Going Far to the Right

* What did Ohio Gov. John Kasich say now????
Dispatch:

Gov. John Kasich said this morning that those suing him over JobsOhio “are going to have to answer to a much higher power than me” for their legal challenges against his privatized development agency.
Kasich blasted the liberal policy group and two Democratic lawmakers who originally sued over JobsOhio in April, 2011 and are still seeking answers from the courts, calling them “nihilists” whose lawsuit “is about wrecking Ohio’s economy and destroying people’s jobs.”
But Kasich, an openly religious man who often cites his faith as a reason for pursuing such initiatives as funding for the poor and job creation, said of his JobsOhio detractors: “These are people who are going to have to answer to a much higher power than me about why they have appealed and appealed and appealed.”  

Wow. Kasich thinks he is doing God's work???  That kind of language will only make him look like a far right religious loon.


* If you will be submitting questions to Gov. John Kasich's education townhall meeting tonight, you might want to look at some great questions listed at Plunderbund. Kasich and his corporate charter school owners aren't interested in speaking to people that are in schools every single day----teachers. While Kasich and the FOK (friends of Kasich) work on their master plan to destroy public schools, taxpayers will keep footing the bill for the education plan put forth by right wing donors to the Kasich campaign.

What are these groups trying to do in education? Is there really a plan to take over various state's education systems?

InThePublicInterest found some extremely valuable information on which individuals and groups are pulling the strings in some states:

Emails between the Foundation for Excellence in Education (FEE), founded and chaired by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, and state education officials show that the foundation is writing state education laws and regulations in ways that could benefit its corporate funders. The emails, obtained through public records requests, reveal that the organization, sometimes working through its Chiefs For Change affiliate, wrote and edited laws, regulations and executive orders, often in ways that improved profit opportunities for the organization's financial backers.

"Testing companies and for-profit online schools see education as big business," said In the Public Interest Chair Donald Cohen. "For-profit companies are hiding behind FEE and other business lobby organizations they fund to write laws and promote policies that enrich the companies."

The emails conclusively reveal that FEE staff acted to promote their corporate funders' priorities, and demonstrate the dangerous role that corporate money plays in shaping our education policy. Correspondence in Florida, New Mexico, Maine, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, and Louisiana paint a graphic picture of corporate money distorting democracy....


For a list of the emails and the disclosures, visit the InThePublicInterest link.

What savings?

* No matter what Gov. John Kasich of Ohio might claim, he is not saving the taxpayers of the state any money.  We're paying taxes in other ways.

InnovationOhio:

Governor Kasich’s first two-year budget cut funding to education by $1.8 billion over the previous two year period. Administration critics have repeatedly said that a cut of this size would hobble school districts and shift responsibility for adequate school funding from the state to local taxpayers in the form of higher property and/or income taxes.

Though the data was difficult to uncover, Innovation Ohio has succeeded in calculating the number of “new money” levies appearing on local ballots since Gov. Kasich introduced his budget in March, 2011. The numbers are staggering.

Since May 2011, Ohio voters have considered an unprecedented $1.1 billion in new property and income taxes for schools. Voters passed just over 40% of that amount, approving school levies equal to $487 million in new taxes.

• Full Report
• Spreadsheet: Income Tax Levies
• Spreadsheet: Property Tax Levies

(h/t Plunderbund)
While the state has cut funding to our schools, we're paying more toward our schools because of tax levies.  Some districts have made drastic cuts because their state funding has decreased and taxpayers vote down school levies.

More Failing Charter Schools

* Gov. John Kasich's budget will be introduced, and people are already fearful about what kinds of cuts are in store this time.

Dispatch:

....one superintendent, Groveport Madison’s Bruce Hoover, told his school-board members he’d heard that districts would keep 92 percent of their current funding. The other 8 percent would be held back as incentives for districts that meet certain criteria.....

....lawyers for ScholArts Preparatory and Career Center for Children had to try to convince a state hearing officer on Monday that it shouldn’t be shut down.

ScholArts hasn’t received state per-pupil funding for months and won’t again for February. The state says the school overstated its enrollment and failed to pay into the state School Employees Retirement System.....

According to the school report card database linked to the Dispatch, the ScholArts Preparatory and Career Center for Children has not met the State Indicators and is on Academic Emergency.

With cuts made in the last budget, state money doesn't need to be cut further to education and communities. Gov. Kasich and his corporate pals want to privatize everything and so the cuts will probably continue so that Kasich can say he saved us taxpayers money. If failing charter schools get more money, public schools are given less funding, and people lose fire and police services, budget cuts and income tax cuts are worthless. The Republican way pushes more tax cuts, and businesses making profits off of schools and emergency services. That is wrong.

Profits Over Educational Progress

Another school district in Ohio is facing drastic disruptions in education programs, staffing, and material supplies because of education cuts made by Gov. John Kasich in his budget.

DaytonDailyNews:

Centerville City Schools, which saw its November levy fail by less than a percentage point, approved on Monday night $2.6 million in cuts from its budget next school year and requested a 6.9-mill operating levy from voters in May.....

....Details on these specifics were not released Monday night as the school board approved the May operating levy. These additional cuts and levy placement come on the heels of a 5.9-mill levy failure in November, and cuts of 63 positions and $12 million during the last four years.....

“Our revenue stream continues to dry up,” said Superintendent Tom Henderson, referring to multimillion-dollar federal and state cuts that include the Tangible Personal Property Tax. “And we’re concerned we’re not going to get any more money from the state. In fact, we’re afraid we’re going to be cut further.”

