Preparing

Even though I promised myself I wouldn't do the cooking extravaganza again--- I'm doing it again for tomorrow.  I enjoy having family together, but I just hate the cooking and the clean up!

In the meantime---- Happy Thanksgiving!

Next year, I hope we eat out in a restaurant!!!!!!

Today we remember....

Those of us that were old enough to remember the significance of November 22, 1963, will live forever with the memory of that tragic day. Today, we continue to mourn the loss of President Kennedy.

For more of my personal reflections, visit StubbornLiberal.

Ohio Charter Schools Failing

Ohio charter schools have expanded this year under the support of Gov. John Kasich and the Ohio GOP. More of the private operators have moved in with the intention of what appears to be making money off of our taxes.  More charter schools have closed because of not enough students, poor fiscal management, not paying staff, and other problems.

Dispatch:

After resigning this year as superintendent of a financially troubled Internet charter school amid allegations of nepotism, James McCord had a new plan, and it again involved a charter school employing him and his family....

....By the time the Olympus schools closed, one had only four confirmed students; another had five; another, six. In all, the eight schools had a total of 128 students show up.

That’s about two students for each Olympus and EII employee. The state paid Olympus based on an estimate of 700 students....

Will we ever get back that $1.2 million from this operator?  Read the whole article at this Dispatch link and you'll feel just as disgusted as I am.

In another news item from last week, the Dispatch provides details on other charter schools closing. 
This is just a horrible way to spend our tax dollars!

The Far Right is Still Wrong

> The Republican governors, including Ohio's John Kasich, are having a big meeting in Arizona. According to the Columbus Dispatch (AKA Kasich's fan club), Kasich is getting a lot of attention from his colleagues.

ColumbusDispatch:

....Kasich also was one of the first governors featured in the RGA’s new media campaign, titled “ Republican Governors are Driving America’s Comeback.” He’ll have a featured role in the conference today, sitting on a panel talking about GOP messaging for 2014 with Morning Joe co-host Joe Scarborough and Perry. He’ll then be joined by Jindal at a news conference....

I'm sure a majority of women in the country will just vomit over the thought of any of these anti-women's rights Republicans moving into the White House.


>>>  This shouldn't surprise a lot of Ohioans------
Progress Ohio reveals some very interesting information about the Buckeye Institute:

A new, in-depth report by ProgressOhio, along with the Center for Media and Democracy, exposes the truth behind the Buckeye Institute. The report, titled "Smoke Screen: The Buckeye Institute", finds that the Buckeye Institute is one of many "think tanks" in a network funded by the State Policy Network, which has close ties to the Koch brothers and other powerful right-wing families.

The Buckeye Institute often pushes the corporate agenda of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) by promoting the organization and its policies on their website. Additionally, the Buckeye Institute's staff has a history of working for ALEC.

An executive summary of the report recounts the following regarding the Buckeye Institute:

•         The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is a shadowy organization where corporate lobbyists and state lawmakers vote as equals on "model bills" behind closed doors. In addition to sharing many of the same corporation-first policies, many Buckeye Institute staff members previously worked at ALEC-related organizations and have attended ALEC meetings....

That explains the far right opinions that are produced by the Buckeye Institute!

Ohio Mess?

Plunderbund has details on Gov. John Kasich's messed up Medicaid sign up web page.

Plunderbund:

....Kasich’s Medicaid website makes it impossible to enroll in Medicaid at the moment....

....Kasich’s www.benefits.ohio.gov, however, will quickly and reliably reject qualified applicants. Its computers don’t reflect the Medicaid expansion, and they won’t until December 9 (yeah, sure they will).

Unlike the federal website (which lets you know that there’s a problem) Kasich’s website just tells people that they don’t qualify for Medicaid and sends them away.  It doesn’t hold on to their application, and they won’t be reprocessing their applications once the database is fixed.  On top of that, the new website is 100% politically motivated....

Wow! The Ohio Medicaid sign up sounds like it was designed by a Tea Party Republican!

**** More Ohio layoffs have been posted at ODJFS.  This time Cenveo will layoff 77 workers.  Note to GOP p.r. people----There has been no Ohio "miracle" under Gov. John Kasich.

Ohio News....

The Toledo Blade is reporting that U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown has officially endorsed Democrat Ed FitzGerald for Ohio Governor.

Toledo Blade:

....Senator Brown said the Republicans are implementing a “national playbook” with attacks on women’s rights, workers’ rights, and voter rights.

“You know they’ll go after prevailing wage, right-to-work, the middle class standard of living,” Mr. Brown said.

