Rampant 'good old boys' corruption is robbing Ohioans blind

Right on …. Great commentary piece by Ohio Capitol Journal’s David Dewitt.

https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2023/01/26/rampant-good-old-boys-corruption-is-robbing-ohioans-blind/

And Ohio keeps electing these corrupt R’s.

******

As FirstEnergy was drowning in losses from its uncompetitive nuclear and coal generators amid the rise of natural gas, executives dined in D.C. with lobbyist Jeff Longstreth and Householder in early 2017, who was at the time plotting his return to the Ohio House Speakership.

Within weeks, FirstEnergy money was flowing into Householder’s political machine. In fact, federal prosecutors say, the same day that Longstreth opened a bank account for that 501(c)(4) “dark money” group called Generation Now that was also eventually indicted, he asked the then-vice president of FirstEnergy for money.

Soon, FirstEnergy was making quarterly $250,000 payments to the account, and at the start of 2018, Householder had $1 million to start recruiting people for “Team Householder” — Republican candidates for the Ohio House who were likely to vote to make Householder speaker, OCJ’s Marty Schladen reported prosecutors saying in opening arguments.

Longstreth and Generation Now subsequently pleaded guilty to their roles in the case, and in a deferred prosecution agreement, FirstEnergy admitted to its role in the scheme.

(snip)

With the Householder and Borges racketeering case, we’re getting a taste of real accountability.

Federal agents and prosecutors appointed from both sides of the aisle are to be greatly thanked and commended.

But this is just a beginning.

Ohioans have decades of work ahead of us to purge our halls of power of these frauds and their next generation offspring, who so shamelessly game and cheat the public.

They’re stealing our money, every day, literally. In myriad ways, but right now, at the very least, $233,000 a day. Just that one theft is on every electric bill people pay.

I swear these people are traipsing through life with a Goodfellas voiceover going on in their minds about how slick they are and how smooth they’ve got it.

They think the public is stupid and easily swindled, and will never do anything to stop them as long as they lie, manipulate, and gaslight enough.

That’s an abuser’s mentality.

Ohio needs a reckoning. Without it, I promise, all of this will just continue. Throw a dart and pick a special interest. This is how Ohio government has operated for a long, long time.

Will we still sit idly by as they continue to rob us all and give away billions in our money and resources to corrupt private interests?

Because that’s what they’re counting on.