While Teddy yaps, taxpayer dollars get funnelled to unions

While College Democrats and Ted Strickland nip like an annoying chihuahua at the heels of John Kasich over the compensation he earned, and OSU defends, for teaching students at OSU, real life is creeping up on the Governor.

Yes, Ohio's facing its 16th straight month of double-digit employment, but now Strickland also has to contend with yet more problems stemming from the School Facilities fiasco.

If you'll recall, Ted Strickland appointed Richard Murray to head the OSFC specifically because of his ties to big labor. But a recent Ohio Inspector General's report said, Murray "abused his authority by repeatedly acting as a go-between for union representatives and participating in arm-twisting sessions with local school districts."

After the report came out, Murray said he's allowed to discount taxpayers' best interests and show bias in favor of unions.

And through it all, Ted Strickland said Murray has his full support.

Well, it turns out that Murray's bias almost cost taxpayers millions of dollars that didn't need to be spent.

The architecture firm that designed improvements for the state deaf and blind schools said the Ohio School Facilities Commission signed off on cost estimates four times, then decided to add a union-only construction clause that probably drove the cost of bids way past the budgeted amount.

The cost impact of the pro-union "project labor agreement" wasn't included in any of the estimates that were sent out for bids, according to a written statement from Andrew Maletz, vice president of SHP Leading Design.

The only way to know how much the PLA added to the cost would be to get rid of it, said Rachel Miller, a public-relations consultant for the firm. "It is a suggestion," she said.

State and union officials have said that the design might explain why the bids came back $11.4 million over the $28 million general-construction budget.

This is downright disgusting.

While Strickland complains about teaching gigs that were funded by private dollars, Strickland's cronies are trying to divert millions of your dollars to unions.

Why? So Unions can turnaround and give Strickland campaign donations right back.

How much have they given him? By my count, about $1,938,610.86.

Ohio, throw the bum out.