Hiding Something?

What is Gov. John Kasich hiding from Ohio citizens and the Republican State Auditor Yost? http://tinyurl.com/oexvqhg

Economy Picking Up?

If you walk into a home improvement store, an appliance store, or talk to a contractor, you'll find out that they are getting busier. Some claim that their telephones are ringing off the hook because of homeowners wanting to make big purchases.  If only the Republicans would work on creating jobs instead of naming post offices, the country could make a full recovery.

Here is some information about the only thing getting done in the U.S. House of Representatives----naming post offices.

HuffingtonPost:

Over the past decade, 20 percent of the legislation Congress has passed has been to name post offices.
The findings are contained in an April 26 report by the Congressional Research Service that was obtained by The Huffington Post. The height of the post office-naming craze was in the 110th Congress (2007-2008), which passed 109 bills to name post offices -- 24 percent of all the legislation it passed.
The last Congress (112th), which was the most unproductive since at least the 1940s, even managed to move through 46 bills naming post offices, out of 240 total measures passed. (It also passed six bills regarding commemorative coins......

Where are the jobs? While our bridges are falling, roads are collapsing, and sewers break, the House of Representatives does nothing except trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act 37 times!  The Republicans in the House of Representatives are not concerned about the American people, only themselves.

Goodbye, Bachmann!

*  Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann will not run for re-election. Rep. Bachmann, a tea party Republican, former presidential candidate, and source of outlandish claims, will leave the House at the end of her term.   :)

WashingtonPost:

...Bachmann also said her decision “was not impacted in any way by the recent inquiries into the activities of my former presidential campaign” last year. In January, a former Bachmann aide filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission, claiming the candidate made improper payments to an Iowa state senator who was the state chairman of her 2012 presidential run. The aide, Peter Waldron, also accused Bachmann of other FEC violations....


We'll just have to look to Republican Louis Gohmert for quotes that are off the wall. If you are interested, Buzzfeed has collected a few of Bachmann's quotes.

**** Despite what Gov. John Kasich says, Ohio is still losing jobs.  The ODJFS Warn Notice page shows that 576 new layoffs were announced for people in Ohio. 


*** Plunderbund has details on the Ohio Republican agenda to defund Planned Parenthood.

Plunderbund:

The Republicans in the Ohio Legislature care more about ideology above the Constitution.

That is the only conclusion we can draw from the decision to continue to defund Planned Parenthood in the latest budget proposal......

.....As we noted back last February, this law is unconstitutional.  The gist of the argument is that a state plan to reallocate federal family planning in a way that leaves little or no money for Planned Parenthood or similar groups violates the Free Speech, Association, and Due Process rights of Planned Parenthood.  This is because the law is designed to punish Planned Parenthood for its advocacy of abortion rights and provision of constitutionally protected medical services....



When will Ohio's Republicans start working for the citizens of our state instead of pushing their anti-female, anti-equal rights, anti-voting rights, agenda???? The Ohio GOP is just disgusting.

Right Wing Radicalism in Schools

If you have children in schools in Ohio, you should take notice of what kind of policies are being pushed in some districts.

RawStory:

....The Springboro Community City School District officials is considering a policy (PDF) that would encourage students to “think critically” about “controversial” issues like evolution, abortion, climate change, UN Agenda 21 and sustainable development. The policy directs teachers to fully explore “all sides” of these issues....

....The proposal presumably requires teachers to bring up creationism during discussions of evolution and conservative conspiracy theories regarding the United Nations when discussing environmental initiatives.

“This policy appears to explicitly permit the teaching of creationism because ‘evolution’ is on the ‘controversial issues’ list and equal facts for the opposing viewpoint means classroom time spent on the religious theory of intelligent design (or creation science),” ACLU legal director James L. Hardiman explained in a letter (PDF) to the school board. “It has been firmly established that this practice is unconstitutional, in violation of the Establishment Clause.”

