Just a reminder---

The Republicans have no intention of working on an immigration bill, creating jobs, helping children get into Head Start, or making any improvements in your life. The Republicans have become a fixated on finding a scandal, any scandal.  We cannot forget what we got from Bush and Cheney.  The following is from OccupyDemocrats.com:

**The Republican program to attract Hispanic voters has failed. 

Sun-Sentinel:

...In the latest manifestation of Hispanic frustration to recent conservative currents, former Republican Party of Florida state Hispanic outreach director Pablo Pantoja, of Orlando, announced that he has switched to the Democratic Party in anger over some of the currents in the Republican Party....

...The latest under-current, the economic report from the longstanding conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation that projects immigrants to be a future $6 trillion drain on America, got pummeled by other economists as stretching, badly, for a conclusion. Then word got out that one of the advisors on that study, Jason Richwine, had written that he considered Hispanics to have low IQs, and the controversial report became a flaming bag of waste in the eyes of many Republican Hispanics....

Pablo Pantoja bravely left the the party of "NO!" and moved to the Democratic Party of progress and forward movement. I hope that someone in the DNC gives this guy a job soon.

>>> Republicans have been doing some altering of their own.

HuffingtonPost:

One day after The White House released 100 pages of Benghazi emails, a report has surfaced alleging that Republicans released a set with altered text. 

CBS News reported Thursday that leaked versions sent out by the GOP last Friday had visible differences than Wednesday's official batch. Two correspondences that were singled out in the report came from National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes and State Department Spokeswoman Victoria Nuland.

The GOP version of Rhodes' comment, according to CBS News: "We must make sure that the talking points reflect all agency equities, including those of the State Department, and we don't want to undermine the FBI investigation."

The White House email: "We need to resolve this in a way that respects all of the relevant equities, particularly the investigation."

Wow. Do the Republicans think no one would notice what they did? Even Major Garrett notices what the Republicans did (see Mediate).

What?

What's in a name? Apparently, Gov. John Kasich thinks it matters for his recent judicial appointments.

Dispatch:

....Colleen O’Donnell, appointed to the Franklin County Common Pleas Court, and Amy O’Grady, appointed to the county Court of Appeals, appear to have been chosen because of their names, not their experience, said Greg Haas, county Democratic chairman....

....O’Donnell, 32, is the daughter of Ohio Supreme Court Justice Terence O’Donnell. O’Grady, 38, is the wife of Franklin County Municipal Judge Jim O’Grady and the daughter-in-law of retired Franklin County Judge James J. O’Grady. She is not related to county Commissioner John O’Grady, a Democrat....

...She (O'Donnell) received her law license in 2006 and last year reached the six years as a lawyer that are the minimum requirement for a judge. She was with the law firm of Carpenter Lipps & Leland at the time of her appointment....

If you are a Republican officeholder living in Ohio, it appears that you'll be able to get a  job for every member of your family. Kasich and the Republicans are trying hard to confuse voters.

>>>> The Republicans in DC continue to go nuts with their investigations. While the Republicans cut money to lunch programs, education, aid to the poor, etc., the Republicans are willing to spend millions of dollars for investigation hearings. The Republicans in the House also scheduled their 37th vote to overturn the Affordable Care Act (known by some as Obama care). Since the Republicans control the hours that the House is in session, it is sad that the Republicans spend so little time passing legislation. They have yet to pass a jobs bill. The Republican House of Representatives has been a total failure.

New App?

Someone has developed a new app that will definitely be a hit...."Buycott".

Raw Story:

A phone app allowing users to identify products used by questionable companies like Koch Industries and Monsanto has generated enough demand to cause problems for the developer, Forbes reported on Tuesday.

“The workload is a bit overwhelming now,” said 26-year-old Ivan Pardo, the developer behind Buycott. “Our Android app was just recently released and the surge of new users today has highlighted a serious bug on certain devices that needs to be fixed immediately. So all other development tasks I was working on get put on hold until I can get this bug fixed.”

....The app also allows users to take part in online campaigns that boycott or, alternatively, highlight companies that support their political viewpoints. Buycott is also asking users to help keep its database updated by sharing products not yet recognized by the app.....

Since some of us already avoid products produced by the Kochs. It would be handy to have the information to be able to share. 

Republicans and Their Lies

TPM:

Republicans on Capitol Hill may think that the deadly attack in Benghazi, Libya is a scandal that besmirches Hillary Clinton's legacy at the State Department, but a new poll released Monday found that voters trust the former secretary of state over the Congressional GOP on the increasingly contentious issue. 

The latest survey from Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling found that nearly half of voters nationwide — 49 percent — trust Clinton more than Congressional Republicans when it comes to Benghazi. Thirty-nine percent said they trust Republicans more. 

