Democrats have never been afraid to use the race card, but this is a new one. Senate Bill 5 and HB194 have nothing at all to do with race. But the union front group “We Are Ohio” and their Ohio Democrat lapdogs are airing a new radio ad that suggests that it is all about race.
As Democrats work to place Ohio’s Republican-backed elections law on hold through a referendum, they’re arguing that the measure is akin to poll taxes, grandfather clauses and other footnotes from America’s Jim Crow past.
But does the same argument apply to Senate Bill 5, the GOP-sponsored limits on collective bargaining for public employees that is currently subject to a referendum as state Issue 2 on the November ballot?
Democratic, labor and African-American leaders say yes.
We Are Ohio, the organized labor coalition seeking to repeal Senate Bill 5, is airing a radio ad that says “Gov. John Kasich and the Columbus politicians have passed two laws to take us back to the days of Jim Crow.”
Remember when we told you how the unions will say ANYTHING to hold onto their power? You’re witnessing that right now. Listen to some of the ridiculous justification for this outrageous ad.
Today, numerous African-American community leaders defended the ad’s content.
“Collective bargaining was the voice people used to gain a voice in government,” said Rev. Harold Hudson of Calvary Tremont Missionary Baptist Church. “In a way, Senate Bill 5 does promote segregation because it takes away those rights. Both bills are Republican-designed programs that will hurt people who are underprivileged.“
Public employees are NOT underprivileged, Reverend Hudson. They earn 43% more in total compensation than private sector workers, for one thing. They pay much less for their health care, and most have guaranteed pensions that private sector workers only dream of. So, explain to me just how public sector workers are “underprivileged.” You can’t. You just enjoy stoking the flames of racism.
Regarding HB194, you would think it was overturning women’s suffrage or something, the way the Democrats talk about it. It reduces early voting to three weeks. For that, they call the bill “voter suppression” and now refer to it as a Jim Crow law, because three weeks is just not enough time to vote or something.
This ad is repugnant, and Ohio Democrats and unions should be ashamed that they have sunk so low. If they have to resort to these disgusting, negative and false attacks, how can anyone believe what they are saying about the bills at all?
Cross-posted on the conservative Ohio political blog Third Base Politics