Ohio etches "NO to Obamacare" on its Constitution

Voting YES on Issue 3 today was personally satisfying. Several of us at 3BP were involved in collecting the signatures needed to put the Health Care Freedom Amendment on the ballot.

We don't believe that the government has the power to compel a person to purchase a product, just because they exist.

Fully 2/3 of Ohioans agreed today. The Obamacare mandate is now unconstitutional in Ohio.

That doesn't bode well for Barack Obama or Sherrod Brown in 2012.

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Issue 2 defeated.

Alternate headline: here come the layoffs and the tax hikes!

Watch how many public employees, including lots of firefighters and police officers, are laid off in the not too distant future.

Kevin OBrien from the Plain Dealer said it well:

Advice to low-on-the-totem-pole union members: Don't bother celebrating. Do get your resumes in order.

Indeed.

While voters may have supported you on this issue, I'm betting in the vast majority of cases that they will NOT support you by voting for higher taxes to pay your increasingly expensive and generous benefits.

Voters had three choices: reform, higher taxes or layoffs. Since I see most school levies are failing, it looks like they chose "layoffs". It didn't have to be like this.

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Keepin' it classy over there

Well, the polls have closed and everybody is waiting on the returns coming in. The polls have been showing bad news on Issue 2 and good news on Issue 3. In the meantime, check out some of the elevated discourse coming from the We Are Ohio folks on Twitter.

Looks like someone let Redfern run the Twitter account today...

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Obligatory election day "Go vote!" post

Go vote YES on Issues 2 and 3!  Make sure your spouse and other family does too.



http://twitter.com/Bytor3BP

Cincinnati is broke, but pays out six figure checks for unused sick time and leave

The city of Cincinnati is broke.

Their 2011 budget includes a $55 million deficit.  Part of the problem is that Cincinnati public employees enjoy some of the most generous perks in the state.

The City Council-approved contracts include benefits that, among other things, permit manyworkers to draw 13 sick days a year, grant three weeks' worth of compensatory time to public safety employees for holidays whether they work them or not, and entitle veteran police officers to nearly 10½ weeks of various leaves annually.

That's bad enough, but here's what makes it even worse. These employees can save up all those days, and cash them in when they retire or leave for another job. It isn't rare for these payouts to be over six figures.

Help Ohio Fight Union Bosses and Obamacare!

From 2000-2010, Ohio lost 595,200 private industry jobs, faring better than only Michigan and California. In 2010 the state had the 7th-highest tax burden and 47th-best business climate. Although Governor Kasich has been working since January to get Ohio back on track, the forces of statism are deeply entrenched.

As public record proves, many of these folks get rich portraying big government as a moral imperative:

Unions Don't Care About Taxpayers

Back when the professional staff of the Ohio Education Association (OEA) had an official blog, this endearing quote from Socialist author Jack London was featured in the right column of every page:

“Esau was a traitor to himself: Judas Iscariot was a traitor to his God; Benedict Arnold was a traitor to his country; a strikebreaker is a traitor to his God, his country, his wife, his family and his class.”

Did you know the rough-and-tumble business of taking six figures from teachers to demonize school boards and extort taxpayers was like the 19th-century Canadian tundra? Yeah, neither did I.

Now We're Talking Turkey!

For months "We Are Ohio" and their union allies have boasted about their thousands of 'volunteers'.  It's the basis of their claim to being a grassroots group.  But these unions have always had a funny definition of the word 'volunteer'.  Their army of 'volunteers' are actually people paid for their time.  They previously spent nearly one million dollars on signature gathering, and with the election drawing to a close they have a new way to pay for people's time.

Take a Walk - Get a Turkey!

BLS confirms 43% wage gap between public and private sector

Both the pro-reform Building a Better Ohio, and the anti-reform unions have been touting different studies that seek to compare the average wages for the public sector versus the private sector.

On the anti-reform side, the unions have been promoting a study performed by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). The EPI study says that public employees earn 6% less than their private-sector counterparts. Hardly neutral, the EPI is decidedly pro-union and very liberal. Lawrence Mishel, EPI's President, is a long-time member of the Democratic Socialists of America.

Furthermore, their study was written by Rutgers Professor Jeffrey Keefe. If you recall, we featured a story about Keefe in which he was recorded agreeing to kill research that didn't come to a conclusion that the teachers' union wanted. He also admitted that EPI definitely has an agenda.

All of that makes EPI's study less than trustworthy.

