Vacancy: Marcia Fudge's former seat

 

Collin Anderson at Washington Free Beacon reports on the House seat left vacant by Marcia Fudge:

President Joe Biden's decision to appoint former Ohio congresswoman Marcia Fudge to his cabinet has Democrats poised to send another self-described socialist to Congress.

Liberal firebrand Nina Turner holds a sizable polling and fundraising lead in the crowded primary race to succeed Fudge. The former state senator is backed by a who's who of congressional progressives, including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) and Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.), and Rashida Tlaib (D., Mich.).

Should Turner maintain her advantage and win the August primary, she would fit right in with the so-called Squad members. The former national co-chair of Sanders's presidential campaign, Turner has pledged to pass the Green New Deal, eliminate private health insurance through a government-run Medicare for All system, cancel student debt, and "completely reimagine" law enforcement—in part by defunding police.

Turner's frontrunner status reflects the growing influence of the Democratic Party's progressive wing. Just months ago, Ocasio-Cortez and company welcomed two new Squad members after Reps. Cori Bush (D., Mo.) and Jamaal Bowman (D., N.Y.) ousted longstanding Democratic incumbents in 2020. Bush and Bowman's freshman class also includes fellow liberal representatives Mondaire Jones (D., N.Y.), Ritchie Torres (D., N.Y.), and Marie Newman (D., Ill.), all of whom replaced veteran party members in January.

Turner's campaign on Tuesday used a Tulchin Research poll to declare the progressive "the favorite to serve as OH-11's next Congressperson." According to the poll, Turner enjoys a 35-point lead over her closest competitor, with 21 percent undecided. Ohio State University political scientist Paul Beck said that while the poll's accuracy is difficult to assess, Turner is the "most visible candidate" and has "emerged as the frontrunner in the campaign."

"My bet would be right now that [Turner is] the person who is going to get the nomination—and win the contest in November," he said.

. . .

Read the full report here.

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CNN Democratic Debate: drunk-blogging link

Democrat debate: Biden vs Sanders

Tonight, Sunday, March 15, 2020

8:00 PM on CNN 

CNN and Univision host former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders from Washington, D.C.; moderated by Ilia Calderon.

It’s either a must-see or a must-miss.  If you can’t stand the idea of watching CNN and the debate between two “grumpy old white men,” then here is the link to Stephen Green (Mr. Vodkapundit) doing his live drunk-blog coverage.  Note: Vodkapundit's drunk blog automatically updates, so there is no need to refresh.

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No rallies this evening

Yesterday, I blogged about Representative Jackie Speier (D-CA), who complained that President Donald Trump was putting “his most ardent supporters at risk” by not canceling his upcoming political rallies in light of the current coronavirus outbreak. No mention of Joe Biden or Bernie Sanders cancelling their campaign rallies.  But both of them just did. Breitbart reports:

Bernie Sanders Cancels Cleveland Rally Over Coronavirus Concerns

And over at cleveland.com:

A rally by Sanders’ rival, former Vice President Joe Biden, also scheduled for Tuesday night in Cleveland, was also called off.

Is the Coronavirus the reason?  If so, will future rallies also be cancelled?

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Hypocrisy on display: Coronavirus and rallies

photo credit: The Nation 

Pam Key at Breitbart reports:

Representative Jackie Speier (D-CA) complained Sunday on MSNBC that President Donald Trump was putting “his most ardent supporters at risk” by not canceling his upcoming political rallies in light of the current coronavirus outbreak.

Speier said, “I don’t think the president is capable of telling us the truth about the coronavirus. And I regret saying that. I think we have to rely on the scientists who are attempting to tell the truth even when they have to contradict the president.”

She added, “The fact that he is not willing to cancel his various rallies suggests that he is willing to place even his most ardent supporters at risk because we’re supposed to stay six feet away from other persons in order to mitigate the exchange of those viruses. I think that he is showing, unfortunately, why he is so ill-prepared to guide our country during this time of the crisis.”

Uh huh.  But as we read at cleveland.com, both Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden are holding rallies in Cleveland on Tuesday, at the Huntington Convention Center and at Tri-C at East 30th.  See here and here.  No comment from Rep. Jackie Speier.

