Clean Up in Aisle Coal Country
Clean Up in Aisle Coal Country
Ohio taxpayers could be left with the tab if one coal baron walks away from his land.
If you want a quick glance into the amoral hellscape that is Ohio politics you don’t need to look further than Secretary of State Frank LaRose. This guy attempted to purge tens of thousands of active Ohio voters earlier this year and would have gotten away with it without the sleuthing of a volunteer army.
But if you haven’t been paying attention to the hobgoblins running our state if you thought for one second that would stop him from shedding crocodile tears about the low turnout in Tuesday’s local elections.
If you want to get even more bleak and honestly who doesn’t in the early hours before we go worship at the altar of the shareholders? Not only did our state once again decide to go along with the brain genius plot that every fall trades one hour of extra sleep for four months of getting dark at 5 o’clock but also it appears cocaine trafficker/10TV meteorologist Jym Ganahl has another batch of the Devil’s dandruff back in Central Ohio:
This is it. This is the last winter I want to spend in Ohio. There are too many other places I’d rather live that don’t include snow and abortion-obsessed Republicans.
Also as we saw in Tuesday’s local elections plenty of Franklin County voters are still voting according to whatever the local party’s sample ballot that they picked up in the parking lot tells them to vote.
As such we need to help Morgan Harper who is attempting to unseat career politician Joyce Beatty. Please take 20 seconds to sign this petition asking the Franklin County Democratic Party to uphold precedent and refuse to endorse in an open primary.
Do I expect the party to heed the call? Absolutely not because they’re under threat and power always protects power. It’s still necessary to add the name and put them on notice.
COAL BARONS GOING BANKRUPT SOUNDS GOOD UNTIL IT’S TIME TO CLEAN UP THEIR MESS
Ohio-based coal baron Robert Murray announced the bankruptcy filing of Murray Energy Corp. last week which excited me considering Murray is a longtime Republican donor and also that coal is a dirty and obsolete energy source ravaging our planet during a climate emergency.
But that was foolish of me considering I live in Ohio the state that loves Big Business so much it will allow bankrupt buffoons to walk away from their poisonous industry and leave taxpayers with the cleanup tab.
From the Editorial Board of dispatch.com:
The precarious financial position of Murray Energy Corp. means Ohio could find out, sooner rather than later, what happens when a giant coal company goes bankrupt and forfeits its abandoned mine sites without reclaiming the land. Likely it won’t be pretty.
For decades, Ohio hasn’t asked enough of coal companies. Rather than require them to secure bonds to cover whatever the cleanup cost might be, the state has allowed them to pay $2,500 per acre mined plus 14 cents per ton to support a reclamation fund — to pay for reclamation if owners abandon or forfeit mines.
It’s not enough, and that’s typical of Ohio’s tendency to favor private interests over the public. Now, with the steady decline of the coal industry, it could lead to a crisis.
Earlier this year a consultant’s report indicated that, if the top five holders of mining permits abandoned their mines, the cleanup cost would be nearly $560 million. Murray mines alone would account for more than $202 million.
The reclamation fund that’s supposed to take care of such eventualities? It contains around $21 million.
Go trash a hotel room and see if you’re allowed to rub your hands of the mess and walk away and stick some other schmo with the tab. That’s now how it works in this country unless you’re Big Business in which case okay no problem sir thank you for the orange water and don’t worry the taxpayers will pay the tab.
HOUSEHOLDERS CENTRALIZES POWER
Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder who once escaped federal corruption charges by the skin of his teeth returned to the Lincoln Chair earlier this year by brokering a deal with Democrats that led to a sham human resources department and the installation of Emilia Sykes as Minority Leader after she saw an opportunity to throw former leader Fred Strahorn under the proverbial bus.
It was thought Democrats had leverage on Householder considering they could call a Speaker vote at any time. But then Householder’s former nemesis Ryan Smith decided to go teach at a college instead. And now one of the last people who haven’t kissed Householder’s bejeweled gauntlet is also throwing in the towel.
From Jeremy Pelzer of cleveland.com:
COLUMBUS, Ohio—Earlier this year, Republican Larry Householder needed Democratic support to be elected Ohio House speaker, as a majority of his own caucus backed incumbent Ryan Smith for the job.
But less than a year later, Householder’s power over House Republicans, who hold a 61-38 supermajority, appears to be quickly solidified. Smith himself resigned last month, followed Wednesday by state Rep. Scott Ryan, the last of Smith’s lieutenants not to have jumped on board Team Householder.
