Archive for September, 2010
ON and OFF the Wall
Saturday, September 11th, 2010
is the title of the new exhibit at the Museum, opening today with an artists’ reception at 4:00pm. Featuring the work of the Fine Art Department faculty, there is something to delight everyone….sculpture, ceramics, photography, painting, printmaking, drawing and bookmaking.
The Ross Museum will be closed for the holidays from December 18th through January 18th, 2010, but the Faculty Exhibit will still be on display until January 31st.
To see a ConnectTwo article on this exhibit, visit here
Keeping it Eclectic: Fifth by Northwest neighborhood
Saturday, September 11th, 2010Sidewalk cafes, edgy boutiques and independent shops mix with chain stores and fast-food restaurants in the Fifth by Northwest neighborhood.
But plans for continued commercial growth in the neighborhood just north of Grandview Heights mobilized residents to organize an area commission, whose development plan was approved by the Columbus City Council last week.
“Developers have had free [...]
Columbus Unpeeled
NBC/WSJ: People overwhelmingly side with the unions; say leave Medicare, Social Security alone
Tuesday, September 7th, 2010Do you think public employees who belong to a union and work for state government, city government, or a school district should have the same right to bargain when it comes to their health care, pension and other benefits as employees who belong to a union and work for private companies?
NBC/WSJ on anti-Walker (Gov-WI) sentiment tonight:
Strong majorities of Americans say they are comfortable with states requiring their employees to pay more for their retirement and health care to balance state budget deficits, according to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.
But the public is adamantly against eliminating public employees’ collective-bargaining rights — as Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) is pursuing.
In the poll, a whopping 68 percent find it acceptable requiring public employees to contribute more of their pay for retirement benefits; 63 percent are fine with requiring these employees to pay more for their health-care benefits; and 58 percent are OK with freezing public employees’ salaries for one year.
But just 33 percent say it’s acceptable — and 62 percent say it’s unacceptable — to eliminate these employees’ collective-bargaining rights as way to deal with state budget deficits.
In addition, 77 percent believe that public employees have the same collective-bargaining rights (when it comes to health care, pensions, and other benefits) that union employees who work for private companies have.
So, do some hard bargaining, but don’t take away rights you already have.
More:
Less than a quarter of Americans support trimming Social Security or Medicare to tackle the country’s budget deficit, according to a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll that illustrates the challenge facing lawmakers seeking voter support for altering entitlement programs.
The poll, conducted between Feb. 24 and 28, found strong opposition for cuts to these entitlement programs across all age groups and ideologies. Even tea party supporters, by a nearly 2-to-1 margin, declared cuts to Social Security “unacceptable.”
What’s acceptable?
Well over half of Americans favor bumping the retirement age to 69 by 2075, up from 66 now. An even larger share supports reducing retirement and Medicare payments to wealthier Americans.
Well, at least people recognize the value of teachers—especially relative to GOP candidates for President.
So, how is the tea party doing?
More than seven in 10 tea party backers feared GOP lawmakers wouldn’t go far enough in cutting spending. But more than half of all respondents fear Republicans will go too far. Among those most fearing spending cuts are younger voters, independents, seniors and suburban women, all of them usually key swing voters in national elections who potentially could turn against the GOP.
“It may be hard to understand why someone would try to jump off a cliff” to solve the debt crisis, Mr. McInturff said of his fellow Republicans, “unless you understand that they are being chased by a tiger, and that tiger is the tea party.”
Ouch. This story resonates, and it doesn’t put the GOP in a good light.
By the way, want some horse race? Amongst GOP primary voters, including indies and Dems who would vote:
Obama beats a generic Republican 45-40, but it’ll be tough for any of these folks to actually win.
Full poll results, .pdf, can be found here.
Open Thread
Wednesday, September 1st, 2010Jibber your jabber