No Time For You!!!

Republican leader and member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Eric Cantor, turned down an invitation to attend the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington.  Where was Eric Cantor?

HuffingtonPost:


When House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) declined to speak at the March on Washington 50th anniversary rally Wednesday, he was choosing instead to meet with a North Dakota oil and gas lobby group, The Washington Post reports. 

According to the Grand Forks Herald, Cantor met with North Dakota Petroleum Council members in Watford City, toured oil drilling sites and spoke with leaders of the energy industry in Williston on Wednesday....

Eric Cantor just isn't that into the people that support the ideals of Dr. King and the March on Washington.

•  Stephanie Miller had Michael Tomasky of The Daily Beast on her radio program today. Tomasky talked about the far right's plan to try to impeach President Barack Obama. As Tomasky noted, the right has no evidence or reason to bring impeachment charges against President Obama. I suspect that the reason the far right wants to start impeachment proceedings is based on their racism, hatred, and ignorance.  Take a look at those on the right and you'll notice the lack of diversity on their side. The mostly white far right is upset that Obama was elected and that soon whites will be in the minority.

Outreach? Not so much

The Republican Party leaders talk that they are interested in reaching out to minority voters. However, when given the opportunity to participate in a special event, they refuse.

DailyKos:

Conservatives complaining that the March on Washington anniversary celebration seems awfully partisan should note that they have only themselves to blame.

Speaker John A. Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor, the House’s two most senior Republicans, were invited to speak at the 50th anniversary of the historic March on Washington — but declined. […] “They asked a long list of Republicans to come,” [civil rights activist Julian Bond] continued, “and to a man and woman they said ‘no.’ And that they would turn their backs on this event was telling of them, and the fact that they seem to want to get black votes, they’re not gonna get ‘em this way.”

The actions and rhetoric of the Republicans show their lack of interest in addressing minorities, women, and working people. Don't allow them to have your vote if they can't even show you respect.

Problems?

There are big problems in Pennsylvania with one of the operators of charter schools.

LehighValleyBusiness:


The founder and superintendent of one of Pennsylvania's most successful cyber charter schools is facing federal charges of fraud for scheming taxpayer funds out of the school, according to a 41-page grand jury indictment.
The indictment claims Nicholas Trombetta, 58, of East Liverpool, Ohio, the founder of PA Cyber Charter School, and Mark Prence, 58, of Koppel, his accountant, shifted more than $8 million in Trombetta's income between 2006 and 2012 to others to hide his true income....

....Trombetta faces three counts of mail fraud, three counts of theft or bribery concerning a program receiving federal funds, one count of tax conspiracy and five counts of filing a false tax return....

Here is more from TribLive:

In the end, it was nothing more than an old-fashioned skimming operation. At least that's what federal prosecutors in Pittsburgh allege in an 11-count indictment for mail fraud, filing false tax returns and conspiracy against Nick Trombetta.....

.....The indictment is a triple shame. First, there's the alleged violation of public trust. Then there's the fact that Trombetta was considered something of a savior for Midland, the beleaguered Beaver County community that the charter school helped revive. And then there's the taint left on the school, not implicated in the charged funny dealings and considered to be a great success. 

But the indictments also have renewed the debate over the amount of taxpayer dollars given to cyber charter schools — whether they should receive the same per pupil amount as their bricks-and-mortar counterparts, considering the latter's claimed higher overhead.... 

The Pittsburgh Post Gazette has even more details on the indictment and the scheme.

Pennsylvania Gov. Corbett should answer to the people of Pennsylvania about how this scheme robbed school children of their money for education.

News.....

Republican Sen. Ted Cruz was born in Canada and has dual citizenship. Even though Cruz says he renounces his Canadian citizenship, it will take some paper work and several months.

