Gov. Kasich declares Dallas Mavericks honorary Ohioans

"Whereas the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Dirk Nowitzki chose to resign with the Dallas Mavericks in the summer of 2010, forgoing free agency and keeping his talents in Dallas, thus remaining loyal to the team, city and fans for whom he played his entire career..."

Ohio Governor John Kasich had a little fun with LeBron today, taking a swipe at him,  while proclaiming the Mavericks honorary Ohioans. 


Nah, we're not bitter about LeBron "taking his talents to South Beach" and making a world-wide spectacle of his decision.  The seven championships he bragged about will have to wait.


   




Gary, my husband, was actually in Dallas for the blessed event last night and the family he is staying with went out immediately to purchase their championship gear.  Being newly minted "Mavaliers," we forked out $17.50 a piece for a few of our own to wear around C-Town.  

Before I go on, I would be remiss if I did not give credit where it was due:

But before everything got officially started, the president - unsolicited - brought up the topic most Clevelanders have chosen to forget, LeBron James.

"Is Cleveland still rooting against Miami?" asked the president as [WEWS reporter Leon] Bibb was taking his seat (and before the cameras were rolling).

"Yeah, we're working on that," replied Bibb, laughing and asking his thought on the series. 

The president said he expects the Heat to take it.  

The man is consistent in his sports picks, if nothing else.   His endorsement is the kiss of death to a team.  I don't think anyone has been this consistent since Paul the Octopus was picking World Cup soccer winners!

Immediately after the game, it seems like everyone in N.E. Ohio took to Facebook for an impromptu virtual celebration.  Here's a sampling of the Facebook comments:

"BREAKING NEWS: Apple just announced the new "Lebron IPhone"; it just vibrates - No rings!" 

"LeBron needs to marry Savannah, then he could finally get his ring. But knowing the way LeBron performs down the stretch he probably wouldnt show up!!" [ouch!]

"I think Mavs Nation just increased permenantly by, oh, about the population of Ohio or so."

"Man he wasn't kidding when he personally garenteed that Cleveland would win a championship before Miami!" [speaking of Cav's owner, Dan Gilbert, I'm assuming] 

"Hey LeBron (cough, cough)." "Wassup, D-Wade (cough)." "You (cough, cough) feelin' sick yet?" "(Cough) Yup." "Me too."

"I don't even like basketball, but YAY DALLAS!!!!! Not that I'm vindictive or anything..."

"Did anyone see the Miami NBA dream team win the finals!?... Neither did I."

"Looks like a true CHAMPION finally brought their talents to South Beach tonight.....Thanks Dallas, on behalf of all of us here in Ohio, for showing this bunch of clueless clowns how to win with determination, guts, and most of all, CLASS!"

I'm not gonna lie.  I enjoyed it.  A lot.  

In addition to Miami, the other losers last night were the Knicks.  They cleared salary space hoping to sign LeBron, only to have him join Bosh and Wade in Florida, which could rightly be named the Tax Shelter State.  Lebron and the rest of the NBA Tax Shelter Bloc saved millions by taking their talents and big bucks to Florida.  New York, again, shoots itself in the foot with it's oppressive tax burden. 

Brian Windhorst, former Cleveland sports writer, now with ESPN, as LeBron's personal reporter, wrote an article ripping LeBron's performance in the championship series:

"It was now when he was expected to rediscover that dominance with anger and motivation from the Mavs and the masses. Everyone around him thought so, too. They talked to him about it, they encouraged him, they expected it. Even his biggest detractors and critics knew it could happen. They qualified and tempered their lashings over the past two weeks expecting James to answer at some point. 

But as he went through another puzzling game Sunday -- dishing repeatedly to Juwan Howard at the rim instead of taking the ball to the basket himself, passing up wide-open shots when the ball came his way, standing and watching on defense like it was a summer camp drill at times -- it got more and more clear.
James couldn’t do it.

So fitting was the moment in the fourth quarter when the Heat were trying to cobble together a comeback and Mario Chalmers and James found themselves on a break together. James called for the ball. Chalmers saw him but kept it, trying to beat two Mavs players by himself. It was a brash play by a headstrong and fearless player that was wrong, but it was also a glaring indication of where James’ teammates apparently thought he was by then. Chalmers felt like he could do it better by himself."

It's almost painful to read. 


James took to Twitter and blamed God:

“The Greater Man upstairs know [sic] when it's my time. Right now isn't the time.”

And he told the media that we, the fans, should get back to our pathetic little lives and he would get back to his bazillion times more awesome life:

“All the people that were rooting me on to fail, at the end of the day they have to wake up tomorrow and have the same life they had before. They have the same personal problems they had today. I’m going to continue to live the way I want to live and continue to do the things that I want with me and my family and be happy with that.”

