Concerns with Winburn on Transportation, Freight and Clean Energy

City Council Member Charlie Winburn claims that he now supports state funding for an Uptown portion of the Streetcar. While that sounds good, as a Cincinnati Streetcar supporter, I am skeptical.

The reason I am skeptical is that Winburn has opposed this project from the very beginning. He didn’t support state funding when the funds were actually available. In fact he not only voted against the project on Council before it started, but voted to shut down the project after construction already began.

I find it interesting that when he ran city wide, he argued that citizens in the suburbs didn’t support this project. However, now that he is running for state senate in an area that includes Downtown, Uptown and other neighborhoods that largely support Democrats he suddenly has a change of heart.

Taking this position now is also interesting because there are no state funds allocated to the Uptown portion of this project. This is because the Ohio Governor, from Republican Party Winburn belongs to, appointed new members to the board that rejected the funding they had previously requested. The Governor also rejected the stimulus funds to create a 3-C Passenger Rail Line. That would have connected Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus and Cleveland via Amtrak.  

Another reason I am skeptical of his support is because he doesn’t seem to even support our cities connections to freight. His plan to cover our pension debt is to sell the Cincinnati Southern Railway. This is a city owned freight line that has been generating money for the city every year since 1877. In 1987 the City Council endorsed a policy to dedicate funds generated by the Southern Railway to infrastructure projects. The Cincinnati Southern Railroad has proven to be a great moneymaker for the city, bringing in millions every year. Funding city pensions is important, but selling this asset is not the way to do it.

Maybe Winburn hasn't supported these rail initiatives because he doesn't support Cincinnati's sustainability efforts. After all, Winburn supports eliminating the Office of Environment and Sustainability, even though this office has found ways to reduce Cincinnati's energy costs that actually save money. That concerns me if he is to have a voice on regulations for coal, oil and natural gas production in our State. 

The Democrat in the race, Cecil Thomas, supported the streetcar project when he was on council. He did not advocate selling freight lines or eliminating the Office of Environment and Sustainability. These are just a few of the reasons I support his run for the Ohio State Senate for District 9.

Shawn Dunn Turney 1970-2014

Last Friday a fellow coworker passed away. Her service was this morning, and it seemed to be more of a spiritual and transitional celebration than a funeral. There was a lot of call and response from her family and friends.

Her sons spoke about how she taught them to be men, make the right decisions and how they will see her in the next life. I understand the comfort that gives people and hope they are right. She is gone too soon. Hopefully she was able to break on through to the other side so they do get to see her again.

The pastor called this life her dress rehearsal and that her show will go on. She just picked up her transfer ticket to ride and joined the ghost riders in the sky.

GLSEN and the Cincinnati St Patrick's Day Parade

The organizers of this years Cincinnati St Patrick's Parade told members of the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN) they were barred from Marching in this years parade. City Councilman Chris Seelbach said Chris Schulte told them that the parade board voted to reject GLSEN because members didn’t want an Irish Catholic event to include anything related to gays or lesbians.

Five City Council members and several candidates announced they were withdrawing from the popular local event. Councilwoman Laure Quinlivan and council candidate Michelle Dillingham choose to march but protest the exclusion while marching. 

They later claimed that they didn't want the parade to be in any way political. Of course they didn't ban politicians from marching in the parade. Why would they do that when the city funds the parade.

I wrote on Facebook before the parade: I respect those that that chose to march or not march today. I completely disagree with the decision to exclude GLSEN. They should march anyways. What are they going to do? Arrest you for marching in a parade? I agree with the idea of the city giving funds to GLSEN instead of the parade until they reverse the decision. People should be able to march and celebrate a holiday but they city should not financially support prejudice. 

After this statement someone wrote in response: It is essentially a Catholic celebration is it not. Perhaps you don't see the subversive people in the background with their own agenda against the Irish.

As far as I am concerned any argument organizers had to try and discriminate against this group were lost when they accepted $10,000 in taxpayer-funded money from the City. I also stated that the decision to withhold the funds should be limited until they reverse the decision. While I want the parade to continue the city should not fund this event as doing so would be a violation of the 1st Amendent to the U.S. Constitution. The government can not legally support a religious event abridging the freedom of speech or interfering with the rights of citizens to peaceful assemble. 

Someone having a different sexuality or belief than you is not subversive. As socially conservative as the hierarchy of the Catholic church may be I can not imagine that they would support bullying and be against safe schools. This is the agenda that you for some reason seem so afraid of? You are bullying those that are standing up against bullying? Do you think the man who hung out with prostitutes, tax collectors and told us to love one another as I have loved you would stand for this? The Inquisition is over. It is time to leave the 12th and enter the 21st Century. 

Election 2012 Endorsements

I know some progressives are not satisfied by Obama's first term because we didn't win Medicare for all, Cap and Trade or Immigration Reform. There are those that think we should get rid of credit default swaps, derivatives and break up the banks. I ask those folks to look at the circumstances of the last 4 years and the alternatives.

