Despite being home to the Big Ten's most corrupt football program, this story tempts me to relocate to Ohio -- just to experience the catharsis of casting a direct vote against Obamacare:
Voters will get the chance to decide whether Ohio will opt out of the national health care overhaul after the state's top election official said Tuesday that opponents of the federal Affordable Care Act have enough signatures to put a constitutional amendment on the Nov. 8 ballot. Secretary of State Jon Husted determined that supporters of an amendment that would prohibit Ohio from participating in the program had gathered 427,000 valid signatures. They had submitted more than 546,000 and needed roughly 358,000 of them validated to make it on to the ballot. A coalition of tea party organizations, small government advocates and religious groups gathered the signatures to get the health care measure on the ballot and now plan to mount a statewide campaign in support of the amendment.
The measure would change Ohio's Constitution to prohibit any federal, state or local law from forcing Ohio residents, employers or health care providers to participate in a health care system. It also would prevent the state from enacting a Massachusetts-style health care program, where the state requires a minimum level of insurance coverage.
Ohio conservatives hope to replicate the success of a similar ballot initiative in another swing state, Missouri, which passed in a landslide last year. The latest Rasmussen nationwide poll on Obamacare shows 57 percent of likely voters support repealing the legislation altogether. For a somewhat dated -- but still salient -- primer on the plentiful justifications for repeal, click through.
Buckeye bonus: Ohioans will also have the opportunity to uphold Gov. John Kasich's bold new collective bargaining reform law on the same ballot. For a specific account of how Wisconsin's matching law is already benefitting school districts and saving jobs, read John McCormack's piece in the Weekly Standard.
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