 Very classy, LeBron. 

Nathaniel S. Butler/Getty NBAE/Getty Images

April 6, 2011

Interview with Rep. Allen West (R-FL) |  The Public Square
One of my favorite organizations, the American Policy Roundtable, has an hour-long program which includes an interview with freshman Congressman Allen West (R-FL).  I've been a huge fan of West since I heard his CPAC keynote address last month.  He's a patriot and a thoughtful, solid conservative. APR's interview with Rep. (and Army Lt. Col.) West will encourage you!  His knowledge on a wide range of topics is dizzying.  Seriously, who knows the name of Muhammad's first wife?  He combines that intellect with real life experience with radical Islam as a commander of our troops in Afghanistan and Iraq and a reverence for the Bible. 

If you don't have time for the hour-long program, you can listen to a two-minute spot from David Zanotti and Wayne Shepherd with some background information about Congressman West and his qualifications to speak about radical Islam:

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Speaking of Congressman West, his first bill in Congress passed unanimously this week, a waste-eliminating cut in the defense budget (that some have said for years was off the table):

House passes Allen West defense cut - Sun Sentinel: 

"The House on Monday unanimously approved a bill sponsored by South Florida Congressman Allen West – his first bill passage since coming to Congress – that would cut the Defense Department's printing costs. 

'We all still rely on paper,' West, a Republican from Plantation, told the House. 'But I do not understand why we need examples of these highly expensive glossy color briefing slides and slick books that DOD sends over here.' 

The bill – passed by a vote of 393 to 0 -- would cut the Pentagon's proposed $357-million printing costs for next fiscal year by 10 percent, or $35.7 million."

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Another APR program I've really benefited from was an interview with Dr. Wayne Grudem on the topic of "God and Politics," based on his book of the same name.  Grudem and hosts David Zanotti and Wayne Shepherd have a great discussion about the role of Christians in the political realm, both in biblical times and the present day.

March Madness: U.S. Gov't Spent More Than Eight Times Its Monthly Revenue | CNSnews.com:

 "During the month, according to the Treasury, the federal government grossed $194 billion in tax revenue and paid out $65.898 billion in tax refunds (including $62.011 to individuals and $3.887 to businesses) thus netting $128.179 billion in tax revenue for March.

At the same time, the Treasury paid out a total of $1.1187 trillion. When the $65.898 billion in tax refunds is deducted from that, the Treasury paid a net of $1.0528 trillion in federal expenses for March."

NASA warned hackers could take over space station  World Net Daily

"Paul Martin, the NASA inspector general, is reporting NASA's computer network was so vulnerable to cyber attack that computer hackers could take control of a spacecraft while in flight, according to a report from Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin.

In part, the report states, 'We found that computer servers on NASA's agency-wide mission network had high-risk vulnerabilities that were exploitable from the Internet. Specifically, six computer servers associated with IT assets that control spacecraft and contain critical data had vulnerabilities that would allow a remote attacker to take control of or render them unavailable.

 "The implications of penetrations into NASA's network are staggering. NASA's network consists of 190 interlinked computer systems and is widely distributed throughout the United States."

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 Socialized Medicine Director Dies Waiting for Operation  The New American (HT: Glenna)

"Margaret Hutchon, a former mayor, had been waiting since last June for a follow-up stomach operation at Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford, Essex.

But her appointments to go under the knife were cancelled four times and she barely regained consciousness after finally having surgery.

Her devastated husband, Jim, is now demanding answers from Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust — the organisation where his wife had served as a non-executive member of the board of directors.

He said: 'I don't really know why she died. I did not get a reason from the hospital. We all want to know for closure. She got weaker and weaker as she waited and operations were put off.'

Not to be cruel, but the reason is simple.It’s called government-run health care."

 The article continues with many more instances of death and suffering as a result of Britain's government healthcare program. 

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Cleveland school board lays off 643 teachers, closes 7 schools | cleveland.com: 

"[The Cleveland School Board] laid off 643 teachers, some for the third time in the last seven years. 

The board also closed seven of its 94 schools, including Giddings Elementary where Freeman teaches. In all, the cuts aimed at stabilizing the district financially along with slight revenue increases total nearly $73 million....

... The Cleveland layoffs are based on seniority and certification. Under Ohio's recently signed collective-bargaining law, formerly known as Senate Bill 5, performance not seniority would be the primary factor in determining teacher layoffs. However, the new law does not apply to these layoffs because they are being carried out under an existing contract....

...The cuts are equal to about 10 percent of the current operating budget. Interim Chief Executive Officer Peter Raskind said his goal was to wipe out a $47.5 deficit forecast for next school year, as required by state law, and get the district through 2012-13 without further upheaval."