Plunderbund had recent news about Kelly Kohls, Springboro School Board President and member of the Warren County Tea Party. Read the post at Plunderbund here.

If you'd like to voice your opposition to this takeover of education by right wing radicals, you may contact the Springboro School Board member by email (AllBoardofEducationMembers@springboro.org), telephone ( (937) 748-3960), or FAX
( (937) 748-3956). You might even want to make an appearance at the next Springboro School Board Meeting on June 6, 2013. As a parent, you might not want your school district to be involved in a protracted legal case when they are challenged on the constitutionality of teaching creationism and "conservative conspiracy theories" to your children.

Shame on Mike DeWine

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, a Republican, appears on television more than any politician in the state. Every week, Mike DeWine has several press conferences, announcements, and interviews.  This week there was a raid at a pharmacy and Mike DeWine showed up there while cameras were rolling and investigators were at work.  When does Mike DeWine do his job?

Plunderbund:

In December of 2011, DeWine announced another initiative by his office to begin processing untested rape kits from around the state.  DeWine said he was going to hire new staff and ultimately process 3000 kits per year (or 250 kits per month).

This week the Dispatch reported that, as of now, only 888 of the 2,984 kits received by the AG’s office have been tested.   That’s a backlog of over 2,000 untested kits with a processing rate of just over 50 per month – no where near the promised 250 per month rate....

...In a recent statement, David Pepper took DeWine to task:
“Moving these rape kits from one set of shelves in local police stations to another set of shelves in the Attorney General’s office doesn’t bring justice.  The fact that the backlog is growing is troubling, and years of delays are simply unacceptable,” Pepper said....

If you or someone you know has been a rape victim, their case cannot be completed because Mike DeWine has refused to process "....over 2,000 untested kits..." while he is prancing around the state in front of TV cameras.  Shame on Mike DeWine.

(Update on Mike DeWine: on WBNS TV, Channel 10 in Columbus, Mike DeWine has just been interviewed again.)

---------

>>> College students will pay higher interest rates for loans thanks to the House Republicans. Even though Republicans called the bill a "smarter solution," it is a smarter solution for bankers and bank stockholders. The CRS summary of HR 1911 states the following:

...Smarter Solutions for Students Act - Amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to set the annual interest rate on Direct Stafford loans and Direct Unsubsidized Stafford loans at the rate on high-yield 10-year Treasury notes plus 2.5%, but caps that rate at 8.5%.

Sets the annual interest rate on Direct PLUS loans at the rate on high-yield 10-year Treasury notes plus 4.5%, but caps that rate at 10.5%....

Clerk House of Representatives: HR 1911: Roll Call Vote 183:

---- AYES    221 ---

Aderholt Alexander Amash Amodei Bachmann Bachus Barletta Barr Barton Benishek Bentivolio Bilirakis Bishop (UT) Black Blackburn Boehner Boustany Brady (TX) Bridenstine Brooks (IN) Broun (GA) Bucshon Burgess Calvert Camp Campbell Cantor Capito Carter Cassidy Chabot Chaffetz Coble Coffman Collins (GA) Collins (NY) Conaway Cook Cramer Crawford Crenshaw Culberson Daines Davis, Rodney Denham Dent DeSantis DesJarlais Diaz-Balart Duffy Duncan (SC) Duncan (TN) Ellmers Farenthold Fincher Fitzpatrick Fleischmann Fleming Flores Forbes Fortenberry Foxx Franks (AZ) Frelinghuysen Garcia Gardner Garrett Gerlach Gibbs Gingrey (GA) Goodlatte Gosar Gowdy Granger

