Wildlife officials took unnecessary hit
Gov. John Kasich can’t be trusted with Ohio’s natural resources as he travels the national Sunday talk-show circuit prepping for the opportunity to steward America’s national resources.
Sadly, on Kasich’s watch, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources continues the purge of career professionals in favor of political appointees for the Ohio Division of Wildlife. The Wildlife chief, real-estate administrator, federal-aid administrator, wildlife-management chief and law-enforcement chief are among the professionals that were replaced in July.
The governor reclassified career positions with tenured leaders into political spots with no input from Ohio’s sportsmen and women. Meanwhile, the division is short-staffed by more than 25 officers with no scheduled cadet classes to train replacements.
Meanwhile, administration officials are said to deride members of traditional sporting organizations, such as Ducks Unlimited, as “cult” members.
It is time the governor spend his weekends attending sportsman events in American Legion halls, the local YMCA and the local Guard armory instead of jetting off for the cable-television limelight.
Jim Atkinson Columbus record straight.
In 2004, after suffering a crushing defeat in which the Republicans lost the House, Senate and presidency, they vowed to do everything they could to stop President Barack Obama’s agenda. Yet, for the Affordable Care Act, the Democrats, who arguably had a mandate, held five public hearing and hours of bipartisan public debate that allowed Republican amendments.
According to FactCheck.org, the Senate Health Committee spent more than 13 days and 60 hours marking up the bill, the Senate Finance Committee spent the longest time in decades (169 hours) marking up the bill, considering 130 amendments and holding 79 roll-call votes. The full Senate held public debates for almost a month, and adopted 167 Republican amendments to the bill, which grew from a conservative think tank.
In contrast, the Republicans in 2017 said, “We’re not going to do this with Democrats.” Thirteen Republican men wrote their repeal-and-replace bill in secret with zero public hearings. Zero. Then, they tried to ram this disastrous bill through before the Congressional Budget Office report, which they knew would show that the bill would increase the number of uninsured people by more than 20 million.
Jack Nasar Upper Arlington time that Sen. John McCain was a Republican in name only, but his “no” vote regarding repeal of the Affordable Care Act was the clincher.
After all of the huffing and puffing, about how, if given the chance, they would repeal the ACA, the few Republicans who voted no should be ashamed of themselves.
If the roles were reversed and it was the Democrats who were trying to repeal a Republican bogus program, there would not have been one opposition vote by a Democrat that would go against the party’s agenda.
This shows that Republicans vote their own consciences and for what they believe to be best for the country, not the party.
Darl Mills Mount Gilead Upper Arlington