Republican Craziness

>>>>  Why do Republicans think that they must have an audience with Donald Trump?  Donald Trump?  Give me a break! 

****  Are the conservative right wingers in the Republican Party really going for Newt Gingrich?  Is it possible that Republicans just cannot stomach the flip flops of Mitt Romney?  I'd still never vote for Romney because of the dog on the roof event (Time).

There are several websites that have sprung out of the Romney dog on the roof incident:

http://www.dogsagainstromney.com/
http://www.dogsagainstromney.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/DogsAgainstRomney
http://twitter.com/grrr_romney

If you are interested in a "Dog Lovers Against Romney" bumper sticker, you should visit CafePress.

The LA Times has more information about how Mitt Romney made his millions at Bain Capital by buying companies and firing employees.
Here is a small excerpt from the LA Times article:

...Meanwhile, Bain and other investors received management fees from GSI and a $65-million dividend in the first years after the acquisition, according to interviews with company employees.

In 1999, as economic challenges mounted, GSI sought a federal loan guarantee intended to help steel companies compete internationally. The loan deal was approved, but in 2001, before it could be used, the company went bankrupt, two years after Romney left Bain.

More than 700 workers were fired, losing not only their jobs but health insurance, severance and a chunk of their pension benefits. GSI retirees also lost their health insurance and other benefits. Bain partners received about $50 million on their initial investment, a 100% gain....


Imagine that.  Romney and his investors made millions while others lost jobs.  Even Bloomberg had a little something about Romney's Bain Capital job elimination routine:

....At Dade Behring Inc., a medical-testing company based in Deerfield, Illinois, Bain cut at least 1,600 jobs during a series of acquisitions before the firm entered into bankruptcy in 2002. Romney foreshadowed those cuts in a speech to employees shortly after Bain acquired the firm.

DDi Corp., an electronics company in Anaheim, California, filed for bankruptcy in 2003 after Bain sold shares in the company generating at least $85.5 million and billed $10 million in management fees....

Where is the job creation?


>>>>  The infighting going on within the Ohio Republican Party will continue. Since Gov. John Kasich and Speaker of the Ohio House William Batchelder assembling their own roster of candidates to run against current Republican officeholders backed by Ohio Republican Chair Kevin DeWine (see the Dispatch).  I hope that the Ohio GOP continues to act like playground bullies.  Those people who call themselves Ohio Republicans must be so proud of the dysfunction within their own party. Keep it classy, Ohio GOP!

Spending Your Money

*  InnovationOhio has some numbers that show that Gov. John Kasich is spending far too much money on his corporate giveaways:

Governor Kasich made a personal appearance at Monday’s meeting of the Ohio Tax Credit Authority to tout a record-breaking achievement: 30 deals approved at a single meeting. We wondered: how does the current pace of tax credit-based deal-making compare to the efforts of the Ohio Department of Development prior to the creation of JobsOhio?

What we found was that, aside from the increased number of deals approved this month, the Kasich administration’s other primary claim to fame is that they have greatly increased the amount that was spent on tax incentives — issuing over $301 million in corporate tax breaks for first eleven months of calendar year 2011, compared to $155 to 213 million for the three previous calendar years, according to the state’s Tax Incentives Reporting database.

What did the administration get for that additional spending? It turns out, JobsOhio delivers a lot less bang for the buck than the Department of Development acting alone. Looking at the first 11 months of 2011 for which data is available (and eliminating the double-counting of jobs for which multiple types of tax credits were awarded to a single employer), the awards approved by the Tax Credit Authority so far in 2011 have valued each job created or retained at $6,112 each. This compares to an average tax credit of $4,721 per job over the three previous calendar years. In other words, thanks to JobsOhio, taxpayers are now subsidizing employers to the tune of an additional $1,400 per job......

Isn't it amazing how quickly Kasich is throwing away our money?  Just as he did at Lehman Brothers, Kasich seems to be having fun with other people's money.

**** More companies are involved in layoffs in Ohio. ODJFS has the details:

12/2/2011- Agilysys, Inc- Solon (Cuyahoga)- Number Affected 70

12/1/2011- ESAB Welding & Cutting Products-Ashtabula (Ashtabula)- Number Affected 30

It just keeps going.  

>>>> Oh, my.  The soap opera surrounding the battling in the Ohio GOP is getting more interesting.  Earlier it was just Kasich and Kevin DeWine.  With Kasich, Kevin DeWine, Speaker of the Ohio House Batchelder, a new person has added to the dysfunctional Ohio Republican family........Kay Ayres, Vice Chair of the party.

Dispatch:

Kay Ayres, vice chairwoman of the Ohio Republican Party, today beseeched Gov. John Kasich to instruct his political allies to “stand down” in their efforts to oust state GOP Chairman Kevin DeWine, saying the bid is splitting the party when it needs to be unified going into the 2012 elections.

In a strongly worded letter to Kasich and the other 65 members of the Ohio GOP’s central committee, Ayres said she was heartbroken that the governor and his allies are trying to depose DeWine little more than a year after he led the party to a massive victory in statewide elections.

“The tumult in the Republican ranks has me very concerned,” Ayres wrote to Kasich. “Quite frankly, I fear for the long-term stability of the Ohio Republican Party and the divide which could well result in the re-election of Barack Obama in 2012 and your defeat in 2014....

This was bound to happen.  There are so many pompous, large egos in the Ohio Republican Party, I find it incredible that they can all fit within this state.

_____

*** If you'd like to sign a petition to stop the Republican gerrymandering in the state, check out locations through the OhioDems website.

