Thursday, October 27, 2005

Ohio GOP takes another hit

From the Toledo Blade

A federal grand jury has indicted Tom Noe, the former Maumee coin dealer suspected of laundering money into President Bush’s reelection campaign, Mr. Noe’s attorney told The Blade today.

A number of people have testified before a federal grand jury impaneled in Toledo, including Toledo City Councilman Betty Shultz, Lucas County Commissioner Maggie Thurber, and Donna Owens, a former Toledo mayor. Each made contributions at a Bush fund-raiser in October, 2003, in Columbus.

Local law-enforcement sources said investigators are looking at contributions made by people from the Toledo area to the Bush campaign at the fund-raiser, at which the campaign raised $1.4 million.

Mr. Noe, who was tagged a Bush “Pioneer” for helping to raise at least $100,000 for Bush campaign, sponsored a table at the event, and invited a number of people to attend.

An individual can give only $2,000 to a presidential candidate in the primary and another $2,000 in the general election, according to federal law. Throughout the 2004 campaign — primary and general — Mr. Noe contributed $2,000. His contribution came in August, 2003.

Prosecutors were trying to determine if Mr. Noe gave people money in order for them to give to the Bush campaign, allowing Mr. Noe to exceed federal spending limits.

Add this to the fact that Dewine has consistently been ranking as one of the top 5 least approved Senators and Bob Taft is among the least popular Governors.

2006 is going to be a long year for the Ohio GOP.

513 Green PAC Endorsements

The 513 Green PAC supports candidates that support issues that are important to progressive, socially-conscious, responsible Cincinnatians. These issues include but are not limited to: open government, electoral reform, arts and cultural investment, appreciation of diversity, environmental protection, mass transportation, wireless internet proliferation, attracting and retaining the creative class and responsible development.

City Council

Christopher Smitherman - (Charterite, http://christophersmitherman.com)
Key endorsements include the AFL-CIO and the Sierra Club. Christopher has shown a willingness to take controversial positions on issues such as the Fountain Square Development and police community relations, as well as his sensitivity to environmental and GLBT concerns.

Nick Spencer (Charterite, http://www.spencer2005.com/)
Key endorsements include the Equality PAC and the Cinergy PAC. Nick is a proponent of center city development and the creative class. He has also taken progressive stances on GLBT issues and remains a supporter of public transportation and electoral reform.

Laketa Cole (Democrat, http://laketacole.com)
Key endorsements include the AFL-CIO and the Sierra Club. Laketa is an ardent supporter of environmental and homeownership issues. She was also heavily involved in the creation of the one-stop housing center.

Jim Tarbell (Charterite, http://jimtarbell.com)
Key endorsements include the AFL-CIO and AFSCME. As a 3 time council member Tarbell has proven himself to be one of the strongest supporters of the arts community in Cincinnati. He also spearheaded the effort to revitalize Over-the-Rhine.

Samantha Herd (Democrat, http://www.followtheherd.org)
Key endorsements include the AFL-CIO and the Sierra Club. Samantha is widely recognized as one of the strongest voices for labor in this council race. Her proposed community jobs program is an innovative way to put Cincinnatians to work.

Damon Lynch, III (Democrat, http://damonlynch.com/)
Key Endorsements include the Cincinnati Women’s Political Caucus and the Sentinels Police Association. Not only does Damon have the endorsement of labor and police organizations, he is also focusing efforts on improving race-relations and living conditions in Over-the-Rhine.

Mayor
We feel that of the remaining candidates, Mark Mallory is the best suited for the position of mayor.

Issues
1 Yes
2 Yes
3 Yes
4 Yes
5 Yes

8 No
9 No

To contact the 513 Green PAC please email 513greenPAC@gmail.com

We are currently seeking volunteers to help distribute literature on election day.

For more information on the issues we support, visit http://cincinnatigreens.blogspot.com and http://cincinnatinews.blogspot.com.

