Josh Mandel Says Screw The Schools

David Potts - Posted on 19 March 2010

Late yesterday it came to my attention that Josh Mandel, the Republican candidate for Treasurer of State, issued a big “screw you” to Ohio’s schools.

He did this by voting against H.B. 462; a reappropriations bill that, among other things, provides:

$94.4 million for school construction and emergency school building assistance;
$74.6 million for the popular voter-initiated Clean Ohio fund;
$3.5 million to support the Ohio School for the Blind; and
$4.3 million to expand “mandown” emergency alert services to the four Ohio correctional institutions without these life-saving services.

Not only did Mandel’s vote set him at odds with the majority of his Republican colleagues, it also put him at odds with himself. This bill was largely the same as the one two years ago, and Mandel voted yes on that one.

So what’s changed? Or perhaps the question I should be asking is: Am I really surprised Josh Mandel is so eager to sell out his beliefs for tea party support?