Intrepid Reporter Josh has the latest update on the times and troubles for former Butler County Commissioner and former Director of Butler County Children's Services Mike Fox.
Basically, the charges against Mike have been updated due to a SCOTUS ruling affecting the law under which Fox was originally charged.
Bottom Line: Mike gets one more week of freedom as the trial gets pushed back...again.
Release:
A consortium of the daily newspapers which represent Ohio ’s eight largest media markets and the gubernatorial campaigns of Governor Ted Strickland and John Kasich have reached an agreement on hosting the 2010 gubernatorial debates. Newspapers included in the consortium are The Akron Beacon Journal, The Canton Repository, The Cincinnati Enquirer, The Cleveland Plain Dealer, The Columbus Dispatch, The Dayton Daily News, The Toledo Blade and The Youngstown Vindicator.Southern Ohio is screwed again...
Debates will be held in the evening in Columbus on September 14 and in Toledo on October 7 at locations yet to be determined. The debates will be televised by a television partner in each city and a live feed will be available to television stations in each market of the state.
Speaking on behalf of the consortium, Mike Curtin commented, “We are delighted that voters will get a chance to hear the candidates answer questions directly in this important election.”
Statement:
WASHINGTON D.C. – U.S. Senator George V. Voinovich (R-Ohio) today announced his opposition to the nomination of Solicitor General Elena Kagan to be an associate justice of the United States Supreme Court. Below are excerpts from his floor speech:
“As I said last August during the debate on Justice Sotomayor, the role of the Senate in the nomination of a Supreme Court justice is to give its advice and consent on the president’s nomination with the Senate to judge whether an individual is qualified based on a number of factors,” Sen. Voinovich said. “Among these factors are the nominee’s education, legal experience, prior judicial experience, written record, judicial temperament, commitment to the rule of law and overall contributions to the law. Based on my review of Elena Kagan’s record using these factors, I have determined that Gen. Kagan, at this time, does not meet the criteria for membership on our nation’s highest court.”
“Senate confirmations should not be a simple mechanical affirmation of the president’s selection, especially when the nominee will enjoy a lifetime appointment,” Sen. Voinovich continued. “A senator is duty bound to conscientiously review the qualifications of the president’s nominee and make an independent assessment of the nominee’s qualifications.”
“I believe a judicial nominee must have substantial experience in the law especially when that nominee is seeking a lifetime appointment to the highest court in our land. After reviewing her background, I believe Gen. Kagan does not have that relevant experience. For example, when the Senate considered Justice Sotomayor’s nomination, there were more than a thousand prior opinions one could review to decide if she was ready for the job; with Gen. Kagan, there are none. When I asked her to name opinions that she worked on with Justice Marshall with which she disagreed, she stated that she could not remember any individual opinion she worked on, much less whether she disagreed with Justice Marshall on any of them,” stressed Sen. Voinovich.
“Lack of judicial experience should not be an absolute bar on serving as a Supreme Court justice. However, Solicitor General Kagan not only lacks judicial experience, but has limited experience as a practicing attorney with really only the last year as solicitor general and two years as a junior associate making up her entire practice. Additionally, Gen. Kagan has an extremely limited written record, which should make all of us unsure as to what sort of justice she might be.”
During his tenure in the U.S. Senate, Sen. Voinovich has voted in favor of three prior Supreme Court nominations: Chief Justice John Roberts, and Justices Samuel Alito and Sonya Sotomayor.
Release:
(Lakeville, OH) - Former Speaker of the House and General Chairman of American Solutions Newt Gingrich today issued an endorsement for Bob Gibbs in his race for Congress in Ohio's 18th Congressional district. The 18th Congressional district is one of the most competitive congressional districts in the country having voted for McCain in 2008, carrying a large Republican registration advantage and having an incumbent Democrat Congressman that votes with Nancy Pelosi over 93% of the time.
"I'm proud to endorse Bob Gibbs in his race for Congress," said Gingrich. "Under the Democratic Congress, unemployment in this district has more than doubled, and yet they continue to vote for job killing bills like Cap and Trade. When in Congress, Bob Gibbs will fight to stop the harmful cap and trade bill and work hard every day to put the people in his district back to work."