>>>  How many trip has Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel made to Washington, DC to meet with lobbyists. You Tube has a video of another one of Mandel's DC trips:

The Feud Continues in the Ohio GOP

Now I see why many people have referred to Gov. John Kasich as "King John" in their articles/posts.  Kasich is doing his best to consolidate his power by trying to dump the Chair of the Ohio GOP, Kevin DeWine.  With various newspapers noting the help of Speaker of the Ohio House William Batchelder, Kasich is working behind the scenes to get Kevin DeWine out of office.  Hotlineoncall has noticed the squabble:

...7) There is an intra-party battle going on in Ohio, where GOP Gov. John Kasich and state House Speaker William Batchelder are trying to dump state GOP chair Kevin DeWine...

Some Republican legislators are probably afraid to get in the way of the dispute.

*  The shale drilling people want a deal on the roads they will destroy?

Dispatch:

Ohio’s shale-drilling boom might beat a path to economic prosperity, but township trustees and county engineers across the state worry that it also will beat down their roads.

Everyone agrees that the trucks that energy companies will use to haul heavy drilling rigs to remote well sites and haul away millions of gallons of “fracking” wastewater could wear down country roads and bridges. What they don’t agree on is who should pay for any repairs.

Officials with the governor’s office and the Ohio Department of Transportation say they’re holding meetings with energy companies and local officials to get them to agree on a payment plan....

Cities and counties have already had their budgets cut by the Kasich administration.  It seems ridiculous that local governments would have to bear any cost to repairing roads and highways.  Personally, I think that these drilling companies should have to pay a monthly fee to use the roads. That money would then go to those cities and counties for road repairs.  Our tax money should not subsidize this corporate activity in any manner.

*  Word is that many people in the Cleveland area do not like the campaign of Republican Josh Mandel.  While Mandel slings lies and mud at his opponents, he has released little about what he stands for in the political arena.  We do know that he has taken a campaign contribution from a Nazi reenactor, supports the Paul Ryan plan to destroy Medicare, and wants to allow drilling in our state and federal parks.  Other than those few items, Mandel has revealed very little about his goals.  If a man is known by the friends that he keeps, standing with the likes of a Jim DeMint and Nazi reenactors should not calm our fears.

Battle in the Ohio GOP?

*  What?  Don't tell me there are more squabbles within the Ohio Republican Party!!!!  It has long been rumored that Ohio Republican Chairperson Kevin DeWine was asked to resign soon after John Kasich became governor.  DeWine has held onto his job but people are curious as to how long that will last. 

ClevelandPlainDealer:

Infighting among Ohio Republicans has reached a new level as House Speaker William G. Batchelder accused state GOP Chairman Kevin DeWine of undermining the party and of publicly blasting Gov. John Kasich. 

In a memo sent to the House Republican Caucus, Batchelder lists specific complaints about DeWine's leadership.....

......Among other grievances, the speaker said DeWine refused to allocate party resources to House Republicans -- a claim Kasich supporters have made privately regarding the chairman's role in the gubernatorial race last year....

ONN reported on the email sent to Batchelder from Kevin DeWine.:

...In it, DeWine said that he was "shocked and dismayed" that Batchelder has called for his resignation.

DeWine also suggests Batchelder is being "manipulated" by those close to Gov. John Kasich....

....DeWine also said that Kasich's political team is "motivated by ego, power, or profit."....

 Keep an eye on what happens next.

What jobs bills?

 *  The twitter page of Republican Rep. Steve  Stivers has a few things that makes me question his interpretation of what "jobs" bills really are:


http://twitter.com/#!/RepSteveStivers

FinancialCmte Financial Services

by RepSteveStivers

#FF @FinancialCmte Sponsors of HR 2779, a #bipartisan bill to reign in #DoddFrank #regs - @RepSteveStivers @RepDold

7 hours ago

RepSteveStivers Steve Stivers

Nov #jobs report by the @USDOL tells me the Senate must take action & pass our House-passed jobs bills-put our unemployed Americans to work

7 hours ago

»

RepSteveStivers Steve Stivers

In case you missed it, we passed more #jobs bills out of @FinancialCmte yesterday financialservices.house.gov/News/DocumentS…

1 Dec 

The Republican agenda of wiping out regulations because they say it kills jobs is a bunch of hogwash.  These regulations that they are attempting to destroy are important to protect the well-being of human beings, our water, air, and environment.  See the ProPublica article for more information:  Do Regulations Really Kill Jobs Overall? Not So Much


The fact that Stivers and his corporate sponsors continue to try to tear apart the  Dodd-Frank Law shows us that Stivers would prefer banks to make risky deals while using and possibly losing our money. Stivers was once a bank lobbyist, but unfortunately, he thinks he still is protecting bankers from governmental regulations.  As a state senator, he also voted against consumer protection law.  Stivers definitely continues to support the wealthy 1%.


That second Stivers tweet from above that mentions the U.S. Department of Labor is open to interpretation.  No one has proven that any of the Republican passed bills would create one job, and the U.S. Department of Labor has not claimed that the Senate should pass any Republican legislation.  Stivers is just interpreting news through his own skewed right wing agenda.

_____

* According to news reports, Gov. John Kasich has offered Sears $400 million in tax incentives to move their headquarters from Chicago to Ohio.  Considering what is happening to big box stores, why would such a huge amount of money be offered to an industry that is losing its foothold in the marketplace?

An LATimes article (6/23/11) reports how Best Buy and other stores are reducing their presence in traditional buildings:

When it comes to retailing, big is not so beautiful anymore.

