From the monthly archives: August 2011
Labor has already won.
Thanks to John Kasich, the pro-SB 5 campaign cannot credibly say that SB 5 contains nothing but necessary reforms for Ohio. Thanks to John Kasich, they can’t say the opposition to SB 5 is based entirely on “lies” by union bosses.
And thanks to John Kasich, the GOP is splintering before our very eyes. Yes, I realize we saw the leader of the House and Senate stand with Kasich. But think about this for a moment.
Let’s say you’re a Lynn Wachmann or John Adams true believer in SB 5 type. You know, a crazy person [...]
Full Story... →Here’s some reaction from today’s press conference in which Governor Kasich offered to meet with labor leaders to discuss a compromise on SB 5.
First, the Governor:
"Just because we talk doesn’t mean we work it all out.” (talk about lowering expectations for a compromise out the gate.)
Senate Minority Leader Capri Cafaro (D-Hubbard):
“Governor Kasich and Republicans in the General Assembly have finally admitted that Senate Bill 5 went too far. If they thought they could destroy collective bargaining in Ohio and get away with it, they have been proven wrong. More than one million Ohioans have already sent [...]
Full Story... →Want to see how a politician can, in an attempt to gain some short term public relations gain, cause himself long-term political harm? Enter Governor Kasich who writes a ridiculous letter to We Are Ohio’s labor leaders demanding that they negotiate his surrender on Senate Bill 5 on Friday.
How ridiculous?
It starts with the new theory that Ted Strickland was really the genesis of SB 5. What they’re referring to is Budget Planning and Management Commission that the Republicans in the legislature insisted be created in Governor Strickland’s first budget. Except there was never any bipartisan [...]
Full Story... →Josh Mandel’s horrible, no good, week just keeps getting worse. First there were the allegations that he was using copyrighted photos from the Dispatch on his campaign website without disclosing it. These allegations led to his campaign taking down the copyrighted material from his website, but still leaving it unclear whether he had paid for them. All the more reason for us to look forward to his campaign finance filings. (If you are scoring along at home you will want to see whether he files an expenditure paying The Dispatch for the use of the photos or whether [...]
Full Story... →Dear President Frost-Brooks,
I want to simply and clearly state my unequivocal opposition to any offer by Ohio’s Governor and GOP leaders to meet with you to negotiate on the contents of Senate Bill 5.
The time for discussion about this harmful legislation passed when our concerns about this far-reaching legislation were blatantly ignored by the Senate during committee and floor discussions and votes and again in the House committee and floor discussions and votes. As an educator who offered thoughtful and research-based testimony to the House committee immediately preceding Vice President Leibensperger, I received NOT ONE single question during [...]
Full Story... →When asked about his three recent alcohol-related run-ins with the law, DDN reports that Republican State Rep. Jarrod Martin said: “I’ve never quit anything in my life, and I don’t plan to start now.”
It’s not clear if Martin was promising never to quit his career in politics or never to quit getting drunk and acting like an ass in public but, based on quotes from Martin included later in the article, it seems likely he meant both.
As we’ve reported multiple times, Martin was kicked out of a hotel for being drunk and fighting with his “friends”. [...]
Full Story... →As previously reported by Plunderbund and the Dispatch, Delaware County Sheriff’s officers were unable to get a statement from State Senator Kris Jordan after being called to his house in response to a 911 call from his wife.
We were, however, able to get recordings of the 911 call and the dash cam video.
On the 911 call, and in interviews with officers that appear on the dash cam video, a very scared and very distraught Melissa Jordan draws a picture of years of physical and emotional abuse at the hands of her husband. (we’ll be posting this [...]
Full Story... →On Thursday we pointed out that Josh Mandel has been using copyrighted photos from the Columbus Dispatch on his website and his Flickr feed since January.
The two photos appeared on his campaign website for nearly eight months even while the site went through a series of redesigns (and a likely illegal transfer) from his 2010 Treasurer campaign to his current U.S. Senate run. They also appeared on his Flickr photo feed for the same time period.
That’s 2 photos x 2 websites x 8 months.
So here’s the question: what’s that worth?
I don’t know exactly but [...]
Full Story... →Last night we hosted our friends from Wellstone Action! and their Camp Wellstone participants at a reception on the OSU campus at The Little Bar. The nice weather allowed us to be outside and enjoy some great conversation, networking, and of course campus people watching. The food was great, the beer was flowing, and it appeared everyone had a good time getting a nice break from the training to socialize.
The crowd included Camp Wellstone participants, Plunderbund staff, a state representative, and at least two aspiring officeholders. I was able to make my way around to most and listen and [...]
Full Story... →The Ohio Republican party sees the writing on the wall and want to compromise on SB 5 now. As my cohorts have done an amazing job outlining all this week, it seems that fat cats high up in the Republican party see the looming disaster with the SB 5 repeal efforts and the impact it will have through 2012. Not only do these calls to negotiate call into question the party’s confidence in the Building a Better Ohio campaign, but they also highlight the hypocrisy we have seen over the last 8 months.
These calls for negotiating clearly show [...]
Full Story... →Thursday must have been a depressing day for John Kasich.
U.S. News and World Report came out with a list of the ten most “buzzed-about” prospects for the GOP vice presidential nomination, a list that includes several women and hispanics, and even one name from Ohio – but sadly, it’s not Kasich’s.
John Kasich doesn’t even top the list of white guys from Ohio with federal budget experience in the vice presidential beauty contest. That honor goes to Senator Portman, who US News ranks #7 on the list. Portman’s had a good week, being named to the 12-member deficit [...]
Full Story... →Budget Watch
