*** President Obama will be back at Ohio State next week with a planned speech on energy, according to the Dispatch.
>> Ohio Republicans hope you'll forget about SB 5 by November. Trust me. We'll never forget.
* The layoffs are still happening in Ohio. A quick look at the Ohio Dept. of Job and Family Services Warn Notices page shows that people are still losing jobs in Ohio.
* I wonder which foreign country Josh Mandel will visit this weekend to collect campaign contributions. If Josh Mandel visits a place during the day, is he visiting as the Ohio Treasurer or as a candidate? Has he taken a leave of absence from his day job? According to RecordHerald, Josh Mandel visited Washington Court House Thursday:
Republican Senate candidate Josh Mandel paid a visit to Sugar Creek Packing, 2101 Kenskill Ave., Thursday as part of his campaign....
Judging by the picture in the newspaper, the visit occurred during work hours. Shouldn't Josh Mandel be at work downtown Columbus at the Treasurer's office???
The Youngstown Vindicator has a response to Josh Mandel's recent remarks about the American auto companies:
State legislators from the Mahoning Valley and United Auto Workers union members at the General Motors Lordstown complex criticized Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate, for saying he “respectfully disagreed” that the federal bailout saved the auto industry.
The legislators and UAW members said that without U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, a fellow Democrat being challenged in the November general election by Mandel, leading the charge, the American auto industry would have collapsed.....
.....“If it wasn’t for Sen. Brown, we wouldn’t have our jobs,” said Elizabeth Warren of North Jackson, an 18-year employee at the GM Lords-town plant and Brown’s invited guest to the president’s State of the Union address in January....
Sen. Sherrod Brown has always been the champion of the middle class. Josh Mandel? Everything we've heard from him has been the usual GOP talking points.