Ohio Governor John Kasich turns down Federal Assistance...

Ohio Governor John Kasich has turned down Federal Aid for tornado victims.

Kasich has said he believes the State of Ohio can handle all aspects of the cleanup associated with the destructive tornados that leveled homes, and basically blew the small-town of Moscow, OH off the map.

Other states effected by Friday's storms, Indiana and Kentucky, have already declared various counties disaster areas. Both have indicated they will accept FEMA's assistance in the cleanup and providing for displaced residents.

“I believe that we can handle this,” Kasich told Clermont County storm victims who had taken shelter in a local high school. The Governor said the State will do its own assessment and develop a plan from there. 


One on hand, in this age of empowering the States and weaning ourselves off the Federal Government's teat, its not insane to praise Kasich for his go it alone approach. On the other hand, Ohio - we've been told over and over again - is in a fiscal crisis. Its hard for me to understand how with limited funds the Buckeye State is  prepared to financially cover the scope of the cleanup, the temporary housing needs, the rebuilding, etc. without any Federal assistance or financial aid. The residents of Ohio have paid, via their federal taxes into FEMA and are entitled to receive the benefits of those funds if and when the time comes.


The time, most would say, came with great fury last Friday...Its a helluva thing to make a point about smaller government on, nonetheless. 


Some have said this is merely a political stunt by Governor Kasich.  Clermont County Democratic Party Chairman Dave Lane said, "I question his judgement. " "It would appear at first blush that he's playing politics. " Reaction has also reached social media with a page already created on facebook called "Tell Gov Kasich to accept Federal relief money,  support Moscow, OH. "


The wisdom of this decision by Governor Kasich won't be known immediately. We'll need to see how the towns effected by the disaster progress compared to those in Indiana and Kentucky who are accepting federal aid. If the recovery in Ohio is comparable and there isn't a lack of aid for those displaced by the storms, then we'll need to tip our hat to Kasich for backing up his political beliefs of less federal government in our lives. However, if the recovery in Ohio falls behind that of our neighboring States or if other worthy programs see their budgets effected by capturing the funds to pay for the storm effects, then Gov. Kasich will be guilty of playing politics of the worst kind. 




Sources: 


http://news.cincinnati.com/comments/article/20120303/NEWS01/303030114/Kasich-turns-down-federal-disaster-aid

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/03/04/ohio-governor-kasich-turns-down-federal-disaster-aid/#.T1QJ-lV_KsI.twitter


http://www.facebook.com/tellgovkasichtoacceptaid

Rush Limbaugh's Last Six Apologies

Rush Limbaugh's Last Six Apologies:


Buzzfeed.com has a compilation of Rush Limbaugh's last six public apologies. Some are more offensive than others, I suppose. Those who are fans of Mr. Limbaugh will probably determine a few to be weak and flimsy. Those who don't care for his work will view them differently, I'm sure.

One thing stands out to me. Of the six (seven, if you include Ms. Fluke) people who received apologies from Rush Limbaugh four are younger women, two are black men and one is an actor suffering from Parkinson's Disease.

Other than Barack Obama, none are politicians...

Is this racist?

Yes, I think it is. 

The term "re-nig!" is a weak play off the word renege that means "to fail to carry out a promise or commitment." Its quite possible I'm being overly generous to the person who created the saying. What promise? Is the bumper sticker suggesting they don't want Obama to fulfill his promise? Its fuzzy at best and probably not the intended interpretation. More likely, they were using the prefix "re-" which means "again, anew" as in rebuild" or "backward" as in "renew." Given the graphic in the picture, its clear they don't want President Obama to be "re-elected." 

Which leaves us with the "nig" part. 

What else could it be except some slang of the word nigger? Seriously? I can't think of anything that makes sense and I doubt that anyone else can either. 

This certainly isn't indicative of all or even most Republicans, Conservatives, etc. Not at all, but this is the weakest form of protest. It takes virtually no intellect to produce garbage like this. It advances no discussion, no points of view, no lucid argument. None. Its just hatespeech. I'd find it damn uncomfortable to be an African American in a car behind that one. That's the kind of stuff that gets people dragged out of cars and roughed up. I know some will say "freedom of speech" to which I'd call bullshit. 

If a person dislikes Obama because of his policies or method of governance, that's fine. I can respect that. But for the people that find this cute or funny, what is there to say? Some people have not come to terms with the fact that an African American is the President of the United States.

When are we going to be rid of this nonsense?

Andrew Breitbart Dies at 43...

Conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart passed away earlier this morning from what his website, BigJournalism.com described as "natural causes."

I haven't had much kind to say about Mr. Brietbart, but as a middle aged man, a father, a husband a son like he was, it just sucks that whatever took him did so at this early age.

I have a friend who battled with him regularly but called him good guy. That's good enough for me. I never had any interaction with him, so all I've known is what his headlines have generated.

Someone will take his place in the political vacuum quickly, rest assured.

Sorry to hear this...


Some links for stories on this:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/01/andrew-breitbart-dead-blogger-dies_n_1312944.html?ncid=webmail1

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/andrew-breitbart-has-died/

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/03/01/andrew-breitbart-dies-natural-causes-website-reports/


Source:

http://bigjournalism.com/lsolov/2012/03/01/draft/

Reasonable Conversation Passes the Twenty Thousand Mark!!!

This morning Reasonable Conversation passed the twenty thousand hit mark.

Less than a year old, I started this blog last Spring to share my thoughts on the political landscape, issues (most notably healthcare reform) and general opinion. Its been a learning process, to say the least. I am truly shocked by the traffic this site has generated in less than twelve months. I didn't have a specific numerical goal in mind when I started last May, but I can promise you I wasn't thinking in the twenty thousand range.

I've tried to deliver on the intent of the original post when I said "I try to support my positions with facts. Research, peer reviewed studies, etc. are all tools of the trade." I think I've held pretty faithful to that goal and feel pretty comfortable with the rhythym of the blog. Sometimes I write alot, some days, nothing. I've tried to keep things interesting and enjoyable.

Over the next several months we'll see who will represent the Republicans against President Obama in November, we'll see what the Supreme Court decides about the Affordable Care Act and the consequences of that going forward. We'll see how gas prices, the situation in Iran and our economy all develop as well. Plenty of grist for the mill.

Thanks to everyone who makes Reasonable Conversation a daily stop.

Its very much appreciated.

Bill

PS: In case anyone is interested, the most popular post since I began has been my take on the alleged VA Administration Barring the use of God at Military Funerals. Also popular have been posts on Obama vs. Bush on Job Creation, the follies of using facebook to pay tribute to fallen military personnel,  and my ten year look back at 9/11.