Those findings may be seen as an extension of the disparate popularity between Clinton and the GOP. Fifty-two percent of voters said they have a favorable opinion of Clinton, compared with 57 percent who said they have an unfavorable opinion of Congressional Republicans. 

I could have told you that.  Did you know that during the administration of President George W. Bush U.S. embassies and citizens were attacked and killed?

Here is a partial list from VeronicaS. which was posted at AllVoices:

...Where was all that concern for our men and women serving in embassies and consulates across the globe when all the other attacks and killings occurred?
Like in 2002 when the US Consulate in the Karachi, Pakistan, was attacked and 10 were killed?
Or in 2004 when the US embassy in Uzbekistan was attacked and two were killed and another nine injured?
How about in 2004, when the US Consulate in Saudi Arabia was stormed and 8 lost their lives?
There is more: In 2006, armed men attacked the US Embassy in Syria and one was murdered.
Then in 2007 a grenade was thrown at the US Embassy in Athens.
In 2008, the US Embassy in Serbia was set on fire.
In 2008, bombings in the US Embassy in Yemen killed 10.
Notice the dates, all before the Obama administration.
Not yet convinced that all the noise over Benghazi has nothing to do with love of countryman? How about the biggest, most catastrophic attack and murder of Americans? As a New Yorker, Sept. 11, 2001, is indelibly imprinted on my psyche and I’m sure on the rest of the country. 3,000 perished in the most brutal act of terror in our recent history—all under a Republican administration....


What about Republican Rep. Darrell Issa's recent statement? Daily Kos has the video of Issa saying that "...An act of terror is different than a terrorist attack..."  Issa is tripping all over himself with his unfounded accusations and claims. It is just plain disgusting.

Once again we see the Republicans going after President Obama because they have no agenda, no plan for jobs, no plan to end the war in Afghanistan, no plans for the future of our nation.

On CBS News, former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said the following:

Former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates forcefully defended the Obama administration on Sunday against charges that it did not do enough to prevent the tragedy in Benghazi, telling CBS' "Face the Nation" that some critics of the administration have a "cartoonish impression of military capabilities and military forces."

Gates, a Republican who was appointed by then-President George W. Bush in 2006 and agreed to stay through more than two years of President Obama's first term, repeatedly declined to criticize the policymakers who devised a response to the September 2012 attack on a U.S. diplomatic facility in Benghazi, Libya, that left four Americans dead, including the U.S. Ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens. 

"Frankly, had I been in the job at the time, I think my decisions would have been just as theirs were," said Gates, now the chancellor of the College of William and Mary....

That Was Then, This Is Now....

In March 2011, Gov. John Kasich bragged about his deal with American Greetings that included giving them money.

PlainDealer (March 7, 2011):

American Greetings Corp. has decided to keep its world headquarters in Northeast Ohio, a move that drew praise from local leaders but also touched off a potential bidding war among communities that want to attract the Fortune 1000 employer. 

The 105-year-old greeting card maker rejected the possibility of moving to Illinois but said Monday that it has not decided whether to remain in Brooklyn or move to another suburb. 

Ohio will provide a package of grants, loans and tax rebates worth a potential $93.5 million over 15 years to keep American Greetings here. Some of the incentives will come through tax reform legislation Gov. John Kasich signed into law Monday at American Greetings' headquarters....

Buried in today's (May 11, 2013)  Columbus Dispatch was this small piece of information:

American Greetings has cut 2,100 jobs in past two years

American Greetings Corp. has quietly been cutting jobs.
Tucked inside a 218-page annual report filed on Thursday was the news that the greeting-card maker had eliminated about 2,100 workers in its 2012 and 2013 fiscal years. The company’s fiscal years run through February.

How much of that $93.5 million did American Greetings get from Kasich and your tax money? Do you think the super secret Kasich administration will reveal that information to the public?

This follows the layoffs (see WKSU) at Diebold, another company that got money from the Kasich administration. Despite all the hoopla and bragging from Kasich, it is apparent that he has not created jobs in Ohio. Kasich was against the auto loan "bailout" created by President Obama, but Kasich wants you to overlook the auto manufacturing growth that has occurred in the state.  Obviously, Kasich doesn't know how to pick winners.