Weak sales, online competition and changing consumer habits have big-box chains looking to downsize. Best Buy Co. is the latest merchant shedding space, in an initiative that stands out in both size and scope.....

..."Big-box has already seen its heyday," said Brad Thomas, a retail analyst with Keyblanc Capital Markets. "Retailers just don't need as much space as they once did. Across the retail industry there is an effort to reduce the size of your stores as retail and purchases increasingly occur online rather than through brick-and-mortar stores."...

Will there be a Sears company in 10 years?

Another Dumb Quote from Gingrich

*  Newt Gingrich is a buffoon, and clearly someone that wants to have an elite class being served by destitute, poor, children.  Is Gingrich trying to bring to life the characters in Oliver Twist?


DailyMail:

Republican presidential frontrunner Newt Gingrich believes poor kids have no work ethic -- unless it comes to doing something illegal.....

...'Really poor children in really poor neighborhoods have no habits of working and nobody around them who works,' Mr Gingrich told fundraisers Thursday night at a dinner outside Des Moines, Iowa. 

'So they literally have no habit of showing up on Monday. They have no habit of staying all day. They have no habit of "I do this and you give me cash"... unless it's illegal.'

I wonder why Gingrich thinks that slavery child labor is a good thing. Where does he get his information.....Fox News?

*  Many citizens are concerned about the Republican demand for more funding for charter schools. While performance at a majority of the charter schools can be described as less than acceptable, Republican demands for increased aid to the charters is, in my personal opinion, unwarranted.  The Toledo Blade has an editorial about the need for "...the same standards to charter schools that it does to traditional public schools..."

ToledoBlade:

Expanding educational choice in Ohio by increasing state aid to charter schools and voucher programs -- often at the expense of traditional public schools -- is a priority of Gov. John Kasich's administration and many state lawmakers. But if higher subsidies for such options, especially for-profit schools, are not accompanied by tougher standards for oversight and transparency, both students and taxpayers could be harmed rather than helped....

...Meanwhile, horror stories about mismanaged charter schools continue to emerge. A new state audit of a for-profit charter school in Cleveland that closed in 2009 identifies $2.8 million in public money that reportedly was misspent or remains missing. State Auditor Dave Yost seeks more than $266,000 in repayments from the school's founder and sponsor.

The audit says school officials failed to produce even the most basic records of its daily operations. It's hard to imagine that the state Department of Education would have permitted a traditional public school to operate with such impunity.....

A brief look at the performance records at the Ohio Department of Education that compares public schools with charter schools indicates that charter schools are unable to meet or exceed the test results of public schools.  Why do charter schools need more money when they clearly are not supplying needed curriculum or paying their employees properly?  The only beneficiaries of more funding for charter schools are the owners of charter schools.  Charter schools should be called what they are--- corporate profit schools.

Was Kasich paid for his results at Lehman?

***  Gov. John Kasich has another dumb idea.

Newsmax:

Doctors should be rewarded for their results and not by the number of people they treat, Ohio Gov. John Kasich tells Newsmax.TV.

“How many people can you get through the door is not the way we ought to be doing it,” Kasich said during the exclusive interview. “We ought to be paying people on the basis of the fact that you get better outcomes if people are healthier.....


I'm sure that Oncologists and those physicians that treat people with terminal diseases would be against such a proposal.  I wonder what the Ohio State Medical Association Political Action Committee (OSMAPAC) thinks about Kasich's idea since they are such big supporters of Republicans. Once again, Gov. Kasich has demonstrated that he knows nothing about patient care.  We'll just add this to the list of things that Kasich is ignorant about:  public education, collective bargaining, his approval rating, and, (since he doesn't read Ohio newspapers) the lives and struggles of the people in Ohio.

* Despite what the Republican Governor of Ohio says, there were more layoffs in Ohio in November 2011.

Business Courier:

After falling sharply in October, planned layoffs in Ohio rose in November.

Ohio employers announced 381 job cuts in November, up from 172 in October.....

Kasich continues to make up his own job numbers.

>>>>>  Republican Josh Mandel and his supporters are drawing a lot of negative attention for doctoring pictures of Sen. Sherrod Brown.

PlainDealer:

First comes the U.S. Chamber of Commerce ad with a picture of a U.S. senator badly in need of a shave. Except representatives of the senator, Democrat Sherrod Brown of Ohio, say the Chamber of Commerce manipulated an Associated Press photo that showed a clean-shaven senator, doctoring it to made him look shifty.....

...You can see the comparison below, or watch the ad. The three-day shadow on Brown's face is prompting lots of indignation from the Ohio Democratic Party and Brown backers. The Brown campaign calls it "a dirty trick."

The Brown campaign, of course, is so outraged over this that it made an offer today to supporters: Contribute $25 or more to Brown's reelection campaign "and we'll send you a REAL photo of Sherrod, with a personalized autograph, so you KNOW it's authentic."

The Ohio Democratic Party has a response for the Mandel slime machine:

Nonpartisan Fact-Check Organizations Continue To Repeatedly Debunk False Mandel Attacks, TV-Ads Against Sherrod Brown

COLUMBUS, OHIO – With Ohio’s part-time Treasurer struggling to last more than a week without being forced to address a new legal or ethical violation, Josh Mandel and outside groups are launching numerous false and misleading attacks against Senator Sherrod Brown. Apparently not content with simply distorting Sherrod’s record, they’ve even taken to distorting his picture.

Below is a side by side of the original Associated Press photo and one recently altered in the latest false attack ad launched to prop up Josh Mandel. Yes—a beard was added in.

