Columbus - Ohioans for Healthy Families, the state wide coalition that has sought enactment of a paid sick day law in the Buckeye state, announced today that it will ask that the Ohio Healthy Families Act not appear on the November ballot. The Coalition said it would deliver a formal request to that effect later in the day to Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner. Brunner's office is currently certifying the 240,000 petition signatures submitted by the coalition on August 5 to place the issue before the voters.
Speaking for the Coalition, SEIU District 1199 President Becky Williams said the decision was "not easy nor made lightly" and was reached only after "it became clear that a shrill and vitriolic ballot campaign marred by misinformation and disinformation would be impossible to avoid." When Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill) conveyed his support for a federal paid sick day bill in his speech accepting the Democratic Presidential nomination, and Gov. Strickland and U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) pledged their help in enacting such a law, Williams said the coalition decided to pull the OHFA from the November ballot. Strickland and Brown (a co-sponsor of S.910, a paid sick day bill currently pending in Congress) appeared at the news conference with Williams and reiterated their intent to seek passage of a federal law.
"Though we are certain -and every public opinion poll bears us out -that voters would support the Healthy Families Act if it were on the ballot, we respect the Governor's wish to avoid a negative and divisive campaign fight that could hurt Ohio", Williams said. "That was never our intent, and it certainly would not be in the best interests of the state we love. To avoid that outcome ---and since Gov. Strickland and Sen. Brown have assured us they will do all they can to pass a federal paid sick day law-we believe this is the right thing to do."
Williams stressed that the fight for paid sick days has not ended, but merely shifted to a new and larger battleground. She cited a new national poll released on August 29 by the National Opinion Research Center in Chicago which found that 80% of Americans supported paid sick days and that 86% say employers should be required to provide them. "We will not rest until paid sick days finally and at long last becomes a reality-not just for all Ohioans, but for all Americans", she concluded.
... if so you have about as much big-time political experience as McCain's VP candidate. The population of Wasillia, Alaska, where VP candidate Sara Palin spent the bulk of her political career, is 6,715, according to the city's website.
Here are you just a few of the Ohio cities larger than Wasilla:
- Groesbeck
- Beckett Ridge
- Welston
- Shelby
- Madeira
- Campbell
- Finneytown
- Springboro
- Orrville
- Northgate
From there Palin went on to serve less than two years as Governor of Alaska.
The population of Alaska is approximately 683,000.
This makes Alaska's population less than 1/3 that of Cleveland metro and less than Columbus, proper.
Frank Rich finds something new to say about the Jerome Corsi saga:
If Republican warriors like Hannity and Matalin think so highly of Corsi’s research into Obama, then perhaps we should take seriously Corsi’s scholarship about McCain.
In recent articles at worldnetdaily.com, Corsi has claimed (among other charges) that the McCain campaign received “strong” financial support from a “group tied to Al Qaeda” and that “McCain’s personal fortune traces back to organized crime in Arizona.”
Of course not, but he does seem to be suffering from a hereditary case of lawsuit amnesia.
John McCain's mother sued his ex-wife for amongst other things an "18th century Burmise Buddist Preist (Burmese Buddhist priest)", a needlepoint screen and a "Butlers Tray for Liquor."
But she'll put her "hand on a Bible" and swear it didn't happen, in the face of court records and Carol McCain's attestation. And McCain's spokesman will swear it was filed "unintentionally."
A decade later John McCain and his ex-wife filed a $1 million punitive lawsuit over some mutual property that was accidentally tossed out. But his spokesman swears it didn't happen, in the face of court records and Carol McCain's attestation.
This is particularly interesting given that the Club for Growth says Sen. McCain's "record on tort reform is generally positive" (read: anti-plaintiff. At least when it's someone else filing the lawsuit).
So says the radio host that Jerome "Swift Boat" Corsi is sitting down with to promote his anti-Obama book. For the second time in a month, Corsi will be the featured guest on "The Political Cesspool", an honest-to-god cesspool.
Media Matters has the full story on the title quote here.
Here are recent mentions of Ohio on the show's official blog:
- Sick… Here’s the story of America in a nutshell nutjob. A white man in Ohio gets a vasectomy after two children, because neither he nor his wife wants a “big” family. Then they “adopt” a 14 year old black girl.
- Cleveland, thanks to Diversity, is back in the running for one of the worst American cities to live in.... Of course, the Trib, being a good little paper, doesn’t mention race in any of these accounts, but you can just take a wild guess who’s committing these vicious assaults and murders.
Can we put this to rest?
Join the Sierra Club as we discuss the economic opportunities associated with solving global warming at our Energy and the Economy Forum this month!
