The New Ohio Congressional Map

Thanks to Ohio Capital Blog for the map. Of course, this is just a proposal right now. But with GOP control of the legislature, it probably will remain as is.

Go to Ohio Capital Blog's post to see each individual district close up.

My initial reaction to the new map was "whoa". Its more aggressive than I expected.

They had to get rid of 2 seats. I figured they would eliminate one current Democrat and one current Republican seat. They did that. But the new map solidifies the districts and makes them much less competitive. They did this with Democrat seats as well as the Republican ones.

For example, a new district has been created that is wholly within Franklin County. Being a completely urban district, it will obviously be a Democrat seat for the next 10 years. How does this help Republicans? Previously, there were 3 districts that had portions of Franklin County. By removing the blue, urban portions from these 3 districts, they become much easier to defend for Republicans. This is especially good news for Stivers and Tiberi, as their districts are almost completely suburban and rural, much friendlier to Republicans.

Its not so good news for Steve Austria, however. His district was merged with Michael Turner's. They will have to face each other in a primary.

Another example is my current district, the 9th, represented by Marcy Kaptur. It was already deep blue. Kaptur has held the seat for 30 years, is the longest serving Ohio representative, and the longest serving woman in Congress. Now, however, its even more impossible for a Republican to win.

It currently includes Toledo, but also rural and suburban areas to the west (most of Lucas county). Plus it includes the blue counties of Ottawa and Erie, and finally, western and southern Lorain County. Lorain County is also very blue, but NOT the western and southern parts that Kaptur represents. These areas of Lorain County are suburban and mostly rural. With the exception of the smelly hippies in Oberlin, its conservative territory. In 2010, Rich Iott actually beat Marcy Kaptur in Lorain County. But she clobbered him in Lucas, Ottawa and Erie.

Now, look at the NEW 9th. It runs along northern Lorain County, then is connected to the west side of Cleveland by a tiny strip. Also, the rural and suburban areas in Lucas County around Toledo have been removed, leaving only urban Toledo. I predict this district will vote Democrat by a 30 point margin for the next 10 years. It doesnt even include the western suburbs of greater Cleveland. Those were put into Republican Jim Renacci's new district.

Of course, this means Dennis Kucinich would have to run in a primary against Kaptur if he wants to keep his seat. He would beat her in Cuyahoga County, but she would kill him in the rest of the district. Seeya Dennis.

Currently Ohio's delegation is 13 GOP to 5 Democrats, after a red wave election. Of the current 18, 6 or 7 were competitive and could swing either way. I think this new map leaves 2 or 3 realistically contested districts. The rest are solid red or blue. We're probably looking at keeping a Republican to Democrat advantage of 12-4 or 11-5 for the next 10 years. 10-6 at the worst.

And, of course, that was the whole idea. Is it gerrymandering? Of course. Is it partisan? Of course. Would the Democrats do the same if they had control? Don't doubt it for a second. Nationwide, both parties do it. Illinois has some crazy shaped districts, and I don't have to tell you what party controls things in that state.

Elections have consequences. They have even more consequences in years that are divisible by ten.

P.S. On a purely personal note, I did get my wish. Southern Lorain County was drawn out of Marcy Kaptur's district. Her district has been really stretched thin, all the way into western Cuyahoga County, meaning Dennis Kucinich would have to face her in a primary to keep his seat. My new rep is...Bob Gibbs? Didn't see that coming. Seeya Marcy!

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OEA: "Even in this economy, don't take concessions"

The Ohio Education Association (OEA) is Ohio’s largest government union and the biggest in-state donor to union front We Are Ohio. Accompanying their cynical “solidarity” rhetoric, union apologists point to slight concessions made since Senate Bill 5 passed, insisting Senate Bill 5 is unneeded.

Before going on strike against OEA just one year ago, OEA employees represented by the Professional Staff Union (PSU) had this to say on August 6, 2009 [Update, 09-16-2011: Here's a PDF copy, since union staff have blocked access to the website]:

The Professional Staff Union is bargaining its contract with the OEA.  So far, there have been 4 bargaining sessions, all of which have been disappointing and unproductive.  The OEA bargaining team has not brought a single counter proposal to the table so far.

Emphasis in the original. It gets worse:

Is this how OEA should act as a union? Absolutely not. Disappointing? Absolutely.

Especially when earlier this year, at its Collective Bargaining Conference in January, OEA was telling you to “bargain hard” stating that “even in this economy, don’t take concessions,” “if the district has money, get it while it’s there” and, “if you can’t get money, at least get language.” Apparently, OEA believes that’s what’s good for you, but not for the Professional Staff who work tirelessly for you & your members.

OEA fights to avoid providing the benefits they demand for members, while as recently as 2009 the union was instructing locals to squeeze taxpayers for all they could. In 2009, Ted Strickland was governor and the sensible reforms of Senate Bill 5 would have been unheard of. I’m sure that’s a coincidence.

