Ohio Republicans obviously don't see anything wrong with a proposed party bar for inside the Statehouse. Even though it appeared that all systems were go for adding the bar, there has been a halt to the project.
Dispatch:
...The Capitol Square Review and Advisory Board decided yesterday to slow down a proposal to allow the sale of alcohol to lawmakers and the public from a Statehouse cafe on weekday evenings....
...The board announced last month that it signed a new contract with Milo's Catering and Banquet Services to take over operation of the Capitol Cafe, located in the lower level of the 150-year-old building. The announcement said that the cafe would include a "full-service" bar with flat-screen televisions that would be open for private functions and the general public at times to be determined.....
Some in the Statehouse just don't get how this bar looks to the public. While the Republican controlled legislature has stripped people of their rights to be involved in collective bargaining, decreased funding for Medicaid patients in nursing homes, cut funding to public schools, fired people in various departments within the state government, given away millions of dollars of tax cuts to business cronies, the Republicans come up with a stupid idea to saunter up to a bar, drink, and be merry. This all just does not look good to the people of Ohio.
* The unemployment rate has increased in Ohio, according to the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services news release of July 22, 2011.
JFS:
Ohio's unemployment rate was 8.8 percent in June, up from 8.6 percent in May, according to data released this morning by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS).....
>>>> Nate Silver, in the NY Times, reports about Republican governors:
....Moderate Republican governors, a thriving species before last year’s elections, are all but extinct.....
...The unsurprising result is that Republicans now have a group of extremely unpopular governors — particularly Mr. Scott of Florida, Scott Walker of Wisconsin, John R. Kasich of Ohio and Paul R. LePage of Maine, all of whom have disapproval ratings exceeding 50 percent. Other Republican governors in crucial swing states like Michigan and Pennsylvania also have below-average ratings....
....It suggests that the party has become uninterested in appealing to swing voters — and that the voters are starting to notice....
Those of us in Ohio are quite aware of the fact that our governor just doesn't care what the people think. As he continues to take away our rights, while he rewards rich buddies with tax breaks, John Kasich has become a pariah, to moderate Republicans, Independents, all Democrats, women, public school children, the elderly, those that work with the poor, and the average worker. John Kasich and his supporters have one god----money.