The Republican Agenda

I've seen similar lists on "The Real Republican Agenda" posted at various websites. Here is one from the comment section of the  Times Union:

....These are the goals of today’s Republican Party

1) Dismantle Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid
2) Reinstate the \”Don’t Ask / Don’t Tell\” law
3) Ban all state same-sex marriage laws
4) Reduce taxes on the rich and corporations
5) Shrink programs that help the poor
6) Cut off federal medical assistance for people without insurance
7) Eliminate programs that provide international aid and assistance
8) Abolish the SEC and other federal programs that regulate the securities and banking industries
9) Abolish the EPA and all environmental regulations
10) Abolish the Department of Education
11) Make all abortions illegal
12) Eliminate support for Planned Parenthood and other women’s rights groups
13) Ban the birth control pill
14) Weaken child labor laws, allowing younger teens to work longer hours
15) Destroy public labor unions
16) Weaken all unions
17) Create laws to make voting and registering to vote more difficult
18) Regulate speech and Internet communications
19) Destroy PBS and National Public Radio
20) Eliminate all public funding for the arts
21) Reduce spending on infrastructure
22) Establish Christianity as the national religion for the USA
23) Ban all Muslims from entering the US or becoming citizens....



I'm sure you've seen similar lists. Unfortunately, these types of items do appear to be the types of legislation that the GOP continues to pursue.  The Republicans just want moderates, and liberals to surrender to their increasingly more conservative demands. Frankly, I'm not interested in surrendering my rights to a bunch of mostly white, rich, old, out of touch, self-centered, men of the Republican Party.

-----

>>> Just when you thought the Republicans couldn't sink any lower, you read this---
HuffingtonPost:

...During an interview with Bloomberg TV, Boehner was asked about this week's vote on the Full Faith and Credit Act, which, in the event that the U.S hits its debt ceiling, would direct the treasury secretary to pay only the principal and interest owed to bondholders before making any other payments. Money for other payments, such as those for veterans, Medicare and national security, would have to be divvied up from what remained of the scarce federal funds....

....When show host Peter Cook asked if Boehner's comments mean that, as Democrats have suggested, Republicans are basically choosing to pay China before paying U.S. troops, Boehner didn't disagree.....

Wow! Boehner thinks it would be okay to pay our military last, if there was any money left????? The Republican "Pay China First" bill  is yet another example of the twisted, cockamamie ideas that have been hatched by Boehner, Cantor, and the rest of their ilk.


(h/t Chris Hayes -MSNBC, All In.)

You should know....

Did you happen to catch Jon Stewart's coverage of CNN?  Jon Stewart demonstrated the complete catastrophe that is CNN. Check out this link from YouTube from the Daily Show:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGizM6PDnKQ

What has happened to this once proud news channel?

The GOP "fringe"

Why are some Ohio Republicans so against unions, work safety, fair wages, overtime pay, and the rights of workers? Is it something inherent in the doctrine of the Republican Party? Do Republicans view middle class workers as peons, peasants, and 2nd class citizens subject to the whims of bosses and business owners?  It seems that way.

Thomas Suddes writes about the "fringe" element of the Ohio GOP and their desires to destroy the lives of workers. PlainDealer:

...thanks to politically safe General Assembly districts, two dozen GOP legislators, say, might as well be from Mars rather than Ohio. 

Unlike most Ohioans, this "fringe beyond the fringe" seems to want to police Ohio bedrooms; or interfere with women's (constitutionally guaranteed) reproductive rights; or fetter labor unions, though the percentage of workers nationally who are union members was 11.3 percent in 2012. In 1983, it was 20.1 percent. 

.... nationwide, union members had "median usual weekly earnings" of $943 -- $49,036 a year. Nonunion members' median was $742 ($38,584 a year). That is, right-to-work would cut incomes in a state whose household income statistics lag the nation's.... 

Any person that knows about the results of right-to-work legislation is aware of the lost wages and rights that workers see under such laws. The only winners are the bosses and company owners who get more profits and have more opportunities to push workers around.

An elected official that supports and votes for right-to-work legislation is no friend of teachers, fire fighters, police officers, skilled trade workers, or any member of the middle class. Ron Maag, Kristina Roegner, and other GOPers that push right-to-work legislation should be ashamed of themselves for disrespecting the dedication of the men and women that make Ohio work. We've rejected SB 5 and we don't want to visit this b.s. again. I hope that the good people of Ohio reject this power grab by these "fringe" Republicans.

>>>>  Looks like Gov. John Kasich continues to be a big supporter of fracking, despite various communities trying to ban it. (See Vindicator.) Would Kasich support fracking in his neighborhood?

**** Nepotism? A recent news story in the Dispatch revealed a "Sarah Schenck" from the Ohio Attorney General's office had been assigned to a case. A comment from a reader noted that William "Bill" Schenck is Attorney General Mike DeWine's "closest adviser."
Is this how you get jobs in this Ohio Republican administration? Does a lobbyist daughter still work for Josh Mandel's Treasurer's office???? 

College Students and the Right to Vote

Ohio Republicans are working on denying college students their right to vote where they attend college. Tonight, Rachel Maddow pointed out a 1979 court case, United States v. Symm, affirmed the right of college students to vote in their college towns.

