Rooster: Ohio's Not Known for Our Health
Tim Ryan to launch a presidential campaign for some reason, front license plate requirement eliminated, and more.
Big shoutout to Substack for resetting my account. I was on the verge of melting my laptop in the microwave and moving to Belize when I sent a Twitter DM to a Hamish McKenzie, a Substack co-founder. He and a colleague got me sorted while sitting at a bar. I offered to Venmo $20 to buy a round for their troubles, but he refused and instead requested fealty in perpetuity to his company.
Folks, I’ve never bent the knee so quick. The Rooster will never have another home.
Ohio Loves Smoking and Doing Drugs
Good news, folks: Ohio is moving up in the health rankings. We were 47th out of 50 last year, but we’re a now a noble 46th. The haters said it couldn’t be done!
From JoAnne Vivano of dispatch.com:
An analysis released Wednesday that looks at more than 100 statistics related to health outcomes and health-care spending ranks Ohio 46th, the same as two years ago.
The 2019 Heath Value Dashboard from the Health Policy Institute of Ohio, which compares Ohio with the 49 other states and the District of Columbia, follows similar dashboards released in 2017 and in 2014, when the state ranked 47th.
In addition to Ohio’s high rates of smoking and drug-overdose deaths, disparities and misdirected resources are to blame for the low rankings, said Amy Rohling McGee, president of the institute.
“Too many Ohioans are left behind. We see very large disparities and inequities across a variety of measures,” Rohling McGee said. “Resources are out of balance. We’re spending a lot on costly downstream care to treat health care problems; this is because of the fact that we missed many opportunities to invest upstream to prevent injury and illness and disability for thousands of Ohioans.”
I can’t talk shit because I’m 15 pounds overweight and my idea of cardio is walking my dog around the block… but yikes, 46th? I feel like Ohio should be higher than 46th, yet the ranking doesn’t shock me because our state leaders don’t believe poor people are worthy of healthcare.
TIM RYAN FOR PRESIDENT: WHO ASKED FOR THIS, SIR?
Overall, I like Mahoning Valley Congressman Tim Ryan. He’s great on unions, wealth inequality, and he’s an important voice to have in a crucial Ohio battleground in 2020 and 2022.
However, he attempted to derail Nancy Pelosi’s Speakership and got brutally owned. He only “changed his thinking” on abortion in 2015 and accepted NRA money until it became a liability to do so.
He has also “seriously considered” running for every higher office possible without ever doing so.
Somehow in Ryan’s mind this is a recipe for success in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary field.
From Henry Gomez of buzzefeed.com:
Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio is expected to announce a presidential campaign this week, several sources who have been informed of the Democrat’s plans told BuzzFeed News.
Ryan is scheduled to appear Thursday on The View, a popular talk show destination for national politicians. He is also planning a Saturday rally in Youngstown. Leaders from local organized labor — long a staple of his base — have been invited to attend.
Bill Padisak, president of the Mahoning-Trumbull AFL-CIO, which covers the Youngstown area, said he has been asked to help turn out the crowd.
“I believe he is going to announce his candidacy for the presidency,” Padisak said.
Sherrod Brown gauged the scene and stood down. I am completely in awe of Ryan’s ego for thinking he would have a better chance than Brown at claiming the crown. The best case scenario is a non-white man wins the nomination and selects him as their vice president. The problem is there are already more qualified and dynamic white men in the field.
And even if somebody did select Ryan as VP, most Democratic voters would still ask, “Who the Hell is Tim Ryan?”
SAYONORA, FRONT LICENSE PLATES!
Buried into the transportation budget governor Mike DeWine signed into law this week was a provision eliminating Ohio’s requirement for a front license plate. House Speaker Larry Householder sensibly explained the thinking behind that.
From Jo Ingles of statenews.org:
The Ohio Highway Patrol argued in favor of keeping the front license plate. But Republican House Speaker Larry Householder says requiring Ohioans to drill holes in the front of their cars hurts their value.
“When you go to trade it across state lines, and a lot of our cars are traded across state lines anymore, they are worth less money. And the other thing you’ve got to consider just moving into the future, aerodynamically, cars are starting to get narrower fronts and so it won’t be long before there won’t be a place in the front anyhow. And when you talk to the auto manufacturer, all of the technology that they have, the smart car technology, all of it is in that front bumper," Householder says.
Always a good day when the Ohio Highway Patrol doesn’t get what they want. (Yes, I’m bitter about speeding tickets. Why do you ask?)
What I want to know: Will Ohioans still be charged the price for two license plates? Somehow I already know the answer to this question.
Speaking of roadway laws, Dayton mayor Nan Whaley says she will sue the state for going after city revenue raised by traffic cameras.
From Cornelius Frolik and Laura A. Bischoff of daytondailynews.com:
Ohio will require cities to tell the state how much they collect in fines from automated traffic camera tickets. That amount would be deducted from state money that flows to the cities.
Ohio may also increase cities court costs by requiring them to file each case in court rather than use an administrative process.
Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley says the city is prepared to sue the state if it tries to financially penalize Ohio cities for operating traffic camera programs. She said the traffic cameras make Dayton’s roadways safer and reduce crashes.
