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Issue 2 Then And Now

A year ago, voters rejected State Issue 2 by a 61.6% to 38.4% margin.  A month ago, voters rejected State Issue 2 by a 63.2% to 36.8% margin.

They were two completely different issues, with almost identical results, and one more thing in common: union special interests were involved in both.  In 2011, Big Labor backed the "No" vote, and ended up with the win.  This year, they were asking for a "Yes" vote, and fell flat on their faces.

So why the huge difference?  Put simply... spending.

Thoughts and Prayers with Newtown, CT

AP Photo/Charles Krupa

Yesterday, tragedy struck at Sandy Hook Elementary. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families.

The teachers, law enforcement officers and rescue workers are heroes. The stories being shared about the courageous acts of the teachers is nothing short of remarkable. A custodian ran through the halls warning teachers and students, a teacher ushered her students into a bathroom to hide them from the suspect, and Victoria Soto, lost her life shielding her students from the suspect.

This is not the time to discuss politics of gun laws. This individual carried out an intent that appears to be pre-meditated. Some news outlets are stating that the individual responsible was mentally ill or had some form of autism. The conversation that needs to occur is about changing the culture in this country and helping those that are mentally ill.

As a nation, we need to come together and make sure those families affected by this tragedy in Sandy Hook know that they are not alone. Many individuals have started funds to help those affected.  May God Bless the victims, and may he comfort those who are affected.

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Kasich gets good news but also room for improvement in latest poll

Quinnipiac University released an Ohio poll yesterday, so let's take a look at where John Kasich stands with the gubernatorial election still almost two years away.

The poll's top line shows their highest approval rating for Kasich to date, but there is also some more catching up to do in the next couple of years.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich has a 42 - 35 percent job approval, the first time since his inauguration in 2011 that registered voters have given him a thumbs-up rating, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. Gov. Kasich seems to be benefitting from high levels of satisfaction among Ohio voters with life in the Buckeye State.

But the governor does not deserve a second term, voters tell the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll by an almost identical 43 - 36 percent margin. All voters say 44 - 37 percent that another Republican should challenge the governor for the 2014 nomination. By 45 - 41 percent, self-described Republicans say no other Republican should challenge Kasich.

First off, those reelect numbers are obviously not where the administration wants to be. More on that later. Let's move to the positives in this poll.

Unions: Ending forced unionism is like Pearl Harbor

On December 7th, 1941, the U.S. was attacked by Japan, thrusting us into World War II. That attack devastated our Pacific naval fleet, killed 2,402 people and injured thousands more. The subsequent war with Japan would cost hundreds of thousands more American lives, not to mention millions of Japanese.

Recently, we've been told by Ohio and national Big Labor leaders that an equally horrifying and costly event has taken place.

Witness the horror that is the freedom to choose whether you want to join a union or not. Last week, Media Trackers Ohio reported that the union group "We Are Ohio" compared Right-to-Work legislation in Michigan to Pearl Harbor.

Unions deploy their best argument for forced unionism in Michigan: violence

Alternate title: this is what union thuggery looks like.

As the Michigan legislature finalized plans to make Michigan a right-to-work state, and Governor Rick Snyder prepared to sign it into law, thousands of union protesters gathered in Lansing. They brought their most thought out and reasonable and civil debate points with them, right?

Yeah right. They did what unions usually do when you ask them to explain why they believe workers should be forced to join. They use their fists.

Watch one of them attack conservative comic Steven Crowder. Another brave union thug even comes back, grabs his collar from behind and sucker punches him. Finally, the thugs tear down the AFP tent and collapse it while there are still people in it, including women and children.

Obama Ready To Throw Middle Class Americans Over The Fiscal Cliff

If there's one thing President Barack Obama has made clear in the discussions surrounding the fiscal cliff, it's that he's not budging on increasing taxes on "those making $250,000 or more."  Of course, the problem with that logic is the hundreds of thousands of businesses who are structured as pass-through entities (S-Corp's) that will be drastically affected with such an absurd proposal.  Many S-Corporations are some of the biggest job creators in Ohio and throughout the nation--employing millions of middle class Americans--but apparently Obama doesn't much care if they get hit.

Or, to put it another way, in order to screw "the rich," Obama is willing to throw the middle class over the fiscal cliff.

Just ask his Treasury Secretary:

"If Republicans do not agree to that, is the administration prepared to go over the fiscal cliff?" 

[Geithner] "Absolutely. We see no prospect for an agreement that doesn't involve those rates going up..."

Congressman Tim Ryan arrested for public drunkenness

Congressman Moonbeam is back in the news. Remember this guy? He's the congressman from Ohio who thinks the answer to our problems is to...meditate with raisins.

A Plain Dealer article from Saturday goes into more detail, but the idea of staring at a raisin comes from one of the first exercises behind this way of thinking. A student gazes at a raisin and holds it to their lips without eating it then they squeeze the raisin to hear its sound. By the time they actually eat the raisin they are aware of all of the sensory urges that it elicits. Apparently the awareness is the lesson.

Today, the Washington Post reported that Tim Ryan was arrested in Virginia in August for stumbling around in public in a state of apparent intoxication.

Green activist who wants you to live like a caveman visits Columbus

The following is a guest-submitted post.

On Tuesday, Columbus hosted one of the most prominent green activists today, Bill McKibben, on his nationwide “Do The Math” tour. For most of his career, McKibben has acknowledged the widespread deprivation his agenda would cause and tried to put a happy spin on it, but that’s not the message he brought to the Capitol Theater.

McKibben is on the attack full-time now, and his argument, on its face, is that it would be risky to use even a fraction of the world’s known fossil fuel reserves, so we should divest from fossil fuel companies.

But does his plan even make sense?

The top 10 companies with the largest oil and gas reserves in the world, with 71 percent of proven reserves, are all owned by governments like Iran and Venezuela. Divestment from investor-owned American companies wouldn’t solve more than a tiny fraction of the problem, it would just give foreign state-owned industries the upper hand.

As Ohioans know, those American companies are investing heavily in production of natural gas, the use of which is a substantial part of the reason U.S. emissions have been dropping.