There weren’t really any second-place candidates who touched the levels of competency toward the open trustee seats in West Chester, Ohio than Mark Welch and Ann Becker as displayed during the West Chester Tea Party candidate forum at Indiana Wesleyan University on October 17th 2018. I mean there were other candidates there speaking that night, but Mark is the incumbent and the guy with the very successful track record—so much so that Democrats are rightfully terrified by him and have pulled out all the stops in an attempt to knock him off his seat. Then there is Ann Becker, Ms. Lady Liberty herself as she can be heard often on her 55 KRC radio segments on the very popular Brian Thomas show—who has been involved in just about every kind of politics in Butler County that there is. She is leaps and bounds above everyone else so she and Mark make a great team for two of the three trustee seats that are coming available. Of course, the focus for the purposes of preserving conservativism in West Chester relies on at least two conservatives being elected on November 7th and out of all the candidates running—many of them are good people—only Mark Welch and Ann Becker have the official backing of the Republican Party—and this year, that means a lot.
I think after watching all the other candidates speak if I had to pick a third person for those very important West Chester trustee seats it would be anybody but Lee or Powell. That third seat currently has belonged to the incumbent Lee Wong, but after his support of the Chinese spy scandal involving a Sherry Chen and her termination at the National Weather Service for alleged espionage, Lee has since dropped off the map. He embarrassingly protested on her behalf recently to help her get her job back and his defense of his friend revealed many disturbing traits about Lee Wong that many people hadn’t seen before. He tends to be aloof and disengaged when it comes to complicated issues, and he obviously has sided with organized labor locally—so he has lost his mask of Republican Party affiliation showing himself to be a lopsided liberal on almost every topic.
The other person running who is obviously not a conservative is Joan Powell who came to the West Chester forum knowing that the audience was very constitutionally minded, so she attempted to talk their language, and everything ended up coming out phony. I’ll give her credit for trying, but she clearly wasn’t the right candidate. After all, she had been supportive of West Chester becoming a city some years back which means a lot more government to manage things and always has in her thoughts and actions big government approaches to everything. I thought it was particularly interesting that she tried to distance herself from the terrible labor union negotiations she had been involved in over the years at Lakota by saying that she was supportive of Right to Work. That was odd because most of the reasonable conservatives of West Chester remember her for her tax increases as president of the Lakota Board of Education. By alienating the leftist union members who might otherwise vote for her in memory of her Lakota failures, who did she think was going to support her for trustee? There aren’t enough of the “girls” getting their hair done with Joan to put her over the top. She came across grossly out of touch and adhering to the politics of another century in the past. She certainly didn’t project herself as part of the future.
Everyone else falls below the prospect of viability. In the coming days I’ll put up specific videos from this West Chester event to paint a more articulate picture of the proceedings. But for the high-level viability of the two primary candidates, Ann Becker and Mark Welch they did a good job and the little ad displayed above indicates my feelings on their candidacy. I have a lot of hope for the two of them. For Mark I’d like to see him continue to do the great job he has done. With Cathy Stoker out-of-the-way and Lee Wong put on ice over the last several years West Chester has prospered dramatically. It was kind of like the effect Donald Trump has had on the stock market. There’s a reason the Dow is pushing up over 23,000 for the first time ever. Many investors who had been looking toward West Chester to build a business, or even to start a family felt inclined to move once Mark was elected and from there hotels have exploded on the scene, along with many new restaurants, shopping, shooting ranges and many other options that have improved the lifestyle choices of the West Chester community.
There were some interesting conversations at the trustee forum that represent distinct philosophical differences. For instance, Joan Powell espoused her view that schools are what make a community great—which is clearly not the case. You can spend all the money on education that you want and the quality of a school will not help it at all. Rather, schools tend to be great based on the quality of the people who live in an area. Good people produce good kids and therefore, good students. Mark clearly understands that formula and most everything he does centers on those basic philosophies. That’s why Democrats hate him so much, because revealing that formula is something they are absolutely terrified of. That’s also how you can know that people like Lee Wong and Joan Powell are not Republicans but are in fact liberal Democrats—because they miss the basic concept of foundational government as a representative management device of the public. A government school does not make kids great, their parents do. If you want a great community you need to have an environment conducive to the lifestyle of good people—good in this case being people who have jobs, raise their children with parameters of expectation—and do things as a family unit. For instance, if you go to the VOA Park in West Chester, the people you meet there are generally all good to each other, and conduct themselves well. Respect for themselves and each other is a prevalent theme and that reflects the general demographic of the region which tends to attract good people to it. West Chester has great access to good jobs. Great access to interesting things to do, and it has low taxation—all which attracts good families with values. When those kids go to school they are naturally good kids. If you spend the same money on communities where the parents are terrible, the school system will obviously reflect that. The idea that a school makes a community is a liberal organized labor myth built to inflate wages and benefits for the government employees—not to fulfill the necessities of the community. Mark and Ann understand that delicate balance. Liberals like Joan Powell and Lee Wong don’t.
It was good to see such a large crowd at this event. People care very much about this outcome and that is wonderful, that is what makes our country great—at the local level. That is also the role that the Tea Party has always had, educating the public about the matters that matter most to them. In that regard I’d say the only serious candidates running for those three seats were present in the video above. If candidates aren’t willing to go before the West Chester Tea Party, they really aren’t serious about running for office. Hopefully this article helps you sort out the names from all the confusion—and that really only two names essentially top out the first two seats, Ann Becker and Mark Welch.
Rich Hoffman
Sign up for Second Call Defense here: http://www.secondcalldefense.org/?affiliate=20707 Use my name to get added benefits.
I know I I’m very proud of West Chester for remaining one of the top places to live in the entire United States yet again by Money Magazine. Since George Lang has been a trustee he has contributed greatly to this rise in national profile and he is now moving to become a state rep in Columbus so he can do the same thing for Ohio on a much larger scale, and don’t doubt for a moment that he will be successful. George knows how to work “it,” and I look forward to his results quickly in the next few years. Things in West Chester have really improved over the last several years since George and Mark Welch have been running things as the one, two vote for the West Chester trustees. A quick look at the history of the Money Magazine rankings below will show just how much success they’ve had. The consistency ranging from this year all the way back to 2014, the first full year after Mark’s election, provides the unrequited testimony to the success the two have had in spite of Lee Wong’s efforts at community socialism to make West Chester such a destination of success and opportunity.
