Thursday, February 21, 2019

DEWINE USED OHIO TAXPAYER MONEY TO DELAY EFFORT FOR FAIRNESS/COMPETIVENESS IN OHIO CONGRESSIONAL ELECTIONS HAS FAILED


UPDATED:  FRIDAY, 02/22/19 - GERRYMANDERING HISTORY, STATUS OF CURRENT SCOTUS CASES & POINT/COUNTERPOINT ARGUMENTS

IS HE THE GOVERNOR OF "ALL" THE PEOPLE 
OR 
PRIMARILY FOR REPUBLICANS?


SOURCE OF MAP

Regular readers of The Stark County Political Report (SCPR, The Report) takes a stance of "a pox on both their houses" regarding the "organized" Democratic and Republican parties and their self-serving ways as manifested in either party, where the opportunity presents itself, to gerrymander legislative districts so as to ensure that the party's candidates have a huge advantage in contending for election.

Polls consistently show that Americans oppose this practice by a large margin.


This duopoly use voters in general to feather the nests of their respective political organizations and more particularly the well-being of individuals in each party who control the structure of his/her party.


In November, Freakonomics (a popular podcast series) published a podcast entitled America's Hidden Duopoly.

For anyone who wants to break up this duopoly, the America's Hidden Dupoly podcast presents some ideas.

This podcast (LINK) is a must listen to broadcast for all who care about the health of court democratic-republic.

The sometimes collusive action by the Dems and Reps to "stack the deck" for their respective parties and/or candidates/elected officials is in the assessment of this blogger "political corruption."

To see a history of gerrymandering, the primary court arguments and the status of all legal challenges currently underway, here is a LINK to Ballotpedia's blog on the matter.


America by its Constitution is intended to be a democratic-republic which both the organized Republicans and Democrats (sometimes alone, sometimes collusively with each other) corrupt the framers of the Constitution.

Nowhere in the United States of America Constitution are political parties mentioned.

The "organized" Reps' and Dems' perversion of the intentions of the Constitution framers is, grain-by-grain, undermining public confidence in our government staffed for the most part with declared Democrats and Republican.

Grain-by-grain the voting public gets more and more disillusioned with the Democrat/Republican undermining of fair and competitive processes of governance and elections which, slowly but surely, prompts ordinary citizens to opt out of our political processes.

The best that can be said for the manner in which "organized" Republicans and Democrats function is that they appear to be "a necessary evil."

A key way to keep them in check is for fair-minded citizens and civic organizations to file or be part of a lawsuit designed to impose Constitutional standards on the "organized" parties.

A striking example of this phenomenon is action taken by then Governor-elect Mike DeWine's hijacking of taxpayer finances/resources in the waning days of his being attorney general of Ohio (notably:  not before the gubernatorial election of 2018) in seeking to delay a trial set for March 4, 2019 "in the name of all of Ohioan which, of course, is designed to benefit Republicans.

The DeWine action has been taken over by November, 2018 elected Dave Yost as attorney general.  He is also a Republican.


Stark Countian Constance "Connie" Rubin is a named plaintiff in the lawsuit.  She is quite active in the party.

The main of DeWine's argument: (Citing that the US Supreme Court is considering two gerrymandering cases presently [see specifics several paragraphs down in this blog]) is as follows:
“If the Supreme Court finds that these redistricting claims are nonjusticiable, then this upcoming trial will constitute a waste of time, money and resources of the litigants, the Court, and the taxpayers of Ohio,” 
The entire DeWine argument:



The Court's decision rejection of the DeWine initiative.



In other state jurisdictions (e.g. Wisconsin and Michigan), Republican factors have sought (at taxpayer expense) to delay judicial proceedings in fear that the courts will find for the plaintiffs in filed "end gerrymander" lawsuits which possibly result in gerrymandered congressional states dominated by Republicans  having to create "fairer" and more competitive districts in time for the 2020 congressional elections.

Consonant with the Wisconsin/Michigan objectives is clearly DeWine's goal obvious objective has been to delay fairness and competitiveness in Ohio elections until the 2022 elections before which an Ohio voter-mandated district (state and federal) reformulation will have taken place.


Ohio will only have 14 congressional districts in 2020, down two from the current 16 as shown in the partisan map above.

DeWine/Yost apparently seek to benefit the likes of 7th Congressional district Bob Gibbs, who, if he had to run in a competitive election, would likely lose.

Gibbs is the vapidest and among the most partisan U.S. congresspersons from all the collective of Ohio districts.

Before this blogger hears it, it is acknowledged that the Democrats do it too.

Response:  Two wrongs, do not make an act right."

That is why the SCPR over the 11-year span of the blog has worked hard to be equally critical of each political party and filtering down to each party's candidates for officer and, of course, elected officials of both parties post-election.

Organized Republicans and Democrats each have an instance of claimed in Maryland (Democrat controlled) and North Carolina (Republican controlled) of unconstitutional gerrymandering before the U.S. Supreme Court.

To repeat, "a pox on both their houses."

Both "organized" political parties are "might makes right" entities.

To quote Ohio Republican chairperson and Stark Countian Jane Timken:

"elections have consequences"

which impliedly is tantamount to saying "to Hell" with Constitutional standards of fairness.

Where else are we hearing nearly on a daily basis these days:  "to Hell" Constitutional standards (e.g. Separation of Powers in our national government).

To repeat for a third time with regard to "organized" Republican and Democratic entities:  "a pox on both their houses!"

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