Do Not Expect the Facts from Fox

The good people over at Plunderbund found some interesting information about the truthfulness of Fox News and their talking heads.

....As he (O'Reilly) continues to defend the purity of Fox News, you might be interested in the tale of the surveys. PolitiFact, the highly respected non-partisan rating system, produced these figures on the accuracy of what advances to its audience, night and day:

True, 14.11 pct.
Mostly true, 14.11 pct.
Mostly false, 26.20 pct.
False, 39.30 pct....


You can do the math  ----   28.22 % True or Mostly True

                                           65.50 %  False or Mostly False

Why is anyone watching Fox News??????

Shame!

Ohio taxpayers have been concerned that their money is being misused to prop up failing charter schools. Now, the failing charter system in Ohio has been noticed by people outside of our state.

Ohio.com:

During a day of panel discussions with education reporters and experts at the University of Colorado Boulder, national and local school choice supporters had plenty to say about Ohio.

None of it, however, was good.....

....Among the lowest performing charter school operators continually identified by Ziebarth, Petrilli and other panelists were: K12 Inc., a national company that operates Ohio Virtual Academy and Insight of Ohio; the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow, an Ohio online charter school owned by political contributor Bill Lager; and White Hat Management, an Akron-based company founded by local industrialist David Brennan, who pioneered Ohio’s charter school movement.....

Unfortunately, Gov. Kasich and the Ohio Republicans won't stop funding these charters.  Kasich even wants to send more money to these failing schools!  Why would they refuse to stop the charter school waste?  The charter school groups are major contributors to Republican candidates.

The Republican Lies

By now you've heard the cockamamie accusations made by Rudy Giuliani.

Time:

...Speaking at a private dinner for Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker in Manhattan, the former mayor of New York said, “I do not believe, and I know this is a horrible thing to say, but I do not believe that the president loves America,” Politico reports. “He doesn’t love you. And he doesn’t love me. He wasn’t brought up the way you were brought up and I was brought up through love of this country.”

Apparently Giuliani hasn't gotten enough attention recently so he said something ignorant, stupid, and racist.  What can you expect from a Republican?  The Republican Party has demonstrated their racism, and sexism in more recent years, especially since the candidacy and election of President Obama.

People should realize that the GOP cannot understand the economic success that has resulted under the Obama administration.  The Republicans cannot deal with facts. With the cooperation of Fox, the Republicans have created an incredible amount of lies, conspiracies, and racist comments. They need to stop.

Here are some facts------

'Clown Car'

Ed Kilgore wrote a little something in The Washington Monthly about Gov. Kasich.

WashingtonMonthly:


....Yes, John Kasich is interrupting his tour of Rocky Mountain states promoting that hip new idea the Balanced Budget Amendment to go to an actual early primary state...


....I’m sorry, I just don’t get why so many smart people share this view of Kasich as a world-beater. Yes, his resume is strong, and yes, he’s theoretically “electable.” But if there was ever the wrong time for a Balanced Budget crusade, it’s probably right now, and I just can’t see him rousing a crowd into the kind of hate-frenzy needed to win in the early states...


 Charles Pierce of Esquire, had a very worthwhile article (John Kasich Emerges: One More For The Clown Car) about Ohio Gov. John Kasich.  Here are some excerpts from that Esquire article:

...I remember, back in 1999, how hot a candidate everybody thought John Kasich was; he was the staunch supply-sider who could talk to the young...

....He talked to the young so well that he became the only member of the House of Representatives ever to get the heave-ho at a Grateful Dead concert -- perhaps, as Woody Allen once put it, because several dozen people were rushed to the hospital with bad vibes. Do you know how much of a jackass you have to be to get thrown out of a Dead concert, at least if they don't catch you selling fake crystals or something? Yeesh.

Anyway, Kasich '00 cratered even before the 1999 Iowa Straw Poll -- which made him also the Tim Pawlenty of the '90's -- because George W. Bush was hoovering up all the campaign money. What I remember most about Kasich's brief trip around the track is that he was somebody who thoroughly bought his own publicity. (Here in the Commonwealth -- God save it! -- we have come to know this as the McDreamy Syndrome.) Now, though, he's in his second term as governor of Ohio, where he has a) accepted the government-cootified Medicaid money, and b) lost the fight against public employee unions that Scott Walker won in Wisconsin. And his big campaign pitch is, as I said, the Worst Idea In Interplanetary Politics. I don't know how "I had all these terrible ideas before any of these guys" is going to play as a strategy. It's only a matter of time before he starts arguing that he's not a career politician.



