Too Much Time On Their Hands

You know the old saying -- "Idle hands are the GOP's workshop."  Isn't that how it goes?

Sure seems like it.  Check out some great bills introduced by Republican legislators with too much time on their hands:

Ohio State Rep. Ron Hood (R-Ashville) wants Ohio to be as idiotic as Kansas.  He's sponsoring a bill identical to the one Kansas just enacted into law -- the one that allows anyone to carry a gun anywhere, anytime, with no permit or training required.  Colossally stupid and dangerous, but as every real Republican knows, the 2nd Amendment is the only part of the Constitution that really matters.

Ever wonder why all these "me too" bills pop up after one state starts it?  ALEC.  (See the "Fun Facts" in Buster's Links.)  ALEC is where Republican state lawmakers turn for ideas (since they so rarely have any of their own).  I don't know if Rep. Hood is an official ALEC member, but he's definitely on their mailing list.

Ohio is not yet as regressive as Kansas, so it's doubtful Hood's bill will become law.  For now.  But stay tuned.


Ohio State Reps. Cheryl Grossman (R-Grove City) and Andrew Brenner (R-Powell) have introduced a bill to require cursive handwriting be taught in all Ohio elementary schools.  Why?  Seriously, who cares?  I mean, besides Grossman and Brenner, who clearly have too much time on their hands.  They believe the decrease in the number of cursive practitioners is a clear sign of the apocalypse.  Just like the death of the button-hook industry.  And where have all the barbershop quartets gone?


Other states have bored conservative legislators, too.  In Missouri and Kansas, they're busying themselves thinking up new ways to humiliate and punish the poor for their poorness.  Missouri Republicans have a new bill to prohibit the use of SNAP (food stamps) EBT cards for the purchase of cookies, chips, soda, seafood or steak.  The purchase of canned cat food is still permissible.  The Kansas GOP wants to ban SNAP EBT transactions for liquor, casinos, tattoos, nail salons, lingerie, movies, swimming pools and cruise ships.  I'm relieved the good people of Kansas will not have to endure the presence of poor people in their swimming pools.  They mess up the filters.  And isn't the cruise ship thing a bit silly?  Hordes of disadvantaged of Kansans are sailing the globe on the public nickel?  Really?

A question for my small handful of conservative readers:  How do like these Great Leaps Backward?  Are you proud?