We Want to Hear From You
We want to hear from you about who you think should pay for Cleveland Browns Stadium Renovations or possibly even a new stadium. Please take a few minutes to fill out the short survey in the link below.
And if you’re interested in some Cleveland Browns Stadium FAQs that our excellent research team put together please click the link below.
CCPC Recommended
Local
How much would the rest of Cleveland get out of Mayor Bibb’s downtown revitalization money? Mayor Bibb of course is giving the usual propaganda that the giant investment in this giant gentrification project will yield a huge amount of money to invest in poor neighborhoods. Which is what we have been told for decades about smaller gentrification and stadium construction projects. But the reality is that after all of these past projects have unfolded, Cleveland is still one of the poorest cities in the country. Why will this time be different?
Challenger Matthew Ahn outraises incumbent Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Mike O’Malley, but lags in overall cash Many of you probably thought a year ago when rumors of a progressive challenger to O’Malley started to emerge that it would be a long shot campaign. But money raised in a campaign usually indicates who the favorite is. A special thanks to those of you who have already contributed to Matthew’s Justice for All campaign. If you haven’t contributed yet or if you can contribute again please click here.
Blaine Griffin Denies Playing Politics With Homeless Funding for NEOCH, But Still Sore at PB CLE Support Blaine’s quote in the article is ” We have some serious concerns whenever we fund organizations that in turn create a political arm and for lack of a better word, utilize it to work against us. ” Doesn’t that sound a lot like he is playing politics? As the article documents, NEOCH did not use any of the funds the city allocates to them for anything other than helping the homeless. Do you think Blaine would have expressed concerns about creating a political arm if NEOCH had opposed Issue 38 like he did?
Rebecca Maurer Gives Impassioned Speech in Favor of GAZA Ceasefire Resolution at Cleveland City Council A special thanks to Cleveland Ward 12 Councilwoman and CCPC member Rebecca Maurer for speaking out publicly on this very important issue. The speech came hours after council president Blaine Griffin issued a statement saying the body would not consider the resolution. Let’s hope there are other courageous people in city council willing to speak out like Rebecca did.
State
ACLU of Ohio to File Lawsuit to Stop Gender – Affirming Care Ban for Trans Youth The basis of the suit is that the law is barring transgender youth from receiving medically necessary healthcare. Gender affirming care is supported by every major medical organization in the United States including the Ohio Children’s Hospital Association and the Ohio Academy of Family Physicians. We wish the ACLU of Ohio good luck in their lawsuit..
Gerrymandered Ohio Republican lawmakers afflicting the afflicted and comforting the comfortable An average of Ohio voter preferences in the last 10 election cycles including 2022 shows a 56 to 43 Republican – to – Democratic split in voter preferences. But Republican lawmakers have a 67 to 32 supermajority in the Ohio House, controlling 68% of the seats, and they have a 26 to 7 supermajority in the Ohio Senate, controlling 78% of the seats. Which is why we must get the gerrymandering constitutional amendment passed this year
Ohio Republicans propose ending income tax, critics worry about economic crisis And the critics are right to worry. Florida and Nevada have no state income tax but a booming year round tourism industry makes up for the lost revenue using their sales tax. Look outside. What do you think Ohio’s tourism industry is like in the winter? With no income tax Ohio would immediately face a $13 billion revenue deficit. The effect would be catastrophic on all of the social services the state provides
The Counties With the Highest Unemployment in Ohio The first thing that may surprise you if you click the link is that Cuyahoga County is among the lowest unemployment rated counties in Ohio. If you scroll through the list you’ll see that the highest unemployment rates seem to be in rural counties that are controlled by Republicans. And although this study doesn’t correlate it, high unemployment rates always coincide with high poverty rates.
National
The US must act to end the GAZA disaster Is an excellent but tragic piece by Bernie Sanders. 25,000 Palestinians have been killed so far, 62,000 have been wounded and about 80% of the remaining Palestinian population is homeless and starving. And who bankrolled this nightmare? We did. Israel receives a staggering $3.8 billion in aid annually from the United States. Bernie’s solution is simple. Cut off all aid to Israel until they stop the slaughter.
As Trump Biden Matchup Comes Into Focus, Third – Party Candidates Become The Big Question A large majority of voters would prefer someone other than Biden or Trump. And the third party candidates right now poll at a combined 15%. Figuring out how this will look in November though is nearly impossible for even Steve Kornacki. What’s also impossible is trying to figure out the best message for Biden to minimize democratic defections to third party candidates.