WEST CHESTER TWP. — West Chester Twp. is, once again, named among the best places to live in America.
That’s according to Money Magazine, which today released its list of “100 Best Place to Live in America” with the growing Butler County township as No. 56 on that list.
West Chester Twp. was previously ranked No. 49 in 2016’s “America’s Top 50 Places to Live,” No. 30 in 2014, No. 97 in a list of “Top 100 Places to Live” in 2012, No. 32 in 2010 and No. 45 in 2005, according to Money Magazine.
Released on Monday, this year’s list focuses on communities with populations from 10,000 to 100,000.
For perspective there are 267 cities currently in America that feature populations less than 100,000 people, so to be in the top 100 is quite impressive. There are many more small towns and localities, but for a managed population with such a great number of residents that have to balance out tax burdens, zoning, livability, future outlook and day-to-day management, West Chester is a fine example of how it should be done. Of course with all that success there are lots of coat-tail riders who want to make a name for themselves as the next generation of West Chester trustees. This particular year is unique because not only is George’s seat up for candidates because he is moving to the state position, but Mark Welch’s seat is up for re-election as well. Lee Wong is the third seat and it is also up to be challenged. Under a normal year to keep things running the way they have been in West Chester, only one of those seats would need to be defended from the incumbent personalities seeking to make a name for themselves. This year, two seats must be defended. It would be nice to get all three with conservative minded people, but looking at the list of people running there are a lot of liberals running as Republicans but are in fact major RINOs so we need to clear things up for the voters who don’t know the difference between the people with all the big signs so that they can know who they need to elect to keep West Chester in that top ranking with Money Magazine. After all, what it comes down to is investments and for people who want to protect their investments in their community they must elect the right people this time around to maintain stability otherwise everything could go to hell quickly.
My picks for the West Chester trustee race is to re-elect Mark Welch. He’s most responsible of all the candidates for the great Money Magazine reviews that have been unleashed during his term in office. Ann Becker is my second pick; she is clearly the best next person to work with Mark to keep West Chester running correctly. I’d like to see Lee Wong lose, because he’s an idiot, and a socialist. His third vote isn’t too damaging so long as two real conservatives are on the other side. It would be good to try out a new name to replace Lee and see if someone can emerge. A new name would be best, not the tax and spend names from the old Lakota school board. If I had to pick my poison Lynda O’Conner would beat out Joan the Hutt, (Joan Powell) Both women have election experience and access to some money which is why they have some big signs, but neither one of them are conservatives. They have both supported high taxes in the past but of the two Lynda is clearly far better than Joan. Honestly voters would do better to elect the lady who makes sushi at Kroger before trying either of the Lakota school board people. At least she knows how to make something good for a decent price. But she’s not running unfortunately. Everyone else running is a gamble.
Mark and Ann are the sure money to maintaining West Chester’s high profile and country-wide expectation. If both of them are not elected together than anything can happen. Money Magazine likely won’t be including West Chester on their future lists. A lot of people take for granted good management when they have it, but miss it desperately once it’s gone. Mark’s track record is stout and needs no explanation. Ann Becker for those who don’t know her can easily make up for experience with her thinking. I’ve known her for years and she is at the center of almost everything political in Southern Ohio. She like George Lang knows how to “work” things behind the scenes without going negative. She is a naturally gifted personality and I think being a woman helps her tremendously in perhaps even improving the Money Magazine ranking in the future. She knows how to sell conservative ideas without the typical defensive posture that most business oriented conservative men do. Not that it matters, but most people who have been successful in business have been taught that they have to apologize for their success so they get defensive with the media when they talk, or they avoid talking at all. Ann is great with the media, she’s on 55 KRC every week speaking with Brian Thomas and she’s done a lot of television. She has connections to CNN and many other major national networks, so she brings a lot to the table and is the best opportunity for West Chester to either maintain the Money Magazine ranking, or improve on it. Nobody else running has a chance.
It is a tremendous honor to have such a large community like West Chester continuously ranked on that list. I love West Chester. I have traveled a lot and have been to some of the most far-reaching places on earth and there isn’t anywhere that I can think of that’s better than West Chester. From all the offerings along Cox Road to the Union Central Blvd exit, West Chester is a very dynamic place. You can do just about anything in West Chester. From Entertrainment Junction to the great VOA Park, people could live in West Chester every day and never go anywhere else and still have more to do then in resort cities like Orlando Florida, or Las Vegas—and would never miss an opportunity. That is saying a lot. I consider most of my Saturday’s and Sundays to be like a vacation, but it’s all within my home town. Between IKEA where my mother-in-law comes in from out-of-town to shop at, like a lot of people do, to Top Golf where it’s a dream destination for business clients visiting from far off places, West Chester has it all. But it needs to continue to have good management—we can’t take these things for granted. It’s a delicate balance, so be sure to vote in November for Mark and Ann—and take your chances on that third name. But make sure two of them are the people I mentioned.
Problem solved in West Chester, Ann Becker is running for that open trustee seat being left by George Lang and that should take care of everything—to keep the percolating rats from taking over the stable ship of economic development in West Chester. Now the voters of West Chester just need to make it official. As I’ve reported over the past several weeks several former and present school board members from Lakota want to become the next trustee to work with the very liberal Lee Wong on the board of trustees to be a second vote against Mark Welch, who is the current president. For many years liberal Lee Wong and Cathy Stoker worked a two vote crusade against George Lang driving up public sector wages, building unnecessary sidewalks in places not needed essentially so Lee could walk from his home to get free food at Sushi Monk, and many other big government conspiracies that extend too far into the past to chronically completely. That is until George managed to help get Mark Welsh elected to the board in 2013 and since then the township big enough to be a city has managed to get its finances aligned into surpluses, make a pro business environment for continued growth and generally shrink government showcasing the region as the envy of similar communities all over the country. With George Lang moving to a state seat that has left all the liberals audacious enough to wear the masks of Republican to come forth to mooch off the successful results—which has been a concern until Ann came to the rescue to offer herself as the best candidate on the ticket.
