The times, they are a'changin'
Lloyd Benston famously said to Dan Quayle, "Senator, you are no Jack Kennedy." And we say to John Kasich, "Governor, you are no Ted Strickland." In three short months, you have torn apart this proud state -- threatening every group that dares express an opinion that doesn't line up with your agenda.
Here's what the Bully on the Bus is up to:
Making teachers, firefighters, police officers, nurses and other public employees the fall guys. Remember, immediately after the election, he said, “I am waiting for the teachers’ unions to take out full-page ads in all the major newspapers, apologizing for what they had to say about me during this campaign.” (Spingfield News-Sun) (Ironically, many union members voted GOP -- and now regret checking "Kasich" in the voting booth.)
Hiding budget cuts. Claiming to boost K-12 funding when schools actually will see cuts of 6.1 percent in the budget's first year and 4.7 percent in its second year. (Huffington Post)
Cutting programs for the poorest of the poor, vulnerable elderly, the handicapped while crowing about "protecting" the richest of the rich. As Ohio Rep. John Patrick Carney (D-Clintonville) told NBC4 in Columbus,"If they [nursing homes] are laying off 6,000 people, what are we going to do with respect to making sure the quality of care that the individual in those homes are getting?"
Taking away women's rights by banning abortions if there is evidence a fetus has a heartbeat -- which could be as early as 18 days after conception. (ABC News)
Disenfranchising voters. The Ohio Senate is considering a bill passed by the House that makes Ohio's existing requirements more stringent, blocking students, the working poor, the elderly, racial minorities, and people with disabilities -- who are twice as likely not to have the approved forms of ID. (Cleveland Plain Dealer)
The list goes on. And remember, Kasich took office in January! What is ahead?
Progressives cannot take this lying down. As Ted Strickland said in a March 19 speech, It's time to fight. now -- and the next two years.
Think it won't hurt you?
Reliable sources tell UAPA that the City Council is already contemplating how to make up the approximately $110,000 less that Kasich's budget proposal will mean for Upper Arlington. Not much? Right? But what about the $2 million to $4 million annually from estate taxes that will be gone if Kasich and his cronies have their way? (Our information was confirmed in the March 27 Dispatch, " 'Hypothetically, if they both go away, what are the ways to restore our revenues?' asked Wade Steen, an Upper Arlington councilman.")
That will definitely mean an increase in INCOME TAX for each of us. What a way to take a responsibility off a priviledged group and load it onto the entire middle class! (Maybe Kasich is protecting the $500,000 in bonuses he got from Lehman Brothers.)
Remember, shortages roll downhill. When the state won't pay, cities, towns, libraries, school districts and public colleges and university students must. (And that means YOU.)