The leader of the Republicans in the Senate Mitch McConnell said his #1 goal was to make Obama a one term president. That is why the Republicans in the Senate fillibustered most of the legislation the Democrats in the House passed. People on the left didn't turn out in 2010 which allowed the Republicans to win back the House and make it more difficult for President Obama to pass the legislation he called for. The Republicans ran on Jobs but blocked the American Jobs Act.

The national debt was a concern before Obama took office and is a concern now but we were entering the worst recession since the great depression. Congress and the Bush administration had already bailed out Fannie, Freddie, AIG, Bear Stearns and all of the major banks.

Economists were telling him that we needed to stabilize the markets and increase consumer confidence. That is why Obama called on Congress to support a stimulus package on 2009 that would help citizens through tax cuts, help the states balance there budgets to avoid job cuts, help invest in green technology, help support the housing sector, the auto industry and invest in infrastructure. While this cost $787 billion some Economists, such as Paul Krugman, believed that the stimulus didn't go far enough and should have been 2 Trillion. Republicans tried to filibuster this but Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins and Arlen Spector broke ranks to support this. This action helped bring an end to the great recession at the beginning of 2010.

The recession hit us hard and we have had a slow recovery. People often do not realize that we have had 3 years of job growth since then. While unemployment is 7.9% this is down from 10%. The stock market doubled from it's low point and is higher than it was at the beginning of the recession. This is bucking the trend among developed countries. The unemployment rate in Italy and Spain is around 25%. We are expanding while the economies of our trading partners are contracting. That alone is a reason not to change leadership.

Also Romney wants to cut corporate tax rates, capital gains taxes and the tax rates on the rich. This will cost $5 Trillion on top of $2 Trillion in defense spending the pentagon is not calling for. This will be paid for by the middle class by eliminating tax write offs on housing, education and healthcare. This will disproportional hurt the poor through loss of benefits and loss of pell grants to help them earn an education to better their situations.

Romney doesn't support Lily Ledbetter, Contraceptive Rights, the Repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell, Immigration Rights, his advisors support war with Iran and he has changed his positions on virtually everything. He says people can stay on their insurance with pre existing conditions but has no plan to cover them if he repeals the Affordable Healthcare Act. I have a hard time trusting someone that has changed their positions as much as Mitt Romney.

I like Jill Stein and some of what Gary Johnson stands for but I don't want Mitt Romney as our president. Our country can't afford it. That is why I voted for Barack Obama and you should too.

While I am not a fan of bailouts in general the unemployment rate in Ohio would be higher instead of lower than the national average had the auto bailout not taken place. The auto companies paid back the money they were loaned, fuel standards have increased and the industry is thriving again. 

Josh Mandel said we should have let the auto industry go into bankruptcy. Not only that but he is highly funded by out of state Billionaires that are trying to privatize social security, turn Medicare into a voucher program, reduce regulations and continue the subsidizing of dirty non renewable energy. 

Sherrod Brown supported the Dodd-Frank Bill. While I don't think this went far enough to regulate the banks that got us into the economic crisis Josh Mandel wants to get rid of the consumer protections that Congress did pass. 

Also I support the fact that Sherrod Brown did not sign on to more trade deals. While these are good for the profits of multinational companies this often leads to outsourcing and job losses here at home. 

Legislators should not be allowed to create their own districts. This creates a situation where they create districts that are not competitive and this reduces democratic representation. This would create an independent process to draw districts outside of the hands of legislators. Republicans are opposing this because they are currently in power but this will benefit them if the Democrats take back power. The important part is this will give choice to the voters of this state when selecting their representation.

Give council the time to govern the city so they don't spend all of their time campaigning for the next election.

I support Green Party Candidate Rich Stevenson for OH-1 because he supports restoring Glass-Steagall and overturning Citizens United. I do not support Steve Chabot. Democratic Candidate Jeff Sinnard did not set up a website or campaign for this seat. This used to be a competitive district. Gerrymandering added Warren County to the westside of Cincinnati. That is all the more reason to vote Yes on 2.

Additionally I support Issues 42- CPS Levy, Issue 50- Senior Services Levy and 51- Mental Health Services Levy. The state cut funds to these programs. The commissioners cut funds to these levys. None of these levys will raise your taxes. Taxes will actually go down even if they all pass. The services that they provide to the community are all still needed.

Issue Endorsements for the Cincinnati 2011 Elections

2011 is an off year election but it is very important. City Council is up for re election and there as many important issues you can have a voice on by voting. Exercise that right on Tuesday November 8th. These are my Issue endorsements:

Issue 2 - No because 2 keeps Ohio's anti-labor Senate bill 5 in place. SB 5 restricts public workers rights to collective bargaining. This limits the rights of our Teachers, Nurses, Police Officers and Firefighters.