Here’s a table that follows the above quotes from OEA staff -

On November 8, vote for sensible reforms to the power of union bosses who demonize elected officials while playing hardball with their own employees. Vote Yes on Issue 2!

...If you need it, there’s plenty more proof that OEA should not be trusted.

Follow me on Twitter: @jasonahart

Cross-posted at that hero.

Never forget

"One of the lessons of 9/11 is that evil is real. And so is courage." -George W. Bush







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A Speech is Not a Plan

Thursday was President Obama's address to Congress and the nation on his latest "jobs plan".  For the better part of 3 years Obama has tried and failed in his efforts to re-energize the American economy, now he looks to introduce yet another potential solution.  And he wants his plan passed.  Just in case anyone in Congress didn't know that Obama supports Obama's "American Jobs Act", he told them to pass it.  Not once, not twice, but seventeen times.

To reinforce the message that they do indeed want their proposal passed, White House adviser Valerie Jarrett went on MSNBC and said the same thing.  While that's the official White House message, it's what Jarrett admitted after saying Congress should pass their plan immediately.  Turns out the plan hasn't been written yet. To quote Jarrett:

The President is going to draft the legislation, make the job a little easier for Congress and send it up there next week.

Next week?  This plan is something the Obama administration has been talking about publicly for weeks, and surely had been contemplating privately before that, yet instead of coming to Congress and the American people with the bill in his hand ready to go Obama gave us a general outline of a plan.  There's nothing on paper, no specific points to debate or have the CBO analyze, yet the mantra is to pass this currently nonexistent bill.  Obama's taken a page out of the Wimpy playbook: he will gladly give us a plan next week for agreements to pass it today.

One of the few specific promises from Obama's speech was that his bill will be fully paid for.  It's possible it will be, but it won't be done by Obama.  Rather than take a stand and announce that he will make the cuts necessary to make this deficit neutral, the President passed the buck to the super-committee of 12.  Obama has tasked the members, already charged with reducing the deficit $1.5 trillion over the next 10 years, with finding another 447 billion in reductions in order to make his own plan deficit neutral.  I'm all for reducing the deficit, but for Obama to claim that telling someone else to make the cuts is paying for the bill is grossly irresponsible.

This current proposal is just the latest example of a Presidency with far more style than substance.  Only a President so devoted to style could insist upon Congress passing a bill that doesn't even exist yet, or claim to be paying for their plan by asking others to do that work for them.  Like so many other actions during this Presidency, Obama's "American Jobs Act" is designed to save exact one job in this nation: his own.

"We are Ohio" unions can't even be civil and respect a 9/11 memorial

Sunday is the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. As horrible as this atrocity was, one good thing that came out of it, for a little while at least, was a spirit of unity in America. As we shared our grief, we held hands together as fellow Americans, and not as Republicans or Democrats. That spirit has also been repeated during annual anniversaries since.

In Columbus, an annual memorial of roughly 3000 flags has been set up to honor the victims on the Ohio statehouse lawn. Watch the short video below.



That same spirit of unity was on display today between Governor John Kasich and Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman, at a memorial service the governor hosted today. The two men, one Democrat and one Republican, don't agree on much, and very publicly disagree with each other regarding Senate Bill 5. Yet, to honor the heroes and the victims of the tragedy, they put aside their differences and stood together. Joe Vardon reports:

Coleman, who spoke after Kasich introduced him to the crowd as “my friend,” said that “in the final analysis” of the effects of the Sept. 11 attacks, “we are no longer Democrat, we are no longer Republican, we are no longer white or black, Muslim, Jewish, or Christian.”

“We are Americans above all,” Coleman said. “That’s what 9-11 is all about.”

Coleman is right. It is what honoring 9/11 is all about.

Except, apparently, you are a public employee union. In that case, it doesn't mean a thing. Right after the service ended, they converged on the flag memorial, and used it as a protest grounds to chant anti-Kasich slogans.

How utterly inappropriate and disrespectful. Of course, they absolutely have the right to protest. No one would deny them that. But they could pick any day, and any location. Yet, they chose to mar a 9/11 memorial, immediately after a service honoring the victims. Disgusting.

To cap off the sadness of such a spectacle with humor, watch this SEIU goon explain how John Kasich deserves 100% of the blame for Ohio's slow economy right now, and how Barack Obama deserves...NONE! I know it's hard to listen to this guy blabber, but if you watch the whole thing, you'll also hear him reveal the unions' real goal. He says Kasich should have balanced the budget by raising taxes to fund their greed, instead of making spending cuts.

Shaky video courtesy Ohio Capital Blog

Hey unions. Your choice of timing and location here was not a coincidence. And it was a disgrace.

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The Plain Dealer still doesn't seem to get it

Tonight, we have another followup to our post on the obvious conflict of interest that the Plain Dealer had on its hands when columnist Connie Schultz was caught engaging in political activity while also researching for her column at an event attended by Josh Mandel, the likely challenger to her husband, Senator Sherrod Brown. No, I'm not going to beat up on Connie some more. Once exposed, she came out and admitted her mistakes.

