. Tuggle ("Old Rebel" in the Rebellion blog) explains why dynamic relationships between smaller entities make for more efficient and effective government. He uses Switzerland as an example.

The article is nearly seven years old, but is more applicable now than ever.

Why I will never be elected Governor...

The Columbus Dispatch has a budget simulator, which can help you decide where you would find the $8 billion Ohio needs to balance its fiscal 2012-13 budget. It consists of 34 multiple-choice questions. The selections you make generate the "headlines" shown. 

My values were:

• Do not increase tax rates, but make existing taxes more consistent in their application.
• Make cuts across the board to spread the pain as evenly as possible. (Note that I just proposed cutting my own salary by 3%) ...
• Pay for everything now, not delaying it until later by infusion of one-time funds.

Of course, a budget simulator has its limitations -- in reality, I could have fine-tuned the surplus to a smaller amount by reducing tax increases or spending cuts by lesser amounts. The value of the simulator is to show just how politically and morally difficult it is to make these kinds of decisions. I particularly hated the "drug tax," but thought its economic impact would be less harmful than directly increasing the income or sales tax.

On the long run, I favor abolition of the income tax, a simpler property tax that taxes only the unimproved value of property, and working out a gradual program of reducing and redirecting state services and entitlements to minimize (but of course, not eliminate) the pain to individuals.

Tomorrow's "news," from The Columbus Dispatch budget simulator -- if I were Governor:

Governor's budget plan more than erases deficit

Thomas surplus called 'painful, needless burden'

The governor today gave the General Assembly a proposed state budget with a surplus of $43 million.

The plan brought immediate objections from lawmakers and a host of interest groups, especially those representing taxpayers, who excoriated the governor for seeking to raise a surplus 'during the worst recession in two generations.'

Tomorrow's headlines if Harold Thomas were governor:

• Poor and sick decry 'drug tax' at huge Columbus rally
• Lawmakers heed loud tax protests from Ohio families
• Thomas ripped for 'robbing' local governments

  'Staggering' new local taxes predicted

• Medicaid cuts called 'brutal' to Ohio's poor
• Business tax hike will 'strangle' growth, critics claim
• Homeowners vow to defeat Thomas
• Disabled veterans brandish crutches, canes at Governor's Residence

Your choices

Taxes

• Property tax subsidy: Reduce subsidy by 5% (raises $170 million)
• Commercial activities tax: End exemption for first $1 million in sales (raises $250 million)
• Exemptions: End sales-tax break for packaging and packaging equipment (raises $460 million)
• Exemptions: Apply sales tax to prescription drugs (raises $1.3 billion)
• Exemptions: Cut income-tax deductions for spouse and children by half (raises $500 million)

Spending

• Aid to K-12 education: Halve aid that makes up for elimination of tangible personal property tax (saves $1.1 billion)
• Aid to colleges & universities: Cut aid by 10% (saves $340 million)
• Aid to cities & towns: Halve aid that makes up for elimination of tangible personal property tax (saves $380 million)
• Aid to libraries: Cut aid by 25% (saves $190 million)
• Spending on adult and youth prisons: Cut spending by 25% (saves $900 million)
• Medicaid: End optional coverage for dental, vision, podiatry and hospice (saves $1 billion)
• Medicaid: Cut spending for nursing-home care by 5% (saves $260 million)
• Medicaid: Cut spending for hospital care by 5% (saves $110 million)
• State employees: Cut pay by 3% (saves $200 million)
• Department of Mental Health: Cut by 20% (saves $180 million)
• Close other state departments: Developmental Disabilities (saves $634 million)
• Close other state departments: Veterans Services (saves $64 million)

Sell or lease state assets

• Allow oil and gas drilling on state land (raises $25 million)

To which can be added:

• State employee unions excoriate governor for salary cuts
• House Democrats call for impeachment proceedings against Libertarian Governor.

George Soros, in his own words

On Nov. 10, I published an article on billionaire financier George Soros, who is actively promoting the destruction of the United States dollar in favor of a global currency. (Followup article, Dec. 3).

In this article from The Economic Collapse, there is a video in which Mr. Soros explains his vision in greater detail. The article includes a textual summary of the video.