Think Progress:

In 1979, the Supreme Court upheld a decision holding that it is unconstitutional to treat college students any differently than other voters in terms of residency requirements to vote......

While Republicans continue to try to stop college students from voting in many states, it is a sign of their desperation.  Some laws proposed by the GOP would raise taxes on the parents of students who vote in their college towns, and would be viewed as a poll tax. This is also against the our laws. 

--------------

Aren't you tired of lobbyists like the NRA trying to control our laws? If a huge majority of Americans support background checks for gun ownership, we should have those kinds of laws.
 

President Obama at Ohio State

President Obama delivered the commencement speech at The Ohio State University with over 10,000 graduates and 60,000 onlookers. Ohio State has gone from quarters to semesters, and this was the largest graduation ceremony on record. The President was well-received by the grads and family members. Despite the extra security, grads, and families agreed that everything went very smoothly throughout the event.

Sorry about my earlier typing error. Sometimes my enthusiasm gets ahead of my typing!

Republicans Just Don't Care

Because the Republicans refused to increase taxes on the wealthy, cuts were made to programs which help the 99%. 

Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, has people turning off lights, working in the dark, and going on furlough.

DaytonDailyNews:

The 88th Air Base Wing at Wright-Patterson will cut 40 percent of its budget, or more than $30 million, between now and the end of the fiscal year, the base commander and officials said Thursday....

....In the midst of cuts, 13,000 Wright-Patterson civilian employees are due to receive 14-day furlough notices beginning early next week with unpaid time off work beginning in mid-June, Barlow said. Less than 100 employees at the base are expected to be exempt from furloughs. (Read our complete coverage of Wright-Patterson's furlough situation.)...

Be sure to check out the picture at the DaytonDailyNews link to see the airmen in the darkened halls.

> Some of the saddest cuts have had to be made to the Meals on Wheels program. Meals on Wheels delivers food to the elderly that are unable to physically leave their residences. The program's cuts will eliminate needed nutrition for someone's relatives. Unfortunately, not every senior citizen has family nearby to help them with meals, or other assistance.

ABC News:

...The Meals on Wheels programs across the country have been cut by on average $733,349. In North-Central Tennessee, which means about 300 people are on a waiting list to receive meals. The program in Lamar County, Texas, may have to close its doors altogether, according to Larry Tomayko, chief of staff of the Meals On Wheels Association of America. 

"Many Meals on Wheels programs are already on a shoestring budget unable to keep up with the need in their communities. This may be the straw that breaks the camel's back," Lamayko wrote in an email to ABC News Monday. "And, in the long run, our nation will surely pay for it in dollars, in terms of our economy and healthcare costs … and tragically, lives, too." 

It is just obscene that Republicans would rather protect their rich contributors than provide lighting for the Air Force, meals for the sick elderly, fund Head Start, and allow cancer patients to receive chemo close to home. Once again the Republicans demonstrate their ability to care for only the top 1%. Shame on you, Republicans.

• • • Wait! One more thing---- Eric Cantor plans to have more debate and votes on repealing the Affordable Care Act. Despite the fact the the Republicans have had almost 40 votes to repeal, they are going to waste more of their hardly working schedule to attempt a repeal. What a waste of time and money!!!!  Cantor and the Republicans should be working on raising taxes on the wealthy and creating jobs instead of taking health care away from people. See DailyKos for details.

Can you spare one billion dollars?

* Even though the Republicans are trying to destroy the economy with their sequestration and austerity measures, there are some good economic numbers.

USA Today:

Employers added a better-than-expected 165,000 jobs in April,, easing concerns that payroll growth may be slipping into a sustained midyear slump. 

The unemployment rate fell to 7.5% from 7.6%, the Labor Department said Friday. That's the lowest since December 2008.

Payroll gains for February and March were revised up by a total 114,000. February's gains were revised to 332,000 from 268,000 and March's to 138,000 from 88,000. Monthly job growth has averaged 196,000 so far this year, vs. 183,000 for all of 2012.....

Right now, Republican Rep. Paul Ryan is probably crying somewhere.

*** Gov. John Kasich continues to try to reward his business buddies while taking more and more away from communities, safety programs, and schools.

Business First:

Gov. John Kasich wants the state to provide $1 billion in rebates to all employers in the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation system with checks going out as early as June....

What would happen if that one billion dollars went to public schools to help children or was used by communities to rehire laid off police and fire fighters?

One billion dollars????? All this is happening while Ohio Republicans propose bills to make the state a right-to-work state, and hand over even more money to employers.

Kasich Still Going After Workers

If you live in Ohio, you remember the ugly fight Gov. John Kasich and the Republican waged against Ohio's workers in the form of SB 5. Did you really think that Kasich and the Republicans got the message from Ohio voters when Issue 2/SB 5 was defeated? No.
Kasich, the Ohio GOP, and their powerful business buddies are pushing "right to work" legislation for the state.  Kasich wants you to have the "right to work" for less.

