Author: Zachery Schmidt

Initiative Proposal Wants to Implement Term Limits on Ohio State Legislatures

Zachery Schmidt

  A group trying to alter the way term limits work in the Buckeye State filed petition paperwork with Attorney General Dave Yost Wednesday. A group called Ohioans for Legislative Term Limits (OLTL) wants to limit the number of years state elected officials can serve to 16. Currently, an amendment passed by Ohioans in 1992, allows politicians to serve eight continuous years in either chamber. However, elected officials can return to the Senate or House after sitting out four years. “This initiative would institute a 16-year lifetime ban that would close the current loophole that allows legislators to shuffle back and forth between the House and Senate indefinitely,” Columbus attorney Don McTigue told the Toledo Blade. If Ohioans pass this initiative, term limits would be counted on January 1, 2021. This means it will affect politicians being elected this November. McTigue also told the Toledo Blade this group has supporters from both political parties. “A campaign structure is being organized now,” he said. “You will be hearing more from the campaign as things develop in the weeks and months ahead.” Yost has until March 2 to determine if this proposal can move forward. If he does approve the proposal’s language,…

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Frank LaRose Doesn’t Want Jane Fonda to Speak at Kent State University Event Commemorating the Kent State Shooting

Zachery Schmidt

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose wants Kent State University (KSU) to “rescind” its speaking invitation for actress Jane Fonda at an event commemorating the 50-year anniversary of the KSU shooting where the Ohio National Guard killed four students and injured nine others who were protesting the on-going Vietnam War.

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Tim Ryan Outraged Over Trump’s Decision to Use Military Funds to Secure the Southern Border with ‘The Wall’

Zachery Schmidt

  The Trump administration on Thursday notified Congress it was using $3.8 billion in military funds to help build the border wall along the Mexico-US border. In its reasoning, the White House told Congress that this small percentage of the military budget was needed to support “high priority interests” along the southern border. “[The Department of Homeland Security] has identified areas along the southern border of the United States that are being used by individuals, groups, and transnational criminal organizations as drug smuggling corridors, and determined that the construction of additional physical barriers and roads in the vicinity of the United States border is necessary in order to impede and deny drug smuggling activities,” the reprogramming action reads. Once this decision became public, Ohio’s former presidential candidate and current U.S. Representative Tim Ryan (D-OH-13) said in a press release that President Trump was making America “less safe” and “putting our soldiers in danger” by building this wall. “We were promised that Mexico would pay for this wall, now it’s the American taxpayer and our men and women in uniform that will bear the brunt of this irresponsible decision.” Ryan believes this act is “illegal” and a “violation of the separation…

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Ohio Senators Voted Along Party Lines in the Impeachment Trial

Zachery Schmidt

  Ohio Senators Sherrod Brown and Rob Portman announced their decision on why they voted the way they did during Wednesday’s historic Senate impeachment vote. As expected, these senators’ decisions went along party lines. Brown, a Democrat, said “yes” to articles of impeachment, and Portman, a Republican, said “no” to the articles. According to Brown’s press release, he believed Trump abused his power as president by asking a foreign government for a political favor to help his political campaign, and then obstructed Congress by blocking witnesses from testifying during the impeachment process. “Over the course of this trial we heard overwhelming evidence that President Trump did things Richard Nixon never did – he extorted a bribe from a foreign leader, to put his own presidential campaign above the American people he swore an oath to serve, Brown said. “If we acquit this President, it sets a clear, dangerous precedent – that you can abuse your office, and Congress will look the other way.” Brown thought the president and Republicans blocked evidence during the Senate impeachment trial including not allowing new witnesses. “One of our fundamental American values is that we have no kings, no nobility, no oligarchs in this country…

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Sen. Lamar Alexander Says ‘No’ to Impeachment Witnesses

Zachery Schmidt

In a statement released late Thursday, Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) said he will vote against having witnesses in the Senate impeachment trial of President Donald Trump. Alexander was one of four Republican senators that Democrats were trying to convince to support extending impeachment trial in the U.S. Senate for at least another week in order to call the witnesses the House of Representatives failed to prior to delivering Articles of Impeachment two weeks ago.

