Saturday, March 5, 2011

K-Sick, Walker-loo: Ohio, we have a problem

GOV. KASICH says he will sign a controversial new labor bill without fanfare. My guess is that it will be in his private home in Delaware County. About 2 a.m. With only his immediate political family and the usual sycophants in attendance. After the last newspaper deadline on Saturday night. The atmosphere will be that of a pro football team packing up and slinking out of town in the middle of the night. Kasich says he wants to be respectful of the feelings of the people who will be hurt by the bill. Problem solved.

It's a hit-skip thing. And he's getting good at it. And why not? Eliminating 350,000 public union workers from collective bargaining (really, that translates into about a million folks if you toss in their families) is nothing to crow about if you are planning a long political career for yourself on the public payroll. Up in Wisconsin, where Gov. Walker is trying to pull off the same stunt, the voters have now lowered his approval rating to 40 pct. He and Kasich, bloated with their own right-wing self-indulgence, are engaging in the same alchemy to reduce multi-billion dollar deficits. ( The Badger budget office now projects a surplus in Wisconsin even if nothing is done to the public union workers. )

Some people are even finding a little humor in these dark days, referring to the Wisconsin governor as "Walker-loo". In Ohio, maybe they will begin to refer to the condition in
Columbus as "K-sick".

The angry calls to radio talk shows and letters to newspapers are growing. A friend tells me he has already gotten a recorded phone call against the bill, which the Ohio House will take up soon. As for Kasich, his years as a Wall Streeter and Fox News commentator have obviously divorced him from the needs of ordinary people .

No problem. Just sign the damn bill at 2 a.m. when it comes your way, Guv, and move on to something else awful enough to make the national media evening news.

Ohio, we have a problem.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

A problem? As Bette Davis once said, "Fasten your seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy night." More like a four year clusterf---. This pompous corporatist is just getting started. Kasich is a creature of Wall Street. The same Wall Street that had a massive part in bringing about this recession. The same Wall Street that justified giving it's CEOs bonuses after the taxpayers bailed them out by claiming that not doing so would be breaking a contract and contract breaking is un-American. What did Kasich do? Broke a number of contracts. Of course, those were just workers contracts, not excutives contracts. And seeing that Kasich lives in a world of haves and have nots, certain rules (as well as traffic laws) don't apply. "Kasich says he wants to be respectful of the feelings of the people who will be hurt by the bill." Hurt? Who's going to be hurt? A bunch of lazy, bloated, selfish ne'er do wells who have been sucking off the public teat for twenty seven years. What's good for corporate America is good for Ohio. Remember..it's about JOBS, JOBS, JOBS!