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What's happening to the Democratic Party

Lifezette has a perceptive analysis by the Political Insider Staff on the crisis in the Democratic party.  Here are the opening paragraphs of “Democrats never thought letting ‘comrade Bernie’ in their camp would destroy their party”:

I really do have faith in the American people to make the right choice in 2020, but let me make this point: If Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is the nominee for the Democrats, it won’t be super easy for President Donald Trump.

The popularity of these leftists is pretty much all propaganda. They are all running on abortion, giving free stuff to people who are illegally here, and constantly telling white folks that you’re the problem with America. If anyone of these Democrats wins the presidency, it will be because of cheating.

The situation before us: we noticed how the Democratic leadership has put up with the commie crazies because they pulled in some votes with so many elections being very close; it made the difference between victory and loss. What the heads of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) never considered is that these idiots would take over that party. This is a perfect fulfillment of the old proverb about letting the camel stick its nose inside the tent.

Let me make this one point clear: If Bernie wins the presidency, he will attempt to burn down the United States.

. . .

Read the rest here.  Also, I‘m reading more about potential cheating, voter fraud, and efforts to minimize opportunities to tamper with votes, and I hope to post some of the reports over the weekend.

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Dem Primary Debate recap

photo via Politipage

Last night, Tyler O’Neil filled in for Mr. Vodkapundit’s drunk-blogging gig at PJ Media. Today, he posted a good wrap-up. Here’s his final take-away:

Despite these and other attacks, Bernie Sanders held his own. As The Wall Street Journal's Kimberley Strassel noted, Bernie got “the real pass” on authoritarianism. “Authoritarianism is part and parcel of all true socialist movements. You can't support socialism and oppose authoritarians. They are the same,” she explained.

. . .

This is spot on. Sanders may insist his would be a smiley-face brand of socialism, but when push comes to shove, how will he react? A Heritage Foundation study found that taxing the rich at 100 percent would still fall trillions short of Medicare for All and the Green New Deal. Sanders has criticized the idea of having 18-23 different deodorant options, but that is exactly the point: a free-market consumer culture allows for a wide range of choices that allow for competition and niche tastes. A one-size-fits-all mentality cuts against the prosperity Americans prize, and socialist governments historically became authoritarian because not everyone went along.

Liberty and prosperity are not the norm in human history — poverty and tyranny are, and the bloody history of the 20th century shows that socialism is a recipe for returning to that norm.

I sincerely hope Americans understand that and have the good sense to reject Bernie Sanders in November if he does indeed go on to win the Democratic nomination. While many think the clear contrast between Trump and Sanders would help the GOP, a socialist major-party nominee still represents a serious threat and a kind of belated victory for the Soviets in the Cold War.

Yet, as of now, conventional wisdom has it that Bernie would be the easiest candidate for Trump to beat.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) put it well. "Every minute that goes by [Bernie Sanders] gets stronger. If you believe Bernie is bad for Democratic hopes and dreams in 2020 this is a pathetic effort to take him down. Biggest winner so far in [the Democratic debate] — President [Donald Trump]!"

Full recap is here.

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Democrat debate vs Trump rally

Steve Breen cartoon via Townhall

19 February 2020.  Tonight is the next debate between candidates for the Democrat party nomination for President.  It is hosted by NBC News and MSNBC in partnership with The Nevada Independent, and it’s the first one for which Michael Bloomberg has qualified.  NBC broadcast runs 9pm-11pm.  

Stephen Green a/k/a Vodkapundit will be live-drunk-blogging the debate so you don’t have to watch.  Click here.

Please note: Vodakapundit’s drunkblog automatically refreshes, so stay at the top of the blog. You can check in from time to time, or scan through it in one hit after the debate is over.  Even if you keep putting it off until tomorrow.

Let Vodkpundit watch the Dem debate so you can tune in to President Trump's rally in Phoenix, Arizona tonight, with coverage starting at 9pm. Conservative Treehouse always posts the links to livestreams from Right Side Broadcasting and others. Click here.  