This next issue involves Connie Schultz, but I expect this decision was made by the PD editorial staff. Below are scans of the print version from two of Schultz's recent columns. The first is from her August 31st column titled "Voter fraud is just a dark GOP fantasy". The second is her now infamous column in which she addressed her actions at the Tea Party rally, "Lesson learned".

Notice the difference?

There was a rumor that the Plain Dealer was going to stop putting the disclosure stating that Connie Schultz is married to Senator Sherrod Brown at the end of her columns. You would think that after this week's kerfluffle, they would have changed their minds about that, and kept the disclosure in place. Even Connie agrees with me.

You, the reader, should always be trusted to make up your own mind about whether my writing presents a conflict. That's why transparency matters. I am in the unique position of being a newspaper columnist married to a U.S. senator. My opinions are my own, but I must be ever vigilant to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest. I'm sorry I didn't let you know Mandel showed up.

...

As the U.S. Senate race progresses, the public scrutiny of me will only heighten. I have to be ever-vigilant to avoid even the appearance of a conflict. That means I'm going to have to mention my husband more often than I want.

I thought that removing the disclosure would be a bad idea, but removing it after what just happened is a really bad idea. You've just been stung in a conflict of interest where your top columnist had to devote an entire column to an apology, and your reaction is...less transparency about the situation?

If you're reading this blog, you are probably a politico like me, and already knew that Schultz was married to Brown. However, living in Northeast Ohio, I have had several people comment to me regarding one of Schultz's columns, who didn't know that. In every case, after I told them, their reaction was, "they should tell people that!"

And while I don't have the cached pages to prove it, I believe I recall seeing the disclosure on the online versions of her column in the past. But it certainly isn't there now. It should be.

The Plain Dealer, like many newspapers around the country, are suffering large losses in readership. Surveys have shown that a majority of the American public believe that the mainstream media is biased towards the left. Episodes like they had this week, and their latest decision to stop being transparent about Schultz's relationship to the most liberal Senator in the country, isn't helping their case.

UPDATE 9/19: Schultz resigns



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OEA Employee: "They appear not to understand the basic concepts of collective bargaining"

The Ohio Education Association (OEA) is We Are Ohio‘s biggest in-state donor and the largest government union in the state. For folks who trade in “solidarity” and take dues for their collaboration services, OEA bosses have a surprisingly awful relationship with their own employees.

Don’t believe me? Just last summer, OEA staffers represented by the Professional Staff Union (PSU) went on strike against the OEA.

Written on the middle striker’s sign: “Because OEA sucks!”

Yellow sign: Bad Faith + Bad Management = Consequences

What’s more, PSU blog entries from summer 2009 tell a story similar to the one I’ve shared from summer 2010. In an OEA employee’s words, from a July 31, 2009 post [Update, 09-16-2011: Here's a PDF copy, since union staff blocked access to the website]:

Unfortunately, there was little or no movement on the part of OEA. They appear to not understand the basic concepts of collective bargaining. The PSU team attempted to get OEA to commit to present counter offers in the future. While OEA says “we are prepared to come with what needs to be done”, Larry Wicks (OEA Executive Director) refused to commit to any specifics.

It remains to be seen whether OEA will come back to the table with a real commitment to bargaining.

According to an OEA staff member, “they appear to not understand the basic concepts of collective bargaining.” Why should Ohio taxpayers trust the OEA with immense power over how public schools operate? Read the PSU blog for yourself – nearly every post reveals stunning hypocrisy on the part of the union bosses.

OEA employees can’t rely on the union, and neither should you – on November 8, empower taxpayers instead of union bosses. Vote Yes on Issue 2!

If you need it, there’s plenty more proof OEA should not be trusted.

Follow me on Twitter: @jasonahart
Cross-posted from that hero.

3BP Exclusive: Connie Schultz apologizes in print after we expose her shenanigans

Yesterday, we posted exclusive photographs and a video of Connie Schultz, wife of US Senator Sherrod Brown, doing opposition research video of Josh Mandel. Mandel will almost definitely be the Republican challenger to Brown in next year's election.

In her column today, she talks about her experience at a Tea Party event in Avon, here in Lorain County. Reports are that she spent most of her time interviewing attendees for her column. That's what they pay her to do, right? In her column, she pays a lot of attention to who didn't show up. However, she fails to mention one of the speakers who WAS there. That speaker would be Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel.

I wonder why she didn't mention this. Why didn't she mention that when Josh's name was announced, that she rushed to the seats to sit in a row up front, and pulled out her video camera? Well, maybe SHE didn't mention it, but SOMEBODY noticed it. See the photo and video.

We raised some serious questions for the Plain Dealer, as this appeared to be a major conflict of interest. To be honest, I expected them to ignore this and sweep it under the rug.

I was wrong. Today, Schultz wrote a new column and apologized for betraying her journalistic ethics.

I didn't mention all the speakers in my column, but there was one who showed up at the end of the event whom I should have named: Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel.