While our Republican governor and his corporate charter school supporters/donors  continue to cut public school funding, our children lose. Gov. John Kasich, his corporate charter school operators, and others want to take money from public schools and hand it over to corporations.  The problem with is that corporations will "fix" things so that corporations will make a profit off our children's education.

Gov. Kasich has been paling around with Michelle Rhee, Marguerite Roza, and other pro-charter school proponents. When corporations start trying to increase profits from educational programs, children will go without the quality of programs/materials/teachers that have previously been a part of their education.  Charter school proponents say that they have research that proves their success, but a lot of it is tainted as the explained at School Finance.

Don't sit back and wait for someone to come in and destroy our public education in Ohio. Get ready for another Kasich move to privatize everything----even our schools.

In the News and Poll Results

> If you missed the 60 Minutes interview with President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, you might want to at least check the text of the interview posted at CBS News 60 Minutes website. It was very informative and shows how well they worked together.

>  Do you think that the Republicans learned anything in the last election? NO!

HuffingtonPost:

....For the new Congress, that means bringing together a bipartisan pro-life majority and getting to work," Boehner said. "In accordance with the will of the people, we will again work to pass the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, formally codifying the Hyde Amendment."
Boehner said he will make it a national priority to "help make abortion a relic of the past."
"Let that be one of our most fundamental goals this year," he said.....

Instead of concentrating on creating jobs, and strengthening our military, John Boehner wants to make sure that women have no control over what happens to their own reproductive system. Even though the Republicans keep passing these anti-abortion bills, they are duplicates of the same bills they passed in the last session of Congress.

Boehner must not read the news (or only watches Fox) because he doesn't seem to know that a majority of Americans believe that abortion should remain legal. An NBC/WSJ poll reports:

...a whopping 70 percent of Americans oppose the Roe v. Wade decision being overturned...

Boehner and his Republicans are clearly not interested in what the public wants, especially women.

****  Has the President of the State Board of Education, Debe Terhar, resigned yet? No.  Kasich and his party hope that we will forget her anti-President Obama Facebook post.  We won't. Her decision to post that disgusting material and her defense of it only makes her look foolish, and unqualified for a position in the state government.

Ladies--- Are you taking notes?

Here is an infographic posted at Huffington Post that shows you how pregnant rape victims are treated in each state.


...If a woman who conceives through rape does go on to have the child, she can open herself up to being victimized by her rapist again and again. In 31 states, paternal rapists are allowed to sue for custody and visitation rights like any other father, as a Chicago woman who was served with custody papers from her rapist brought to the public's attention last summer after former Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) made his "legitimate rape" comments....

Even in the states that don't protect the parental rights of rapists, many rapes never lead to a conviction and certain provisions can make it difficult for a woman impregnated through sexual assault to keep her attacker out of her and her child's life.....

Can you imagine the young woman who was brutally raped, is forced to continue the pregnancy, and then after giving birth has to face the rapist who wants visitation rights? How would you feel if your daughter had to deal with her rapist and his demands for visitation or even custody?  This is exactly how the Republicans believe that women should be forced to live.  It is disgusting.

Republicans, who control many of the state legislatures of these states, including Ohio, cannot understand why women voters aren't supporting the GOP. We need to protect our daughters and remind them that Republicans just don't care about a woman's health, career, or future. Teach your daughters well!

Ohio Politics

* The fall out continues from the Ohio School Board President Debe Terhar's Facebook post that  compared President Barack Obama to Hitler.  The Columbus Dispatch reports that the Anti-Defamation League has issued a statement:

“We know that the national debate over gun control is one of the most-divisive issues in the land, and while Americans are entitled to have strong opinions, there is also language that is inappropriate and offensive in any such discussion,” Abraham H. Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League and a Holocaust survivor, said yesterday.

“The idea that supporters of gun control are doing something akin to what Hitler’s Germany did to strip citizens of guns in the run-up to the Second World War is historically inaccurate and offensive, especially to Holocaust survivors and their families.”

In Ohio, more than 65,000 emails calling for Terhar’s resignation were sent to state Board of Education members and top officials in Gov. John Kasich’s administration during the first three hours of a letter-writing campaign launched by state Democrats, according to party officials....

If you haven't sent your email to Gov. Kasich demanding Terhar's firing, you may contact Kasich at---- Email  or telephone (614) 466-3555. The State Board of Education can be reached at  1 877-644-6338.


 
> While Gov. John Kasich brags about his success(?) in creating jobs in Ohio, you wonder why there are layoffs still going on in the state.

From the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services we have a few of the most recent WARN Notices:

01-18-2013	Vertis, Inc.	Medina/Medina	52	05-01-2013	410-361-8362	N/A	002-12-039
01-16-2013	Parker Hydraulics	Youngstown/Mahoning	63	03-15-2013	330-270-6102	United Steel Workers Local 2332	017-12-038
01-14-2013	Superior Fibers	Bremen/Fairfield	106	04-01-2013	740-569-4175 ext 226	United Steel Workers	020-12-037
12-31-2012	Invacare	Elyria/Lorain	143	12-27-2012	440-329-6735	N/A	004-12-036
12-20-2012	Zhongding Sealing Parts USA	Strasburg/Tuscarawas	65	03-31-2013	865-806-1291	N/A	006-12-035
12-20-2012	Kenco Logistics	Lockbourne/Franklin	70	02-18-2013	614-409-8754	N/A	011-12-034
12-17-2012	NationsHealth, Inc	Gahanna/Franklin	61	02-15-2012	954-903-5172	N/A	011-12-032
12-11-2012	Medical Center of Newark	Newark/Licking	160	01-29-2013	740-522-7878	N/A	007-12-033
12/06/2012	Energizer Holdings, Inc.	Westlake  (Cuyahoga)	120	01/31/2013	(314) 985-2127	N/A	003- 12-031
12/05/2012	First Transit, Inc.	Newark  (Licking)	61	01/01/2013	(513) 362-4512	N/A	007- 12-030
11/21/2012	H.C. Starck, Inc.	Euclid  (Cuyahoga)	67	01/21/2012	(617) 630-4893	N/A	003- 12-028
11/20/2012	The Andersons, Inc.	Northwood   (Wood)	121	01/01/2012	(419) 891-6454	N/A	007- 12-027

