I just got home from work. I see Ohio's teachers and firemen got screwed with no lube.

[w8liftinglady]

You have my condolences,friends.

They are really pushing it.

http://enews.earthlink.net/article/top?guid=20110302/fe8f1573-ee0e-4023-a0ca-035114aa8586

[lonestarnot]

1. They should all quit and move the fuck outta the teabagger state.

[LiberalLoner]

2. I really wonder if we won't see fewer teachers, police, etc. I wonder if the teagaggers won't

end up regretting the choices they have made. Nah, when they don't have police to protect them, they will find some way of blaming a liberal for that. They always do, sigh.

[lonestarnot]

5. What, you saying police are not targetted also? Do they have collective bargaining rights? They

should move too!

[Vinee]

11. easier said than done. Selling a home in Ohio is getting harder and harder.

middle class home owners are trapped. I honestly think that this is what is fueling a lot of this anti-public sector sentiment. People don't want to be trapped in a state with a shrinking work force and a rising tax burden.

[OhioChick]

13. Bingo...

I know of several people that want to leave the state but can't due to being strapped down by their homes.

[Vinee]

17. now you know another one.

it's a death spiral IMO. Look at Detroit if you want to see Ohio's future, casinos and all.

[OhioChick]

18. Yep, we're only a few steps behind Detriot .....

It's really bad here.

[lonestarnot]

15. Let the shit go back to the bank. Leave it for the teabaggers

[Vinee]

19. I would lose 80 grand in home equity if I did that.

do you have any idea how pissed off I would be if I lost 80 grand in home equity? Greek pissed off. Beyond that even.

[lonestarnot]

20. You're going to lose it anyway, so ... Do you get county assessor valuations of property yearly?

With projections for 2012?

[Vinee]

21. no....................

walking away from the mortgage costs you the house plus all the equity plus your credit rating. By making the payments,you lose a portion of your equity through deflation but you retain a roof over your head as well as your credit rating (as well as the satisfaction of not being raped by the bank). I recently met a lady here in Ohio that was walking away from her mortgage in order to move to Florida. She was selling off all her possessions to finance the move. I'm pretty sure she took out a home equity loan at some point too. She's fucked now royally because her house will probably sell for less than is owed and she'll end up losing her equity, her house, her credit rating, and she'll be obligated to continue making payments on the difference. ouch.

[Skip_In_Boulder]

3. Nope, not even a kiss

And the rest of us aren't going to be far behind.

[RazBerryBeret]

4. As an Ohioan....

I hope all the Police and Firemen who voted for Kasich get it now....idiots.

[LiberalLoner]

6. Yup, we have to hold out hope for a great awakening. Wake up, wake up! n/t

[ChoppinBroccoli]

8. I'm Also In Ohio.............

...........and I know a great many conservative-leaning individuals who will NOT be voting Republican in the next election because of all this nonsense. Bottom line, most cops and firefighters and about half of teachers are loyal Republican voters. Kasich won with a paper-thin percentage of the vote in a year where most Ohio voters stayed home. You can do the math. The turnout in the coming elections will never be that low again (turnout is always in the favor of Democrats), and the Republicans have lost a couple of key demographics that loyally vote Republican. Not to mention the fact that when Ohioans, and Americans in general, see the utter destruction Republican policies inevitably result in, it will the Republicans who will be disenchanted and staying home in droves on election day.

I would say that Kasich will be voted out emphatically in 2014, but the fact of the matter is that I don't think Kasich ever had any intention of even TRYING to be re-elected. He knew that winning the Governorship would be nothing more than a 4-year orgy of destruction in which he and his big business buddies all got super-rich on the backs of the working people, and at the end of his term, he'd take his ass-beating and either retire to his mansion and his millions, or take a job as a "consultant" with one of the businesses he helped enrich, or both.

So this I know for absolute fact: Kasich will not win a second term as Governor. But that's little consolation when he takes the entire State of Ohio down with him. I'm just hoping we can survive 4 years of him. If we can, I predict that our new Governor, Gov. Cordray, and an Ohio Legislature that is Democrat-controlled for the first time in an eternity, will get things turned around with a quickness.

