* Once again, Republican Rep. Steve Stivers (OH-15th) met with his constituents-- that are not located in Franklin County. Stivers has made it a career of avoiding spending any amount of time with his constituents in Columbus and Franklin County. He'd just rather talk to the mostly white, conservative Republican voters in rural parts of his district than have to deal with real problems with people that live in more densely populated areas. Stivers moved his district office out of Columbus, to Hilliard, so that he wouldn't have to rub elbows with the diverse community of Columbus. In an article in the Wilmington News Journal, Stivers met with people in Clinton County, which will be part of the nearly drawn congressional district.
Here is a small excerpt from the Wilmington News Journal:
...A lot of the talk from the locals, particularly at the agriculture round table, was to the effect that they don’t want government to impede their opportunities, Stivers said.
An example is Steve Fricke, who oversees the Buckley Bros. grain elevator business. Fricke spoke about the Occupational Safety and Health Administration — called OSHA — which is the main federal agency charged with the enforcement of safety and health legislation for the workplace.
The cost to make the local grain elevator be in compliance with OSHA regulation on “lots of little things,” said Stivers, was $50,000.....
Working in grain elevators is very dangerous. Here are a couple of examples of accidents as noted by OSHA:
OSHA.gov news release (May 9, 2011):
TAFT, Texas – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Taft Grain & Elevator Co. with four willful and 16 serious violations following the death of an employee who became engulfed in grain at the company's work site in Taft.....
OHSA.gov news release (January 24, 2011):
MOUNT CARROLL, Ill. – The U.S. Department of Labor has fined Haasbach LLC in Mount Carroll and Hillsdale Elevator Co. in Geneseo and Annawan, Ill., following the deaths of three workers, including two teenagers. The workers were killed when they suffocated after being engulfed by grain.....
Stivers and the Republicans need to stop protecting business owners, corporations, and banks. Obviously, the Republicans don't care about people.
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>>>> Thank you, President Obama, for appointing Ohio's own Richard Cordray as the nation's consumer "watchdog" today. Cordray is an honest, hardworking individual that will protect consumers from the greedy corporate b*#@%*ds.