Petition drive needs you!

The effort to end SB5 -- the GOP attack on teachers, firefighters, police officers, nurses and other public employees -- will soon be under way.

Petition wording has been approved and is on the way from the printer. By mid-week, supporters of Ohio's middle class could start collecting signatures to put a repeal referendum on the statewide ballot.

We are organizing volunteers in U.A., and we need you. Don't like door-to-door canvassing? There will be many other ways for you to help -- for example, staffing tables at public sites or making sure completed petitions get handed in.

Please click "Stop SB5" above to register so you can receive up-to-date information on volunteering!

Join in! Ohio Walk for Choice

Independent national grassroots effort in support of women's rights!

Saturday , February 26,
Noon, march from Wexner Center Plaza, North High Street at 15th Avenue, to the Ohio Statehouse (approximately 3 miles)
OR 2 p.m., rally at the Statehouse
Speakers, music and activities advocating for women’s rights
Details

Fight against the Congressional “Smith Bill,” (H.R. Bill 3), the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, which would end comprehensive health insurance and the legality of an abortion in life-threatening pregnancies. The “Pitts Bill” (H.R. Bill 358) to ban abortion coverage in state-based health insurance established under the new health care law. And the “Pence Bill” (H.R. Bill 217) to remove the Title X Family Planning Program and preventative care, including annual exams, cancer screenings, contraceptive services, and testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections – services which make up 97 percent of Planned Parenthood’s funding in Ohio.

In Ohio, there is the “Heartbeat Bill,” as well as House Bills 7 and 78, which seek to place laws against later-term abortions. House Bill 79 to prohibit abortion coverage in health insurance plans offered by the state, and House Bill 63 and Senate Bill 8, both posing further restrictions upon minors attempting to judicially bypass parental consent for an abortion. Read more.

Contact: Nikki Skrinak at Nikki.Skrinak@gmail.com or 614-354-2765

Wisconsin teacher reveals why she is protecting her union

Time to stand up for Ohio's middle class

Come to the Ohio Statehouse (1 Capitol Square, Columbus, Ohio 43215) Tuesday, February 22, at 1 p.m. to protest the attempt to end collective bargaining in Ohio!

If ever there was a time to show up, stand up and let our voices be heard, it is now. The fate of Ohio’s middle class is on the line at the Ohio Statehouse. Your presence will send a strong message and help efforts to defeat Senate Bill 5 and the rest of the GOP’s anti-middle class agenda.

Wear your work uniform if applicable (fire fighter uniform, scrubs, etc) OR wear red. RSVP.

Can't attend on Feb. 22?

Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper in opposition to SB 5. Tips and contact information for your local newspaper.

Attend a phone bank to engage other activists in activities against Senate Bill 5. Find the phone bank closest to you.

Here's what you can say about Ohio Senate Bill 5

• SB 5 is a jobs killer. It will weaken the middle class in Ohio.
• Anyone who supports SB 5 is destroying jobs in Ohio and harming the middle class.
• If SB 5 passes, shops, stores, gas stations and other merchants in communities across this state will lay off workers or shutter their windows and close their doors.
• For almost 28 years, collective bargaining has: Reduced labor strife; reduced the likelihood of strikes; and improved training and productivity among public employees.
• The repeal of collective bargaining will do nothing to balance the budget because: 9 percent of the state budget is for state employees; firing every state employee in Ohio would save only $2 billion, leaving the state without vital services and there would still be an $6 billion deficit; since this does not address the budget deficit, it is clear that anti-worker forces are using this to harm the middle class and kill jobs.

Other talking points:

• Public employees provide a wide range of necessary services. They drive children to and from school safely. They patrol our streets, put out fires, provide transportation for disabled and elderly, safeguard our prisons, plow our streets, fix our busted waterlines in freezing weather.
• Our teachers, police, firefighters and other public employees are also our neighbors, friends, family members, coaches, volunteers. They are part of the fabric of our communities.
• Our prison guards, bus drivers, water and sewer workers, educators, in-home caregivers are also consumers and customers in their communities. They spend their money locally on cars, appliances, furniture, food, gas, and other items. They keep local merchants open, hiring and thriving.