"It is an honor to have earned an endorsement from Speaker Gingrich," said Gibbs. "Speaker Gingrich led Congress to a balanced budget and more conservative principles on taxes and spending, things that we must return to in the midst of skyrocketing debt, out of control taxes, and double digit unemployment."
For the last thirty years, Bob Gibbs has been a farmer and small businessman. Gibbs served two terms as President of the Ohio Farm Bureau and has continued to be an advocate for the agricultural community during his time serving in the Ohio Senate. Gibbs was co-author of the largest tax cut in Ohio history and has always fought for job creation and sensible tax policies that take the burden off of our families.
Speaker Gingrich is well known as the architect of the "Contract with America" that led the Republican Party to victory in 1994 by capturing the majority in the U.S. House for the first time in over forty years. Under Gingrich's leadership, Congress passed a balanced budget for the first time in a generation, passed welfare reform, and passed the first tax cut in sixteen years. Since leaving Congress, Gingrich has published twenty-one books, serves as a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and is a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. Gingrich is also widely known as an analyst for the Fox News Channel.
We've mentioned Youngstown Johnny Boccieri before, but it confirmed that Steve Driehaus is also hanging on to donations from disgraced Charlie Rangel.
Mark Hemingway writes in the piece linked above:
Considering the seriousness of the extensive charges against Rangel, congressional ethics experts see little justification for members of Congress to hold on to campaign cash they got from the once-powerful New Yorker.This is a big effin' deal... Watch this space for reaction from Steve Chabot.
"It just shows how out of touch they are and certainly explains Congress' 11 percent approval rating," said Ken Boehm, chairman of the National Legal and Policy Center. "It's a case where greed trumps common sense and everybody knows that returning the money is the ethical thing to do."
Term limits are stupid. If you want to eliminate career politicians, VOTE THEM OUT!!!!!!111one111!!!!!
I've been hearing that Tim Grendell is working his contacts in order to try and find his way into a leadership role. I think that would be a huge mistake.
While Grendell has the reputation for being a conservative, he has gone off the reservation a few times. Most notably, he lent support to a Democrat in the 63rd Ohio House race and when that candidate won, his own county party censured him. Grendell's response? He quoted someone named Ronald Regan. (Third item down.) That's right: He doesn't even know how to spell the name of the greatest president we've had in our lifetime. Bottom line is that Tim Grendell helped the Democrats take over the Ohio House.
Tim Grendell has connections to Alex Arshinkoff and that ain't good either...
Look, Grendell has a pretty solid pro-life record, but that ain't enough anymore.
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From a campaign update email:
Bob Bennett Signs on as Honorary Campaign ChairDave Yost couldn't be prouder to be an establishment candidate. It is looking more and more as if the truth is that he was an establishment guy all along... Seriously? Bob Bennett??? What a hack that guy is... Dave, it's like I hardly know you...what happened?
As the campaign entered the final 100 days, the Yost for Auditor campaign announced former Ohio Republican Party Chairman Bob Bennett has signed on as honorary campaign chair.
Bennett has a legacy unmatched in Ohio political history - having served as Republican Party Chair during three straight sweeps of constitutional offices in 1994, 1998, and 2002.
"I've watched Dave Yost grow as a candidate over the past year and am committed to seeing him win this race," said Bennett. "After steady stewardship of the Auditor's offices by Republicans Jim Petro, Betty Montgomery, and Mary Taylor, many Ohioans have forgotten what it was like to have an activist using the Auditor's office for political gains. I remember the days of Tom Ferguson all too well - so I know how important it is for us to keep this important seat. I'll do all I can to make sure Dave Yost wins."
"I could not be prouder to have Bob Bennett lend his experience and expertise to our effort," said Yost. "He is a legend when it comes to winning statewide races. We're blessed to have his full support."
Release:
Majority Attempts to Conceal Mistakes
COLUMBUS – The Ohio House of Representatives has received several pieces of legislation from the majority caucus that are strikingly similar to other bills introduced earlier this General Assembly from the other side of the aisle.
