Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Kasich vs. the Truth


Ohio Republican Gov. John Kasich is running on his job creation record. We need to separate his rhetoric from the facts. As the Examiner noted, that "...The number of unemployed workers in Ohio in March was still 353,000..."

Examiner:


...Information specific to Ohio, supplied by the widely recognized and respected workforce data collection group Economic Modeling Specialists Intl. located in Moscow, Idaho, many of the jobs Kasich is touting as a GOP comeback governor don't pay a living wage for Ohio, which amounts to about $20-hour....

...Ohio, the nation's seventh most populace state, only regained 600 of the 2,300 jobs it lost in February, and lost 3,500 lost jobs in manufacturing. Trade, transportation and utilities also lost 4,900 jobs and local government jobs decreased by another 3,500, according to information provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

And while Gov. Kasich hopes Ohioans believe the recovery started on his watch, his own budget director, in his last Monthly Budget Report, notes that Ohio started its recovery under former Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland in 2009, almost two years before Gov. Kasich's first budget became official. Nearly 80,000 jobs returned to Ohio under Strickland before Kasich's policies—and especially his pet project JobsOhio became official more than year after he became chief executive—were in place, with the help of a very friendly GOP-led legislature.

Look around Ohio and you'll see closed and empty businesses, an increase in homeless families and individuals, and workers struggling to put food on the table. I would not define this situation as success for Kasich or Ohioans. In a state where Walmart is the largest employer, Kasich's job creation has been a failure.

* A lot of people are already getting sick of Kasich's re-election ad with his homey approach. In our house, we turn it off as soon as it starts.


Friday, April 25, 2014

Where do you stand?


Ohio has already started to see and hear political ads on TV and radio. Which candidate for governor will the middle class support--- Democrat Ed Fitzgerald or Republican John Kasich? Everyone has an opinion about how Ohio is doing in creating jobs. Right now, there are plenty of people that remained under-employed and unemployed.

Here is a comment from a former elected official.
Cleveland:

“John has done a good job,” said Hobson. “He’s engaged the Springfield community here and paid attention to its needs. The only blemish on his record is that Senate Bill 5.”

I strongly disagree with Mr. Hobson.

> Ohio's public school children have been abandoned by Gov. Kasich so that he and the GOP can prop up the poorly performing charter schools. Those charter school owners contribute a massive amount of campaign money to Kasich and the GOP. Schools have lost programs, teachers, and support staff because of Kasich's budget cuts. Yet Kasich and his GOP gang push forth an unfunded mandate, Third Grade Reading Guarantee, hoping that teachers and students fail.

> Women in Ohio have found that Gov. Kasich and the Ohio Republicans are a little too intrusive into the biological functions of a woman's body. They've restricted women's programs and cut funding for women's health facilities.

> Ohio's autoworkers have been instrumental in bringing back the state's economy. Kasich did not support the program to save the American auto industry, but he continues to show up for every photo op at auto factories.

> Gov. Kasich and JobsOhio are giving away millions of our dollars to companies that bring jobs to the state. Unfortunately, the jobs that have been created are small in number and low paying. The workings of JobsOhio have been called secret, even though it is our tax dollars that are being used.

> Ohio's safety forces have been disrespected by Gov. Kasich. With his comments about the police officer that gave him a traffic ticket, and his continuing disregard for the work environment of police and firefighters, Ohioans have been shocked by the governor's demeaning rhetoric.

> Counties, cities, and towns have had to layoff safety forces, cut maintenance, and restrict services because of the massive budget cuts signed into law by Gov. Kasich. Citizens are very unhappy with how their communities have been hurt.

> People are disgusted at how Ohio is now experiencing earthquakes and polluted areas caused by fracking. This Republican administration has allowed corporations to dictate how, when, and where our environment, and water will be used.

> The only people making money in Ohio appear to be those that are politically connected. The rich are getting rich, the poor are getting poorer, and the middle class is left struggling.

I could go on, and on, and on.......

It is time to end the economic disaster that the Kasich administration has created in the state. We need Ed Fitzgerald and Democrats to run the state.

Monday, April 14, 2014

Play It Smart!


Voters have to start thinking about smart choices.

There are minority voters that support Republicans even though the GOP tries to stop people from voting. The Republicans have cut back voting rolls, poll hours, registration requirements, and even access to bathrooms at poll stations (Miami, Florida). The Republican Party fights for economic issues that help rich, white, men. If you are not a rich, white, male, there is no reason to support a Republican. The GOP just doesn't care about you (unless of course you are a mega campaign donor to their campaign).

Republicans have continued to push for bans on women's access to health care and birth control. The Republicans, especially the males, have no idea about the medical needs of women. Unfortunately, their ignorance about a woman's biology and medical needs has not stopped them. They want to make decisions about a woman's uterus, ovaries, menstrual cycle, and pregnancy. That is insulting to every woman.

Recent tax cuts pushed by Republicans, especially here in Ohio, benefit only the wealthy.  Funding has been cut for schools, hospitals, road maintenance, prisons, the elderly, and the poor. Those massive potholes on the roads are reminders of what tax cuts have created---danger.