Cutting Planned Parenthood

Anti-abortion Republican Congress members are hurting women, in particular poor women, in the guise of saving money to balance the budget.

In a 240-185 vote Feb. 17, our representatives approved a provision to strip all federal funding from Planned Parenthood health centers.

This is truly an emergency for Planned Parenthood and women's health. Anti-choice leaders in the House forced a vote on $317 million for Title X (aid for family planning programs) that denies Planned Parenthood health centers every dime of $75 million in federal funding. Without that funding, many low-income people would lose access to their only source of basic health care.

Some pundits predict this effort will die in the Senate. But we have to make sure.

Call now and tell Ohio's Republican Sen. Rob Portman to vote NO. You can reach him at his Washington office, 202-224-3353, Columbus office, 614-469-6774, or by email.

What Planned Parenthood does

You may not realize the range of care that Planned Parenthood provides. The huge majority of clients turn to them for birth control (to actually avert the need for abortions), cancer screenings, HIV testing, and other lifesaving care. For many (including people that you know who have no or inadequate insurance coverage), Planned Parenthood clinics are the only source for these services.

The consequences of passing this bill are clear — and they would be devastating. More women would have unintended pregnancies. Cancer would develop, undiagnosed, in countless women. There is no doubt: cutting off millions of women from care they have no other way to afford places them at risk of sickness and death.

Speak out now — demand that Portman vote NO.

Read more: New York Times, "Planned Parenthood and its supporters are working to bolster defenses in the Senate. They hope that the Title X program - including a share for their group - will be restored as the two sides of Congress compromise on a spending bill. But supporters like Representative Diana DeGette, Democrat of Colorado and a leader of the abortion rights caucus, fear that protection of family planning could 'get lost in the larger issue of the budget.'"

Fill the Statehouse

Attend two hearings on Senate Bill 5, the GOP effort to destroy collective bargaining for teachers, police, fire fighters and other civic employees.
Today, Tuesday, Feb. 15, at 2:30 p.m.

Thursday, Feb. 17, at 10 a.m.

Committee on Insurance, Commerce and Labor

The Ohio Democratic Party is trying to turn out as many people as possible to these hearings. Join in!

Voice your opinion

Can't attend the hearings? Call, write, and email. Senator Kevin Bacon R-3rd Senate District, chairs the Senate Committee on Insurance, Commerce and Labor, which is holding the two hearings this week on SB 5. Please contact his office to voice your opposition to SB 5.

Letters:
Senate Building
1 Capitol Square, Ground Floor
Columbus, OH 43215
Calls: (614) 466-8064
Email: SD03@senate.state.oh.us

Answers for Tea Party supporters

Tea Party members will be coming out to support SB 5. The Buckeye Institute makes it clear that ending collective bargaining is a priority. However, the Ohio Democratic Pary does not want any confrontations between public employees, union members or their supporters and Tea Party members. (And there may be individuals with a different agenda using the Tea Party as cover to antagonize or create problems that would be reported in the media.)
Any interactions between anti-SB 5 and pro-SB 5 Ohioans should be positive.
Messages to the Tea Party should be two-fold:

• Join us in building and strengthening the middle class in Ohio and America. We are you and you are us. We share the same values, good jobs, affordable health care, a strong economy.
• Public employees serve you. Did you make coffee or take a shower this morning? They make sure your water is clean. Did you see a nurse in the past year because you or your family member was ill? They help you feel better. Did you shop for groceries in the past week? They stock your shelves with food. Did you drive on roads to Columbus today? Thet pave those roads. Do you feel safe knowing the police or a firefighter is a phone call away? They are your cops and your firefighters.

The Democrats' collapse of political will has Maddow outraged. She makes one of the strongest 8-minute cases for health care reform yet.

Transcript and video from Crooks and Liars.

by Sarah van Gelder
Yesmagazine.org