The honeymoon might be over between Tea Party followers and Ohio Republicans. Although the Cincinnati Tea Party has long said it’s a non-partisan group, its largest rallies and protests have featured a predominantly GOP slant. But for all of the Tea Party’s deference to Republican officials, the effort hasn’t been reciprocated.  

It's difficult to resist the urge to tell Hamilton County Commissioner Todd Portune, "I told ya so." Portune made a big deal a few weeks ago of his teaming up with his colleague, County Commissioner Greg Hartmann, to devise a solution for the looming deficits in the county's stadium account. Much like President Obama at the national level, Portune was enamored of his bipartisan approach to the problem.  

In an unfortunately all too rare case of political courage and discipline, Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory and a City Council majority ignored negative headlines and stuck to their guns last week in a budget showdown with the police union. The two unions that had balked at any furloughs to save jobs (the Fraternal Order of Police and Cincinnati Organized and Dedicated Employees, representing middle managers) finally agreed to deals to save the city from having to eliminate employees, including 138 in the police department.  

States' rights. For most CityBeat readers who are too young to remember it, the phrase sounds vague and innocuous, but it's a code word frequently used throughout the 1950s and '60s when Southern states resisted federal efforts aimed at ending deep-seated racist policies. Amazingly, the current Tea Party movement has revived the mantle of states' rights as its latest rallying cry.  

"Tea Party" protesters took to downtown streets April 15 to voice their concerns about the current administration and politicians in Washington.