As I write this Joan the Hutt (Joan Powell) is rummaging through tape of past board meetings featuring Mark Welch trying to help her friend Lee Wong out with some undercover political theater. She is the pro-union, anti-business candidate in this race and she thinks she has enough old school levy supporters from her days as the Lakota school board president most responsible for the runaway budget to call in enough favors to run for one of these open trustee seats and she’s most targeting Mark Welch. The problem with that strategy is that there is even more tape of her from her school board meetings which can easily be used against her in the same way. The big difference is that she was a terrible president at Lakota, a big spender with a horrendous track record. Mark has been very successful, so that is something that will sort itself out in the coming month. Joan the Hutt will soon learn just how much people hate her and have not forgotten how terribly she managed the budget at Lakota schools. Mark is ready to deal with her.
Lynda O’Conner is learning how the business community has not forgiven her either for her role in the past Lakota school levies. Lynda is someone I have personally endorsed in the past, but her vote in favor of the last tax increase in 2013 shows where her budgetary sentiments really reside. She is not what I’d call a conservative and if politicians are learning anything around the country in the wake of the Donald Trump presidency it’s that people are sick of the status quo. The Alabama election of Judge Roy Moore over Luther Strange should come to everyone’s mind regarding this West Chester election. Lynda is certainly an establishment type of candidate. She’s better than the old battle axes like Joan Powell who are so out of touch they might as well be in a different solar system, but she’s nowhere near as nimble on her feet as Ann Becker—who is already into everything presently. Being a board member would just formalize everything for Ann and the community in a positive way. The Republican Party spent over 30 million dollars and had the endorsement of Donald Trump to elect Luther Strange yet voters picked Moore instead—the reform minded populist who had no problem brandishing a gun on stage to set himself apart from everyone else. He won easily over the Party pick and I see similarities with Ann Becker. Ann won’t pull out any guns on stage as she’s not crazy about firearms, but she is otherwise very much of the same mind as Donald Trump and Roy Moore as far as the type of reforms that need to take place in American politics—and West Chester is similar in sentiment to that Alabama election. Lynda O’Conner has a pro tax track record that will prove to be her downfall under Ann.
One thing that I see likely to happen is that this plot Lee Wong has hatched to surround himself with trustees who want to build sidewalks and spend money like a drunken sailor in a brothel is that he may actually diffuse out the voters who would otherwise look at him. Mark Welch as a very successful incumbent should easily win so long as he sticks to what he’s good at and not get pulled into Joan the Hutt’s pro union attacks. However Lee’s base may be spread out between him, Joan and the other lesser knowns on the ballot. Having Lynda on the ticket might actually knock him off. It’s quite possible that Lynda and Ann could end up on the board with Mark making Lynda the new liberal in place of Lee. Lee really screwed up when he encouraged a bunch of union radicals to overtake a trustee meeting showing his political colors in a very negative way, then just a few weeks later protesting in Cincinnati to save the job of a person accused of treason to China. The lady may have been innocent—but then again she may have been guilty. Lee showed bad judgment and even more radicalism in putting his name next to a person accused of treason and that will come back to bite him in this election. Just like the NFL players thought they were too big to fail, and could use their elevated platform to protest some social cause, the public sentiment was that people started burning their jerseys and cancelling their season tickets. I know Lee calls himself a Republican and he likes to flaunt his military service as a mask of patriotism, but he behaves more as a Global Citizen movement supporter which led him to defend a person providing secrets to China. Lee has shown similar acts of bad judgment all through his time as a trustee and this time with Lynda on the ticket he may well have pushed himself out of a seat.
The important thing to remember however through all the noise is that Mark needs to be re-elected and that Ann Becker becomes that important second vote in the wake of George Lang. Ann is a different kind of person than George, but they are both cut from the same fiscal conservative cloth that has made West Chester great. In a lot of ways Ann would be perfect for the next step for West Chester because she has a good mind for making a lot of people happy, which is a tough skill in politics. She’s ideologically pure enough to vote well and hold a hard conservative line on most topics, but she’s also very creative and can think out of the box—which she does often. With some of the problems that need to be solved in West Chester that could be just the right approach. It certainly puts her at the top of the ticket in my book. I’m very glad she is running—I couldn’t think of a better person to run and win a seat as a West Chester trustee. Everyone else is just a wasted vote.
These polls against Donald Trump, I don’t believe. There have been so many aspects of this 2016 election that are obviously wrong, that I am suspect of all news currently. What I do know is that Donald Trump’s speech in Detroit was magnificent—and is rally call to the last remnants of American life—and if you still love our country you need to make sure you are registered to vote and that you have to show up for the polls in November. There are a lot of really stupid people these days, and most of them are voting for Hillary Clinton—and they don’t like our country—and they are attacking. We are living The Walking Dead in real life but this time the zombies are Democrats. They’ve already destroyed Detroit. Now they want to do it to the rest of America.
Trump is doing his job of saving our country, of keeping what happened to Detroit from happening to every city and county in America. But it won’t be enough. Trump needs a ground game and he needs money. So below you will find ways and contact information to help him with both. Specifically, if you live near me in Butler County, Ohio and you have time and energy to be part of Trump’s ground game, then here is a way that you can help. My good friend Ann Becker is the main contact—get with her and do your part.
You are invited to help Make America Great Again with the Trump Victory Campaign in Butler County. Join us for training on Wednesday, August 10th. You must RSVP below to be allowed in the training room.
Precinct School for Trump Victory Butler County
When: Wednesday, August 10th. Doors open at 6pm. Training begins at 6:30
Where: Tori’s Station – 74 Donald Dr, Fairfield, OH 45014
Training is Free. Pizza and pop will be on hand. First 100 people registered get a free Trump/Pence shirt.
Join the Butler County for Trump campaign and the Butler County Republican Party as they present Precinct School on Wednesday, August 10th at Tori’s Station in Fairfield. Doors will open at 6:00 pm, and the training will begin at6:30. You must RSVP to be allowed in the training room. http://bit.ly/ButlerCountyVolunteer
You will be trained on how to talk to voters in this important elections. We will look at how to go door to door – tips and tricks for making the best impact with voters. You will also be trained on the tools that that Trump campaign will use to secure victory.