Graves (MO) Griffin (AR) Griffith (VA) Guthrie Hall Hanna Harper Harris Hartzler Hastings (WA) Heck (NV) Hensarling Holding Hudson Huelskamp Huizenga (MI) Hultgren Hunter Hurt Issa Jenkins Johnson (OH) Johnson, Sam Jordan Joyce Kelly (PA) King (IA) King (NY) Kingston Kinzinger (IL) Kline Labrador LaMalfa Lamborn Lance Lankford Latham Latta LoBiondo Long Lucas Luetkemeyer Lummis Maffei Marchant Marino Massie McCarthy (CA) McCaul McClintock McHenry McKeon McKinley McMorris Rodgers Meadows Meehan Messer Mica Miller (FL) Miller (MI) Mullin Mulvaney Murphy (PA) Neugebauer Noem Nugent Nunes Nunnelee Olson Palazzo Paulsen Pearce Perry Peters (CA)

Petri Pittenger Pitts Poe (TX) Polis Pompeo Posey Price (GA) Radel Reed Reichert Renacci Ribble Rice (SC) Rigell Roby Roe (TN) Rogers (AL) Rogers (KY) Rogers (MI) Rohrabacher Rokita Rooney Ros-Lehtinen Roskam Ross Rothfus Royce Runyan Ryan (WI) Salmon Sanford Scalise Schock Schweikert Scott, Austin Sensenbrenner Sessions Shimkus Shuster Simpson Smith (NE) Smith (NJ) Smith (TX) Southerland Stewart Stivers Stockman Terry Thompson (PA) Thornberry Tiberi Tipton Turner Upton Valadao Wagner Walberg Walden Walorski Weber (TX) Webster (FL) Wenstrup Whitfield Williams Wilson (SC) Wittman Womack Woodall Yoder Yoho Young (FL) Young (IN)

Note the Ohio Republicans that voted for this bill: Pat Tiberi, Steve Stivers, John Boehner, Steve Chabot, Mike Turner, Bob Gibbs, Jim Renacci, Brad Wenstrup, Jim Jordan, Bob Latta, Bill Johnson, and Steve Joyce, all voted to raise interest rates on student loans.  Here is a link to a contact page. Click on the names of the Ohio Republicans to offer some feedback.

More Evidence

The Republicans continue to advance their draconian budget. Don't worry. They've given  their own operating budget an increase in funds.

HuffingtonPost:

Republicans controlling the House pressed ahead Tuesday with slashing cuts to domestic programs far deeper than the cuts departments like Education, Interior and State are facing under an already painful round of automatic austerity.

Veterans Affairs, Homeland Security and the Pentagon would be spared under the plan approved by the House Appropriations Committee on a party-line vote, but legislation responsible for federal firefighting efforts and Indian health care would absorb a cut of 18 percent below legislation adopted in March....

....Capitol Hill's budget would be untouched, however. House GOP leaders, who have boasted recently of their efforts to cut Congress' generous budget, opted against cutting further below levels imposed under the automatic, across-the-board spending cuts that began taking effects in March. In fact, the House would get a 1.6 percent budget increase when measured against current levels....

House Republicans have displayed their hand. They don't care about Native American health, school children, college students, the middle class, our parks, protecting our State Department employees and assets, or helping everyday Americans. The Paul Ryan brigade in the House of Representatives is more interested in promoting their right wing ideology than helping Americans. This is just more evidence that the Republicans do not need to be in a majority in the the House or the Senate. Rather than work on ending loopholes for corporations, creating jobs, or re-building our infrastructure, the GOP wants to make your life miserable while they reward themselves and their friends.

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

 Ohio GOP Gov. John Kasich is already in full mode for his re-election campaign. While he talks up how he supports veterans in various Memorial Day events across the state, his voting record in the area of our military veterans was definitely not honorable.

In this blog, on May 18, 2010, I wrote about John Kasich's voting record when he served in the U.S. House of Representatives.:

According to VoteSmart, Kasich voted against the bill that included---
Department of Veteran Affairs- $17.92 billion for the Veterans Benefits Administration- $15.85 billion for the Veterans Health Administration

Luckily, the bill passed even though Kasich voted against it. Perhaps Kasich would have voted for the bill if it had been for Wall Street veterans instead of our military veterans.