For months, The Plain Dealer has identified Mandel as the likely 2012 Republican opponent of my husband, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown. Mandel is raising money for a Senate race, but has not declared his candidacy. He frequently attacks my husband in public interviews and speeches, and the Tea Party event was no exception.

I did not mention him because I wanted to avoid the appearance of singling him out for criticism, or promoting my husband. In retrospect, that was a mistake.

Then she goes on to explain what she was doing with her video camera.

I made a second mistake. A few minutes before Mandel walked onto the field to speak, police officers ejected a videographer for the Democratic Party, at organizers' request. When I found out about this, and noticed that two other men with video cameras were allowed to stay, I pulled out my Canon PowerShot camera, set it to video and held it in plain sight as Mandel spoke.

She goes on to say that she held the camera out to "make a statement" about the man she says was ejected. Sorry, but I'm not buying that at all. She was filming the speech in place of the Democrat videographer, (if there truly was one.)

But let's not beat up on Connie too badly. We all know she is a liberal columnist. We all know that most of the mainstream media, like Connie, are also liberals, and they cannot help themselves from letting their bias come through in their work. It is what it is. At least Connie has come forward and admitted her mistakes, even though it's probably only because she got caught.

This had to be a major embarrassment for the Plain Dealer (not shedding any tears here), and this had to be a very difficult column for her to write. She goes on:

This is my debut column for the Plain Dealer's Metro section. Not what I had planned. But it's the only way to proceed if I am to ask for your trust.

My error in judgment also caused unnecessary anguish for editors who trust me, and champion my work. I feel just sick about that.

I was very excited to move to Metro. I still am. I will continue to have strong opinions, and express them in these pages, and on cleveland.com. My supporters should not worry that I am intimidated, and my critics can rest assured I'll still be doing my best to set their hair on fire.

Good for you, Connie. And we'll keep doing our best to expose media bias such as yours.

Update: Our beloved Sherrod Brown responds to WKYC's Tom Beres.

Her husband told Tom Beres his wife has great integrity.

"She was not doing campaign work. Somebody that wanted to tape the speech was thrown out, probably illegally, because it's a public-funded venue. And she taped it. She didn't give it to the campaign. She's a citizen. She was there," he said.

Uh-huh.

Update: several news outlets have picked up the story. Connie doesn't mention that 3BP is who exposed her. Maybe these other outlets would like to know?

PD's Connie Schultz in campaign video controversy
BLOG: Let Connie be Connie!

UPDATE 9/19: Schultz resigns


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Obama's Hostage Hypocrisy

As noted at Third Base Politics and elsewhere, there are limits to the "new tone" called for by President Obama amid efforts to blame a deranged individual's violence on the tea party movement. Strangely, the dividing line varies depending on your political beliefs. It's almost as if the moderate king of hope and civility wants to silence opposition to his lefter-than-left policies.

Words are one thing, but actions are another. Surely the President of the United States is against taking hostages in service of a political goal?

Hundreds of Longshore workers stormed the Port of Longview, overpowered security guards, damaged rail cars and dumped grain at the center of a labor dispute that also stopped work at four other ports on Thursday, officials said.

[...]

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union believes it has the right to work at the facility, but the company has hired a contractor that's staffing a workforce of laborers from another union, the Portland-based Operating Engineers Local 701.

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union is one of many under the AFL-CIO umbrella. How forcefully do you expect President Obama to decry the union's actions?

The White House has announced that nearly two dozen guests will sit with first lady Michelle Obama to watch President Obama deliver his jobs speech to a joint session of Congress.

The list of business, labor and political leaders includes GE Chairman Jeffrey Immelt, AOL co-founder Steve Case, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley.

Remember, this is the same president who claimed Republicans were holding America hostage during the debt ceiling debate. It's the same president who is holding trade agreements -ahem- hostage because the GOP won't agree to another union bailout.

When her president has friends like these, America's economy hardly needs enemies.

Follow me on Twitter: @jasonahart
Cross-posted at that hero.

More "New Tone" from the Left

This past Monday Democrats and their union boss allies used Labor Day to denounce any and all voices that disagree with them, particularly the Tea Party.  For all the airy rhetoric of a "New Tone" in politics after the shooting of Congresswoman Giffords and others in Arizona, liberals still have an anything goes mentality toward conservatives, a mentality displayed by Teamsters President Jimmy Hoffa.

At the Labor Day event in Detroit, with none other than President 'Zero Jobs Added' Barack Obama just feet away, Hoffa told the crowd that war had been declared on workers by the Tea Party before saying this:

President Obama, this is your army. We are ready to march. Let's take these son of b****es out and give America back to an America where we belong

Hoffa's words are incendiary, but of course he's a major union leader, not an elected official after all. Surely no political figure on the left would violate the gospel of New Tone.

Except of course for the Vice President.

You are the only folks keeping the barbarians from the gates.

