2B SUNDAY, MAY 5, 2024 CHILLICOTHE GAZETTE The First Amendment Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohib- iting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. THE GAZETTE WELCOMES YOUR LETTERS Letters of less than 350 words have the best chance of being published. Guest opinions must contain fewer than 500 words. Submis- sions may be held from one week to the next because of space limitations. Limit one letter per month unless responding directly to points directed at the letter writer in a previ- ously-published submission.
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Chillicothe, OH 45601 Fax: 740-772-9505 Email: OPINION no doubt the Democratic Party blundered big time. It should have managed its calendar to ensure the Democratic National Convention would be convened in time to ensure its presumptive candidate Presi- dent Joe Biden was nominated in time to make the ballot in Ohio and all other states. The timeline was clear. Ohio law requires of the ballot 90 days before an election Aug. 7 this year.
Biden will not be nominated until the Democratic Na- tional Convention Aug. 19 in Chicago. Ohio Secretary of State Frank raised the error in an April 5 letter to Ohio Democratic Party Chair Liz Walters, warning that Biden is at risk of not making the Nov. 5 ballot. Ohio on April 16 soundly rejected a Demo- cratic plan to provisionally certify Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris ahead of the Aug.
7 dead- line. alternative process is Julie M. a lawyer in Ohio Attorney General Dave told according to report- ing by the USA TODAY Ohio Bureau which serves the Canton Repository and other newspapers. think a Democratic Senate Presi- dent Matt R-Lima, told reporters. The Democrats screwed up, but this is not a Dem- ocratic problem.
It is a democratic problem that should be and has been here in past elec- tions. A similar problem is happening in Alabama. Re- publicans there are working with Democrats to a solution. like to think if the shoe was on the other foot, this would be taken care Alabama state Sen. Sam Givhan, a Republican, told that Al.com.
Ohio has temporarily changed the deadline in the past. It was done to accommodate both the 2020 Re- publican and Democratic conventions that saw the nominations of then-president Trump and Biden. Before that, it was done for the 2012 conventions that saw the parties nominate Mitt Romney and then president-Barack Obama. If democracy were a game, it would be perfectly for Ohio Republicans to take this as a crushing victory and leave Democrats on the embar- rassed and shaking. If name does not appear on the November ballot, a price will be paid by the nearly 500,000 Ohioans who voted for the virtually unopposed Bi- den in the March primary and the millions who antic- ipate voting for him in November.
Those voters will not be the only losers. As done with gerrymandering and last failed August special election for constitution- al amendments changes, Ohio GOP leaders will show that they see fair elections as hindrances not goals. Such dirty tactics are not only immorally wrong, they are unlikely necessary to secure Donald victory in Ohio. The presumptive Republican presidential nomi- nee won Ohio in 2016 and 2020 by more than There is a good change he will win big again this year. Making the a them problem in- stead of an us problem will not only be a major em- barrassment to Ohio but it may on Repub- licans.
Such cringy gamesmanship no doubt energized typically unmotivated Democrats to turnout for the special election last August. Not having name on the ballot may keep Republicans from showing up on Election Day believ- ing Trump is running unopposed, which would help U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown and other down ticket can- didates. The shoe could very well have been on the Repub- foot this year, meaning Donald name not being on the ballot.
It would be wrong to disenfranchise Republican voters just as it is wrong to disenfranchise Demo- crats. It would be a democratic problem as it is now. expect the Democratic Party to work on a to get the Republican candidate on the ballot. The reason is simple: this is not about the names on the ballot. It is about voters.
Ohio will lose if GOP keeps Biden ballot Dispatch Editorial Board Columbus Dispatch I saw in the news Gov. DeWine and his Republican legislature want to require teachers to use the method of teaching reading. Sounding out each set of letters called the of Or is it pseudo-science? I was surprised, as I thought DeWine was probably too busy running the state to tell teachers how to teach. As far as I know, he has zero experience in classroom teaching whereas there are thousands of good teachers teaching read- ing right now, with most of them doing a job working around various obstacles put in their way. Truth is, experience in learning to read is a bit Some learn the way the gover- nor wants to force all kids to out the letters of each word.
Lots of us, though, learned with a mix of methods, sounding out some words, using pic- tures for others. I remember learning to read. It was World War II yes, that old. Mom got me picture books of our men in sailors, tanks, planes. Pretty exciting look at a picture and say or very proud of myself.
Turns out lots of kids learn that way. Years later, teaching 7th graders, some of whom read very well, I set up a remedial class dur- ing my conference period. I had about 10 kids in it, and they seemed to learn about 10 ways. One summer, I taught reading to kids who really want to read and want to learn. So I turned the class into a bicycle repair shop, complete with man- uals on bike repair.
Somehow, kids who read much before, found something they desperately wanted to they did. Motivation is a huge fac- tor in learning. When I served as chief negotiator for the Columbus teachers, I called a conference of elementary and read- ing teachers to see what we could do about improving reading. Most teachers said, class Hard to teach anything with 40 kids in a class. Others said hire aides to help with the paperwork.