Here are a few things to ponder-----  

The Andersons Inc. contributed to Building a Better Ohio and supported SB5/Issue 2.  They are closing an entire store in Northwood, Ohio.

Invacare was the company that had John Kasich as a member of the Board of Directors. Does this mean more jobs will be headed to China and Mexico?

Were any of these companies and others listed at ODJFS on the WARN Notice page recipients of money from the "private" JobsOhio program instituted by Gov. John Kasich? We won't know because our tax money, state liquor sales profits, and contributions from FOK (friends of Kasich's) are all in the super secret, JobsOhio agency. The public, according to the Kasich administration, does not have the right to know.

Here is another sad result of the Kasich budget:
The Chronicle-Telegram:

A total of 14 people including 10 case aides were expected to receive layoff notices today from Lorain County Children Services.....

....The cuts, authorized last month by the board, were deemed necessary because of increased costs, reduced state and federal funding, and an expected drop of some $684,000 in tax revenue generated by a 1.5-mill operating levy because of decreased property values....

Yes.  Those budget cuts that the Kasich administration made are hurting children served by children's services, and in schools.  Those that are the most vulnerable lose first, and they need help the most.
 

A Question of Judgment

It must be a little uncomfortable for Debe Terhar.

Cincinnati:

The president of the state board of education told colleagues she “regrets not using better judgment” with a Facebook post that linked President Barack Obama’s gun control proposals to Adolf Hitler.

The post set off a hail of criticism and calls from Democrats for her to step down.

Debe Terhar, a Republican from Green Township, sent the note in an email to fellow school board members just after 9 p.m. Tuesday, several hours after the post landed her in the political hot seat.....


If she put something like this on her Facebook page, it makes you wonder what she might have said to those friendly tea party crowds she spoke with during her campaign. Did Debe Terhar post on Facebook using a computer owned by the state during her work hours? I'd like to know.

Gov. John Kasich has said that "....no further action is necessary....," (WOWKTV) that doesn't mean that citizens should let this rest. When Kasich runs for re-election, this is just one more item to add to the pile of evidence on why he doesn't need a second term.

When Democrats come into power again in Ohio, they'll need some help finding out where some district offices are now located. They'll also need to get rid of all the right wing mandates put into force by the Kasich gang.


*** Debe Terhar's name appears on a list of Cincinnati 912project precinct people (page 1, #31). What are her ties to this group Glenn Beck group? Why was she endorsed by a far right group, Ohioans for Educational Freedom?

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

>>> I hope that you were able to catch part of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's testimony in front of committee hearings on Benghazi. If there are any conclusions to be drawn from what was heard, they are----

(1) Republicans cut over $300 million in embassy security prior to the incident in Libya. There are consequences to such deep budget cuts.

(2) Rand Paul lives in some fantasy world where he imagine that he will be President. He must watch only Fox News because he used all their talking points including some far out accusations involving Turkey.

(3) Sen. Ron Johnson is an empty suit and is just trying to make himself look good in front of his tea party Republican friends.

(4) Hillary Clinton is one tough lady and I hope that one day she will be our President!

Free Market in Education?

Debe Terhar, the President of the Ohio School Board, has received a lot of negative attention for her recent posting on her Facebook page when she compared President Obama to Hitler (see ColumbusDispatch).  Plunderbund noted that Debe Terhar is not the first appointee of Gov. Kasich's to receive unwanted attention for his/her beliefs/actions.

Debe Terhar has been active with the Tea Party in Ohio and is pro-charter school. That, unfortunately, shows her bias.

Xavier Magazine:
....The Business of Education | “We need to make sure that we are child-centered,” Terhar says. “That’s my goal—to graduate as many children as we can, and to graduate them with knowledge and skills that will set them up for life.” Terhar is a proponent of the voucher system, and believes a teacher’s pay should be based on performance. “In business, if you do a good job, you get paid for it,” she says. “We need to look at it like a business. We’re in the business of education.” Here, Terhar invokes her Tea Party roots. “The free-market system will determine who does a good job and who doesn’t,” she says.....

Despite the fact that charter schools produce lower achievement scores, Debe Terhar and her ilk want to take money from our public schools to fund charter schools owned by corporations. The free market is not a solution for everything. Perhaps if the government funded public education as we do wars and tax cuts to oil companies, our schools would produce students ready for the 21st century challenges. Ohio cannot continue to cut funds to our schools and expect that students will be prepared for the technological jobs of the future.

The mandates put out by Kasich, the Republican-controlled General Assembly, and far right members of the Ohio School Board are not based on the reality of the typical classroom or school.  Teaching children should not involve the free market. Teaching and education must be rooted in the basics of child development, educational principals, and the needs of children----not the needs of a corporation to make a profit.

Great day!

President Obama's inauguration was a beautiful day! His speech was great, and everything about the day was inspiring!  Thank you, President Obama and Vice President Biden!

