Third Base Politics

Plunderbund explains why Ohio job creation has improved under John Kasich

2012-01-28T03:18:00.001-05:00

The guys over at Plunderbund are excellent spokesmen for the Ohio Democratic Party and Chairman Chris Redfern. Well, Justin Barasky is actually Redfern's spokesman, but the Plunderpals actually seem to be the ones parroting more of the silly and petty partisan attacks that we have come to expect from him.

Their favorite past-time is filing FOI requests and breathlessly reporting them to their readers. They did so last year, and claimed that Governor Kasich was going to pay his staff way more than former governor Ted Strickland did. Another liberal blog even called it "a coup of biblical proportions". Unfortunately for them, it wasn't even true.

After they were done congratulating each other and slapping one another on the back, the Dispatch did an analysis, and found that, no, Kasich's overall staff doesn't make more than Strickland's did.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich is living up to his promise to spend less money on employees than did former Gov. Ted Strickland - but by only 0.5 percent, or about $38,500.

So, today we have another one from the same mold. They obtained another document of administration expenses.

Are you ready for this bombshell?

The Kasich administration office staff is spending money on...cell phones and office equipment!!

Based on records obtained by Plunderbund, it looks like Kasich and his staff are getting other perks as well, including new cell phones and some nice new office equipment.

Based on a review of a phone records for 2011, the Governor’s office staff spends about $1743.85 each month, while the Faith-Based office spends $205.35. Kasich staff also bill about $75 a month to ODJFS for two phones and an iPad. Records show the total cost per year for phone service will likely excede $23,000.00.

$1744 a month for smartphone service for 30 people. That's $58 a month per phone. I wish I was getting a price like that from Verizon. If you go to any size company, the professional office staff is provided with mobile devices in almost every case. And the governor's staff is getting a good price. But apparently, the Plunderpals found this shocking. (It's kind of cute that they used the annual cost in their title to make it sound more outrageous.)

The post continues on to the subject of equipment:

Other equipment purchased for the Governor’s office included everything from flat screen TVs ($657.96) to a full installation of wireless network equipment costing nearly $9,000.

Shane Ellet, in the office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, filed a request for iPads for his team. It’s worth noting that he was surprisingly frugal, choosing to request refurbished iPad 1s at only $350.00 each instead of the newer and much more expensive iPad 2s. Unfortunately, whoever chose the new $7,500 Color Printer for the Governor’s office didn’t seem to have the same concerns.

Um...guys? Maybe you should check into that "new" Xerox printer before criticizing. If you buy one brand new, it costs almost $35,000.

In a delicious twist of irony, their attempt to attack Kasich over office spending actually revealed that they were being frugal by apparently buying a used one, and saving a crapload of money on it. Nice.

What else does their post reveal? They spent money to install a wireless network. Er...the governor's offices did not previously have wi-fi?! Wow. And to top it all off, they reveal THIS other nugget about what century Ted Strickland had his office staff working in:

Governor’s office staff under Strickland did not have state-paid mobile devices.

REALLY!?

People in Ted Strickland's administration...didn't have cell phones?

This actually explains a lot. No wonder Ohio was 49th in the nation in job creation under Ted! The entire office staff was working with 20th century technology in a 21st century world. If you are going to retain and attract business to your state, you've got to think and act like a business. Your people need the technology to be more efficient and responsive.

From what our pals have just revealed to us about Strickland's office environment, his folks were chained to their desks because they had to be parked there to use the phone or the internet. What kind of company would want to move to or expand in Ohio after seeing that? Holy cow, was "Jobs Czar" Lee Fisher typing up incentive offers on an IBM Selectric and having them delivered by the Pony Express?

And they are bragging about it, while criticizing Kasich for spending the money necessary to bring Ohio into the modern world. That's what makes this even more hysterical.

