Mary Jo Kilroy enjoys wasting tax payers dollars

Steve Stivers has to have a smile on his face today. Why? Well, it turns out what he said in 2008 about Mark Jo Kilroy handing the unions a sweetheart deal was accurate:

In her successful 2008 campaign for Congress, Kilroy fended off accusations from Republican rival Steve Stivers that her ballpark vote was a sweetheart deal for unions at taxpayer expense. Stivers, who is seeking to unseat Kilroy, said yesterday that the court ruling proves that Kilroy abused her discretion.

That’s right, the Supreme Court sided with Stivers on the issue:

Ohio’s top court yesterday rebuked Franklin County’s union-friendly contracting practices in a decision that could force county officials to revisit big-ticket projects such as electrical work at a county animal shelter.

The Ohio Supreme Court said Franklin County commissioners abused their authority in 2008 when they rejected the low bidder for a painting contract in favor of one with a better record of paying union-scale wages.

Commissioners were wrong to reject the Painting Co.’s $770,079 bid for painting at the Huntington Park ball field for one that cost $261,000 more, the court said in its 5-2 ruling. The commissioners, all Democrats, disqualified the Painting Co. because the company had been accused repeatedly of paying workers less than the required prevailing wage.

One of the most frustrating issues in all of politics is how voters – particularly independents and other less engaged voters – seem to miss the fact that unions are 1) bad for the state and the economy and 2) control the Democratic Party to a degree that renders their economic development – and other – policies ineffective when not outright corrupt.

Minimum wage laws, prevailing wage requirements, the size of government, the quality of education – on issue after issue the unions are against what is in the best interest of the state and its long term economic viability.

In the above situation, a company who could provide the job for a lot less was disqualified because it got caught up in the arcane technicalities that is prevailing wage (the complex rules have delayed stimulus spending across the country).  This is not a bug this is a feature for unions.  They want to force the cost of everything up because then they can charge more and knock out more of their competition.

The article also ends on a laughable note:

Kilroy campaign manager Josh Levin defended the ballpark vote, noting that the entire project was finished on time and under budget. He also took a slap at the Ohio Supreme Court, calling it “the most partisan court in America.”

What I find so hilarious about this is the fact that the partisan label gets tossed around so much that it loses all meaning. Dems attacked Ken Blackwell mercilessly for being partisan and then choose Jennifer Brunner – a leftsitst hack in the pocket of ACORN and other activist groups who never misses a chance to abuse the law for partisan advantage – as their candidate.

And no party has been a bigger advocate of using the courts to achieve political victories that would clearly fail in the legislative process than the Democrats. As in so many other issues, the hypocrisy and lack of logic would astounding if it weren’t so common.

Newsflash: if a postion is an elected one affiliated with a political party it will be partisan! That is how democracy works. Politics is the process that results from having partisan – there is that word again – elections. If you don’t want to have partisan courts then change your position on electing judges. If not kindly shut up.

The question is not whether decisions are partisan it is whether they are correct. And in this case the court rightly slapped down an attempt by Democrats to send extra cash to their union bosses.

Let’s hope the voters catch on to Mary Jo Kilroy’s job killing policies and give Steve Stivers the reward he deserves.