The fiscal cliff was averted, but some Greater Cincinnati politicians
didn’t do much to help
. U.S. Speaker John Boehner voted for the final fiscal cliff deal, but Republican U.S. Reps. Steve Chabot, Jean Schmidt and Mike Turner voted against the deal. Ohio’s U.S. Sens. Rob Portman, a Republican, and Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, voted in favor of the deal.
U.S. Congress may have averted the fiscal cliff, but the spending cuts were only delayed for two months. For jobs at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, that means another congressional showdown in March could
decide the fate of thousands of jobs
. On the other hand, no one is surprised Congress reacted to a crisis by kicking the can down the road.
As part of the fiscal cliff deal, Ohio’s wind industry
should feel a little safer
thanks to the extension of wind energy tax credits. Still, advocates are frustrated funding for wind energy is part of a “stop-and-start policy” that can suddenly continue or end depending on last-minute congressional deals.
The Buckeye Firearms Association is
training and arming 24 teachers
through a pilot program in the spring. A previous
CityBeat analysis
found no evidence that arming teachers would help stop gun violence; in fact, armed people tend to be in greater danger of violence.
Ohio and Kentucky are still in the bottom half of Forbes’ ranking for businesses, but
they’re showing improvement
.
The Ohio Liberty Coalition, a tea party group, is not happy with Gov. John Kasich. The group is upset Kasich supposedly violated the state’s Health Care Freedom Amendment by signing legislation that
compels all Ohioans with health care insurance to buy autism coverage
. If even conservatives are angry at Kasich, who’s happy with him?
closing six stores
, but none of them are in the Cincinnati area.
Surprise! Research has linked being overweight (but not obese) with lower risk of mortality
.
During her final days as commander, Sunita Williams of NASA
recorded a tour
of the International Space Station.
A new study found newborn babies
know the difference
between their native language and a foreign one.
This article appears in Jan 2-8, 2013.