No wonder Ohio has risen up to 9th in job creation so quickly under Governor Kasich. He obviously understands you can't move at the "speed of business" if your office operates like it's 1985. I'd like to thank Plunderbund for revealing another reason why Ted was inept when it came to growing Ohio jobs. We appreciate it, guys!

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Sherrod Brown's Occupier Solidarity

2012-01-27T08:30:00.000-05:00

Back in October, Sherrod Brown (D-OH) made one of his frequent MSNBC appearances to chat with Chris Matthews about the hot new show in town: Occupy Wall Street. Matthews and Brown seemed equally enthusiastic about the left’s answer to the Tea Party movement.

Here are two of the most telling exchanges from the segment, which you can view in its entirety courtesy of YouTube user toddfein:

My favorite part of this clip is Sherrod’s self-contradicting statement, “this isn’t a liberal/conservative, left or right, it’s whose side are you on?” Sherrod is a Progressive, you see, so he’s not divisive – he just wants you to pick a side, and if you pick the wrong side he’s going to demonize you.

As reported here in November, Sherrod Brown’s campaign site even used the Occupiers’ “stand with the 99%” rhetoric for an email-harvesting web petition. Occupy Wall Street’s whiny demands that government do everything are a perfect match for Sherrod’s pitiful class warfare, and it seems obvious Sherrod had high hopes for the movement.

In an October 2010 USA Today editorial titled “How to fight Tea Party’s faux populism,” Sherrod was less excited about organized protest:

Tea Party populism is driven by anger at our government and at our country. Real populism fights for all Americans, while Tea Party populism divides us.

Republicans have always been good at coming up with catch phrases and slogans that traffic in fear and misinformation.

What changed between 2010 and 2011? Rallies against Obamacare’s unconstitutional overreach – for which Sherrod Brown was the deciding “Yea” vote – were replaced by riots against The Rich. Where is Sherrod’s editorial decrying the rampant violence and hatred we’ve seen from the Occupiers he endorsed on television not 4 months ago?

By December, Occupy camps across the country had racked up more than 400 criminal incidents – leading the movement to win coveted Time “Person of the Year” recognition and the illustrious Breitbart “Ambiguous Entity of the Year” award. Last week, even Nancy Pelosi walked back her support for Occupy Wall Street.

Search for evidence of Sherrod Brown’s disapproval, and the best you’ll find is a snarky PolitiFact Ohio hit piece against his Republican opponent, Josh Mandel. As of this writing, Sherrod’s “Stand with the 99%” petition is still online.

It’s odd that Sherrod took to the pages of USA Today to wag a finger at Tea Party anger but is now giving the Occupiers a pass, don’t you think?

For the entire miserable picture, you can watch the full Hardball segment, review the transcript, and read Sherrod’s tea party smear in USA Today. When you’re done, I suspect you may want to send a few bucks to Josh Mandel’s campaign.

Cross-posted from that hero and Big Government.

Ohio Republican Party's outrageous new tactic to keep the Tea Party out and Kevin DeWine in

2012-01-26T21:51:00.001-05:00

There was breaking news today of an upcoming meeting that has been called for the Ohio Republican Party (ORP) State Central Committee. Below is an excerpt of the memo sent out to committee members.

> Proposed Amendment to the Permanent Rules of the Republican State Central Committee & Executive Committee of Ohio

Article I, Section 2:

At the first meeting of the State Central Committee following the election and qualification of its members, all of its officers, the chairman and co-chairman of the Ohio Republican Finance Committee, and the National Committeeman and National Committeewoman, shall be nominated and elected to the State Executive Committee, which shall then be merged into the Republican State Central Committee.

Proposed Amendment*:

For the purposes of these Rules, to be qualified, and thereby seated and sworn in as a member of the State Central Committee, a person shall have voted in the three immediately preceding Republican statewide primary elections, including in the year in which the person was elected.

