* Ohio Republicans want teachers to publicly endorse their support for abstinence education.
Cincinnati.com:
A Republican-dominated Ohio House panel has cleared the state budget on a party-line vote after making changes to restrict what's taught in health-education classes.....
....The panel added a provision to prohibit teachers from distributing contraceptives on school property and to require them to endorse abstinence as the only acceptable way to avoid pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases....
Why should teachers endorse a program that fails? What will the Ohio Republicans in the General Assembly support next? Chastity belts? Dial telephones? Horse drawn carriages? Kitchen middens? Yes, folks, the Ohio Republicans are moving in one direction----- backwards.
In case you want to send Ohio Republicans some reading material on the failures of abstinence education, here are a few selected web links:
WashingtonPost JournalofAdolescentHealth ThinkProgress ABC News NBC News
- - - - - - - -
* Is a Republican elected official taking care of his own?ZanesvilleTimesRecorder:
The Ohio House has slipped a provision into the state budget exempting charitable fraternal organizations at least a century old from property taxes....
....The website of the Masons’ Grand Lodge of Ohio attributes the fraternal organization tax amendment to House Speaker William Batchelder, a Medina Republican. They identify “Brother Batchelder” as an active member and say the tax break would allow more money to be spent on charity statewide....
...The web posting said state Sen. Jim Hughes, also a Mason, offered a similar tax break proposal several years ago as a state representative. The bill was approved by the House but died in the Senate....
Carving out a portion of legislation to take care of a group, club, or organization that doesn't allow everyone to join is wrong, unethical, and scandalous.
•••••••••••
>>> Ohio's rich are doing better.Bizjournals:
The number of millionaires in Ohio is on its way up again following the Great Recession, according to an analysis by the Dayton Daily News.
Almost 6,300 Ohio taxpayers made more than $1 million in 2011, which is an increase of 40 percent since 2009....
...On the flip side, more than 7 in 10 taxpayers earned $60,000 or less in 2011. Another 25 percent earned $60,000 to $175,000....
With Kasich's help, those millionaires will pay less in taxes.