Party's Over

I'm still at the Ohio Statehouse where SB5, the bill that would strip collective bargaining rights from hundreds of thousands of Ohioans, is moving through the legislature. There were no events planned for today, but a few thousand people have been gathering here to show their opposition to the anti-worker legislation.

And, just now, the other ~~half~~ 5% showed up. The tea party planned their own rally today to show their support for Governor Kasich's plan to take away collective bargaining rights for public employees. I tried to stand in roughly the same spot I stood yesterday at the rally for the middle class, so you could get a good comparison. I'll let the photos speak for themselves (you can click to make the image larger):

We're the ones on the right. The woman in the front of the picture was calling reporters on the phone and handing out signs to the crowd with the Americans For Prosperity logo on them. Americans For Prosperity, you may recall, is the group founded by oil billionaire David Koch, who was one of the largest contributors to Gov. Kasich's campaign.

After the "crowd" assembled, they walked around to the other side of the Capitol where a few thousand opponents of SB5 had gathered to get into the building. One of the tea partiers shouted "we can't afford you!" at the firefighters and police officers as they filed into the Statehouse.

Here's the crowd opposing SB5 on the other side of the building:

Eventually, the crowd of tea partiers scattered off in different directions. Even with billions of dollars behind them, it looks like the party's over for Governor Kasich and his extremist supporters.