Plunderbund:

Republican State Rep Ron Maag is looking for cosponsors for an anti-union, Right to Work bill he plans to introduce in the Ohio House.
Maag’s “Workplace Freedom” bill will deal only with public sector unions and will “remove any requirement under the Public Employees Collective Bargaining Law that public employees join or pay dues to any employee organization and prohibits public employers from requiring public employees to join or pay dues to any employee organization.”
In early 2011, Maag voted for Senate Bill 5, which would have decimated collective bargaining rights for Ohio’s public sector workers.  The bill sparked a huge pro-labor backlash.  The law was overturned by referendum.

Of course, Ron Maag has ties to ALEC, the Koch sponsored anti-worker, pro-business group. The text of the legislation is linked here.

>>> The MaddowBlog has more on Republican efforts to eliminate younger voters.

MaddowBlog:

...Now Republicans in Ohio have come up with a new approach. In Ohio, eight of the 14 public universities routinely provide students with documents that make it possible for them to register to vote at school. But in the state House, Republicans are pushing a budget amendment (pdf) requiring schools that issue those documents to charge the student only in-state tuition, even if the student otherwise would pay the higher out-of-state rate. Under Ohio's scheme, the student votes and the school gets punished.

State Senator Nina Turner says the measure would give universities an incentive to make it harder for students to vote:

"[T]o force Ohio’s universities to do the dirty work of voter suppression is unconscionable."

Ohio's Republicans just hate those young Democratic college students!

Wait!!!!!  One more thing!!!!  
Gov. John Kasich's big deal with Diebold has gone down the toilet. Kasich promised Diebold $100 million of our money in return for jobs in Ohio.  Apparently, Diebold broke those promises and Plunderbund has the info here.

Expect More DeWine Press Conferences

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine appears regularly on local TV news.  He seems to have gotten obsessive about trying to get free p.r. with one press conference or another.  He might actually appear on TV more than a Kardashian!

Mike DeWine has made some slip ups and they've been noted by Plunderbund:

....DeWine’s past mistakes are many:

• His interpretation of state law related to the Highway Patrol put rank and file troopers at risk of litigation and required a new law to fix the problem.
• His misunderstanding about reporting felonies likely means the three most complicit witnesses in the Steubenville rape will never be charged with a crime.
• His multiple bad calls on voting rights laws caused DeWine to hire expensive out-of-state lawyers to argue in favor of restricting voting access only to lose multiple appeals on multiple cases.

Mike DeWine has also received criticism for his views on other issues---

> Abortion-
Politifact took Mike DeWine's statement, checked it, and found it "..Mostly False":

...DeWine appeared Feb. 20 on MSNBC’s "The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell" and was asked about Santorum’s assertion that amniocentesis, a prenatal screening test, directly leads to an increase in the number of abortions. Santorum had made the claim earlier that day on the campaign trail in Ohio.

Would DeWine advise Santorum to stop talking about amniocentesis, O’Donnell asked. DeWine responded he would not, adding that Santorum was correct.
"The fact is 90-percent of Down syndrome children were aborted in this country," DeWine responded...

As I've noted, Politifact called DeWine's statement as "..Mostly False".

> Women's Insurance Coverage for Contraception:
MaddowBlog:

...we saw in this Columbus Dispatch report over the weekend (via Taegan Goddard).

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine signed a letter this week to Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of health and human services, urging that an exemption to the coverage mandate extended to certain nonprofit religious organizations be broadened to include private employers who object to contraception for religious reasons.
DeWine said last night that requiring business owners to include prescriptions such as the morning-after pill, which critics say are abortive, as an employee insurance benefit could be a "direct contradiction" to the religious beliefs of some employers.

DeWine, a U.S. senator before his 2006 defeat, argued, "They're being forced to provide insurance coverage that violates their religious beliefs. They're being forced to provide insurance coverage for a form of abortion. To me, it's a religious-freedom issue."


In Mike DeWine's world, the more powerful get to force their beliefs on others.

In the news....

****  Ohio Democrat Ed Fitzgerald had a few things to say about Republican Gov. John Kasich's budget.

AthensNews:

...FitzGerald, currently the county executive for Cuyahoga County, called Kasich's efforts to balance the state budget at the expense of local government funds for cities and counties a "fraud," whose effects he can clearly see as the top official in one of Ohio's biggest counties....

...One state program that worries him in this regard, he said, is JobsOhio, the privatized economic development agency Kasich created. Earlier this year, it was reported that the agency had repaid the state $8.4 million in taxpayer dollars that had subsidized it for about its first year and half of existence. Before that, JobsOhio had been in a dispute with Ohio Auditor of State Dave Yost, over the auditor's authority to inspect its private finances.

