An aggressive Republican drive to weaken the labor rights of government workers appears to have crested, at least in Ohio, where voters are expected to throw out a far-reaching anti-union law this week. The referendum over collective bargaining f

An aggressive Republican drive to weaken the labor rights of
government workers appears to have crested, at least in Ohio, where
voters are expected to throw out a far-reaching anti-union law this
week.

The referendum over collective bargaining for public employees,
potentially the most important contest in off-year elections around
the nation, is being closely watched for clues about shifting voter
trends in a state expected to play its usual outsized role in next
year's presidential contest.

Barely seven months ago, newly elected Gov. John Kasich joined other
Republican governors, including Wisconsin's Scott Walker, in defying
angry street demonstrations to push through a measure designed to curb
the power of public-employee unions.

Tuesday's vote "will reverberate in a major way across the country,
because Ohio is still Ohio," said Dale Butland of Innovation Ohio, a
liberal think tank with ties to organized labor. "We are one of the
linchpins of any presidential election."

Kasich, the focus of both sides in the referendum fight, touts his
blue-collar roots as the son of a postman. But he warns that a victory
by organized labor would undercut his efforts to hold the line on
government spending and rebuild the state's economy.

"Look, I understand that people are nervous about this in the public
sector," he told a northeastern Ohio rally in support of the anti-
union law he signed in March. But, he added, "if we want to continue
on this path of pulling Ohio out of this ditch, the state of Ohio has
to be responsible."

The arguments by Kasich, whose popularity has fallen sharply since his
election a year ago, appear to have swayed few voters. Public and
private polling indicates that Ohioans, by a substantial margin, want
to overturn the new law.

Strategists on both sides say conservative legislators and the new
governor, emboldened by a Republican election sweep, overreached when
they added curbs on collective bargaining to a measure requiring
government workers to pay a larger share of their pension and
healthcare costs.

Repeal would represent a sorely needed victory for organized labor and
its Democratic allies. A related effort fell short last summer in
Wisconsin, where Democrats outraged by anti-union efforts tried to
change the balance of power by forcing Republican lawmakers into
recall elections.

The Ohio referendum, placed on the ballot by organized labor in a
petition drive that drew more than a million signatures, is focused on
the law itself. Under the statute, government officials can
effectively impose contract terms on public employees when they can't
come to terms over wages, the only issue subject to bargaining under
the GOP overhaul.

But unlike Wisconsin, where Republicans exempted first responders from
a new law stripping public employees of most collective bargaining
rights, Ohio's law applies to all government workers, including police
and firefighters.

That is creating unusual alliances, with law-enforcement groups like
the Fraternal Order of Police, which often endorse Republican
candidates, siding with Democrats in the repeal push.

For months, an expensive TV ad campaign by the union-led coalition We
Are Ohio has featured blaring sirens and on-camera testimonials by
first responders warning that public safety would be at risk because
the law would bar unions from negotiating for adequate staffing
levels.

Rallies in support of labor's push-back have attracted some of the
white working-class voters who had abandoned the Democratic Party over
the years, said Chris Redfern, chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party.
Next year, when Ohio will be a major presidential election
battleground, "they're going to remember this," he said.

President Obama's reelection campaign is "strongly supporting" the
ballot drive, Redfern said, helping recruit 12,000 volunteers,
assisting with voter turnout and enabling Democrats to refurbish their
organization far ahead of 2012.

But strategists in both parties caution against reading too much into
the referendum results. Given the economy, even Democrats say Obama
could easily lose Ohio, despite carrying it last time.

Republican pollster Neil Newhouse, who is advising the business-
financed effort to retain the labor law, called it "wishful thinking"
for Democrats to project the outcome onto a high-turnout presidential
contest.

A Democratic advisor to the repeal campaign, speaking anonymously in
order to discuss internal strategy, said voters oppose the new law out
of a sense of fairness: They believe workers should be able to bargain
with their bosses. In their pitch to Ohio voters, the pro-labor
campaign took on the issue of restraining the power of government
workers by making it about values 7 "the notion that we don't turn our
backs on the people who watch ours" 7 the advisor said.

On Nov 5, 8:160pm, coffee reel <robert.tex.har...@gmail.com> wrote:
An aggressive Republican drive to weaken the labor rights of
government workers appears to have crested, at least in Ohio, where
voters are expected to throw out a far-reaching anti-union law this
week.

