Uncategorized

Columbus, Ohio- The Toledo Blade editorial board called out Vivek Ramaswamy for claiming Ohioans are falling behind in a new ad even as his own party has held total control in Columbus for well over a decade. 

“Vivek Ramaswamy is trying to rewrite the history of how he and his allies stuck Ohio families with a massive affordability crisis – just like he’s trying to rewrite his well-documented calls to defund public schools and public safety and shutter Ohio colleges,” said Ohio Democratic Party spokeswoman Katie Seewer. “Ohioans are ready for change, not a billionaire who calls our workers lazy, said Medicaid and Medicare were a mistake, and moved his business to Texas.”

READ MORE: Editorial: Who should we blame? 

• Apoorva Ramaswamy has shocking news in the opening commercial for her husband Vivek’s campaign for governor: “Ohio families are working hard but falling behind.”

• The ad, though, sends a weird message. Republicans have been in 100 percent control of state government since 2011. If Ohioans are falling behind, how is that not laid at the GOP doorstep?

• Given Republican dominance of state politics since 1991 we’d like to hear much more from Mr. Ramaswamy on who to blame for Ohioans “falling behind” as well as his wife’s concerns about safety and great schools. One would think that after 15 years of leadership, the party in power wouldn’t be saying people are “falling behind.”

• Mr. Ramaswamy has backpedaled away from his claim that Ohio has too many universities and that they should be consolidated to help pay for the tax cuts he says will spark economic revival.

• Whether the state universities are consolidated or just remain under-funded, they are highly likely to continue charging higher tuition than the national average, thus adding to the perception the Ramaswamy campaign commercial identifies as “falling behind.”

• It would behoove Mr. Ramaswamy to explain why we’re still falling behind after all that tax-cutting. He should also explain how eliminating $9.8 billion in income tax revenue will keep us from falling further behind.

• Mr. Ramaswamy began his campaign for governor promising to eliminate property taxes. Pressed to explain where he would cut $30 billion from the state budget, Mr. Ramaswamy changed course on his property tax promises.

• Mr. Ramaswamy’s gauzy TV ad is sure to trigger some doubt among Ohio voters who are well aware of who has had veto-proof control of the government during the period in which they are “falling behind.”

 ###

Husted remained at the center of the criminal trial in the largest bribery scandal in Ohio history

Ohio families paying$663 more a year on utility bills thanks to Husted

COLUMBUS, OHIO — Today, Ohioans gathered outside the Athletic Club of Columbus for the first stop of Husted’s Real World Tour, calling out Jon Husted for his key role in the FirstEnergy bribery scheme that delivered a billion dollar bailout to utilities and contributed to electricity costs for Ohioans increasing by $663 a year.

The tour comes after Husted claimed that struggling Ohioans are “not very experienced at navigating the real world.” At a time when Ohio families are struggling with skyrocketing health care, gas, grocery, and utility bills, Husted keeps voting to make everything more expensive. 

A dinner between Jon Husted and the indicted FirstEnergy executives at the Athletic Club was a focal point of the FirstEnergy criminal corruption trial. And when Husted was forced to take the stand in the trial, he deemed the elite social club, which reportedly has a $7,500 initiation fee, “kind of a normal restaurant” — another reminder of how out of touch he is with the real world Ohioans live in.

“Jon Husted has been a long time friend of FirstEnergy and it has cost Ohioans millions. A recent analysis suggests that Ohioans’ electric bills have risen $663 a year since Jon Husted became the Lt. Governor and HB 6 became law,” said Senator Kent Smith, Ranking Member of the Senate Energy Committee. “That should surprise no one because Jon Husted has been working for the utility interests and not protecting the pocketbooks of everyday Ohioans. Ohioans are working harder than ever to make ends meet and they’re being screwed by politicians like Jon Husted who put billionaires and corporations before us.”

“If there’s anyone who is out of touch with the real world, it’s Jon Husted. As a retired nonprofit social services professional for over 40 years here in Ohio, I have witnessed first hand how working Ohioans are finding it harder than ever to make ends meet, especially in recent years. There is nothing more ‘real’ than working hard every day and still having to choose between food and rent,” said Sue Hanson, a retired Ohioan. “And because of Jon Husted’s corruption, our utility bills have skyrocketed. It’s time to hold Husted accountable this November.”

Jon Husted has a long trend of blaming hardworking Ohioans struggling to make ends meet:

• Husted has dismissed concerns from struggling Ohioans, claiming that he has helped lower grocery and gas prices and that affordability problems do not exist.