Kasich's voting record was pathetic on issues pertaining to education, families, children, veterans, seniors, health issues, women, labor, and issues important to everyday people.(See ratings posted at Vote Smart.) Why should anyone believe that Kasich will support regular people over his Wall Street and right wing friends? He never supported real people in the past.

Actions speak louder than words.

Rob Portman!

Yo, Sen. Rob Portman! Check the facts before you open your mouth! 

Sen. Rob Portman, Republican from Ohio, had this directed to Tea Partiers--

Dispatch:

Sen. Rob Portman wants Ohioans to tell him if they think they’ve been targeted by the Internal Revenue Service....

Sen. Portman might want to check the total number of groups that were investigated by the IRS and note that only a small percentage were groups associated with tea party groups.  According to testimony and info posted at RawStory, "....only 70 of the 300 organizations were tea party organizations...."  and the rest were other groups.

Just a reminder---

The Republicans have no intention of working on an immigration bill, creating jobs, helping children get into Head Start, or making any improvements in your life. The Republicans have become a fixated on finding a scandal, any scandal.  We cannot forget what we got from Bush and Cheney.  The following is from OccupyDemocrats.com:

**The Republican program to attract Hispanic voters has failed. 

Sun-Sentinel:

...In the latest manifestation of Hispanic frustration to recent conservative currents, former Republican Party of Florida state Hispanic outreach director Pablo Pantoja, of Orlando, announced that he has switched to the Democratic Party in anger over some of the currents in the Republican Party....

...The latest under-current, the economic report from the longstanding conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation that projects immigrants to be a future $6 trillion drain on America, got pummeled by other economists as stretching, badly, for a conclusion. Then word got out that one of the advisors on that study, Jason Richwine, had written that he considered Hispanics to have low IQs, and the controversial report became a flaming bag of waste in the eyes of many Republican Hispanics....

Pablo Pantoja bravely left the the party of "NO!" and moved to the Democratic Party of progress and forward movement. I hope that someone in the DNC gives this guy a job soon.

>>> Republicans have been doing some altering of their own.

HuffingtonPost:

One day after The White House released 100 pages of Benghazi emails, a report has surfaced alleging that Republicans released a set with altered text. 

CBS News reported Thursday that leaked versions sent out by the GOP last Friday had visible differences than Wednesday's official batch. Two correspondences that were singled out in the report came from National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes and State Department Spokeswoman Victoria Nuland.

The GOP version of Rhodes' comment, according to CBS News: "We must make sure that the talking points reflect all agency equities, including those of the State Department, and we don't want to undermine the FBI investigation."

The White House email: "We need to resolve this in a way that respects all of the relevant equities, particularly the investigation."

Wow. Do the Republicans think no one would notice what they did? Even Major Garrett notices what the Republicans did (see Mediate).

What?

What's in a name? Apparently, Gov. John Kasich thinks it matters for his recent judicial appointments.

Dispatch:

....Colleen O’Donnell, appointed to the Franklin County Common Pleas Court, and Amy O’Grady, appointed to the county Court of Appeals, appear to have been chosen because of their names, not their experience, said Greg Haas, county Democratic chairman....

....O’Donnell, 32, is the daughter of Ohio Supreme Court Justice Terence O’Donnell. O’Grady, 38, is the wife of Franklin County Municipal Judge Jim O’Grady and the daughter-in-law of retired Franklin County Judge James J. O’Grady. She is not related to county Commissioner John O’Grady, a Democrat....

...She (O'Donnell) received her law license in 2006 and last year reached the six years as a lawyer that are the minimum requirement for a judge. She was with the law firm of Carpenter Lipps & Leland at the time of her appointment....

If you are a Republican officeholder living in Ohio, it appears that you'll be able to get a  job for every member of your family. Kasich and the Republicans are trying hard to confuse voters.