Earlier this week, House Bill 562 was introduced that would eliminate the $20 late fee endorsed and signed into law by House Democrats and Governor Strickland with the passage of the biennial budget. State Representative Deborah Newcomb (D-Conneaut) and 15 of her Democratic colleagues cosponsored this measure that reverses a measure they previously endorsed by supporting House Bill 2. However, State Reps. Ron Maag (R-Lebanon) and Terry Boose (R- Norwalk), introduced House Bill 428 in January 2010, nearly seven months earlier and encouraged all members of the Ohio House of Representatives to join them on this necessary repeal.
“Every dime, every dollar counts in today’s economy. I am elated to see that my colleagues have introduced this legislation and look forward to swift action,” said Rep. Terry Boose. “Nonetheless, the majority Democratic Caucus cannot play both sides of the field. While Ohioans are suffering and partisan politics have been placed aside in the struggling business owners’ mind, the majority party does one thing, and then attempts to cover their malicious, expensive intent with political gimmicks.”
The combined list of cosponsors to eliminate the late fee represents more than enough support to repeal it. Earlier this year the Daily Record reported that more than $16 million has been collected from 818,429 individuals. However, the burden of duplicative legislation has been forced on the hard-working families of Ohio more than once.
State Rep. Ron Maag questioned the duration of time that had elapsed, asking, “Why won’t the Speaker call us into session and pass legislation today? Why did the House Democrats wait nearly eight months to do this? I look forward to swift attention being paid to this necessary repeal, just like the swift action with House Bill 473.”
Rep. Maag introduced House Bill 132, legislation to address “sexting,” in April 2009. More than a year later, House Bill 473, a legislative measure to prohibit sexting, was introduced in March 2010 and the House voted on the bill two short months later.
Finally, we get a good ad from the Republican Governors Association...
Ted Strickland's Hypocrisy from Republican Governors Association on Vimeo.
"Recovery Summer" continues here in the Great State of Beautiful Ohio. The latest piece of bad news to finally break in to a few media outlets deals with Gov. Strickland's total incompetence in managing the Stimulus money. You know, the taxpayer funds that the governor was counting on to Turn Ohio Around...
Oh, don't let our lefty friends lead you astray. Ohio Republicans specifically requested that the governor appoint an independent panel to oversee how this money was being spent, but he decided to play politics with YOUR money.
What are the specifics? The "stimulus" cash for fridges program here in Ohio is being "managed" by a company based in Texas. That company outsourced the work to Central America.
Oops.
So much for stimulus "creating (or saving?) jobs right here" in Ohio...or the United states for that matter.
Once again, Strickland's team is just not up to the task. This administration has been a circus of blunders and unforced errors...from Day One.
Ohio's senior Republican in Congress, Rep. Steven LaTourette said, "It’s no wonder only 6% of Americans believe that the Stimulus Bill created any jobs. To be fair, it does look like Governor Strickland used the funds to create some jobs – in Central America. To suggest an Ohio company couldn’t be trusted to run the appliance rebate program is insulting, and paying a Texas company nearly half a million dollars to use a call center in another country is astounding. This is not Cash for Appliances, it’s Cash for Incompetence."
Rep. Bob Latta (OH-05) piled on:
“As President Obama and Governor Strickland continue to tout the ‘success’ of the ‘stimulus package’ in the face of record high unemployment, this story only confirms the fact that independent oversight is long overdue, which we called for last year,” Congressman Latta said. “It is beyond comprehension that not only was this project outsourced to another state, but that these jobs would eventually end up overseas.”Republican Leader, my Congressman and a Great American -- John Boehner -- also known as the right Knight of Congress added, "The White House, with the support of Governor Strickland, pledged that the ‘stimulus’ would create jobs immediately in our state, yet more than 100,000 Ohioans have lost their jobs since this trillion-dollar bill was enacted. Gov. Strickland owes Ohio families asking ‘Where are the jobs?’ an explanation as to why ‘stimulus’ funds allocated by his administration were used to create jobs in Central America, and why he has repeatedly refused to establish an independent, bipartisan panel to prevent this misuse of taxpayer dollars."
Release:
Lakeville, OH - Bob Gibbs, Republican candidate for Congress in Ohio's 18th district, today called for U.S. Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) to resign his seat in Congress following a lengthy ethics investigation. Congressman Rangel has been under investigation by the House Committee on Standards on Official Conduct which resulted, last week, with several charges of multiple ethics violations.
