As Bob Costa recently detailed, Ohio’s Senate Bill 5 — which limits unions’ collective bargaining powers and requires state employees to contribute 10 percent to their pension plans and 15 percent of their health-care costs — is under fire and facing possible repeal. Today, Mitt Romney visited Ohio, and declined to give a position on SB 5, according to CNN’s Peter Hamby, who tweeted, “Romney visits OH GOP phone bank to rally troops opposing SB5 repeal, but refuses to take a position on SB5.”
Asked for comment, Romney spokesperson Andrea Saul e-mails, “Gov. Romney believes that the citizens of states should be able to make decisions about important matters of policy that affect their states on their own.”
UPDATE: A reader points out that Romney was comfortable endorsing New Hampshire’s right-to-work legislation in August. From the Boston Globe:
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney today called on New Hampshire to become a right to work state, meaning non-union members cannot be forced to pay union fees.
The Republican-led New Hampshire Legislature passed right-to-work legislation during its last session, which would make New Hampshire the 23rd right-to-work state in the country. The bill was vetoed by Democratic Gov. John Lynch. Republicans have been struggling to muster the votes to override the veto. …
Romney told reporters, “If I were a voter, I’d encourage state representatives, state senators and the governor to do whatever is necessary to make New Hampshire a right-to-work state to create more jobs for the people of New Hampshire.”
UPDATE II: Politico’s Jonathan Martin notes that back in June, Mitt Romney wrote this Facebook post touting Building a Better Ohio, a group who supports the collective bargaining reforms and pension/health-care contributions that Kasich is fighting to keep in place. “My friends in Ohio are fighting to defend crucial reforms that the state has put in place to limit the power of union bosses and keep taxes low,” Romney wrote on Facebook. “I stand with John R. Kasich and Ohio’s leaders as they take on this important fight to get control of government spending. Please visit www.BetterOhio.org for more information.”
Club for Growth spokesman Barney Keller gives this statement to The Plum Line’s Greg Sargent on Romney’s decision to not take a position on the matter:
The big problem many conservatives have with Mitt Romney is that he’s taken both sides of nearly every issue important to us. He’s against a flat tax, now he’s for it. He says he’s against ObamaCare, but was for the individual mandate and susbidies that are central to ObamaCare. He thinks that collective bargaining issues should be left for states to decide if he’s Ohio, but he took the opposite position when he was in New Hampshire. This is just another statement in a long line of statements that will raise more doubts about what kind of President Mitt Romney would be in the minds of many Republican primary voters.
Freedomworks’ Brendan Steinhauser struck a similar note, telling Slate’s Dave Weigel, “I’m not happy with Romney about his silence on Issues 2 and 3, but then again, I’m not surprised. He doesn’t believe in what we believe in –- nor is he willing to fight for these ideas. We are working VERY hard in Ohio for these campaigns and he is only interested in his own ambition to be president. Kasich = Courage and Romney = Empty Suit.”
Courage.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseActually, keeping your nose out of something that's not your business does take courage.
The only proper federal position should be - you made your bed, you lie in it.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThere's a difference between the federal govt interfering, and the guy who would be president having an opinion.
Presidents are permitted to have opinions.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseYou stole my post!
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"As Bob Costa recently detailed, Ohio’s Senate Bill 5 — is under fire and facing possible repeal"
'Possible' should be replaced there with 'probable.' Every poll shows SB5 going down in flames in a couple months, and the state GOP hasn't done a single thing to keep that from happening.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseBefore engaging in any end-zone chest bumping, why don't you let the word "Kloppenberg" rattle around in your head a little bit?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseIf SB5 is repealed, then the people of the State of Ohio will get what they deserve. They will pay higher taxes for fewer services in order to provide public employees with guaranteed retirement benefits that exceed those of private sector workers. It's their choice to make and their consequences to suffer. Perhaps the citizens of Ohio are counting on a federal bailout once the money runs out.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseSherrod Brown
George Voinovitch
Ted Strickland
Mike DeWine.
Mary Jo Killroy...
