Thanks, Scott! Sounds to me like you're just very unlucky when it comes to neighbors, heh... a March issues poll commissioned by The Columbus Dispatch actually found something north of 60% support for RTW (the same poll showed 62% support for Medicaid expansion), and internal polling from conservative groups has gotten even better numbers when it's described as "workplace freedom."

I think most people see the distinction between enabling workers to truly opt out (as opposed to opting out but having to pay almost all the dues anyway) and the hundreds of pages of collective bargaining changes in SB 5, but I definitely agree that the unions will say anything to pull down support however they can.

Great points - I think the calculation from the Ohio Hospital Association is that more taxpayer money is better than less, despite Medicaid's terrible reimbursement rates. New federal funds would "save" the state money, and Gov. Kasich plans to dole out some of the "savings" in the form of new state mental health spending.

In terms of why Kasich made this decision, I assume he expected lumping it into his budget plan would yield enough GOP buy-in. Given the fact that Ohio's legacy media have circled the wagons in favor of Medicaid expansion as tightly as if John Kasich paid their salaries, he may yet be right.

As a Reds fan barely old enough to remember going to games at Riverfront, I couldn't even name all the players on the Big Red Machine - which probably makes me a bad fan, but I think the MLB suffers as a result of being too lazy or skittish to put money into really celebrating current stars, regardless of race.

I think it's worth noting that Brandon Phillips, for example, isn't just a repeat Gold Glove winner but is a joy to watch. In terms of promo clips and advertising, the Reds have some good stuff that plays going into commercial breaks on Fox Sports and during lulls at the ballpark.

I'm willing to bet that, like so many other decisions made by huge organizations, MLB's over-use of the old timers is just garden variety laziness. I'd also bet that it turns off a lot of people my age & younger.

Collectivism rests on such a rotten foundation, I don't see a single shared brick that could even spark comprehension of what makes America great. These three sentences say it all:

But the reëlection of a President who has been progressive, competent, rational, decent, and, at times, visionary is a serious matter. The President has achieved a run of ambitious legislative, social, and foreign-policy successes that relieved a large measure of the human suffering and national shame inflicted by the Bush Administration. Obama has renewed the honor of the office he holds.

Not even Obama's many shocking scandals provide a wedge for reason to get in; I doubt anyone who would write that endorsement in the face of Benghazi, Fast & Furious, Solyndra, a floundering economy, and routine trillion-plus deficits  is even susceptible to something so pedestrian as common sense.

Actually, it seems the whole endorsement can be summarized in one thought: "Progressive" is used as a compliment.

Thanks for the shout-out!

Hey, I think I may be the "someone" on Twitter! https://twitter.com/jasonahart/status/256575739485380608

I definitely agree Ryan missed opportunities - but the few jabs he landed were good ones. Easily my favorite point was when Ryan said something to the effect of "there aren't enough rich people and businesses to tax to pay for all their spending," which is absolutely key to the morally & mentally defunct progressive mindset.

Had Biden not been such a galactic jerk, Ryan's cautiousness could've proved a real problem tonight. Biden being who he is, I think the fact that Ryan didn't fight the liberal moderator, didn't defend every point masterfully, and didn't go for the throat has to have worked for most of the undecided voters watching.

True to his party's mascot, Joe Biden put the "ass" in "assertive."

If, like Obama in the first POTUS debate, you get pummeled so badly that MSNBC hosts are mad at you, you're in trouble. If, like Biden in the veep debate, you're such an abrasive progressive jerk that MSNBC is giddy... you're in trouble.

Thanks, Aaron! Back when I finished the site I shared it on Facebook and was attacked by a Sherrod Brown enthusiast friend taken aback by how unfair and deceptive I was being. How dare I show the impact of doubling taxes on S&P 500 companies and say "here's what happens if you double taxes on S&P 500 companies."

Of course she had ideas for how soaking the rich would totally work if you weren't a conservative dummy like I am. They were, shall we say, "unspecific."

My only real complaint is that Obama had the gall to drop some variant of the "budgets show what's important to you" line, and Romney failed to smash that out of the park.

"I'm glad you mentioned budgets, Mr. President, because I want to remind the audience that yours have garnered zero votes in Congress since you entered office in 2009."

Otherwise, Romney was no conservative dream-date, but he utterly demolished Obama's failed record, hitting Solyndra, Medicare cuts, and unwieldy bureaucracy like a slugger. To belabor the baseball analogy, by the end it felt like Obama was just intentionally walking him to get the whole thing over with. Ramble, ramble, try repeating the "100,000 teachers" talking point again, let Romney take over.

When the MSNBC panelists say you lost and blame Jim Lehrer, it's a very, very bad night for the progressive candidate!

A very good point, Charles - but the vote was 65% in favor of the Healthcare Freedom Amendment! There were more votes FOR the state constitutional amendment to block Obamacare than there were AGAINST the union reform bill that Big Labor dumped $40 million into killing.

I've written about how this is also a very real problem for left-of-left Sen. Sherrod Brown, who hopes to ride union support to victory but who fought hard for a public option in Obamacare.

I'm tempted to update Soak The Rich, the online deficit-reduction game I developed this spring, to reflect the $16,000,000,000,000 milestone.

Think it's worth my time to do so?

Like Prudence Paine above, I'm heartened by your optimism but still horrified by the fact that Obama's poll numbers register anywhere near 50%.

Do you think the chaos in the Middle East is hurting Obama more than it's hurting Romney? Common sense says it should, but I have to wonder how many voters only see the awful reality through a lens skewed by a concerned narrator & dramatic caption explaining what an affront Romney's response was.

The same goes for economic news, which reporters so often spin as not-so-bad or, failing that, use as proof we need even more "stimulus" spending and government "investment."

1) Obama passionately reached out to the segment of the electorate that believes society's foundation is a mammoth central government for which The Rich should be ground into mortar.

2) I didn't last through the whole thing, because the sickening way Barack Obama demands worship for spending others' money was too much. The day after national debt cracks $16 trillion, and here's the same pompous liberal talking down to us about the impossible freebies evil Republicans want to stop him from doling out. GM is trending towards (another) bankruptcy, but we need to appreciate what he did to save those jobs.

Up is not down, and Progressive policies are neither mathematically nor morally sound - so I can't take much of Obama's blend of promised unicorns & transparent class warfare.

Chastened, he is not. As if there was any doubt left, there will be no pivot.

I certainly hope you're correct, Prof. Rahe; one way to help that prediction come true is to share the even-worse-than-Obama record of Sen. Sherrod Brown here in Ohio!

To wit:

• Sherrod tried to make Obamacare even worse
• ...in memory of Ted Kennedy's tireless faith.
• Sherrod is to the left of Sen. Sanders (Socialist - VT)
• Sherrod has championed Obama's failed policies

Like George, I'm not making any bold predictions - but the truth is unkind to hard-left politicians in the swing states presidential candidates so desperately need!

Thanks - naturally I'd be happy for you to share http://SoakTheRich.us with anyone and everyone!