An Ohio State of Mind

Ohio is filled with Passive Participants....we need to change that.

There is a reactive/passive/procrastinative mindset ever present in Ohio. Not everyone has it, but enough of our fellow Ohioans do have a this toxic mindset that prevents all Ohioans from moving forward with real optimism toward a better and brighter future.

When faced with a putrid environment, we are obligated to change our environment so we can smell the roses.

There are always the onerous retorts we hear in Ohio - “Well, they ain’t going to let you do that…” or “you can’t do that because of….” or the ubiquitous “show me where they have done this somewhere else and it has been successful…..”. Ohio, along with its legislature, has become a state of followers without a leader in sight. Legislators are not supposed to sit on an exalted throne and demand proof. They are supposed to listen to logic and reason and take risks. That is how we move this state forward with new thinking.

The old thinking has not worked. Ohio is a death spiral state with more takers than makers. Its obligations are outpacing its citizens’ ability to pay -and it is increasingly unattractive to do business here.

The mentality of leaders that want to dominate markets, blaze trails, and lead the world is scarce in Ohio. A reactive mentality predominates. It is the mindset of a people who have been broken, won’t take risks, and given in to despair. People who just want to preserve what they have don’t want to rock any boats. They are destined forever to tweak the political system and never think outside of the box.

WE ARE AMERICANS. We cannot unleash our imagination if we become so beaten down that we dare not dream.

We cannot soar if the government prevents us from flying by requiring a government license to fly.

This is the mindset of the Ohio bureaucrat, the Ohio academic, the Ohio banker, Ohio politicians, and Ohio lawyers. They would rather pound down and knuckle under those that would chase the American Dream and make them be content with employment at a State-sponsored conglomerate (Facebook, Amazon, Google, and Twitter). This is the mindset of lawyers: not of entrepreneurs and not of those concerned with growing businesses. This pervasive mindset is the reason why Ohio’s great cities now languish in misery as a haven of the unemployed, illicit drug users, prostitutes, pedophiles, and violent criminals. The mindset of the alcoholic, the addicted, and the poisoned soul craving power is guiding the hands upon the levers of power in Ohio, like a third-world socialist nation that cannot get out of its own way.

There is a truth that we Ohioans must face: we need to mend our spirit and our soul as a state. If the quality of our self-governance is any reflection of our soul, then it is toxic, foul and spoiled. We do not need to pass this down like a generational curse. We can mend it. Our words and actions have meaning and they are an example to the next generation.

We must remember that in the history of the world: 1)No one has ever been taxed into prosperity. 2)Crime, drugs, prostitution, gambling, pornography, and slavery hasn’t ever led to real job creation or attracting business to Ohio. 3)Ohio Governor has never been King. However, like so many before him, Governor DeWine is selling us out to the soulless and beguiling special interests.

The Passive Participant

Passive participants (PPs) are the ones that want to “wait and see”. The ones that want to “agree to disagree”. They prioritize themselves before the futures of others and are unwilling to unite to fight causes with you due to their egos. PPs expect everyone to accept their dug in heels as though it is a position with the moral high ground finessed with political savvy. PPs believe that their behavior is rational, logical, and deserving the benefit of the doubt. Why would anyone risk “making a scene” by challenging such a superior? PPs say that they “want to be their own person” and “do not want to be told what to do” while wanting proof of any proposed solutions with evidence of its success elsewhere -as an excuse to not work within a movement with others where they might be outshone. These PPs are not leaders, these are followers by their very mindset.

Great leaders know how to put aside pettiness and unite as a team to change our state. They know how to work as a team. They know that fighting for our values as a strategic unit has a much better chance of success than individuals going their own way.

Being outraged will not necessarily garner political success. Your ability to get others enraged is always tempered with your success or lack of it. So, the more you charge out of the foxhole and into the machine-gun fire, the less likely it is that people will follow you. With every failure you decimate your cause and harm your credibility.

Throwing spaghetti up against the wall and hoping something sticks it the quickest way to marginalize your credibility and undermine your efforts.

It is easy to give into frustration and quit. It is easy to say that a political party does not represent you anymore. Your forces will keep fracturing into smaller and smaller splinter groups with little left to unite together to overcome the establishment, the swamp, the special interests that run Ohio.

