Want a textbook example of how Cincinnati city government is failing our city in the worst way? Learn more about the Queen City Terminal barge facility. Our region, and our city, must make greater use of the river to promote jobs and to grow the region economically. One developer has a plan to build a large barge facility on the western part of Cincinnati on the river. In fact, that developer had an option to purchase the land. Your Cincinnati city council is unreasonably blocking this proposal for reasons that remain unclear to me. Most of the stated opposition comes from a few homeowners who are concerned about the ascetics of the facility and how it might impact the view from their homes. Although these concerns might be reasonable, they must be balanced against the tremendous economic impact such a facility would have on our city, our state, and the region. To make matters worse, the city of Cincinnati faces a multi-million dollar lawsuit that most observers expect will be successful and cost the city millions in damages. The lawsuit is based on the city's obstruction of this private business' right to develop this property. To read more about this important economic development opportunity and how our council is failing, consider:- "A river-to-rail port is Cincinnati's stake in the future" and "This tsunami of freight is coming. The more modes we have available that work together in an efficient network, the greater will be our competitive advantage over other regions.” (Business Courier, 11/30/09)
- "A container-shipping terminal on the Ohio River at Lower Price Hill would produce a $105 million economic impact in its first five years." (Business Courier, 3/9/09)
- Project could lead to $4 million to $8 million in tariff revenue for the city. (Business Courier, 8/7/2008
- "As we reported last March, the city is facing at least $1.7 million in liability from a 2005 lawsuit..." (Business Courier, 2/21/11)
- To learn more about this project and to see an animation, click here.
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The media reporting on the collective bargaining issue has not been entirely unbiased. The usual headline in the TV or print media tends to be, "workers stripped of their rights." That language is not subtle. Our nation was built on "rights." Our Bill of Rights is a universally significant declaration of human rights and the concept of "rights" is ingrained in the American psyche. When the media reports that workers are being "stripped of their rights," the reaction is obvious. It will be negative. The choice of that language, maybe not always purposeful, contributes to the perception that collective bargaining reform is bad. A closer look at the issue reveals that public workers maintain many of their "rights." The most important of those rights are the long-standing civil service laws that continue to protect workers. How about these headlines: "Reform giving government more flexibility in managing employee costs passes the Senate" or "Republicans win first round in collective bargaining fight" or "Employee costs crippling state governments lead to changes." These certainly sound more reasonable than "stripping workers of their rights."
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The legislative process contemplated by the Ohio Constitution is underway in the Senate Bill 5 Collective Bargaining Reform process. Democracy is at work. Protests are fine. Negotiation is fine. That is how our democracy works. It is why we live in the greatest country on the planet.
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I predicted that Parker-Spitzer would not last until Memorial Day. I was partly right. CNN dropped Kathleen Parker in favor of Elliot Spitzer. I wasn't watching and I'm even less likely to watch now. Can ABC drop Christianne Amanpour?
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Johnny Gomes drives a Cadillac Fleetwood. Awesome.
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Our Lincoln-Reagan Dinner was a huge success. I was very pleased with our turnout. Gov. Daniels was gracious with his time and is clearly a highly intelligent and devoted public servant.
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Johnny Bench will be honored with a statue at the entrance to Great American Ballpark. This is a fitting tribute to the greatest catcher to ever play the game. Strangely enough, my greatest memory of Johnny Bench is not from his playing days. It is from Halloween, 2004, as Johnny introduced President Bush at a huge rally in support of the President at Great American Ballpark. It was the perfect political event and among the most memorable of my life. Johnny Bench is a class act. (Read about the statue here.)
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I'm going to be a broken record: If every person who must suffer so that government can trim spending is then motivated to vote against the politician responsible for making that cut, our nation is doomed for failure. We will have reached that point where people simply vote themselves greater benefits from the public treasury. Our country will actually be in trouble. The sacrifice must be shared, but there must be sacrifice. Today, I'm not optimistic.
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Are you as sick of hearing about Charlie Sheen as I am? Quaddafi is news. Sheen is not. They're both drug-addicted maniacs. One kills people, the other is killing himself. Both need to go away.
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Baseball 2011 is coming soon. The defending National League Central Division Champion Cincinnati Reds have Opening Day on a Thursday. Should be a change.
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The GOP needs a Senate candidate to defeat uber-liberal Sen. Sherrod Brown in 2012. Every day that passes helps him. Where are all our stars on this one?
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Have a nice weekend.