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Democrat Debate tonight drunkblog link

NOTE: This blog post was delayed until Mr. VodkaPundit got up and running at 8:01.  Not to worry -  his drunk-blog will be up all night.  

Reagan McCarthy at TownHall reports:

Seven of the Democratic candidates for president will take the stage Friday in New Hampshire, ahead of the state’s primary on Tuesday, in a debate hosted by ABC News [at 8pm]. Former Vice President Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, Andrew Yang, Tom Steyer and Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Bernie Sanders (D-VT) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) reached the established donor and polling thresholds and will compete in this debate.

Notably absent from the debate stage is former Mayor of New York City Michael Bloomberg. Despite the exorbitant amount of money Mayor Bloomberg has spent on advertisements and campaign staff, he did not qualify for this debate. The DNC did alter the debate qualifications for the next debate on February 19th by eliminating the individual donor requirement, which will allow Mayor Bloomberg to be present on the debate stage in Las Vegas. This alteration unleashed backlash from progressives, who claim Bloomberg is buying the election.

Friday evening’s debate comes on the heels of the complete disaster in Iowa, following the state’s caucuses. Pete Buttigieg was declared the winner of the Iowa caucuses by a slim margin over Sen. Bernie Sanders, but the chaos and errors in the release of the caucus have stirred controversy in the Democratic Party. 

Stephen “VodkaPundit” Green is drunk-blogging live HERE– so you don’t have to watch. Just check in for updates at his blog whenever you feel like it (it’ll still be up there tomorrow – no need to check in in real time).

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Peter Schweizer on Fox/Levin tomorrow

Peter Schweizer has been making the rounds on the news shows, talking about his book, Profiles in Corruption: Abuse of Power by America’s Progressive Elite (HarperCollins). I am partway through the book, and it’s both frightening and well-documented.  As I linked the other day, Rebecca Mansour at Breitbart reported that the

bombshell investigative book contains 1,126 endnotes totaling 83 pages of source material, Breitbart News has learned.

In addition, the book contains no unnamed sources. Instead, it is based on hard evidence and documents, including: foreign and domestic corporate and legal records, tax liens, lobbyist disclosures, property records, White House visitor logs, federal bankruptcies, and federal criminal trial records.

Anyway, Mr. Schweizer’s appearances on, e.g., Watter’s World, are frustrating, as most hosts do most of the talking. But Sunday evening (tomorrow), Mr. Schweizer will be on Mark Levin’s Fox broadcast at 8pm of Live, Liberty and Levin.  While I go hot and cold on Mr. Levin, his Sunday evening broadcasts on Fox are generally restrained, well-prepared, and designed to maximize the commentary by the guest. I’ll be tuning in.

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Profiles in Corruption, including Sherrod Brown

Peter Schweizer’s book, Profiles in Corruption: Abuse of Power by America’s Progressive Elite (HarperCollins), is out today, and Rebecca Mansour at Breitbart reported that the

bombshell investigative book contains 1,126 endnotes totaling 83 pages of source material, Breitbart News has learned.

In addition, the book contains no unnamed sources. Instead, it is based on hard evidence and documents, including: foreign and domestic corporate and legal records, tax liens, lobbyist disclosures, property records, White House visitor logs, federal bankruptcies, and federal criminal trial records.

Publishing giant HarperCollins has kept Profiles in Corruption under a strict embargo. The book will reportedly expose how five members of Joe Biden’s family—the “Biden Five”—scored “tens of millions of dollars” in taxpayer money and guaranteed loans. In addition, the book is said to contain never-before-reported bombshell revelations about Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar, Cory Booker, Sherrod Brown, and Eric Garcetti.

Last week Amazon named the book its “most anticipated” nonfiction book based on pre-sale volume. Ten days before the book’s January 21 release, it had already hit #1 on Amazon across all book genres.

The book’s writer, Government Accountability Institute President and Breitbart News senior contributor Peter Schweizer, is a five-time New York Times bestseller author who penned Clinton Cash and Secret Empires. According to Axios, Schweizer and his GAI team of investigators spent a year and a half researching Profiles in Corruption: Abuse of Power by America’s Progressive Elite.

While Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, and Bernie Sanders will likely be getting most of the headlines, there is a chapter on Ohio’s own Senator, Sherrod Brown. Several sections in that chapter may resonate with reports of Joe Biden's son and brother allegedly benefiting from the Vice President's position of influence:

[Sherrod] Brown’s congressional career—in both the House and Senate—is marked by a devotion to progressive causes before they become widely supported within the Democratic Party. Brown’s efforts in the minutiae of health and medical issues — those that seem designed to help put a lot of money in the pocket of his brother— are less well known.

More to come.

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Yet more evidence forthcoming

There's good news over at Breitbart; Ezra Dulis reports:

‘Profiles in Corruption’ Hits #1 on Amazon 10 Days Before Book Release

The highly anticipated investigative bombshell book Profiles in Corruption: Abuse of Power by America’s Progressive Elite hit #1 on Amazon Saturday, despite the fact that the book’s official release is still over a week away.

When Axios and Breitbart News first reported about the book’s unveiling by publisher HarperCollins on Thursday, Profiles in Corruption was #822,128 on Amazon. Less than 48 hours later, the book zoomed to #1 across all book genres.

Very little is publicly known about the book’s contents. Government Accountability Institute President and Breitbart News senior contributor Peter Schweizer and his investigative team spent a year and a half researching it. A source close to the publisher said the book’s contents will “upend official Washington” and that Schweizer’s prior bombshell revelations about Hunter Biden were “just the tip of the iceberg.” The book is said to contain brand new evidence that five members of Joe Biden’s family—the “Biden Five”—scored “tens of millions of dollars” in taxpayer cash and guaranteed loans.

Mike Allen of Axios, who exclusively announced HarperCollins’ forthcoming release of Profiles in Corruption, reported that the book’s table of contents includes chapters on leading progressives, including:

• Joe Biden
• Eric Garcetti
• Cory Booker
• Elizabeth Warren
• Sherrod Brown
• Bernie Sanders
• Amy Klobuchar

If Schweizer’s next book is anything like his four previous consecutive New York Times bestsellers, Washington will feel its shockwaves. 

Interesting to see Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown on the list. On the other hand, Mr. Schweizer’s previous books, Secret Empires and Clinton Cash, already dug up enough evidence to get indictments. Exit question: where are the indictments?

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Bernie's idea of a Grand Slam

How socialism works (via Power Line)

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Medicare is going broke

image credit: nextavenue.org

Betsy McCaughey has been one of the most informed critics of healthcare policy ever since Obamacare reared its ugly head. Her latest column at American Spectator sounds the alarm over Medicare Part A and the Democrat candidates’ promises of Medicare For All (titled "Democrats To Seniors: Drop Dead”):

Medicare is going broke,
and the Dems’ presidential candidates couldn’t care less

Baby boomers beware. If you’re in your 50s or 60s and you’re counting on Medicare to pay your future hospital bills, you’re in for a shock. Medicare Part A — the fund that pays hospitals and nursing homes — is running out of money. A mere seven years from now, it will no longer have enough to pay your providers’ bills in full. 

The Medicare Trustees sounded the alarm in June, urging Congress to act “as soon as possible” to protect people “already dependent” on the program.

Good advice, but don’t expect most politicians to take it. The Democrats running for president are in fantasy land, proposing to expand Medicare to millions of younger people or even to the entire population through “Medicare for All.” Never mind Medicare’s insolvency. That’s like a family that can’t pay its mortgage out shopping for a mega-mansion.

. . .

Currently, Trump is using his only option. He’s reducing benefit costs. Any other remedy would require Congress’ cooperation, which is unlikely.

Meanwhile, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and other backers of Medicare for All are making big promises with no way to pay. 

Read the rest here.

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The Democrat debate: fun photo

A picture is worth a thousand words. Photo via Conservative Treehouse.

From the reader comments: "Perfectly shows the clowns best selling points!"

Click to embiggen or go the link, above.