This training is a must if you want to be a part of Making America Great Again.
Additionally, Eric Trump—who is the younger son of Donald Trump, is hosting an incentive opportunity to raise money for the Trump/Pence campaign. I’ve met Eric, he’s a great young man and when you look into his eyes, you can see a person of great sincerity, so a lunch with him at Trump Tower is worth something. I can promise that it would be the trip of a lifetime. So send three dollars at the link below and you will automatically be registered to win. Three dollars isn’t much for a chance of a lifetime. Here is the message from Eric on how to send money and why:
How would you like to get…
A free flight to New York City;
A private tour of our campaign headquarters at Trump Tower, and
A lunch with me – where we’ll talk about our strategy to defeat Hillary Clinton and Make America Great Again!
Ever since my father officially accepted the Republican nomination for president, our campaign has surged with momentum, and more and more Americans are joining the Trump Train to help us win.
And right now is the perfect time for you to sign on.
Your contribution will push us closer to victory. And you will also get the chance to have an insider’s look at the Trump-Pence HQ in the heart of Manhattan and provide YOUR feedback on our campaign.
I’m sure Hillary Clinton’s campaign is setting up fundraisers with high-powered lobbyists as we speak. But those are the people who have rigged the economy against you, left our borders wide open, and refuse to take the threat of Radical Islam seriously.
I’ll be happy to meet you and hear your thoughts on our campaign one-on-one.
Thanks – good luck!
Eric Trump
Hillary Clinton is part of a vile machine that we are all up against. In July she raised $90 million dollars which Democrats are using to attack Trump—and all of us really—and to hide the many crimes she has been a part of. Trump and his team raised $80 million dollars which is very competitive, and that will help a lot. But you can’t take anything for granted. If you are reading this, you need to help in some way possible, in either of the two ways discussed above, or both. Most of that $80 million was raised with small contributions like the link above. Meeting Eric at Trump Tower is just an added bit of fun for whoever wins it. But you should do it for the patriotic contribution to saving your country. I don’t mean to be melodramatic, but the situation is serious. The money is the most important thing.
The second most important thing is to get involved in the ground game. If you don’t live in Ohio, Ann might even be able to point you in the right direction, so contact her anyway. But if you do live in Ohio and you want to beat Hillary Clinton….call Ann—have some free pizza and learn how you can help by hitting that pavement. Make some calls and help Trump out. Ohio is a crucial battleground state and we don’t have Kasich’s Republicans helping—because they are still crying about their lost dream of having their guy in the White House. We are literally talking about fixing America or destroying it—and you have to make a choice. So make the right one and don’t sit on the sidelines. Your country can’t withstand a lost election in November.
It doesn’t matter if it’s Donald Trump running for President, or Warren Davidson being the only qualified candidate to run for John Boehner’s old seat—Ann Becker from the Cincinnati Tea Party made a great point in her below observation and comment as to why America’s best people do not run for public office. The consequences are that the worst of our society ends up running and winning the seats of government which most effectively runs our society—and the results have been dismal. During this particular March of 2016 there are several really good options—and Ann is one of them for State Central Committee. To my mind she’s the only option. And that is additionally the case with Warren Davidson. For the sake of brevity and effectiveness, I have included Ann Becker’s endorsement of Warren Davidson in the following paragraphs because her reasons are nearly identical to my own. If you really want good people in government—then we need to support them when they come under fire—because they always get attacked. When they put themselves out in front the way Warren is offering, we need to have their back—because they will need it. There is a reason that good people get so attacked in public office—it is to protect the many bad guys effectively destroying our republic. So when you get a good one—give them a little cover fire.
I have been in politics for 7 years. One of the questions I get asked all the time – when are people going to wake up? When are the principled people going to take a stand?
I have been looking, searching, supporting and teaching people how important it is to find politicians that will put the Constitution first. Many people have stepped up to the plate, and it has given me hope.
A few months ago, after Speaker Boehner stepped down from his Congressional seat, my search for the right person to replace him went into overdrive. I live in the 8thDistrict. Finding someone who I could consider a leader, someone who I would trust to represent me and my views was a tall order.
Several candidates emerged to run for the seat. I took it upon myself to research and vet the candidates, this is not an official Cincinnati Tea Party endorsement, just a personal endorsement coming from Ann. The man who I chose to endorse was Warren Davidson.
Warren is a former Army Ranger. His military background helps him to understand the scope of the problems we face in the War on Terror and issues overseas. He also cultivated a deep sense of duty and discipline in the military that has carried over into his work in the private sector.
Warren is a small business owner of a multimillion dollar company. He came back from his military service and wanted to build something. He is the owner and President of Global Source Manufacturing in Troy, Ohio. His experience with his business has given him first-hand knowledge of how the government has hindered the growth of his business, from Obamacare and taxes to regulation and unions.
Beyond that, he is a good man. There aren’t many of those running for office.
There is a reason good people don’t run – the attacks.
Over the past week, a PAC called Defending Main Street has started to attack Warren Davidson. If you listen to the radio or live in the 8th district, you have gotten the mailers. They are vicious. At first, I thought it was kind of interesting. I must have picked the right candidate if he is getting attacked. It’s kind of a badge of honor in politics.
Yesterday, they crossed a line. They sent a flyer, big enough to wrap a gift to every Republican in the district. It was ridiculous. Who are these people? Why are they meddling in the 8th district race? I did a little research.
What I found made my blood boil. Defending Main Street is Steve LaTourette and John Boehner’s ‘I hate the Tea Party so I must destroy them’ PAC. Their website says, “The goal of the Republican Main Street Partnership is simple; to find commonsense solutions to problems that people are wrestling with each and every day. In short we represent and support the governing wing of the GOP.” In other words, if you don’t support the establishment you must be taken out.
I did a little more research. Defending Main Street raised most of its money from labor unions. “These unions include the National Education Association (the superpower of unions in America, along with the public employees unions), the operating engineers, the Teamsters, the air traffic controllers, transport workers and other building and trades unions,” from the Washington Times.