"Congressman Rangel needs to respect the voters enough to resign his seat in Congress amidst all of his ethics problems," said Gibbs. "The question is, why hasn't Space called for the immediate resignation of Rangel, just as many of his Democrat colleagues have done?"
Previously, Congressman Zack Space showed his loyalty to Rangel, voting to allow the New York congressman to continue to serve as Chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee while under investigation.
In a press release from May of 2006 Zack Space stated:
"There is a saying that 'you can't clean up the water until you get the hogs out of the creek.' To clean up Washington we have to rid the Congress of ethically challenged politicians..."
"Congressman Zack Space campaigned on cleaning up Washington in 2006, but now that it’s 2010, he’s having trouble practicing what he preached," said Gibbs. "Or at least Zack has changed his tone on ethically challenged politicians that have donated thousands to his campaign fund."
Release:
Canton, OH — In the wake of revelations last week that a House investigatory panel has charged Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y) with ethics violations, many House Democrats continue to distance themselves from the corrupt Congressman and purge their campaign coffers of his tainted donations. The decision by Democrats to dump or donate Rangel’s money began months ago as a string of corruption allegations, ranging from improper use of taxpayer dollars to filing fraudulent financial disclosures, began to surface. While dozens of House Democrats have returned or donated Rangel’s contributions, including Ohio members Zack Space and Mary Jo Kilroy, Rep. John Boccieri has remained defiant, refusing to part with the $53,200 he has taken from Rangel.
Boccieri’s refusal to rid his campaign coffers of Rangel’s contributions directly contradicts the position he took in the state legislature when he verbally chastised Ohio Republicans over campaign contributions they received from political fundraiser Tom Noe, who at the time was facing a federal investigation into violations of FEC law. Despite the fact that Republicans in the Ohio Statehouse had already committed Noe’s tainted donations to charity, Boccieri insisted that ridding their campaign accounts of Noe’s money didn’t go far enough and he demanded that Republicans be stripped of committee chairmanships and recuse themselves from legislative matters for having accepted the contributions in the first place. As the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported on June 2, 2005, “Rep. John Boccieri, a Mahoning County Democrat, asked that Rep. Stephen Buehrer step down as Chairman of the State Government Committee because of $8,000 in contributions (from Noe).”
After accepting tens of thousands of dollars from Rangel in 2007 and 2008, Boccieri neither stepped down from committee assignments nor recused himself from a vote to strip Rangel of his Chairmanship of the Ways & Means committee in 2009 (H.R. 805). In fact, Boccieri not only participated in the vote on H.R. 805, but voted against stripping Rangel of his Chairmanship.
“By desperately clinging to Charlie Rangel’s dirty campaign cash, John Boccieri has already demonstrated a clear lack of ethical integrity—but now it appears he is also guilty of blatant hypocrisy. Although John Boccieri has a long record of breaking his promises to the voters of the 16th district, he may salvage whatever remains of his shattered reputation by sparing his constituents any further embarrassment over their Congressman’s involvement in Charlie Rangel’s corrupt campaign contributions,” Renacci spokesman James Slepian said.
I was reminded today of something I had wanted to dig up from the archives...
Somebody ought to ask John Boccieri and Zach Space if they intend on keeping the dirty money they got from Charlie Rangel...
On Twitter, Patrick Ruffini says this:
Conservatism is more important in governing than in a campaign. Run center. Get elected. Govern right. I will get flayed for this.Ohio Republicans should take note of the back half of that statement. Ohio Republicans typically have it backward. They run as conservatives and then govern as liberals. Not the way this thing works... Thanks, Patrick, for pointing this out!
Release:
Columbus—State Representative Ross McGregor (R-Springfield) [yesterday] introduced House Bill 561, legislation to require the Office of Budget and Management to maintain a database showing capital project appropriations and re-appropriations, to make the database available online and to submit a biennial report to the General Assembly.
“This legislation will reduce unnecessary spending and increase our government’s accountability to the public,” said Rep. McGregor. “Ohio is in the midst of the 15th straight month of double-digit unemployment; we cannot afford to needlessly spend taxpayer dollars.”