If you are looking for fairness and pay equality, you cannot count on Republicans to assist you. Republicans dislike unions, work safety, pay equity, working women, and raising the minimum wage. Why? Republicans believe that workers should be able to be fired whenever a business owner wants, that safety on the job is too expensive, and having a minimum wage is unfair to them. They dislike regulations that protect human beings and provide dignity for people.

Republicans say that they care about you, but in reality they don't give a damn about you.

In Ohio, we have a chance to throw out John Kasich and the Republicans in the next election. Kasich has demonstrated that he dislikes unions, fairness, women's rights, public schools, police, teachers, the LGBT community, etc., etc.  We need to vote for people that work for us, not against us.




Monday, April 07, 2014

Money Talks


A writer from Circleville, Ohio, explains the influence of money in politics.

CirclevilleToday:



Where was our Governor John Kasich last week? Was he looking out for your family? Not likely, since he has already shifted the burden of taxes from the wealthiest citizens and corporations among us onto your family. Kasich’s higher sales tax means the poorer you are, the higher proportion of your already over-stretched income is taken in taxes. Was Kasich out traveling the byways of Pickaway County to support schools? Not likely, seeing as he cut state help to local school districts, thus abandoning poorer students .

Where was John? He and Chris Christie, Jeb Bush, Scott Walker were in Las Vegas, sucking up to Sheldon Adelson, the multi-gazillionaire casino owner and bestower of over $93 million to Republican candidates in 2012. So, when push comes to shove, when Ohio budgets and priorities are being decided in smoke-filled rooms (well, they used to be smoke-filled until we started listening to medical scientists instead of the tobacco lobbyists) - anyway, will Kasich be thinking of Ohio school kids, struggling Ohio families, or will he be thinking of Sugar Daddy Adelson? Money talks, thus Adelson gets heard. You and I get shown the door - the rear door servant’s entrance, that is.....

...“Democrats work to help people who need help, that other party, they work for people who don’t need help. That’s all there is to it,” observed President Harry Truman. Republicans believe folks with more money deserve to be heard more than you.....



Face it. We don't matter to this governor or the Republican party. Just before the election, Gov. Kasich decides to boost funding for communities, roads, and programs, as though he was throwing manna to citizens to win re-election.

You might want to bookmark or print out that opinion piece above so that you are prepared to explain campaign finance to your uninformed brother-in-law. When will all working class people get it that the Republicans don't give a damn about regular human beings?

> The layoffs in Ohio continue: http://jfs.ohio.gov/warn/current.stm

> If you have a chance to view the Paycheck to Paycheck special on the Oprah Winfrey Network, it will open your eyes to the world of working women.  HBO has a documentary on the plight of women workers. Huffington Post has a few articles about the documentary.

Thursday, April 03, 2014

Ohio


* When Gov. John Kasich visited Sheldon Adelson's shindig for Republicans in Las Vegas, Kasich thanked Adelson over, and over, and over again. Once again we see Kasich's schmoozing going over the top.

Forbes has an article about Adelson and his wealth. Will Adelson be able to buy the next election now that the Supreme Court has opened the door?

Don't miss the PlainDealer's editorial cartoon featuring Kasich: HERE.

* What is Ohio doing to mentally ill boys? MotherJones has some of the shocking details:

An Ohio juvenile correctional facility placed a child, who was on suicide watch and psychiatric medication, in solitary confinement for 1,964 hours between April and September of last year, according to the Department of Justice. Referred to as "K.R." in court documents, the boy's longest uninterrupted stretch of solitary confinement lasted about 19 days. And his experience isn't unique: Four juvenile correctional facilities in Ohio imposed almost 60,000 hours of solitary confinement on 229 boys with mental-health needs in the second half of 2013, according to the government agency.

These details, and other harrowing accounts, are included in a March 12 lawsuit filed by the the Justice Department against the state of Ohio, Republican Gov. John Kasich, and others, on the basis that the state's excessive use of solitary confinement among children with mental-health issues is unconstitutional. The lawsuit names four state juvenile correctional facilities that are engaging in confinement practices that "will cause irreparable harm to these youth," according to the agency. "The way in which Ohio uses seclusion to punish youth with mental health needs victimizes one of the most vulnerable groups in our society," Jocelyn Samuels, acting assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, said in a March statement....


Why is the state refusing to provide mental health treatment for these young people? Warehousing them does not solve their problems.

>>>  Is John Boehner a little concerned about his re-election? 
Politico:

Speaker John Boehner is running his first television advertisement in four years.

The ad is on the air in the Cincinnati and Dayton television markets until April 16, according to sources who track advertising.

Boehner (R-Ohio), a 24-year veteran of Congress, has three opponents in the May 6 primary election, but is widely expected to sail to victory....

Boehner hardly goes to his district since he spends so much time golfing at fundraisers and attending events with GOP candidates. Some in his district will at least be able to be reminded of what he looks like with the ads.