>>>> You should thank your lucky stars that you don't live in Louisiana. Gov. Bobby Jindal has made some drastic cuts to programs that help the poor and disabled.  Some people are even calling his moves as "death panels" for those at the end of their lives.

ThinkProgress:

This week, potential Republican presidential contender Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-LA) rolled out one of the country’s most regressive tax proposals, a plan that would shift Louisiana’s tax burden away from the wealthy by raising taxes on the bottom 80 percent of state residents. Apparently, the “austerity” measures don’t stop there.

According to New Orleans CBS affiliate WWLTV, Louisiana residents over the age of 21 who are on Medicaid — the public insurance program for disabled and poor Americans — will stop receiving hospice care benefits at the end of this month. That means that low-income Louisianans with terminal illnesses, debilitating disabilities, and chronic long-term medical problems will no longer have access to the essential home and medical care that they need......

Any person that has used the medical services and counseling of hospice programs knows that cutting access to hospice assistance could only be called heartless, inhumane, and draconian. This is what a pro-life Bobby Jindal thinks is fair and caring? Disgusting.

>>> Gov. John Kasich plans to take his state of the state speech to Lima, Ohio, this year. Thank goodness I will do my part to avoid Kasich's typically long, rambling, self-centeredness, right wing speech.  I feel sorry for those forced to attend the event.

>>>>  How much did Gov. Kasich cut from your county in his last budget? CutsHurtOhio has a breakdown of how Kasich's budget hit all 88 counties in the state. Cuts Hurt Ohio reports that Kasich's cuts slashed $1.8 billion from education and $1billion from local governments. Needless to say, many Ohioans are worried that Kasich will chop even more from schools and local governments. The end result would be school districts and local governments going to voters for levies for funding.

•••• Gov. John Kasich and his appointed members on the Ohio PUCO are continuing to move away from renewable energy, and throw all their support behind their rich friends in oil and gas.

Dayton Daily News:

Days after Ohio regulators set back the largest proposed solar power installation in the eastern U.S., the Canadian province of Ontario announced that it will shut down its last coal-fired power plants by the end of 2013, a year ahead of schedule.

The two events are a stark contrast in how bordering nations pursue an advanced energy economy as the debate about climate change continues following record-setting extreme weather in 2012....

....On Jan. 9, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio rejected an American Electric Power funding plan to build the 50-megawatt Turning Point project southeast of Zanesville. In a 3-1 vote, PUCO rejected a staff recommendation for approval, writing AEP did not prove the project is necessary.....

Kasich's appointees on the Ohio PUCO did as they were told.  Why do Republicans always think in such backward, 19th century ways? Did Kasich ties to another energy company influence the stoppage of the AEP project?

Fiscal Conservative?

Josh Mandel, Ohio Treasurer, and former Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, has found a way to help his frat friends, family friends, and political cronies----

GIVE  PAY  RAISES!!!!!

The Dayton Daily News has all the details, as well as exactly which employee got the most money. The Columbus Dispatch, the cheerleader for the Ohio GOP, doesn't have one word about the raises.

Here is part of the list from the Dayton Daily News:

Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel restructured his leadership team and doled out raises to 33 staffers. Here are the team members and their titles and pay.

  Name Job Title New Job Title Before After
Lord, Michael Senior Policy Advisor Chief of Staff 100,000 130,000
Day, Jennifer Chief Operating Officer Chief Operating Officer 103,000 110,000
Biedenharn, Jennifer Director of Accounting Director of Accounting 93,000 98,500
Blain, Denise Director of Trust Director of Trust 90,000 98,500
Fracassa, Michael Director of Revenue Management Director of Revenue Management 86,500 98,500
Ghetti, Sante Director of Regional Reps and CPIM Director of Economic Development and CPIM 93,000 98,500
Hawkins, Angela Director of Communications and Com Ed General Counsel 93,000 98,500
Kish, Megan Director of Human Resources and Fiscal Director of Human Resources and Fiscal 93,000 98,500
Kohlhorst, Dusten Director of Information Technology Director of Information Technology 86,500 98,500
Unger, Seth Press Secretary Director of Communications 93,000 98,500
Synenberg, Eric Deputy Legal Counsel and Public Affairs Officer Deputy Director of Internal Audit 75,000 85,000.....

Cronyism is alive and well in the Ohio Treasurer's office.  While Mandel claims to be saving the state money, these raises are obscene, especially when school children are seeing cuts in their programs. 

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

A new Pew Research Poll shows that Americans, by a wide majority, do not want to overturn Roe v. Wade:

"...keeping our children safe..."

I hope that President Obama comes out with a plan to reduce the violence in our schools, and our communities.  It is time for common sense, because the right wing Republicans live in a bubble and are unconcerned about our children, families, and communities.

You can see what I've written at Stubborn Liberal about assault weapons and common sense. Stand with President Obama and the safety of our children. Let everyone know that you stand with President Obama and his proposals on gun safety, background checks, and other restrictions.

>>>> Gov. John Kasich went to the Detroit Auto Show to beg for more auto manufacturing jobs in Ohio.  This is the same John Kasich that had no faith in the auto industry, wanted auto union concessions, and was against the auto bailout. Check the text during his fill-in for O'Reilly on FoxNews:  

Accessed through my local library and EBSCO Host: O'Reilly Factor (FOX News), Dec 19, 2008

Here is an excerpt on what Kasich thought should be demanded of the auto unions, from O'Reilly Factor (FOX News), Dec 19, 2008 (from EBSCO Host):

KASICH: I think there's going to be real heat on the unions. I'm not sure they'll obey us. I'm not sure they'll bend.  