Mr. FitzGerald attacked Mr. Kasich’s administration as one created for “a small group of friends,” saying the GOP has raided education and local government funds, and reduced eligibility for the homestead exemption in property taxes to pay for tax cuts for “the richest people in the state.”

Ed FitzGerald will need all of our help to overcome the right wing Republicans and John Kasich.

>>>   According to a report published by the Senate, Ohio's median household income has decreased by $10,000 from 2007 to 2012.

Senator Brown said the Republicans are implementing a “national playbook” with attacks on women’s rights, workers’ rights, and voter rights.
“You know they’ll go after prevailing wage, right-to-work, the middle class standard of living,” Mr. Brown said.
Mr. FitzGerald attacked Mr. Kasich’s administration as one created for “a small group of friends,” saying the GOP has raided education and local government funds, and reduced eligibility for the homestead exemption in property taxes to pay for tax cuts for “the richest people in the state.”

Read more at http://www.toledoblade.com/local/2013/11/15/U-S-Sherrod-Brown-comes-to-Toledo-to-endorse-FitzGerald-for-governor.html#GdUlXI1QDhjo9uBq.99

Senator Brown said the Republicans are implementing a “national playbook” with attacks on women’s rights, workers’ rights, and voter rights.
“You know they’ll go after prevailing wage, right-to-work, the middle class standard of living,” Mr. Brown said.
Mr. FitzGerald attacked Mr. Kasich’s administration as one created for “a small group of friends,” saying the GOP has raided education and local government funds, and reduced eligibility for the homestead exemption in property taxes to pay for tax cuts for “the richest people in the state.”

Read more at http://www.toledoblade.com/local/2013/11/15/U-S-Sherrod-Brown-comes-to-Toledo-to-endorse-FitzGerald-for-governor.html#GdUlXI1QDhjo9uBq.99

Boehner on Immigration

CrooksandLiars has an amazing video of young people speaking with Speaker of the House John Boehner about immigration reform.

CrooksandLiars:





These are very brave, polite young people. More voters should be willing to discuss concerns with elected officials. Unfortunately, the Republicans have nothing to offer Americans on immigration. The GOP has no plan, and Boehner refuses to bring the Senate bill to the House for a vote (see HuffPost). The other problem with Boehner's House Republicans is that there are very few actual workdays left for the "do nothing House Republicans" this year. Boehner, Eric Cantor, and the GOP just don't care.

More Ohio Layoffs???

There is no miracle job creation in Ohio. Today, two more companies in Ohio provided the required warn notice for layoffs.

ODJFS Online-WARN:

11-08-2013	Janesville Acoustics	Norwalk/Huron	300	01-06-2014	419-660-2326	CMRJB	007-13-033
11-04-2013	GE Ohio Lamp	Warren/Trumbull	179	01-24-2014	330-306-7241	IUE-CWA Local 84722	018-13-03

Isn't it odd that these jobs involve union workers? I guess Gov. John Kasich and his appointed JobsOhio board members just don't think these jobs are worth saving.

Save Ohio Jobs

Gov. John Kasich and the Ohio GOP have successfully hidden details of what is really happening at Kasich's pet, JobsOhio.  Kasich and the GOP don't want anyone to audit JobsOhio. Apparently, Ohio Republicans are allergic to transparency.

The steelworkers are questioning why Kasich has refused to save the 1,000 jobs at the Ormet plant in Hannibal, Ohio.  The Digital Journal reports that the steelworkers at Ormet have started a website, www.saveohiojobs.org, in an effort to push for action to retain these good jobs in Ohio. Under Kasich, Ohio is now 44th in job creation in the nation. Why is Kasich so reluctant to save these jobs and the community? Is Kasich against saving these jobs because these are union jobs?

Today

*** Today we salute and honor our veterans.  We must do more to help our vets find jobs, housing, and speed up the health care they need. Words are nice, but we have got to actively assist them to get what they need and what they deserve. 

-----------

***  There seems to be a lot of negatives surrounding Ohio Gov. John Kasich. People are concerned about the lack of real jobs in the state, Kasich's drastic funding cuts to education, his total disregard for women's rights, and his lack of respect for the people that make Ohio function--- police, firefighters, nurses, teachers, and the middle class.

Examiner:

....Friday's release of a poll by Public Policy Polling [PPP], ranked among the top rated polling outfits in the nation, shows Gov. Kasich no longer trails Ed FitzGerald, his Democratic challenger for governor next year, by three points—38-35 from an August poll—but is now tied with FitzGerald at 41 all, shows Kasich stumbling a year in advance of what many analysts believe is an election he should win but can lose in many ways....

