Lordstown Workers on the Brink
Lordstown Workers on the Brink
The promises of President Deals can only go so far.
Yesterday two Congresswomen who are too socialist to win in Ohio got a chance to question notorious shitbag Mark Zuckerberg the billionaire who turned a dating site into a democracy-shredding and journalism-strangling juggernaut:
The funny thing is Rep. Porter is a centrist assassin from a swing district whom Republicans would label as a job-killing socialist if she ran in Ohio.
Let’s see how an actual socialist handled her five minutes with the lizard billionaire:
I’m biased obviously but I feel these two lines of questioning would be overly popular with the American populace if we weren’t overworked and underpaid and Fox News didn’t exist.
Anyway here’s how the alleged alpha male of Ohio’s Congressional congregation spent yesterday defending a dipshit stunt of low-traveling clowns who were too dumb to know they were violating national security protocols:
Shoutout to the political media that perpetrated the “both sides” mysticism for the last 20 years and allowed bad-faith trolls like Jordan to prosper.
In the media’s defense though it’s tough to determine which side is trying to govern and which side is desperately trying to protect a corrupt criminal sex pest.
If it were easier to determine the bad guys from the good guys then perhaps the majority of Americans would stop laughing at these carnival barkers and treat them for the aspiring fascists they are. It’s only going to get worse as Deals’ power slips away.
Lordstown workers call bullshit on tentative deal with General Motors
The UAW-led strike at General Motors is the largest strike in decades in America but you don’t hear much about it on account of most media being owned by corporations who are definitely trying not to advertise the power of a strike to the average American worker.
The strike is happening in places like the Mahoning Valley where President Deals campaigned and told workers not to sell their homes because he would bring back all the industry to the area.
Three years later and Deals has failed miserably and the best hope Lordstown workers have at bringing their jobs back is their collectively bargained contract.
From Sarah Jaffe of newrepublic.com:
GM has claimed it “is committed to future investment and job growth in the state of Ohio,” and reportedly has offered to open a battery plant near the Lordstown plant. But those jobs wouldn’t be covered by the UAW’s contract with GM. “Our people need work for GM because they have vested pensions,” said Tim O’Hara, president of UAW Local 1112, which represents Lordstown workers. “Working for a separate company for $15 or $20 an hour, yes, it is good for the valley for jobs, but for us as Local 1112 members, it is not really going to help us out.”
If the contract is ratified and Lordstown remains closed, there will be hard decisions ahead for the workers. “Do they want to end up pulling up stakes and moving their families to whatever state GM sent them to, or to cut ties themselves and basically just quit the company?” O’Hara said. “They’re going through a lot of thinking and heartache right now.”
But ratification remains a big “if.” Earlier this week, workers at GM’s Spring Hill, Tennessee, facility narrowly rejected the agreement, 1673 to 1666. According to O’Hara, about 350 workers from Lordstown had been transferred to Spring Hill earlier this year, which likely affected the “no” vote. He expects a similar result on Thursday. “Just speaking for 1112, I’m going to say the majority of them, no matter whether they’re in the Valley or in another state, will probably be voting no,” O’Hara said. Denison agreed: “I’ve talked to a couple people that were on the fence, but I haven’t heard, ‘Yes, I’m voting on this.’ The overwhelming majority are ‘no’...”
As I wrote in June, Lordstown workers have a history of rebellion—both against the company and the UAW International. “I have been feeling for several months that we probably would not be reopened,” O’Hara said. “I know that GM was dead set on never opening that plant again and I think they wanted to break up Local 1112 because the local’s always been a thorn in their side, going all the way back to the early 1970s.”
Again this is a lesson that won’t be broadcast by the corporate media. Your job will not be saved by whatever sociopath is running for king of our country. The best weapon the working class has it to unionize and collectivize their power against the corporate serpents that will move overseas the second they find a higher profit margin in a country with looser labor regulations.
The dipshits who rushed HB-6 into law accidentally outlawed coal subsidies
Growing up I had the impression the bills that became law were edited and reviewed by a group of sages who grasped every inch of the English language.