These moments from Monday are just a continuation of the same liberal rhetoric that claims Tea Partiers want to see blacks hanging from trees and wants the same people to go straight to hell.  When confronted with such incendiary comments, the White House and DNC can't be bothered to do so much as question the word choice of Hoffa and the rest.  All press secretary Jay Carney can be bothered to say is that Hoffa speaks for himself. 

So much for that call for unity by Obama.

Is the Plain Dealer paying Connie Schultz to do campaign work for Sherrod Brown?

Connie Schultz is a columnist for the Cleveland Plain Dealer. She's probably the most well-known opinion writer at Ohio's largest newspaper. She is widely read, very liberal, and soon will be moved to the front page of the Metro section. Oh yeah, she is also the wife of Senator Sherrod Brown.

In her column today, she talks about her experience at a Tea Party event in Avon, here in Lorain County. Reports are that she spent most of her time interviewing attendees for her column. That's what they pay her to do, right? In her column, she pays a lot of attention to who didn't show up. However, she fails to mention one of the speakers who WAS there. That speaker would be Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel.

I wonder why she didn't mention this. Why didn't she mention that when Josh's name was announced, that she rushed to the seats to sit in a row up front, and pulled out her video camera? Well, maybe SHE didn't mention it, but SOMEBODY noticed it. See the photo and video.

Our reports also say that Connie didn't record the other speakers at the event. But she certainly made sure she recorded Mandel. Why was Connie Schultz so interested in Josh Mandel? Oh, please forgive me. I forget to mention something else. Connie's husband is up for re-election next year, and Josh Mandel is almost certain to be the Republican nominee.

So, it appears that while being paid by the Plain Dealer to write a column about the Tea Party event, she was also stalking her husbands opponent and doing work for his re-election campaign.

Wow, Connie is quite the multi-tasker, isn't sh...wait. What!? That would represent a huge, serious conflict of interest for the Plain Dealer. We have some serious questions for them to answer.

Was Connie Schultz at the Tea Party event to provide video and do opposition research for Sherrod Brown's reelection campaign?

Did Sherrod Brown break the law by accepting this opposition research as an illegal corporate contribution from The Plain Dealer?

Will The Plain Dealer publicly acknowledge this giant conflict of interest, punish her and publicly denounce her abuse of their money and journalistic integrity?

Who did Connie give the video to, the Plain Dealer or her husband, Sherrod Brown?

Was Connie there as a reporter for the Plain Dealer, or as a Democrat videographer?

I expect we will hear nothing but silence from the pro-Sherrod Brown Plain Dealer. And their silence will confirm their bias.

You can ask the Plain Dealer yourself here. Let us know if they answer you.

UPDATE: Schultz acknowledges "mistakes" in print.

UPDATE 9/19: Schultz resigns

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Will the left use ANY excuse to attack Kasich?

Apparently so.

If you haven't heard of Kelley Williams-Bolar, she is a woman who lives in the Akron school district but who used her father's address to enroll her children in the better Fairlawn-Copley district. She was charged and convicted of 2 felonies for the crime.

The progressive Ohio blog "Plunderbund" commented on the case and went on to say that she deserved the punishment for her crime, "but Ohio’s Governor should eventually pardon her anyways."


Well, today, Governor Kasich did take action on the Williams-Bolar case. But he didn't pardon her. She will still have to serve her original punishments, but her crimes were reduced to misdemeanors rather than felonies.

Now, guess who's attacking the governor for this? Yep, you got it. Plunderbund, the same people who said she should eventually be pardoned.

The Governor did NOT pardon her of her crimes, as PB opined should eventually happen. His action states that she still must serve her punishments, but now she won't have felonies on her record. This was clearly a second chance from Kasich, but clearly not absolution for her crimes. An act of compassion.

And yet they attack anyway. Personally, I could go either way on whether Williams-Bolar deserves leniancy or not. But I bring it up to show that when you're this rabidly hateful of someone, I guess you will use every single possible thing he does as a reason to attack him. Even an act of compassion. Even if it means contradicting yourself.

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First "Yes on Issue 2" TV ad is out

Good ad.



You should share this with your contacts. Now. :-)

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OEA Employee: "OEA failed to bargain in good faith"

The Ohio Education Association (OEA) is Ohio’s largest government union and We Are Ohio‘s biggest in-state donor. Like so much else the unions do, this puts the lie to We Are Ohio’s angry “solidarity” rhetoric.

How? Just last summer, OEA employees represented by the Professional Staff Union (PSU) went on strike against the OEA!

OEA = Walmart? Ouch!

OEA members supporting PSU strike

From a September 4, 2010 entry on the PSU blog [Update, 09-16-2011: Here's a PDF copy, since union staff have blocked access to the website]:

OEA claims to believe that its “most valuable resources are the people who make it strong – its members, leaders and employees.”  To accomplish this, OEA says it can and must “set the pace as a union” by “focusing on and responding to shifting demands, practicing collaborative and visionary leadership, and highly valuing its employees and partners.”

