By ellen
I was speaking off-the-record this week with an Ohio House Representative who said he thought the governor had made errors in his handling of the budget. I was asking him about the library cuts. He thinks we should rescind the governors huge expansion of Medicaid to something like 5 times the poverty level, and only cover “those who really need it”; delay the railroad project for new transportation between Cincinnati,Columbus, and Cleveland. There was alwo something having to do with eduation where the budget provided big increases and some other thing that this rep. thought reflected a political debt to the unions. All of his proposed cuts would not bring the budget into line, but they would go a long way. After that, he thought we should just “share the pain”, taking some from every program and expense.
Here’s the thing: I am a total ignoramus when it comes to state politics. I don’t follow it, don’t know a thing. Nobody I know talks about it, so I am clueless. This is a terrible state of affairs. Ohio politics is at least as important as Washington D.C. Politics. Probably almost as important as Cincinnati politics! I am next-to-clueless about even that. I get to talk to the Kraus’ about local political developments, and Ginger Lee Frank keeps me informed about the Environmental Justice Ordinance campaign and other environmntal matters. But geez! This is unacceptable.
I want to hire a political educator/advisor whose business it would be to follow the scene and give me a monthly report, more often if necessary, and tell me who to write about what and what meeting to attend or march or demonstration... I would cheerfully pay $40 every month ($480 per year!) for this service. If you feel the same, we could join together and hire a suitable person at least half time. Full time would be terrific. You and me, with shared values and perspectives could interview candidates for the position of DEA (democracy educator/advisor) and pick the one we liked the best. We’d only need 37 participants at $40/month to raise $1500/month, perhaps a part time salary for some zealous person. The more we got, the cheaper it could be, and the larger a share of that person’s time.
Is there anyone who can help make this idea happen? Maybe a core group of people really interested in t his... We could meet at the Lloyd House some day soon. What do you say? If you have any interest at all, please email me, and put “DEA” on the subject line. Do it now. Or phone me 221 1289.
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