What was that...... "I'm not sure they'll obey us"?  'obey'?????

Is that how Kasich feels about unions that they should 'obey' him?

Ohioans cannot forget Kasich's lack of support for the auto industry, although now he thinks we have amnesia about that detail.
WashingtonMonthly: 


...Kay at Balloon Juice explained, “I’m pleased that GM is hiring. But, it is deeply offensive to me that former FOX News personality and auto bailout opponent Ohio Governor John Kasich is busy scooping up the political reward for a risk he and the entire lock-step conservative chorus decided it was politically expedient not to take. They bet against the bailout. Now that it’s showing signs of success, they’re showing up to take credit. No risk, all reward.”

Exactly. Kasich, like other Ohio Republicans, including House Speaker John Boehner, decried Obama’s rescue of the American automotive industry. The president said it would work, Kasich said it would not. Obama was right; Kasich was wrong.

Or put another way, GM’s Toledo Powertrain Plant almost certainly wouldn’t exist is Kasich had his way.....

While Kasich goes and begs for jobs, he hopes that the auto industry executives forget that he did not believe in their future and ability to turn things around.

Shakedowns?

Joseph over at Plunderbund has some details on how Gov. John Kasich has forced some corporations to bend to his wishes by making a utility company dump a CEO, hire FOKs (friends of Kasich), and give money to JobOhio.

Plunderbund:

....Kasich won the election in November 2010 and he immediately made it clear things would be changing in Columbus.  The bus comments were a warning to Ohio’s business leaders.  AEP got the message.   By December, they had announced Morris would be replaced as AEP President by Nicholas Akins, a big Kasich donor....

....Morris was then forced to publicly support Kasich by joining and helping to fund, along with other CEOs who supported Strickland, One Ohio United – a propaganda machine for Kasich’s first budget tied to a Kasich campaign staffer....

...As Joe Vardon reported today in the Dispatch,  AEP also hired Kasich’s friends Donald G. Thibaut, Rex Elsass and Chan Cochran as a lobbyists AND the company was shaken down for another $2 Million in donations to JobsOhio....

Read the entire post over at Plunderbund. This is all very disgusting.

Influence

When an elected official loads up government agencies/departments with his supporters,  those appointees magically throw out progress to follow the course set out for them.  Ohio is such an example. Governor John Kasich has eliminated any influence from the previous Democratic governor by firing those that worked under Gov. Ted Strickland.

Most recently, the Kasich appointed members of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) eliminated a project and the jobs associated with it.

SolarServer:

On January 9th, 2012 the Public Utilities Commission in the US state of Ohio (PUCO) voted 3-1 to deny approval of a 50 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) project in the state.

 

American Electric Power Inc. (AEP, Columbus, Ohio, US) proposed to build the Turning Point Solar Project on a former strip mine, and hire 60% of its workforce from Ohio veterans.....

....Ohio Governor John Kasich (R) appointed all four members of the PUCO, and Innovation Ohio has drawn a connection between the ruling and Kasich supporter FirstEnergy Corporation's (Akron, Ohio, US) opposition to the project.... 

Kasich would rather get the backing of First Energy Corporation than allow a solar project to move forward. The solar project would have created 600 jobs. This is sad because Ohio vets don't get the needed jobs, consumers won't enjoy lower utility bills with an increase in solar power, and FOK (friends of Kasich) are now dictating which state projects should be funded.

In the case of the Ohio Department of Education, the board has been loaded with pro-charter school members appointed by Kasich.  A recent appointment, the President of Ohio Christian University, has demonstrated the far right agenda Kasich wants.

While we see more tax dollars going to failing charter schools, a lack of effort to eliminate these schools, and a push by Kasich to mandate more in education while cutting funding, Ohioans must decide if Kasich deserves a second term. In my humble opinion, Ohio will suffer greatly if Kasich is allowed to further destroy the public school system in Ohio.  Any citizen can see that charter schools are not making the grade (see the charter school grades), but Kasich and the Ohio GOP continue to promote them. Enough is enough.

Ohio's Schools, Taxes

Ohio Gov. John Kasich has been stacking the deck with his appointees in various boards and agencies across the state. 

Dispatch:

....Kasich named Mark A. Smith, president of Ohio Christian University in Circleville, to fill a seat being vacated by Dannie Greene, a retired postmaster from Gallipolis who was named to the board by former Gov. Ted Strickland.

In addition, Kasich re-appointed Angela Bennett of East Cleveland and C. Todd Jones of New Albany. The governor had named both to the board shortly after taking office two years ago.

Smith, Bennett and Jones will serve four-year terms....

Who is Mark A. Smith? 
Wall Street Journal (10/31/12):

....The president of Ohio Christian University, Mark A. Smith, says, "The intensity of voters in the faith community is as high as I've seen it in the last 12 years." The driver of that intensity is religious liberty. "We took a direct hit with the Affordable Care Act," he says. Evangelicals watched the Obama administration's big public fight with Catholic hospitals and charities. What they concluded is that the health-care law was a direct threat to their own private outreach programs. 

Mr. Smith says that if evangelicals in Ohio's rural communities repeat their turnout levels from 2000 and 2004, they will offset the Obama advantage in Cuyahoga County. "Six different faith groups are out there" for Romney in Ohio, he says. "That didn't happen the last time." 

Mr. Smith and others I spoke to this week cited one more reason for their enthusiasm: Paul Ryan. Steve Scheffler, a longtime GOP activist in Iowa, says it was "the best possible choice" Mr. Romney could make for the ticket. "It galvanized evangelicals." 