>>>> The Republicans in DC continue to go nuts with their investigations. While the Republicans cut money to lunch programs, education, aid to the poor, etc., the Republicans are willing to spend millions of dollars for investigation hearings. The Republicans in the House also scheduled their 37th vote to overturn the Affordable Care Act (known by some as Obama care). Since the Republicans control the hours that the House is in session, it is sad that the Republicans spend so little time passing legislation. They have yet to pass a jobs bill. The Republican House of Representatives has been a total failure.

New App?

Someone has developed a new app that will definitely be a hit...."Buycott".

Raw Story:

A phone app allowing users to identify products used by questionable companies like Koch Industries and Monsanto has generated enough demand to cause problems for the developer, Forbes reported on Tuesday.

“The workload is a bit overwhelming now,” said 26-year-old Ivan Pardo, the developer behind Buycott. “Our Android app was just recently released and the surge of new users today has highlighted a serious bug on certain devices that needs to be fixed immediately. So all other development tasks I was working on get put on hold until I can get this bug fixed.”

....The app also allows users to take part in online campaigns that boycott or, alternatively, highlight companies that support their political viewpoints. Buycott is also asking users to help keep its database updated by sharing products not yet recognized by the app.....

Since some of us already avoid products produced by the Kochs. It would be handy to have the information to be able to share. 

Republicans and Their Lies

TPM:

Republicans on Capitol Hill may think that the deadly attack in Benghazi, Libya is a scandal that besmirches Hillary Clinton's legacy at the State Department, but a new poll released Monday found that voters trust the former secretary of state over the Congressional GOP on the increasingly contentious issue. 

The latest survey from Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling found that nearly half of voters nationwide — 49 percent — trust Clinton more than Congressional Republicans when it comes to Benghazi. Thirty-nine percent said they trust Republicans more. 

Those findings may be seen as an extension of the disparate popularity between Clinton and the GOP. Fifty-two percent of voters said they have a favorable opinion of Clinton, compared with 57 percent who said they have an unfavorable opinion of Congressional Republicans. 

I could have told you that.  Did you know that during the administration of President George W. Bush U.S. embassies and citizens were attacked and killed?

Here is a partial list from VeronicaS. which was posted at AllVoices:

...Where was all that concern for our men and women serving in embassies and consulates across the globe when all the other attacks and killings occurred?
Like in 2002 when the US Consulate in the Karachi, Pakistan, was attacked and 10 were killed?
Or in 2004 when the US embassy in Uzbekistan was attacked and two were killed and another nine injured?
How about in 2004, when the US Consulate in Saudi Arabia was stormed and 8 lost their lives?
There is more: In 2006, armed men attacked the US Embassy in Syria and one was murdered.
Then in 2007 a grenade was thrown at the US Embassy in Athens.
In 2008, the US Embassy in Serbia was set on fire.
In 2008, bombings in the US Embassy in Yemen killed 10.
Notice the dates, all before the Obama administration.
Not yet convinced that all the noise over Benghazi has nothing to do with love of countryman? How about the biggest, most catastrophic attack and murder of Americans? As a New Yorker, Sept. 11, 2001, is indelibly imprinted on my psyche and I’m sure on the rest of the country. 3,000 perished in the most brutal act of terror in our recent history—all under a Republican administration....


What about Republican Rep. Darrell Issa's recent statement? Daily Kos has the video of Issa saying that "...An act of terror is different than a terrorist attack..."  Issa is tripping all over himself with his unfounded accusations and claims. It is just plain disgusting.

Once again we see the Republicans going after President Obama because they have no agenda, no plan for jobs, no plan to end the war in Afghanistan, no plans for the future of our nation.

On CBS News, former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said the following:

Former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates forcefully defended the Obama administration on Sunday against charges that it did not do enough to prevent the tragedy in Benghazi, telling CBS' "Face the Nation" that some critics of the administration have a "cartoonish impression of military capabilities and military forces."