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Race for Dewine's Seat - An October Timeline

This timeline is a work in progress that will be improved upon until the end of the month. On November 1st it will be posted on other blogs that get more traffic. If anything is missing, or could use more clarification, let me know in the comments.

October 3
Hackett initially announced intentions to run. "Paul Hackett is running for U.S. Senate."

A Brown Spokeswoman tells the AP that Brown is "reviewing his initial decision not to run."

Kos weighs in, criticizes Brown. "He bows out, waits for Hackett to gear up, and then floats a trial balloon about getting back in?"

Zogby poll shows Hackett ahead of Dewine 44%-36%.

October 6th
Brown informally enters race.


October 7

Ad advisor to Hackett says "Sherrod Brown told the candidate three weeks ago that he was not entering the race, so the campaign was surprised at Sherrod's indecisiveness and change of heart."

October 23

Brown changes his large actblue blogads purchase to the Ohio General campaign fund. This is applauded by Atrios, Kos, and others. (Contribute to the ActBlue Ohio General Election Fund.)

October 24th
Hackett formally announces candidacy.
Click here to watch the announcement.

In an interview, Brown says "Paul is new enough to public office that he doesn't understand that no one is entitled to a Senate nomination."

Brown delays official announcement until November. "Speculation is that he wants to see whether Issue 4 passes Nov. 8."

Jerome retires from MyDD to prevent conflict of interest.
Democracyguy commentary on Jerome's decision.

New Ohio First Literature (if you can call it that)

Tim Tagaris posted this at MyDD.

Did you hear the news?

"Ohio's family values are on the line," and as such, you must "Vote NO on Issues 2, 3, 4, and 5." "Special Interests are attacking our family values!" After all, ""These are the same people who took prayer out of our public schools, fought the defense of marriage act last year, and have attempted to legalize drugs." They are supporting these amendments because, "What radical anti-family activists could not accomplish at the polls, they are trying to accomplish through devious efforts." Ultimately, these devious efforts will, "dilute the power of pro-life supporters to elect pro-life candidates who share our values." We must "Protect our values -- Protect our vote."

That's the new ad campaign created by the opposition to Ohio State Issues 2, 3, 4, and 5 -- better known as the Reform Ohio Now Amendments.




It is a shame that they have stooped to the level of calling RON supporters "radical anti-family activists." It is important that we don't allow opponents of electoral reform to scare voters away from the real issues at stake.

Tim also points out that:

Charitable donors with an eye towards the net have volunteered to match donations received online between now and Friday. If you so choose, you can invest at the Reform Ohio Now website.


If you can, please Donate Now
.

To see the latest Reform Ohio Now advertisements, click here.

Monday, October 24, 2005

COAST Endorsements

Press Release: COAST announces support for ballot issues and endorsements for Cincinnati City Council.

The Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes announced its endorsement today on the candidates and issues facing City of Cincinnati voters on November 8th. “The issues facing voters are far reaching and their passage or defeat can have a tremendous effect on who is elected in the future”, said COAST President Jim Urling. “Issues include very wasteful spending along with tax payer friendly initiatives. We have endorsed accordingly”, Mr. Ruling continued.

ISSUES
Statewide

Issue 1……….vote NO
Issue 2……….vote NO
Issue 3……….vote NO
Issue 4……….vote NO
Issue 5……….vote NO

Cincinnati only
Issue 8……….vote YES
Issue 9……….vote YES

“The quality of the candidates for Cincinnati City Council leaves much to be desired. Many are running to feather their own and their friends nests and not for the betterment of the City of Cincinnati”, says Mr. Urling. Our best chance to make Cincinnati a better place is to elect the following whom COAST endorsed.”

CANDIDATES

Chris Monzel
John Eby
Michael Earl Patton
Paul McGhee
Rob Wilking

COAST is more than happy to supply a copy of the survey and cover letter upon request.