Nobody said, everyone to use too bad our Republican friends been running the state for a while now fully fund the schools, as the Ohio Supreme Court ordered a couple of decades ago. They could fund schools if stop giving away tax breaks and to industry and the wealthy. When was the last time you got a tax break when you hired someone for home repairs? If you add a room on your house probably get a tax in- crease. In fairness, both political parties have had a hand in sabotaging education in Ohio and the US. First, they passed that bonanza called Child Left a noble goal, but not funded ex- cept for subjecting children and teachers to endless tests that get news headlines but help Johnny learn.
On top of that, they piled on new mandates called to the How exactly kids could to the without leaving anyone behind has never been made clear. Then the 3rd Grade Guarantee, by which kids and have to repeat a grade if they pass a standardized reading test. This has been a big problem, because science and experience tells us that when kids are held back it can darn near ruin them educationally and psychologically. But these destructive tests have been a bonanza to the testing industries. And, with a predictable number of struggling kids failing to pass the arbitrary tests, it al- lowed the mainly-Republican critics of public schools to talk about our public schools.
Sad. I wish stop using our schools and our wonderful kids as political footballs. Republican poli- ticians: You want to see failure? Look in the mirror. Jack Burgess taught history, English, and journal- ism, grades 7-12 in three Ohio school districts. Is Gov.
DeWine a reading expert? Jack Burgess Special to the Gazette Just another day at the Statehouse: Records re- cently uncovered thanks to the House Bill 6 scandal reveal that the campaigns of Republican Gov. Mike DeWine and his running mate, Lt. Gov. Jon Husted, from several million dollars in mon- expenditures, courtesy of FirstEnergy Corp. the Akron-based electric utility which at one time 20 lobbyists on Capitol Square in Co- lumbus, and which persuaded the General As- sembly to pass a bailout of two money losing nuclear plants the company then owned.
It appears the dark money outlays were perfectly legal, and hardly the only dark money deployed then and since in Ohio for politicians of both parties. Still, the what-else-is-new shrugs the dark-money revela- tions prompted from some bystanders showed how accustomed Ohioans have become to special inter- dominance of Ohio campaigns and legislation. In one sense, not surprising. For a generation now, the General Assembly has ignored campaign and ethics reforms in favor of cheap shots directed latest example at transgen- der youths, or in bids to limit access to abor- tion. Time was, in Ohio, when at least a minimum level of respectability was expected of state especially among Republicans.
In 1970, as previously noted, the Crofters scandal, which amounted to peanuts compared to the HB 6 ended the political careers of two statewide GOP candidates. When the dust cleared, Republicans held onto just one statewide executive (then- Secretary of State Ted The issue in Crofters was the illegal loan of state money, via commercial paper, to shaky borrowers who were lobbying clients of campaign donors. (The donations at issue were legal and amounted to $22,500 laughably small at Statehouse.) You have to wonder why public reaction has been low-key and the legislative response (among Republicans) near zero to the revelation about the (also legal) dark money outlays for De- and campaigns. Maybe the deadening of a series of Statehouse controversies. The seeming attitude of despair among Ohio politicos about public ethics on Capitol Square as privately summarized by one holder: ought to put a sign on the Statehouse saying, on Maybe seeming to State- house scheming is because used to it, or be- cause they expect nothing better from elected especially from the General Assembly, whose mem- hometown voters typically know if their legislator is in a back pocket or merely party- ing his or her brains out on the dime.
In Po- dunk, Ohio, happens in Columbus stays in Co- all the more so because of lame-o lob- bying laws, which purport to police meals and drinks furnished legislators, and reveal of gewgaw plaques and such, while failing to report overall spending (salaries and retainers) for actual State- house lobbying. Ostensibly, campaign contributions to a given candidate are more obvious, but not of course for the quasi-secret outlays. In contrast, anybody can readily discern, for exam- ple, precisely how much money special interests spend to lobby, say, and agencies, thanks to that lobbying law. In 2023, according to detailed reported by the nonpartisan, news organization CalMatters, four electric utilities operating in California spent nearly $13 million lobbying in Sacramento, for exam- ple. Given that sum, and even discounting for smaller population, worth noting that the General Assembly appropriation for of Consum- Counsel, which represents not only resi- dential electricity ratepayers, but also residen- tial gas, water, and telephone ratepayers, is $6.3 mil- lion dollars.
(Contrast that with what FirstEnergy spent to pass HB 6: A minimum of $60 million,) If trying to how much Ohio spend on Statehouse lobbying? Good luck, because need it or the help of subpoenas issued in con- nection with lawsuits or prosecutions, assuming any data obtained that way eventually become public through court etc. On the evidence to date, hard to know what kind of Statehouse uproar would so anger Ohio voters that rally around a genuine political reformer Re- publican or Democrat. Whoever that might be, she or he seem to be on horizon. Thomas Suddes is a former legislative reporter with The Plain Dealer in Cleveland and writes from Ohio University. Scandal has jaded Ohio voters Thomas Suddes Guest Columnist.