I do not advocate spending too much time reading about Mr. Soros, because his agenda is essentially the same as that of other backers of the "New World Order," but his statements do lend urgency to our need to be vigilant, and to make necessary reforms to protect our freedom, as suggested in my 2011 Legislative Program and the Platform of The Ohio Republic.

The 2011 Legislative Program

Last year, we set five goals for the 128^th General Assembly:

1.  Gradually repeal the Ohio income tax (HB 400).
2.  Redirect federal tax funds to the Ohio Department of Taxation (on the drawing board, details).
3. Enact an Honest Money initiative (on the drawing board).
4. Enact a Constitutional amendment to nullify mandatory participation in a federal health care program (HJR 3, SJR 7, HB 489, SB 244).
5. Nullify federal law for weapons manufactured in Ohio (HB 315).

The partisan division of the General Assembly between a Democratic House and a Republican Senate resulted in the smallest legislative output in many years. In addition, legislative research on the second goal has failed so far to produce a practical solution to the problem.

We are no longer advocating the state sovereignty resolutions. They were valuable two years ago as educational tools to help the legislators and the people understand the concept of state sovereignty; but they were symbolic in character. Largely spurred by the Tea Parties and the federal health care initiative, we have moved on to asserting that sovereignty through nullification bills.

Here are the goals we recommend for the 129^th General Assembly:

     

1. Gradually repeal the Ohio income tax.
2. Enact an Honest Money act to facilitate the use of gold and silver in payment of taxes, thus encouraging their use in everyday transactions.
3. Enact a Constitutional amendment to nullify mandatory participation in a federal health care program, which would accomplish the objective of the Ohio Project’s petition campaign.
4. Nullify federal law for weapons manufactured in Ohio.
5. Rebuild the organized state militia, to protect Ohioans from illegal immigration, terrorism, and egregious military actions against the people of Ohio by the federal government.

Items 1 and 3 will strengthen our state’s economy. The other items are necessary to protect the rights of our people, and are critical elements to making good a declaration of independence, if all else fails.

Additional information on pending liberty-related legislation is available in the Ohio Liberty Council site.

Platform of The Ohio Republic

Readers who have followed The Ohio Republic through more than a few posts understand the principles that guide it, but I thought it might be helpful to state it as a platform:

1. The Ohio Republic is committed to individual freedom: spiritual, political, and economic. When considering policy positions, we keep this end in mind. Our most general rule is WWJD? In spiritual matters, “what would Jesus do?” in political and economic matters, “what would Jefferson do?”
2. The Ohio Republic seeks government that is decentralist, which may be loosely defined as a system in which there is little or no federal government, little state government, and as much local government as the people desire; but accountable to the state for corruption and violations of basic human and political rights by local officials.
3. The Ohio Republic being, of course, Ohioan, seeks practical approaches to problem solving. Too often, libertarian thinkers get lost in a fantasy world created by the ideology. Solutions are not practical if they ignore political and economic realities, or if they fail to take the dark side of human nature into account.
4. The Ohio Republic specifically rejects anarchism. While government must be strictly limited, it remains necessary to protect the people from criminal use of force and from fraud. Government can promote the liberties of the people effectively and efficiently, by returning to Constitutional principles and by replacing the proactive (administrative) compliance model with a passive (judicial) model. (I shall explain this principle further in my book, Governing Ourselves, to be published later this year).
5. The Ohio Republic, consistent with its commitment to decentralism, presses the Ohio General Assembly to assert the rights of Ohioans and of our state government against unconstitutional intrusion by the federal government. If we are to protect our rights and remain in the union, we must demand that our Ohio General Assembly interpose in those instances where federal law exceeds the limits set in the United States Constitution. (This is more commonly called nullification)
6. The Ohio Republic advocates Ohio’s independence from the United States as a last resort, when all efforts to reason with the federal government through the standard political process and nullification have failed. There is no question in our mind, based on the experience of other nations, that Ohio is perfectly viable as an independent Republic; provided that its government and people have taken certain preparatory steps prior to the declaration of independence. Prominent among these are the revitalization of the organized state militia, and the establishment of a currency based on silver or gold.
7. The Ohio Republic draws on our Judeo-Christian tradition to support its emphasis on personal freedom, not to proselytize for any religious belief; but because the Bible has documented a way for a people to live in political and economic freedom, as long as the people accept individual responsibility for their own actions.