The referendum over collective bargaining for public employees,
potentially the most important contest in off-year elections around
the nation, is being closely watched for clues about shifting voter
trends in a state expected to play its usual outsized role in next
year's presidential contest.

Barely seven months ago, newly elected Gov. John Kasich joined other
Republican governors, including Wisconsin's Scott Walker, in defying
angry street demonstrations to push through a measure designed to curb
the power of public-employee unions.

Tuesday's vote "will reverberate in a major way across the country,
because Ohio is still Ohio," said Dale Butland of Innovation Ohio, a
liberal think tank with ties to organized labor. "We are one of the
linchpins of any presidential election."

Kasich, the focus of both sides in the referendum fight, touts his
blue-collar roots as the son of a postman. But he warns that a victory
by organized labor would undercut his efforts to hold the line on
government spending and rebuild the state's economy.

"Look, I understand that people are nervous about this in the public
sector," he told a northeastern Ohio rally in support of the anti-
union law he signed in March. But, he added, "if we want to continue
on this path of pulling Ohio out of this ditch, the state of Ohio has
to be responsible."

The arguments by Kasich, whose popularity has fallen sharply since his
election a year ago, appear to have swayed few voters. Public and
private polling indicates that Ohioans, by a substantial margin, want
to overturn the new law.

Strategists on both sides say conservative legislators and the new
governor, emboldened by a Republican election sweep, overreached when
they added curbs on collective bargaining to a measure requiring
government workers to pay a larger share of their pension and
healthcare costs.

Repeal would represent a sorely needed victory for organized labor and
its Democratic allies. A related effort fell short last summer in
Wisconsin, where Democrats outraged by anti-union efforts tried to
change the balance of power by forcing Republican lawmakers into
recall elections.

The Ohio referendum, placed on the ballot by organized labor in a
petition drive that drew more than a million signatures, is focused on
the law itself. Under the statute, government officials can
effectively impose contract terms on public employees when they can't
come to terms over wages, the only issue subject to bargaining under
the GOP overhaul.

But unlike Wisconsin, where Republicans exempted first responders from
a new law stripping public employees of most collective bargaining
rights, Ohio's law applies to all government workers, including police
and firefighters.

That is creating unusual alliances, with law-enforcement groups like
the Fraternal Order of Police, which often endorse Republican
candidates, siding with Democrats in the repeal push.

For months, an expensive TV ad campaign by the union-led coalition We
Are Ohio has featured blaring sirens and on-camera testimonials by
first responders warning that public safety would be at risk because
the law would bar unions from negotiating for adequate staffing
levels.

Rallies in support of labor's push-back have attracted some of the
white working-class voters who had abandoned the Democratic Party over
the years, said Chris Redfern, chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party.
Next year, when Ohio will be a major presidential election
battleground, "they're going to remember this," he said.

President Obama's reelection campaign is "strongly supporting" the
ballot drive, Redfern said, helping recruit 12,000 volunteers,
assisting with voter turnout and enabling Democrats to refurbish their
organization far ahead of 2012.

But strategists in both parties caution against reading too much into
the referendum results. Given the economy, even Democrats say Obama
could easily lose Ohio, despite carrying it last time.

Republican pollster Neil Newhouse, who is advising the business-
financed effort to retain the labor law, called it "wishful thinking"
for Democrats to project the outcome onto a high-turnout presidential
contest.

A Democratic advisor to the repeal campaign, speaking anonymously in
order to discuss internal strategy, said voters oppose the new law out
of a sense of fairness: They believe workers should be able to bargain
with their bosses. In their pitch to Ohio voters, the pro-labor
campaign took on the issue of restraining the power of government
workers by making it about values 7 "the notion that we don't turn our
backs on the people who watch ours" 7 the advisor said.

!!

On Nov 6, 3:380am, coffee reel <robert.tex.har...@gmail.com> wrote:
On Nov 5, 8:160pm, coffee reel <robert.tex.har...@gmail.com> wrote:









> An aggressive Republican drive to weaken the labor rights of
> government workers appears to have crested, at least in Ohio, where
> voters are expected to throw out a far-reaching anti-union law this
> week.

> The referendum over collective bargaining for public employees,
> potentially the most important contest in off-year elections around
> the nation, is being closely watched for clues about shifting voter
> trends in a state expected to play its usual outsized role in next
> year's presidential contest.

