Ohio Voters

If you haven't voted in recent elections, your registration may have been erased. Those Ohio Republicans are doing all they can to remove Democrats and minority voters from the voting lists.

DailyKos:

....All states cleanse their voter rolls of the deceased and people who have moved. But few do so based on how often a person casts a ballot. In fact, one of the claims in the lawsuit is that the practice of doing so violates federal law:
             Keary McCarthy, president of Innovation Ohio, says Husted has taken purging the voter rolls  a step too far....

...a Reuters survey shows that it seems to be giving a boost to Republicans in the state's largest metropolitan areas. In Ohio’s three largest counties that include the cities of Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Columbus, roughly twice as many voters have been removed from the rolls in Democratic-leaning neighborhoods as in Republican neighborhoods. Just another effort to shave a percentage point or two off Democratic turnout...

The Ohio Republicans are cheating again.

Ohio is still hurting....

You can be certain, that if Gov. Kasich and his appointees are in charge, Ohio citizens are getting hurt.

The Dispatch has a story showing how the Kasich administration mismanaged federal foreclosure money. Despite warnings from various officials, the Republican Kasich administration went ahead with their opinion of how money should be spent. As a result, according to the Dispatch---

'....likely cost the state tens of millions of dollars in federal assistance for a state that continues to have one of the worst foreclosure rates in the nation....'

And if that wasn't enough on Kasich's failure to help Ohioans, Plunderbund notes: 

...Kasich Extends Ohio’s Sub-Par Job Growth To 41 Straight Months
The sad news for Ohio following the new April data and the revisions to prior 2016 months, Mr. Zeller said today, is that Ohio has gained only 2,400 jobs during the first four months of 2016.

“Ohio’s job growth rate between April 2015 and April 2016 fell to an anemic 1.24%, while the USA national job growth rate for April 2016 was also a slowing 1.88%,” Zeller note. April 2016 marks the 41st consecutive month when Job growth under current Gov. John Kasich was below the USA national average.....


....Mr. Zeller said the “horrible April 2016 Ohio job figures wiped out prior increases, and once again moved Ohio to a position where it has 34,100 fewer jobs today than it had in June 2007, the Ohio peak employment month prior to the ‘Great Recession.'”

Kasich's 'miracle' never was a miracle-----it was a nightmare.

Seriously....

Donald Trump's latest ad supposedly shows migrants running over the U.S. border. But......

PolitiFact found this:

...PolitiFact was able to trace the footage back to the Italian television network RepubblicaTV. On May 3, 2014, the network posted footage of Moroccans crossing the border into Melilla, one of two enclaves on the Moroccan coast that are held by Spain. Migrants who cross the border there are essentially entering territory held by a European Union nation, even though they are still on the African continent. (It can also be seen posted by a YouTube user here.)

The RepubblicaTV video is time-stamped May 1, 2014. According to the description posted by the network (and using Google Translate) the video was released by the Interior Ministry in Madrid, showing an "onslaught of hundreds of migrants to the wall that separates the Spanish enclave of Melilla from Morocco. About 800 tried to cross the border on May 1st. Those who failed to escape the control of the Civil Guard were hanging on the barriers for six hours before being rejected."

Incredible!  If you can't find an honest piece of evidence to support your lies about immigrants, borrow some video from somewhere else in the world. This is absolutely disgusting.

Do Something to Stop the Carnage!

Today's NYTimes editorial is correct in saying:

...It is a moral outrage and a national disgrace that civilians can legally purchase weapons designed specifically to kill people with brutal speed and efficiency. These are weapons of war, barely modified and deliberately marketed as tools of macho vigilantism and even insurrection. America’s elected leaders offer prayers for gun victims and then, callously and without fear of consequence, reject the most basic restrictions on weapons of mass killing, as they did on Thursday. They distract us with arguments about the word terrorism. Let’s be clear: These spree killings are all, in their own ways, acts of terrorism....

...Worse, politicians abet would-be killers by creating gun markets for them, and voters allow those politicians to keep their jobs. It is past time to stop talking about halting the spread of firearms, and instead to reduce their number drastically — eliminating some large categories of weapons and ammunition.

It is not necessary to debate the peculiar wording of the Second Amendment. No right is unlimited and immune from reasonable regulation....

If these elected officials refuse to listen to the American people, we must vote their asses out of offices. We cannot allow this to continue.

Why are some politicians allowing an organization to dictate legislation on guns? Is it just so that they get their 100% rating from them?