Hear from several panelists on the issues of global warming and the benefits we will see from moving toward a new energy economy. Panelists include: Janine Migden the Consumers' Council from the Office of the Ohio Consumers Council, Bill Spratley the Executive Director of Green Energy Ohio, Dr. Andy Keeler of the John Glenn School of Public Affairs at Ohio State University and Steve Lipster Director of the Electrical Trades Center.
Energy and the Economy Forum
Thursday, August 14th, 2008
6:30 PM
131 North High Street
3rd Floor
Discuss the economic benefits of utilizing energy efficiency techniques and producing clean energy from renewable resources.
Learn how the adoption of these practices not only creates jobs, but also saves consumers money.
Hear from panelists on how they think Ohio should jump start our transition to a new energy economy.
Ask questions and learn what you can do.
Please join us! We hope to see you there!
MacKenzie Bailey Conservation Organizer, Building Environmental Communities, Sierra Club
Jen Miller Conservation Program Coordinator, Ohio Chapter, Sierra Club
credit: Whirling Phoenix/Flickr
New polling out from Sierra Club and LCV. Details here.
Brings to mind this observation by Bill Scher a few weeks ago:
Headlines You Won't See: "Americans Support Clean Energy"
Blaring headlines have followed: "Americans favor offshore drilling!"
But there is other poll data that indicates such support is not terribly deep, and pales in comparison to support for investment in clean energy and energy-efficiency.
but is apparently having trouble kicking volleyball.
It's early August and even Barack is on vacation- load up this Google Calendar of Olympic TV listings to catch your favorite events.
If there were a group of questionable donations all with the name Abdullah that were funneled through a guy in Jordan who is a Jordanian national who is under investigation for war profiteering and it were Barack Obama instead of John McCain would this be a bigger deal?
In the past year 26 prescription drugs have more than doubled in price.
Questcor Pharmaceuticals last August raised the wholesale price on Acthar, which treats spasms in babies, from about $1,650 a vial to more than $23,000.
...but the man is clearly a geography savant.
View KCIvey's map Taken in a place with no name (See more photos or videos here)
Al Franken draws a map of the United States freehand from memory while answering questions about healthcare and other topics at a fundraiser for his Senate campaign at Capitol City Brewing Company, 14 Jul 2008. He later auctioned off the map.
What: Senior Voice Community Forum w/ Sen. Sherrod Brown
When: Thursday, August 7th 11:00am to 3pm
Where: 3250 Euclid Ave Cleveland OH
After a short hiatus, Senior Voice! is proud to announce a Community Forum-- Making Medicare real healthcare not heartaches, headaches, and hardships for Seniors, with Senator Brown as our keynote speaker.
From today's WSJ:
The Wal-Mart human-resources managers who run the meetings don't specifically tell attendees how to vote in November's election, but make it clear that voting for Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama would be tantamount to inviting unions in.
Mary McFate, national gun control activist =
Mary Lou Sapone, corporate spy, NRA contractor
The NYT has a must-read rebuke of Sen. McCain's politicking. Nearly every line is quotable, but these five words towards the end say it all:
"Like Mr. Bush, Mr. McCain..."
In the four years leading up to the credit crunch Wall Street’s big banks paid themselves $250 billion in bonuses. It didn’t seem to matter to anyone that the source of the wealth was largely a swindle… that real profits would never be realized. Now, the banks are writing off the bad loans… and turning to the taxpayer for a handout. But no one has offered to return a bonus, as far as we know.
WSJ runs an excerpt from Barbara Ehrenreich's latest book. Check out the article for more stats about the poor tax.
I chastised a coworker for living in a motel room when it would be so much cheaper to rent an apartment. Her response: Where would she get the first month's rent and security deposit it takes to pin down an apartment? The lack of that amount of capital—probably well over $1,000—condemned her to paying $40 a night at the Day's Inn. [...]
I had gone into the project imagining myself preparing vast quantities of cheap, nutritious soups and stews, which I would freeze and heat for dinner each day. But surprise: I didn't have the proverbial pot to pee in, not to mention spices or Tupperware. A scouting trip to Kmart established that it would take about a $40 capital investment to get my kitchenette up to speed for the low-wage way of life.
From The Dispatch's coverage of Greenpeace's visit to Stivers campaign HQ at the Ohio Republican Party HQ:
[T]he youthful quintet was met by a man in a Stivers T-shirt and a George W. Bush baseball cap who seemed dubious.
"You guys don't believe in global warming, do you?" the man asked. "It's another Y2K."
[R]esale values on large SUVs have fallen 13% from March through May, with some pickups dropping more than 20%, according to Manheim, the nation's largest used-vehicle wholesaler. Knowing the value has plunged, consumers aren't extending leases on many SUVS and aren't keen to buy the vehicles outright.
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