Okay, done voting. I have some thoughts on a couple of issues I voted on here in Cleveland Heights, Ohio.
Issue 3. This is the “Legalize Marijuana” issue. This issue was put on the ballot through a petition campaign. Somehow, between the petition and the ballot, it became your typical Republican “let’s make our friends millionaires while providing as little reform as possible” bill. It provides for a cartel of 10 state-approved growers (already licensed) and severe restrictions not only on private growing but also on other commercial uses of Cannabis plants, such as using it for paper or cloth (concerning which, Cannabis is superior to lumber and cotton (I wonder where CANvas originally came from?))
I voted for it because 1) the medical use is what I’m most interested in, as I have friends who receive real benefit from medical marijuana (one is most helped by the non-THC variety so getting a buzz on is not the issue there). 2) A defeat of the issue will be spun as a vote against marijuana and for the horrendous mass-incarceration of non-violent users into the for-profit prison/slave trade and 3) It is a start and it’s possible to eliminate the Trojan horses down the line.
Issue 2. This is a constitutional amendment grossly misnamed as an anti-monopoly bill (Republicans not-infrequently misname their bills to deceive people into voting for something quite other than they think.) This amendment was written to overrule the petition provision of Ohio constitution. In fact, the bill specifically states that if passed, then other issues voted on in 2015 will be under its provision. That is, Issue 3 will be stopped even if it passes. The writers of the issues wrote issue 3 in specific non-petition language which would then breach the specific language they specifically wrote into issue 2.
I voted no because well, read my description above but also because 5 years ago, after Kasich became the governor of Ohio he and the legislature passed a horrendous anti-union bill, SB-5. The citizens responded by a petition drive which gathered three times the required signatures to place it on the ballot where SB-5 was defeated 67-33%. Were issue 2 in place at that time, we would not have been able to perform a Citizens’ Veto on Kasich’s and the Legislatures’ power grab.
Issue 53. This is a Cleveland Heights only issue, to increase the city income tax by .25%. I voted in favor.
Cleveland Heights is essentially a middle-class city. It chooses to be this and seeks to remain so. Unfortunately, the Federal Government and the oligarchs who control it are against the middle-class and this attack has caused services to falter. And with the falter, the Tea-Party complaints against “nanny government” and the “inefficiency of government” are raising their heads. Yet, one only has to compare Cleveland Heights with East Cleveland to see the difference between two cities which started at essentially the same point but one choosing governmental apathy to the middle class over support for it.
For I don’t know how much longer, I am in the middle-class. I believe it is in my best interests to support the middle-class. The vast majority of the rich do not and the poor cannot and have their own issues with which they have to deal. I totally get that paying less is cheaper than paying more but the chipping away make the cost so much more.