The Active Participant

Active Participants (APs) recognize that repeating the same thing again and again will not garner new results. They learn from their mistakes, successes, and failures. APs are not eager to follow every group of enraged conservatives. They realize that they have limited resources and establish strategies to use them wisely. Active Participants are not reactive - they are proactive. Unlike the PPs they are not content to sit on the couch to see what their political party gives them. The APs are hard working, laying strategies to influence the parties, and pushing and overcoming the establishment.

The APs don’t burn bridges unnecessarily and are less concerned with pruning branches than they are with striking at roots. Working smarter - not just working harder. Active Participants gets off the couch and do not ignore problems. They do something and do something smart. They do not whine, bitch, moan, and complain about our poor choice of politicians; they complain about the inability of conservatives to unite and educate the populous while working towards those ends with zealous fortitude!

“I stopped supporting the party and only give to candidates I agree with…”

This is as shortsighted of statement as there ever was in the history of man. Political parties are important. They serve an important function. The truth is that political organizations, such as parties, are essential to the proper conduct of our government - city, county, state, or national. America has a government “of the parties and by the parties” which is a natural result of people freely assembling. Political parties bring people together in order to enact proper controls on the government, develop policies favorable to their interests (or of the groups that support them), and organize and persuade voters to elect their candidates into office. Without effective organization of the parties by the people, there would be no competent parties representing the will of the people in government. Poorly organized political parties are weak and ineffective. They result in a government that has no competence to represent the will of the people.

A political party is supposed to be an organizing force for the people, holding elected politicians accountable. The party is the power and influence of the people - if not hijacked by special interests (wealthy individuals that manipulate politicians to do their bidding).

Think of it this way: if every general told their soldiers to go out and do their own thing, the likelihood of winning a war isn’t great at all. But if soldiers train as a unit and the general has a good battle plan, then the odds of winning any war have increased. The same is true in politics. We all MUST pledge to not give any money to the party until it has a platform of policy objectives. We should not give to candidates that only have beliefs. They MUST have specific policy goals before they will earn our support.

The Ohio Republican Party has no Battle Plan.

The Ohio Republican Party has no battle plan and no strategy. They have no formulated vision, mission, or goals. They have no priorities of any kind stated on their website. Yet, they expect us to be passionate about them and their candidates. They can’t hold any candidate accountable because they have failed to define what the parties objectives are.

But wait…that is untrue…the Ohio Republican Party adopted the Republican National Committee Platform. We have a Platform. You are a liar!

A national platform is wholly inadequate to establish specific objectives for state or county parties. Our 50 states are unique and sovereign. There are 50 different state constitutions with different legislatures. There is no national platform that addresses the unique problems of each state. You will find nowhere in the NRC Platform for example, that states should eliminate their State Income Tax. Why? Because that is a state issue. So no, the Ohio Republican Party does not have a platform. It does not have a platform because the party lacks leadership and because its leaders do not want us judging their performance.

“When you have no battle plan and no goals or objectives - you don’t have to worry about being fired from your job.”

But the party has a goal of getting Republicans elected. Here, you are lying again.

What good is it to elect Republicans if they commit to NOT implementing conservative solutions to Ohio’s most pressing problems. What good is it if they appoint Democrat abortion activists that have the keys to the kingdom during an emergency? What good is it if they expand government and taxation? What good is it if they do not address the problem of increasing violent crime? drugs pouring into the state? human trafficking? When you fail to provide an atmosphere conducive to prosperity then you are a failure even if you are politically successful.

Electing Republicans means nothing if they do not act like Republicans

Over the last half century Ohio went from being the top leader in the nation among most economic indicators and now it is lucky to be in the top 25 of any economic indicator. This cannot be blamed solely on policy Washington D.C.. We’ve stopped fighting because our Republican leaders have embraced REPUBLICAN SOCIALISM. Ohioans have quit dreaming and quit becoming entrepreneurs upon seeing that the impediments are too high to climb in this state. This is why there is a continual mass exodus from Ohio.

