While countless unemployed workers wait in the dark not knowing when they will see another dime from unemployment insurance, Governor Mike DeWine took to the media Tuesday to declare we need a Public Private Partnership. DeWine who has already paid 9.6 million to Deloitte who has failed the job of getting the payments out but has succeeded in giving DeWine financial contributions is said to be handling unemployment systems for five other states. As the weeks go on Ohio keeps moving dates further and are saying now that people will have to wait months for payment, February 26th was the date that was given yesterday. And despite having databases full of unemployed workers personal information, they have failed to respond or initiate contact with those waiting and suffering growing desperate.
Continue readingMonth: January 2021
Deloitte, DeWine’s Big Money Donors Behind Failure to Pay Unemployment in Ohio
Workers on unemployment in Ohio have not received a dime in well over a month. In May 2020 abc 9 in Cincinnati reported that the State of Ohio had paid Deloitte $9.6 million to process unemployment benefits. At the time, the job they were doing was questioned. My article last week highlighted the states failure to respond or communicate as people are growing desperate. This article began to drive traffic from Meltwater, a large corporate PR firm. Zach Schiller the director for Policy Matters Ohio stated at the time that “Other states were able to move more quickly” on accomplishing the task and questioned the service that Deloitte has been paid this large sum to provide.
Continue readingOhio Stops paying unemployment assistance to workers, protests planned
Wednesday January the 27th at noon a protest is planned. The event is planned to be a peaceful protest calls for people to come out and show up in numbers at unemployment offices across the state of Ohio. The state of Ohio has cut off unemployment for struggling unemployed workers across the state. The state of Ohio ceased paying many individuals unemployment insurance in December. People took to social media to find answers and have found out that others are hitting a brick wall as well. No correspondence from the state has come to these many struggling workers as their situations grow worse. Many who have commented here as well as on groups that have popped up in social media over the last month tell tales of people losing housing, cars, getting utilities shut off and even suicide. Still, no correspondence to unemployed workers desperately waiting for some financial assistance. Despite the 11 weeks unemployment extension signed by President Trump at the end of December 2020 which carried a $300 extra weekly benefits, Ohio has failed to distribute funds to the unemployed and has failed to contact workers who were abruptly cut off.
Continue readingUnemployed Workers Let Your Voice Be Heard
I want to work together with other unemployed workers here in Ohio to tell our stories. The post I made on January 21st about how Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) treats unemployed workers as criminals has been getting a lot of comments from my fellow unemployed workers. I have seen some asking what they can do. Many of us can not get someone on the phone or get any money paid out from ODJFS. This has become a huge problem since the new year, but I am learning from others that it has been a problem since before the new year for many. Some want to protest. But it occurred to me while reading peoples comments here on Gonzo Times that we might have a tool to reach a lot of people at home and draw more attention to the issue. We have our real lived experiences. We have what we have suffered through during this pandemic. It is one thing to hear someone say there is a problem. It is another to see and hear about our real lived experiences and struggles. One of the most powerful things we can use is our stories. Stories get attention on the six o’clock news and seeing a face and a real person behind this to see what is going on just might go a bit further.
Continue readingOhio Treats Unemployed as Criminals In Response To High Unemployment
The new stimulus package (The Federal Consolidated Appropriations Act) signed by Trump at the end of December 27th 2020 was to bring relief to many Americans. With the $600 stimulus it also carried with it an extension of unemployment and a $300 additional weekly unemployment payment. Many states have been reporting that this $300 has been going out to unemployed workers. A few of the payments have reached some Ohioans. Many Ohioans have taken to social media though to express frustration over what looks like up to 4 months of no unemployment payments whatsoever. On Reddit a group has formed of frustrated workers who have been dealing with the sudden shut off of unemployment payments in Ohio. Many are reporting no payments in quite a while. Ohio has failed to contact people or relay what is going on.
The coming conflict will closely resemble the Civil War in Syria
There are not two sides to the current conflict going on right now in the United States. As I write this it is January 9th, 2021, a couple days after far-right white nationalists, neofascists and authoritarians stormed the Capitol as congress was certifying election results of the 2020 election for the President Elect Joe Biden. Many on the right printed up novelty T-Shirts with the date January 6th, 2021 with the words “Civil War” written on them. There are those who want what they call a Civil War on the far right.
Power is in the Neoliberal Nation State which serves the interests of large corporations and big business, they are there to serve the rich. This faction is who sits in positions of power. Mao Zedong said, “Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.” And the state has the upper hand there. The fascists have loyalists in the United States government. They have supporters with positions of power in these institutions either elected or appointed and they will be a problem in the coming days. The right will be trying to regain power in a struggle between Republicans and Democrats for these positions. Both parties have lost faith of the citizens of the US. Their support and approval are not high in a country where most have little to no allegiance to the powers that be.
Continue readingI take no issue with the tactic, I do take issue with the cause
Conspiracy theories have become mainstream in politics from Hannity peddling conspiracy theories of the Deep State to Qanon telling people some rubbish about pizza shops feeding children to Democrats. It has not helped that the President of the United States also has been spreading his own conspiracies and lies. The right-wing make-believe world they imagined with the help of the reality star in office and the constant right-wing media falsehoods, has made an impact in society.
Yesterday the far right gathered in front of the Capitol building then stormed it, temporarily delaying congress in the process of certifying Biden as the 46th President of the United States. Social media went nuts. Most of the world watched in fascination for the entertainment of the spectacle. It did not change the results. There was little to no resistance from the police. It was simply a protest. A few windows were broken, and some guys got away with Nancy Pelosi’s mail and a podium, some souvenirs of the day. They marched at the orders of the President himself. They marched for a man who lived his whole life wealthy and privileged because his daddy was rich and powerful. They did not march for the people; they march for a rich man and a rich politician at that. But really there were underlying issues they marched for. They marched for fascism and racism. I say that because many who were in there are long time self-proclaimed neo-Nazis and Fascists. These are the same kind of folk who declared victory when Trump won saying that their side was embraced by the American people.
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