.....Kasich has long complained about the so-called "headwinds from Washington," but what was learned from last Tuesday's elections is that more and more voters attribute those headwinds to GOP forces that have sought to undermine the White House at every turn. The disapproval rating for Republicans in general and the Tea Party in particular, have given renewed hope to Democrats that they can retake the U.S. The house next year, which if Democrats can retain their majority in the Senate would deliver a death blow to the GOP as a party and to many of its outspoken spokesman, like Gov. Kasich, who ran and won with the help of Tea Party activists in 2010 but who now find themselves in disfavor as the nation struggles to move forward from a Great Recession caused in large part by debts and deficits run up under Republicans when they controlled the White House and Congress for years under President George W. Bush.....

As the Examiner article notes, Ohio is 44th in job growth.

Kasich and his Republicans are out of touch with the American people.  The Republican Party has  spent much of the time trying to harm the poor, deny health care for the uninsured, attacking women's reproductive rights, and denying children a proper, strong education. These are not positive steps. The Republicans and their draconian ideas may have been popular several centuries ago, but we need progress.

*************

Ohio's charter schools are performing far below traditional public schools. As Plunderbund points out, the Republicans who've written the laws and rules concerning charters have exempted them from certain educational requirements. Every teacher, parent, and public school advocate should read the entire article at Plunderbund. Here is a sample-----

 Plunderbund:

....Last year, the Ohio Legislative Service Commission (LSC), a nonpartisan agency that provides drafting, fiscal, research, training, and other technical services to the General Assembly, published a brief titled Education Laws and Community Schools.  In that brief, they document over 150 references to Ohio Revised Code that don’t apply to charters, but which all public school districts must follow.
On the opening page of the brief, the LSC states it simply:

Community schools are exempt from many of the education laws of the state...

I only have two words for that ---- Holy cow! This article explains why charters are doing so poorly--- they are exempt from the same requirements and guidelines used in traditional public schools. 

Note This!!!!

Plunderbund has more info on how the Springboro voters tossed out some of the tea party members on their school board.

*  Hungry children cannot learn. Someone needs to tell that to a school district in Texas. Check out the circumstances where a child was denied breakfast: Raw Story.

* The Republican shutdown of the government was disastrous on many levels. Those responsible should never hold public office again. The shutdown cost us over $2 billion, according to the MinnPost.

>>> In a letter to the editor of the Newark Advocate, the writer notes a lack of any "...significant piece of legislation ever produced by Pat Tiberi...."

This is true. Tiberi is great at parades and speaking in front of special groups, but he rarely speaks in front of regular people (unless they are members of the Chamber of Commerce or the county GOP).
Personally, I've always viewed Pat Tiberi as someone that just follows Boehner's orders.

News from Ohio

Here are some of yesterday's election results in Ohio---

Dispatch:

....Westerville: Voters in Westerville opted for fresh faces, too, by electing Nancy Nestor-Baker, Tracy Davidson and Rick Vilardo. The only incumbent, Kevin Hoffman, lost his bid for his fourth term. A slate of three candidates led by Westerville Tea Party President Jim Burgess was unsuccessful....

...Olentangy: Incumbents Julie Feasel and Dave King beat out conservative challengers Katy Barricklow and Brian Helwig.....

> The parents, students, and teachers of Springboro schools have some good news this morning.

 WYSO:

Voters in Springboro have decided to change the course on the conservative policies in place at the Springboro School district. The school board has been at the center of controversy over the past several years.

The Springboro School Board has been criticized over it discussion of hot-button topics, like teaching creationism in the classroom, and offering classes on the constitution which critics said had religious overtones. Tuesdays election of Ron Malone, Charles Anderson, and Dave Stuckey dismantles the majority of the conservatives on the school board, and changes the direction of the district....

....Malone, Stuckey and Anderson beat out the more conversative opponents, David Bittner and Kolton Vaughan. Two remaining conservative members, Jim Regano and David Petroni, remain on the school board.  

Bittner and Vaughan had been supported by Tea Party activist, Kelly Kohls. Kohls remains on the board.

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

*** The Plain Dealer has some very interesting news about Republicand U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci and Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel.

PlainDealer:

Congressman Jim Renacci wrote a 2011 letter to Ohio Gov. John Kasich on behalf of Suarez Corporation Industries about the same time the company's employees made $90,000 in questionable donations to Renacci's re-election campaign.

The Wadsworth Republican’s letter urged Kasich to contact California Gov. Jerry Brown to intervene in a legal dispute that Suarez, a North Canton direct marketing company, was having in California....

....Ohio Treasurer Mandel did not share Kasich’s misgivings about acting on Suarez’ behalf, records released by his office show. Mandel sent Renacci a letter on March 21, 2011 that urged him to introduce the legislation sought by Suarez....