Then the 2016 election happened and I started paying attention to state politics and discovered that nobody is editing anything before we make laws in Ohio.
From Jeremy Pelzer of cleveland.com:
A number of environmental groups claim that because of the way HB6 was written, the Ohio Valley Electric Corporation – which owns the coal plants – isn’t eligible to get any of the subsidy money that lawmakers intended to give it.
Under the new law, starting next January, ratepayers around the state have to chip in up to $1.50 monthly (and up to $1,500 per month for commercial and industrial users) to subsidize OVEC’s Kyger Creek and Clifty Creek coal plants, which often have to sell electricity at a loss since the military uranium enrichment plant they were built to power closed in 2001.
But in written comments to the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, the environmental groups point to language in the bill that only allows the subsidies to be set up to cover costs of power agreements “approved by the federal energy regulatory commission.” The FERC, they assert, has never approved any contract associated with OVEC.
Watch how quickly this law gets changed if GOP lawyers decide oh yeah we fucked up and coal subsidies are banned. Our cockroach politicians will scramble to their seats this week and have a reversal inked into law before Friday.
Compare that to how our state government reacts to literally anything else if you want a healthy dose of depression today.
And that’s even before mentioning a judge rejected an attempt to repeal the worst energy law of the 21st century:
From Randy Ludlow of dispatch.com:
A federal judge has rejected a request by organizers of the House Bill 6 referendum for more time to gather signatures to place the nuclear-energy plant bailout repeal on the ballot next year.
U.S. District Judge Edmund A. Sargus Jr. ruled Wednesday night that Ohioans Against Corporate Bailouts turned to the wrong court in its bid for additional days to supplement its petition drive that failed to collect enough signatures by Monday’s submission deadline.
In a ruling issued about 9:30 p.m., Sargus turned down the group’s request for a preliminary injunction against Secretary of State Frank LaRose granting it more time — a ruling that can be appealed to the Cincinnati-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit.
Sargus ruled that the legal questions in the case do not fall within the purview of federal court but rather are questions of state law that belong before the Ohio Supreme Court.
Hard to believe a federal judge appointed by famous centrist and rapist Bill Clinton allowed corporate interests to trample working people.
If I lived in a normal state I might pin my hopes on our Supreme Court. Instead I live in Ohio where the governor who signed the shitty bill into law has a divorced adult son on the Supreme Court who is allowed to rule on cases involving his daddy for some reason.
Seems like Cuyahoga County Criminal Justice is as corrupt as ever
The frontal lobe of a human brain isn’t truly developed until 27-years-old at the latest so it’s always baffled me how self-righteous prosecutors (redundant I know) feel confident enough to charge children as adults.
But it seems they love to do that in Cleveland and you’ll never guess the racial makeup of children charged as adults.
From Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg of theappeal.org:
Last year, 100 young people in Cuyahoga County were tried as adults, according to the fact sheet. In 2017, O’Malley’s first year in office, 91 were transferred to adult court, up from 49 the year before, according to the fact sheet. Such transfers are known in Ohio as bindovers.
“The rise really is in large part attributable to the choices made by prosecutors,” said Kelly McConaughey, executive director of the Juvenile Justice Coalition in Ohio. “They could severely limit the harmful practice. That’s what we would like to see. No other county in Ohio has the same bindover rates.”
O’Malley’s office declined to comment on his office’s use of bindovers.
While Cuyahoga County is sending more youth to adult court, there’s a growing awareness nationwide of the harms associated with the practice. Young people tried as adults, researchers say, are more likely to receive harsh sentences and recidivate than those in the juvenile system, and typically receive fewer services. Having adult charges on their records can limit their opportunities for housing, employment, and education, noted Claire Chevrier, advocacy counsel for the ACLU of Ohio.
“It can be a lifelong struggle to have an adult conviction,” said Chevrier. “It seems like a surprising choice from a prosecutor’s office to send youth to adult court because we know there are worse outcomes.”