Gates, a Republican who was appointed by then-President George W. Bush in 2006 and agreed to stay through more than two years of President Obama's first term, repeatedly declined to criticize the policymakers who devised a response to the September 2012 attack on a U.S. diplomatic facility in Benghazi, Libya, that left four Americans dead, including the U.S. Ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens. 

"Frankly, had I been in the job at the time, I think my decisions would have been just as theirs were," said Gates, now the chancellor of the College of William and Mary....

That Was Then, This Is Now....

In March 2011, Gov. John Kasich bragged about his deal with American Greetings that included giving them money.

PlainDealer (March 7, 2011):

American Greetings Corp. has decided to keep its world headquarters in Northeast Ohio, a move that drew praise from local leaders but also touched off a potential bidding war among communities that want to attract the Fortune 1000 employer. 

The 105-year-old greeting card maker rejected the possibility of moving to Illinois but said Monday that it has not decided whether to remain in Brooklyn or move to another suburb. 

Ohio will provide a package of grants, loans and tax rebates worth a potential $93.5 million over 15 years to keep American Greetings here. Some of the incentives will come through tax reform legislation Gov. John Kasich signed into law Monday at American Greetings' headquarters....

Buried in today's (May 11, 2013)  Columbus Dispatch was this small piece of information:

American Greetings has cut 2,100 jobs in past two years

American Greetings Corp. has quietly been cutting jobs.
Tucked inside a 218-page annual report filed on Thursday was the news that the greeting-card maker had eliminated about 2,100 workers in its 2012 and 2013 fiscal years. The company’s fiscal years run through February.

How much of that $93.5 million did American Greetings get from Kasich and your tax money? Do you think the super secret Kasich administration will reveal that information to the public?

This follows the layoffs (see WKSU) at Diebold, another company that got money from the Kasich administration. Despite all the hoopla and bragging from Kasich, it is apparent that he has not created jobs in Ohio. Kasich was against the auto loan "bailout" created by President Obama, but Kasich wants you to overlook the auto manufacturing growth that has occurred in the state.  Obviously, Kasich doesn't know how to pick winners.

The Republican Agenda

I've seen similar lists on "The Real Republican Agenda" posted at various websites. Here is one from the comment section of the  Times Union:

....These are the goals of today’s Republican Party

1) Dismantle Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid
2) Reinstate the \”Don’t Ask / Don’t Tell\” law
3) Ban all state same-sex marriage laws
4) Reduce taxes on the rich and corporations
5) Shrink programs that help the poor
6) Cut off federal medical assistance for people without insurance
7) Eliminate programs that provide international aid and assistance
8) Abolish the SEC and other federal programs that regulate the securities and banking industries
9) Abolish the EPA and all environmental regulations
10) Abolish the Department of Education
11) Make all abortions illegal
12) Eliminate support for Planned Parenthood and other women’s rights groups
13) Ban the birth control pill
14) Weaken child labor laws, allowing younger teens to work longer hours
15) Destroy public labor unions
16) Weaken all unions
17) Create laws to make voting and registering to vote more difficult
18) Regulate speech and Internet communications
19) Destroy PBS and National Public Radio
20) Eliminate all public funding for the arts
21) Reduce spending on infrastructure
22) Establish Christianity as the national religion for the USA
23) Ban all Muslims from entering the US or becoming citizens....



I'm sure you've seen similar lists. Unfortunately, these types of items do appear to be the types of legislation that the GOP continues to pursue.  The Republicans just want moderates, and liberals to surrender to their increasingly more conservative demands. Frankly, I'm not interested in surrendering my rights to a bunch of mostly white, rich, old, out of touch, self-centered, men of the Republican Party.

-----

>>> Just when you thought the Republicans couldn't sink any lower, you read this---
HuffingtonPost:

...During an interview with Bloomberg TV, Boehner was asked about this week's vote on the Full Faith and Credit Act, which, in the event that the U.S hits its debt ceiling, would direct the treasury secretary to pay only the principal and interest owed to bondholders before making any other payments. Money for other payments, such as those for veterans, Medicare and national security, would have to be divvied up from what remained of the scarce federal funds....

