From the monthly archives: September 2011
“Let the privatization of Ohio’s education system resume!”
I fully expect House Education Committee Chair Gerald Stebelton to sound the above call for his minions to continue their full-scale assault when they meet this week.
You didn’t really think Ohio’s Republican Party was done putting the screws to public education, did you? At 5:00 pm on September 21, in Room 313 (not-so-subtle hint), the committee will be discussing House Bill 136 which will “replace the Educational Choice and the Cleveland scholarship programs with the Parental Choice and Taxpayer Savings Scholarship Program and to establish the Special [...]
Full Story... →Listen, after spending almost three hours watching the Tea Party debate on Monday I am fully aware that Republicans don’t understand what a fact is or how to properly use one. Listening to all eight of them swear up and down that Social Security is a ponzi scheme and that Barack Obama is a socialist it is clear facts are not something Republicans totally get.
Which brings us to Building a Better Ohio’s fact check of the most recent anti-SB 5 ad. The ad, Loophole, highlights the hypocrisy of Governor Kasich and the lawmakers who passed SB 5 [...]
Full Story... →Here’s a chart from Innovation Ohio showing Ohio’s unemployment rate compared to the nation:
They repeat much of what I said before: Ohio’s unemployment ranks are growing, the ranks of the employed is shrinking, and the number of people either working or looking for work in Ohio has nosedived since, well, right around the time John Kasich’s “Jobs Budget” was being passed.
During this time, Kasich has been going around the nation talking about how job creators love what he’s doing in Ohio to “remove barriers” to job creation. So, when are those job creators going to, you [...]
Full Story... →This morning, the Ohio jobs report for August was released by the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services. It’s not good news. For the third straight month in a row, unemployment in Ohio went up from 9% in July to 9.1% in August. The number of unemployed Ohioans grew by 7,000. The number of employed Ohioans shrank by 700.
Governor John Kasich was elected by hammering incumbent Governor Ted Strickland over jobs, even though Ohio was in the middle of what would be a fourteen-month consistently drop in unemployment and the fact that Ohio’s unemployment rate had fallen [...]
Full Story... →It really shouldn’t be called that at all.
Yesterday, we said that to the extent the latest “We Are Ohio” ad implies the loophole would be repealed, that is misleading. We then discussed the very provisions this ad rests on and said:
Anyone who claims that state public employee unions oppose Issue 2 because they oppose these limits is lying, plain and simple.
Nothing has changed since yesterday. This ad claims that these provisions will save “Ohio taxpayers money.” To the extent that suggests it will save the people who pay State taxes money. This is a blatant lie. [...]
Full Story... →In case you missed it yesterday, the Republican caucus appointed a replacement for disgraced Ohio State Rep Robert Mecklenborg (you might have read about him on Plunderbund a time or two). What skilled legislator did they bring in to help restore their image? Louis F. Terhar. That’s right, THE Louis F. Terhar.
<crickets>
Go ahead and ask — who the hell is Louis Terhar?
Basically, he’s just a regular businessman. Nothing that remarkable, to be honest, except for his most notable qualification for the job – his wife.
According to the Politics Extra blog [...]
Full Story... →Apparently, Building a Better Ohio will accept an endorsement from anyone, so long as their job allows them to wear an uniform. Today, the Building a Better Ohio campaign apparently found it newsworthy to note that it has gotten the endorsement of Hamilton County Sheriff Si Leis (R). Except Leis didn’t wear his uniform for the event. Si Leis used to be a county prosecutor back in the 1970s. You might recall him being played by James Carville in The People v. Larry Flynt. Leis prosecuted Flynt on obscenity charges over Hustler magazine only to have some hippie appellate court [...]
Full Story... →If you watch WeAreOhio‘s ads or check out their YouTube channel or talk to any of their supporters you’ll see real fire fighters and real police officers and real teachers talking about the negative impacts of SB5/Issue 2.
Better Ohio? Not so much.
Instead, they’ve had to resort to the use of stock photo pictures of actors dressed up like police officers for their ads.
This is from their latest mailer:
There are a few major things wrong with this ad.
First, the use of a police officer image is deceptive. Local, state and national [...]
Full Story... →The second ad from We Are Ohio that largely focuses on our Senate staffer raises story:
The ad very carefully uses the phrase “exploits” a loophole. But what the ad omits is that the loophole they refer to is one that was not created by SB 5, and thus, will still exist if Issue 2 fails. For your convenience, here’s a copy of the relevant portion of SB 5 referenced in the bill (revising R.C. 124.14(B):
But as shown from this provision of SB 5, this loophole existed before SB 5 was [...]
Full Story... →From the beginning we were part of a large chorus warning Governor Kasich and his venture capitalist pal Mark Kvamme that JobsOhio was not constitutional. Again and again and again and AGAIN the warnings came.
Modern even gave testimony to the House Finance & Appropriation Committee warning them about the constitutional issues.
And now, as we predicted and everyone fully expected, JobsOhio is facing legal challenges over its constitutionality. You can’t say you weren’t warned.
Kasich and Kvamme have already been forced to make some changes to JobsOhio in response to pending lawsuits: The Governor [...]
Full Story... →Budget Watch