DailyKos:

(Cruz) He's still a Canadian. And while he may want to renounce his citizenship, the process could take a long time:

Senator Cruz may have to wait eight months to stop being Canadian Senator Ted Cruz, who recently discovered that he is likely a Canadian, must win security clearance from Canada's spy agency, fill in a four-page form and then wait up to eight months to sever his ties to America's northern neighbor.

Oh, also too, he needs to pay Canada $100 (in their currency) in order to give up his citizenship. Really, it's a win-win situation for our neighbors to the north: Not only do they get to dump their association with Cruz, they get paid to do it. 

There you go.

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>>>> A new PPP Poll has Ohio Republicans a little worried:

PPP's newest Ohio Governor poll finds a toss up race, with Democratic challenger Ed FitzGerald holding a slight lead over John Kasich at 38/35. 

The closeness of the race is more of a reflection on Kasich than FitzGerald. He has a negative approval rating with 42% of voters approving of him to 47% who disapprove....

.....-On the other side of the spectrum it's clear that Josh Mandel did a lot of damage to himself in his Senate campaign last year. Our final poll of that contest found him with a 36/50 favorability rating, and he hasn't done much to rehabilitate his image since then. Only 30% of voters approve of the job he's doing as Treasurer to 41% who disapprove, and he trails 40/35 in a head to head with challenger Connie Pillich....

Kasich's approval rating will continue to go down. What has Kasich given us?
Here is a short list:
  Kasich and his Republicans have 
-   passed restrictions on women's access to reproductive health and clinics. Cut aid to to Planned Parenthood, which primarily serves low income women for cancer screenings, Pap tests, etc.
-   stopped most transparency in his administration.
-   allowed JobsOhio activities and those of directors to operate in complete secrecy, without any oversight.
-   forced an Ohio EPA water safety expert to resign, while contributions from coal firms pile up for Kasich and GOP candidates.
-   has appointed mostly white males to heads of departments.
-   Kasich and the GOP pushed SB5/Issue 2 to limit the rights of workers.
etc.............

Thank Goodness!

*** Ed Schultz is going back to MSNBC!!!!!!

MediaBistro:

MSNBC is changing up its weekday lineup in a significant way, moving Ed Schultz from weekends back to weekdays.

Schultz will take over the 5 PM weekday slot starting next Monday, while Chris Matthews‘  ”Hardball” will now air only once per day at 7 PM.....





We've missed Ed!

Ohio Jobs Picture Sad

Although Republicans and Gov. John Kasich call the employment picture in Ohio as as "miracle," it is just a lot of malarkey.

Plunderbund:

The economic recovery in Ohio is officially over.

Despite inheriting a State that was both hardest hit and fastest to recover from the Great Recession before he took office, Gov. John Kasich has fumbled the recovery.  As we noted, most the jobs gained since Kasich took office occurred in 2011 and early 2012 before most of his policies took effect.  Naturally, this has lead to the Ohio and national press corps to start speculating on Governor Kasich running for President....

...Ohio’s unemployment rate stayed at 7.2% as the unemployment rate nationally dropped .2% last month.  The only “miracle” in Ohio’s economic news last month is that Ohio’s unemployment rate didn’t go up.  But over the past twelve months, Ohio’s unemployment rate hasn’t moved.  Like, at all.    And the trendlines over the past months strongly suggest there’s far greater pressure that will drive Ohio’s unemployment rate up than down. 

For the THIRD consecutive month in a row, the number of unemployed Ohioans grew.... 

Kasich's "miracle" job recovery is not happening. People are still losing jobs. A quick look at ODJFS Warn Notices shows more layoffs ahead including 31 at General Dynamics in Springboro.

Did you see this?

Republican Rep. Steve King of Iowa promised a big anti-immigration rally. What he got is astounding!

DemocraticUnderground:

Rep. Steve King (R-IA) held a rally on Monday night for those who oppose the comprehensive immigration reform effort taking place on Capitol Hill. But no one, it seems, felt like going.....

With the paltry response Steve King received for his rally, it is clear that people are just not that into his politics and hate-filled message.