While some (2 or 3 people) in Ohio view Kasich as a visionary, those outside of the state have opinions that are not the least favorable. I'm old enough to remember Kasich's tenure in the House of Representatives.  Although some in the GOP thought Kasich was 'hip,' it is safe to say he wasn't hip then and he isn't hip now.

If there are people out there that think that cutting 100,000 people off food stamps, cutting funding to public schools, restricting women's reproductive rights, turning over public-financed prisons to private corrections companies, allowing less than safe food to be served in some prisons, cutting prison staff, attacking teachers, not supporting marriage equality, attacking union workers,......................then you must be a Republican and a supporter of a pro-business, anti-human agenda.

Notice this????

Has anyone else noticed that Mike Huckabee living totally out of reality?  I don't know what alternative universe Huckabee resides in, but it appears to be far, far away from here. (See HuffingtonPost.)


> Rumors are swirling that the new Republican majority in Congress has been unable to accomplish anything because of infighting. A recent post from the DemocraticUnderground explains more:

"You know, you guys are in the majority,” Franken teased GOP senators as he entered the room.

With a reporting quorum secured, Chairman Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa, sought to quickly move ahead with the committee’s agenda.

But Franken pressed his point, telling Grassley, “No, I want to say something about this.”

“You know when we were in the majority … we had the responsibility to provide a quorum,” Franken said. “And I thought that you guys, your side, didn’t show up because you just resented being in the minority. But now I know … it’s just sheer laziness.”
 

http://hoh.rollcall.com/al-franken-still-a-jokester/?utm_source=outbrain&utm_medium=widget&utm_campaign=obclick&obref=obinsite
http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2015/2/8/85626/65489

Don't you just love Sen. Al Franken!!!!!!

Thinking of Sending Your Child to a Charter School?

If you are thinking of sending your son/daughter to a charter/community school, please think again.  You need to ask lots of questions and do some research. Here is what I would ask before I would enroll my child in a charter program:

 What is your graduation rate?
 Are the teachers certified in the subjects they teach?
 How many teachers have master's degrees, reading certifications, and math certificates?
 How many children are in a classroom?
 What books or reading materials are provided?
 Who is the publisher of the learning materials?
 Are children seated at desks, or folding tables and chairs?
 Does your school have a library and a certified librarian on staff?
 How many hours per day do teachers work in the classroom?
 Does each child have a computer? If not, how many children must share one?
 Is the principal certified in school administration with a background in teaching?
 How many children are reading at or above their grade level?
 If the school has an excess of funds, what happens to that money?
 Ask for results and reports, and do not go on the word of the 'administrator' in the building.


Please note: I would not send my child to a charter/community school. I would move to a better public school district and give my child the full advantages of a well-funded, public education. Remember that charter/community schools answer to owners/CEO's while public schools respond to taxpayers.


>  Recent information about the attendance records of Ohio's charter (aka 'community schools') schools have made taxpayers upset.  It appears that some of these schools are receiving money for invisible students.   Following an investigation by the office of the Ohio Auditor, attendance records were released from some charters. Here is part of what was discovered-----

The Columbus Dispatch:

....A report released yesterday by Ohio Auditor Dave Yost found significantly lower attendance at half of the 30 charter schools where auditors conducted unannounced head counts this past fall....

....Among those with the widest gap was Capital High School, 640 Harrisburg Pike, Columbus. The school reported 298 students; auditors counted 142, fewer than half.....

....Gateway Academy on Kimberly Parkway North in Columbus reported 100 students but auditors counted 52, with 20 students absent....

Dayton Daily News:

Just 43 of the 153 students listed in attendance records at Dayton Technology Design High School were present when investigators from the state Auditor’s office conducted a surprise, random head count at 30 charter schools across the state, according to a report issued Thursday....

.....Auditors showed up at 8:35 a.m. Oct. 1 at Dayton Technology Design H.S. and found just 43 students in school — well below the 172 estimated enrollment given in July 2014 and below the 153 students reported to Ohio Department of Education by the school to be in attendance on Oct. 1. School Director Karl Perkins told auditors that the headcount would be low because tardy students tend to arrive closer to 9 a.m. and some log onto the computer from home, the report said.

