Buckeye Firearms Association has posted their voter guide and there is not a single third party listed. I sent a reaction email to their mailing list. Here it is for those of you not on that list:

Hello All,

I was excited this morning to see that the BFA had finally announced its voters guide for the 2010 election, but imagine my surprise when I actually clicked on the link! Despite the fact that I took the
survey, despite the fact that I have spent countless hour as a volunteer for the BFA helping to run booths at gun shows and hunting expos, and taking time off of work to go to the State House to support legislation I am not the endorsed candidate. To be more precise, my name does not appear anywhere on the list! The endorsed candidate in my race (Ohio House 23) is Cheryl Grossman. Well I have some questions for the people who were responsible for giving her that endorsement. Is Mrs. Grossman a concealed handgun licensee? Because I am. Has Mrs. Grossman ever proactively supported pro second amendment legislation? Because I have. Does Mrs. Grossman attend second amendment marches and picnics? Because I do. I don't know what the score for my questionnaire was but I am certain that, if there weren't a deduction for having the audacity to not be the incumbent, it would be an A+ with a gold star!

I've always heard that one of the most important rules in politics is to remember who your friends are and this voters guide makes it clear how the BFA feels about its volunteers.

Casey Borders
Libertarian - Ohio House 23

My brother has written an article that I feels outlines a valid warning for the future of out country. Please read the article and give it careful consideration!

Eugenics
by Corey Borders

Nancy sat nervously in the waiting room of the pediatrician's office. She didn't want to bring her fifteen-month-old daughter Lindsay there, but she had to. Nancy had heard stories of what might happen to her baby and what might happen to her, even. A stern-faced nurse clad in a brilliantly white outfit came through the door and called Nancy and Lindsay back to see the doctor. They waited in the sterile little room for what felt like an eternity while Nancy fidgeted and Lindsay fussed.

When the doctor finally came into the room his soft eyes and bald pate made him look grandfatherly and kind. Nancy felt the beginning surges of a wave of relief until she saw the same stern-faced nurse following behind him into the room. The doctor sat down and explained to Nancy that, by his estimation, she had had Lindsay too late in life, and that caused Lindsay to be “mentally defective” he called it. He said that it's fairly common and that's why all women are made aware of how risky pregnancies can be when they are advancing in age.

After his brief explanation Nancy asked what was going to happen to them. The doctor's voice dropped to a rich, soothing tone and his every expression and inflection oozed sympathy and understanding as he explained that Lindsay would never be able to be independent and would always need looking after, which means that she would never truly experience a full and productive life. “That is why I'm recommending that we euthanize her. And, ma'am, so you don't run the risk of having anymore unfortunate offspring like this one here we're going to go ahead and sterilize you.”

Nancy was appalled. She had heard horror stories and had seen a few people that this had happened to, but she never let herself believe that it could be her and Lindsay in this position. Her voice caught in her throat and when she was finally able to speak the one word she uttered felt like a razor blade coming out. “When?”

The nurse broke in, “We will be transporting you to the hospital directly from here. Today. Now.”

A recent article on reason.com in their hit & run blog was called "Even Still More on The Coming War Between Public & Private Sector Workers or, Don't Read This Unless You Want to Get Hulk-Style Pissed." After chuckling at the title I read on and then completely understood the need for the disclaimer! Their article cites the Wall Street Journal as saying:

In Ohio, police, firefighters and teachers can retire after 30 years on the job, collect a full benefit each year and go back to work full-time doing the same job. This is called retire and rehire.

As the Columbus Dispatch reported last year: "Across the state, Ohio's State Teachers Retirement System paid out more than $741 million in pension benefits last school year to 15,857 faculty and staff members who were still working for school systems and building up a second retirement plan." Some teachers can earn nearly $200,000 a year in pensions and salaries.

And this division is not only limited to the retirement plans that are available to the public and private sectors, but their pay rates as well.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), from 1998 to 2008 public employee compensation grew by 28.6%, compared with 19.3% for private workers. In the recession year of 2009, with almost no inflation and record budget deficits, more than half the states awarded pay raises to their employees.

I successfully submitted my petitions and have gained a spot on the ballot for the upcoming Primary Election! We ran into some problems along the way so this was actually a rather hard-won victory. I want to send out a big thank you to Natasha, Corey, Cheryl, Mark and Mike who stayed beside me and trudged through ridiculous amounts of snow to collect the signatures we needed!

The Primary Election is going to be on May 4th and is going to be extremely important for the Libertarian Party. In Ohio, the only way you can affiliate yourself with a political party is to vote in the Primary Election for that party. Since this will be the first time that the Libertarian Party will have a Primary in Ohio it will be the first chance that Ohioans will have to be able to declare themselves as Libertarians. In fact, thanks to the hard work from the Libertarian Party of Ohio, there are going to be a record six parties holding primaries this year! This is the chance for all voters to show how strong the support is for third parties in Ohio. If you want to take part in this historic primary you need to make sure that you have your voter registration filed by April 4th!

The time has come to begin collecting signatures to ensure that I am on the ballot this fall. I plan on using this opportunity to pass out some information about my campaign and the Libertarian Party in general. The more people that we have the more ground we can cover, so if anyone is looking for a way to get involved feel free to come by and lend a hand. We are going to be making rounds on February 6 and 7. On Saturday the 6th we'll be meeting at 10am and going until about 2 or 3pm and on Sunday the 7th we'll be meeting at 1pm and will wrap up around 5 or 6pm. If you are interested in volunteering, email me and I'll let you know where to meet. I look forward to seeing you then!

The City of Columbus has announced that if the upcoming tax levy isn't passed they will be forced to lay-off a significant number of Columbus Police Officers. Anyone should have seen this coming when they hired the new class of recruits using stimulus money! The city used a short term pool of money to initiate a long term investment that requires upkeep. Of course they're going to need money to keep that going!

Even outside of Columbus threatening laying off police officers has been gaining popularity since the local governments know that people will fear for their well-being and feel that they must pass the levies. The fact of the matter is that there are many other area in which cuts could and, by all rights, should be made but the governments choose to cut the police force in order to ensure that they will get the money they ask for.

First a little back story:

When the TARP first passed money was given out to businesses in the financial sector according to how much the business said that it needed in order to bring itself back from the brink of ruin. That really didn't seem to help the overall economy that much and shortly thereafter President Obama was on Jay Leno's show discussing the need for another round of money to be sent to the businesses that were still having trouble. Then there came the "Bonus Scandal" and what came out of that was a decision to change the rules so that things would be clearer in the future.

So, after passing the $700 billion bailout there is now an $800 billion "Stimulus Package" in the works. How much is the $800 billion package going to cost? ...$2 trillion. Looks like the government can't help but bloat everything that comes their way! Let's take a look at the types of things this bill is meant to stimulate.

One week ago today President Barack Obama was inaugurated and I have to admit that I am surprised about what he has done so far. Sometimes in a good way, which is surprising in itself! Here are some of the highlights from this new administrations and my take on them.

Columbus, Ohio - The Libertarian Party of Ohio (LPO) has been advised by the Secretary of State (SoS) that they have achieved Ballot Access through the 2010 election. The SoS has determined that the LPO is now considered a minor party and will have the rights of other minor political parties in Ohio. The name "Libertarian" will be used on ballots. In the coming weeks the SoS will be issuing a Directive or Advisory to all Board of Elections in Ohio concerning the recent changes in status.