Of course, Mark A. Smith has been on YouTube speaking with Tony Perkins, and is a frequent guest on Fox News.


In other news-----

WKYC uncovered a school using students to remove asbestos from their building:

A small religious school is under criminal investigation after several dozen teenage students and others volunteered over several weekends to gut a building containing asbestos, a cancer-causing agent, according to interviews and records.

Students as young as 13 who attend the Buckeye Education School spent several weekends removing asbestos-filled materials without any protective gear at the former YWCA on Smith Road in Middleburg Heights, said Cleveland Commissioner of Air Quality George Baker, who also works with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.... 

.....Both Jonathan Borys, principal of Buckeye Education, and Bruce Carmichael, of Sterling Education, which oversees the school, declined to say who asked the students to do the work at the building....

Removing asbestos must be done by certified workers, not children. This school has exposed their students, and the school's neighbors to dangerous asbestos.

* When Gov. Kasich cut funding to cities, counties, and communities, local governments have had to turn to the public for help in the form of more taxes.

DaytonDailyNews:

Elected leaders in Oakwood and Waynesville, and Clearcreek and Miami townships all took steps this week toward placing tax levies on the May 7 ballot.

The four governments considered resolutions asking their county auditor to certify the amount of tax revenue that would be raised by various property tax levies. Local governments in Ohio have until Feb. 6 to contact the county election board about putting the tax levies on the ballot.

On Monday, Oakwood City Council voted to ask the Montgomery County auditor’s office to determine how much would be raised by a 3.75 mill property tax levy. The city council plans to place a five-year, 3.75 mill levy for general purposes on the primary ballot....



Which groups have benefited from Gov. Kasich's administration? The answer is certainly NOT school children, communities, and tax payers.

Does GOP have more stupid men?

Get a load of this-----
RawStory:

In an address to the Cobb County, GA Chamber of Commerce, Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA) told the assembled group that Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO)’s remarks on rape were “partly right” and unfairly maligned by the U.S. media.  According to the Marietta Daily Journal, the congressman believes that adrenaline can prevent pregnancies, and that women who are frightened during sex will not ovulate.

In his remarks, which largely centered around gun control, Gingrey veered into questions of the female reproductive system and its attendant mysteries, the magical power of women’s bodies to block conception in cases of rape....

OMG!  The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology may want to revoke his certification for promoting stupid, misleading information.  You can write them here.

Happenings

* Ken Rudin, the "political junkie" of NPR, was a guest on Ann Fisher's WOSU program, All Sides. I almost crashed my car when Ken Rudin said that he thought that Jeb Bush would be the best GOP presidential candidate in 2016.  NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
We've had enough of the Bush family!

****

>>> The Other Paper will end publication at the end of the month. It was purchased by the Dispatch in 2011.

TheOtherPaper:

The Dispatch Printing Company announced today that it will cease publication of The Other Paper at the end of the current month. The last issue is set for distribution on Thursday, January 31, 2013....

With the Dispatch acquisition of the Suburban News publications, and The Other Paper, they've eliminated any opposing views. Now the Dispatch will be able to continue to play promoter for Kasich and the Ohio GOP without any opposition in central Ohio.

----------

* Right wing activists are preparing to push right to work legislation in Ohio (see Vindicator) with plan to get it on the next election ballot.  Although you might not realize it, their campaign is alive.

WFMJ:

...Now a group in Ohio is circulating petitions to get the right-to-work initiative on the ballot here...

...Petitions are now being circulated in Ohio to get a similar initiative on the November 2013 ballot.

Chris Littleton from Ohioans for Workplace Freedom says 396,000 signatures are needed in Ohio by July to put the issue on the November 2013 ballot. Just under 100,000 signatures have already been collected....

The Workplace Freedom group has a website up and they are campaigning for support.
According to a document online here, the people associated with the group have ties to the Cincinnati Tea Party, the Ohio Liberty Council, the Central Ohio Associated Builders and Contractors, the 1851 Center for Constitutional Law, and probably other groups that were involved in Michigan's legislation (ALEC, Americans for Prosperity, and the Koch Brothers per Truthout).

The people of Ohio have already spoken on this when they voted against SB5, but some people, especially those on the right, just won't give up on their agenda. Since Gov. John Kasich has remained quiet about right to work legislation, Ohioans should be cautious because it doesn't mean he isn't planning it. The Washington Post has an article today about Kasich that questions his political future and the possibility of Democrat Ed Fitzgerald as his opponent in the next election.

Ted!

* Was there a college football game last night? The only Ohioan that cared was in attendance. John Boehner went to the BCS game in Miami, according to Politico.

** There is big news in Ohio politics!
Politico:

Former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland will not seek to reclaim his old job in 2014, saying in a statement Tuesday that he would “continue to stand with working men and women to build a stronger Ohio” but not as an elected official.....

...A Quinnipiac University poll last month found Kasich vulnerable to a Democratic challenger: just 36 percent of Ohio voters said he deserves another term, while 43 percent said he doesn’t and 21 percent were unsure.

In November, the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling found Kasich drawing 44 percent support against an unnamed Democratic challenger’s 43 percent.

Ohio's working men and women have always had a great friend in Ted Strickland.

-------

**** Plunderbund has some important observations about Gov. John Kasich latest scheme in a post titled Could Kasich's "flimflam finance" bankrupt the Ohio Turnpike? Kasich is gambling with the new debt while counting on future income from the Turnpike to pay it off.  Both the Pennsylvania Turnpike and Indiana Turnpike have had financial disasters related to the increase in tolls and drivers avoiding the toll roads.  Read Plunderbund and you too will worry about this latest idea from Kasich.