Here is a link to the members of the House of Representatives:  http://www.house.gov/representatives/    and the Senate:  http://www.senate.gov/senators/contact/    Let your them know you'll be holding them accountable in the next election.

Lower Test Scores?

From this morning's Columbus Dispatch:

....Results from the 2015 National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP, for Ohio show that 38 percent of fourth-graders are proficient in reading and 45 percent in math.

In eighth grade, 36 percent of students scored proficient in reading and 35 percent in math.

While higher than the national average, Ohio’s results were lower than the state’s 2013 NAEP scores. Ohio scores have shown no gain in more than a decade....

Teachers and students are spending less time involved in instruction and learning, while more time is used in test preparation and testing. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that testing has taken over a large part of the school year and that cuts down on reading and math time. On top of that, students and teachers have become anxious about testing days, and performance has been damaged. There is just too much emphasis on testing.

'Yeast Infections"

How to stop a protest at a Planned Parenthood center in one easy step-------

HuffingtonPost:

Mary Numair took down Planned Parenthood protesters in quite an unusual, but awesome way.

According to BuzzFeed News, the 29-year-old Oregon copywriter and Planned Parenthood supporter noticed protesters outside a local clinic in Portland. After trying to approach them multiple times, she opted for a more creative route.

On Oct. 25, Numair arrived at the protest with a sign that read, "Dear P.P., Thanks for helping me with my yeast infections." In a tweet, she said she broke up the protest by chanting the words "yeast infections."

Way to go!

Another Bad Idea

How would John Kasich help veterans? Vouchers!!! CNN had Kasich's response.  (Vouchers which seem to be his solution for everything, including schools.)

Vouchers would be a bad idea.  Vouchers would not cover all of the various conditions that veterans might have. Many of our veterans suffer from PTSD and most doctors don't have experience in dealing with it.

Kasich also suggested bringing in businesses to help solve problems. This is just another ploy to get his wealthy friends involved. When a business takes over an agency, profit $$$$$$  is their only motivation.

There are better ways to care for our veterans------

1.  Stop having unnecessary wars!

2.  Fully fund health care for veterans (Republican cuts to the program have destabilized the veteran health care programs.).


Kasich has suggested he wants more boots on the ground in those ongoing wars in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan. Kasich's idea is part of the Republican strategy of unending, continuous war, and it would only make veteran health care worse.

Where is Ohio's Governor?

Gov. John Kasich isn't in Ohio.  Kasich is spending his time out of the state promoting his candidacy for President. Unfortunately, Kasich's talking points are based on fables, lies, and exaggerations.

>  There is no 'Ohio miracle' in this state. People are still unemployed and underemployed. Kasich's JobsOhio brought some jobs in, but many of them are low paying ones. Bringing in more Walmarts doesn't lift citizens out of poverty!  Many of those companies that have received money and/or tax credits from JobsOhio (aka 'RobsOhio), have not kept their promises about job creation. Kasich's cronies are laughing while they are making money from our tax dollars.

>  The charter school scandals just keep growing. While Kasich and Republicans promise to put in reforms and regulations, nothing has been done. If Kasich and the Republicans continue to get big money campaign donations from charter operators, they won't stop the money train.  Ohio's charter schools have failed our children and taxpayers. With the latest scandal of David Hansen's numbers manipulation of charter school results, Ohioans continue to lose trust in the Kasich administration. Below you will find just a few of the articles about how John Kasich is ruining public education in Ohio.

Links:
via Dispatch - north side charter school closes,
via Dispatch- from 2014- 17 charter school failures,
via Plunderbund - charter school owner's bonus check,
via Diane Ravitch - low performing charter school
via Cleveland - F grades from ECOT
via Innovation Ohio - Kasich's cuts to traditional schools 
via Washington Post - "...Ohio’s $1 billion charter school system was the butt of jokes at a conference for reporters on school choice in Denver..."  


>  Women's health in Ohio has come under attack from Kasich and the Republicans. Health clinics that provide gynecological exams have closed and women's lives are in danger. Planned Parenthood clinics have closed across the state because Republicans just want to get into the private lives of women and their decisions. 

>  Kasich's attacks on teachers and educators have been disrespectful and awful. Why does Kasich hate teachers so much? Is he jealous of their education, and influence, or is he just trying to control a profession made up primarily of women. Kasich's comments about banning teacher lounges shows you that he has no idea what teachers do.

I could go on and on, but time won't allow.  I suggest you visit Plunderbund to find out all the truth about John Kasich.