The truth of the matter is that OEA failed to bargain in good faith with PSU.  In fact, they wasted five bargaining sessions before even responding with a written counter-proposal.  Does that sound like collaborative leadership?

Emphasis in the original. “The truth of the matter is that OEA failed to bargain in good faith.” Sound familiar? Remember, these are the words of an OEA employee!

OEA certainly wasn’t “valuing its employees” when it refused to discuss the tough issues at the bargaining table, thereby forcing PSU out on strike and sacrificing YOUR association services in the meantime.

OEA also espouses that it should “foster pride in and affiliation with Association for members, employees, and partners.”

Yet, every time that OEA President Pat Frost-Brooks, Vice President Bill Leibensperger, and Secretary-Treasurer Jim Timlin cross the PSU picket line, they are strikebreaking.  A resolution adopted at the Spring 2008 Representative Assembly even says so.  It reads, “Crossing a picket line, whether physically or electronically, is strikebreaking…“

That makes your officers no better than the scabs that school districts like Perkins, Harrison Hills and Edison brought in to work while OEA members were striking against their school districts in order to gain a fair contract.  Does their strikebreaking foster pride in your association?  Or are you disgusted by the actions taken by your association’s officers and administrators?

On November 8, vote to rein in the power of union bosses who can’t even be trusted by their own employees. Vote Yes on Issue 2!

Even more proof OEA should not be trusted:

• OEA Member: “OEA has abandoned its Core Values”
• We Are Ohio’s Shocking Double Standard
• Flashback: On Strike – Against the Ohio Education Association

Follow me on Twitter: @jasonahart
Cross-posted from that hero.

Vice President Biden, Call Your Office

To celebrate Labor Day, Vice President Biden will be rallying the troops at a Cincinnati union event this afternoon. Between explaining in traditional Bidenesque fashion why we should spend money we don’t have on Obamacare and “stimulus” projects, Joe is expected to opine on Senate Bill 5.

Here are some facts the veep might want to skim during his limo / bus / jet ride!

Crazed Union Boss Rhetoric; Even Crazier Compensation

Union bosses make a living turning public employees against the public, and they don’t like it when taxpayers complain about footing the bill.

Quote sources are available in my August 1 post Union Sermons… and Salaries. Salary figures are from the US Department of Labor, and political contribution info is from the Ohio Secretary of State.

We Are Ohio Funding

“We Are Ohio” is a friendly team of non-partisan Ohioans with the public’s best interests at heart. Unless you believe your lyin’ eyes.

(Click for full size image)

 When I describe We Are Ohio as a union front group, I am not exaggerating: We Are Ohio is a union front group, primarily funded by union bosses in Washington, D.C. Learn more, and see the numbers behind this chart.

Unions Mean Solidarity! Disregard Everything OEA Employees Say…

According to We Are Ohio, only the cooperation experts of the Ohio Education Association (OEA) can make our school districts work. That’s why OEA needs enormous negotiating power, whatever the cost! Never mind that OEA’s management is so incompetent, the union’s employees went on strike just last summer.

Here’s a sampling of the photos from the strike outside OEA headquarters in Columbus:


In connection with the 2010 strike, OEA employees had all sorts of things to say that belie We Are Ohio’s cynical rhetoric. Read all about it!

Union Talking Points, Dulled to Nothing

If the past few resources aren’t enough to convince you, don’t worry. We Are Ohio and their leftist enablers have been repeating the same hacky lines since winter, and I’ve enjoyed stepping on all of them!

Here’s a (relatively) serious list, from an early August post:

Issue 2 will devastate Ohio’s economy by stealing pay from government workers!

Senate Bill 5 doesn’t take away bargaining for wages, and this argument relies on a complete ignorance of economics. Do you believe money can be spent or invested without first being taken from taxpayers? If so, you’re too smart for the union bosses, and their chief talking point crumbles.

Issue 2 will make police and firefighters less safe!

This shameless scare tactic suddenly became popular when polling indicated most of Senate Bill 5 resonates with Ohio voters despite months of union distortion. It remains entirely untrue, as Senate Bill 5 does not affect bargaining over safety equipment.

Issue 2 is an attack on the middle class by greedy special interests!

Wrong in so many ways. Senate Bill 5 protects the jobs of government workers – a slim portion of Ohio’s workforce – by freeing school districts and local governments from unsustainable health and pension costs. If you think the unions actually care about workers, think again.

Issue 2 is fueled by envy! Why not increase everyone’s benefits instead of robbing government workers?!

More proof leftists can’t comprehend the word “growth,” and view the economy as a static pie from which government should dole out slices as politicians see fit. Senate Bill 5 will allow local leaders to focus on sustainable budgets instead of unaffordable union demands. This, in turn, will prevent tax hikes, making it easier for businesses to create more jobs and more wealth.

Issue 2 will drive the best teachers and government workers out of Ohio!

This one’s actually funny, if you remember the unions also insist merit pay is a terrible idea because teachers and government workers aren’t motivated by compensation like everyone else on the planet. Given unemployment rates throughout Ohio and the nation, no one really expects mass turnover based on a slight adjustment in health and pension benefits – especially when compared to benefits in private industry.

