[oldembed src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/908zeq5PGR8" width="425" height="300" resize="1" fid="21"]
The daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, Liz Cheney, is leading the defense of Senate Bill 5, Ohio Gov. John Kasich's anti-collective bargaining law passed last year. Ohioans were so upset with the law they launched a million-signature effort to repeal the law that will go to voters in the state on November 8. A "no" vote would repeal the law.
Cheney’s mailers have included phrases like, ““YES on Issue 2 will get POLITICIANS to Do The Right Thing on Spending” And “OBAMA wants us to do things HIS WAY? Yes on Issue 2 is our chance to do things OUR WAY” — convenient talking points that leave out the overall message that many Ohioans are getting a raw deal with Senate Bill 5 and Issue 2 is the public’s chance to wrong a right. The tactless tactic of invoking President Obama, who has literally nothing to do with this matter, displays the desperation of the Right’s effort. In the opinion of some, the bigger wrong that needs corrected is the election of Kasich.
Cheney's ads are notable for their failure to be completely accurate:
Cheney’s group began last month to flood Ohio with deceptive mailings that claim “voting yes on Issue 2 will give our communities the ability to get spending under control without raising taxes.”
A mailing that just went out statewide declared: “We just can’t afford to pay 100 percent of government employee benefits too.”
“In this tough economy,” the mailing continues, “it’s just not fair to ask taxpayers to pay even more for salaries and benefits for government employees.” Voting yes on Issue 2, it says, “means that government employees will make modest contributions to their benefits” by paying “at least 15 percent toward their health insurance coverage” and “just 10 percent toward their own retirement.”
A Cleveland Plain Dealer PolitiFact Ohio review of the mailing concluded that it was “problematic” because the piece “leaves out important details needed to put the statement in context.” Ultimately, the analysis concluded that the Cheney mailing rated “Half True” on its “Truth-O-Meter.”
But it’s worse than that.
The real lie is one of omission. What the Cheney mailings don’t say is that the law undermines basic labor rights, eliminates effective collective bargaining and encourages communities to balance budgets on the backs of firefighters, police officers and teachers. Nor does Cheney mention that the cuts will undermine public services and public education at a time when Ohio cities have been rocked by factory closings and rising unemployment.
Ad odd twist to the story is that Cheney's father once worked as a union lineman as part of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW).