Yost’s team showed up again — unannounced — at 8:55 a.m. on Nov. 12 and counted 60 students at Dayton Technology Design H.S. The audit also noted that the school didn’t notify ODE that it would offer “blended” learning where students take classes in person and online.....

Cincinnati.com:

Two Hamilton County charter schools had fewer than 25 percent of registered students in the classrooms when investigators from the Ohio Auditor's Office stopped by for a surprise head count, according to a state report released Thursday.....

....The local schools – Life Skills Center of Hamilton County and Life Skills Center of Cincinnati, which share an administrator and some teachers – are among seven schools whose surprise checks found far fewer students in the seats than the estimates provided.

Reported registration tallies were 64 at Life Skills Hamilton and 127 at Life Skills Cincinnati. But the headcounts, conducted Oct. 1, found 18 at Hamilton and 22 on the Cincinnati campus....


 Read Plunderbund's post on the charter school mess here.

You can download the entire report from the State Auditor's Office here.

If you are concerned about wasted money and corporations getting richer off of your tax money, call your state representative's office and demand an investigation.  I'd like to see a full report on charter school attendance, money received, and graduation rates side by side. It is time to stop wasting our tax dollars on these failing charter schools!!!!

FYI: Those online charter school ads you see on TV are the same ads shown in other states. It is fair to conclude that results are not the same for every student in every state.

Today...

...we honor the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  In order to reach his goals, we must continue to come together, and take steps toward peace and understanding.  We still have so much to do.

If you need more information about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., visit the King Center online.

Sad start to 2015

The year 2015 is fresh and new, but the layoffs continue in Ohio. http://jfs.ohio.gov/warn/current.stm
 There is NO Ohio economic miracle, Gov. Kasich!

> Here is an item that will get you thinking-----

RawStory:

...Tamir Rice was carrying a pellet gun near a recreation center when he was shot and killed in November. Police shot Rice in the abdomen seconds after arriving on scene in response to a 911 call that reported someone who was “ probably a juvenile ” was waving a gun that was “ probably fake ”.

“I don’t have confidence that a [state Bureau of Criminal Investigation] probe into police use-of-force would be a transparent, due-process kind of investigation,” said Jackson, according to Northeast Ohio Media Group . He instead called on the Cuyahoga County sheriff to investigate Rice’s death....

...Jackson’s comments on Sunday were similar to those he made last month after the the Department of Justice released its report on the city’s police force....

What is it about Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine that might cause anyone to think that there would be political motivations behind an investigation? 

> Mike DeWine is against marriage equality and he has spent time and money fighting against it. 

> Mike DeWine is against a woman's reproductive rights, including those that would allow a woman to choose to have an abortion.

> Mike DeWine's conflicts of interest in the investigation of the killing of a man at the Beavercreek Walmart. Plunderbund provided the details.

Considering the Republican control of the state, anything involving civil rights should be investigated by the U.S. Justice Department.

News to Use

According to the New York Times, this year's Black Friday shopping extravaganza was down. Were retailers greedy? Yes! Retailers and Wall Street worshippers always want bigger and better profits. This year it just didn't happen.

With so much attention given to expanded shopping hours, stores remaining open through the holiday, and employees forced to give up family time to work, the end result is shoppers just didn't respond to the retail kidnapping of the holiday. 

>  A Republican staffer that made critical remarks about the Obama daughters is resigning today.

USAToday:

Republican party staffer Elizabeth Lauten told NBC News she is "resigning today" after making controversial comments about Sasha and Malia Obama, according to NBC News.....

Wow. What took Ms. Lauten so long to resign?

>>>The Toledo Blade article suggesting Gov. Kasich as a presidential candidate made me want to puke.  Kasich, the notorious anti-teacher, anti-police & firefighter, anti-public school, anti-women's rights, does not belong in the presidential arena. His enormous ego and corporate-loving giveaways are just too much to bear.

Stand firm!

>  The U.S. Senate did not approve the bill allowing for the construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline. The measure failed by one vote. Americans should realize that the information about massive job creation from the pipeline construction is nothing more than propaganda.

