Damn Ohio Republicans

Two bills which are in the Ohio House caught my attention, and raised my blood pressure.  First, the House passed a new photo ID bill, which would require each voter to show a government-issued ID card at the polling place, while providing a photo ID for free if a person can't afford one.  This is "intended" to cut down on voter impersonation, according to the bill's sponsor.  When barely half of all registered voters vote, I seriously doubt that this is a problem.  The Republicans don't even claim that they know of any cases having ever occured.  If they were honest, it would be called vote suppression, because their only goal is to turn away the poor and the elderly voters who don't have photo IDs, and won't know about the restrictions or won't go out and get the photo ID to vote.  It is an extremely cynical and anti-democratic bill, and frankly unnecessary.  Republicans have done their math, and they know that old white people are going to be a minority, so they have to prevent as many people as possible from voting.

Secondly, Republicans are proposing an amendment to the Ohio Constitution which would attempt to block the health insurance mandate in the Health Care Reform bill.  It would be placed before voters on the fall ballot.  My question is, why should people be allowed to not carry insurance and be a free rider on the system?  This mandate is a Republican idea.  How cynical can these jackasses be?  In the photo ID bill, Republican supporters will tell you that poorly-informed voters shouldn't vote, yet these same people are extremely poorly-informed, getting their "news" from Fox News and bullshit artists like Rush Limbaugh.  I don't understand why people who have insurance provided by their employers are opposed to the insurance mandate.  If they lose their jobs and can afford health insurance, would they refuse to buy it?  If so they are idiots they are free riding on the system. 

If anyone has read the Ohio Constitution, they will notice it is chalk chock-full of stupid amendments like this one, along with more than a dozen amendments for various bond issues, because the 1851 Constitution outlawed the state issuing bonds after the canal debt crisis after the Panic of 1837 in the 1840's.  Now, every state bond issue, such as highway construction bonds, must be added as amendments to the Constitution.  The Constitution includes amendments for selling bonds to pay bonuses to veterans of WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam and the current wars.  We also amended the Constitution to outlaw gay marriage in Ohio, which will look absolutely stupid in 10 years. 

One provision of the Constitution places a question on the ballot every 20 years to vote for a Constitutional Convention to review and amend the state Constitution.  It was passed in 1912 at the last such Convention, which installed the referendum system and other Progressive Era reforms.  It has never been passed since then.  I think it is high time that we undertake the process, make the state Constitutionally allowed to issue a certain amount of debt indexed to state finances or GDP, get rid of the gay marriage ban as a business-friendly and creative-class friendly move, dramatically reform the referendum process, revisit the casino amendment and change or remove many other stupid or outdated amendments.  The only problem is that Republicans are not up to the task, leaving half of the potential convention members lacking in sense.