Suddes knows Ohio

The corruption runs far deeper than one speaker, or one scandal

It’s an endless series of scandal, w most of the pay-to-play in the wide open. It’s how business is done. S.O.P.

Hell, almost every GOP House member voted to keep Householder in the House

1/ https://twitter.com/davidpepper/status/1289907194909962242

Like Suddes, I tried to describe it in my most recent book. And why it repeats itself again and again.

Besides being wrong in and of itself, the deeper issue with the corruption is that it means those elected to serve are not in fact serving the public interest.

They are diverting public resources to private interests, and letting private players buy public policy outcomes

3/

And there is a enormous cost to that.

Examples:

Precious school dollars diverted to for-profit scams whose donors fuel their campaigns.

Archaic energy policies that undermine new jobs.

Policies that hurt workers and everyday Ohioans.

4/

Debt collectors aggressively going after student debtors while taking a % of their collections and giving them back to the politicians who then re-award them the lucrative work

Bad for students, but good for people making $$$ and polticians raising $$ https://www.policymattersohio.org/press-room/2020/02/20/punitive-student-debt-collection-undercuts-ohios-education-goals

And of course, non-stop attacks on local government and school funds and home-rule decisionmaking based upon the need for trickle-down tax cuts, tax breaks and appease special interests who don’t like local attempts to regulate.

6/

All of it, added up, imposes a huge public cost on Ohio.

So it should be no surprise that as this culture of corruption has dominated Columbus for years, Ohio’s public outcomes—by almost any measure—have sunk further and further.

7/

In this competitive 21st century economy, a political culture dominated by corruption and pay-to-play will fail its community.

And sadly, in this case, it is failing an entire state by almost any measure.

8/

But forget data

Drive around OH, like I do. Town after town struggling. Some literally falling apart. Others look like they haven’t seen a road paved in years. Main streets crumbling. Broken glass. Emptiness. Young people gone.

All while the Statehouse raids their funds

9/

Bottom line: if we want better schools, better jobs, better health, lower student debt, strong local community, better infrastructure, broader equity....all of those will require a state that is driven by public interest, and not private interests getting everything...

10/

...they want through a pay-to-play system.

But it won’t end until there’s a true change in leadership.

Again, while so many communities struggle, while schools are attacked, the current statehouse crew couldn’t even bring itself to expel Householder from his job!

11/

But in 93 days, you can begin to change things.

Vote for Ds up and down the ballot.

END