The accusations they were spreading in their flyers bothered me. The ads accused Warren Davidson of ‘Shipping jobs to China’. I knew his company was called Global Source Manufacturing, and China is on the globe – but after I got several messages from people asking what these flyers were all about I decided to talk to Warren himself and get to the bottom of it.
The answers were very simple. Warren said, “I do not have a manufacturing plant in China. I have not shipped jobs there. My company employs over 200 workers in Ohio – none in China.” I asked him about the website www.cheapasiantools.com. “The site is nothing but a marketing tactic meant to show up in search engines. If someone looked up tools in China, they would come to our American made tools company.” He also encouraged me to look at the website. It took me to Global Source Manufacturing’s buy American page.
This is another example of the establishment spreading lies. Telling people things that will make them questions a man’s character. This is why good people don’t run for office.
Don’t give into the lies. Stand up to the establishment.
I heard you! You do not support Governor Kasich for President – even if the Ohio GOP State Central Committee does.
You reenergized my faith in the Constitutional people of Ohio! Yesterday I sent out an email about the Ohio Republican State Central Committee’s endorsement of Governor Kasich. An endorsement by a party means the members of that party are expected to support the candidate.
I received over 200 emails in two hours yesterday telling me ‘Hell No.’ The stories about Governor Kasich and the disdain for the Ohio Republican Party State Central Committee’s endorsement of Kasich was incredible. I could feel the anger coming out of my computer.
Governor Kasich says he balanced Ohio’s budget – all Governors have to balance Ohio’s budget, it’s in the Ohio Constitution. He says he created jobs in Ohio – his term started after the crash in 2008. Yes, there were more jobs created in Ohio after 2008 but was it Kasich that created the jobs or the free market starting to improve? He takes credit for the jobs that our small business owners work hard and create – you didn’t build that Governor Kasich.
Governor Kasich’s support of Common Core, his expanding Medicaid using Obamacare, his increase of spending in Ohio by 30%, his standing in the way of Right to Work, his raising taxes – all of these things and more are reasons that he is not the best choice for President.
I think we all agree that we want a President that will stand by the Constitution and give America a plan to move this country forward, not backward, toward freedom. Whoever that candidate is for you, vote for him or her. No one has the right to expect you to vote a certain way, party or not.
We want political parties that stand on principle, not on who they can get elected. Shame on the State Central Committee. They are up for reelection this March; we must watch those races.
Your mission over the next eight weeks is to make sure everyone you know is ready to vote on March 15, or early vote at your county Board of Elections, starting February 17th. This is the most important primary in the history of the United States of America. Everyone who cares about the future of this country needs to get out and vote!
One of the biggest issues I heard about regarding Governor Kasich was his support of Common Core. I really thought he would flip-flop on this by now, but he is standing strong with Common Core.
A horrible choice for our kids and Ohio Governor Kasich!
I had the privilege of hearing Heidi Huber give an update on Common Core last night. The video is below. We must stand together to make the change we want to see.
Kantian ethics refers to a deontologicalethical theory ascribed to the German philosopher Immanuel Kant. The theory, developed as a result of Enlightenment rationalism, is based on the view that the only intrinsically good thing is a good will; an action can only be good if its maxim – the principle behind it – is duty to the moral law. Central to Kant’s construction of the moral law is the categorical imperative, which acts on all people, regardless of their interests or desires. Kant formulated the categorical imperative in various ways. His principle of universalisability requires that, for an action to be permissible, it must be possible to apply it to all people without a contradiction occurring. His formulation of humanity as an end in itself requires that humans are never treated merely as a means to an end, but always also as ends in themselves. The formulation of autonomy concludes that rational agents are bound to the moral law by their own will, while Kant’s concept of the Kingdom of Ends requires that people act as if the principles of their actions establish a law for a hypothetical kingdom. Kant also distinguished between perfect and imperfect duties. A perfect duty, such as the duty not to lie, always holds true; an imperfect duty, such as the duty to give to charity, can be made flexible and applied in particular time and place. (Sound like Kasich?)
In political philosophy, Kant has had wide and increasing influence with the major political philosopher of the late twentieth century, John Rawls, drawing heavily on his inspiration in setting out the basis for a liberal view of political institutions. The nature of Rawls’ use of Kant has engendered serious controversy but has demonstrated the vitality of Kantian considerations across a wider range of questions than was once thought plausible.
The poet Heine, who was a friend of Marx and upon whom the latter at one time had a great influence, depicted very vividly Kant’s motives for treading the two paths. Kant had an old and faithful servant, Lampe, who had lived with, and attended to, his master for forty years. For Kant this Lampe was the personification of the average man who could not live without religion. After a brilliant exposition of the revolutionary import of the Critique of Pure Reason in the struggle with theology and with the belief in a Divine Principle, Heine explained why Kant found it necessary to write the Critique of Practical Reason in which the philosopher re-established everything he had torn down before. Here is what Heine wrote:
“After the tragedy comes the farce. Immanuel Kant has hitherto appeared as the grim, inexorable philosopher; he has stormed heaven, put all the garrison to the sword; the ruler of the world swims senseless in his blood; there is no more any mercy, or fatherly goodness, or future reward for present privations; the immortality of the soul is in its last agonies — death rattles and groans. And old Lampe stands by with his umbrella under his arm as a sorrowing spectator, and the sweat of anguish and tears run down his cheeks. Then Immanuel Kant is moved to pity, and shows himself not only a great philosopher, but a good man. He reconsiders, and half good-naturedly and half ironically says, ‘Old Lampe must have a God, or else the poor man cannot be happy, and people really ought to be happy in this world. Practical common sense declares that. Well, meinet wegen, for all I care, let practical reason guarantee the existence of a God.'” [Heinrich Heine, Collected Works. W. Heineman, London, 1906. Vol. 5, pp. 150-151.]