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Medicare for All Means Private Insurance for None

File under: healthcare in the 2020 debates

Hunt Lawrence and Daniel J. Flynn at The Spectator have a good analysis of the "Medicare For All" proposals supported by, so far, five of the Democrats who have announced they’re running:

Democratic candidates call healthcare a right in mantra-like fashion. Gillibrand, for instance, insisted “health care must be a right, not a privilege” at the rally last week reintroducing the Medicare for All bill. But in what kind of a country do you get to exercise a right only through the government?

Imagine if in affirming a right to free speech one added the caveat that one could communicate only through government-run publications, websites, and broadcast stations. Or, if the freedom of religion found expression only through the one true church established by the state. Or, if the right to transportation meant solely a ride on a smelly, sweaty city bus.

This makes a farce of any sane understanding of rights, as does the notion of a “right” to healthcare exercised through insuring that nobody possesses the right to obtain healthcare save from the state.

This all seems the stuff of Five Year Plans and Great Leaps Forward. Yet, five major presidential candidates — Bernie Sanders, Cory Booker, Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, and Kirsten Gillibrand — serve as sponsors in the Senate of the Medicare for All bill. The proposed legislation makes it “unlawful” for “a private health insurer to sell health insurance coverage that duplicates the benefits provided under this Act” and for “an employer to provide benefits for an employee, former employee, or the dependents of an employee or former employee that duplicate the benefits provided under this Act.”

. . .

As government’s role in healthcare expanded through such programs designed to relieve patients of financial burdens as Medicare Part D’s prescription drug subsidies and Obamacare, a funny thing happened: Prices skyrocketed. Rather than admitting that past panaceas did not do as promised, their backers insist that we do what failed only at increased levels.

. . .

Banning private insurance may prove a winning formula in a Democratic primary. But in a presidential contest, where pragmatism beats ideological purity, promising to take away the existing health insurance of most Americans seems as much a loser politically as it does as policy.

Government-run healthcare means no competition. Higher prices. Rationing. We have all seen what government-run healthcare looks like – and not just Obamacare. There’s the Veteran’s Administration hospitals (a 2017 report is here) and Indian reservations’ healthcare (a 2018 report is here). Full report at The Spectators is here.

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Solyndra on steroids: how to stifle competition

Lots of us are laughing at AOC’s idiotic Green New Deal “plan.” Tea Party people want smaller, not bigger government. Mr. Instapundit linked to a timely analysis by Chelsea Follett at Human Progress:

“The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.” Senator Bernie Sanders first said those words in 1974 and has been repeating them ever since. Senator Sanders is not alone in his belief. Three out of four Americans agree with the statement, “Today it’s really true that the rich just get richer while the poor get poorer.” 

Senator Sanders is half right: the rich are getting richer. However, his assertion that the poor are becoming poorer is incorrect. The poor are becoming richer as well. 

Economist Gary Burtless of the Brookings Institution showed that between 1979 and 2010, the real (inflation-adjusted) after-tax income of the top 1 percent of U.S. income-earners grew by an impressive 202 percent. He also showed that the real after-tax income of the bottom fifth of income-earners grew by 49 percent. All groups made real income gains. While the rich are making gains at a faster pace, both the rich and the poor are in fact becoming richer. 

In addition to these measurable real income gains, decreases in prices have given the poor increased purchasing power, helping to raise living standards for the worst off in society. As a result of falling prices such as for groceries and material goods, along with gains in real income, Americans have more income left after basic expenses.

Technology has also become cheaper, improving our lives in unexpected ways. For example, consider the spread of cell phones. There was a time when only the wealthiest Americans could afford one. Today, over 98 percent of Americans have a cellular subscription, and the rise of smart phones has made these devices more useful than ever.

Unfortunately, progress has been uneven. In those areas of the economy where competition is hobbled, such as education, housing, and healthcare, prices continue to increase. 

. . .

“Competition is hobbled” whenever the government intrudes. Ms. Follett's full article is here. (And Solyndra is now defunct.)

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Medicare For All and socialism

image credit: americanliberalreview.com

There has been any number of articles and analyses concerning the proposed “Medicare For All.” A recent on-line report can be found at Forbes here; Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez “dodges questions” on how to pay for it here (spoiler: she doesn’t know); and the NY Times explains what is good about the policy here (what a surprise!).

