Sign the Petition to Stop the Republican Gerrymander!

We asked you to sign the Senate Bill 5 petition. We asked you to sign the petition to repeal the voter suppression bill. And now… you guessed it… we need you to add your signature to another petition. This one is to repeal HB 319 - the Republicans' unfair, gerrymandered Congressional map that rips apart Ohio communities and takes away fair and competitive elections.


Whether it's defending workers' rights, voting rights or gerrymandering, we are fighting back against the Republican agenda. Please help us by signing the petition to protect your voice in Congress.

See below for signing locations near you. And check back often for updates - we're adding them everyday!

Don't see a location your county? Email us at info@ohiodems.org and we'll let you know how to sign the petition.

by Lemony SnicketThirteen Observations made by Lemony Snicket while watching Occupy Wall Street from a Discreet Distance

1. If you work hard, and become successful, it does not necessarily mean you are successful because you worked hard, just as if you are tall with long hair it doesn’t mean you would be a midget if you were bald.

2. “Fortune” is a word for having a lot of money and for having a lot of luck, but that does not mean the word has two definitions.

3. Money is like a child—rarely unaccompanied. When it disappears, look to those who were supposed to be keeping an eye on it while you were at the grocery store. You might also look for someone who has a lot of extra children sitting around, with long, suspicious explanations for how they got there.

4. People who say money doesn’t matter are like people who say cake doesn’t matter—it’s probably because they’ve already had a few slices.

5. There may not be a reason to share your cake. It is, after all, yours. You probably baked it yourself, in an oven of your own construction with ingredients you harvested yourself. It may be possible to keep your entire cake while explaining to any nearby hungry people just how reasonable you are.

6. Nobody wants to fall into a safety net, because it means the structure in which they’ve been living is in a state of collapse and they have no choice but to tumble downwards. However, it beats the alternative.

7. Someone feeling wronged is like someone feeling thirsty. Don’t tell them they aren’t. Sit with them and have a drink.

8. Don’t ask yourself if something is fair. Ask someone else—a stranger in the street, for example.

9. People gathering in the streets feeling wronged tend to be loud, as it is difficult to make oneself heard on the other side of an impressive edifice.

10. It is not always the job of people shouting outside impressive buildings to solve problems. It is often the job of the people inside, who have paper, pens, desks, and an impressive view.

11. Historically, a story about people inside impressive buildings ignoring or even taunting people standing outside shouting at them turns out to be a story with an unhappy ending.

12. If you have a large crowd shouting outside your building, there might not be room for a safety net if you’re the one tumbling down when it collapses.

13. 99 percent is a very large percentage. For instance, easily 99 percent of people want a roof over their heads, food on their tables, and the occasional slice of cake for dessert. Surely an arrangement can be made with that niggling 1 percent who disagree.

Exclusive: Goldman Sachs VP Changed His Name, Now Advances Goldman Lobbying Interests As Top Staffer To Darrell Issa
By Lee Fang on Aug 18, 2011 at 3:21 am


Peter Haller, also known as Peter Simonyi, a former Goldman Sachs VP now working for Chairman Issa to block regulations on Goldman Sachs
Has Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) turned the House Oversight Committee into a bank lobbying firm with the power to subpoena and pressure government regulators? ThinkProgress has found that a Goldman Sachs vice president changed his name, then later went to work for Issa to coordinate his effort to thwart regulations that affect Goldman Sachs’ bottom line.

In July, Issa sent a letter to top government regulators demanding that they back off and provide more justification for new margin requirements for financial firms dealing in derivatives. A standard practice on Capitol Hill is to end a letter to a government agency with contact information for the congressional staffer responsible for working on the issue for the committee. In most cases, the contact staffer is the one who actually writes such letters. With this in mind, it is important to note that the Issa letter ended with contact information for Peter Haller, a staffer hired this year to work for Issa on the Oversight Committee.

Issa’s demand to regulators is exactly what banks have been wishing for. Indeed, Goldman Sachs has spent millions this year trying to slow down the implementation of the new rules. In the letter, Issa explicitly mentions that the new derivative regulations might hurt brokers “such as Goldman Sachs.”

Haller, as he is now known, went by the name Peter Simonyi until three years ago. Simonyi adopted his mother’s maiden name Haller in 2008 shortly after leaving Goldman Sachs as a vice president of the bank’s commodity compliance group. In a few short years, Haller went from being in charge of dealing with regulators for Goldman Sachs to working for Congress in a position where he made official demands from regulators overseeing his old firm.