Read the entire article and see the relevant documents associated with the investigation at this PlainDealer link.

•••••

*  WOSU notes that the Ohio Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the case concerning Gov. Kasich's pet project, JobsOhio.


*** The pro-SB5, anti-union mayor of Toledo has been voted out of office. The ToledoBlade has the news on why Mayor Mike Bell lost his re-election campaign.

The race was watched closely statewide because of the Ohio Democratic Party’s stated goal of turning Mr. Bell out of office because of his close relationship with Republican Gov. John Kasich.
Read more at http://www.toledoblade.com/Politics/2013/11/06/Collins-bounces-Bell.html#5L6ySAhDLPFk4dcd.99

Did you miss it?

The Columbus Dispatch ran a news items they probably hoped that you wouldn't notice about the recent investment from the Ohio State University. If you live in Ohio, you should know how some people are investing your money. Your tax dollars help support state universities, and your money is going to someone with connections to Gov. John Kasich.

Dispatch:

Ohio State’s chief investment officer argued against investing the university’s money with a Midwest-focused investment fund run by Mark Kvamme, the former leader of Gov. John Kasich’s JobsOhio program.

In a March memo released yesterday, Jonathan Hook, chief investment officer, said Kvamme’s Drive Capital proposal “is still very much unproven at this stage. The fund hasn’t demonstrated proof-of-concept, doesn’t offer (redacted) the historical track record, and carries a variety of other risks and unknowns. In summary, it does not meet our traditional underwriting standards and risk/return criteria.”

....Yesterday afternoon, Ohio State University released more than 100 pages of records — many of them heavily redacted — that had been requested by The Dispatch and others about the $50 million the university pledged to Drive Capital in July....

Why would Ohio State go against the advice of their investment officer? Why did they make a massive investment that, according to the Dispatch article, most of these types of investments are usually at a lower amount? Why is Ohio State investing with someone with ties to Gov. John Kasich?  Are other friend of John Kasich's getting investment money from other state universities or other agencies in the state? Does anyone else remember the last Republican scandal "Coingate" and how our tax money was invested in coins, Beanie Babies, and other items?

There also is an earlier article about the investment at this Dispatch link.

News to Use

The Toledo Blade has done some investigative reporting about the money given out for job development.  In a series of articles, the Toledo Blade has unmasked some of the failures of funding job development in Ohio.

ToledoBlade:
 ....Three years after it received almost $3 million from the state of Ohio, Buckeye Silicon has failed to launch....

ToledoBlade:
The state of Ohio has little idea whether the loans and grants it awards to businesses actually spur job growth,.....

Take a few minutes to read the articles and stay informed about how our tax money is being spent.


* State Rep. Matt Lynch (OH-R) has come out against any compensation to the kidnapped victims of Ariel Castro. ABC News has the detail.  If you recall, Matt Lynch was the lawmaker that made of fool of himself when he appeared on MSNBC-TV.

In the case of Willard & Kelsey Solar Group, a defunct Perrysburg solar-panel manufacturer that received $10 million in state loans, the state was unaware the firm laid off its staff in January, 2012. Willard & Kelsey’s 2011 annual report, which was filed with the state in May, 2012, stated the firm had 59 employees as of December, 2010.
Read more at http://www.toledoblade.com/State/2013/10/27/State-does-little-to-track-jobs-from-loans.html#04jHVirpRwfBBm0P.99

In the case of Willard & Kelsey Solar Group, a defunct Perrysburg solar-panel manufacturer that received $10 million in state loans, the state was unaware the firm laid off its staff in January, 2012. Willard & Kelsey’s 2011 annual report, which was filed with the state in May, 2012, stated the firm had 59 employees as of December, 2010.

Read more at http://www.toledoblade.com/State/2013/10/27/State-does-little-to-track-jobs-from-loans.html#04jHVirpRwfBBm0P.99

Republican Gov. John Kasich and the General Assembly eliminated the Ohio Department of Development and created the downsized Development Services Agency in September, 2012. Some of the work that was performed by the former Department of Development is now conducted in private by JobsOhio, a nonprofit agency created by legislators to drive economic development.
Read more at http://www.toledoblade.com/State/2013/10/27/State-does-little-to-track-jobs-from-loans.html#04jHVirpRwfBBm0P.99

Republican Gov. John Kasich and the General Assembly eliminated the Ohio Department of Development and created the downsized Development Services Agency in September, 2012. Some of the work that was performed by the former Department of Development is now conducted in private by JobsOhio, a nonprofit agency created by legislators to drive economic development.
Read more at http://www.toledoblade.com/State/2013/10/27/State-does-little-to-track-jobs-from-loans.html#04jHVirpRwfBBm0P.99