Yesterday, Justin Haskins published an accessible analysis at Townhall entitled “Socialists Won’t Rest Until We Have Single-Payer Health Care. We Must Stop Them.” The quote marks are there because that’s the title of the article, but they could be interpreted instead as scare quotes. Excerpts:

The 2018 midterms could someday be remembered as the beginning of the Democratic Party’s full embrace of creating a single-payer health care system in the United States. For the first time in American history, a large number of Democrats, many of whom identify as socialists, openly campaigned for the creation of a government-run health insurance model.

For instance, Democratic Socialists of America member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who won 78 percent of the vote on Election Day, championed Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) “Medicare for All” proposal, calling it the “ethical, logical, and affordable path to ensuring no person goes without dignified healthcare.” According to Ocasio-Cortez, “Medicare for All will reduce the existing costs of healthcare (and make Medicare cheaper, too!) by allowing all people in the US to buy into a universal healthcare system.” 

Ocasio-Cortez says she supports a universal system that would include “full vision, dental, and mental healthcare - because we know that true healthcare is about the whole self, not just your yearly physical.”

The cost of enacting such a radical program would be astronomical. Researchers at the Mercatus Center say Sen. Sanders’ plan would cost $32.6 trillion in its first decade, and they note that even if Congress were to double taxes paid by individuals and corporations, it wouldn’t be enough to pay for the program. That should terrify you, especially since the U.S. government’s deficit for the 2018 fiscal year was $782 billion and the national debt now stands at a $21.7 trillion.

But as shocking as the price tag for single-payer health care would be, it pales in comparison to the numerous health care-related problems that would be created by such a model. For starters, the government has an absolutely terrible record of providing health care. One example is the Veterans Health Administration, which is run by the federal government. It routinely suffers from underfunding and long wait times, which has forced the agency to allow veterans to go elsewhere to receive care. As the Military Times notes, “About one-third of all VA medical appointments today are … conducted by physicians outside the department’s system.”

. . .

If the federal government can’t properly run the VA system or Medicaid—or even the Post Office—why does anyone think it could manage one of the largest industries in the United States today?

Much more about the VA, mortality rates, and other scary stats are here.

RELATED: Veterans in the greater Cleveland are scraping the bottom of the barrel. Via Breitbart:

The 10 worst cities for veterans included Ohio metros — Cleveland (#92) and Toledo (#95). California contributed San Bernardino (#94) and Fresno (#97). Also at the bottom of the pack were Philadelphia (#91), Baton Rouge (#93), Baltimore (#96), Memphis (#98), Newark (#99), and Detroit (#100).

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Issue 2 on Ohio ballots: pharmaceuticals (what IS this issue?)

image credit: MyDaytonDailyNews.com

Cleveland.com reported on the panel forum in Bay Village yesterday that presented pro and the con views of Issue 2, which will be on the ballot state-wide this November. The report was not all that illuminating, so here’s the actual language that voters will see on the ballot (via the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections):

Issue 2 To require state agencies to not pay more for prescription drugs than the federal Department of Veterans Affairs and require state payment of attorney fees and expenses to specific individuals for defense of the law Proposed Law Proposed by Initiative Petition To enact Chapter 194 of the Ohio Revised Code A majority yes vote is necessary for the law to pass. 

To enact Chapter 194 of the Ohio Revised Code, which would: 

• Require the State of Ohio, including its state departments, agencies and entities, to not pay more for prescription drugs than the price paid by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. 

• Establish that the individual petitioners responsible for proposing the law have a direct and personal stake in defending the law; require the State to pay petitioners’ reasonable attorney fees and other expenses; require the petitioners to pay $10,000 to the State if the law is held by a court to be unenforceable and limit petitioners’ personal liability to that amount; and require the Attorney General to defend the law if challenged in court. 

SHALL THE PROPOSED LAW BE ADOPTED?

