ohioans

Once the Republicans took control of the state, the craziness came out.

The Ohio House of Representatives approved two bills on Wednesday that would give Ohioans more rights to carry concealed weapons, including one that allows people to carry a gun into a bar.

The latter bill allows Ohioans who have a concealed-carry permit to carry a gun into a bar, restaurant or "open air arena" such as a sports stadium that serves alcohol. The bill prohibits the person carrying the gun from drinking alcohol at the same time.

Republican Representative Danny Bubp, a sponsor of the legislation, said the bill is necessary to make sure law abiding citizens have equal footing with criminals.

The bill is seeing strong opposition by bar and restaurant owners, as well as cities in Ohio. Even members of the NRA are opposed to such bills, and rightfully so. This type of legislation can lead to more gun violence, which in turn can lead to a public outcry for greater gun control.

But some of the reasons for this measure are what really gets me:

State Sen. Jimmy Stewart, R-Athens, voted in favor of the bill in the Senate, where it was approved in May.

Just received this from the Ohio Democratic Party:

"For a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Mike DeWine, did an awful dumb thing by not noticing the use of doctored photos of the 911 tragedy in his campaign ad. How can we trust his judgment?"

"Ohioans and Americans should be outraged that they put their trust in Mike DeWine on the most sensitive committee of the United States Senate and he has allowed his consultants to exploit and doctor one of the most infamous moments in American history. "

"On Sunday, former GOP Speaker Newt Gingrich, said America was in the throes of World War III. The 911 tragedy is our modern day Pearl Harbor. If Mike DeWine wants to restore trust, he will disavow himself from these ads - fire the consultants who doctored the photos - and focus on terrorists instead of dividing America for his own political gains."

CHRIS REDFERN

Chair, Ohio Democratic Party

We are still waiting for Boehner to make a statement and hold DeWine, a fellow Ohioan, to the same standards that he tried to impose on the Democrats. Will you stand your ground Mr. Boehner and make a statement about this? I would say that is very doubtful.

This is a message of importance to all the Ohio voters who read my blog. Next
Tuesday we have some very important issues on the ballot that will affect us
all. These issues need your support.

• Issue 2: Makes it easier to vote by allowing all Ohioans to vote
  by mail
• Issue 3: Helps stop the influence of big money in elections by
  greatly reducing campaign contributions.
• Issue 4: Stops the politicians from drawing their own legislative
  districts and puts an Independent Commission in charge of this process.
• Issue 5: Places a bi-partisan Board of Supervisors in charge of
  Ohio's elections, instead of a partisan official who backs candidates and
  takes sides in elections

The state Republicans are working feverishly to make sure these issues do not
pass. If they do pass, they will provide a serious blow to the corrupt control
the GOP has had over the buckeye state for the past several years. Please get
out and vote on this important issues. They are very much needed and over do.

For more information, please visit the
Reform Ohio Now home page.

As Ohioans take to the polls today to cast their vote for either a veteran of the Iraq war or a person knee deep in the Ohio coin scandal, we learn that seven more soldiers have died in Iraq and now the total of US soldiers lost is at 1800.

The fact that this insurgency was never thought out or planned for is the biggest mistake the administration has made in this war since its lies were used in order to get us there. This is truly a harsh and sad reality facing America today. Bush’s cowboy “lets go get them” tactics have not helped us one bit. They have cost us 1800 soldiers and hundreds of billions of dollars. Add it all up and what we have is 1800 less soldiers and a record debt.

Americans are not any safer since we invaded Iraq, in fact we are at a greater risk of having a terrorist attack hit here. Homeland security funds have been funneled away in order to pay for other government services. This is a direct result of the record debt we have incurred during the war in Iraq. It can not be blamed on 9/11 alone since we know Saddam had no ties to that war.

If you live in Ohio – 2, please remember to get out and vote for Paul Hackett today. We need a person with the hands on experience of Iraq to have a voice in our government!