Rep. McGregor drafted the legislation after a project budgeted more than five years ago in his district sought re-appropriation. When enacted, the proposed legislation would allow the public and the legislature to better monitor projects that have been appropriated state funds. With a biennial report, legislators will be equipped with information to choose whether or not to continue funding a specific project.
Email:
Gov. Ted Strickland is "appalled" - his word -- that Mary Taylor told the truth about Ohio's tax climate last week. Mr. Strickland's preference for rhetoric over numbers does not bode well for our state should he be granted a second term as watcher-in-chief.Is Dave Yost runningfor governor? Or is the governor running for auditor? I can't tell...
Auditor Taylor said an unremarkable thing - that when she was a private CPA, she counseled wealthy Ohio clients to consider establishing residency in Florida or other lower-tax jurisdictions. That's common advice, according to Barbara Benton, vice president of governmental affairs for the Ohio Society of CPAs.
Although he probably did not get that advice from Mary Taylor, former parking lot magnate and Ohio Senator Howard Metzenbaum moved to Florida for those reasons prior to this death, according to the Wall Street Journal.
This isn't about class warfare. It's about how money and talent is heading out of our state because it's economically smart to do so. As a friend once told me, "I never got a job from a poor man."
The world is as it is, not as we wish it to be. According to the Columbus Dispatch, Mr. Strickland found it "troubling" that a person seeking to lead Ohio would tell such a truth - as though smart people who have made money will somehow stay here if we all just agree to stop talking about that tax burden thing.
What I find troubling is that the CEO of my state has such an elastic notion of the truth. But I suppose the monsters can't get you as long as you stay under the sheets.
The world is as it is, not as we wish it to be. In order to change what we do not like, we must begin with a clear vision of where we are.
Mr. Strickland has a history of dodging unpleasant truths - when the state was perched at the budgetary abyss in the autumn of 2008, his suggested remedy was to hope for a good Christmas shopping season.
When that failed to materialize, his next fix was to seek huge sums of money from the federal government. The federal government did for him what our Constitution prevents him from doing - it borrowed the money.
Ohio's unemployment compensation fund ran out of money in January 2009. By January 2011, Ohio will owe the federal government $3 billion - and next year, Ohio has to start paying interest on that debt. (Hint: it will probably be more than $100 million a year. Where will Ohio find that kind of money?) Mr. Strickland's plan to deal with this is much like his Christmas Shopping Season plan - wait and see if things get better somehow.
That's not good enough. And we're not going to rebuild a competitive Ohio by pretending that the truth is something other than it is. That way lies deception.
Statement:
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator George V. Voinovich (R-Ohio) today released the following statement on his vote against the motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to S.3628, the DISCLOSE Act:I assume this means he's a "NO" but ya just never know...
“The DISCLOSE Act is all about politics. It has nothing to do with campaign finance reform and everything to do with limiting the speech of groups with perspectives different from those of the bill’s authors. This legislation attempts to regulate independent speech that is protected by the First Amendment of our Constitution.
“It is clear this bill is written to benefit special interests because it exempts unions, the National Rifle Association, the Sierra Club and others from its requirements. What is the legitimate reason to exempt some organizations and not others? There is none. Proponents of the bill are attempting to control who can and cannot engage in political discourse.”
Chairman DeWine is holding a press conference up in Columbus today in which he calls out Gov. Ted Strickland for taking $1.5 million in Wall Street contributions, $25,000 from Lehman Brothers.
About time...
Strickland's continuous attacks do open him up for an examination of his record and who he "owes" favors. While a few media outlets will cover the presser, they will most likely not get around to asking Strickland any hard questions about this (or any other subject eihter...).
The really sad thing is that with as bad as we have it in Ohio, why are we talking about this crap at all? Jobs. That is all that should matter in this campaign. And so long as that remains true, Ted Strickland is in deep doodoo.
UPDATE: Senate President Bill Harris: "Strickland should look himself in mirror."
House Minority Leader Bill Batchelder says Strickland has done business with Wall Street companies he condemns.
Did the Hamilton County Republican Party's Executive Committee UNendorse Justice Paul "the Liberal" Pfieffer at a recent meeting?
Enquiring minds want to know...
UPDATE: Am told "nope - 'robust discussion" only'" which is really too bad because tolerating Democrat-Lite Republicans like Pfieffer is part of the problem.