That’s how the political left has been able to implement and enact a communist strategy while at the same time convincing people who think they are hard-core conservative Central Committee members that they are doing the work established by Immanuel Kant. What they don’t know is that Kant put down the foundations of Marxism which would evolve into open communism to essentially destroy the economy of Russia allowing Europe to rise to power after World War I. It’s all German philosophy people. But eventually Kant would influence John Rawls who nearly singlehandedly brought detrimental liberalism to most political institutions academic and social. His magnum opus, A Theory of Justice (1971), was said at the time of its publication to be “the most important work in moral philosophy since the end of World War II“[4]and is now regarded as “one of the primary texts in political philosophy”.[5] His work in political philosophy, dubbed Rawlsianism,[6] takes as its starting point the argument that “the most reasonable principles of justice are those everyone would accept and agree to from a fair position”.[5] Rawls attempts to determine the principles of social justice by employing a number of thought experiments such as the famous original position in which everyone is impartially situated as equals behind a veil of ignorance.[5] He is one of the major thinkers in the tradition of liberal political philosophy. According to English philosopher Jonathan Wolff, while there could be a “dispute about the second most important political philosopher of the 20th century, there could be no dispute about the most important: John Rawls”.[4]
There is nothing worse than a bully. I personally have no sympathy for any bully whether it be a motorcycle gang member, a labor union thug, or a 73-year-old woman trying to hold on to power to protect her out-dated world outlook. Bullies in all categories are bad and a threat to the American republic because such a political system requires a self-confident, intelligent population that participates as honestly in the election process as possible. But in Butler Country, Ohio there are a number of bullies operating within the political system of the GOP that prevent the kind of positive growth that is needed as market demographics change and new priorities face future voters. This is a story regarding the latter type of bully which insists that people vote not based on intelligence or free thought—but fear of compliance. In this case the Central Committee Chairperson for Butler County who has been involved in a lot of questionable actions over the last few years was the aggressor. Specifically of these strategic impositions would be the public and private actions against David Kern to push him out of being head of the Republican Party since he represented the Tea Party faction after the 2012 election. Another was throwing Ann Becker out of a John Kasich rally because she wanted to ask questions about Common Core, this was done by Todd Hall, but represented the anti-Tea Party position of this chairperson. Then there was last year’s ruckus involving Evan Thomas. There is a history between good Republicans and bad Republicans which indicated that some sort of quarrel would break out during a May 18th 2015 meeting which will be explained in detail during the subsequent paragraphs. In this article good Republicans would be defined by Constitutional purists against the machine politics of old who seek to build personal alliances through politics to secure business interests. George Nafziger wanted to warn voters at the May meeting of the chairperson’s strategy at that meeting so he was passing out a flyer explaining the activity—also shown below. He knew that the chairperson had been involved in a lot of behind the scenes arm-twisting and anticipated that he would be harassed in a similar way. So he turned on his camera and let it run—which recorded the following. What you are about to see is how politics works in Butler County, Ohio from behind the veil of the Central Committee.
Many voters don’t understand how the Central Committee portion of politics work so it would be helpful to have an explanation as George explained it to me during his report of the recent meeting happenings. Every county in Ohio is divided into a varying number of precincts, each containing a given number of voters. The Republican and Democrat Parties both have an elected “precinct member” representing their interests in that precinct. These precinct members [ward captains if you prefer] run for office and are elected in the spring primary. They literally run a campaign and present their political philosophy just like candidates running for Congress, etc., and the individual who most represents his precinct wins by gaining the highest vote count.
Their function is to keep their constituents informed of party and political issues, to get out the vote in the November elections, and to vote in party meetings to endorse or not to endorse a candidate for the primary elections.
These precinct members form what is called the “central committee.” There is also an “executive committee.” In most of Ohio’s counties the Executive Committee is little more than a rump group of the Central Committee who handle the daily functions of the party and run party meetings. It includes individuals who hold elective office in the county, i.e. sheriff, commissioner, etc.
However, in Butler County this Executive Committee grew into a major body in the party totaling 85% of the number of the members of the Central Committee. Some are appointed by the Central Committee Chair to assist in their party operations. However, the rest literally buy their way into the party functions by paying a fee of $150 and being voted, en masse, by the Central Committee.
For this $150 they get to vote on the endorsement of candidates for office, so they have bought a seat at the table and directly influence the public’s choices in the November elections.
The Central Committee Chairperson, in conjunction with the Policy Committee, develops the list of the Executive Committee members and submits it to the Central Committee for approval. There is rarely any discussion about individuals on the list and generally the Central Committee membership is asked to vote blindly on the names presented to them.
The process for developing the Executive Committee list has evolved over the years and recently it was changed so that a very small clique totally controlled the names that were put on that list. This provoked a revolt among the members of the Butler County Central Committee in the May 2014 organizational meeting. Because of the resulting chaos, the meeting was cut short and the Executive Committee was not established.
The chaos included an incident reported in the Hamilton Journal where a sergeant-at-arms, appointed by Mrs. Judy Shelton, the Central Chairperson, threatened a Central Committee member with physical violence for voicing his objection to the actions taken by the chairperson in this meeting.
Three months earlier, at the January 2014 candidate endorsement meeting the Executive Committee was manipulated by this clique so as to insure their chosen candidates would win the party’s endorsement. In Butler County the endorsed Republican candidate, by winning the party endorsement, has essentially won the general election in November. The vote in November has been reduced to a formality.
In this manipulation, a bus was rented and Executive Committee members, who would otherwise not have come to the meeting, were brought to the meeting, it was rumored, after being fed a free dinner and told for whom they were to vote. Their votes were essentially bought for the cost of a dinner and a bus ride. The bus was parked in front of the meeting hall. As to the contents of the dinner, it could only be confirmed by those attending.
Because of this and other issues many central committee members resolved to block the re-establishment of the Executive Committee.
A Regional Meeting of Central Committee members was held on April 28th, in which it became clear that Mrs. Shelton, the Central Chairperson, essentially said that the Executive Committee was being purged of those people who did not vote for her chosen candidates.
In May 2015 a meeting was called to re-establish the Executive Committee and those dissenting members moved to oppose this. One of them, Dr. George Nafziger, prepared a flyer explaining his position on the proposed list. He handed it out at the entrance to the conference room until Mrs. Judy Shelton confronted him. Dissent was not to be tolerated by the Chairperson who clearly indicated that only leadership was able to decide who received what at that meeting.
