Ohio 15th District: How did Stivers vote???

* It looks like some Ohio Republicans are in the hot seat for their recent votes.
AthensNews:

Three freshman Republican congressmen who either represent Athens County now, or are likely to after the election next November, are defending their votes last week that critics say nearly resulted in a middle-class tax hike for 2012.

All three were among the Tea Party House Republicans who on Dec. 21 voted down the U.S. Senate's two-month extension of the 2 percent "payroll tax holiday" (to continue at 4.2 percent rather than 6.2 percent). They include Reps. Bob Gibbs of Lakeville, 18^th District, Bill Johnson of Marietta, 6^th District, and Steve Stivers of Upper Arlington, who will be representing most of Athens County in the new 15^th District.....

...Rep. Stivers, whose newly drawn 15^th House District, will include the great majority of Athens County, told the Dispatch that notwithstanding the frustration of governing, "I think when you talk to most of the freshmen, they feel like they're making a difference, and we feel like we've had an impact on Washington."

Stivers thinks he is making a difference? Really? Where are the jobs? Why is Stivers against President Obama's infrastructure employment bill that would put hundreds of thousands of people back to work? Why is Stivers more concerned about overturning the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill than keeping middle class tax breaks?

The sad thing is that Stivers is not working for voters in the 15th district. Stivers is doing his best for his contributors and backers---- bankers, insurance companies, Koch Brothers, utility companies, and their CEO's. It is their agenda that he is following. In the end, Stivers is also protecting his own net worth of between $400,000+ to $1.3 million (see OpenSecrets for details). No wonder he isn't doing anything to help the unemployed and the poor---- he just doesn't get it.

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* Gov. John Kasich seems reluctant to choose his new favorite Republican Presidential candidate. (Could it be that Kasich only picks losers?)

Vindy.com:

....Kasich was an early backer of Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour and reportedly urged New Jersey Chris Christie to run, too.

But neither of those officeholders are in the race, and Kasich told reporters recently he did not have plans to publicly support other individual candidates during the primary season....

In the Vindicator article, authored by Marc Kovac, Kasich continues to compare Ohio to Florida. I have no desire for Ohio to have a government and tax policy like Florida. The schools in Florida have overcrowded classrooms and huge problems with funding. A lot of the jobs in Florida pay close to the minimum wage. If Kasich loves Florida so much he should resign and move there.

Several years ago, voters in Florida passed a law to reduce class size. However, according to an article in the Miami Herald, districts are being fined now for not getting their classes down to the state maximum. (How can a school district that already lost some state funding come up with millions of dollars in fines to pay the state???) With the push for charter schools by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, less and less money is being allocated to fund Florida public schools, which educate a majority of students.

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Florida school districts could face fines as high as $66 million for failing to comply with the class size amendment.Broward County Public Schools is facing the largest penalty, followed by Miami-Dade, which could have to pay about $9 million. Duval and Pasco county school districts are facing fines of $6.8 million and $4 million, respectively.In all, 35 districts were found to be out of compliance with the law, which specifies the amount of students allowed in core classes. Districts will have an opportunity to appeal and have their fines reduced.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/12/24/2560281/35-fla-districts-face-possible.html#storylink=cpy

Is anyone else just sick of the Republican presidential candidates? Romney's cockiness and expensive lifestyle doesn't convince me that he understands why Republican policies have damaged this country. Romney's business experience resulted in a lot of people losing jobs and pensions while he made millions for himself and his buddies. If that is the way Romney would conduct himself as President, I'm against the "save the rich" philosophy.

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The Columbus Monthly has a little blurb about Josh Mandel's problems with the truth. Ha!

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HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Peace

Good Health

Love

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Friday, December 30, 2011

How did Stivers vote???