 

But whether the ads echo Josh Mandel’s support for a plan to end Medicare as we know it, or his refusal to sign onto a plan that would lower the deficit by ending massive tax breaks for Big Oil, they all have one thing in common. The attacks are false, misleading and have been blasted by non-partisan, independent fact-check organizations as “ridiculous,” and “inaccurate.”

Josh Mandel is the candidate for the 1%, not for the 99%.

Tom?

* Ohio's teen birth rate has gone down.

MSNBC:

The state's birth rate among teenagers has dropped to at least a 21-year low, a trend that experts say reflects less sex and more contraceptives.

Health experts say the declines also suggest that young people are responding to influences such as fear of sexually transmitted diseases and economic anxieties about becoming a parent when money is tight and jobs are scarce, The Dayton Daily News (http://bit.ly/t7WVrm) reported Wednesday.

Preliminary data show that the state's teen birth rate declined for the third straight year, while the national teen birth rate dropped to an all-time low, the newspaper reported.....

There is another reason------ Former Gov. Ted Strickland.

TedStrickland.com:

....Supported Comprehensive Sex Education, Rejected Federal Funds Tied to Abstinence-Only Education. Governor Strickland consistently turned down federal funding to support abstinence-only sex education. Strickland opted instead for comprehensive, age-appropriate sex education that includes health and safety information in addition to teaching about abstinence. [HB 119, 6/30/2007; Columbus Dispatch, 7/1/2007; HB 1, 7/17/2009; Columbus Dispatch, 7/18/2009]....

Don't expect Kasich to give any credit to Stickland.

***  Another corporate giveaway?  According to an article in the DailyHerald, Sears is looking at possibly moving their headquarters from Chicago to Columbus, Ohio, because of state tax incentives of $400 million:

...The AP story is apparently based on this Columbus Dispatch story reporting the same thing and Ohio Gov. Tom Kasich's reaction to it.

That number has been around for a little while, though. As we reported, in early November, a Sears executive told a House committee about a $400 million offer....

Tom Kasich???

Chicago has mass transit and even railroad access for people and freight (see Amtrak map).  Columbus, unfortunately, has some bus transportation, but no rail service (Kasich was against the introduction of passenger rail in Ohio, and the state lost the huge grant money.)  Four hundred million dollars probably sounds good to Sears. Are they willing to trade in their heritage and history in Chicago for some fast money?

Save the Buckeye Tree!

>>>>>  Why am I not surprised????  Gov. John Kasich admits that he doesn't read any Ohio newspapers (PlainDealer).  Does that surprise you?  Kasich is just not into the small lives of the small people of Ohio.  We are nothing to him, and he has no interest in what happens here.

The Business-Journal is reporting that Kasich has hired KPMG to look into selling/leasing the Ohio Turnpike:

U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan and other Democratic members of Ohio's congressional delegation are again criticizing plans by Gov. John Kasich to explore a potential lease of the Ohio Turnpike.

The renewed criticism comes in response to Ohio officials' selection of KPMG LLP for a federally subsidized state contract to study changes to the turnpike, including potential privatization of the toll road.... 

...KPMG, a unit of Switzerland-based KPMG International, which has a presence in more than 150 countries, belongs to the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals and was selected as one of the "World's Best Outsourcing Advisors" this year, the Democrats note. KPMG has until July 1 to make its recommendations to the state on privatization and other options....

As Plunderbund pointed out yesterday,  KPMG will get a substantial amount of money from Ohio-------$1.5 million.  I wonder if KPMG had any business ties to Kasich while he was with Lehman Brothers.  Is anyone checking this?


*  Did you know that the anti-environmental Republicans who don't believe in global warming are actually killing Buckeye trees? 

ThinkProgress:

This Saturday’s Crankshaft cartoon took on global warming, noting that climate change is threatening Ohio’s iconic buckeye trees, the namesake of the Ohio State Buckeyes. “Once it starts to affect football, they’ll get moving on climate change,” one character says:

As greenhouse pollution from oil and coal continues to build, the Ohio buckeye (Aesculus glabra) is on its way out of the Buckeye State. Between 1990 and 2006, United States hardiness zones shifted northward, putting Ohio closer to the southern end of buckeye viability. That trend will accelerate. A 2007 study by Daniel W. McKenney and other forest scientists of the effect of climate pollution increases on 130 tree species projects major changes in North American tree populations, as practically all of the southern and western United States grow too warm and arid for nearly all species. The Ohio buckeye’s range, now centered on Ohio and Indiana, is projected to shrink and shift drastically under business-as-usual....

Republican Rep. Steve Stivers (OH-15th) and his small-minded, anti-environmental regulation buddies, are killing Buckeye trees!!!!  Save the Buckeye tree!  Vote Democratic!

*** Stivers also was mentioned in an article at American Banker.  As a former bank lobbyist, Stivers always appears to go out of his way to push for things that large banks want, like less regulations, and less transparency.  Even though he said in his campaign that he would bring jobs to the state, nothing has materialized except for his "job fair" that was a major photo op/campaign event for Stivers.  In the article linked below, Stivers is pushing for legislation that protects consumers from risky bank maneuvers.

American Banker:

Three Republican-sponsored bills that would amend the derivatives provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act are scheduled for a committee vote in the House on Wednesday.

If the measures become law, they would require regulators to rethink their approach to some of the thorny questions that have arisen during the implementation of the 2010 law's new derivatives rules.....

...A second bill, sponsored by Rep. Steve Stivers, R-Ohio, would exempt swaps traded between different affiliates within the same financial institution from some of the requirements imposed by Dodd-Frank....