Issue 3 - No because this under minds the core of the Healthcare proposals savings in federal deficit reduction as well as minimizing consumer savings. This law is largely not in place and will not be until 2014. We currently pay for hospital visits for the uninsured as taxpayers already. This could jeopardize our States access to federal Medicaid funds causing more citizens to lose their insurance coverage.This means that we would have to continue the practice of locally subsidizing indigent care through tax levies on a local level. No matter how much the Tea Party drapes this issue in the flag of personal freedom what they don't tell you is undermining the mandate will lead to less people insured, less deficit reduction, higher property tax levies and higher health premiums. That is fiscally irresponsible.

Issue 32 - Yes supports general improvements for the Cincinnati School district.

Issue 37 - Yes supports Health and Hospital Services.

Issue 38 - Yes supports Child Services.

Issue 44 and 45 - Yes on Electric and Gas Aggregation because these are green proposals that  can save you money on your monthly bill.

Issue 46 - No because 46 will loosen local campaign finance laws in a time when we need more transparency and accountability.

Issue 47 - No because 47 is another charter amendment referendum to kill a tax proposal when the city has a $33 Million shortfall.

Issue 48 - No because 48 will amend the city charter to limit public and private rail investment for the next 10 years. We need jobs and investments in public transportation. Rail investments spur population and economic growth in cities across this country. Mark Twain said he wants to be in Cincinnati when the world ends because we are 10 years behind the rest of the world. Lets not leave ourselves 20 years behind.

X-Men vs. Reality Part 2: The Civil Rights Movement

Professor X has come to be compared to civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. and Magneto to Malcolm X. Professor Xavier's dream of a world where humans and mutants peacefully coexist is similar to Martin Luther King, Jr.'s dream. King dreams of a nation that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

Malcolm was raised by a Pan-African black preacher. Three of his father Earl Little's brothers, one of whom was lynched, died violently at the hands of white men. His family had to relocate after threats from the Ku Klux Klan. All of this affected his outlook.

Magneto sees mutants not as a dangerous minority to be subjugated but as Homo-Superior, the next stage of evolution, who should rule over the humans that have subjugated mutants. He created a separatist group called the Brotherhood. Magneto's outlook was developed through Anti-Semitic subjugation at the hands of the Nazi's during WWII. Magnus is Jewish and was a prisoner in Auschwitz. His tattoo number is 214782

When the X-Men first started out the characters were rather black and white. There was definitely a good vs. evil theme similar to most superhero stories. As the comic progressed the characters became more gray. Some X-Men stories have Magneto working with the X-Men on common goals.

I believe that Malcolm was a product of his environment that was evolving. He went from a hustler that drank, ate pork and slept with white women to a NOI leader renouncing his previous behaviors. He came to see the NOI as corrupted by Elijah Mohammed as time went by and came to worship with Muslims of all races at the end of his life. Some have postulated that his vision had he lived may have come more inline with that of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

That is possible had they both lived longer. They were both black civil rights leaders that came from black Baptist backgrounds. They both opposed the war in Vietnam and civil rights abuses. I can picture them as leaders in the Occupy Wall Street movement today. Though much like the movement I believe they would still have some differing goals.

X-Men vs. Reality

In the 50s Junior Senator Joseph McCarthy taught Americans to fear the Communists. In the 21st Century Rep. Peter King taught us to fear Muslims.

In the world of the X-Men Senator Robert Kelly taught us to fear the Mutants.

In the 50s the U.S. blacklisted actors as subversives. In the 21st Century the U.S. locked up suspected Muslim terrorists without a trial.

In the world of the X-Men Senator Robert Kelly convinced Americans that they needed to register mutants to protect humans.

In the 20th Century the U.S. collected information on subversives with COINTELPRO. In the 21th Century the U.S. used the Department of Homeland Security.

In X-Men the mutants are rounded up by Sentinels created by Dr. Trask, Liaison Henry Peter Gyrich and authorized by Senator Robert Kelly. The were created by Shaw Industries as part of Government Project Wideawake.

Anti-Muslim Hysteria leads to attacks on Muslims at home. Anti-Mutant Hysteria leads to attacks on Mutants at home.

Those that are kidnapped are monitored in both worlds.

In the 20th Century the U.S. engaged in wars with Communists in Korea and Vietnam.

In the 21th Century the U.S. is engaging in wars with Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan.



In the X-Men world the humans declare war on the mutants.



Is the real world mimicking the world of the X-Men or are the creators of the X-Men mimicking the real world?

Note: While I realize that there are real threats to the U.S. my point is not to equate all of these actions as unprovoked antagonism by the government against Muslims. We were attacked on 9/11. My issue with the war on Terror is that it is too unfocused and open ended. Obviously all Muslims are not terrorists. 19 Hijackers attacked us. 14 were from Saudi Arabia and the rest were from Yemen and UAE. My issue is that we used that as a pretext for war with Afghanistan and Iraq. We used it as a pretext to detain people without trial. We used this a pretext to wiretap citizens and take away our Constitutional rights regardless of warrant or suspicion. The solution to 9/11 should not be endless war. The solution should not be a police state.