....When show host Peter Cook asked if Boehner's comments mean that, as Democrats have suggested, Republicans are basically choosing to pay China before paying U.S. troops, Boehner didn't disagree.....

Wow! Boehner thinks it would be okay to pay our military last, if there was any money left????? The Republican "Pay China First" bill  is yet another example of the twisted, cockamamie ideas that have been hatched by Boehner, Cantor, and the rest of their ilk.


(h/t Chris Hayes -MSNBC, All In.)

You should know....

Did you happen to catch Jon Stewart's coverage of CNN?  Jon Stewart demonstrated the complete catastrophe that is CNN. Check out this link from YouTube from the Daily Show:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGizM6PDnKQ

What has happened to this once proud news channel?

The GOP "fringe"

Why are some Ohio Republicans so against unions, work safety, fair wages, overtime pay, and the rights of workers? Is it something inherent in the doctrine of the Republican Party? Do Republicans view middle class workers as peons, peasants, and 2nd class citizens subject to the whims of bosses and business owners?  It seems that way.

Thomas Suddes writes about the "fringe" element of the Ohio GOP and their desires to destroy the lives of workers. PlainDealer:

...thanks to politically safe General Assembly districts, two dozen GOP legislators, say, might as well be from Mars rather than Ohio. 

Unlike most Ohioans, this "fringe beyond the fringe" seems to want to police Ohio bedrooms; or interfere with women's (constitutionally guaranteed) reproductive rights; or fetter labor unions, though the percentage of workers nationally who are union members was 11.3 percent in 2012. In 1983, it was 20.1 percent. 

.... nationwide, union members had "median usual weekly earnings" of $943 -- $49,036 a year. Nonunion members' median was $742 ($38,584 a year). That is, right-to-work would cut incomes in a state whose household income statistics lag the nation's.... 

Any person that knows about the results of right-to-work legislation is aware of the lost wages and rights that workers see under such laws. The only winners are the bosses and company owners who get more profits and have more opportunities to push workers around.

An elected official that supports and votes for right-to-work legislation is no friend of teachers, fire fighters, police officers, skilled trade workers, or any member of the middle class. Ron Maag, Kristina Roegner, and other GOPers that push right-to-work legislation should be ashamed of themselves for disrespecting the dedication of the men and women that make Ohio work. We've rejected SB 5 and we don't want to visit this b.s. again. I hope that the good people of Ohio reject this power grab by these "fringe" Republicans.

>>>>  Looks like Gov. John Kasich continues to be a big supporter of fracking, despite various communities trying to ban it. (See Vindicator.) Would Kasich support fracking in his neighborhood?

**** Nepotism? A recent news story in the Dispatch revealed a "Sarah Schenck" from the Ohio Attorney General's office had been assigned to a case. A comment from a reader noted that William "Bill" Schenck is Attorney General Mike DeWine's "closest adviser."
Is this how you get jobs in this Ohio Republican administration? Does a lobbyist daughter still work for Josh Mandel's Treasurer's office???? 

College Students and the Right to Vote

Ohio Republicans are working on denying college students their right to vote where they attend college. Tonight, Rachel Maddow pointed out a 1979 court case, United States v. Symm, affirmed the right of college students to vote in their college towns.

Think Progress:

In 1979, the Supreme Court upheld a decision holding that it is unconstitutional to treat college students any differently than other voters in terms of residency requirements to vote......

While Republicans continue to try to stop college students from voting in many states, it is a sign of their desperation.  Some laws proposed by the GOP would raise taxes on the parents of students who vote in their college towns, and would be viewed as a poll tax. This is also against the our laws. 

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

Aren't you tired of lobbyists like the NRA trying to control our laws? If a huge majority of Americans support background checks for gun ownership, we should have those kinds of laws.
 

