ProgressOhio’s Brian Rothenberg says all Ohioans should be concerned with what’s happening at the Ohio Statehouse these days.
ROTHENBERG: "It’s not about being an R or D here. This is about your rights -- and your rights being eroded."
Rothenberg’s concerns are echoed by Rob Walgate with the Ohio Roundtable. Both groups are upset over laws that are being passed that they say restrict Ohioans access to make changes in their government through a referendum. And both men question the constitutionality of Gov. John Kasich’s JobsOhio -- the state’s new nonprofit private corporation. Walgate, a conservative who is usually an ally of Republicans, says the governor is not listening to his group’s concerns.
WALGATE: "They don’t want to talk to us about this. They’ve taken the attitude that they are smarter than the rest of us, they know more than the rest of us and they can make decisions that will benefit everybody, regardless if that means breaking the law or not."
Governor Kasich’s spokesman, Rob Nichols, says “The governor’s singular mission is to create jobs, and both of these organizations have repeatedly lined up against that goal.” Nichols goes on to say, “I’m surprised that they’re surprised that we don’t want to help them with their anti-jobs agenda.”