It’s not the first time Haller has worked the revolving door to help out Goldman Sachs. According to a report by the nonpartisan Project on Government Oversight, Haller — then known as Peter Simonyi — left the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2005 to work for Goldman Sachs, then quickly began lobbying his colleagues at the SEC on behalf of his new firm. At one point, Haller was requiring to issue a letter to the SEC stating that he did not violate ethics rules and the SEC agreed. A brief timeline of Haller’s work history underscores the ethical issues raised with Issa’s latest letter to bank regulators:

– After completing his law degree in 2000, Haller was employed by Federal Energy Regulatory Commission as an economist, and later with the Securities and Exchange Commission in the Office of Enforcement.

– In April of 2005, Haller resigned from the SEC to take a job with Goldman Sachs. Although he was not a registered lobbyist, he soon began lobbying the SEC on compliance issues on behalf of Goldman Sachs.

– In 2006, Haller left Goldman Sachs, according to a Goldman official who spoke to ThinkProgress.

– In 2008, he took a job with the law/lobbying firm Brickfield Burchette Ritts & Stone.

– In January of 2011, Haller was hired to work for Issa on the Oversight Committee. Under the supervision of Haller, Issa sent a letter dated July 22, 2011 to bank regulators (including the heads of the Federal Reserve, FDIC, FCA, CFTC, FHFA, and Office of Comptroller) demanding documents to justify new Dodd-Frank mandated rules on margin requirements for banks dealing in the multi-trillion dollar OTC derivatives market, like Goldman Sachs.

When he took over the chairmanship of the Oversight Committee this year, Issa dramatically shifted the committee’s focus away from its traditional role of investigating major corporate scandals. Instead, Issa has used the committee to merge the responsibilities of Congress with the interests of K Street and Issa’s own fortune.

In June of this year, ThinkProgress broke the story about Issa’s own complicated relationship with Goldman Sachs. We revealed that Issa purchased a large amount of Goldman Sachs high yield bonds at the same time as he used the Oversight Committee to attack an investigation into allegations that Goldman Sachs had systematically defrauded investors leading up to the financial crisis. This conflict of interest, along with our exclusive story about Issa’s earmarks benefitting his own real estate empire, received coverage in a recent piece by the New York Times.

We also broke a story last month revealing other revolving door conflicts within Issa’s staff. Peter Warren, Issa’s new policy director, maintains some type of financial contract with a student loan lobbying group he led last year, and received a bonus from the lobbying group before leaving to work for Issa. Since joining Issa’s staff, Warren and his colleagues have fought to weaken the recently created Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the new agency charged with overseeing student loans.

The new revelations about Peter Haller, however, raise even more significant ethical concerns than Peter Warren and other ex-lobbyists working for Issa. Why did Issa hire a high-level Goldman Sachs executive to work on stopping regulations on banks like Goldman Sachs? Haller’s direct involvement in the July letter brings Issa’s ability to lead the Oversight Committee — charged with conducting investigations on behalf of the public interest — into serious doubt.

http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/08/... /

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Ohio Gov. John Kasich and top Republican lawmakers said Wednesday they're offering to weaken a new law limiting collective bargaining in an attempt to keep a repeal effort off the November ballot.

Kasich's administration released a letter asking for a meeting Friday to discuss a compromise with 10 union leaders involved with We Are Ohio, the group pushing for a repeal of the law. Kasich, Senate President Tom Niehaus, and House Speaker Bill Batchelder were holding an afternoon news conference to talk about the letter.

We Are Ohio said Friday that the time for a compromise had passed.

The law restricts collective bargaining rights for more than 350,000 teachers, police officers, state employees and others. It bans public employee strikes and gets rid of automatic pay increases, replacing them with merit raises or performance pay.

It also allows public worker unions to negotiate wages, but not health care, sick time or pension benefits.

The measure was approved by the Republican-controlled state Legislature in March amid shouts and jeers from protesters in each chamber. Kasich, a first-term governor, signed it the same month, but it is blocked from taking effect until voters have their say.

His offer for a compromise came after a Wisconsin law limiting collective bargaining rights for most state employees prompted voters last week to recall two Republican state senators who supported it. They were among six lawmakers whom labor leaders had targeted.

Kasich and his Republican colleagues argue the Ohio legislation will help city officials, school superintendents and others control their costs at a time when they, too, are feeling budget woes.