And more, from a post at the end of May:

• Reducing public employee pay will cripple the economy, but taking more from taxpayers will have no such effect.
• Corporations employing hundreds of thousands shouldn’t pay their CEOs seven-figure salaries from earnings, but union bosses employing a couple hundred activists deserve six-figure salaries from member dues.
• Public union members are the middle class, even though they make up a tiny percentage of the working population.
• Government employees are more educated than the average worker, so they deserve better pay – regardless of how much benefit they provide to the public.
• Government unions create good jobs… by demanding unsustainable pay which leads to higher taxes and fewer jobs.
• Public union members love paying dues, but making payment of union dues optional is a political attack.
• Government union reps speak for all their members, even when preaching far-left politics and financing far-left politicians.
• Government union employees are paid six figures even as dues-paying members are axed, but government unions are selfless organizations in command of the moral high ground.
• Unions and the Democratic Party are attached at the hip, but forced unionization for government workers keeps politics out of the workplace.
• Union members are wonderful, underpaid, unappreciated – and incapable of emailing a local newspaper or TV station if there’s a problem at work their supervisors won’t address.
• Government unions are effective and innovative, but expecting public worker compensation to be based on merit is madness!
• Wealthy CEOs should be punished for their greed, but wealthy union bosses and the wealthy politicians they fund are heroes of the middle class.

What Sort of Wall Street Fraudster Am I, Anyway?

I live in Ohio, as I have since birth. I’m a Miami University alum, an Ohio State University employee, and a Franklin County taxpayer.

I’ve never been paid, offered, or promised any compensation for my work here. I caught the government union reform bug during the 2010 election campaign, after I stumbled across abuses in the Franklin County Clerk of Courts office. I’ve been following the Ohio General Assembly’s efforts since then.

For Issue 2 updates, watch this space or follow me on Twitter – @jasonahart.

Cross-posted at that hero.

A Very Dishonest Labor Day with We Are Ohio

Unless you're employed by one of Ohio's powerful government unions, voting Yes on Issue 2 should be an easy choice. Why, then, are Ohioans so divided over government union reform?

Today We Are Ohio - a front group funded primarily by D.C. unions - continues their campaign to mislead voters about Ohio's status quo and the reforms in Senate Bill 5. Their pitch: government unions need expansive power to protect the public workers you pay from the public officials you elect. Rewarding government employees based on merit would be awful, and denying any of the union bosses' demands amounts to a violation of their civil rights.

Unfortunately for We Are Ohio, illogical arguments aren't improved by rampant hypocrisy. Exhibit A: the Ohio Education Association (OEA) is the largest government union in the state, and the largest in-state donor to We Are Ohio. Though OEA is in the "solidarity" business, the union has such an awful relationship with its own employees that it forced them into a strike just last autumn. Here are some photos from that strike, preserved on Flickr in case OEA tries to send 'em down the memory hole:

If you're familiar with the last-in-first-out firing policies, automatic pay increases, and platinum benefits government unions have squeezed out of Ohio school districts and local governments over the past 25 years, you might be skeptical of We Are Ohio. Take a closer look, and it becomes even more obvious that union claims to the moral high ground are utter nonsense.

On November 8, support the sensible government union reforms in Senate Bill 5 - vote Yes on Issue 2!

Follow me on Twitter: @jasonahart
Cross-posted at that hero and Columbus Tea Party.

Soak the Rich, Week 18

Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) has a Progressive’s grasp of economics: corporations are evil, and bureaucrats could micromanage the world perfectly given a little more money.

Sherrod – like President Obama – isn’t specific about his approach to sustainable big government, so what if we used the class-warrior’s dream scenario of doubled corporate income taxes and fully “reclaimed” CEO pay? Starting with just the 2011 deficit of $1.62 trillion, how fast could we balance the budget with a bit extra from the kings of the S&P 500?

After a decidedly non-Progressive lapse in weekly recaps, we're back on schedule. Now that we've soaked 36 of America’s largest employers, we’ve covered 6.587% of the 2011 deficit! That’s a reduction from $1,620,000,000,000 to $1,513,286,096,569 (view source workbook).

If hiking taxes on a few hundred more corporations could cover the remaining 93.413% of the 2011 deficit, would it be worth it?

Sure! As Sherrod would insist, soaking The Rich has no negative effects. Among the things that won’t happen if Sherrod Brown and President Obama tax their way to the chart above:

• None of the corporations’ 6,505,112 employees will lose their jobs.
• None of the corporations’ products or services – health insurance, prescription drugs, medical devices, food at supermarkets & restaurants, purified water, appliances, gasoline, business & consumer lending, checking accounts, savings accounts, construction equipment, air travel, shipping, national defense, cell phone service, broadband access, fast food, soda, sports drinks, snacks, the thousands of items available at Amazon.com & Wal-Mart, toothpaste, diapers, detergent, baby soap, Band-Aids, movies, television, newspapers, computer software, iPods, laptops, servers, networking equipment, etc. – will get more expensive.
• None of the funds or individuals holding the corporations’ 87,648,800,000 shares of stock will be ruined… unless they deserve it!
• None of the world’s entrepreneurs or executives will stop investing in American businesses.

