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Election season is upon us again. One might assume that Americans should be in dread of the coming season after enduring the chaos and emotional toll of last years elections. Yet we still live in what\u2019s presented to us as a Democracy, in which we have the right and the duty to cast our vote to determine the future of our society. <\/span><\/p>\n Our ballot this year is calling on us to make decisions about our state’s constitution, and tax levies that fund programs in our immediate community. These issues might not seem as important as a presidential vote, but these small decisions influence the environment in which we live and can influence the course of our lives and the political decisions we make in the future. <\/span><\/p>\n This year’s election might not be on your mind. It\u2019s less prevalent in social media and the news, and if you don\u2019t know what the issues are you might think they don\u2019t matter. Issue 1 is not significant to me. Issue 1 is a push for Marsy\u2019s Law, a set of rules regarding the rights of crime victims. I\u2019m not a crime victim. It doesn\u2019t matter to me. <\/span><\/p>\n Except Ohio\u2019s State Public Defender Tim Young says that Issue 1 would increase litigation, which would increase costs to taxpayers. I\u2019m a taxpayer. Let\u2019s hear more.<\/span><\/p>\n Tim Young also said that crime victims are already protected by Ohio\u2019s constitution. Young said that the resources needed to enforce these laws aren\u2019t in place now, but could be under current law. Resourses aren\u2019t provided by passing Issue 1, because Issue 1 doesn\u2019t address Ohio\u2019s liability to crime victims. Young said, \u201c<\/span>The problem in Ohio is not the absence of victims\u2019 rights, but the lack of a remedy when the government fails to carry out duties owed to victims.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n But I would hate to experience what Marsy\u2019s mom experienced. The woman whose murder inspired this law, Marsy Nicholas, her mom was approached by Marsy\u2019s murderer while out grocery shopping. She wasn\u2019t made aware that her daughter\u2019s murderer was out on bail. And so I\u2019d better keep researching this ballot initiative, because this law could affect me and I don\u2019t know enough to make an educated vote on it. <\/span><\/p>\n Issue 2 doesn\u2019t affect me either. My prescriptions already come to me at the lowest cost available, because my prescriptions come from the Department of Veterans Affairs. <\/span><\/p>\n Well, again its supporters claim that Issue 2 will be better for the taxpayer. They say that Issue 2 can save hundreds of millions of tax dollars, and at the same time force pharmaceutical companies to lower drug prices for all Ohioans. <\/span><\/p>\n Its opponents say that is a lie, that Issue 2 will force pharmaceutical companies to raise their prices for consumers to make up for what they lost from the state. So, I\u2019d better look closer to see what I\u2019m voting for. <\/span><\/p>\n Issue 2 is backed by Ohio Taxpayers For Lower Drug Prices, a grassroots movement that is largely funded by AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF). AHF\u2019s mission statement is \u201cTo provide cutting edge medicine and advocacy regardless of ability to pay.\u201d AHF has donated 99.99% of the $6.23 million raised for Issue 2. $1.87 million was spent collecting the 184,354 signatures need for the issue to make the ballot. That comes out to $10.13 per vote. <\/span><\/p>\n Issue 2 is opposed by a whole coalition of organizations. Their campaign against Issue 2 has raised $16.23 million, 100% of which was donated by Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA). PhRMA\u2019s mission statement is \u201cTo conduct effective advocacy for public policies that encourage discovery of important new medicines for patients by pharmaceutical and biotechnology research companies.\u201d Opponents spent $109 million to defeat California\u2019s measure in 2016 which was identical to Issue 2. <\/span><\/p>\n Who do I believe? Both sides claim to fight for a better future. Me being me, I\u2019ll make my decision based on what I think is right. I think that in \u201cthe greatest country in the world,\u201d access to healthcare and education can and should be a right and a high priority. This priority could enable our society to become \u201cthe most healthy and educated country in the world.\u201d I think that\u2019s a good goal, and a lot more specific than \u201cgreatest.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n I care about society as a whole. Does this make me a socialist? Not quite. Capitalism has proven far more progressive in the advancement of technology and human rights than communism, but I do believe in balance. Balance between personal and social responsibility seems to me to be the secret for success and happiness in the lives of individuals all the way up to society as a whole. <\/span><\/p>\n That\u2019s why voting for tax levies that fund Sinclair and our communities social services is a no-brainer for me. Of course I\u2019m going to vote for what benefits the society of which I\u2019m a part, regardless the sacrifice of my personal earnings. There are people who sacrifice a lot more than money for the benefit of American society. <\/span><\/p>\n Those people are who we owe for our right to vote. In honor of those who have made those sacrifices, please practice your right to, and fulfill your duty to vote for the future of our society. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Will Drewing<\/strong> \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Election season is upon us again. One might assume that Americans should be in dread of the coming season after enduring the chaos and emotional toll of last years elections. Yet we still live in what\u2019s presented to us as a Democracy, in which we have the right and the duty to cast our […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10416,"featured_media":16299,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2109,3],"tags":[1384,29,2001],"class_list":["post-16295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","category-tartan-news","tag-opinion","tag-voting","tag-will-drewing"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":false,"source_text":false,"source_url":false},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Screen-Shot-2017-10-09-at-5.49.08-PM.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5s3vR-4eP","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16295","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10416"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16295"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16295\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16298,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16295\/revisions\/16298"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nManaging Editor<\/em>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n