John Kasich is looking to handle the state’s $8 million deficit by selling bits and pieces of Cincinnati. Officials from citizen action group Ohio Environmental Council yesterday told the Enquirer that they believed Kasich would be putting unused state parks up for sale. Kasich is also looking to cash in on prisons, the Ohio Turnpike and the Ohio Lottery. The lottery had record sales in 2010 and a proposal to privatize the management of the Ohio Lottery Commission was submitted to the nonpartisan Legislative Service Commission this week. If he is unable to successfully cash in on the parks, Kasich plans to unleash the prisoners on each other like in Battle Royale.—-
Mayor Mark Mallory is dumbfounded by the Census reports released this week. According to the 2010 Census, Cincinnati has lost 10 percent of its population in the last decade, which Mallory finds “disturbing.” This was supposed to be the most accurate census ever, but big cities all over the Midwest faced huge deficits when compared to 2009 projections. Chicago expected population gains but instead it was off by 5.5 percent and Cleveland had an 8 percent decline compared to the 2009 estimate.
Ned Hill, dean of Cleveland State’s Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs, attributes the unforeseen declines to three problems: the Census has been hit by budget cuts (the government hired college dropouts to do the polling), the foreclosure crisis (they didn’t count all the squatters and homeless people) and the Census doing a poor job of counting illegal immigrants (the Census did a poor job of counting illegal immigrants).
Rand Paul on Thursday compared a fetus to an incandescent light bulb during a Senate debate. An Obama administration official from the Energy Department was testifying about energy standards when Paul interjected. “You favor a woman’s right to abortion but not a woman or a man’s right to a light bulb. You’re really anti-choice.” You’re batshit crazy, Rand.
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is attempting to cut state funding for birth control and health screenings in Wisconsin. Anti-abortion groups are loving it.
Another NPR employee is on the chopping block after being tape-recorded saying that NPR could hide a hefty donation from the I.R.S. Betsy Liley, a soon to be former NPR fund-raiser, thought she was talking to a group called the Muslim Education Action Center about a $5 million donation. She was actually talking to conservative activist James O’Keefe.
Al Franken is ready to fight every Republican in Wisconsin after eighteen GOP state senators today passed a bill to strip collective-bargaining rights. In a letter to the people, Franken wrote, “we're going to make sure that this is the end — not the beginning — of the right wing's attempt to destroy the middle class.” Aye, fight and you may die. Run, and you'll live... at least a while. And dying in your beds, many years from now, would you be willin' to trade ALL the days, from this day to that, for one chance, just one chance, to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they'll never take... OUR FREEDOM!
Sarah Palin has criticized Wisconsin state senators who “retreated” by leaving the state in protest of their governor’s anti-union bill. It seems like it was only yesterday she announced her resignation just halfway through her first term as governor of Alaska. Still she marches on to become the first lady president.
Personally, I find Barack Obama’s battle hymn to be catchier.