"I think the JobsOhio situation is just a walking disaster," FitzGerald said. "It's just so ill-conceived." He predicted that the agency is headed for more problems in the way it handles public moneys – "It's not even a question of if; it's a question of when."

That is just a small bit of information in the article. To read about what Kasich had planned with SB5, read the article at AthensNews. 

• • • • • • •

News from the ToledoBlade:

...According to a recent Quinnipiac Poll, Ohioans favor legalization of gay marriage 48 to 44 percent. Ohio women support it 52 to 40 percent.

On gun control, 84 percent of Ohio voters, including 80 percent of voters in households with guns, support universal background checks for gun buyers.

Those are telling numbers, suggesting that Mr. Portman ignored the overwhelming will of Ohio’s people when he opposed expanding background checks for potential gun buyers. Mr. Portman changed his mind on gay marriage when it touched him personally. Maybe he needs to go to the inner city in Toledo or Dayton and talk to mothers who have lost children to gun violence....

Republicans enjoy the money from the NRA and pro-gun groups. The opinions of citizens are not important to Portman and his fellow Republicans.

------

>>> Do you need further proof that the Columbus Dispatch is a right wing, conservative, propaganda machine? The Saturday, April 27th, edition had the guest columns of two conservative talking heads: Jeb Bush and Seth Morgan. Both men promote giving tax money to charter schools.

...

>> Those ads on TV that promote online learning are being challenge by research. In an article at Raw Story, Online Education Is Mostly A Fantasy, evidence shows that online learning is only successful for highly motivated students, and.....

RawStory:
.....Studies have shown that a fixed structure and the sense of belonging that comes from a student body improve completion rates. Allowing students to study on their own removes these components of the support system resulting in lower rates of course completion.....

In Ohio, online K-12 programs have dismal graduation statistics. But don't worry. Our Republican governor and legislators want to provide the corporations that own them with even more money. Some corporations and their stockholders are getting rich while students fail.

News to Use....

** Ohioans will face new school levies and bond issues because of cuts to education and local municipalities. Which elected official cut money to schools, cities, counties, safety forces, etc.?  Republican Gov. John Kasich made massive cuts to programs and this will cause taxpayers to pay out more so that local government and schools can operate. Teachers, police, and fire fighters are being laid off across the state all thanks to Kasich. Shame. Ohio's needs honesty and a new direction. We need someone that respects the middle class---not Kasich.

•••••••

* What is the matter with background checks for gun ownership? It might not be the perfect solution to prevent future Sandy Hooks, but it is a step in the right direction.

Here is a presentation on the U.S. Senators that voted against background checks:
TheyDon'tWorkforYou.  Notice that Ohio's Sen. Rob Portman is one of those listed.

------

>>>> Ohio Republicans are obviously working for those that contributed to their campaigns. In legislation that could have been written by beer distributors that supported Republicans, one of Ohio's biggest employers is on the losing end of legislation.

Dispatch:

One of the oddest Statehouse spectacles in recent years — a beer bill being put on hold after it passed both branches of the legislature unanimously — apparently is coming to an end.

Gov. John Kasich said he likely will sign the measure, pushed through a committee and both houses in only four hours last week, that whacks Anheuser-Busch InBev in favor of beer wholesalers that gave more than $600,000 to lawmakers’ 2012 campaigns.....

In Ohio, Republicans let their contributors control legislation.


>  Congress is working on getting furloughed air traffic controller back to work. When will they work on re-hiring food inspectors, funding Meals on Wheels, WIC, college programs, chemotherapy, etc.?

GOP Sequestration Math Flawed

* Last night Chris Hayes exposed how an error was made on the calculation used by GOPers to promote their plan for austerity and sequestration---
MSNBC  has the video.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Free Rent???

This Week News has exposed a special privilege that the City of Hilliard is giving to Republican Rep. Steve Stivers (OH-15th).

ThisWeek:

Hilliard City Council members acted April 22 to temporarily provide free rent to U.S. Rep. Steve Stivers (R-Columbus), who has leased Hilliard's former police headquarters as his office for constituents since 2011.

The lease between Stivers and Hilliard included a provision for rent reduction in the event that federal budget cuts, or sequestration, resulted in a reduction to Stivers' representational allowances.....

Please!  Somehow this just doesn't seem right, ethical, or fair. What does the Hilliard City Council hope to gain from this arrangement?  Do other members of congress get free rent?

Values & Priorities

Are your priorities, and values different from those of Gov. Kasich and the Ohio Republicans?  I bet they are.