President Obama at Ohio State

President Obama delivered the commencement speech at The Ohio State University with over 10,000 graduates and 60,000 onlookers. Ohio State has gone from quarters to semesters, and this was the largest graduation ceremony on record. The President was well-received by the grads and family members. Despite the extra security, grads, and families agreed that everything went very smoothly throughout the event.

Sorry about my earlier typing error. Sometimes my enthusiasm gets ahead of my typing!

Republicans Just Don't Care

Because the Republicans refused to increase taxes on the wealthy, cuts were made to programs which help the 99%. 

Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, has people turning off lights, working in the dark, and going on furlough.

DaytonDailyNews:

The 88th Air Base Wing at Wright-Patterson will cut 40 percent of its budget, or more than $30 million, between now and the end of the fiscal year, the base commander and officials said Thursday....

....In the midst of cuts, 13,000 Wright-Patterson civilian employees are due to receive 14-day furlough notices beginning early next week with unpaid time off work beginning in mid-June, Barlow said. Less than 100 employees at the base are expected to be exempt from furloughs. (Read our complete coverage of Wright-Patterson's furlough situation.)...

Be sure to check out the picture at the DaytonDailyNews link to see the airmen in the darkened halls.

> Some of the saddest cuts have had to be made to the Meals on Wheels program. Meals on Wheels delivers food to the elderly that are unable to physically leave their residences. The program's cuts will eliminate needed nutrition for someone's relatives. Unfortunately, not every senior citizen has family nearby to help them with meals, or other assistance.

ABC News:

...The Meals on Wheels programs across the country have been cut by on average $733,349. In North-Central Tennessee, which means about 300 people are on a waiting list to receive meals. The program in Lamar County, Texas, may have to close its doors altogether, according to Larry Tomayko, chief of staff of the Meals On Wheels Association of America. 

"Many Meals on Wheels programs are already on a shoestring budget unable to keep up with the need in their communities. This may be the straw that breaks the camel's back," Lamayko wrote in an email to ABC News Monday. "And, in the long run, our nation will surely pay for it in dollars, in terms of our economy and healthcare costs … and tragically, lives, too." 

It is just obscene that Republicans would rather protect their rich contributors than provide lighting for the Air Force, meals for the sick elderly, fund Head Start, and allow cancer patients to receive chemo close to home. Once again the Republicans demonstrate their ability to care for only the top 1%. Shame on you, Republicans.

• • • Wait! One more thing---- Eric Cantor plans to have more debate and votes on repealing the Affordable Care Act. Despite the fact the the Republicans have had almost 40 votes to repeal, they are going to waste more of their hardly working schedule to attempt a repeal. What a waste of time and money!!!!  Cantor and the Republicans should be working on raising taxes on the wealthy and creating jobs instead of taking health care away from people. See DailyKos for details.

Can you spare one billion dollars?

* Even though the Republicans are trying to destroy the economy with their sequestration and austerity measures, there are some good economic numbers.

USA Today:

Employers added a better-than-expected 165,000 jobs in April,, easing concerns that payroll growth may be slipping into a sustained midyear slump. 

The unemployment rate fell to 7.5% from 7.6%, the Labor Department said Friday. That's the lowest since December 2008.

Payroll gains for February and March were revised up by a total 114,000. February's gains were revised to 332,000 from 268,000 and March's to 138,000 from 88,000. Monthly job growth has averaged 196,000 so far this year, vs. 183,000 for all of 2012.....

Right now, Republican Rep. Paul Ryan is probably crying somewhere.

*** Gov. John Kasich continues to try to reward his business buddies while taking more and more away from communities, safety programs, and schools.

Business First:

Gov. John Kasich wants the state to provide $1 billion in rebates to all employers in the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation system with checks going out as early as June....

What would happen if that one billion dollars went to public schools to help children or was used by communities to rehire laid off police and fire fighters?

One billion dollars????? All this is happening while Ohio Republicans propose bills to make the state a right-to-work state, and hand over even more money to employers.