The construction of the pipeline would only create 50 permanent jobs and 9,000 temporary jobs. The oil from the pipeline would flow to Texas where it would then be exported to other countries. The owners of the pipeline have waged a large campaign that is being handled by a public relations firm.

Opposition to the pipeline has come from Native Americans, farmers, environmentalists, and others. One of the more vocal groups has been Canadians http://tinyurl.com/ld62tlu.  

We should not rest until we have completely stopped this pipeline. Those behind the pipeline have not given up their fight (http://tinyurl.com/oukuph8) and neither should we.

If you need a reminder of what an oil spill can do to a community, let me refresh your memory about the tragedy in Kalamazoo (http://archive.freep.com/article/20130623/NEWS06/306230059/Kalamazoo-River-oil-spill).

> The layoffs in Ohio continue, even though Gov. John Kasich claims that there has been an 'Ohio miracle' here. 

> We've had snow here in Ohio, but not as bad as what they've experienced in New York, according to an ABC News report.

Vote!

I have one word for you:

Vote!

Bring your friends and relatives to vote. If you know of someone that needs a ride to the polls, offer them a ride. Encourage co-workers to get out there and exercise their right to vote!

Vote!

Did you know that Ohio Gov. John Kasich was in New York City with other Republican presidential candidates? Kasich appeared in NY at a fundraiser with Chris Christie, Rand Paul, Kelly Ayotte, Marco Rubio, and Mitt Romney. Politicalpartytime has the invitation for the October 6th event that had a price tag of $32,400 per person!!!! And you thought Kasich really cared about average Ohioans???

Some people even believe that Kasich is starting to give speeches that indicate his leanings toward a presidential run (Cincinnati Enquirer). Wow! It looks like Kasich's ego has just reached even larger proportions!

Don't forget to vote for Democrats! Stars are reminding you to vote.

> There is a very frightening story that will give you chills------ Mitt Romney might run for President again. The man that brought us 'binders full of women' and 'the 47%' is considering another campaign.

> Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel's ads are coming under scrutiny mainly because they're just not true. Even 10tv had a news story concerning the lack of truth in the ads.

Refusal to debate?

Plunderbund has news on the Kasich refusal to debate Ed Fitzgerald:

News broke this morning that the campaign team for Kasich, comfortably ahead in the polls, can’t agree on whether to tempt fate by putting their candidate on stage next to his opponent for a debate, risking a verbal encounter that could help FitzGerald and hurt Kasich.  The failure to reach an internal consensus in camp Kasich to even be seen on stage with Ed FitzGerald, Kasich’s Democratic challenger whose name he has yet to actually say in public, tells voters all they need to know about the Wizard of Westerville’s supersized ego and arrogance....


...John Kasich is the consummate performance politician. He really doesn’t like the press—because some of us can ask questions that make his head explode—and if he actually spoke truthfully, he doesn’t like the legislature either, because it’s just a big group of people who can say no to him, and if there’s one thing Mr. Kasich dislikes above all else, it’s not being able to act like a CEO of a private corporation who can do what he wants, when he wants. One can only wonder if he has a picture of Vladimir Putin on a wall somewhere.

Kasich needs to win by a large margin to get the mandate he so desperately needs to flesh out the false narrative that he’s a comeback governor.  But FitzGerald, an attorney, could skewer Kasich big time in a live matchup. From history we know that John Kasich is extremely prone to political foot-in-mouth disease. Even the Cleveland Plain Dealer, which is certain to endorse him again this year, said in their 2010 editorial endorsement of him, that he could “talk himself off a cliff.” The PD and other newspapers, especially the Columbus Dispatch, were for him in 2010 because they swallowed his talk of razzle dazzle in government hook, line and sinker. They slow but steady recovery under Strickland, following a tidal wave of job losses brought on by the Great Recession, not Strickland policies as Kasich would have you believe, was too boring for newspaper editorial boards who became mesmerized by the fast but erratic rabbit over the steady plodding tortoise....


Those of us that are familiar with John Kasich, Governor of Ohio, know that he is a pompous, self-centered person. Now that he has refused to debate Democratic candidate, Ed Fitzgerald, more people might realize it. After the Kasich campaign announced that they would not participate in any debates, the Fitzgerald campaign released some info.

MSNBC:

...On Tuesday,  Kasich’s campaign announced it was walking away from debate negotiations with Democratic challenger Ed FitzGerald....
  