I understand traffic cameras can be lucrative for cities, but I’ve never been comfortable with how violators write checks to the private companies that operate them. (Columbus provided a great example in 2016 on how easily the process can become corrupt.)
You also can’t cross-examine a camera in court. So yeah, eliminating traffic cameras is like the one issue where I side with the State Legislature over city officials.
JOHN KASICH REFUSES TO PAY ATTENTION TO ANYONE BUT HIMSELF
Ohio’s bizarre former governor, who campaigned in 2010 as a Tea Party Republican and has since rebranded as a super-cool moderate who likes Obamacare and also closing half the abortion clinics in the state, proved once again yesterday that he’s not seriously paying attention to anyone but himself.
That Democrats “have no ideas” is one of Kasich’s favorite lines. Here are just some of the ideas put forward by Democratic candidates in the last 48 hours:
Julian Castro’s bold proposal to fix our broken immigration system.
Beto O’Rourke pledges cabinet members will hold monthly town halls.
Bernie Sanders proposes SCOTUS term limits.
Kamala Harris proffers legislation for “Dreamers” to fill Congressional jobs.
Elizabeth Warren unveils a bill to make jailing business executives easier.
Warren in particular has been on fire in the last two weeks, which Kasich would have seen if he weren’t too busy offering unsolicited, bad-faith advice to Democrats on the same day he unveiled a new dark money group and a book nobody will read.
ANOTHER HELLWORLD STORY PEDDLED AS THE OPPOSITE
Here’s a heartwarming story about child labor in the wake of governmental ineptitude.
From kdvr.com:
MUSKEGON HEIGHTS, Mich. -- A civic-minded 12-year-old boy took it upon himself to fill the many potholes plaguing his street.
Monte Scott stepped up after his mother's and grandmother's cars got flat tires on the road in Muskegon Heights, Michigan, his mother, Trinell Payne, said.
"They had a half-day off at school, so he was out for the afternoon," she said. "He took a shovel and a garbage can full of dirt from our garden and started filling the holes."
She said Monte filled 15 to 20 of the roughly 50 potholes on the street in a few hours.
"He went back the next day to fill more," she added.
Dirt??? His mom let poor Monte fill the holes with dirt? Good lord, that kid is going to be in bigger shambles than his road the next time it rains hard.
THAT 87 UNLEADED GAS YOU’RE PUMPING? THERE’S NO WAY TO BE SURE IT’S 87 UNLEADED.
I once called Hamilton County Democratic Auditor Dusty Rhodes an asshole on Twitter for spiking the football on his opponent after handily winning re-election. I stand by that comment, because telling elected officials they’re assholes is one of two silver linings of spending time on a site slowly stripping me of my last shards of sanity.
That doesn’t change Rhodes being right about what an abomination it is that Ohio doesn’t test fuel quality.
When a consumer goes to the gas pump in Ohio; they assume they are getting the posted grade. In Ohio, that's a big assumption: Ohio has no regulatory program to test and ensure the quality of gasoline, Ohioans are using blind luck at the pump.
Nearly six billion gallons of fuel are sold every year in Ohio, making us one of the largest fuel consuming states in the nation. Yet, Ohio is one of only three states without any authority to test fuel quality. (Ohio, Nebraska and Alaska).
At the start of the decade we were one of four but the Pennsylvania State Legislature passed enabling legislation to begin fuel quality testing in 2012.
A fuel quality testing program will benefit consumers both in protecting their engines and assuring them they are getting full value for their hard earned energy dollars.
Surprise, surprise: When Ohio has tested fuel standards in 1999, the state found widespread failures, which of course led the legislature into doing nothing at all. A reactionary government would be an improvement on what we currently have.
DEATH TO ALL PHONE CALLS OVER 15 SECONDS
Rep. Steve Stivers, one of the most powerful Republicans in Congress, won re-election in 2018 thanks to an impenetrably gerrymandered district.
Perhaps he earned that prize after dealing with a deranged, rambling baby boomer who refused to get off the phone.
From Ashley Parker of washingtonpost.com:
Trump also seems to have copious free time, and the book gives the impression of a president constantly dialing lawmakers just to chat. One Sunday night in early 2018, Rep. Steve Stivers (R-Ohio), who was then the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, finds himself at home during a family dinner, patched through to the president.
After briefing Trump on an upcoming special election in Pennsylvania and chatting for roughly 20 minutes, Stivers attempts to end the call, politely saying, “Mr. President, I’m sure you have better things to do.”
But, the authors write, Trump stayed on the line.
One tiny silver lining to the the reign of President Windmills Cause Cancer is all the toady Republicans who have to suffer their big baby idiot because they all know he could snap and have them out of office in the next cycle.
They rationalize their subservience now, and it’s all going to look pathetic once the true enormity President Oranges becomes known. Oh well, fuck ‘em. They made their bed.
THOSE WMDs. Members of Mueller’s team complain the evidence gathered against Trump on obstruction was alarming and significant… Three more women accuse Joe Biden of inappropriate touching.. Defunding Planned Parenthood risks lives… Heaven or high water: Selling Miami’s last 50 years… The strange beauty of salt mines… I am not always attached to being alive… Manhattan DA Cy Vance: Still a scumbag… Instagram influencers wreck public lands… Why do we keep romanticizing evil men?