>>>  Did you know that Macy's is closing some stores? According to Cincinnati.com, six Macy's stores are closing.

Cincinnati:

....Macy’s said it will close six underperforming stores as part of a normal review of its business. The stores include a Bloomingdales Fashion Show Home Store in Las Vegas, Nev.; and Macy’s in Paseo, Colo.; Belmont, Mass.; Honolulu, Hawaii; St. Paul, Minn.; and Houston, Texas. Closing the stores will cost $2 million to $4 million taken in the fourth quarter....

Consumers should expect this kind of retail madness.

Wait! There is more!

Hmmmm. 
There was a story in the Columbus Dispatch about State Sen. Chris Widener and his connections to a project in his district. This is from my post at StubbornLiberal on 12/28/12:

The Republican-loving Columbus Dispatch has come out against an Ohio elected official--- State Senator Chris Widener, a Republican. 

Columbus Dispatch:

Sen. Chris Widener wields great power at the Statehouse, where he is supposed to use his position to better the interests of his constituents — not, as appears to be the case, to bail out his associates. Or himself.

The Springfield Republican, set to be the Senate's No. 2 leader, says he did nothing wrong in 2009 when he sponsored a bill that authorized a financially troubled livestock-exposition center to levy a special tax to bail itself out of financial difficulties.....

Never mind that he helped found the nonprofit association that built the center.....

....Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien said he's discussing the situation with the state legislative inspector general.....


Now Chris Widener has ties to another project in Clark County, which is in his district------DaytonDailyNews:


An Ohio agency with enormous power over where and how public schools are designed, renovated and built is questioning the viability of a plan to establish a STEM academy in Springfield using $4.5 million in state funds.....

...Over the past decade, Clark County’s population has slipped 4.4 percent and Springfield City Schools enrollment dropped 22.4 percent to 7,359 in 2011-12, down from 9,483 in 2002-03. Demographers predict that the enrollment and population numbers for the area will continue to slide.

Questionable building decisions over the past decade have heightened concerns at the OFCC about overbuilding classroom space. As the Daily News reported in 2011, overly optimistic enrollment projections in Springfield and in the nearby Tecumseh Local School district forced those school systems to “repurpose” newly built school buildings; Trotwood-Madison Schools shut down two newly built elementary schools.....

Why is money going to a new start up program in a county losing population? If there is such a need for a program, it would be more cost effective to add more instructors, courses, and support to already existing schools in the schools. From the perspective of a taxpayer, it appears that Mr. Chris Widener is bringing pet projects to his district with our dollars, while our public schools continue to have drastic cuts to their budgets.

>>> Oh, and what is this from the Youngstown Vindicator????

Vindy:

Gov. John Kasich’s proposal to “leverage” the value of the 241-mile Ohio Turnpike to jump-start highway and bridge construction spending across the state boils down to a massive borrowing plan.

By having the bonds issued by what is essentially an independent entity, the state is able to borrow about $1.5 billion it otherwise could not.

The move allows the state to sidestep its own constitutional debt cap as well as a narrower limit on separate highway borrowing backed exclusively by gas tax revenue....

Do you feel comfortable with this?

Now You Know Who Cares

Leave to Republican Rep. Michelle Bachmann to get back into the same old same old. Bachmann should win an award for the stupidest way to start the new Congress.

ThinkProgress:

The 112th Congress gaveled to a close on Thursday afternoon without passing a relief package for victims of Hurricane Sandy or reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act, but Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) isn’t too concerned about finishing what Republicans had left undone. Instead, at 12:00 PM she introduced the very first piece of legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which states are now busily implementing. 

House Republicans have unsuccessfully voted 33 times in the last two years to eliminate health care reform and wasted at least 88 hours and $50 million, while failing to pass a single piece of job creation legislation in the last session of Congress.....

....House Republicans are apparently not quite ready to give up the fight. At this rate, they could be on track to becoming even less productive than the least productive Congress in U.S. history.

Unfortunately, Michelle Bachmann was re-elected. I'd like to nominate Michelle Bachmann to appear on the MTV show, Ridiculousness, because she is most certainly ridiculous.

* * * * *

The New York Times has a record of the vote in the House of Representatives for help for those still needing help due to Hurricane Sandy. Here are those that voted AGAINST the relief bill, as reported by the NY Times:

No Votes (67)