In the video made using a cell phone hanging from Dr. Nafziger’s neck during this incident it was easy to see several minutes of people greeting him and him giving them a copy of his flyer. The members in the video are all elected officials doing the work of the county. Then Mrs. Shelton confronted him, telling him that he had no right to pass out flyers representing his views on her proposed Executive Committee list. Shelton was obviously primarily concerned with exerting her authority to maintain the power position in the discussion as a way to quell any thoughts of un-unified discussion—as a party. This is the key to the problem; Shelton desires to unify the Republican Party behind the type of interests represented by her, which is centered on real estate development, and various ways to merge business with politics—essentially the old Carlos Todd approach to Butler County politics of which John Boehner is a direct product. That is clearly her motivation as indicated by her approach and dialogue. You will also see her threaten him with an expulsion by a police officer. His efforts to speak for the people he was elected to represent was shut down by the Republican Party Central Committee Chairman, Mrs. Judy Shelton for the purpose of preserving party unity which keeps her, and her affiliates in power—which is clearly not how any type of republic in the United States was supposed to ever function.
As Dr. Nafziger left the room and moved down a hallway, he passed out his flyers to the Central Committee members waiting to register for the meeting. Mrs. Shelton followed him, shoving him, and grabbing his flyers from the hands of the other central committee members. You can hear Dr. Nafziger repeatedly tell her to stop pushing him as she attempted to take the edge off by laughing to ease the crowd gathered. The law was present, including Butler Country’s top cop, Sheriff Jones, and allowed the behavior to continue as though this type of thing had become acceptable over the years. Likely there is a belief that the courts would line up behind Shelton’s actions and that she had become something larger than the law itself as defined by the election of resident representatives.
This is the material George was passing out, which provoked so much of a public insult.
CONSIDER VOTING NO
Do you think your neighbors elected you because they did not know you? No!
Do you know the qualifications of all or even most of those on whom you will be voting tonight? No!
Do you want your future votes for candidate endorsements to be diluted by the votes of people you do not know? No!
Are you willing to be a rubber stamp for someone else’s handpicked friends? No!
Do you know that the reasons to have these appointees are 1.) $150 in annual dues and 2.) their guaranteed vote in support of those who screened and selected them? No!
Do you know that the list before you was purged of names who voted their minds and not as they were told to vote? No!
Do you think your neighbors, who elected you, want your vote cancelled by people over whose selection you had no voice? No!
Should we risk giving control of our Party to people who were carefully screened and culled by a select few and do not represent the interests of the elected precinct members? No!
Recalling the May 2014 meeting, do you want to see these proposed members voting as they are told to vote by those who put them on the list before us tonight? No!
Do you know that the elimination of six of the seven regions has resulted in a situation where the vote of the Regional Chair we selected will always be overridden by the Executive and Central Chairs, who handpicked this list? No!
You took an oath of office to serve the interests of your neighbors. Do you think that a vote in favor of this list serves their interests? No!
Do not throw away the rights and duties entrusted to you by your neighbors who elected you to office. A vote in favor of this list of proposed members of the Executive Committee will negate your vote. The health and success of our Party depends on your vote tonight.
Immediately after this event George contacted me with the following note letting me know of the incident and looking for some way to tell his story knowing that most of the usual media contacts were loyally committed to the established politics striving to hold power against Tea Party insurgents. I have in my possession a rather damning audio clip that further indicates the level of animosity that Chairman Shelton has toward Tea Party members of the Republican Party–however, that audio was recorded during a private GOP event that was intended to stay that way. I’m not sure at this time that I will release it, unless needed. Given the nature of this audio recording which implicates many people I call friends, then hearing George’s story, it was quite obvious that we were dealing with serious bullies in the GOP that deserved exposure. I’m not going to allow that kind of thing in my backyard without saying something about it. So here is George’s letter to me as he wrote it.
Because of the threat of violence last year by a member of the party leadership against Evan Thomas I decided that I should have a written flyer to pass out to express my opinion on the proposed list of people to be elected to the Executive Committee. I also decided that I should record what happened while I was passing it out. If I have enough band on my e-mail, I’ll attach the video recording of what transpired. I will also attach two of the flyers that were circulating and which I was passing out.
As you will see in the video, Judy Shelton, the party central chairman, threw me out of the hall before the meeting began because she objected to my flyer. She manhandled me as you will hear and not being willing to strike or push back at a woman I went, but she was constantly shoving me. As I passed down the hall I passed out further flyers, which she grabbed from people’s hands. The video will give you the rest.
When the meeting began it was badly managed. Shelton even had to be reminded to get a vote to approve the agenda. She was eager to rush into the vote for the central and executive membership, which were the principal reasons for the meeting.
She then went into an harangue about the two lists of people to be voted on this evening: 1.) people to be appointed to vacancies in the central committee, and 2.) a re-established executive committee.
The vote for replacements to the central committee went fairly smoothly, however there was great opposition to the re-establishment of the executive committee.
A dozen people got up and spoke about it. Most of the speakers were opposed and Shelton had to ask for people to rebut some of the arguments. There were few takers.
The principal arguments against it were:
1.) It diluted the votes of the elected central committee members in the all-important endorsement votes. References were made to busing people in as was done in the January 2013 endorsement meeting. Comments were made as to how there was manipulation of the system, using the Executive Committee to give Shelton’s personally preferred candidates an edge in the endorsement process. You can confirm that with Roger Reynolds and Judge Oster as they were the targets of this (as was I) in the January 2014 meeting.
2.) Shelton claimed these people were selected because they were “workers” but attendance records were brought out and used as an indication of “workers” in the executive committee were not workers. Of 106 attendance records 80 of these “workers” attended less than 60% of the party meetings. The point being if you can’t attend meetings, then odds are you won’t do much work.
3.) It was argued that as the central committee members were elected by the residents of their precincts after they displayed their political philosophy, then they should not “sell their votes for $150”, which is the cost of being a member of the Executive Committee.
Shelton spent most of her time rebutting these arguments. It was also interesting to note that she complained that people had not turned out for the Lincoln Day Dinner/fund-raiser. The reason for that was her management of the party’s affairs and the lack of support she has after the May 2014 party meeting.
Anyway, when the motion to vote for the proposed executive committee went to the floor and the voting was to begin there was a motion to “divide the house.” This means that the precinct members literally have to move to one side of the floor or the other to show their support of a position. This is done to prevent voice votes from being deliberately misinterpreted by the chair.