It’s easy to be a Democrat in Ohio and rail against Republicans. Lord knows I do it every day.
But the local shitshows in Cleveland, Columbus and Cleveland show that Democrats have plenty of work to do in their own gardens as well.
The woman who didn’t count my vote in my own election is trying to sue for a paycheck
I ran for Statehouse and after election day I thought I lost by 50 points which was devastating to my psyche even before I learned that 6,500 early votes — including my own! — hadn’t been counted in the “final” total and as it turned out I lost by 47 points which won’t sound soothing to anybody who has never campaigned as a socialist in Trump country.
Anyway the incompetence happened because the local GOP boss Bud O’Brien controlled the Board of Elections and appointed stooges and one of them turned out to be incompetent if you can believe that.
Now like most Republicans in America right now she’s playing the victim card.
From Nancy Bowman of daytondailynews.com:
TROY — The fired director of the Miami County Board of Elections filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the Board of Elections and members Dave Fisher and Robert Long individually claiming the board violated the public meetings law when it fired her in January and the members defamed her by blaming her for votes that weren't counted last November.
Beverly Kendall of Troy filed the complaint in Common Pleas Court against the board, Fisher of Bethel Twp. and Long of Troy. Kendall seeks an order finding the board's action violated the open meetings act and asks for job reinstatement along with compensatory and punitive damages of more than $25,000 each.
Kendall was fired Jan. 22 by a 3-1 vote following public disclosure that more than 6,000 in-person votes in the election went uncounted until a discrepancy was discovered by the Secretary of State's Office in December. The votes were counted later and did not affect the outcome of any race or issue.
Kendall claims the board violated the open meetings law by asking her in an executive session to resign or she would be terminated. The lawsuit alleges the board illegally made the decision to fire her before returning to public meeting, where a vote was taken.
As somebody who was personally aggrieved by the Miami County Board of Elections I would have been okay if Secretary of State Frank LaRose fired everyone. But he didn’t.
I hope none of my readers suffer the indignity of reading vote totals that don’t include your own vote. For this reason I hope Bev Kendall the steadfast Miami County GOP foot soldier never profits off my misery.
Seems like the weed business in Ohio is as shady as ever which is hard to believe
Most Ohioans are overworked and the others are too lazy to pay attention to state politics so it’s no surprise the state medical marijuana program appears to be fabulously corrupt as was originally intended by the squares that slow-rolled the program rollout.
From Jackie Borchardt of cincinnati.com:
It's illegal to sell or transfer an Ohio marijuana business license without state approval. But an Enquirer investigation found several multi-state cannabis companies entered into agreements to acquire Ohio businesses – in some cases just weeks after they were awarded a license over hundreds of other applicants.
None of these agreements were approved by state regulators.
But millions of dollars have changed hands. Loans provided cash for new Ohio cannabis facilities. Companies touted their Ohio expansions in calls with investors and fundraising announcements.
Meanwhile, Ohio’s market has been slow to start, with patients paying high prices for limited product selection. Navigating complicated ownership structures could create further delays – for patients and for big companies trying to complete their mergers.
…
The Enquirer found 25 Ohio marijuana business licenses out of 129 awarded were involved in mergers, acquisitions or financing deals involving high-interest debt that's convertible to equity if it can't be repaid. The deals involve the biggest names in cannabis: Sea Hunter Therapeutics, Curaleaf Holdings Inc., Harvest Health and Recreation Inc. and MedMen Enterprises Inc.
Most marijuana businesses are not publicly traded, so the actual number of premature sales and acquisitions could be greater.
Just a thought I’m having right now and it’s probably wrong but honestly in my opinion America would be better served with a federal legalization of weed rather than leave it to corrupt state governments to divvy the proceeds to their cronies.
THOSE WMDs. An afternoon at the Joker Stairs, NYC’s newest tourist attraction… Online nobody knows you’re poor… How smartphones evolved to dominate your life… The invention — and reinvention — of Impeachment… Sell drugs and influence everyone on Instagram… Deported parents lose child to adoption.