Member	Party	Dist.
Justin Amash	R	MI-3
Andy Barr	R	KY-6
Dan Benishek	R	MI-1
Kerry Bentivolio	R	MI-11
Marsha Blackburn	R	TN-7
Jim Bridenstine	R	OK-1
Mo Brooks	R	AL-5
Paul Broun	R	GA-10
Steven J. Chabot	R	OH-1
Doug Collins	R	GA-9
K. Michael Conaway	R	TX-11
Tom Cotton	R	AR-4
Steve Daines	R	MT-1
Ron DeSantis	R	FL-6
Scott DesJarlais	R	TN-4
Sean Duffy	R	WI-7
Jeffrey Duncan	R	SC-3
John J. Duncan Jr.	R	TN-2
Stephen Fincher	R	TN-8
John Fleming	R	LA-4
Bill Flores	R	TX-17
Virginia Foxx	R	NC-5
Trent Franks	R	AZ-8
Louie Gohmert	R	TX-1
Robert W. Goodlatte	R	VA-6
Paul Gosar	R	AZ-4
Trey Gowdy	R	SC-4
Sam Graves	R	MO-6
Tom Graves	R	GA-14
Andy Harris	R	MD-1
George Holding	R	NC-13
Richard Hudson	R	NC-8
Tim Huelskamp	R	KS-1
Randy Hultgren	R	IL-14
Lynn Jenkins	R	KS-2
Jim Jordan	R	OH-4
Doug Lamborn	R	CO-5
Kenny Marchant	R	TX-24
Thomas Massie	R	KY-4
Tom McClintock	R	CA-4
Mark Meadows	R	NC-11
Markwayne Mullin	R	OK-2
Mick Mulvaney	R	SC-5
Randy Neugebauer	R	TX-19
Steven Palazzo	R	MS-4
Steve Pearce	R	NM-2
Scott Perry	R	PA-4
Tom Petri	R	WI-6
Mike Pompeo	R	KS-4
Tom Price	R	GA-6
Phil Roe	R	TN-1
Todd Rokita	R	IN-4
Keith Rothfus	R	PA-12
Ed Royce	R	CA-39
Paul D. Ryan	R	WI-1
Matt Salmon	R	AZ-5
David Schweikert	R	AZ-6
F. James Sensenbrenner	R	WI-5
Marlin Stutzman	R	IN-3
William M. Thornberry	R	TX-13
Randy Weber	R	TX-14
Brad Wenstrup	R	OH-2
Roger Williams	R	TX-25
Joe Wilson	R	SC-2
Rob Woodall	R	GA-7
Kevin Yoder	R	KS-3
Ted Yoho	R	FL-3

I'm sure you saw some familiar names-------- Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney's running mate, voted NO. Ohioans will notice that and Steve Chabot (OH-1st), Jim Jordan (OH-4th), and Brad Wenstrup (OH-2nd) voted NO on this bill.  All of these Republicans should be embarrassed for their callousness, and disregard for their fellow Americans.


>>>>  I know I'm getting old.  A guy representing the Club for Growth, Barney Keller, is on Hardball right now .  He looks like he is about ten years old. Keller thinks that disaster relief for Hurricane Sandy victims isn't needed because it adds to the deficit.  What a putz! 

Wake up, Ohio!

* Plunderbund has exposed Republican Tea Partier Debe Terhar's attempt to rewrite history.  Plunderbund:

In March of 2011 Governor Kasich made a play to gain control of Ohio’s Board of Education, using his influence to remove fellow Republican board president Robin Hovis, replacing her with Tea Party activist and private charter school advocate Debe Terhar.

Kasich and Terhar then teamed up to oust State Superintendent of Education Deborah Delisle......
....In a recent article Terhar now claims she played no part in forcing out State Superintendant Deborah Delisle....

Terhar and Kasich continue to promote schools that have unsatisfactory results. A little research shows that the online schools have a very low number of students that actually graduate from high school. Why should we allow our tax money to go to private businesses that own schools when their outcomes are unsatisfactory? Terhar and Kasich are destroying Ohio's public education, and the proof shows up in the results posted as school and district grade cards.  Instead of providing more funding for public schools this Republican administration of Ohio is diverting money away from our children's education to fund their pet projects----charter schools.

Ohioans must wake up to what is going on in the Ohio Department of Education and the right wing agenda being pushed by Kasich, Terhar, and their charter school friends.

Wednesday Bits...

If you are interested in the vote tally from the U.S. House vote on the fiscal cliff legislation, check out Roll Call Vote 659 here.

*  The next time someone says that John Boehner is an honorable man, you might want to mention this tidbit from Huffington Post:

Fiscal cliff negotiations between House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) reportedly got heated last Friday.
According to Politico, several sources claimed to have overheard a verbal altercation between the two men in the White House lobby.
With no bipartisan agreement about the debt ceiling, spending cuts and tax increases in sight, Boehner reportedly pointed at Reid and said, "Go f**k yourself."
"What are you talking about?" Reid asked.
And Boehner again said, "Go f**k yourself."

Shame on Boehner and the entire Republican Party.

Here We go.....

In case you missed it----

The Republican controlled House of Representatives have delayed their vote on the fiscal cliff fix. Seeing as how the Republican House has been full of obstructionists, egomaniacs, and ideologues who put their party before country, how can any of us be surprised at anything Boehner, Cantor, and the Tea Party Republicans do? They've been the least productive House of Representatives with few bills making it into law, and a real lack of significant accomplishments. When the Republicans had several dozen votes to end the Affordable Care Act and took votes to restrict abortions again and again, you begin to realize the GOP in the House has wasted valuable time to fix the economy.

•••  There are more problems for Penn State.

NY Daily News:

Gov. Tom Corbett said Tuesday he plans to sue the NCAA in federal court over stiff sanctions imposed against Penn State University in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sexual abuse scandal.

The Republican governor scheduled a Wednesday news conference on the Penn State campus in State College to announce the filing in U.S. District Court in Harrisburg.

The sanctions, which were agreed to by the university in July, included a $60 million fine that would be used nationally to finance child abuse prevention grants. The sanctions also included a four-year bowl game ban for the university's marquee football program, reduced football scholarships and the forfeiture of 112 wins....

Will Gov. Corbett be spending already tight state money on a frivolous lawsuit?  Since PSU agreed to the sanctions, what right does Corbett have to bring a suit now?  Tom Corbett was Pennsylvania's Attorney General when the investigation of Sandusky was started, as Politico points out in an article from several months ago.

 

................

>>> More Ohio schools are cutting school transportation and teachers because their levies have not passed. Since Gov. John Kasich cut so much from the school budgets in Ohio, districts have had to turn to voters for school levy support. With most of them failing this past November, personnel and program cuts are on the chopping block.