BuckeyeBlog

A bevy of school levies will be showing up on ballots all around the state next month.  Will taxpayers support them during these days of economic uncertainty?  Maybe a more important question is, can more money fix the problems we have in public education?

David W. Kirkpatrick, Senior Fellow in Education Policy for the Buckeye Institute, has written an eye-opening article that details the astronomical increases in government education costs and the corresponding LACK of academic improvement.

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Third worst, that is. The only states with worse tax structures than Ohio are, can you guess?

California.

New York.

Aaaannnd: New Jersey.

Good lord.

I’m skeptical of bipartisanship. It usually means that Republicans and Democrats are coming together to screw you over. The press conference with the Democrat and Republican Attorney General candidates yesterday only adds evidence to support this view. Richard Cordray and Mike Crites put aside their partisan differences to support something both believe in — government needs to tell you how to run your life.

Both these candidates (and two former Attorneys General) came out in favor of Issue 5, the ballot issue that would ban payday lending. Interestingly, most of the talk seems to be centered on their assertion that the campaign opposing Issue 5 is “exaggerated, misleading and downright false.” In fact, the Godfather of the anti-payday lending movement in Ohio, Bill Faith, said that he was considering filing a false statement complaint against those seeking to keep payday lending legal.

When I read those words I thought I was in some sort of alternative universe. If anyone deserves to be sanctioned by the government for making statements that are “exaggerated, misleading and downright false,” it’s those who oppose payday lending. I’ve demonstrated numerous times here on this blog how those who are campaigning to end payday lending in the state make statements that have no basis in reality. The first, of course, is the idea that this ban is merely “reform.” Make no mistake about it, limiting payday lenders to 28% APR will kill the industry. I’m unsure why those opposing these loans aren’t honest about this, but they like to obfuscate their real goal and claim that payday lenders will be able to stay in business. And then they have the gall to accuse their opponents of being liars.

I’m currently helping put together a policy brief that exposes the downright falsehoods being perpetrated in this campaign. I’m taking the actual words of payday lending opponents and showing how these opponents are either being dishonest or completely ignorant. Perhaps I’ll steal Mr. Faith’s idea and send it to the state election commission and seek to have Mr. Faith and his allies sanctioned for making false statements.

“The current federal allocation isn’t enough.”

If you don’t have enough time to program an actual Turing Test, program a computer to repeat that phrase in answer to any question. It’ll be indistinguishable from any extant fiscal policy, and any newspaper reporting on any extant fiscal policy.

Meanwhile, one of Ohio’s best newspapers lays off 38. Maybe President Obama will interpret the First Amendment so as to increase their federal allocation.

Worried about the economy?  The price of gas, plummeting home values and increased grocery costs are big concerns for Ohio families.  Would you appreciate your elected officials closing your child’s school and increasing your property taxes too?  That’s what citizens in Toledo have to look forward to if the teachers’ union and Toledo City Council have their way.

What’s going on?  Council is considering “a proposal to require all new schools in Toledo to have a minimum level of facilities, such as a gym and cafeteria”.  While it may sound innocuous, it’s a blantant attempt to eliminate charter schools in Lucas county.

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Although a few liberal clergy want you to think that God condemns payday lending, it seems there is a difference of opinion on this subject. As the Dispatch reports today, a Christian group has come out in opposition to the ban on payday lending.

There are religious aspects being discussed in this debate (as I examine here), but no one should assume that there is a correct “Christian” position on this. Christians can differ on this issue. The Bible does not have a clear roadmap to discern how one should vote on Issue 5. In fact, the theological implications of banning payday lending are so unclear that one should be skeptical of anyone who claims to know God’s will on this subject. This is a vote on economics, not theology. Given this situation, as I’ve demonstrated in a study and Dr. Tom Lehman has demonstrated in his testimony before the General Assembly, it’s clear that banning payday lending is a horribly misguided way of helping Ohio’s economy.

During the debate over payday lending, there have been quite a few people who condemn it as “usury.” For instance, this recent letter to the editor in the Toledo Blade accuses payday lenders of committing usury, “which is prohibited by the Lord” (although it seems at least one Christian group takes an opposite view of payday lending).

I decided to actually look into the issue of what the Bible says about usury and found that usury does not mean excessive interest; it means all interest. You can’t condemn payday lending as usury without also condemning all lending of money at interest (including your savings account). Read my article on the subject here.

Some fellow sent Rep. John Boehner a pound of bacon, and his Cincinnati-area staffers are so far removed from ordinary work such as food production that when the package leaked “oily residue,” they couldn’t discern any clues as to what it might be.

Fortunately, the federal government existed to call for help, and Homeland Security processed the danger into a rapid response rubric and subsequent federal funding application.

A cardboard cutout of Boehner was posted in his Cincinnati-area office and a press release taped to it stating, “It was stupid to mail bacon to me. I don’t do pork. Now let me get back to the important work of passing the bailout bill. No, I mean this week’s bailout bill.”

Careful investigation revealed the package was mailed from Georgia. Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner immediately contacted the sender and asked him to come to Ohio to vote.

“Fire chiefs link levies to fast response“

“Cardiac-arrest patients who have no pulse despite paramedics’ efforts to revive them shouldn’t be taken to a hospital, according to a new study. Instead, paramedics should be able to determine whether resuscitation efforts should be stopped at the scene and patients pronounced dead.”

As Father P.J. says, if you think health care is expensive now, wait until it’s free.