Opponents contend the collective bargaining restrictions are an unfair attack on public employee unions that had worked cooperatively with their government employers for decades. They accuse lawmakers of exploiting a state budget crisis to pass a measure unpopular with a majority of Ohioans.

The state has 655,000 union members, who constitute 13.7 percent of the work force, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That's more than the U.S. average rate of 11.9 percent.

The most recent campaign filing reports show that the group seeking the repeal has raised about $7 million.

The state's labor groups representing teachers, police officers and firefighters have also turned to their members to help pay for the repeal campaign.

A recent Quinnipiac University poll found that 56 percent of Ohio voters say the new collective bargaining law should be repealed, compared with 32 percent who favor keeping it in place.

Newt Gingrich had second line of credit at Tiffany and Co.
By Chris Cillizza

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s presidential campaign has stumbled badly out of the starting gate. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)Former House speaker Newt Gingrich had a second line of credit at the high-end jewelry store Tiffany and Co. for as much as $1 million dollars, his presidential campaign acknowledged Tuesday.

Joe DeSantis, a spokesman for Gingrich, said that the candidate’s personal financial disclosure filing, which is due within 30 days of his formal entrance into the presidential race, will “show that the Gingriches had a $500,000 to $1 million line of credit at Tiffany’s, that it has a zero balance, and it has been closed.”

DeSantis added that all debts to Tiffany had been paid in full. He offered no details about when the second line of credit was taken out, what it was used for or when it was closed.

This revelation comes roughly a month after personal financial disclosure forms for Gingrich’s wife, Callista, showed that the family had carried a line of credit ranging between $250,000 and $500,000 at Tiffany’s during 2005 and 2006.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fi...

After twenty-five years of marriage, Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver announced that they were separating last week. According to the Los Angeles Times, the woman with whom Schwarzenegger fathered a child worked for his family for twenty years until last January.

"After leaving the governor's office I told my wife about this event, which occurred over a decade ago," said Schwarzenegger in a statement, according to the New York Times. “I understand and deserve the feelings of anger and disappointment among my friends and family. There are no excuses and I take full responsibility for the hurt I have caused. I have apologized to Maria, my children and my family. I am truly sorry.”

Shriver released a statement on the matter on Tuesday.

"This is a painful and heartbreaking time," she said. "As a mother, my concern is for the children. I ask for compassion, respect and privacy as my children and I try to rebuild our lives and heal. I will have no further comment."


Typical Republican Swine!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/17/j...

Making Guantanamo Permanent, and Other Portents
By: Jeff Kaye Thursday May 12, 2011 6:00 am

Guantanamo Sunset on the American Empire (JTF Guantanamo photo: U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Gino Reyes)A motley crew of Senate Republicans, joined by Sen. Lieberman, have introduced a bill to make Guantanamo a permanent “terrorist” prison. Once upon a time, this could have been dismissed as GOP posturing. But recent events suggest this is more likely a harbinger of the future fate of the US Naval prison, as President Obama has already pronounced that he will support indefinite detention of prisoners based on unchallenged U.S. executive fiat.

It’s hard to believe these GOP national security groupies, and their jester Lieberman, could really get this passed, much less signed by the President. But the ways things have been going, who would be ridiculed for thinking such things possible?

Human Rights First reports (H/T Barry Eisler):

Washington, D.C. — Legislation introduced today <11 May> in the Senate to force the Obama administration to declare Guantánamo a permanent prison for terror suspects will inspire America’s enemies and undermine the American justice system, a leading human rights group said.

U.S. Senators Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), along with Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Joseph I. Lieberman (I-CT), Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), Scott Brown (R-MA) and Marco Rubio (R-FL) introduced the “Detaining Terrorists To Secure America Act” (S. 944) – legislation that would keep open the Guantánamo Bay terrorist detention facility for the detention and interrogation of current and future terrorism suspects. The legislation also permanently limits the transfer of detainees to foreign countries and prohibits funding for the construction of terrorist detention facilities within the United States.

A perpetual Guantanamo to match the indefinite detention is truly a sign of the debauched times in which we live, ruled by those whose lust for naked rule and capitalist gain are rarely hidden anymore. I presume, by the way, that the torture via isolation, sleep deprivation, sensory deprivation, exploitation of fears, stress positions and drugs — all fine and “legal” thanks to the near-universal acceptance of the 2006 Army Field Manual on interrogation — will continue “forever” at Guantanamo as well.

