Starting with the false notion that breaking public worker unions will help the state recover from the 2008 economic melt down, Ohio Governor John Kasich and the Ohio cheap labor conservative Republicans are supporting state Issue 2 (aka Senate Bill 5) by focusing on being “reasonable” and getting public workers to pay into their pension and health care plans. Of course Kasich and his Koch brother funders hope you will ignore the real damage Issue 2 will do to public employees and the fact that Kasich and the GOP leadership at the state house are making money hands over fist.
In a recent ad, Gov. Kasich talked about being reasonable:
Ohio GOP will lie to keep from having to admit they were wrong on SB-5
If you see a report on the news of Governor Kasich sitting in almost empty room complaining and blustering about the Unions not showing up to work out a compromise to get state issue 2 off the ballot – it was all great theater – a lie but great theater. He refused to talk back in February when SB-5 was forced through. Contrary to his bluster it looks like the Republicans are divided not the unions.
Here is a clip from the Capital Blog of the Kasich photo-op Friday (8/19/11):
Plunderbund catches Columbus Dispatch trying to make a deal for the GOP about SB-5
The great Ohio political blog Plunderbund had a great post about some stories appearing in the Columbus Dispatch recently calling for a compromise between the state GOP and labor unions in order to remove Issue 2 from the ballot. Issue 2 is the referendum over Senate Bill 5 that stripped collective bargaining from public employees. It turns out that the Dispatch was closer to the issue than they let on.
Former Ohio teacher Cliff Hite votes to strip collective bargaining from teachers
In politics some things go beyond just simple votes. A politician has to answer to their constituents, donors, and even the party they belong to. On Wednesday March 2nd, the political bill came due for Ohio State Senator Cliff Hite (R-Findlay). He owed a debt to the GOP and they got him to turn his back on his former colleagues in the public schools by voting for Senate Bill 5 that strips collective bargaining from public employees.
Hite was appointed to the 1st Senate District seat on February 1st.
On March 2nd he was suddenly appointed to the Insurance, Commerce and Labor committee that then voted to pass Senate Bill 5, which severely restricts collective bargaining for public employees, to the full Senate for a vote. Ironically the bill would affect public school teachers, Hite’s former profession. He also voted for final passage of the bill.
Before becoming elected as the representative for the 76th Ohio House District, Cliff was a teacher and coach for nearly 30 years. Originally beginning his career in Danville, Kentucky, after earning a Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education from The University of Kentucky, Cliff made his way back to his hometown of Findlay, Ohio where he retired from teaching and coaching at Findlay High School. During his coaching tenure, Cliff won eight league championships, coached three National Football League players, coached 22 First Team All-State football players and was selected Coach of the Year six times. Cliff remains the winningest head football coach at both Bryan and Findlay high schools.
In fact in the 2010 election when he won reelection to the Ohio House he was endorsed by the Ohio Education Association.
I hope the pay back for the appointment was worth it. It was a steep price to take away the rights of union members and add jail time for striking. I’m sure he has all his Teacher pension paperwork in order so it didn’t matter to him turning his back on his former colleagues.