The following is the text from a campaign email sent out by Josh Mandel:
Matt,
We’ve been working for over a year to create the most tech-savvy and motivated grassroots team in Ohio, communicating our message of integrity and fiscal discipline throughout the state.
In an act of desperation, my opponent has just attacked me on an issue that is about Right vs. Wrong, and demonstrated that he will stop at absolutely nothing to try to slow the growing momentum that we have steaming forward in all 88 counties.
Here’s what’s happening…
A few years ago, I led the charge to stop the Ohio pension funds from investing in terrorist-sponsoring nations such as Iran, a country funding roadside bombs killing American troops overseas. I stood strong against enormous pressure, because as a U.S. Marine and Iraq War veteran, I knew it was the right thing to do.
Now, as the radical Islamic regime in Iran actually digs in deeper and recently called September 11th a “Big Fabrication”, my opponent has attacked me regarding my leadership on the Iran divestment legislation!
Needless to say, his attack is backfiring, and our campaign has been flooded by new volunteers and donors throughout the state – Democrats, Republicans, retirees and tons of veterans – who have now set their targets on removing my opponent from office and helping us win this upcoming election.
Today I am asking for your help to send my opponent a message:
That there’s something very wrong about the retirement dollars of American police officers, fire fighters and teachers being used to kill young Americans serving our country in uniform overseas.
Your contribution of $50, $100, $250, $500 or even more will go a long way towards sending this message and combating my opponent’s desperate attacks.
My opponent has now drawn a line in the sand on this Iran divestment issue, and has given us a great opportunity to communicate to voters our difference of opinion on this important issue. However, I can’t communicate to 11 million people statewide without adequate financial resources to pay for it, and I would greatly appreciate your consideration of a donation today.
And if the story above doesn’t motivate you enough to help, please continue reading to learn who’s actually funding my opponent’s attacks…
The Dayton Daily News has just exposed that one of the largest funders of my opponent’s attack team is a Massachusetts lobbyist who:
- Lobbied to help Swiss banks keep Holocaust survivors from recovering their assets hidden by the Nazis…
- Lobbied for Enron even as the company went bankrupt and cost Ohio retirees $114 million…
- Attempted and was shut down from lobbying for a foreign government classified as a “State Sponsor of Terror” by the U.S. Department of State.
My opponent has collected more than $20,000 from this Massachusetts lobbyist and his associates, and now community leaders throughout Ohio are calling on my opponent to unload this dirty money and give it away to charity. However, in an act of arrogance and complete disregard for the meaning of this filthy cash, my opponent has refused to unload any of it.
So today, we are embarking on a mission to send this Massachusetts lobbyist and my opponent a message:
That their dirty money and attacks will be met with a force of patriotic Americans who know Right from Wrong and are proud to stand on the side of integrity and American values.
In the next 48 hours, we are attempting to raise on the internet, more than the $20,000+ that this Massachusetts lobbyist and his associates have given my opponent.
Please click here to support the cause today! Your contribution of $50, $100, $250, $500 or even more will help me combat my opponent’s dirty money dollar-for-dollar!
I’m not surprised that my opponent is reaching lower and lower, because he knows that the thousands of Republicans, Democrats and Independents we have helping each day are dedicated, motivated and laser-beam focused on putting new leadership in the State Treasurer’s office.
As we defend these desperate attacks and continue charging forward, I greatly appreciate your consideration of support today and look forward to working with you towards victory this fall!
Thanks again,
Josh
I had a source email in saying that they saw Lee Fisher taping a commerical late last week. Near as we can tell, Lee thinks he is running in 2008 against George W. Bush because he's laying on the class warfare tactics pretty thick. There will even be a "Golden Lamb" reference...
As usual, Ohio Democrats are still using an old playbook. I guess I can't blame them, it worked for them in '06 and '08. The problem is that it has been 4 long years of Ohio Democrat control of this state and I don't think the voters are going to fall for this again when we've lost 400,000 jobs and we have a huge problem with the budget that Lee and Governor StrickTaft have ignored.
I guess we'll just have to see...
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Keith Matthew Maupin: Rest in Peace. Gone, but not Forgotten. |