The Stivers re-election campaign should produce signs that say "Protect the Bankers---NOT people."  With Rep. Barney Frank retiring, we'll need someone else to step up and protect us from this greedy bankers.  We know it won't be Stivers.  According to OpenSecrets, Stivers has received over $284,000 in campaign contributions from the banking industry.

Which groups are paying for Kasich?

* More bad economic news for Ohio:  Chiquita Brands International is moving their headquarters to North Carolina, according to the Washington Post. Rubbermaid is closing the massive distribution center it has in Wooster, Ohio (BeaconJournal).

Why didn't Kasich fight for these companies?

Did you know that some well-known groups have been spending huge amounts of money to promote fracking in Ohio.
Truth-Out:

....Common Cause reports that fracking companies spent $2.8 million in political contributions to Ohio parties and candidates since 2001. Republican Gov. John Kasich tops the list and has received $213,519 in campaign contributions from the industry.

Additional analysis of campaign records by Truthout reveals that wealthy executives of companies connected to the natural gas industry, including billionaires William "Bill" Koch and David Koch of Koch brothers fame, funneled an additional $127,268 in personal donations through a political action committee (PAC) to support Kasich's election in 2010.....

.....he RGA and its Ohio PAC spent $11 million supporting Kasich's 2010 campaign and swooped into Ohio again to defend Senate Bill 5, an anti-collective-bargaining bill championed by Kasich and repealed by Ohio voters on November 8. The RGA set up a front group to hide its finances during the campaign leading up to the referendum on Senate Bill 5. A recent investigation by Truthout revealed that the RGA had raised nearly $5 million from private healthcare, corrections and education firms to support Kasich in 2010 before returning to Ohio in 2011 to protect its investment.....

Information like this makes Kasich even more disgusting.  With money from the Koch Brothers and other fracking proponents, Kasich has been able to be propped up by these big shots.

Keep Your Eyes on Kasich

We've had a busy, busy week. With Thanksgiving dinner preparation, the holiday meal, the clean up, and shopping, we've had little down time here in central Ohio.  You always know people are spending money when Sawmill Road becomes a parking lot.

* People might not be watching what is going on in the Kasich administration, but you cannot keep your eyes off of that Republican controlled state government.


A story in the Youngstown Vindicator indicates that Gov. John Kasich might indulge in some payback to certain areas of the state.
Vindy:

State Rep. Robert F. Hagan, a Democrat from Youngstown, says he expects Kasich to use the construction budget as a way to punish those communities that didn’t support Senate Bill 5, the controversial collective-bargaining law for public workers that voters overturned this month.....

...Hagan says he remembers when the Ohio House, Ohio Senate and governor each controlled $100 million for community projects and wonders if the governor will just take control of it all this time.

Kasich will argue that there’s no money for construction projects, but that’s because tax breaks to corporations took the money away, Hagan said....

In the article, Hagan described Kasich this way, "....He’s shown vindictiveness...." Exactly.  Kasich is known as a bitter, vindictive person to those he deems his enemies. Those of us that know a little more about Kasich's record are well aware of these characteristics.  Opponents of SB5 and of Kasich's agenda should remember this---- Kasich will consider this part of his agenda (SB5 and anti-collective bargaining legislation) as not being finished.  The guy does not like to lose.  Even though most of us know that he has a big chip on his shoulder, that chip just got bigger.  Unfortunately, we have at least three more years of this anti-worker, anti-public school, pro-corporate agenda.

>>>>  Save the trees!!!!

In his effort to destroy our state parks and environment by knocking down regulations and pushing fracking, it appears that Gov. Kasich has other plans.


The Athens News:

Ohio Gov. John Kasich plans to log our state parks. In this forestry region, he has initially targeted four parks: Lake Hope, Forked Run, Tar Hollow and Scioto Trail. Logging is planned for some two-thirds of the land area of Lake Hope State Park, as well as about half of Forked Run. This is according to the state's own plans for the parks.

The hillside overlooking the entryway to Tar Hollow is going to be logged; it's a done deal. I was told it would not be visible from the road, but looking at the map, it was clear that it will be a clearly visible eyesore.

Lake Hope State Park is popular with Athens-area residents. This wild jewel set amidst Ohio's second-largest state forest features recreational resources that include an extensive mountain-biking trail system. The planned cutting zones there (Zones C and D) are in the mountain-bike trail areas. The trails could be made un-ridable with Kasich's plans.....

More details can be found at The Athens News on Kasich's logging plans.

***  Does anyone know why Andy Teater's name does not show up on the State Treasurer's list of terminated employees?  Teater once worked in the Ohio Dept. of Public Safety but was allegedly terminated in 2010 after an investigation.  He still keeps his job on the Hilliard School Board, and although terminated, he allegedly works as a consultant for some highway contractors.  Why was he terminated from the state? Do you think that the people in Hilliard might want to know?

End to Medicare???? Republicans Want It

Do you know why nothing got done in the "super committee" in Congress?  Republicans on the committee tried to end Medicare.  TalkingPointsMemo has the details.

>  Boehner had this to say, according to SFGate:

U.S. House Speaker John Boehner said he is open to discussing an extension of the expiring payroll tax cut with the Obama administration.

"We told the president in September that we stand ready to have an honest and fruitful discussion with him regarding the payroll tax extension, and that invitation stands," the Ohio Republican said in a statement today....

Boehner is full of it.  I don't trust Boehner because his goals include protecting the wealthy and staying in power. As long as Boehner is the Speaker of the House, nothing will get done.  The so-called "jobs" bills passed by the House of Representatives are nothing more than tax cuts for the wealthy, and ending environmental and banking regulations. Ending regulations, especially in the area of banking, will bring us back to the autumn of 2008 when Lehman Brothers and Wall Street collapsed. 