I've long ago learned not to underestimate the stupidity of my fellow Ohioans.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseYou forgot SpongeBob TaftPants. ;)
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseExactly, Jenna. Let them become the next Illinois or Taxifornia and implode. I've had it with dealing with spoiled unionistas for whom the "fair share" BS suddenly becomes Mandarin Chinese when referring to their own taxpayer funded salaries.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseEvery poll in 2005 also suggested that the referendums posed by the Reform Ohio Now group would be easily passed - "Issue 1" had a whopping 72%-25% advantage in SEPTEMBER. And they were on the ballot in the middle of the Noe Coin Scandal that imploded the Ohio Republican Party the following year.
Every one of those issues all went down to a profound and embarrassing defeat at the actual ballot box.
Don't you dare count your chickens before they hatch.
I know I'm not.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseSomeone will need to explain to the citizenry of Ohio why it is that they need to fully fund their own retirements as well as the retirements of public employees. Why do the Unions feel that their members should not contribute at all.
I have yet to have anyone provide a compelling argument in support of that arrangement.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThere is no argument. All that We Are Ohio has done is lob scare tactic after scare tactic to frighten the public and demonize Kasich. Threatening people that if SB5 is upheld, they will lose police and fire protection. Heck, they even went racial with an ad on urban radio stations calling SB5 "Jim Crow" reincarnate.
Truly, the most disgusting, dishonest and immoral campaigning I have ever seen. Totally in line with the boilerplate Obama-style campaign of class warfare and hate. We Are Ohio doesn't deserve to win by any sense of the word.
Karma...
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseWhy bother going then?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI do not believe that Romney is committed to reforming entitlements, reforming the tax code, and cutting spending (not just growth in spending but actual spending). I think he is a big government Republican like Bush and McCain. The only difference between these guys and Progressives is the speed at which our government heads toward oblivion. Conservatives much take control in 2012 if there is to be any hope for us at all.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"The only difference between these guys and Progressives is the speed at which our government heads toward oblivion."
You got that right, sista!
Romney isn't committed to anything except getting elected and maintaining the capuchin-monkey-esque contrast between his white sideburns and dark hair.
He would, however, make a terrific narrator for a nature show. I can just hear him say, "To the South African Bushmen of the Kalahari Desert, water is the most precious thing on Earth. Streams flow only after the rare rains, and drinking water must be drawn up through hollow reeds from the sand of the stream beds."
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"Gov. Romney believes that the citizens of states should be able to make decisions about important matters of policy that affect their states on their own."
Hmm, should we read this as, "Gov. Romney's so full of himself that he doesn't think it's fair that his statement would change if the bill would pass or not."
Or, "Gov. Romney wants to lead from behind, congratulating the mob on how they vote no matter what, so they won't turn on him."
Vote yes on 5. Don't make me move to Wisconsin.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI don't follow Ohio politics, but Romney is right that citizens of each state should decide these types of things on their own. If a state is badly governed, people can and do move to a more hospitable place.
It would be nice to have a better explanation of the Oho Act. If it has already been enacted, its an Act or Public Law, not a Bill. And if it is a Public Law, Ohio's House AND Senate passed it, and the governor signed it into law. I don't know what it takes to repeal a law in Ohio (does it require new legistlative action and the governor's signature, or is it some sort of referendum).
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseOk, brief overview on the legislative processes in Ohio.
When a bill is passed and signed into law, it is possible to challenge the bill in a referrendum. If you get enough votes you can put it on the ballot. If the measure succeeds, then the bill is effectively repealed. We tried it with the smoking ban (which I oppose) and failed. (This goes back to my other comment about under estimating stupidity)
Also, Ohio's constitution is extremely easy (like California easy) to amend. It too can be a ballot process. That's how our DOMA passed (which I supported). It's also, strangely enough, part of the reason I supported DOMA. Because if the society changes to where a domestic partner construct reaches a majority opinion, we can repeal DOMA the same way.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseAnother example of Republican overreach when they gain power. What is Kasich's approval rating? SB5 will be repealed in a landslide.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse