Boehner Happily Spending Your Money

* You might not know it, but Republican Speaker of the House, John Boehner, has been very generous in spending your money to bring DOMA to court. Boehner is fight against the rights of marriage equality.

SeattlePI:

The House Republican leadership has billed American taxpayers $3 million to defend the anti-gay Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in federal courts and the U.S. Supreme Court, but GOP leaders did a deep dive on Wednesday as the high court heard the legal challenge to DOMA.

The growing approval of same-sex marriage, and declining popularity of anti-gay laws, seems to have gotten under House Speaker John Boehner’s orange skin.

Boehner was tweeting Wednesday on familiar topics — “Time to Build the Keystone Pipeline,” “Bad News for Obamacare” — but said not a tweet about a federal law that discriminates against same-sex couples and denies them federal benefits.....


How sad! Boehner and his Republicans are always talking about "freedom," but they refuse to allow a person to marry the person he or she loves. When Boehner and his Republicans fight against marriage equality, they are also dismissing the rights and privileges that go to a spouse. It is disgusting that the Republicans are just so selfish and concerned only about themselves and their rich friends. They care very little about the lives and concerns of real people. With any luck, the old, Neanderthals of the Republicans Party will just shrivel up and disappear.

Bachmann Runs

Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann is at it again with crazy, unfounded, comments.  Of course, nothing she says is true.  Anderson Cooper reported about when Dana Bash of CNN tried to speak to Bachmann about her recent statements about President Obama.

HuffPost:

 ...Bachmann made comments about the supposedly lavish lifestyle Obama leads inside the White House during her speech at CPAC, slamming the professional dog walker and multiple chefs she said were being paid with taxpayer money....

"The claims of $1.4 billion in White House perks and excess, they fail on the facts in simple fairness," Cooper said:

"Congresswoman Bachmann apparently got her information from a 131-page self-published book by a long-time Republican lobbyist. The book provides no specific sourcing for the claims it makes. No sourcing. According to the 'Washington Post,' which dug into this the only scholarly work on the subject was published in 2010 by the left leaning Brookings Institution. It found the Bush White House in 2008 cost about $1.6 billion to run. Nearly $1.1 billion of which went to the Secret Service and the White House chopper fleet, not perks. If Congresswoman Bachmann is right and that's a big if, the current occupants are actually $200 million cheaper."

CNN sent Bash after Bachmann....


but Bachmann ran.

There is this tidbit from the StarTribune:

U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann was the lone member of Minnesota's congressional delegation to vote against the Violence Against Women Act, a law credited with raising awareness about abuse of women....

Shame.

Iraq Vet....

This was originally posted at Truthdig and later at HuffPost:

To: George W. Bush and Dick Cheney
From: Tomas Young

I write this letter on the 10th anniversary of the Iraq War on behalf of my fellow Iraq War veterans. I write this letter on behalf of the 4,488 soldiers and Marines who died in Iraq. I write this letter on behalf of the hundreds of thousands of veterans who have been wounded and on behalf of those whose wounds, physical and psychological, have destroyed their lives. I am one of those gravely wounded. I was paralyzed in an insurgent ambush in 2004 in Sadr City. My life is coming to an end. I am living under hospice care. 

I write this letter on behalf of husbands and wives who have lost spouses, on behalf of children who have lost a parent, on behalf of the fathers and mothers who have lost sons and daughters and on behalf of those who care for the many thousands of my fellow veterans who have brain injuries. I write this letter....

You can read the rest of it at Truthdig.

Big Money Spent by JobsOhio

Innovation Ohio has learned about how Gov. John Kasich's pet project, JobsOhio, has been spending our money. It has been published in the DaytonDailyNews:

...In the release, Innovation Ohio spokesman Dale Butland said taxpayers paid for a “corporate version of the Taj Majal” as part of nearly $1.2 million in office expenses for JobsOhio. 


The press release highlights the following 2012 expenses, which are contained in an audit by a private company released earlier this year:
• $367,000 spent office remodeling:
• $362,000 spent on office furniture;
• $233,000 spent on rent
• $167,000 spent on IT (information technology)
• $67,000 spent on “supplies” 

The article notes that there are only 20 employees at JobsOhio but $362,000 was spent on office furniture!  Really!  Gov. Kasich could have saved a lot of money if he would have gone to the Ohio State University surplus website to get $10 office chairs, $25 desks, $20 conference tables, and other used office equipment. I'd really love to see a breakdown of the $67,000 that was spent on "supplies" for JobsOhio. Did they purchase 14k gold paper clips?

Innovation Ohio has more information on their web page, including a picture of the "coffee bar" in the JobsOhio office.  Visit the Innovation Ohio link and check out the stuff on the KPMG audit and the DOD info. What else is Gov. Kasich is hiding from you and the State Auditor?

Now What?

The Steubenville rape trial is over and both teens were found guilty. Now the victim is receiving death threats, according to a post at DailyKos. The young woman becomes a victim again??? This is disgusting and only makes the supporters of the rapists look even worse. If my daughter had been the victim, we would have moved out of the area immediately after the trial. Why would anyone want to live in an area where rapists are protected more than the young victim?

Once again, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine held a news conference immediately after the verdict. DeWine just can't get enough time in front of the media.  His own investigation is still continuing and I see no reason why he had to make any comments about this particular trial.

*** Republican cry baby, Speaker of the House John Boehner, said he will not change his views on same sex marriage, according to an a news story at KABC.   Just because Boehner and the Republicans are against it doesn't mean they should prevent others from being allowed to marry someone they love.  Republicans always speak about personal freedom and the rights of citizens.  Shouldn't that freedom extend to the rights of same sex marriage, property/insurance rights or is that freedom only for certain people?

Family

Our own experiences in life change our opinions.

In a Columbus Dispatch editorial, Republican Sen. Rob Portman reveals that he now supports marriage between couples of the same sex. Portman arrived at his decision when one of his sons told the Portmans that he was gay.  Read the entire piece at the Dispatch.

>>> Well, well, well. The Republicans have just told Americans what we already knew----- the Republican Party is not for everyone.

TheGrio:

As the GOP struggles to broaden its appeal, the head of the American Conservative Union declared Thursday that the Republican Party is not a home for everyone, as prominent voices in Republican politics gather with thousands of conservatives and tea party activists outside Washington....

“I’m a firm believer that if the Republican Party is going to have some success, it’s going to do so by being a conservative party and not a home for everybody. That’s how you grow,” Al Cardenas, chairman of the American Conservative Union, told reporters Thursday morning as the conference began at Maryland’s National Harbor, just south of Washington.

He continued: “You grow your tent by convincing others, persuading others that yours is the way. And you build your tent by reaching out to the new demographics of America, not with a watered down version of who we ought to be,” he said.....

The Republican Party has already defined itself as being against equal pay for women, reproductive freedom for women, Civil Rights, voting rights, equal rights for LGBT, rights for workers, raising minimum wage, renewing the Violence Against Women Act, college students voting at their schools, Social Security, Medicare, etc., etc., etc.

Face it.  The Republican Party only wants old white guys that have lots of money to fund their campaigns. As the population have more diversity, more women, young people, Latinos, new citizens, and educated people are turning away from the closed-minded, old farts in the GOP.

Nothing New

* In an effort to keep his cabinet and advisers in the same right wing, conservative, anti-middle class philosophy, Ohio Gov. John Kasich has replaced an outgoing director with someone already working for him.

DaytonDailyNews:

Gov. John R. Kasich has appointed David Goodman, current director of the Department of Commerce, to lead the Ohio Development Services Agency.

Goodman will succeed Christiane Schmenk, who is leaving to pursue a position outside of the agency....

According to the State Treasurer's website, Christiane Schmenk's salary was $95,565, while David Goodman's was $114,701. In April 2012, Plunderbund reported that Gov. Kasich pays his female employees less than his male employees. It makes you wonder if Goodman will be paid the $114,701 he collected at Commerce or the $95,565 Schmenk was paid. My guess is Kasich will continue to pay Goodman the higher salary because he is a man. Any woman that thinks Kasich cares about their equal rights is a fool.

You Lost!

* Someone needs to let Rep. Paul Ryan in on what the rest of America knows:

 YOU 

LOST!

Americans re-elected President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden and rejected the draconian, "save the rich!" agenda of the Romney-Ryan team.  Paul Ryan still hasn't gotten the message.

Huffington Post:

House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) rolled out his latest budget proposal, offering an ambitious blueprint that promises to balance the budget in a decade by repealing President Barack Obama's health care reforms and slashing Medicare, Medicaid and programs to help the poor.

Ryan's previous budgets -- used by Democrats as weapons in the last campaign season -- did not strive for balance in any such near term, and even then many analysts predicted they would not work. Many deem a 10-year balancing plan as impossible to follow without wreaking havoc on the economic recovery....

Everyone try to contact Rep. Paul Ryan at any of the email/phone/Twitter addresses listed below, and let him him that Americans have rejected his Ayn Rand inspired, anti-middle class, anti-senior, anti-poor budget. You might also want to tell him that the Affordable Care Act is the law of the land and he needs to stop trying to repeal it.

Contact Paul Ryan:  http://paulryan.house.gov/contact
    Washington, DC:  Phone: (202) 225-3031   Fax: (202) 225-3393
    Janesville, WI:  Toll-Free: 1-888-909-RYAN (7926)  Phone: (608) 752-4050
                             Fax: (608) 752-4711
    Kenosha, WI: Phone: (262) 654-1901  Fax: (262) 654-2156
    Racine, WI: Phone: (262) 637-0510  Fax: (262) 637-5689 
    Twitter: @RepPaulRyan
    Rep. Ryan is chairperson of the House Committee on the Budget: 
               http://budget.house.gov/contact/
 
We've seen it before and we don't like it!

By the way, check out the latest about Paul Ryan in The New Yorker.

Lower the Minimum Wage? Stupid Idea!!!!

* The Republicans and their pals at ALEC want to lower the minimum wage. Can you imagine that? What a stupid, stupid, stupid idea!!!!

Raw Story:

The conservative lobbying group Alec has been behind a major push against the pay rates of low-wage American workers by sponsoring or supporting scores of new laws aimed at weakening their protections, a new survey has found.

Since 2011, politicians backed by the American Legislative Exchange Council, which has hit the headlines for previous campaigns on voting rights and gun laws, have introduced 67 different laws in 25 different states on the issue.

The proposed laws are generally aimed at reducing minimum wage levels, weakening overtime protection or stopping the local creation of minimum wage laws in cities or states. Using language similar to “model bill” templates drafted by Alec, they were put forward by local politicians who are almost always Republican and affiliated with the powerful conservative group.....

Republicans supported by ALEC, the Koch Brothers, and other right wing groups should be aware that the American working men and women will not allow more rights and wages to be taken away so that the Koch Brothers can get wealthier.  Shame on anyone that suggests lowering the minimum wage. We are not going to let the greed of some stop the progress of the American middle class workers.

If you are interested in lists of legislators that have signed onto the ALEC manifesto, visit SourceWatch (Ohio's legislators and those w/ties like Kasich), and ALEC Exposed.

* Whoa! The Rand Paul filibuster got so bad that they had to quit after only 13 hours. Those guys certainly are not tough. 

Kasich Has Same Goals

•••••>>> Ohio's police, fire fighters, teachers, and correction officers might have thought that they were safe when SB5/Issue 2 went down, but one must remember that Gov. John Kasich is a vindictive person.  Plunderbund lays out the continued attacks by Kasich to undercut the rights of those in our community that we rely on for our safety, security, and education of our children.  The IAFF, AFL-CIO, FOP, OHEA, AFSCME, the AFT, and others should alert members about Kasich's current budget being considered by the Ohio General Assembly.

Ohio's workers need to work against this budget and against the re=election of Kasich and the Republicans that support it.

* * *

>>>> Ohio GOP leader, Bob Bennett, is keeping his word to retire in May, according to 10TV. The person in the lead to replace Bennett is Matt Borges.  Borges does have a little problem in his background. You can read the articles at 10TV and Plunderbund. 

The Cincinnati Enquirer reminds Ohioans of Borges and his ties to Joe Deters.

_____

Why, oh, why did we need to hear the whining from Mitt and Ann Romney on the news yesterday?

Jeb Bush-"no path for citizenship"

> One of the scariest things I've seen recently on TV was the hearing in the Ohio General Assembly on how to collect sales tax on services, such as lawyers, accountants, and corporations that choose to use out of state services to avoid sales tax. The Ohio Channel was showing a hearing in which elected officials, and Joe Testa, discussed collecting all the sales tax.. The legislators that vote for these types of new sales taxes should be held accountable. 

> Jeb Bush, seen as the savior of the Republican Party, has revealed his troubling views.

ABC News:

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said Monday he does not support a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants living in the U.S., a central provision of immigration reform plans being considered by Congress......

....Bush, a potential 2016 presidential candidate, is promoting his new book titled "Immigration Wars" that he co-authored with conservative attorney Clint Bolick. It hits the shelves this week, and it will include concrete details on how they believe immigration reform should be handled.......

Latinos, and Hispanics won't warm up to someone that sees "no path to citizenship" for those that arrived here improperly.  Besides, the last thing we need is another person from the Bush family.