(Hat tip: Dean of Cincinnati)

I'll be posting the text of the survey when I recieve my copy.

As far as the ballot issues are concerned, it comes as no surprise that COAST endorses a "no" vote on the Reform Ohio Now amendments. If you support COAST or any of their candidates you should ask yourself why they want to protect pay-to-play politics in Ohio. What do they have to gain from maintaining the status quo here?

For the council endorsements, to my estimation, none of the five deserves my vote. I guess my values are not very closely alligned to those of a group that is interested only in lowering taxes.

Monday, October 03, 2005

Eminent Domain Abuse Amendment 2006

From The Blue Chip Review

Dr. Bill Peirce, Libertarian candidate for Governor has launched the "Save Our Homes" Committee to promote an Ohio Constitutional amendment protecting homeowners from eminent domain abuse.

In the recent US Supreme Court decision, Kelo v. New London, the justices decided that homes can be taken by the government and given to private developers if they expect to earn higher property taxes.

Here in Ohio, residents of Norwood have been forced from their homes to build a shopping center. The residents are in Columbus Wednesday for oral arguments at the Supreme Court of Ohio. In Ohio, "blight" has been used as a pretext for taking homes in neighborhoods planned for commercial development."We're here today to stand with the residents of Norwood who have been forced from their homes by their city to make room for a shopping mall," declares Peirce. "We can not allow this to continue. That is why we are forming the Save Our Homes Committee, to protect all Ohioans from eminent domain abuse. Issues arising from the Kelo decision and "bogus blight" will be addressed in this new amendment."

"The proposed amendment would limit eminent domain to its original purpose," notes Libertarian State Chair Jason Hallmark. "Highways and utilities are truly public purposes, shopping malls and new residential development is not."

Save Our Homes will obtain approval from the Attorney General to circulate the amendment petition in the coming weeks and then begin to gather signatures to place the amendment on the 2006 ballot.

"The citizens from Ohio need this protection and they will support it", states Robert Butler, the new director of Save Our Homes. "But we expect a lot of resistance from the local government officials and private developers who want to continue business as usual."

"There will be scare tactics from government officials," agrees Hallmark.

"But the voting public will see through it."
.
Contact: Robert Butler
Peirce For Ohio
30628 Detroit Rd. #174
Westlake, OH 44145
(614) 547-0290


This will be interesting to watch as it develops.

Saturday, October 01, 2005

Bill Bennett to speak at UC

From the UC College Republicans
Tuesday, Oct 4th 2005, Dr. William Bennett will be speaking at the University of Cincinnati in the Tangeman University Center Great Hall at 7:30pm. Sponsored by the University of Cincinnati College Republicans, Dr. Bennett will speak on issues currently facing the country.

Dr. Bennett was recently named by the New York Times, “the leading spokesman of the Traditional Values wing of the Republican Party.” The event is free and open to the public. All are welcome and encouraged to attend.


This is the same Bill Bennett (Former Secretary of Education and Drug Czar) who told his radio audience that "you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down."

Even Bush knew this was going too far. In a press conference on Friday, when asked about the comments, Scott Mcllellan said ""The president believes the comments were not appropriate."

Aside from the fact that this reflects poorly on UC, Hamilton County Commissioner Phil Heimlich is holding a private reception for Bennett immediately prior to the UC event.

The Dean of Cincinnati, appalled by this wrote an open letter to Heimlich in which he asked, "Why not cancel the upcoming meeting in the name of racial reconciliation?" In the comment section of the post, Erich Streckfuss, UC College Dems President noted that "the UC College Democrats will be protesting Bennett's appearance. More details later." I'll post more info on this if I can find any.

If you'd like to contact the UC College Republicans to tell them how you feel about their upcoming speaker, please do so via BennettInfo@UCRepbulicans.com

Also, to see Bennett explaining that his wife has "done more for inner city black girls than the entire black caucus," click here.