Right – Wingers Say Super Bowl Is Rigged so Taylor Swift Can Endorse Biden You may recall that Taylor earned the wrath of the MAGA lunatics last year when she urged people to vote even though she didn’t urge people to vote a certain way. The most absurd claim is that the NFL would help promote Biden since many of their diehard fans are also MAGA lunatics. What’s not absurd is this. Taylor Swift has 100 million followers on X. Wouldn’t it be hilarious if MAGA actually pissed her off so much that she did endorse Biden.
A guaranteed basic income program in Austin gave low – income people $1,000 a month for a year. The program was billed as a means to boost people out of poverty and help them afford housing. And it appears to have been successful. Other cities around the country are experimenting with guaranteed basic income. Wouldn’t it be nice if Cleveland joined them?
Black Lives Matter
Oversight Elusive Amid Myriad Changes After Jayland Walker’s Death In the aftermath of the police shooting of Jayland Walker comes a critical new year for police oversight in Akron. It also means new faces in high places: mayor, law director, police chief, police union president and police auditor. Looming over it all is the challenge of renegotiating a labor deal that’s blocking a citizen’s panel from investigating officers. We wish the people of Akron good luck in this pursuit.
Cleveland is one of several cities tapped to participate in a national effort to preserve Black history This is great news for our community. Cleveland is one of several cities nationally to participate in the Community Curation Program. Others include Nashville, New Orleans and Chicago. The partnership that created the Community Curation in Cleveland is between the National Museum of African American History and Culture and Cleveland’s Black community. The digitized preservation of Cleveland history is expected to be completed by 2026.
Tim Scott to serve as Trump surrogate amid push for Black voters Uncle Tom Tim is of course desperately trying to become Trump’s Vice President. But he can be dangerous. It is safe to assume that when campaigning in the general election he will drop the racist rhetoric he was using in the primary and make up things that Trump will do to help the Black community. And remember Trump’s support among Black voters is already 14% higher than it was in 2020.
Non white people are drastically underrepresented in local government The data is very consistent throughout the country. The comparison is between the percentage of non white residents and non white elected officials in local municipalities, county government and school board district’s. And almost universally around the country the percentage of non white elected officials is much lower than the percentage of non white residents in any given district. The conclusion should be obvious.
Immigration
Immigration emerges as a key 2024 election wedge issue for Trump, vulnerability for Biden You may recall that in 2020 Biden campaigned against Trump promising a more humane immigration policy. And once elected he immediately started to mimic Trump’s policies which is why he is so vulnerable on the issue now. He has alienated progressives while appeasing Trump and has gained virtually no support from moderates who view him as being responsible for the surge in crossings at the southern border.
What Biden is Banking On With His Border Strategy Argues that Biden believes the issue will not be an issue that will move the needle with his base. And to a certain extent that is true if Trump turns out to be the opponent. His hope is to neutralize Trump on immigration and maybe gain some moderate support. And then emphasize the economy, women’s rights and the existential threat to democracy as key election issues. Do you think this gamble will pay off?
House panel advances impeachment articles against Mayorkas The articles accuse Mayorkas of ” breach of trust ” and ” willful and systematic refusal to comply with the law.” The charges would more accurately apply to the Republicans in the House who thought of this political stunt. What’s ironic is that impeachment is occurring at the same time the MAGA Republicans are backing away from Biden’s immigration bill that gives them everything they want.
The fight between Texas and the Feds over immigration enforcement intensifies The fight between Texas and the federal government at the border is about more than border wire. On its face, the argument is over whether federal Border Patrol officials can cut down wire that Texas put up. The Supreme Court has said that they can but Texas Governor Greg Abbot has said that he’ll defy the order. This fight ultimately is about who controls immigration policy, individual states or the federal government.
CCPC February Membership Meeting: Care Response for Cleveland
CCPC February Membership Meeting: Care Response for Cleveland Tuesday, February 20 From 6: 30 to 8 pm. Did you know that the City of Cleveland still dispatches police officers ( not mental healthcare specialists ) to mental health crisis calls? Would you hire a plumber to fix your car or a mechanic to fix your braids? Non – police care response, delivered by healthcare professionals is needed in the City of Cleveland now more than ever. Our featured speaker at our February meeting will be Bree Easterling, who will explain the #CareforCLE initiative which is attempting to develop professional crisis care treatment for Cleveland residents. We’ll also have an update from the Matthew Ahn for County Prosecutor campaign as we get closer to the crucial March election. Please click here to register for the meeting. After registering you’ll receive an email with the Zoom link
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Steve Holecko
CCPC Political Director
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