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Organized labor racked up a big win in a crucial state, Ohio, on Nov. 8, defeating Right Wing GOP Gov. John Kasich’s plan to kill collective bargaining for state and local workers by a 63%-37% margin.

The Associated Press called the referendum on Kasich’s law, SB5, just before 10 p.m., Eastern Time, with 904,391 “no” votes against the scheme, compared to 558,570 “yes” votes. And that was with only fragmentary returns from Cleveland, expected to be a stronghold of pro-union votes. There, Kasich’s law was losing by a 2-to-1 margin.

The Ohio victory wasn’t labor’s only win on Election Day. Right Wing GOP Arizona Senate President Russell Pearce, author of that state’s notorious anti-Hispanic, anti-immigrant law, was bounced in a recall election by GOP businessman Jerry Lewis, 52%-48%. The state AFL-CIO and the Communications Workers campaigned for Lewis, who made opposition to Pearce’s law – and its bad impact – a campaign plank.

After months of strong mobilizing and campaigning, the Ohio results elated unionists and their leaders. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, led the frenzied final campaigning against Kasich’s law, which killed collective bargaining rights for 350,000 state and local government workers, including police, teachers and Fire Fighters. (more…)

Despite favorable public opinion polls, Ohio unionists are taking nothing for granted and are ramping up their campaign to repeal Right Wing Gov. John Kasich’s anti-worker anti-union law, as a Nov. 8 referendum on it nears.

Workers are pounding the pavements showing the everyday impact of Kasich’s measure, SB5, which he pushed through the GOP-run Ohio legislature earlier this year.

They’re also advertising. In one spot, a woman says Fire Fighters saved her 2-year-old granddaughter’s life, yet Kasich’s law would take away the Fire Fighters’ right to collectively bargain for equipment and staffing to make such rescues possible. But the unionists are not really relying on an air war to win. Their troops are on the ground.

“Last weekend we had over 2,000 volunteers” on the streets, says Ohio AFL-CIO spokesman Jason Perlman. Unions expected to field even more on Halloween weekend and 10,000 in get-out-the-vote drives in the final weekend before the election.

“What’s really been great is that every union has come aboard – AFL-CIO, Change To Win, you name it,” even though Kasich’s law would end collective bargaining rights only for Ohio’s 400,000 state and local government workers, Perlman adds. (more…)

By the time you read this, the U.S. government may be in default of its debts, starting on Aug. 2. That’s because Congress will have failed to raise the debt ceiling – the maximum amount of the difference between all U.S. government income and all U.S. government spending ever since the government started – by that date.

It’s sort of like you maxing out on your credit card, and your bank won’t raise the credit limit. Except in this case, it’s Congress – over the years – maxing out on the credit card, and this particular Congress refusing for political reasons to raise the limit.

But what does that mean for you and me? We’ve been casting around for explanations of the practical effect and there seem to be precious few. But here’s what we’ve been able to cull from President Obama versus the Republican Radical Right – his bitterest foes, who refuse to believe there’s a problem at all.

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