The Terrorist Who Lived Happily Ever After — in Miami

I can tell you one person who will not be sent to Guantanamo, even though he was involved in bombing hotels and tourist spots in the 1990s. Luis Posada Carriles walked a free man out of a Texas courtroom last month, only weeks before another terrorist was shot in the head, “taken out” by the “heroes” of Seal Team Six. An article in the Mexican paper La Jornada, translated and reposted at The Nation. It was translated by Machetera/Tlaxcala describes more of Posada Carriles’ fascinating career.


http://firedoglake.com/

Repubs..........Hate the Word Uterus



Twitter was abuzz with snark, satire and hashtag games this week, exposing the immaturity of certain Floridian law makers. What is particularly ironic is that, on the last day of Women’s History Month, these GOP state representatives wanted to make the word “uterus” history from speeches on the floor. As reported here a few day ago:

During last week’s discussion about a bill that would prohibit governments from deducting union dues from a worker’s paycheck, state Rep. Scott Randolph, D-Orlando, used his time during floor debate to argue that Republicans are against regulations — except when it comes to the little guys, or serves their specific interests.

At one point Randolph suggested that his wife “incorporate her uterus” to stop Republicans from pushing measures that would restrict abortions. Republicans, after all, wouldn’t want to further regulate a Florida business.

Apparently the GOP leadership of the House didn’t like the one-liner.

They told Democrats that Randolph is not to discuss body parts on the House floor.

“The point was that Republicans are always talking about deregulation and big government,” Randolph said Thursday. “And I always say their philosophy is small government for the big guy and big government for the little guy. And so, if my wife’s uterus was incorporated or my friend’s bedroom was incorporated, maybe they (Republicans) would be talking about deregulating.

“It’s not like I used slang,” said Randolph, who actually got the line from his wife. He said Republicans voiced concern about young pages hearing the word uterus.

“I think it’s a sad commentary about what we think about sex education in the state,” he said.

How can Americans expect an honest debate about women’s health, when Republican politicians believe medical terminology for women’s bodies are vulgar?

I'd like to ask Mr. Obama what adjustments the Rich have had to make. Instead they were rewarded with another TAX CUT!!!

The GOP spending cuts have been criticized again.

A Goldman Sachs economist has warned that the $60 billion package of spending cuts proposed by the Republicans to counter President Obama's proposal could slow economic growth.

And if budget wrangling between the Obama administration and the Republican-dominated House of Representatives led to a shutdown? That, according to Goldman, could cost $8 billion a week, the Financial Times reported.

Goldman's warning follows Treasury secretary Timothy Geithner's recent claims that the Republican plan would cost jobs.

In the confidential report, obtained by ABC News, among other news outlets, Goldman Sachs economic forecaster Alec Phillips said the GOP plan could slow economic growth by up to 2 percent. Even a compromise deal, with $25 billion in cuts could slow growth by 1 percent.

In its latest spending plan, the White House predicted GDP growth of 2.7 percent this year.

Goldman's analysis contradicts the GOP's "cut-and-grow' fantasy," Chuck Schumer, (D-NY) told Reuters. "This nonpartisan study proves that the House Republicans' proposal is a recipe for a double-dip recession," Schumer added.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/24/b...

by Stuart Shapiro

Last week it was Ohio Governor John Kasich. Before that, Governor Paul LePage of Maine. Now Governor Rick Scott of Florida is giving voters reason to think they may have been overly hasty when voting for him in November.

Gov. Rick Scott may have broken state law with his sale of the state’s two airplanes, according to Senate budget chief J.D. Alexander.

Scott used the sale of one state plane to pay off the lease on the second.

But in a letter to Scott sent today, Alexander says the governor needed the legislature’s approval to do that.

Using the money from the sale of the first plane to pay off the second plane “appears to be an expenditure of state funds not made in pursuance of an appropriation made by law,” Alexander wrote.

Of course Florida voters don’t have much of an excuse. It came out during the campaign that Scott has experience testing the boundaries of the law. In a sense, Scott could always fall back on the “you’re just getting what you voted for” defense for his latest actions.

http://alan.com/

Study Shows Most Corporations Have Skipped Paying Taxes While conservatives whine about paying too much in taxes and hate that their tax dollars go to help the less fortunate. a study by the Government Accountability Office shows that most corporations, foreign and domestic, have evaded paying their fair share.

…72 percent of all foreign corporations and about 57 percent of U.S. companies doing business in the United States paid no federal income taxes for at least one year between 1998 and 2005.