REPUBLICAN SOCIALISM

REPUBLICAN SOCIALISM exists as a comfortable diametric opposition. This forms in Republican states where the largest cities are dominated by Democrats. Republicans don’t dare venture into the cities and Democrats don’t dare venture into the suburbs. Democrats are fine with this because they get the bulk of the tax dollars that come into the State coffers and Republicans are fine with this because they get to remain in power. Both parties bilk the citizens and the government expands while tax dollars enrich the special interests in these pay-to-play states.

The Republicans fight the Democrats by redrawing districts rather than by winning hearts and minds through educating the public on policy. The game is really quite stupid and meaningless.

This alliance between Democrats and Republicans works as long as we do not get BOLD RED candidates into office controlling the state. Hence, the Republican Party works against any bold red candidate that dares to run for a State office. Governor, Lt. Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, Treasurer, and Auditor all have to be pliable to liberal sensibilities under Republican Socialism.

How does Republican Socialism come about? Republican Socialism normally exists because state laws allow undue influence from special interests in party politics. Ohio, for example has no laws on who can contribute and how much money can be contributed to a State Central Committee candidates fund. No disclosures have to be made. Ohio has made the State Party Convention optional which used to be an effective check upon the ability of special interests to buy out (bribe) enough people to control the State Central Committee.

The State Central Committee (controlled by the special interests) then endorses the more liberal Republican candidates in order to get them through to the primary. This is how a State that was ecstatic about Trump and Reagan continually elects Republican duds. We don’t really win by redistricting. - We win by educating! - But no one in power knows that anymore and they don’t know how to do it. Yet, we can be agents of a change for the better if we work together.

THE ONLY THING WE HAVE TO FEAR IS NOT BEING ABLE TO UNITE

UNITING TOGETHER, we can rebuild the party and make it more dynamic by giving it sense and purpose. However, if everyone does their own thing we won’t be successful. Together we all achieve more.

• We cannot just take a candidate for State Central Committee’s word that he or she will vote for conservative reform within the party. These candidates have to tell us the specific reforms that they will implement. Unless there is a “contract with Ohioans” of what they will do, they don’t deserve our support. Candidates aren’t vetted if they are not telling you what they are going to do.

• The Ohio Promise Keepers movement is a pledge that 37 candidates (and counting) have signed. It places checks and balances upon the State Central Committee so that it will no longer be a puppet of the special interests. This is their contract with Ohioans. Just because someone does not sign the Ohio Promise Keepers Pledge does not mean that they are not worthy of support - if they have a contract with you to reform the party, then by all means support them.

• Do not support any candidate that is not promising specific reforms. Do not support them if their contract is not public and easy to find. Private contracts are worthless.

• Help educate the public on the importance of reforming and reviving the Republican Party. Build passion for the party. The State Central Committee and County Central Committees are the building blocks of the party. If we have unethical behavior and dishonesty here, then the whole party on up to the Governor’s seat is tainted. We must restore honor and integrity to the process from the bottom up.

• We need to press our legislators to bring more transparency for party politics. We need to know who is giving money to Central Committee members and how much money. We need to make certain that foreign governments are not interfering in Ohio politics and if Democrats are funding Republican State and County Central Committee members. We need all County and State Central Committee meetings to be public and subject to Ohio’s sunshine laws. We need a requirement for a State Convention that is timed for the duration for the length of the Central Committee’s service (presently every 2 years). We also deserve to have the State Auditor audit the party’s books every two years and impose penalties for false and misleading information on the books. These are all things that the legislature can do to ensure that the parties represent the will of the people and not the will of foreign and special interests. (We are here as a resource to help educate legislators if you can find one to listen.)

• We cannot afford to have a party in charge of the state that is opaque, inept to balance its own books, and elects candidates who appoint Democrats to high paying positions (like DeWine’s appointment of abortion activist Amy Acton).

NEWS UPSETTING THE SWAMP

Help the Ohio Promise Keepers efforts. We will be publishing a newspaper of all the candidates TO BE DISTRIBUTED AROUND THE ENTIRE STATE. We will have a page up soon of where you can donate or buy advertising in the newspaper. This Republican newspaper will feature those who have taken the Ohio Promise Keepers Pledge.

PLEASE STAYED TUNED AND SHARE THIS WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILY