A Call to Defend Ohio on January 8th

This is from the Defend Ohio Campaign.

Years of tax cuts for the rich and a deep recession triggered by Wall Street’s insatiable greed have left the State of Ohio with an $8 billion budget deficit. Governor-elect John Kasich is quite clear about who should pay for this fiscal crisis: students, teachers, public employees, and working families already hurting from high unemployment, rising poverty, and foreclosed mortgages. Furthermore, Kasich has threatened those who would dare speak up against his plans: “If you’re not on the bus, we will run over you with the bus. And I’m not kidding” (Columbus Dispatch December 5, 2010).

The only solutions Kasich wants to hear about are those which involve blaming unions, cutting jobs, reducing services, slashing school funding, and privatizing public functions. In short, Kasich is using the fiscal crisis as an excuse to impose an even more draconian version of the same stale policies he and his friends have always advocated. By threatening those who speak up, and by pointing the finger of blame at particular unions, Kasich is trying to divide Ohioans at a time when we most need to come together.

We did not get into this mess overnight. For years, thoughtful Ohioans have been offering real solutions to Ohio’s structural budget deficits. It is clear that we cannot solve the immediate crisis facing the state without reforms to our tax system that make the rich pay their fare share. But even that won’t be enough. Ohio, and many other states, will need more federal aid to protect basic services until the economy improves and revenues stabilize, and to deal with rising Medicaid costs caused by sustained high unemployment. One thing is certain: Kasich’s agenda of eliminating jobs, cutting wages, and slashing schools in the middle of a recession will only make things worse by pushing more people into unemployment and poverty.

We reject Governor-elect John Kasich’s divisive and threatening rhetoric and we oppose any efforts to solve this crisis on the backs of Ohio’s working people. We invite all Ohioans to join us at the Statehouse in Columbus on January 8th to voice your opposition to the Kasich agenda.