That process was initially chaotic, but settled down after much confusion and some recounts.
The precinct members (central committee members) literally lined up on the walls of opposite sides of the room. The count was redone 3-4 times and the final result was that 57 voted against the proposed executive committee and 56 voted for it. One precinct member changed his vote during the course of this chaos and threw the vote to the “No Executive Committee” position.
There had earlier been a call for a secret ballot, but Shelton had told the woman who made that proposal that she would not allow it. However, after the house divided and the 57-56 vote came in, suddenly Shelton wanted a secret ballot. The membership shouted her down.
And that is what happened tonight.
George Nafziger
As a result of this incident Dr. Nafziger is planning to ask for Mrs. Shelton to be removed from her chairman seat. It is quite obvious that she is more interested in unifying the Republican Party around the type of machine politics that has left the party stagnant and ineffective in the past. For instance, if John Boehner is truly the best man for the job as congressman, then he should have no problem surviving the primary process provoked from healthy debate. But when it’s wondered how people like Boehner, who are obviously political moderates combating radical leftists in Washington—of which many think he’s losing—keep their jobs for decades as congressman, now you know. The reason is because they have people like chairman Shelton doing the dirty work of suppressing opinion for them out of sight from the media or the public in these central committee meetings.
As far as people go I like most Republicans. I have a bit of history with Todd Hall and I like him. I would probably get along fine with Judy Shelton when talking about our dislike of Obama. When talking about our resistance to legalized drugs in Ohio Sheriff Jones and I share a lot of common ground. He’s against it and so am I in a huge way. Relative to the rest of the world, we have more in common than not. But, in relation to the purity of how a republic is supposed to function in the United States they represent the bad Republicans whereas George represents the good. The good doctor isn’t such because I personally like him—which I do—but because he represents at great scrutiny the purity of how a constitutional republic is supposed to function. Competition is good—and the Republican Party would be stronger if it had a lot more competition, and a lot less thuggish behavior on behalf of party leaders seeking consensus more than theatrical criticism.
The Republican Party does not belong to Judy Shelton or anybody else. Because of her actions and desire to bend the shape of the party toward her personal predilections, she needs to be removed, as Dr. Nafziger has now made a motion to implement. The Tea Party is not a regional thing that is up to her to crush so that she can be a hero to the machine politics of old. It is a national movement created in opposition largely because of people like her controlling central committees at all levels of the GOP and preserving flat candidates for the last hundred years allowing the more socially radical progressives to move the social meter away from conservatism more to the political left. George isn’t involved in all this so he can sell another house or streamline a project through a zoning hearing. He really cares about the GOP and at the very least; Shelton has an obligation to give the voters of his district a voice in government. Even if she disagrees with him, she should at least respect the process enough to let the best and brightest ideas have their day in the court of public opinion. Instead she openly sought to suppress that voice and she got caught doing it on video. That is why she should be immediately removed from office in favor of a chairman who will respect the Republic and give a proper voice to the GOP in Butler County for the better. Competition should be what determines who holds what office and for how long. People like Shelton should not allow the mediocre to stay in office by protecting them from warranted criticism. That is why Dr. Nafziger has urged her removal from the chairman seat of the Butler Country Central Committee. And that is also why if she cared an ounce for the GOP, she would do it on her own without further provocation.
The Cincinnati Tea Party took the hard stand of protesting Governor Kasich’s open acceptance of Obamacare by expanding Medicaid with heavy hearts, but wild ambition. Many traditional political pundits and strategists are not sure what to make of such an aggressive stand against what many thought was a Tea Party Governor. It was the Tea Party that put Kasich over the top of Ted Strickland in 2010 yet within just two years Kasich has shown a desire to take yet more government handouts from the federal government which erodes away state sovereignty under the 10th Amendment, and openly ignores the Healthcare Freedom Amendment that was passed in Ohio protecting all state residents from Obamacare. Republicans who many believe are behind the Tea Party movement are rather baffled to see Tea Party members treating them with the same aggressive vigor as they have progressive Democratic candidates. Yet when the Tea Party says it demands fiscal responsibility, free markets, and limited government, they mean it no matter who the perpetrator is or what political affiliation is next to their name.
To understand why and how the game is played between the federal government and state governments view this video done by members of The Cincinnati Tea Party. The basic essence behind Kasich’s expansion of Medicaid can be explained in the video.
Below is the link to the article from The Cincinnati Tea Party website where pictures of the event can be seen.
In a video from Channel 5 seen at one of the links below the camera ended on the face of Bill Cunningham of 700 WLW who at one time considered himself a “libertarian,” even a “conservative,” but nearly single-handedly undermined his friend John Kasich in the famous Senate Bill 5 election. Cunningham learned then what Kasich is learning now, that they are both the kinds of politicians and media personalities who have taken the country to the brink of fiscal collapse. It is people like them who give Obama power, and federal influence over a state like Ohio. When Cunningham said on the day after this rally on his radio show, “who wouldn’t take federal money if it helped to balance the budget.” Well the answer is, Tea Party supporters wouldn’t, which is why they were protesting outside when the real culprits were inside patting themselves on the back. If Kasich wants to be “compassionate” then let him give all his money to the poor, but don’t demand that everybody else has to throw some of their money in the pot of Ohio. That is no different from what Obama does—and they are both wrong.
Under the new definitions of politics that The Cincinnati Tea Party is beginning to define it is not “compassionate” to steal other people’s money to redistribute to others, which is what Medicaid does and what the expansion of it will achieve. John Kasich is not a “compassionate conservative” because he’s reaching out to the poor, and downtrodden. It simply makes him a thief who sought a way to circumnavigate the Health Care Freedom Amendment with the expansion of a giant federal program with socialist tendencies in Medicaid. The Tea Party does not exist to run for office or control a political party. It exists for one reason, to maintain fiscal responsibility, demand limited government, and maintain free markets in America. Everything else is the workings of politicians who wish to make their marks on history by stealing from others so that they can buy votes with other people’s effort. As can be seen easily, the John Kasich seen at the video below and the Kasich seen at any of the links following the video are different people. Go ahead…………look for yourself.
And a side note to Ann………………I’m proud of you! Nice job!
The Overmanwarrior 