>>>>  Lying Mitt Romney?  Yep. Romney thinks it is okay to lie. 

WashingtonPost:

As you know, the Romney campaign is airing an ad in New Hampshire that plucks Obama’s words out of context in a comically dishonest way. Obama is shown seeming to acknowledge that talking about the economy is a political loser for him, when in reality, he was quoting a John McCain adviser making that claim. The ad is now being widely pilloried as false....

....The Romney camp is explicitly saying it’s totally fair game to take an opponent’s words out of context in a way that completely changes their meaning, simply because the actual words in question did come out of the speaker’s mouth. As many have noted today, the Romney ad’s decontextualizing of Obama’s words is so egregious that it amounts to a lie. Yet here a Romney adviser is claiming that this is fair game, because he said those words.

Today Think Progress released a new video lampooning the Romney ad with footage of Romney himself torn out of context. It shows Romney saying things like “we should just raise everybody’s taxes,” and “there’s nothing unique about the United States.” Obviously Romney was really saying the opposite of those things. But as Think Progress notes, those depictions are “accurate, according to the Romney standard of accuracy.”

Here is that ad put out by Think Progress:
YouTube



*****  More layoff are coming in Ohio!

1. DaytonDailyNews:

...Ovonic has told state government that it does not know whether the layoffs will be temporary or permanent. It will lay off 77 employees for at least six months beginning in March, an employee of the Springboro company has written state government in a WARN (Worker Adjustment Retraining Notification) notice.....

 2. TheAdvertiser-Tribune:

Come next year, more than 50 employees of Tiffin Developmental Center could be laid off.

Friday morning, TDC employees were told they would be facing layoffs by Feb. 17 - with most cuts coming Jan. 6.

A representative of the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities said Friday the cut would be about 49 employees, but as many as 52 positions could be on the chopping block....

3.  Bizjournals: (h/t dailyjobcuts.com)

Cincinnati Bell Inc.    plans to close its Dayton-area office before year's end, the Dayton Business Journal reports.

The number of employees who will be affected by closing the office on Prestige Place in Miamisburg is unknown, the newspaper reports, but the shuttering is expected as early as December.

Cincinnati Bell (NYSE: CBB) had 174 employees and 74,000 customers in Dayton in 2010, making it the second-largest telecommunications provider for the area, the newspaper reports.....

More Baloney....

Republican Josh Mandel must have a fable factory within his campaign to make up lies, and tall tales. Politifact called Mandel's latest statements about Sen. Sherrod Brown in the PANTS ON FIRE category.

Politifact:

...Mandel specifically focused on reports of distasteful demonstrations that Republicans have sought to make representative of the entire movement.

Brown is "out there egging on a lot of these protesters who are spitting on policemen and going to the bathroom on policemen’s cars at these protests on Wall Street and other places," he said....

....But we didn’t, because no such evidence exists.....

Don't you think that Sen. Sherrod Brown has something else to do?  Politifact found no evidence of Mandel's statements about Sen. Brown.  Once again we see that Josh Mandel is a liar.  Did Josh Mandel attend the Tommy Flannagan school for pathological liars?

***  It appears that Gov. John Kasich hopes that you don't remember that he was against President Obama's auto bailouts.  Now, Kasich just wants to steal the limelight.

Stowsentry:

Columbus -- Democratic state legislative leaders criticized Gov. John Kasich and Republican GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney for not supporting federal support for automotive companies but trying to take credit for jobs those companies are now creating.

Minority Leader Capri Cafaro, D-Hubbard, and Rep. Matt Szollosi, D-Toledo, said it was President Barack Obama and other Democrats who spearheaded the preservation and advancement of the country's automobile industry -- at a time when Republicans were opposed to the bailout plan.

"Democratic leaders had the foresight to invest in American workers, regardless of the political ramifications" Szollosi said, adding later, "It's easy for the governor to take his taxpayer-funded plane around the state for photo opps."

Kasich is like the guy that shows at the celebration but did none of the work to achieve success.
 
Here is even more on Kasich....
WKYC:

....Sears Holding Corp. said last month it was looking at possibly relocating to Columbus or Austin, Texas, though it was still talking with Illinois officials about staying put. 

The Columbus Dispatch reports Ohio Gov. John Kasich spoke earlier this week with Sears CEO Louis D'Ambrosio. Kasich said Thursday that the Sears chief described Ohio's pitch as stunning and creative. 

Still, Kasich says he doubts the company will leave the Chicago suburbs.....

Stunning?  Creative?  When one says that something is "stunning," it doesn't always mean something positive. It could mean, according to Merriam-Webster, "causing astonishment or disbelief <stunning news>...."

The size of Kasich's ego is stunning.  It is astonishing that the rest of the population can fit into the state of Ohio.

Tax the Rich!

*  The pepper spraying of peaceful students at UC Davis is disgusting.  It looks like investigations will be started.  For more info, see HuffingtonPost.

* To those involved in the Occupy movements across the country:  Continue the fight for justice and fairness!  

* Do you remember the early days in the Kasich administration?  Business Week (2/1/11) noted that the JobsOhio legislation was sponsored by Worthington Republican, Mike Duffey:

....The bill calls for JobsOhio to do much of its work in private. Certain records would be exempt from disclosure under Ohio public records law. The panel would have four public meetings a year but could have closed-doors talks about its negotiations with businesses.