[RazBerryBeret]

22. I would hate to see it...

but a lot of people around here think this is just a stop before his next Presidential run.
which would kind of make sense that if he can financially "turn around" Ohio, he could be considered a success. (regardless of what kind of hell he causes).

and I'd totally be behind a Gov. Cordray!

[Skidmore]

23. 2014 is a long way away.

Do you have recall measures in your state?

[HughBeaumont]

26. Ohio has no recall measures. So unfortunately, we're stuck with this fascist until 2014.

[ChoppinBroccoli]

28. Our Only Hope...........

.........is that his arrogance leads him to step over the line and commit an impeachable act. We can't recall State-elected officials in Ohio, but we CAN impeach them.

[Vinee]

12. police yes. Firemen, not so much.

[Better Believe It]

7. And the rulers tighten their squeeze on workers. This will continue until they are stopped.

Democrat politicians have proven themselves so far incapable of defeating the anti-labor attacks and in some states it is Democratic governors who are leading the drive against public employees.

[stillwaiting]

25. And this is why we're screwed.

I see people hoping that when Kasich loses (or doesn't run for re-election) that a new Dem governor and a Dem-controlled state government can "turn around" what Kasich has done and will do.

I don't for one second believe that will happen. The new crop of Dems will include just enough conservative Dems to prevent any progressive/liberal economic legislation from being passed. Also, by then, the "new" way of life will have been accepted by more Ohioans. When the newly elected Dems DON'T begin to turn around the economic fortunes of the working and middle classes, the Repubs WILL get back in power. TPTB are absolutely dependent on this shifting back and forth between R/D so that the "blame" can be put on that team an individual does not identify with.

As long as there are "valid" reasons for why legislation is seldom to never passed that rights the wrongs of massive shifts in our economic model from the working/middle classes to the wealthy AND a majority of Americans accept those "valid" reasons, nothing will change.

We have to change the laws within our system or our previous, more egalitarian way of life will be a distant and unrecoverable way of life.

IMO, steps to retake our country:
1. Outlaw lobbying. Legalized bribery must become illegal.

2. Public financing. It's the only way elected representatives will ever be "ours". Ever.

3. Paper ballots. We clearly know what they can do with e-voting.

4. Term limits.

5. Recall ability for EVERY single elected official (excepting the President). If they're not doing the will of the majority of the people there must be a way to remove their ass from office.

6. Laws that prevent elected officials from immediately joining Wall Street/BOD for multinationals. Those who decide to serve the "public" interests should be comfortable with not landing multi-million dollar salaries after serving in elected office. Otherwise, it would clearly be them serving their own personal self-interests over the nation's. Serving the public as an elected official must not be a route to serving one's own self interests. That path to riches must end.

Many right wingers/TP'ers would actually agree to the above changes. We could get enough support to CHANGE our country. I have no doubt if these changes were to occur that we would begin to see common-sense legislation passed that would actually help the working/middle classes. So, if we could find some movement to join forces with the right wingers in changing our system of government to actually serve the people and FORGET the Rep/Dem division we will be successful without having to resort to a revolution that would most likely turn violent due to TPTB behind the scenes (not due to our peaceful revolution movement).

If we can't come together with the right wingers to change our system of government, our country will stay stuck in the blame game as our way of life quickly disappears, and it very well may end in violent revolution with a potential for civil war. I'd guess that result is still quite a few years away, but we could be closer than I currently expect.

[Canuckistanian]

9. Jesus...

Kasich doesn't even try to preserve the ILLUSION of sparing first responders.

I hope he has good house insurance in case of a fire.

[Hannah Bell]

10. not over yet -- the house still has to pass it.

[OhioChick]

14. Doesn't look promising....

"The bill now moves to the House of Representatives, which has a 59-40 Republican majority."

http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2011/03/ohio_senate_republicans_pass_c.html

[Hannah Bell]

16. no. but things do happen.

[reformist2]

24. So we lost in Ohio.... It's like whack-a-mole!

Hopefully the backlash will be sustained and these legislatures will be flipped next election....

[xchrom]

27. recommend