Yesterday, union front We Are Ohio released the first TV commercial of the Issue 2 campaign. Its message is simple – Senate Bill 5 is a plot to burn down your house. The folks at GOHP Blog responded with a YouTube video that folds some facts into the wildly dishonest union ad:

GOHP Blog touches on a central point of the Senate Bill 5 debate: government unions demonize fire chiefs and other public officials. We Are Ohio wants you to believe that, with union power slightly reduced, fire chiefs throughout Ohio will enact their devious plans to kill firefighters. Coming soon to a screen near you: school boards stealing teachers’ milk money! County auditors shackling clerks to their desks!

What’s the real problem for We Are Ohio? Government employees work for democratically elected officials, which doesn’t fit the union model. As surely as Wendy’s grills burgers and Ford builds trucks, unions are in the class warfare business – but in government, the people who pay the bills are the same ones who elect the bosses.

For the union sales pitch to work, the boss must be the enemy. Although the union smear campaign can’t come out and say it, you, cheapskate taxpayer, are what’s wrong with Ohio.

Government unions fight elected officials and their appointees, putting union bosses between taxpayers and the services we pay for. Don’t buy what We Are Ohio is selling – vote Yes on Issue 2!

Follow me on Twitter: @jasonahart

Cross-posted at that hero and Third Base Politics.

In many ways, Issue 2 is the same as other state and national arguments over government spending. Leftists work furiously to remind voters they’re saving us from the misery of smaller government, with the assumption we’re too stupid to realize their demands mean higher taxes.

The We Are Ohio campaign is not about “middle class jobs,” but about an unsustainable status quo that’s made the unions rich. In a word, union bosses are charitable with taxpayer money. The graphic at left from The Buckeye Institute shows where this leads; orange indicates severe deficits, and red indicates worse.

Stripped of debates over economic forecasting and falling property values, is there any sense in We Are Ohio’s position? Imagine living in a city – let’s call it Ohiopolis – with two churches running soup kitchens on opposite sides of town. Both churches have noble goals and similar financial resources.

West Church keeps things simple, providing basic lunches three days a week. The menu is soup, bread, coffee, and water, served in adequate portions. West Church has little trouble funding their soup kitchen. The congregation is happy to help the community but always mindful of their limited time and money.

East Church is more generous. Each day, the needy of eastern Ohiopolis are treated to a breakfast of organic fruit, fresh pastries, and free-range bacon. Lunch and dinner menus feature elaborate fish, chicken, and vegan dishes. Every month, East Church shifts more of its donations to the soup kitchen. The most well-off congregants are pressured to keep operations afloat.

How many hungry will East Church feed when they run out of money? Could you blame members for balking at unsustainable spending, or for leaving East Church to attend West Church instead? Promising the impossible doesn’t show you care – it proves you’re careless.

Though it takes some serious faith to believe union talking points, We Are Ohio is not a church. Government unions get rich by forcibly taking dues from members, and get away with it by demanding benefits taxpayers are forced to pay.

We Are Ohio acts appalled that taxpayers expect government employees to pay small portions of their health insurance & retirement costs. We Are Ohio claims it’s “unfair” and “dangerous” to consider merit when distributing raises or making cuts. Is it fair or safe to drive Ohio’s businesses and citizens away with smothering taxes to fund unsustainable government?

Follow me on Twitter: @jasonahart

Cross-posted from that hero.

With ballot language set for the Senate Bill 5 referendum, Ohio’s government unions are busy finding ways to fit “NO ON ISSUE 2″ into their anti-reform talking points. Member dues will buy loads of airtime… but you can’t put a price on common sense.

This post expands on the list I published in May. If you feel I’m misrepresenting what professional leftists have been parroting for months, let me know.

Issue 2 will devastate Ohio’s economy by stealing pay from government workers!

Senate Bill 5 doesn’t take away bargaining for wages, and this argument relies on a complete ignorance of economics. Do you believe money can be spent or invested without first being taken from taxpayers? If so, you’re too smart for the union bosses, and their chief talking point crumbles.

Issue 2 will make police and firefighters less safe!

This shameless scare tactic suddenly became popular when polling indicated most of Senate Bill 5 resonates with Ohio voters despite months of union distortion. It remains entirely untrue, as Senate Bill 5 does not affect bargaining over safety equipment.

Issue 2 is an attack on the middle class by greedy special interests!

Wrong in so many ways. Senate Bill 5 protects the jobs of government workers – a slim portion of Ohio’s workforce – by freeing school districts and local governments from unsustainable health and pension costs. If you think the unions actually care about workers, think again.

Issue 2 is fueled by envy! Why not increase everyone’s benefits instead of robbing government workers?!

More proof leftists can’t comprehend the word “growth,” and view the economy as a static pie from which government should dole out slices as politicians see fit. Senate Bill 5 will allow local leaders to focus on sustainable budgets instead of unaffordable union demands. This, in turn, will prevent tax hikes, making it easier for businesses to create more jobs and more wealth.

Issue 2 will drive the best teachers and government workers out of Ohio!

This one’s actually funny, if you remember the unions also insist merit pay is a terrible idea because teachers and government workers aren’t motivated by compensation like everyone else on the planet. Given unemployment rates throughout Ohio and the nation, no one really expects mass turnover based on a slight adjustment in health and pension benefits – especially when compared to benefits in private industry.

Consider union arguments, and then support sensible reforms. This November, vote Yes on Issue 2.