Its members would be appointed by the governor to serve four-year terms. They wouldn't be paid but would be reimbursed for expenses.....

Aren't you still bothered by this JobsOhio entity that is funded by your tax dollars, but works behind closed doors?

*  Wow.  Did you know that the Bush administration funded a research project that involved Solyndra? In an article from March 26, 2008, information is provided by  Optics.org:

The US Department of Energy (DOE) has earmarked up to $13.7 million over the next three years for the eleven selected research projects, while agreed cost sharing with the universities and industry partners should boost the total investment across all the projects to $17.4 million. "These projects will help meet President Bush's goal of making clean and renewable solar power commercially viable by 2015," said Alexander Karsner of the DOE....

....Other projects funded by the DOE are:

.....• University of Florida with Global Solar Energy, International Solar Electric Technology, Nanosolar and Solyndra: Routes for rapid synthesis of CIGS absorbers....

The Bush administration also had invited Solyndra and other companies to participate in federal program, as noted on 10/08/2007 at Ens-Newswire:

The federal government is supporting clean energy projects using innovative technologies with a loan guarantee program finalized Thursday by the Department of Energy. The program is based on the Energy Policy Act of 2005. 

Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman has invited 16 project sponsors, who submitted pre-applications last fall, to submit full applications for loan guarantees.....

....Solyndra, Inc. - California Manufacture of efficient thin-film photovoltaic modules....

Yet Republicans like Joe Barton want to blame everything on the Obama administration. 

Gerrymandering?

* Third Eye Blind has released a song, If There Ever Was A Time, through their Facebook page.  The song is about the Occupy Wall Street Movement.  According to Raw Story, Third Eye Blind, has encouraged people to share the song.  It is also available on YouTube:





Surprise!  The Wall Street millionaires are getting help to fight back the 99%.

MSNBC:

A well-known Washington lobbying firm with links to the financial industry has proposed an $850,000 plan to take on Occupy Wall Street and politicians who might express sympathy for the protests, according to a memo obtained by the MSNBC program “Up w/ Chris Hayes.”

The proposal was written on the letterhead of the lobbying firm Clark Lytle Geduldig & Cranford and addressed to one of CLGC’s clients, the American Bankers Association.

CLGC’s memo proposes that the ABA pay CLGC $850,000 to conduct “opposition research” on Occupy Wall Street in order to construct “negative narratives” about the protests and allied politicians. The memo also asserts that Democratic victories in 2012 would be detrimental for Wall Street and targets specific races in which it says Wall Street would benefit by electing Republicans instead....

The rich have to hire lobbyists to fight off the 99%??????  That is pretty amazing. 

>>>>> The gerrymandering done by the Ohio Republicans in order to create new maps for redistricting, is drawing a lot of attention.  After further study, many people have noticed that one particular Republican will benefit from the new lines.


CantonRep.:

When Republicans in the Ohio General Assembly approved new congressional districts in September, the new map not only split Stark County into three districts, it also established district lines in unexpected places in southwest Canton....

....It’s not a coincidence that three Timken plants, part of Timken headquarters and its Timken technology center in Jackson Township, are in the 16th District.

Ohio House Republican spokesman Mike Dittoe said in an email: “The new map simply reflects the desire to continue to have the Timken facilities, a landmark staple of the 16th Congressional District in Northeast Ohio since at least the 1960s, continue (to) be represented by the 16th Congressional District. ... Rep. Renacci is also a member of the Congressional Steel Caucus; so it also makes sense to have the Timken facilities represented by someone who serves in that caucus.”

The Republicans have to protect the Timken people. Open Secrets reports that people associated with Timken Co. have contributed  $124,000 to Republican candidates in the election cycles of 2008, 2010, and 2012, and just over $5000 to Democratic candidates.

Don't Bother

Republican member of the Ohio House Mike Duffey, who continues to enthusiastically support Gov. John Kasich and SB5/Issue 2, has an E-Invite out for a fundraiser at the Sharon Township Memorial Hall on 11/29/11, from 6-8 pm.  Don't spend the money to support his campaign.  Instead, we should all work together to vote him out of office.

Duffey has stooped to complete laziness with this entry on his Facebook page:

Mike Duffey asked: Submit your ideas for bills I might sponsor in the legislature here and let your peers vote on them....

Share · November 14 at 6:07pm ·

Isn't he getting paid to come up with legislation?  Why should constituents do his work?

Vote Smart has Duffey's voting record which includes his vote in support of restrictions on abortions, SB 5, reducing school funding, etc.  Obviously, Duffey does not support the same ideals and goals of his constituents, and has taken a far right turn.

Jobs in Ohio?

*  Ohio's unemployment rate for October 2011 is now 9.0%, according to a report issued at the ODJFS.  In the previous month, the unemployment rate was 9.1%.

*  In the plan being proposed by Gov. John Kasich to lease/sell the Ohio Turnpike, no mention has been made of whether the state would also sell off/lease the fiber optic or communication lines that run under the turnpike.  Would someone else get that money other than the state? Apparently, the money from those lines is quite high.

* ONNtv has captured some remarks from Gov. Kasich:

"Look, I have a very good relationship with operating engineers. I mean when I'm at these plants, the UAW is there, yesterday it was the United Steelworkers. I mean, I come from a labor background. I'm always willing to listen," said Kasich.....

"I'll meet with any of the labor folks. Frankly they would be surprised how comfortable I am with them.  Because that's where I come from, not from the white collar CEO, but from a background that's blue collar and labor," said Kasich.