 

Disrespecting Your Service

I'm old enough to remember the war in Vietnam. I can recall many young people that returned from war injured or dead. Being in a war is something I personally have never experienced, but I know  relatives and friends that suffered through the physical and mental scars of war.

Republican candidate, Donald Trump, thinks he knows what it was like in a war.

Laura Clawson writes about it at DailyKos:

Just imagine the howls if a Democrat with this record made these statements:

Donald J. Trump, who received draft deferments through much of the Vietnam War, told the author of a forthcoming biography that he nevertheless “always felt that I was in the military” because of his education at a military-themed boarding school. Mr. Trump said that his experience at the New York Military Academy, an expensive prep school where his parents had sent him to correct poor behavior, gave him “more training militarily than a lot of the guys that go into the military.”

Hey, he wore a uniform and did marching drills—it's just like having been in Vietnam...


 If someone minimizes your war experience, they'd have no qualms about sending your sons and daughters to war. Don't trust anyone that has plans to put 'boots on the ground' in a war.  It appears that every Republican candidate, especially those that received deferments, are ready, willing, and able to start a war with your son or daughter in battle.

John Becker vs. Women's Rights

Ohio's Republicans are disrespectful to women. Women can make decisions about their own bodies, but not according to Ohio's Neanderthal Republicans, especially John Becker.

Plunderbund:

Ohio state Rep. John Becker has made a career attempting to pronounce what others may or may not do with their reproductive organs. Throughout he tenure in the state legislature, nothing has been top of the mind for John Becker quite like what people should and should not be doing with their genitalia.....

....Now Becker is peddling a proposal in the Ohio General Assembly to ban abortions in cases where the fetus is determined to have Down syndrome....

It puts one in mind of the old George Carlin joke about how much conservatives care about the unborn, “but once you’re born…”

Yes, ladies, John Becker wants to prevent you from having an abortion if there is something wrong with the fetus. Will women need to call John Becker from the gynecologist's office to get permission for an abortion?


You can see John Becker's contact information here:  http://www.ohiohouse.gov/john-becker 
or  http://www.beckergop.com/   or  John@BeckerGOP.com  or 

• Facebook

  http://facebook.com/BeckerGOP

  Send him your comments.

Good job, President Obama!

•  Some right wingers might be wetting their pants with this news from Forbes:

For the first time in more than 50 years of surveys, the CDC on Wednesday reported that more than 90% of Americans — 90.8% of us, to be specific — have health insurance.....

....Being insured even appears to cut down on your risk of death.....

Thank you, President Obama, for protecting the lives of Americans!

Advertising Dollars for Charter Schools

Ohio's charter schools are running many ads on local radio and TV stations. I've heard numerous ads for Performance Academy and they even got local radio personalities to visit in order to endorse their schools.  These charter schools exist on our tax dollars.  Shouldn't those tax dollars be used to educate their students and pay for teachers? Why are they spending thousands of dollars advertising?

Here are some results from the Ohio Department of Education:

 

Achievement
Performance Academy Eastland


At another Performance Academy, the grades are similar:

Columbus Performance Academy


 You can check out the grades from schools all across Ohio here.

An article from the Dayton Daily News (2012) shows that the only people profiting from charters are the people that own them! 

Unfortunately, Ohio's Republican controlled legislature refuses to reform the charter school disasters because charter owners continue to fund their campaigns. It is time for tax payers to stop this charter school mess and put funds back into traditional public schools operated by taxpayers, not corporations/private owners.

Destroying America

The Republican presidential candidates are trying to out conservative each other. They brag about their tax cuts, their 'family values' that have guided their lives, and their goal to 'take back' the country.

What are these Republicans candidates refusing to explain?

>  They are not providing the details about how their tax cuts have gone primarily to the wealthy, while schools and public services (fire/police), and communities, have had to deal with massive cuts.

> The Republican 'family values' claims of these candidates does not include their own transgressions (divorces, one candidate's ties to the DC Madam scandal, another candidate's participation in an exorcism, a GOPer's bribery scandal, budget problems, underfunding public education while rewarding failing corporate-owned charter schools, etc.).

> All of them say that they want to 'take back' the country, but they fail to provide details. They want to turn back the clock to the 19th century, when white men controlled everything.  There were no voting rights for women and minorities, and white men, especially those with lots of money, had authority over institutions.

Please. Don't let these right wing nut jobs win control over our lives. We need to move our country forward, and not backward.

Happy 4th!

Happy 4th of July!

___________________

According to Brent Larkin at Cleveland.com, our governor could be viewed as a 'jerk' by some:

...Kasich is many things. Normal isn't one of them.