Pre-Kasich Deficit Forecasts: The $2000 Club

In the union universe where We Are Ohio represents mainstream voters, there are two types of people: those who support limitless power for government union bosses, and evil fat-cats eager to throw Ohio schoolchildren off a cliff. Advocates of smaller government are shunned as racist yokels while the useless hipsters of Occupy Wall Street are heroes for standing up to the man.

Governor Kasich, elected last fall to get Ohio back on track after years of mismanagement, is the perfect recipient for union blame when it comes to local budget problems. He even worked for Lehman Brothers! The breathless protest signs write themselves.

However, reality in Ohio (as everywhere else) is cruel to the Progressive mindset. Check out the cost per citizen of these school districts’ projected 2015 deficits… based on forecasts submitted October 2010:

Cuyahoga Heights Local School District	$3,388
Canal Winchester Local School District	$3,139
Mogadore Local School District	$2,708
Ottawa Hills Local School District	$2,569
Pickerington Local School District	$2,369
Spencerville Local School District	$2,132
Olentangy Local School District	$2,121
Lordstown Local School District	$2,110
Licking Heights Local School District	$2,021

Shortfalls projected in October 2010 weren’t limited to this list; out of just over 600 districts, 59 warned of deficits amounting to $1,000 or more for every resident. 260 districts estimated 2015 deficits amounting to $500 or more per resident. See the forecasts for your county here.

Employees have "No confidence" in teachers' union boss

There’s something union front We Are Ohio doesn’t want you to know about their largest donor, the Ohio Education Association: OEA has such a history of internal strife, it’s obvious OEA bosses are awful negotiators. This is a tiny problem for people who siphon millions from teachers on the strength of their negotiating skills, don’t you think?

Signs placed by OEA staff during a 2010 strike encouraged their Executive Director to kill himself

I’ve covered in depth the unlovely things OEA staff have said about union bosses, but they pale compared to this:

PROFESSIONAL STAFF VOTES “NO CONFIDENCE” IN EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
The 110 member Professional Staff Union (PSU) has voted overwhelmingly “…to declare a lack of confidence in the Executive Director of the Ohio Education Association to lead the professional staff or to implement the program of the Ohio Education Association effectively.”

Emphasis in the May 31, 2010 original (view as PDF), which I printed from an official OEA staff blog before it vanished from public view weeks after I began sharing quotes. Coincidence!

Democrats still pushing lies about public union benefits even after they're debunked. *UPDATED*

A few weeks ago, we told you about Doug Stern, who was traveling around the state lying to the media about what he pays for health insurance.

Stern said that as a Cincinnati firefighter, he also pays 20 percent toward his health-care premiums. A 2011 survey by the State Employment Relations Board showed that, on average, public employees are paying between 9.5 and 11  percent of their health-care premiums.

The problem for the media is that they printed what he said and reported it as fact. When the Columbus Dispatch found out, they printed a correction.

Cincinnati firefighters pay 5 percent of their health-insurance premiums. Because of incorrect information provided to The Dispatch, a story on Page B1 of Wednesday’s Metro & State section included a different percentage.

That should've been the end of the story. Unfortunately, it isn't. Democrats and activists for We Are Ohio will say ANYTHING to get you to vote against the needed reforms in Issue 2.

Show up to work stoned? No problem for some Ohio public union employees.

Part of the purpose of Senate Bill 5 is to keep local government officials from giving away the store and costing taxpayers unnecessary funds.  This gets to the root of the main difference between who is negotiating with private-sector and public-sector unions.

Private-sector unions sit across the table from a for-profit business. A business has to operate on its profits or go out of business. They aren't likely to give too much away, because they are in some way personally invested. On the other hand, public-sector unions are negotiating with elected officials. While most are good managers of the public's money, some are not. Elected official have no personal stake at risk, no "skin in the game", since they are negotiating with the public's money. Other people's money. Unlike a private company, you need not have experience or success to earn that management position, you simply have to get elected. As we've seen only too well with President Downgrade, getting elected doesn't make you a good leader.

With Friends Like These...

Yesterday we let you know that "We Are Ohio" is bringing in admitted communist Van Jones to support their efforts to defeat Issue 2.  Today the left brought in yet another class warfare warrior with communist sympathies.

Jesse Jackson.  

Having previously visited Ohio during the legislative debate over Senate Bill 5, Jackson came back today at the invitation of the American Association of University Professors union's chapter at the University of Toledo.