> Barely seven months ago, newly elected Gov. John Kasich joined other
> Republican governors, including Wisconsin's Scott Walker, in defying
> angry street demonstrations to push through a measure designed to curb
> the power of public-employee unions.

> Tuesday's vote "will reverberate in a major way across the country,
> because Ohio is still Ohio," said Dale Butland of Innovation Ohio, a
> liberal think tank with ties to organized labor. "We are one of the
> linchpins of any presidential election."

> Kasich, the focus of both sides in the referendum fight, touts his
> blue-collar roots as the son of a postman. But he warns that a victory
> by organized labor would undercut his efforts to hold the line on
> government spending and rebuild the state's economy.

> "Look, I understand that people are nervous about this in the public
> sector," he told a northeastern Ohio rally in support of the anti-
> union law he signed in March. But, he added, "if we want to continue
> on this path of pulling Ohio out of this ditch, the state of Ohio has
> to be responsible."

> The arguments by Kasich, whose popularity has fallen sharply since his
> election a year ago, appear to have swayed few voters. Public and
> private polling indicates that Ohioans, by a substantial margin, want
> to overturn the new law.

> Strategists on both sides say conservative legislators and the new
> governor, emboldened by a Republican election sweep, overreached when
> they added curbs on collective bargaining to a measure requiring
> government workers to pay a larger share of their pension and
> healthcare costs.

> Repeal would represent a sorely needed victory for organized labor and
> its Democratic allies. A related effort fell short last summer in
> Wisconsin, where Democrats outraged by anti-union efforts tried to
> change the balance of power by forcing Republican lawmakers into
> recall elections.

> The Ohio referendum, placed on the ballot by organized labor in a
> petition drive that drew more than a million signatures, is focused on
> the law itself. Under the statute, government officials can
> effectively impose contract terms on public employees when they can't
> come to terms over wages, the only issue subject to bargaining under
> the GOP overhaul.

> But unlike Wisconsin, where Republicans exempted first responders from
> a new law stripping public employees of most collective bargaining
> rights, Ohio's law applies to all government workers, including police
> and firefighters.

> That is creating unusual alliances, with law-enforcement groups like
> the Fraternal Order of Police, which often endorse Republican
> candidates, siding with Democrats in the repeal push.

> For months, an expensive TV ad campaign by the union-led coalition We
> Are Ohio has featured blaring sirens and on-camera testimonials by
> first responders warning that public safety would be at risk because
> the law would bar unions from negotiating for adequate staffing
> levels.

> Rallies in support of labor's push-back have attracted some of the
> white working-class voters who had abandoned the Democratic Party over
> the years, said Chris Redfern, chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party.
> Next year, when Ohio will be a major presidential election
> battleground, "they're going to remember this," he said.

> President Obama's reelection campaign is "strongly supporting" the
> ballot drive, Redfern said, helping recruit 12,000 volunteers,
> assisting with voter turnout and enabling Democrats to refurbish their
> organization far ahead of 2012.

> But strategists in both parties caution against reading too much into
> the referendum results. Given the economy, even Democrats say Obama
> could easily lose Ohio, despite carrying it last time.

> Republican pollster Neil Newhouse, who is advising the business-
> financed effort to retain the labor law, called it "wishful thinking"
> for Democrats to project the outcome onto a high-turnout presidential
> contest.

> A Democratic advisor to the repeal campaign, speaking anonymously in
> order to discuss internal strategy, said voters oppose the new law out
> of a sense of fairness: They believe workers should be able to bargain
> with their bosses. In their pitch to Ohio voters, the pro-labor
> campaign took on the issue of restraining the power of government
> workers by making it about values 7 "the notion that we don't turn ou=
r
> backs on the people who watch ours" 7 the advisor said.

!!
House Speaker John Boehner won2t say whether Mitt Romney is the
Republicans2 best chance of defeating President Obama next year.
The Ohio Republican ducked in an interview aired Sunday on ABC's "This
Week" when host Christiane Amanpour asked him if Romney would 3put up
the stiffest competition4 to Obama.
3There are a lot of good candidates that are out there running,4
Boehner said. 3My focus is on the Congress of the United States and
trying to get our economy going again and producing jobs.4
3I'm sure Republican voters around the country will choose a good
candidate," he added. "And our 6 whatever candidate they choose, I'm
going to support.4