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UPDATED – The Deep State Strikes Again as a Clinton-Appointed Federal Judge Halts President Trump’s Refugee Resettlement Executive Order

Zachery Schmidt
Judge Peter Messitte and President Trump

In a statement from the White House Wednesday evening, Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham called this ruling “preposterous” and yet another example of a lawless district court asserting its own immigration policy in front of standing US law. Furthermore, she says this ruling “robbed” millions of Americans from having a direct say in something that directly affects their communities.

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Bill Proposal Would Let Ohio Police Pull Over Drivers for Distracted Driving

Zachery Schmidt

  Ohio State Rep. Mary Lightbody (D-Westerville) introduced a bill Monday that would let police pull over people who are using their phones or electronic devices while operating a vehicle. Currently, police can’t pull over people they see using their phones because it is a secondary offense. However, this bill would change that to a primary offense which would allow law enforcement to pull people over for distracted driving. “The number of drivers I see using their smartphones while driving continues to concern me, especially as they tend to drive erratically. This legislation will address the significant danger caused by drivers who drive under the influence of their electronic devices,” Rep. Lightbody said in a statement. Lightbody said constituent Sharon Montgomery approached her about this issue after Montgomery was in a “tragic” accident caused by distracted driving. Montgomery served on Governor Mike DeWine’s recent Task Force on Distracted Driving after becoming an expert on this topic. “More and more drivers are focused on electronic devices instead of traffic and vehicle operation, which puts us all at risk,” Montgomery said. “Representative Lightbody’s legislation will reduce that risk, and I am relieved that with her leadership, Ohio would join 37 other states…

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Ohio Doctor Accused of Murdering 25 People Sues His Former Employer For Defamation

Zachery Schmidt

  Accused murderer Dr. William Husel, who is alleged to have killed 25 people by fatal drug overdose, has sued his former employer for defamation. However, in a lawsuit filed last week, Husel denies the charge, claiming he followed Mount Carmel West’s end-of-life protocols, and that the hospital breached his contract and defamed him. “It would not be an exaggeration to state that Dr. Husel has suffered perhaps the most egregious case of defamation in Ohio’s recent history,” the lawsuit says according to the Associated Press. Husel claims the patients he is accused of murdering died from their illnesses and not fentanyl. The former doctor is seeking $50,000 in damages. He is suing Mount Carmel Health System (MCHS) and its parent organization, Trinity Health Corp. Mount Carmel released a statement to ABC 6 after Husel and his lawyers filed their lawsuit. “Allegations such as these are unfounded. We completed an extensive review of patient care provided by Dr. William Husel and stand by our decisions. Mount Carmel’s focus continues to be on caring for our patients.” After being fired in January by Mount Carmel, the State Medical Board of Ohio suspended Husel’s license to practice, according to the AP.  A…

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Confederate Statues Removed in Memphis Given to Sons of Confederate Veterans

Zachery Schmidt

  Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) received the statues of Confederate leaders Jefferson Davis and Nathan Bedford Forrest Tuesday from a Tennessee nonprofit group almost two years after being removed from public parks in Memphis. Bruce McMullen, the city of Memphis’s chief legal officer, said in a statement that the statues have been permanently removed from Memphis and Shelby County. Furthermore, McMullen said the statues were given to the Forrest family and the SCV to “display them as they wish.” Paul Gramling, the commander-in-chief for SCV, confirmed this news on his Facebook page. “Ladies and gentlemen…….I am writing this in order, I hope, to cut down on the speculation of recent events and news from Memphis. Yes, it is true, the statues are no longer in Memphis or Shelby County. They are in an undisclosed, safe and secure location,” he said. Gramling also asked people to not make any “disparaging remarks” about Memphis or city officials to make sure nothing jeopardizes their “efforts and negotiations that still remain.” “Please trust that the Forrest family and National SCV leadership are on top of every aspect of this endeavor,” he said.   SCV and Memphis officials had been in an ongoing court…

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