Is the nation’s and Ohio’s poverty rate an inescapable fact of life or one we choose to ignore? The breadth of the problem is inescapable: 16.7 percent of Franklin County residents live at the poverty level—$25,100 annual income for a family of four—and the poverty rate has increased in every large Ohio city from 1999
Eliminating poverty requires new paradigm, mindset Read Post »
Yesterday, I had the opportunity to do something remarkable: I shook hands and spoke with Colonel Tom Moe, a retired Air Force fighter pilot who spent five years as a POW in North Vietnam. He’s a soft spoken, warm man who had the strength to survive unspeakable torture. The opportunity to meet Tom came about
Hate is destructive, as told by a former POW Read Post »
The Dow Jones has been on the rise, and the unemployment rate is 3.8 percent. The economy is humming, but is everyone benefitting? It depends on where you stand on the economic ladder. Let’s take a look, starting at the top. Wealth at the top is increasing. According to the Spectrum Group, the number of
The economic boom hasn’t benefited everyone Read Post »
Do you think at all about where to find God in your life? I do, and I struggle to find him, but some politicians make it look easy. A select number claim to know what God wants, based on what must be a direct line to the Heavens which the rest of us will likely
God likes guns, and Trump is biblical–Really? Read Post »
Last month’s vote on the national emergency resolution gave me pause to think about courage. We admire those who display it and criticize those who don’t. We like to give a pat on the back to those who show courage under fire, whether it be combat or the pressures of the business world. Show me
The lesson we can learn from the moral failures of others Read Post »
Jeffrey Epstein, a Miami hedge fund manager, and Kevin Keith, an indigent Bucyrus resident, have been through the criminal justice system for serious crimes but with remarkably different experiences. Epstein allegedly had sex with and trafficked over three dozen girls, most of them 13 to 16. He faced a life sentence in 2007, but his
These kinds of disparities demean the criminal justice system Read Post »
I get concerned when people use the Bible to justify a position. The United Methodist Church recently justified its decision to exclude LGBTQ people from ministry leadership and marriage on the Bible. Oh, I’m sure if you look, you’ll find passages in the Bible that speak out in some way against homosexuality. And you’ll find
It’s in the Bible! Really? Read Post »
Until recently, the nation was making headway in providing health insurance for more people. The Trump administration, however, is doing its best to reverse that trend, and it’s costing us lives. At the end of 2017, 28.9 million Americans under the age of 65 were without health insurance, a big improvement over 2010, when 48.6
Decrease in health insurance enrollment costs lives Read Post »
Baseball season is about six weeks away, which gives guys like me something to look forward to. When it’s cold and dark out early in the morning, thinking about Opening Day brings a tiny bit of joy. I was a late bloomer when it comes to baseball and didn’t start watching the game until about
Frank Robinson, one of the best ever Read Post »
The farm bill, which provides assistance to farmers and funds the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps, was passed in December with bipartisan support in the House and Senate. Though controversial, SNAP funding was not fundamentally changed. However, after signing the bill, President Donald Trump announced he wants to tighten restrictions. SNAP
Funding food assistance is good public policy Read Post »
Last month, the U.S. Senate passed the Justice for Victims of Lynching Act of 2018, which makes it a federal crime to injure or murder a person “because of the actual or perceived religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability of any person.” The bill seems like a reasonable idea unless you
Intolerance for LGBTQ rights stops at church doors Read Post »
What message will Ohio send if it seeks the death penalty for the four members of the Wagner family accused of murdering eight members of the Rhoden family in Pike County in 2016? That the death penalty is the only way justice can be served for such brutal killings? That executing the Wagners is a
The death penalty is ineffective and costs too much Read Post »