* In a post at the Beacon Journal, the writer shows evidence on how the Ohio Republicans just don't care about the state's poor. Isn't it time for Ohioans to vote out the right wing, tea party-influenced, anti-middle class, anti-worker, anti-women's rights, anti-public school, pro-corporate, pro-privatization, radical Republicans? Yes it is time, and we can start by looking to Democrat Ed Fitzgerald to provide a path away from the self-absorbed radicalism of the GOP.

> At Ed Fitzgerald's campaign website, there is this explanation on Ed's views on protecting Ohio's workers:

...From our factory floors to our school rooms, Ed stands firm with Ohio’s workers...

Ed’s plan: Stand with workers. Plain and simple. 

Ed wants Ohio’s state government on the side of the people. As Governor, he’d put workers over corporations, middle class families over millionaires. Ohio belongs to all of us, not just big corporations and millionaires — and we all have a role to play in shaping its future.

Today, Ed Fitzgerald announces his campaign to run for Ohio Governor. As the website reminds us, Kasich gave us SB 5. I believe that Kasich showed his disdain for workers, and the middle class with SB 5.


**** Are there problems within the Ohio GOP?  10TV reports that Matt Borges, Kasich's pick for Chair of the Ohio Republican Party, is receiving criticism and losing support from GOP leaders across the state.  Why do you think they are reluctant to support Borges?  Is it the back taxes that he owed? Was it Matt Borges and his association with Joe Deters? Was it because Borges "..pleaded guilty to one count of improper use of public office..."  in 2004? 

No matter how you look at it, the Ohio Republicans are wrong on just about everything.

Bad Numbers in Ohio

* Ohio lost over 20,000 jobs in March 2013. That is astounding! 

PlainDealer:

Ohio lost 20,400 jobs in March, more than any other state, the U.S. Labor Department reported Friday. 

The decrease comes a month after Ohio reported a healthy 16,100 gain in jobs in February....

....George Zeller of Cleveland, an economic research analyst, said posting such a large job loss now is alarming....

Gov. John Kasich has gotten his way in restructuring how Ohio brings jobs to the state. In the process, Gov. Kasich has left the public out of the business deals, agreements, and financial transactions that he and his hand-picked administrators have made. In the super secret world of Gov. Kasich, we might never know about the "development deals" made behind closed doors.

> Looks like there is more trouble for Kasich's handpicked leader for the Ohio GOP, Matt Borges.

Examiner:

....In separate news Monday, the AP reported that Attorney General Mike DeWine and Secretary of State Jon Husted, both Republicans, expressed disappointment that Borges had not made them aware of the liens before he sought their backing. Borges’ attorney said his client owes $168,161 in federal taxes and $4,198 to the state following a recent adjustment. Others say the dollar numbers are far higher....

Holy cow!  How does one owe that amount of money in taxes and still be able to represent a political party???? Oh, wait! Now I remember---We are talking about the Ohio Republicans!!!!

News Items

* U.S. Sen. Rob Portman (OH-R) voted "NO" on background check last week in the Senate. He just wants you to know that the NRA had absolutely nothing to do with his vote, according to an article in the PlainDealer.  Of course, Portman doesn't want you to remember that he was endorsed by the NRA in 2010.

* The police, FBI, ATF, and other law enforcement did an incredible job last week in Massachusetts.  Our hearts go out to the victims, their families, and the entire population of the state for what they've endured over the last week.

**** Speaking of the ATF (alcohol, tobacco, firearms)....
Why are Republicans in the U.S. Senate still blocking the vote to confirm a director of the ATF?   Is Sen. Chuck Grassley the person responsible for holding up the ATF director's confirmation? Ask Sen. Grassley at: https://www.facebook.com/grassley  or http://www.grassley.senate.gov/contact/contact.cfm or on Twitter @chuckgrassley.

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>>>  Today is Earth Day. I remember the first celebration of Earth Day in 1970 at the Ohio State University. If you want to read more about how we can preserve our planet, visit the EarthDay web site.

*****  Democrat Ed Fitzgerald plans to announce his candidacy for Ohio Governor. Ed Fitzgerald will need all of our help to defeat Kasich.

****

*The next time Republicans start talking about cutting regulations, remind them of what happened in the fertilizer plan in Texas, and the alleged lack of obeying regulations.

>>> There is a must read by Luke Brockmeier at Plunderbund.  The article explains how the Republicans have moved to increase infant mortality in Ohio.

Every Republican voted to pass a state budget that won’t add jobs, but will add to the infant mortality rate.....

....Ohio has the 11th-highest infant mortality rate, and the highest infant mortality rate for African-Americans, in the United States. Higher than neighboring states. Higher among African-Americans than Mississippi and Alabama....

...Republicans are so obsessed with attacking Ohio’s women that they will actively and knowingly take strides to increase infant mortality in the process. The Senate needs to fix these provisions and send a sensible budget along–or else the governor needs to veto the budget.