• Husted revealed he has no solutions to actually lower prices, suggesting that Ohioans should just “earn more” money to make ends meet.

• Husted insulted Ohioans working harder than ever, complaining that their “work ethic is broken.”

• Husted defended his friends and donors, complaining about people saying “rich people [are] selfish” while attempting to justify his record of delivering tax breaks to the rich.

• Husted claimed the affordability crisis only exists in “blue states,” dismissing the pain Ohio families are feeling every day.

###

Columbus, Ohio- Vivek Ramaswamy is doubling down on his extreme, costly proposal to shut down Ohio colleges and universities in order to fund his tax on working families. Ramaswamy’s insistence on his proposal to shut down colleges and universities comes just after his campaign desperately attempted to rewrite history by telling Ohioans not to believe what they saw on his own campaign social media. 

But Ramaswamy made himself clear. He wants to shut down colleges and universities in Ohio, which would rip educational opportunities away from students, endanger access to health care, and threaten small businesses and entire economies in small towns across Ohio. It’s more of the same from the out of touch billionaire who has called Medicaid and Medicare “mistakes,” moved his business to Texas, and called Ohio workers “lazy.”   

“Ramaswamy’s attempt to lie to Ohioans about a campaign proposal posted on his own social media failed, so instead he’s doubling down on raising costs and taking away opportunities from students across our state,” said Ohio Democratic Party spokeswoman Katie Seewer. “Ohioans want a governor who will lower costs and fight for working families, not a Harvard and Yale graduate who probably wrote this defense of his toxic plan to close Ohio colleges and universities from a cushy seat in the cabin of his private jet.” 

 ###

NBC 4 Columbus: “Price for a gallon of gasoline is approaching $4 per gallon”

COLUMBUS, OHIO — This week, Jon Husted voted for the third time to support the Administration’s war in Iran, once again endorsing an expensive foreign intervention in the Middle East that has claimed 13 American lives, including three Ohioans, and has no end in sight. 

As the Pentagon reportedly seeks more than $200 billion to continue the conflict, Ohioans are getting crushed by soaring gas prices, with the average price of gasoline in Ohio quickly approaching $4 a gallon. Ohio workers and small businesses are already being hit hard by the higher fuel costs, with “no end in sight.” 

But instead of working to lower costs at home, Jon Husted has insulted struggling Ohioans as “not very experienced at navigating the real world” and dismissed the mounting affordability crisis by telling Ohioans to fix their “work ethic” and to simply “earn more” money to make ends meet.

Ohio Democratic Party Senior Communications Advisor Tony Wen released the following statement:

“Jon Husted has now voted three times to support another endless war in the Middle East while hardworking families are getting crushed by soaring gas prices. Instead of fighting to lower costs at home, Jon Husted only cares about backing more foreign conflicts and lecturing Ohio families to work harder.”

###

Husted: “People living in poverty are just not very, they’re not very experienced at navigating the real world”

COLUMBUS, OHIO — After Jon Husted claimed that struggling Ohioans are “not very experienced at navigating the real world,” the Ohio Democratic Party is launching Husted’s Real World Tour across the state.

The tour will highlight the “real world” difficulties that hardworking Ohioans are facing because Jon Husted continues to put billionaires and corporations before lowering costs. At a time when Ohio families are struggling with skyrocketing health care, gas, grocery, and utility bills, Husted keeps voting to make everything more expensive. 

Ohio Democratic Party Senior Communications Advisor Tony Wen released the following statement:

“If there’s anyone who is out of touch with the real world, it’s Jon Husted. Ohioans are working harder than ever to make ends meet, but they’re being screwed by politicians like Husted who put billionaires and corporations before lowering costs. Through Husted’s Real World Tour, Ohioans across the state will make clear just how clueless and out of touch he really is.”

Jon Husted has a long trend of blaming hardworking Ohioans struggling to make ends meet: 

• Husted has dismissed concerns from struggling Ohioans, claiming that he has helped lower grocery and gas prices and that affordability problems do not exist.

• Husted revealed he has no solutions to actually lower prices, suggesting that Ohioans should just “earn more” money to make ends meet.

• Husted insulted Ohioans working harder than ever, complaining that their “work ethic is broken.”

• Husted defended his friends and donors, complaining about people saying “rich people [are] selfish” while attempting to justify his record of delivering tax breaks to the rich.

• Husted claimed the affordability crisis only exists in “blue states,” dismissing the pain Ohio families are feeling every day.

###