“He’s not accepting the challenge because his handlers know that when the Governor is forced to speak on his feet he reveals his disdain for working Ohioans and he is unable to defend his record of helping his wealthy friends at the expense of Ohio’s middle class,” says Laura Hitt, FitzGerald’s campaign spokesperson.  

But Kasich isn’t the only Ohio Republican ditching debates this year.  Attorney General Mike DeWine, Secretary of State Jon Husted, and State Treasurer Josh Mandel have all declined to participate in the City Club of Cleveland’s debate series....


This should make every voter in Ohio very suspicious of what the Republican Party has in their plans that they are unwilling to share with the people. Are the Republicans are so certain of their re-elections that they are afraid to be exposed to questions submitted by the press and the people?

Vote against the hubris of the Republicans. Vote for Democrats.

Ohio

What numbers are being used to Ohio Gov. John Kasich on job growth in the state? Here is something that will knock your socks off immediately!

Scroll down to see where Ohio ranks in job growth.

WPCarey:

Total Nonfarm 1 month change: July 2014 over June 2014

State	Rank	% Change	Job Growth	# of Jobs
Alabama		39.00	13.00	1,919.80
Alaska		49.00	44.00	333.00
Arizona		12.00	3.00	2,572.50
Arkansas		30.00	22.00	1,188.90
California		9.00	23.00	15,492.50
Colorado		6.00	21.00	2,452.20
Connecticut		45.00	28.00	1,670.30
Delaware		8.00	16.00	439.50
Florida		4.00	41.00	7,795.90
Georgia		14.00	20.00	4,108.40
Hawaii		31.00	29.00	623.90
Idaho		38.00	11.00	647.70
Illinois		46.00	24.00	5,824.50
Indiana		16.00	40.00	2,991.30
Iowa		23.00	37.00	1,550.20
Kansas		28.00	26.00	1,387.10
Kentucky		44.00	4.00	1,863.70
Louisiana		36.00	10.00	1,981.30
Maine		27.00	45.00	610.10
Maryland		42.00	49.00	2,610.20
Massachusetts		21.00	8.00	3,422.10
Michigan		40.00	7.00	4,161.50
Minnesota		18.00	46.00	2,814.60
Mississippi		35.00	31.00	1,121.30
Missouri		20.00	5.00	2,781.60
Montana		24.00	1.00	457.90
Nebraska		33.00	42.00	981.90
Nevada		2.00	39.00	1,217.40
New Hampshire		26.00	33.00	646.90
New Jersey		47.00	27.00	3,950.60
New Mexico		50.00	2.00	812.00
New York		25.00	25.00	9,042.20
North Carolina		15.00	12.00	4,139.80
North Dakota		1.00	35.00	465.30
• Ohio		34.00	47.00	5,288.90
Oklahoma		17.00	43.00	1,663.70
Oregon		7.00	36.00	1,717.60
Pennsylvania		41.00	38.00	5,793.00
Rhode Island		22.00	18.00	477.80
South Carolina		11.00	48.00	1,928.40
South Dakota		37.00	17.00	421.60
Tennessee		13.00	30.00	2,800.70
Texas		3.00	9.00	11,607.80
United States		0.15	209.00	139,004.00
Utah		5.00	6.00	1,338.30
Vermont		43.00	14.00	307.60
Virginia		48.00	15.00	3,788.20
Washington		10.00	19.00	3,062.10
West Virginia		32.00	50.00	771.70
Wisconsin		19.00	32.00	2,859.90
Wyoming		29.00	34.00	292.90

Failure!

People across Ohio are in shock about Ohio's latest job numbers. Ohio is ranked number 40 in job creation.
W.P. Carey Job Growth USA:

Ohio 40 

Gov. John Kasich has failed in job creation and Ohio's middle class suffers.

Check out the entire job growth chart at http://legacy.wpcarey.asu.edu/bluechip/jobgrowth/secure_states.cfm

In the news....

Another tragedy in Ohio--------

WDTN:

The Beavercreek Police Department confirms that an officer shot and killed a rifle-waving suspect at the Walmart store.

Officers say they responded to the Walmart on Pentagon Boulevard at 8:21 p.m. on reports that a man was waving a rifle type weapon at customers....