Have any of the unions received an invitation from the governor? Kasich's choice of words is odd when he said that unions "....would be surprised how comfortable I am with them..."  Why?  Then again, why would the unions want to meet with him?  He called union members thugs, he disparaged their work, their dedication, and lied repeatedly about their wages and benefits. I'd like to see an open, televised meeting, if he ever issues an invitation to anyone.

Thank President Obama!

New York Times:

Chrysler said Wednesday that it would add 1,100 jobs at a sport utility vehicle plant here as it spends $1.7 billion developing new models for its Jeep brand. 

The new jobs, to be filled in 2013, amount to more than half of the 2,100 that Chrysler committed to creating under the four-year labor agreement that its unionized workers ratified in October.....

If President Obama hadn't bailed out GM and Chrysler, those companies would not exist today.

Here is a little reminder from the Washington Monthly (May 10, 2011):

....Republicans hate Obama’s rescue of the American automotive industry, but love taking credit now that it’s a sterling success.....

....Kasich, like other Ohio Republicans, including House Speaker John Boehner, decried Obama’s rescue of the American automotive industry. The president said it would work, Kasich said it would not. Obama was right; Kasich was wrong....

Gov. John Kasich was against the bailouts but today is trying to take some credit for the jobs. By the way, those auto jobs are union jobs.  What does the anti-union Kasich think about that?

In other Ohio job news:

(1) A company that has been in business for 65 years will be closing, and 23 people will be jobless (see Toledo Blade and  Daily Job Cuts).

(2) The Rite Aid in Mayfield Heights is closing (see Patch and Daily Job Cuts).

.....................................

*****  Could Republican Rep. Steve Stivers be in trouble with voters?

ThinkProgress has the results of some recent polling by Hart Research to see how people felt about "....votes to block the cleanup of toxic pollution from incinerators and industrial boilers (HR 2250)...." (Those who voted "...to block the cleanup..." included Steve Stivers.)

ThinkProgress:

• Swing voter support for Steve Stivers dropped by a stunning 15 points between the pre-ad and post-ad polls, cutting his advantage over an unnamed opponent from a twenty point lead to a five point lead. At the same time, the percent of undecided voters increased by 15 points during the same period, landing at 53% undecided after the ad.
• Most swing voters – 53% say that knowing their Representative had voted to weaken clean air standards would cause them to feel less favorable toward the Rep – and 27% say this would make them feel much less favorable.
• Swing voters’ negative feelings toward Stivers went up by 6 points between pre- and post-ad polls. Of those voters who definitely recalled the ad, 28% viewed Stivers negatively....

Stivers continues to vote for bills that protect bankers and major polluters. The people in the 15th district should demand that he start working for people --- not corporations.

Defeated Kasich Alters Agenda

***  With his job approval rating in the toilet, Ohio Gov. John Kasich has changed his mind about some items on his agenda.

Insurancenewsnet:

At the end of a speech Tuesday in Lorain, Gov. John Kasich made a passing reference to his stinging defeat at the polls last week when voters overwhelmingly killed Senate Bill 5....

...No longer apparently on the front burner is major reform of Ohio's workers' compensation system, one of the things he named as a top priority upon taking office early this year.

Among the ideas discussed was the injection of a private insurance element to compete with the state-run insurance fund for injured workers.....


Insurance executives around Ohio will be weeping into their martinis.

****  Have you and your spouse been married a long time?  Gov. John Kasich is looking for you!
Coshoctontribune:

Long-married couples involved in their community have a chance to be recognized by the annual Joined Hearts in Giving.

Nominations are being accepted by the Ohio Department of Aging through Nov. 30.

Joined Hearts honors Ohio couples who have been married for at least 40 years and share a commitment not only to each other, but also to their community through volunteerism. 

Couples chosen will be honored at a special reception hosted by the department and Ohio first lady Karen Waldbillig Kasich in observance of Valentine's Day....

If you are one of the finalist couples selected, please wear your "No on Issue 2" button, and "Ted" buttons to the ceremony.

Ready, Set, Go...

Vice President Joe Biden was in Ohio today.
ABC News:

Vice President Joe Biden today officially kicked off the Obama re-election campaign in Ohio, rallying with Cleveland-area firefighters who last week helped to lead a successful repeal of the state’s controversial new collective bargaining rights law.

“Folks, you fired the first shot. It’s not about Barack Obama. It’s not about Joe Biden. It’s about whether middle-class people are going to be put back in the saddle again – because you are the people who make this country move,” Biden told the crowd of 500 in a Euclid firehouse, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer....

...Since April, when Obama announced his bid for a second term, more than 6,000 Ohio volunteers have enlisted to support Obama, organizing more than 3,700 events across the state, according to the campaign.....

Well done!

*** The Ohio Republicans are moving forward with a bill which will take even more money from Ohio's public school districts.  Plunderbund has all the dirty details on House Bill 136 which, according to Plunderbund, ----

...To clarify, that means that the amount of tuition a student will receive through the HB 136 PACT voucher program is between $2,282 and $4,563.  The student’s home school district, however, will ALWAYS be hit with a $5703.90 deduction in funding for each student awarded a voucher.  The remaining amount, a minimum of $1,140.90, will then be “retained by the state” instead of being returned to the district.

This is merely one more backhanded attempt by the legislature is using to try and de-fund public schools in Ohio.....

Read the complete post over at Plunderbund. I wonder how much property taxes would go up with this Republican plan to steal money from public school.

>>>> If you are a Republican and thinking about Newt Gingrich as the party's nominee, you might want to read the PoliticalGuide article about Newt. You might also want to read some articles from the NY Times from 1995-97 on the various ethics problems Gingrich had in the U.S. House of Representatives.