Part of problem in the Cleveland school district is the severe population decline.  Ten years ago there were 70,000 students.  Today there are only 45,000.  When you lose 25,000 students, you can't expect to keep all these schools open and maintain the same staffing levels.  Parents and teachers are outraged, as  they usually are when this happens, but it's a hard, cold reality: fewer students = fewer teachers, administrators, and buildings. 


The solution for parents is to have a robust school choice program in Ohio.  Those who care about poor children in failing inner-city schools should be marching in Columbus, Wisconsin, and D.C. on behalf of school choice initiatives - to get these children OUT of failing schools IMMEDIATELY.  They cannot wait another 5 years while their school districts dither around with dubious Race to the Top bureaucracies like implementing longitudinal data systems and adding layers and layers of admistrators.  In five years it will be too late for many of these children.    

Unions want members to pay for SB 5 referendum | Columbus Dispatch Politics: 

"Betting on an expensive referendum drive, opponents of Senate Bill 5 are turning to rank-and-file union members to help cover campaign costs predicted to reach $20 million.

At least three statewide labor organizations - the Ohio Education Association, the Ohio Fraternal Order of Police and the Ohio Association of Professional Fire Fighters - are considering charging members extra fees to fund a ballot effort to repeal a GOP-backed bill signed by Gov. John Kasich last week that would limit collective-bargaining rights for state- and local-government employees

We Are Ohio, the coalition of union supporters pushing for the referendum, yesterday delivered proposed petition language and nearly 3,000 signatures to the Ohio secretary of state and attorney general - the first step toward making the Nov. 8 statewide ballot.

In an email dated March 22 and obtained by The Dispatch, Ohio Education Association executive director Larry Wicks said teachers and other unionized school personnel might be charged a one-time assessment of $50 to generate more than $5 million to fight Senate Bill 5. A spokesman said yesterday that the OEA's representative assembly will vote on the charge in early May.

Wicks said in his email, 'At least $20 million will be needed to run an effective campaign.' He also said a referendum effort was 'not a slam dunk.'...

..."In an email to union members, Jack Reall, president of the Columbus firefighters union, said statewide leaders will meet Thursday to consider charging $100 per member for the referendum campaign. Jay McDonald, president of the Fraternal Order of Police of Ohio, said a decision will be made on a member charge this week.

Also wading into the referendum effort yesterday was former Gov. Ted Strickland, who, in a fundraising email obtained by The Dispatch, asked supporters for $5, $10 and $25 donations to the Ohio Democratic Party."

In case you're wondering why this is going to the voters after it was passed by both houses of the legislature and signed by Governor Kasich, it's because the Ohio Constitution allows Ohio's citizens to bring a referendum (or even an amendment) to the ballot as long as they can collect enough signatures to get it on the ballot.  For a referendum, SB5 opponents will need to gather signatures equal to 6% of the number voting in the most recent gubernatorial election, which means they'll need 231,149 signatures by the June 30 deadline to get it on the November ballot.


 Senate Bill 5 supporters slow to organize | The Columbus Dispatch: 

"From Kasich's office to various tea party headquarters to the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, belief is strong that someone will step forward to lead a campaign in favor of Senate Bill 5 and coordinate fundraising, if and when a referendum is placed on the November ballot.

Talk of such a coordinated effort in Ohio is at present relegated to back channels, while Democrats and labor leaders are galvanized for war - and with more than $5 million available just from the Ohio Education Association, should it approve a plan to charge its members a one-time assessment of $50 to support the referendum.

'The bottom line is that it's better to be engaged sooner rather than later,' said Andy Doehrel, president of the Ohio Chamber of Commerce. 'I expect us to be involved, but how or what the time frame is, I just don't know that at this time.'

This is not a good sign, considering how well-organized and well-funded opponents of this bill are and considering that they are planning to force their union members to contribute to the effort.


The key to defeating the anti-SB5 referendum may lie here:

"Chris Littleton, president of the Ohio Liberty Council, an affiliation of 65 tea party groups, said his members will help support Senate Bill 5.

But Littleton said if the council had to choose, its priority would be to back a constitutional amendment that would strike down the compliance component of the federal health-care law passed in 2009.

Littleton said his group needs 150,000 more signatures by July to guarantee that the amendment question is placed before voters in November."

If BOTH of these issues make it onto the ballot, they will help each other because voter turnout for one will garner votes for the other issue, which likely includes crossover supporters.  Some voters who would make the effort to go out and vote for an amendment to opt out of Obamacare might also vote against the anti-SB5 referendum and vice-versa.  The more these issues can be tied together under the mantle of fiscal responsibility, the more they can mutually benefit each other and assure a positive outcome in November.