Ohio Republicans Remove Two Committee Members to Ram Anti-Union Bill Through Senate
In what Lawrence O'Donnell described as one of the sleaziest legislative moves he's ever seen, the Republicans in the Ohio Senate jammed through their union busting SB5, but only after removing two Republicans on two separate committees who were opposed to it in order to get it to the Senate floor.
With One-Vote Margin, Ohio State Senate Passes SB 5:
The Ohio State Senate just passed the controversial SB 5, aimed a limiting unionized state employees' ability to collectively bargain or go on strike.
In an indication of how divisive the legislation is in the Buckeye State, the final vote in the Senate was 17-16. The bill now moves to the state House, which like the Senate, is under Republican control.
Gov. John Kasich (R) has endorsed the measure and is expected to sign it when it reaches his desk.
Democrats united against the bill, and they needed seven Republican members to join with them to stop it. In the end they got six.
Pushing the bill through the Senate has been tough for supporters of the plan, with the Republican leader of the state Senate removing two Republicans opposed to the measure to get the bill to the Senate floor today.
Lawrence talked to the Progressive Change Campaign Committee's Adam Green about their campaign to fight back against what these governors are doing in Ohio and Wisconsin and across the country, busting unions and waging class warfare against the poor and what's left of the middle class. You can watch some of their new ads that are airing in Wisconsin or make a donation to help keep them on the air here.
I hope that through all of this people will begin to think before voting (or not voting) for a change. We can blame the Republicans, their gerrymandering, voter suppression and Fox Propaganda all we want but it's not like what they're doing now was a well kept secret. They've been steering down this road hard since the 80's (and throughout many previous generations) and anyone willing to put a little critical thinking, research or even just memory recollection into it is well aware that the party of "small government" is really about big government subsidizing big business.
I also hope this is a wake up call to Democratic leadership that the people need a real voice (not just empty rhetoric) and we can start having more Democratic candidates we can vote for without holding our noses.
Hopefully humanity will one day learn to be humane.
Comments are closed on this entry