Follow me on Twitter: @jasonahart

Cross-posted at that hero and Third Base Politics.

Not that it matters to the handout-junkies and bureaucracy-lovers who make up the Democratic Party’s base, but the House has passed a second bill to extend the federal debt ceiling. In case you’ve forgotten, the House is controlled by the Grand Old Party of No, and the world is going to end if the debt ceiling isn’t raised by Tuesday.

Here’s the president’s Treasury Secretary on the need for an extension that runs through Obama’s reelection campaign:

“The most important thing is that we remove this threat of default from the country for the next 18 months,” Geithner said in an interview with CNN’s “State of the Union” program. “You want to take this out of politics.”

Emphasis mine; this could be the Freudian slip of the year. Democrats don’t want to take the politics out of the debt ceiling fight – they want to take the debt ceiling fight out of the nation’s political conversation. Eventually, voters will realize President Obama’s fix is higher taxes, and Senator Reid’s fix is gutting the military.

Isn’t it funny how, time and again, the adults in Washington demand policies identical to the far left’s? Let’s review:

• World ends without debt ceiling increase
• House Republicans pass Cut, Cap & Balance bill
• Reid, Obama say Cut, Cap & Balance is DOA
• Obama pushes for tax hikes
• Reid suggests slashing defense spending
• House Republicans pass Budget Control Act of 2011
• Reid, Obama say Budget Control Act of 2011 is DOA

As I said this morning, compromising sucks when the other side is nuts, but this is what House Republicans have to deal with.

A debt ceiling compromise beats the prospect of a second Obama term by a landslide the size of Texas. I’m glad Congressman Stivers, my representative in the House, voted for the Budget Control Act of 2011. I’m glad Speaker Boehner, my parents’ representative, worked to create a bill the shameless demagogues in the Senate and White House might be forced to pass.

Official releases on the Budget Control Act of 2011 follow. From Stivers:

“I supported Speaker Boehner’s bill because it cuts spending and changes the way that Washington works. It puts caps on spending and moves America toward a balanced budget. A default could result in economic disaster including higher costs for car, student and business loans as well as mortgages; it could result in lower stock prices; higher gasoline and import costs and higher unemployment. This scenario is unacceptable and moving forward Members of both parties need to work together toward reaching an agreement on the debt ceiling to prevent a default.”

From Boehner:

Thanks in part to your support, this evening the House passed an important bill to cut trillions in spending and end our debt limit crisis.

It’s the second time in the last two weeks that the People’s House has spoken. Twice now, we’ve passed legislation to cut trillions in government spending, avoid a job-crushing national default, and advance the cause of a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution.

In contrast, Washington Democrats have done nothing. They refuse to put a plan on the table. In fact, it’s been 821 days since the Democrat-run Senate has passed a budget.

Let me be clear, our bill isn’t perfect, but it’s a positive step forward, carefully negotiated in a good faith effort to find a solution to the current crisis.

Now it is time for the Senate to act. The Senate must pass the House bill and send it to the President for him to sign into law. There is no excuse for inaction.

Follow me on Twitter: @jasonahart

Cross-posted at that hero and Third Base Politics.

The Columbus Dispatch reports on sacrifices made by unionized employees of Westerville City Schools:

Teachers were expected to receive a 1.75 percent cost-of-living increase in addition to step increases this school year under the association’s current two-year contract.

Williams said the members also agreed to delay receiving some of their pay to the next fiscal year, which would shift $1 million in compensation to the 2013 fiscal year.

Starting from a contract that was completely untenable, the union has agreed to “givebacks” which do nothing to address long-term budget issues. The Westerville Education Association deserves credit for some flexibility, but context is everything. In this case, union concessions are a prelude to major tax initiatives:

The variations: a 0.5 percent earned-income tax and $10 million levy; a 0.75 percent earned-income tax and $7.3 million levy; and a 0.75 percent earned-income tax and a $5 million levy. The proposals would generate between $22 million and $25.5 million a year.

Teaching is a difficult job. I don’t think I could do it, and I can’t imagine a salary that would make me try. I have great respect for good teachers… but are Westerville’s compensation rates sustainable? According to public records, 376 Westerville City Schools employees – more than 21% – were paid $75,000 or greater in 2010.

Without a steep tax hike, the Westerville City School District has a bleak future:

Depending on the tax issue board members choose, the district will need to cut from $13 million to $16 million in anticipated expenses to keep the budget in the black through the 2014-15 school year.

Interim Treasurer Steve Huzicko said the district faces a projected $3.1 million shortfall this school year and about $24 million in 2012-13.

This year’s troubles are nothing compared to Westerville’s coming budget disaster. Ohio can’t afford to throw money at local governments any longer, and Washington certainly can’t afford to throw money at Ohio, so what option does the district have? For a taste of the leftist outrage when you suggest pay cuts for the highest-paid teachers and administrators, refer to my extremely cautious Columbus City Schools analysis.

This is what Senate Bill 5 is about. Current privileges granted to government unions make it easy for politicians to promise too much, and much too difficult for taxpayers to do anything about it.

Tax hikes are required to fulfill commitments squeezed out of elected officials, so the unions will fight for higher taxes. Treating good teachers the same as bad maintains the facade of “solidarity,” so that’s what the unions do. Simple reforms to empower taxpayers will limit union clout, so union front groups will continue demonizing reformers as “attacking workers’ rights.”

Hard work, but at least it pays well.

Follow me on Twitter: @jasonahart

Cross-posted at that hero and Third Base Politics.