Otherwise, John Kasich will be held accountable for Ohio’s abysmal and depressing infant mortality rate.

Read the entire post at Plunderbund to get a fix on the statistics on the health of the poor in our state.

If Republicans are so pro-life, why do they block every effort to feed children, help women receive gynecological care, and assist the poor with medical care?  There is nothing pro-life in your actions when you stop providing for those that are living.

The Shame

Shame on those U.S. Senators that caved to the interests of the NRA instead of listening to the American people. The Senators that voted "NO" on Senate Amendment 715 are listed below in the information from the Senate website:

NAYs ---46
Alexander (R-TN) Ayotte (R-NH) Barrasso (R-WY) Baucus (D-MT) Begich (D-AK) Blunt (R-MO) Boozman (R-AR) Burr (R-NC) Chambliss (R-GA) Coats (R-IN) Coburn (R-OK) Cochran (R-MS) Corker (R-TN) Cornyn (R-TX) Crapo (R-ID) Cruz (R-TX)	Enzi (R-WY) Fischer (R-NE) Flake (R-AZ) Graham (R-SC) Grassley (R-IA) Hatch (R-UT) Heitkamp (D-ND) Heller (R-NV) Hoeven (R-ND) Inhofe (R-OK) Isakson (R-GA) Johanns (R-NE) Johnson (R-WI) Lee (R-UT) McConnell (R-KY) Moran (R-KS)	Murkowski (R-AK) Paul (R-KY) Portman (R-OH) Pryor (D-AR) Reid (D-NV) Risch (R-ID) Roberts (R-KS) Rubio (R-FL) Scott (R-SC) Sessions (R-AL) Shelby (R-AL) Thune (R-SD) Vitter (R-LA) Wicker (R-MS)

Abstinence Education Increases Pregnancy Rates

*  Ohio Republicans want teachers to publicly endorse their support for abstinence education.

Cincinnati.com:

A Republican-dominated Ohio House panel has cleared the state budget on a party-line vote after making changes to restrict what's taught in health-education classes.....

....The panel added a provision to prohibit teachers from distributing contraceptives on school property and to require them to endorse abstinence as the only acceptable way to avoid pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases....

Why should teachers endorse a program that fails? What will the Ohio Republicans in the General Assembly support next? Chastity belts? Dial telephones?  Horse drawn carriages? Kitchen middens? Yes, folks, the Ohio Republicans are moving in one direction----- backwards.

In case you want to send Ohio Republicans some reading material on the failures of abstinence education, here are a few selected web links:

WashingtonPost  JournalofAdolescentHealth  ThinkProgress    ABC News  NBC News

 - - - - - - - -

* Is a Republican elected official taking care of his own?

ZanesvilleTimesRecorder:

The Ohio House has slipped a provision into the state budget exempting charitable fraternal organizations at least a century old from property taxes....

....The website of the Masons’ Grand Lodge of Ohio attributes the fraternal organization tax amendment to House Speaker William Batchelder, a Medina Republican. They identify “Brother Batchelder” as an active member and say the tax break would allow more money to be spent on charity statewide....

...The web posting said state Sen. Jim Hughes, also a Mason, offered a similar tax break proposal several years ago as a state representative. The bill was approved by the House but died in the Senate....

Carving out a portion of legislation to take care of a group, club, or organization that doesn't allow everyone to join is wrong, unethical, and scandalous.

•••••••••••

>>> Ohio's rich are doing better.
Bizjournals:

The number of millionaires in Ohio is on its way up again following the Great Recession, according to an analysis by the Dayton Daily News.

Almost 6,300 Ohio taxpayers made more than $1 million in 2011, which is an increase of 40 percent since 2009....

...On the flip side, more than 7 in 10 taxpayers earned $60,000 or less in 2011. Another 25 percent earned $60,000 to $175,000....

With Kasich's help, those millionaires will pay less in taxes.

Ohio's Republicans At It Again

* Just when you thought Ohio's Republicans might be moving forward, they remind you that they are still Neanderthals.  Here is the evidence as provided by Innovation Ohio:

Today, Republicans on the Ohio House Finance Committee voted to adopt changes to the two-year state budget that will significantly restrict the teaching of sexual education in the state, mandating an abstinence-only approach.
According to a description provided by the Committee Chairman, Representative Ron Amstutz, the measure would:
      
prohibit the teaching of sexual education coursework that endorses non-abstinence as   an acceptable behavior or promotes sexual gateway activity....

Wow! Republicans are endorsing and promoting abstinence education---- a totally worthless, unreliable, unscientific, right wing religious, program that provides students with nothing.  Thank you, Ohio Republicans, for continuing to confirm the fact that you don't live in the real world like the rest of us do.