In fact, as Kasich prepares to run for president, expect more people to suggest in public what many who know him have been whispering in private for years.
Indelicate though it may be, it's a question worth asking:

Is John Kasich too big a jerk to be president?....

Those of us who have followed Kasich's political career already know the answer to that question---- yes.

Marriage Equality

Congratulations to those who've fought so hard for marriage equality. As President Obama said, "...We've made our union a little more perfect..."  and "...love is love..."

Political Craziness

*  Jeb Bush has announced that he is joining the Republican presidential clown car. Despite the fact that his designed logo doesn't mention his last name, we all know that he is the son of former Presidents George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush. That alone should disqualify him from ever holding office!

The idea of another Bush family member in the White House makes me physically ill.


*  Meanwhile, Ohio Gov. John Kasich is on his low key, undeclared campaign for President. He apparently wants to take his anti-women's rights, anti-union, anti-public school, pro-business agenda to Washington, DC. Although Kasich speaks of an 'Ohio miracle' as he tours, those of us here know that being 31st in job creation doesn't really win him any accolades.

* Scott Walker's record on women is very disgusting. You can read about it here at MSNBC, theProgressive, Truthout, Americablog.  Why would any woman support Scott Walker?

Can't decide?

I like both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders for the Democratic candidate for President. They are both well-qualified and in tune with what is needed for the future. I do like that Hillary pillow!

- - - - -

  Google has a Google Doodle on Sally Ride, the first woman in space. The Verge has more about the salute to Sally Ride.

Where have all the Republicans gone?

There is a great article in Politico that describes what the Republican Party is up against:

...There’s been much written about how millennials are becoming a reliable voting bloc for Democrats, but there’s been much less attention paid to one of the biggest get-out-the-vote challenges for the Republican Party heading into the next presidential election: Hundreds of thousands of their traditional core supporters won’t be able to turn out to vote at all.

The party’s core is dying off by the day.

Since the average Republican is significantly older than the average Democrat, far more Republicans than Democrats have died since the 2012 elections. To make matters worse, the GOP is attracting fewer first-time voters. Unless the party is able to make inroads with new voters, or discover a fountain of youth, the GOP’s slow demographic slide will continue election to election.....

Look at that one line....''the GOP is attracting fewer first-time voters.' Whatever the Republicans are selling, anti-immigrant, anti-equality, anti-women's rights, etc., the young people aren't buying. This is why the Republicans try to stop young people, minorities, and women from voting. The GOP cannot win if Democrats show up and vote. We cannot let the Republicans stop us!

Be Worried!

* Ohio Gov. John Kasich has spent the last few weeks touring the country giving speeches as an 'undeclared' candidate for President. The Dispatch reports that Kasich is going to California for some speeches and fundraising.  While Kasich is out of Ohio, the layoffs continue in the state.

Meanwhile, a firm that is associated with Republicans is in big trouble.

Dispatch:

The former president of a major Republican political advertising firm has been indicted in Franklin County on new charges of perjury and tampering with evidence.
Nicholas P. Everhart, one-time president of Strategy Group for Media, previously was charged in Delaware County for allegedly recruiting a then-employee to illegally search the firm’s computers shortly before and after he was fired....

...Its clients include major Republican officeholders such as Ohio Gov. John Kasich, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky and others.  

* ThisWeekNews (which is owned by the Dispatch) reports that the Gahanna-Jefferson School district is waiting for the governor's budget. All information provided to the district and districts across the state point to more Kasich cuts to public schools.

–––––

>>>>>  Do you have major concerns about Republican candidate Jeb Bush?
You should.

In some recent interviews, Jeb responded to a question and said that he too would have invaded Iraq. When people showed surprise about his statement, Jeb indicated that he 'misunderstood' the question.
Jeb has also said that his major foreign policy adviser is his brother, former President George W. Bush.  Oh, dear.

If you believe in equality for all, you should be concerned about Jeb's favorite author-----
Charles Murray. As TPM points out, Charles Murray's opinions are not supportive of equality.

The Republican Candidates

The Republican candidates for President are definitely crazy. Why would anyone vote for any of these people? They all appear to be anti-equality, anti-women's rights, anti-public school, anti-separation of church and state, and for continuous war.

The latest additions to the Republican clown car include Carly Fiorina, and Mike Huckabee (click on their names for info).  Just thinking about Ben Carson as the President elevates my blood pressure!

These people live in some bubble where they only watch Fox News and talk to people that think like them.