Good thing raising taxes is an all-around win… otherwise, Ohioans would have to find a senator with more sense than Sherrod Brown!

Catch all the Soak the Rich fun on Facebook, and follow me on Twitter: @jasonahart

Cross-posted at that hero.

We Are Ohio Thinks You Are the Problem

Yesterday, union front We Are Ohio released the first TV commercial of the Issue 2 campaign. Its message is simple – Senate Bill 5 is a plot to burn down your house. The folks at GOHP Blog responded with a YouTube video that folds some facts into the wildly dishonest union ad:

GOHP Blog touches on a central point of the Senate Bill 5 debate: government unions demonize fire chiefs and other public officials. We Are Ohio wants you to believe that, with union power slightly reduced, fire chiefs throughout Ohio will enact their devious plans to kill firefighters. Coming soon to a screen near you: school boards stealing teachers’ milk money! County auditors shackling clerks to their desks!

What’s the real problem for We Are Ohio? Government employees work for democratically elected officials, which doesn’t fit the union model. As surely as Wendy’s grills burgers and Ford builds trucks, unions are in the class warfare business – but in government, the people who pay the bills are the same ones who elect the bosses.

For the union sales pitch to work, the boss must be the enemy. Although the union smear campaign can’t come out and say it, you, cheapskate taxpayer, are what’s wrong with Ohio.

Government unions fight elected officials and their appointees, putting union bosses between taxpayers and the services we pay for. Don’t buy what We Are Ohio is selling – vote Yes on Issue 2!

Follow me on Twitter: @jasonahart
Cross-posted at that hero and Columbus Tea Party.

Another "We Are Ohio" rally, another embarrassing fail. UPDATE: Audio!

Remember "Bringing Back Awesome"? As we shared with you last week, it was a statewide promoted rally for "We Are Ohio" that fell hilariously and embarrassingly flat. They claimed they had 25,000 people there. But they obviously lied, because their own photos show no more than a few hundred.

Well, yesterday, "We Are Ohio" held another rally to voice their opposition to reasonable reforms in Ohio's collective bargaining laws. Guess how many people showed up for it?

Three. No, I don't mean three hundred. I mean...THREE.

Organizers of the "We are Ohio" rally held Thursday at the Hancock County Courthouse had to be disappointed with the turnout. Only three people showed up.

One of the three people who showed up was even asked to speak...er, to the other two?

Barbara Kodor, administrative secretary for Findlay city Schools, was a little taken back Thursday, when she was asked to speak.

"I really just came here to listen," she said.

Maybe "We Are Ohio" needs to stop holding rallies. They are embarrassing themselves.

UPDATE: Check out the comments and audio from 2 of the 3 people at the rally.

Barb Kodor, a secretary for Findlay City Schools says the law will mean teachers will have to contribute more to health insurance and retirement.

Uh, yeah, Barb. But still not as much as most everyone else. So how is it unfair, again?

Follow @Bytor3BP

Independent Toledo Mayor, former Fire Chief for Issue 2

In a week where the campaign to support Issue 2 had already received two large endorsements from the Ohio Farm Bureau and the Ohio Manufacturers Association, a third major endorsement has come from NW Ohio as Toledo Mayor Mike Bell has endorsed Issue 2.  


This endorsement has to be a tough one for the We Are Ohio folks to swallow.  Not only is Bell an Independent, but his previous jobs have included being Toledo Fire Chief and Ohio Fire Marshal.  Mayor Bell explains why he supports Issue 2:

We followed the process, and by following the process we got a protest.  I'm the administrator of a city that is financially-strapped and I need to be able to have the tools in the box

The 'process' he's referring to would be an independent fact finder's report on resolving a contract dispute between the city and municipal employees that the AFSCME union rejected and protested.  The horribly unfair recommendations of this independent fact finder?  A 2-year pay freeze and increases in employee contributions to benefits and pension from 5 and 3 percent respectively to 15 and 10 percent.

The ongoing Toledo dispute is one that is playing out across the state in various ways, and shows why Issue 2 is so necessary.  The fact is Issue 2 empowers local elected officials.  Counties, cities and townships across the state are having to face shrinking revenues in a weak economy with few options available.  As Mayor Bell said, he and other civic leaders need the tools to face these challenges, and Issue 2 gives them those tools.  It's at the local level that these benefits will be most evident, as evidenced by analysis of Senate Bill 5 that showed over 80% of the total savings from the bill, more than $1.1 billion, would come at the local level.

Mayor Mike Bell has first hand experience in trying to deal with runaway expenses in the current system.  He's seen how the system we have is broken, and that's why he's the latest voice urging you to Vote 'Yes' on Issue 2.