In addition to Smith and Ryan, three other Smith supporters have resigned, four are eschewing re-election to run for Ohio Senate, and six others are term-limited.
Taken together, that means by the time Householder runs (as expected) for another term as House speaker in January 2021, at least 40 percent of the 34 Republicans who voted against him in 2019 will be gone. In each of their places will be (mostly rookie) lawmakers recruited and/or appointed by Householder and his team.
Very cool. Always heartwarming to watch Democrats install a fabulously corrupt man into one of the most powerful offices in state government. Truly had to understand why we get our asses kicked in so many elections.
TEENS TO BE TRIED AS ADULTS FOR MURDEROUS PRANK
Teens are fucking idiots and I forever remain amazed I survived my time in the barrel.
Back in the summer two teens in Hocking Hills decided to scare a hiker by pushing a log off a ledge in front of her path. The only problem occurred when they miscalculated the trajectory and the log hit the hiker in the head and killed her.
Now they’ll be charged as adults.
From Justin Ruetter of usatoday.com:
LOGAN, Ohio – Both of the juveniles charged in the death of an Ohio woman have been bound over to adult court to stand trial after hearings Tuesday.
Victoria Schafer, 44, was killed near Old Man's Cave in Hocking Hills State Park on Labor Day.
Bond for both defendants was set at $100,000. Both 16-year-olds will continue to be held in juvenile detention unless they are able to post bond, and if either does they will be required to wear an ankle monitor.
Jaden Churchheues and Jordan Buckley face charges of murder, an unclassified felony; involuntary manslaughter, a first-degree felony; and felonious assault, a second-degree felony, according to prosecutors.
Charging both murder and manslaughter – a lesser offense under the homicide umbrella – in the same case is not uncommon as it provides options to a jury when considering a verdict. A person, if convicted, may be convicted of one or the other of the two charges in a single death.
I don’t like any teenager charged as adults because well they’re not adults. But when cases like these hit the press it’s always easier for prosecutors to bang big hammers to show the populace how “tough” they are on crime as if that mentality isn’t what landed the land of the free as one of the biggest incarcerators in the world.
MOST PARENTS AGREE: PUBLIC SCHOOL KIDS SHOULD BE VACCINATED
Here’s some good news: The anti-vaccine movement seems to be picking up speed on Facebook and with idiotic celebrities that can be persuaded with pseudoscience but the silent majority of parents remained unconvinced.
From Liz Bonas of local12.com:
CINCINNATI (WKRC) - A recent survey is showing Ohio adults overwhelmingly support school-required vaccines.
Interact for Health released results from this survey Wednesday. They asked adults whether or not kids should be vaccinated to attend public schools. Eight out of 10 Ohio adults said yes.
Since many people know that vaccines can protect individuals and families, the team at Interact for Health wanted to find out how many in our community felt about school-required vaccines.
My thing is why stop at public school as if private school kids aren’t eventually forced out into public at some point too? I’m tired of these stiff pale freaks not paying taxes and playing by a different set of rules.
TRADE WAR PINCHING BUCKEYE FANS
Nobody has ever accused me of being an economist but I do remember watching Donald Trump campaign for president by saying trade wars were good and easy to win and thinking “hmmm this guy is an idiot so I’m going to guess that trade wars are bad and hard to win.”
Which one of us do you think was right? Let’s open the envelope and find out.
From Brendan Flanagan of realclearpolitics.com:
From the start of the trade war in February 2018 to July 2019, Ohio paid over $1 billion in tariffs — and you can thank the president for that. On top of that, Ohio’s farmers and small businesses have faced $599 million in retaliatory tariffs from China, making it harder for them to sell their goods there. When it’s more expensive to import goods and harder to sell products abroad, companies usually start laying off workers. Trade supports 1.4 million jobs across Ohio, and President Trump’s trade war is threatening an estimated 76,500 of those jobs.
But it’s not just in the Buckeye State where we are seeing the damage tariffs have caused. J.P. Morgan estimates tariffs will cost American households up to $1,000 a year. Additionally, farmer bankruptcies have risen in almost every region, according to a recent Farm Bureau report. Moreover, manufacturing has declined for the second month in a row, falling to the lowest level in 10 years. And Moody’s recently reported, “Trump’s trade war with China has already reduced U.S. employment by 300,000 jobs.”
Don’t get it twisted. This will not stop Ohio from re-electing the buffoon by five points.
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