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?