As Columbus, Ohio fills with union protestors like expected, the “real” working people are left to other devices to participate in this issue. After all, the protestors are making the case for themselves why we should pass Senate Bill 5. The primary reason aside from all the financial reasons is it is obvious that the public sector will continue to function in their absence, because life is going on while thousands of them take off all at the same time to march on the Ohio capital.
The intent of the protests is to look like a unified force, and such a force is supposed to function to intimidate the election process. It’s worked in the past, and union bosses are hoping it will work this time. They have a list of Senator’s that they are hoping to intimidate which I’ve included below. But their overall strategy is to make the whole issue of collective bargaining appear to be an “us against them” kind of thing, or a “poor rising up against the rich.” These are tired diatribes however and because of these strategies over the years it has finally caught up with us. If S.B.5 is not passed or if it is passed but watered down to appease the mob, the people who vote it down will be held directly responsible. Because like any right thinking person who understands economics, this issue is not about political revenge, or rich versus poor, but is about balancing our financial books and creating a business friendly environment for potential jobs, and it crosses party lines.
Listen to Jeff Berding, a democrat from southern Ohio speak to Doc Thompson on 700 WLW about his support for S.B.5.
If you are a frequent visitor to this site you know that Jeff isn’t an isolated politician when it comes to understanding reason. There are hundreds of hours of such conversations documented here just like the one you just heard. I admit there are hundreds of thousands of words written here and many hundreds of articles, videos and sound bites, so it can be overwhelming. That information is here like a library to help discuss topics that aren’t covered by the popular press. You can search for that information by checking the calendar off to the side of this article.
You can also pull them up by Googling “Overmanwarrior” along with whatever topic you want info for.
What’s happening in the country is Americans saw what happened to our film hero, Arnold Schwarzenegger as governor of California when he started strong only to be wiped out by the unions, unable to do anything to stop the financial bleeding in the state, much the way they are attempting to do in Ohio. The unions have a long history of this kind of thing, and it’s designed to scare politicians that the people elect to represent them, which actually subvert the process. That’s one of the biggest aspects of these protests that are wrong. Public Sector Unions use money they’ve made off the tax payer to lobby members of elected officials through strong-arm tactics to subvert the will of the people who elected those politicians. That’s a very bad thing. The people who are currently in the state house of Ohio, and Wisconsin are there because tax payers do not want to become the next California, and expect bold action to return our states to prosperity lacking deficits. And the people protesting and speaking out against S.B.5 are short-sighted and selfish. They are looking at their tiny sector of the economy, which has a major impact on the whole, and seeks to preserve their imposition on society.
Some Senators have given the unions hope because of comments these Senators have made, and they are the targets of these protests. The protests are designed to break these senators’s resolve to reason out of fear from reprisal or the possibility of not being re-elected.
Sen. Bill Sietz R – Cincinnati District 8
Sen. Frank LaRose R – Fairlawn District 27
Sen. Keith Faber R – Celina District 12
Sen. Scott Oelslager R – Canton District 29
Sen. Gayle Manning R – North Ridgeville District 13
Sen. Bill Beagle R – Tipp City District 5
Sen. Jimmy Stewart R – Albany District 20
Sen Jim Hughes R – Columbus District 16
It’s not hard to see how some of these senators might be intimidated by the constant chants of “Kill the Bill.” To have emotional testimony from firefighters, police and teachers proclaiming that they are the hinge pins of society will work on your conscience if you are not a strong-willed person to begin with. After all, people are people and nobody wants to hurt anybody when it comes down to it. So it’s difficult to reason fact from fiction when emotion is used as the argument.
If you’ve worked on a school levy campaign like I have, you learn to see the false prophets and all the emotional testimony. Even though these are senators, it is hard to develop the experience needed to do what is right when people pull on your heart-strings. But that’s what has to be done. So be sure to send those fine people an email letting them know that they can walk that plank of sharks protesting in Columbus and you’ll be there for them. After all, think how it must feel to have hundreds, maybe thousands of emails, and letters filling their offices while they can’t even go to lunch without seeing a sea of protestors chanting at them. The protests are designed like torture, to alter people’s reality and make them think less clearly.
The reality is 15K, 20K or even 70K is not very many people. The real mass is out there in the plains and hills of Ohio, and they are busy working and watching. And if politicians waver from their task, those politicians will be removed and new ones put in place until reform does happen. It’s as simple as that.
If anyone questions the level of corruption at play here listen to Richard Trumka brag about his influence over the White House. If anybody hears this and doesn’t think there’s something wrong you’ve completely lost your way.
That is just another reason why all this public union business has to stop. It is an issue that transcends Democrats and Republicans. It’s too important to play politics with. And it requires courage in the face of adversity. The unions are betting that they can scare away enough Republics off S.B.5 through sheer intimidation. They don’t have to worry about the Democrats not voting their way, because they put those people in office……….with our tax money. Who do you think those Democrats represent? The farmers, laborers, businessmen, who aren’t, and don’t want to be represented by a union?
Congratulations Jeff Berding for reaching across the aisle and showing the kind of boldness these times require. It may hurt politically in the short-term, but it will give you a proud story to tell your grandchildren someday when they are looking for a hero and you can offer them one with your grand story. Because doing what’s hard is what we take pride in when life darkens around us.
And Senator Sietze, I was inspired by your speech last year calling on Governor Strickland to “lead.” Well, now you have a Governor willing to “lead.”
I personally think your reasonable comments about refining S.B.5 and reading it thoroughly is wise. But remember, the only reason Democrats and the unions are willing to talk now is because they pushed everything too far to the point of breaking the tax payer backs, and they see that it’s a real possibility of losing forever collective bargaining. The problem with Republicans, traditionally, is they always back off the throttle when they shouldn’t. It should be a positive to take the high road. But the political opposition never does, and if you “negotiate” too much, that window will close forever. We arrived at this point in history because Democrats pushed and pushed and pushed while good people took the high road.
I get the high and low negotiation process. I’ve done it myself many times. But when it comes to the kind of activity that goes on in collective bargaining, use the strong cards you have when you have them, and play the game to win in the long run. Not just to appease the current masses. It’s best to avoid a referendum process, but consider how many of those people in unions vote purely as Democrats because of their pay check. So long as there are public unions involved in politics we will never know what is the true nature of our Republic, because the numbers will always be skewed. Unions tell people how to vote and that’s a problem.
Rich Hoffman
https://overmanwarrior.wordpress.com/2010/12/04/ten-rules-to-live-by/
http://twitter.com/#!/overmanwarrior
www.overmanwarrior.com