More than half of foreign companies and about 42 percent of U.S. companies paid no U.S. income taxes for two or more years in that period, the report said.

During that time corporate sales in the United States totaled $2.5 trillion, according to Democratic Sens. Carl Levin of Michigan and Byron Dorgan of North Dakota, who requested the GAO study.

Operating losses, tax credit, and shifting income to low tax countries are some of the reasons.

Levin said it made clear that “too many corporations are using tax trickery to send their profits overseas and avoid paying their fair share in the United States.”

The study showed about 28 percent of large foreign corporations, those with more than $250 million in assets, doing business in the United States paid no federal income taxes in 2005 despite $372 billion in gross receipts, the senators said. About 25 percent of the largest U.S. companies paid no federal income taxes in 2005 despite $1.1 trillion in gross sales that year, they said.




http://www.alan.com/2011/02/20/study-shows...

when I see our Military recalled from around the world. When I see the US Government stop giving away billions in tax cuts
to the rich. When all Military/Industrial contracts are nulled and VOID!!!!!!!!!!! When all Taxpayer monies are no longer
disbursed in the "Faith Initiative Program" When Repulican Representatives no longer recieve a Government Paycheck!!---and
so should the citizens of Ohio & Wisconsin!!!

All in the meantime...Kasich
Kasich is transfering Ohio tax monies to another bankster!
Edited on Fri Feb-18-11 11:23 AM by Joanne98
I think this is important because he transfered Ohio pension fund management to Lehman and they ripped them off. Now here's comes another scheme.........Sequoia Capital http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Kvamme

Republicans Wave Bible; Why Not Democrats?
by Gabe Berman

Gabe is the author of Live Like a Fruit Fly.


As soon as I learned my ABCs, my dad began clipping out articles for me to read from the New York Times. But ever since my parents became snowbirds, I see a fair share of cutout columns on the kitchen table from Floridian newspapers. This morning’s version was a letter to the editor from Fort Lauderdale’s Sun-Sentinel by a resident named Jack Newton.

I continue to be amazed at the middle-and lower-income people who vote Republican against their own self-interest. If I am struggling to make ends meet, as an hourly or salaried worker, without a huge bonus at the end of the year, why would I vote for Republicans who fight the minimum-wage law and now favor a tax cut for the rich? If I lost my job or fear that I might, why would I vote for Republicans who fight against unemployment benefits? Why would I vote for the current Republican governor who wants to lower corporate income taxes, which would invariably result in higher taxes on the little guy? Why would I vote for a Republican who wants to cut government regulations that protect me?

So why does the little guy vote Republican?

Republicans gather votes by opposing abortion, by opposing gay equality and by convincing low-and moderate-income people they should be more concerned about the federal deficit than their own well being.

Why can’t Democrats learn to use the Bible? It is God-like to advocate healing the sick, feeding the poor and educating the masses so they can be upwardly mobile.

Thank you, Jack Newton, for proving you don’t need to be Sir Issac Newton to see the truth if you actually want to.
http://www.alan.com/2011/02/17/republicans... /

Egyptian Protests
Thursday, Feb 3, 2011 07:30 ET
War Room Meet Mubarak's American fan club
By Justin Elliott

Hosni Mubarak has ruled Egypt as a brutal dictator for 30 years, barring basic rights like freedom of speech and assembly and regularly employing torture to suppress political opposition. So when massive and unprecedented pro-democracy protests broke out in the last week, it was an easy call for many Americans: The ordinary Egyptians demanding that Mubarak go deserved support. The Obama administration, mindful of the United States' longtime alliance with Egypt, has been more hesitant; but statements by Obama officials in support of a "transition" from the Mubarak regime have been growing stronger by the day.

Nevertheless, there are a handful of politicians and pundits who are actively decrying the protests -- and even, in a few cases, explicitly supporting the Mubarak regime.


Sometimes the argument comes in the form of "I support democracy, but only if I agree with the results." Sometimes it's about Israel, which has a peace treaty with Egypt. Sometimes it's distaste with protest leader Mohammad ElBaradei, who angered conservatives during his stint at the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Often it has been fear of the Muslim Brotherhood, which has a role in the protests. (The group, it should be noted, was actually late to join the movement. And it is hardly the only group behind the protests.)

Here is a guide to those giving aid and comfort to Mubarak in America.



http://www.salon.com/news/egyptian_protest...