Reps. Johnson, Kelly Targeted for Shutdown Protests
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- Progressive and labor groups are planning demonstrations today outside district offices of U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson, R-6 Ohio, and U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-3 Pa., to protest what the Ohio AFL-CIO calls “the GOP led government shutdown and lockout of federal government employees.”
“Union workers and allied community groups” will demonstrate at 4 p.m. outside Johnson’s office at 192 E. State St. in Salem, states a media advisory from the AFL-CIO’s Mike Gillis.
At noon in Sharon, Pa., outside Kelly’s office at 33 Chestnut St., advocacy groups say they “will issue cease and desist orders” demanding that Kelly and his fellow Republicans “cease and desist from extreme politics.”
The so-called “Cease and Desist Day of Action” was organized in Pennsylvania by Keystone Progress and its allies, including MoveOn, Organizing for Action, AFL-CIO, AFGE, and AFSCME. Demonstrations are scheduled to take place outside 18 other district offices of GOP representatives to Congress, including Kelly’s office in Butler, Pa.
Said Michael Morrill, executive director of Keystone Progress, in a statement emailed to news organizations, “With just two days before extremist members of Congress drive the United States into defaulting on its debts, we will be delivering cease and desist orders to GOP representatives and Sen. Toomey, demanding they stop their extreme politics, which are destroying the American Dream of prosperity for all.”
According to national news accounts, the leaders of the U.S. Senate, Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, are nearing agreement on a compromise that would fund the government through Jan. 15, extend the national debt limit until Feb. 7 and establish a super-committee to negotiate budget cuts by Dec. 13.
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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