An Ohio doctor, Dr. Mike Sevilla, posted his page on Issue 2, and it’s a resource to start with, with several links to proponents and opponents of the Issue. And here’s the take posted by the Ohio Pharmacists organization. For what it is worth, a few months ago, Bernie Sanders endorsed Issue 2.

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The Fatally Flawed 2016 Democratic Primaries

Democracy Lost: 

A Report on the Fatally Flawed 2016 Democratic Primaries

The title is a 96-page report, sources included, from EJUSA. No, I had not heard of EJUSA, either, until I read a comment by CM-TX on the Treehouse blog here. (If you are planning to work the polls, this report will be of particular interest to you.) The parts of the report that I read through struck me as responsibly researched and digested. In brief, 

Election Justice USA (EJUSA) is a national, non-partisan team of seasoned election integrity experts, attorneys, statisticians, journalists, and activists. The circumstances surrounding Arizona’s presidential primary on March 22nd, 2016—widely acknowledged as one of the most disastrous election days in recent memory—were the lightning rod that catalyzed the formation of EJUSA. Throughout the course of the 2016 presidential primary season, EJUSA has emerged as a leader in the fight for honest elections, pursuing legal action in several states in an attempt to counteract specific forms of targeted voter suppression and election fraud.

Unfortunately, Ohio turns up in the document word search 15 times. Here are two relevant sections:

OHIO Attorney Bob Fitrakis has filed a lawsuit against Edison Media Research asserting that Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders actually earned more pledged delegates in the primaries than were shown by the results. The suit seeks the release of raw exit polling data which documents dramatic differences between exit polls and electronic vote totals in eleven states in the 2016 presidential primaries. Exit polls have been adjusted to fit electronic vote totals since 2004, when they appeared to show Kerry winning against Bush. At that time, Karl Rove (then an assistant to George Bush) developed a theory to explain the alleged unreliability of exit polls. After citizens on the internet began to notice wide discrepancies in this election, the exit poll sponsors, The Media Consortium and Edison Media Research, canceled exit polls for all remaining states in the primary season. The lawsuit demands that media organizations release the raw data for the 2016 exit polls for the first time.

. . .

Of ten places where exit polling has missed by more than 7% (South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Texas, Mississippi, Ohio, New York, California), seven are states where all or the majority of election jurisdictions are using machines ten years old or greater. For six of these seven states (excluding California which only included an early voting poll with a very large discrepancy of 14- 22%) the average initial exit polling miss is a whopping 9.98%.

Bear in mind, this report analyzes the Democrat Party primary voting. I vote in Cuyahoga County, I mark my choices on a paper ballot that is fed into a scanner for tabulation. At least in that case, there is a paper trail that can be used to reconcile votes cast with final results. That will not be the case in many other counties. Scary.

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Under-reported or ignored by the media at the DNC

Photo credit: YouTube: 

"Hundreds Of Sanders Delegates WALK OUT Of DNC And Launch Protest In Philly Streets(VIDEO)"

Breitbart reporter Patrick Howley filed a report on the recently concluded Democratic National Convention. If parts of his report are news to you, it’s because many in the legacy/ lamestream/ mainstream media didn’t cover it. Here’s a snippet (and notice all the empty seats in the above photo):

Floor Walk-Out

The walk-out by Bernie Sanders delegates immediately after the roll call vote was arguably the most significant act of defiance on the floor in recent convention history.

This reporter observed the carefully planned walkout from the grandstands a couple sections over from Bernie’s balcony, where he was busy getting feted for his silver medal. The commotion on the floor got started around the time Bernie’s brother Larry was toasting their late parents. My Breitbart News colleague Joel Pollak was on the packed convention floor texting me the protesters’ next location: the media center.

The protest at the media center was intense. Pro-Bernie agitators stormed through the glass doors while at least a hundred more crowded around inside. These were some of the top protest organizers on the Left at the top of their game (and negotiating with the police to avoid arrests).

The media center (which was just a big tent with no complimentary Wi-Fi) was completely shut down. How interesting that the top left-wing protesters in the country would choose the mainstream media’s encampment as the site of their surprise assault!

The mainstream media did not know how to handle this chaos aimed directly at them.

The rest of the Breitbart report is here. 

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