Plunderbund » Activism

Brief note on #OccupyWallStreet

Brian — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 19:05:10 +0000

We haven’t written anything on #OccupyWallStreet yet (or any of the Occupy groups in Ohio), and I am not going to force us into an editorial position on the movement at this time, but personally, as a fan, I wanted to provide some information to our readers about reputable sites for information. Sometimes, such an egalitarian, leaderless, democratic movement can be a little messy, especially looking at it from the outside, and it can be hard to know what information is “official”. I’ve seen some stuff flying around on the internet that is most definitely not sanctioned by the New [...]

It’s officially on! SB 5 will be on a refendum ballot this November!

ModernEsquire — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 18:09:35 +0000

Earlier today, Secretary of State Jon Husted informed the “We Are Ohio” campaign that his office has officially certified that they collected the sufficient number of valid signatures to place SB 5 on a repeal ballot this November.

Here’s a copy of Secretary of State Jon Husted’s letter.

And here’s a chart from Husted’s office showing a county by county breakdown. In order to get it on the ballot they had to get over 231,150 signatures with the signatures coming from the equivalent of at least 3% of the votes cast in the 2010 gubernatorial election in [...]

State employees: Know your rights about SB 5 and political activity in the workplace

ModernEsquire — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 05:06:53 +0000

[Disclaimer: This post is being offered for educational purposes only. It is not intended to be legal advice, nor am I creating any attorney/client privilege. The scope of this review is what is prohibited under Ohio law. Individual agency policies may vary. As always, I would advise anyone to independently consult with an attorney for questions about their legal rights in their particular situation.]

I’ve gotten at least one State employee who has e-mailed me an agency “policy” statement that suggests that any political activity by classified employees are prohibited on state property. The general structure is a memorandum that [...]

Has Governor Kasich come around on diversity?

ModernEsquire — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 20:43:35 +0000

Last week, John Kasich expressed regret at his seemingly flippiant attitude towards diversity at the very beginning of his term. He even said that he thinks his Administration should strive harder than Governor Strickland's to get the State to meet its 1980s mandate of setting aside 15% of all government contracts to minority-owned businesses. We should support the Governor on this, because we doubt many in his party will. But that support also means we hold him accountable for his budget, which cuts funding for the offices charged with enforcing Ohio's minority-owned business set asides by over half. Also, Governor Kasich is making the right call on sentencing reform. If you support gun control, then you probably should support Kasich's killing, for now at least, of the restaurant CCW bill, too.

Happy Tax Day! Where’s the Tea Party?

ModernEsquire — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 02:30:16 +0000

Two years ago, the Tea Party was being trumpeted as foreshadowing for the Democrats in electoral doom in 2010 as they held a 7,000 person rally in Columbus. At the same time, Cincinnati Tea Party activists held a rally with an estimated 4,000 in attendance. Two years later, there was NO planned Tax Day events in Columbus for the Tea Party. Cincinnati had a "packed" rally that probably didn't even break 100. Meanwhile, the protest for SB 5 have exceeded the size of any Tea Party rallies so far. The most recent SB 5 rally in Columbus had 11,000 in comparison. What does that portend for the GOP in Ohio in '12, then?

[UPDATED:] Game On! DeWine Certifies SB 5 Language; Husted certifies signatures!

ModernEsquire — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 14:43:10 +0000

This morning, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine certified "We Are Ohio"s proposed summary ballot language to place SB 5 on a referendum vote this November. We're still waiting on approval of the initial signatures by Secretary of State Husted, but we aren't expecting any problem with those as the campaign submitted 3,000 signatures and only need 1,000 valid ones. That means the SB 5 referendum process is officially in the petition signature gathering stage!

Sign up for SB 5 petition circulator training

ModernEsquire — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 21:58:51 +0000

SEIU, Ohio AFL-CIO, and AFSCME all presently have scheduled training sessions so people know how to properly circulate the petition to submit SB 5 to a popular referendum once the Ohio Attorney General's office approves the ballot language. We're NOT sure which ones beyond SEIU are open to the public versus just their union members (perhaps all), so let us know what you here when you sign up. If you're aware of any others, please let me know.

You call this progress? The 1st 100 days of the 129th Ohio General Assembly

ModernEsquire — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 14:21:07 +0000

The Ohio House Republicans ran in 2010 on job creation. They even had an entire platform of job-related bills they said they'd pass. As they self-congratulate themselves over their first 100 days in power, why is that 11 of the fifteen bills they highlight passing have nothing to do with jobs? And why did they spend more time on abortion than the budget or job creation?

What can you do to repeal SB 5?

ModernEsquire — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 17:25:24 +0000

The second King John finishes signing his name to SB 5 starts the time in which we can begin to work to repeal it. However, I ask from you for some patience. Right now, there is effort to get all the stakeholders unified into one cohesive group… that’s not an easy task. We don’t want six separate referendum efforts going on. So right now, the labor unions, activists, and the Ohio Democratic Party are all working out their respective roles. There is a cornucopia of interested parties, all of which have differing opinions and

Second, before there can be [...]

LIVE PlunderChat on Primary Election Night @ 10 p.m.

ModernEsquire — Sun, 02 May 2010 22:03:44 +0000

Live Primary Election Blog Talk Radio show Tuesday night from 10pm-12am.

Guest call-in number: (347) 327-9877 – (877) 503-5037

Listen and chat live here

Join us on primary election night for a special internet radio show live here starting at 10 p.m.

We have a few folks calling in, taking questions about their race, and talking about the general election.? Our guests will include:

Governor Ted Strickland (confirmed) U.S. Democratic Senate candidate/Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner (confirmed) Democratic Secretary of State candidate Maryellen O’Shaughnessy (confirmed) Ohio Treasurer Kevin Boyce (confirmed) Ohio House Majority Whip Jay Goyal (D-73) (confirmed) [...]