Lancaster mayor who laid off firefighters says Issue 2 won't help, wants higher taxes instead

The city of Lancaster recently closed one of its firehouses, after laying off 13 firefighters.

LANCASTER -- Engine House 3 has been shut down indefinitely, and Lancaster will have just two firehouses covering a city of 18.84 square miles and more than 37,000 people.

"It's going to be a very fluid situation with all these changes going on," said Lancaster Fire Assistant Chief Dave Ward.

The layoffs took effect on Monday. Engine 3 and Medic 3 are being stored at Engine House 3, 1596 E. Main St.

A huge tarp was put across Engine House 3, saying it was closed and that if you have an emergency need, call 911.

What's more, Mayor David S. Smith is asking for an increase in the city's income tax.

Alternative to Issue 2? $1500 Local Deficits

Inconveniently for the union bosses fighting to kill Senate Bill 5, school district budget forecasts are public record. So, when the people who get rich driving up the cost of government try to blame local deficits on Governor Kasich, it’s easy to disprove their lie. Government unions have put pressure on Ohio taxpayers for years, and there are reams of data to support this fact.

My previous post listed 21 Ohio school districts whose October 2010 forecasts warned of 2015 deficits amounting to $1,200 – $1,500 per resident. As I noted, those districts aren’t the worst examples:

• Beavercreek City School District: $1,827
• South Range Local School District: $1,742
• Mason City School District: $1,689
• Adams County/Ohio Valley Local School District: $1,678
• Wilmington City School District: $1,652
• Strongsville City School District: $1,593
• Little Miami Local School District: $1,576
• Warrensville Heights City School District: $1,529

Based on Census Bureau records, every resident of these 8 districts would have to pay more than $1,500 to cover projected deficit costs – and these are not outliers. In 2010, just over 600 school districts submitted five-year forecasts to the Ohio Department of Education. More than 450 districts forecast deficits amounting to at least $100 per resident.

If the union smear campaign wins and Issue 2 is defeated, what options will elected leaders have for dealing with these deficits? Massive tax hikes, widespread layoffs, severe program cuts… or all of the above. Government union reform will restore a little power from unabashed class-warriors to the local officials we elect. Vote Yes on Issue 2!

For more Issue 2 coverage, follow me on Twitter: @jasonahart
Cross-posted from that hero.

"We Are Ohio" bringing in admitted communist Van Jones

Over the past few weeks, we have brought your attention to how the unions behind the front group "We Are Ohio" are intertwined with the radical socialist/communist movement in America.

First, we laid out for you who funds the vast majority of We Are Ohio's campaign, and how they have expressed not only support, but coordination and accomodations for the "Occupy" movement, which is made up almost entirely of socialists who want to overthrow the American economy.

Then, we showed you that their "Statewide Youth Outreach Coordinator" is deeply involved in the "Occupy" protests around Ohio, and openly decribes himself as a "revolutionary" whose goal is to implement communism in America.

Now, "We Are Ohio" is hosting an official event with another radical self-admitted communist. Van Jones.

Ohio dodged a bullet when Kasich killed the slow-speed train

Bad pun definitely intended.

Time and time again, these feel good rail project end up increasing in cost many times over.  The latest example comes out of California.

Faster than a speeding bullet train, the cost of the state's massive high-speed rail project has zoomed to nearly $100 billion -- triple the estimate given to voters and more than enough to run the entire state government for a year.

We Are Ohio still standing with "Occupy" vermin

Previously on 3BP, we've highlighted how "We Are Ohio" stands hand in hand with the socialist vermin behind the "Occupy Wall Street" movement, even employing a self-described communist revolutionary.

They don't seem to apologize for this relationship, and in fact, are continuing it. This week, several members of the teachers union will lock arms with the fleabaggers and encourage you to vote no on Issue 2.

The Cost of Voting No on 2

Opponents of the reforms in Issue 2 blame busted local budgets on the way Governor Kasich handled the $8 billion deficit Ted Strickland left behind. In effect, government union bosses who thrive on a broken status quo insist the problem is too little spending. Like all leftists who decry spending cuts, union bosses want to raise our taxes.

For proof, consider Ohio school districts’ five-year forecasts from October 2010. Based on papered-over Strickland state figures – before Governor Kasich was even elected – districts projected major shortfalls by 2015. If we vote down Issue 2, how will local leaders cover these deficits? Layoffs, higher taxes, program cuts… choose any combination of the three.