The Need to Know

This morning we find that there are still more layoffs planned in Ohio. The ODJFS Warn Notice page has listed layoffs at JPMorgan Chase (97) and CSC Worldwide (94). Those layoffs bring the total number of people losing jobs in Ohio in 2013 to 5,500 people. Taxpayers in Ohio want to know which corporations are getting "development" money to create jobs, their ties to people on the board of JobsOhio, and if any of the companies listed on the Warn Notice page have received money from the state.

Playing With YOUR Money

Information  about the super secret JobsOhio controversy has been posted on Daily Kos. Here is a short excerpt from DailyKos:

You've heard of JobsOhio, right? It's the public-private outfit Gov. John Kasich formed that gives Ohio tax dollars to private companies that "promise" to create jobs. Gov. Kasich loves to talk about it. 

But he's not telling you the whole story. Last week, the Dayton Daily News broke the news that six of nine JobsOhio board members personally benefit from the special incentives given out. That's right, these Kasich-appointed board members are invested in companies that receive JobsOhio tax breaks. And even Kasich is padding his pockets from JobsOhio, receiving compensation from a company that got public funding.

There's a reason students aren't allowed to grade their own tests, why pitchers aren't allowed to call their own strikes, and why you wouldn't let Al Capone guard the bank vault. Why wouldn't that same principal apply to the public's money as well?.....

Is everyone getting a cut of the action at JobsOhio except the taxpayers?

Which companies????

Here is a bit of information that every person should know---HuffingtonPost:

Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) vetoed a bill this summer to help prevent wage discrimination after receiving letters against the measure from retailers like Macy's and Kroger Food Stores, according to documents newly obtained by the Houston Chronicle.

The bill would have brought Texas state law in line with the federal Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which makes it easier for women to sue employers over wage discrimination....

.....Kroger's director of consumer affairs told the Chronicle he regrets that Thompson is upset and that the company would discuss the bill with her. Macy's did not return a request for comment from The Huffington Post.

Macy's and Kroger fought against wage discrimination? Really? I wonder if Macy's and Kroger in our state feel the same way.

JobsOhio

There was a very interesting radio discussion today on WOSU (89.7). Ann Fisher's program, All Sides, had guests that are reporters based at the Ohio Statehouse. Many topics were discussed, including the growing scandal and lack of transparency surrounding Gov. John Kasich's JobsOhio agency. The reporters noted that the Republican controlled General Assembly set up JobsOhio to have no oversight, no audit by the State Auditor, and exempt from Sunshine Laws. It was also mentioned that JobsOhio is set up to last 25 years and be funded by $100 million from the Liquor Control funds.  One reporter also said that if Kasich is re-elected, there could be a Watergate type investigation to examine the program.  You can listen to the audio of the program at WOSU.

Any commingling of public and private funds is a recipe for disaster. Taxpayers don't even know how their tax dollars are being spent because there is no transparency.

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*** If you haven't heard about the bizarre claims Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor is making about the Affordable Care Act, you'd better read Plunderbund.  Here is an excerpt from Plunderbund:

Matt Borges, Chairman of the Ohio Republican Party, sent out a fundraising email this weekend claiming that Obamacare is going to raise insurance rates for Ohioans.   His “information” comes from a flawed announcement made by Mary Taylor a day earlier.
 
Borges claims “Ohioans can expect their insurance premiums to skyrocket by as much as 41% next year” thanks to Obamacare and Ohio’s federally-run health care insurance exchange.   His claim is based on a press release put out by Taylor’s office titled “Health Insurance Premiums to Increase 41 Percent Due to Affordable Care Act.”


Not only is the 41% number not true, but Borges and Taylor both imply that the increase will impact everyone in Ohio with insurance, which is absolutely pants-on-fire false....


I guess we can see that the Republicans in Ohio are just not dealing with reality. Every state that has released their health care figures under the Affordable Care Act has shown far lower rates than what was projected.