...The second victim in this event apparently died from some sort of medical collapse.  She is identified as Angela Williams, 37, of Fairborn.  The coroner’s office says she was running away from the incident when she collapsed.  She died at Soin Medical Center.  An autopsy will be completed today, but results are not expected for several weeks....

It is so hard to understand why some people feel the need to terrorize others with guns.


>>>  Toledo citizens might be able to drink tap water now, but the future could see more water emergencies with the increase in factory farms and climate change.

PublicNews "...Massive runoff pollution from farm fields in the Maumee River basin causes toxic algae blooms in Lake Erie..."

Massive runoff pollution from farm fields in the Maumee River basin causes toxic algae blooms in Lake Erie, which can create oxygen-deprived "dead zones" that can kill fish and sicken humans. Moazed said leaders need to take action to reduce the waste flowing into the state's rivers and lakes, including tougher regulations for farm runoff. At the National Center for Water Quality Research, scientist Laura Johnson said algae blooms tend to widen and spread out, meaning this one could migrate to another part of Lake Erie. Without action, she warned, the problems are likely to worsen. - See more at: http://www.publicnewsservice.org/2014-08-06/water/toledo-water-crisis-over-conservationists-say-not-really/a40961-1#sthash.GaSGgS9R.dpuf

Massive runoff pollution from farm fields in the Maumee River basin causes toxic algae blooms in Lake Erie, which can create oxygen-deprived "dead zones" that can kill fish and sicken humans. Moazed said leaders need to take action to reduce the waste flowing into the state's rivers and lakes, including tougher regulations for farm runoff. At the National Center for Water Quality Research, scientist Laura Johnson said algae blooms tend to widen and spread out, meaning this one could migrate to another part of Lake Erie. Without action, she warned, the problems are likely to worsen. - See more at: http://www.publicnewsservice.org/2014-08-06/water/toledo-water-crisis-over-conservationists-say-not-really/a40961-1#sthash.GaSGgS9R.dpuf

Massive runoff pollution from farm fields in the Maumee River basin causes toxic algae blooms in Lake Erie, which can create oxygen-deprived "dead zones" that can kill fish and sicken humans. Moazed said leaders need to take action to reduce the waste flowing into the state's rivers and lakes, including tougher regulations for farm runoff. At the National Center for Water Quality Research, scientist Laura Johnson said algae blooms tend to widen and spread out, meaning this one could migrate to another part of Lake Erie. Without action, she warned, the problems are likely to worsen. - See more at: http://www.publicnewsservice.org/2014-08-06/water/toledo-water-crisis-over-conservationists-say-not-really/a40961-1#sthash.GaSGgS9R.dpuf

We must demand that our drinking water be protected, no matter what influence political contributors try to exert on public officials. Clean drinking water is essential to our survival!

The Dirty Details

There have been numerous reports of problems with the food service in Ohio's prisons. Plunderbund has more details:

...when reports of maggots in prison food, on kitchen equipment and in serving lines made headlines, the Ohio Civil Service Employees Association, the union representing the majority of Department Rehabilitation and Correction employees, said the maggots “are just the tip of the iceberg in terms of contract infractions being committed by Aramark.”

Christopher Mabe, OCSEA President, offered testimony at a Statehouse hearing that shined a light on unsafe working conditions that have developed since food-service contractor giant “Aramark” started delivering prison food. OCSEA’s leader also said that because of the Philadelphia-based company’s contract infractions so far, DR&C has to add resources to supplement the contract.

Testifying before the Correctional Institution Inspection Committee in downtown Columbus, Mabe said nearly 100 Aramark employees have been banned from ever entering a DR&C prison, more than 100 instances of food shortages and issues ranging from increased contraband, to low staffing levels, to inappropriate relationships, a combination of factors that lead to the inescapable conclusion that Aramark never had control of the contract....

For even more unsavory morsels, read the entire post at Plunderbund.

Ohio: Number 33 in Job Growth!

Democratic candidate for Ohio governor, Ed FitzGerald, wants current Gov. John Kasich, to end the disaster of Ohio's charter schools: http://tinyurl.com/msdcngo

In the Chronicle-Telegram, Ed FitzGerald says average Ohioans are in a bind under Kasich:

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ed FitzGerald on Sunday accused Republican Gov. John Kasich of balancing the budget on the backs of local governments.
 

Analyzing state statistics, One Ohio Now, a liberal policy group, estimates local governments and schools have lost $1.86 billion in state taxpayer aid between the 2010-11 fiscal year and 2014-15. That works out to $1.5 billion to cities and counties and $349 million to schools. Lorain County lost $48.4 million — $33.8 million to local governments and $14.6 million to schools, the policy group said....

...FitzGerald cited Kasich’s income tax cuts and sales tax increases. Analyzing state statistics, Policy Matters Ohio, a liberal group affiliated with One Ohio Now, said the wealthiest 1 percent of Ohioans, who earned at least $335,000 annually in 2012, received about a $6,000 annual tax cut in the first Kasich budget. Those earning between $33,000 and $50,000 annually received a $5 annual tax cut, while those earning less than $33,000 earned a $24 tax cut, Policy Matters Ohio said....

The middle class is losing in Ohio!

* The Review looks at  job loss in Ohio:

....Overall government employment fell from January 2011 to June, led by nearly 25,000 jobs lost in local government. Median incomes in Ohio have fallen about $7,000 over the past decade....

According to WP Carey at Arizona State, Ohio is 33rd in job growth for June 2014.

Rank
2014

Ohio 33......

No way to run a state!

Things have gotten pretty bad with the food service in Ohio facilities:


10TV.com:

10TV has obtained more than 160 reports from the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction showing infractions against Aramark, the company that provides food service.

Aramark is receiving $110 million over two years to provide food to inmates. 116 documented incidents show the company has fallen short by running out of food or providing unapproved substitutes.....

....Another report showed the milk provided was spoiled on June 4, 2014.

Five days later, they ran out of eggs. On July 14, 2014, the entree, pizza, ran out with 544 inmates left to eat....

Previously, 10TV had reported the problem of maggots in prison food......

10TV:

The Ohio Department of Corrections will send inspectors to every state prison after multiple reports of maggots found in food. 

Over the last few weeks, maggots have been reported at the Ohio Reformatory for Women in Marysville and the Trumbull Correctional Institution in Leavittsburg....

.....Aramark, the company contracted to provide meals for Ohio's 26 prisons, says it's investigating claims of maggots like in prison kitchens....


Of course, the Kasich administration is doing this all in our names. It is time to end the contract with this company.

Promises

* Wages are flat in Ohio. It appears the only people making money are those friends of Kasich's that are getting millions of dollars from JobsOhio.

Plunderbund notes that Kasich & Co. are intermixing job commitments with real new job numbers:

...Job commitments are not Jobs.  Job announcements are not Jobs.
Jobs are jobs.
Right now Ohio ranks 38th in job growth nationally and we’ve had 19 straight months of job growth below the national average.  The jobs we have recovered pay less than the ones we lost.  And we found out this morning that unemployment claims in Ohio jumped last week, despite a decrease nationally.  For the week ending July 5th, Ohio ranked third in the nation for new initial unemployment claims....

Promises are made to be broken and those job 'promises' have not all produced real jobs.

* Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine appears to have established a 'pay to play' program that benefits his friends and contributors. Plunderbund has written a number of posts covering the scandals surround DeWine's office.

Plunderbund:

....DeWine’s political allies also get special treatment.    Ohio Right to Life President Mike Gonadakis received  special access to DeWine after Gonadakis used his organization to promote DeWine during the 2010 election.   Gonadakis was later invited for personal meetings with DeWine to discuss securities contracts.  Gonadakis’s lobbying business grew nearly 10 fold after DeWine took office.

Phil Burress, the anti-gay activist who heads up Citizens for Community Values (CCV), also helped DeWine woo social conservatives in the last election.  Burress’s daughter, a lawyer who also donated to DeWine’s campaign, later received lucrative special counsel contracts from DeWine’s office....

...This week we found out that lawyers, lobbyists and firms seeking work from DeWine have another avenue for funneling boatloads of cash to him: through his favorite charity.  Hands Together Inc. operates a school in Haiti named after DeWine’s deceased daughter.     The AP reports that donations raised by DeWine for the group have doubled since he took office.  “The donations show how companies or attorneys who seek to influence DeWine can find creative ways to do so,” writes the AP....

Tell your friends and family about this disgusting activity going on in DeWine's office.