Votevets has the details:
...This plan will also punish veterans - harshly - and it's important that you spread the word on how it will do so.....
- Veterans who rely on Medicaid would not escape cuts either. The Republican plan could slash $1.4 trillion in health benefits over the next ten years. Forty-four states are already facing significant budget shortfall in Fiscal Year 2012,and the cuts could force the state to either ration health care benefits for veterans across the country, restrict eligibility rules and leave thousands uninsured, including veterans, or raise taxes to cover the shortfall.
- Finally, many veterans rely on private insurance, mostly through their employer. Because Republicans want to repeal the recent health insurance law, these veterans will no longer have guaranteed access to health insurance regardless of pre-existing conditions and may see annual or lifetime caps on coverage under the Republican budget.....
*** Mother Jones has an article about the Kasich/Republican bill, SB 5. The article explains what some teachers will face, and in particular, the public school teacher interviewed by the writer.
Mother Jones:
....Here's what's troublesome for her in the budget: a requirement that schools receiving federal Race to the Top grants ditch their longstanding experience- and education-based pay system in favor of an alternative, like merit-based pay. Erin's school is a Race to the Top school. While she signed on to her job with the impression that her future salary level would be guaranteed by a predetermined schedule, this provision means cash-strapped school administrators could decide that, based on some as-yet-to-be-determined criteria, her salary should be $10,000 or $20,000 less than it currently is. Normally, Erin's union could likely prevent any arbitrary salary changes or advocate on her behalf. But the Ohio legislature recently passed Senate Bill 5, a Wisconsin-y anti-collective-bargaining law that will render her union effectively powerless......
.....The organizers needed about 230,000 to get the SB 5 repeal on the ballot. They got 1,298,301. "We can't guarantee anything," said a spokeswoman for We Are Ohio, the campaign driving the effort, "but we're confident with the amount of signatures we've collected that we have a lot of support on our side."
Despite the fact that we will get the referendum on the ballot, we still cannot assume that everyone that supports the repeal will be able to cast a vote. With the new roadblocks to voting instituted by the Ohio Republicans, many voters could be turned away, and prevented from voting for the repeal.
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**** Republican Rep. Steve Stivers (OH-15th), a former bank lobbyist, is doing his part to dismantle the banking regulations legislation that were passed after the Wall Street meltdown in 2008 and 2009. Stivers, who appears allergic to banking regulations, environmental regulations, and laws protecting Medicaid, has even sponsored legislation that tears apart laws put in place to protect consumers against unscrupulous bankers. Stivers, and some other Republicans, are being rewarded for their efforts.
BNET:
Although Goldman Sachs (GS) has long advanced its interests by stuffing money in politicians’ pockets, it has historically stepped more lightly in directly shaping public policy. No more. With government regulators now crafting hundreds of rules to implement the Dodd-Frank financial reform law, the investment bank is building a powerful lobbying arm in Washington.....
......Goldman has recently steered much of its giving to newly elected House Republicans, for instance, while other banks have also stepped up their contributions. The freshmen, who include lawmakers such as Reps. Michael Grim, R-N.Y., David Schweikert, R-Ariz., and Steve Stivers, R-Ohio, have duly sponsored bills to weaken Dodd-Frank. That alliance between incoming legislators, especially ones hailing from key electoral districts, and deep-pocketed financial firms is being directed by top GOP officials, notes one prominent Republican operative......
What a surprise! Not! You send a former bank lobbyist to Congress and he gets friendly contributions from bankers and bank lobbyists!!!!! What did you expect? Where are the jobs he was going to deliver? Anyone? Anyone?
* Did you know that some Republicans who are interested in cutting Medicaid and giving tax cuts to the rich, also receive farm subsidies from the federal government???? The EWG Farm Subsidy Database has details:
Jean D. Schmidt of Milford, Ohio (Republican Rep. OH-2): William White Farm
Robert B. Gibbs of Lakeville, Ohio (Republican Rep. OH-18): Hidden Hollow Farm
Check to see if someone you know in government is receiving a farm subsidy:
http://farm.ewg.org/search.php?fips=00000®ionname=UnitedStatesFarmSubsidySummary
**** Rachel Maddow just cited an NBC Wall Street News poll that shows that 81% of Americans support a millionaire surtax. Take that, John Boehner.
>>>> Is anyone else bothered by the fact that Republicans swear allegiance to Grover Norquist, a person with no government ties? Why are they so afraid of him?