Ohio Republican Wants To Keep HIS Pay Because: "Republicans (unlike Democrats) EARN Their Pay" [View All]

[kpete]

In Ohio labor fight, shared sacrifice for thee, but not for me
By Greg Sargent

With the Ohio labor referendum coming to a vote in two days — and with the Occupy Wall Street protests continuing — I wanted to point you to something that neatly captures what all this is really about:



In a recent interview, a top Ohio Republican defended this in a curiously belligerent way, one that may reverberate in the race’s final days: He claimed lawmakers don’t need to take a pay cut in the spirit of shared sacrifice, because “I earn my pay,” adding: “Republicans earn their money.”

“Because it’s not merited. I earn my pay. I think that was just political baloney. So they can say in an ad, `Gee , you know, they didn’t support a pay cut.’ Well, no, I don’t support a pay cut. Republicans earn their money. Apparently Democrats don’t. They feel they should be paid less. That may be true. Maybe we’ll just cut the Democrats’ pay.”

GOP state Rep. Lou Blessing — a prominent Republican voice in this fight, as the Speaker Pro Tempore of the Ohio House of Representatives — made the claim during an interview with Ohio public radio, audio of which is right here.


AUDIO & MORE:
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal/2011_11/quote_of_the_day_19033309.php
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/post/in-ohio-labor-fight-shared-sacrifice-for-thee-but-not-for-me/2011/11/05/gIQAFyw8rM_blog.html