Talk about trying to protect their established incumbents! To be seated on the committee, a person will have to have voted in the Republican primary in 2008, 2010 and 2012. This is a pretty brazen move by Kevin DeWine and his allies. This rule, if adopted, is clearly intended to make it harder for outsiders to be seated on the State Central Committee, even if they are elected to the position.

The timing of this is no accident. There are two clear goals here.

1. Keep the Tea Party out. And this one isn't new. Back in 2010, the ORP outraged many conservatives when it used the tea party brand and sent out mailers with a "Tea Party Values" logo that endorsed...Jon Husted.

In recent weeks the Ohio Republican Party (ORP) begged primary votes for candidates of their choosing, sending mailers which contain a logo of, “Support Tea Party Values.” This new logo was used for Jon Husted and others. What’s wrong with this? Nothing, except leaders in the Tea Party movement, like myself, would hardly consider him or the ORP supportive of “Tea Party Values.”

Yet, while ORP was associating itself with the Tea Party on paper, they were simultaneously putting incumbent Central Committee members on the mailers to appear as though they were endorsed. The same incumbents that the rash of newly politically active tea party types were running against. Ohio Liberty Council described it as a declaration of war against the Tea Party and a violation of committee rules and state law.

The Ohio Republican Party (ORP) after spending more than a year “Missing In action” as the Tea Party movement fought against the bailout, Cap and Trade and the Health Care bill, has finally swung into action. It is bombarding Republicans throughout the state with cards endorsing candidates for the State Central Committee in order to defeat … not liberal Democrats … but Republicans from the Tea Party movement.

A suit has been filed with the Ohio Elections Commission about the perceived violation of party rules and state law with these endorsements, which have not been authorized by the ORP’s governing board. In an initial review, the OEC ruled that there is “Probable Cause” and ordered that the case be held by the full Commission. In his defense, ORP Chairman DeWine argued that it was perfectly acceptable for the Party to endorse incumbents. However one incumbent who has a reputation for standing on principle against DeWine (Rousseau), was not endorsed by the Party; instead the Party endorsed his challenger.

So, even 2 years ago, the ORP was asking tea partiers for their votes and claiming that their preferred establishment candidates had "tea party values". But when some of those same voters wanted to get involved by running for a seat on the committee, they were told that they weren't welcome.

Also to be discussed at the upcoming, besides the proposed amendment: endorsing all the incumbents again.

It also is possible that the central committee could take up a proposal tabled at a previous meeting that would call for the endorsement of all incumbent central committee members for re-election in the March primary.

Now, with this new proposed rule, they're planning to go even further to keep the Tea Party out.

2. To protect Kevin DeWine's Chairmanship. The ORP knows that many of this years challengers to committee incumbents would vote against him in the next election for chairman. What better way to protect yourself than to create a new rule to make it harder for new people to the party to be seated on the committee?

COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Ohio Republican Party chairman wants to change the rules for who can serve on the party's state central committee, a proposal that comes about a month before GOP voters elect the next 66-member group.

The move could help Chairman Kevin DeWine fend off a challenge to his leadership. DeWine and Gov. John Kasich are locked in a messy election-year battle for control of the party.

Perhaps the most outrageous part of this is the outright brazen timing. Candidates have already filed for the election. They're already on the ballot! The election is only 5 weeks away. What are they going to do if a person is elected, but doesn't meet their new rule? At least one candidate has already been identified as not meeting the proposed new criteria. They're creating a recipe for chaos.

But apparently Kevin Dewine doesn't care, as long as it helps him hold on to his chairmanship. He obviously isn't confident about his fortunes, and is doing all he can to rig the system. This is just another example to add to the mountain of evidence that Ohio conservatives can't trust Kevin DeWine.

P.S. Note to Mitt Romney: you may want to consider how close you get to Kevin DeWine in the next few weeks. Ohio is the big prize on Super Tuesday, and with the nomination still up in the air, I'm sure you'll be visiting us. Kevin DeWine is NOT well liked by the Ohio conservatives whose votes you need. Today's news is going to make them even angrier at him. (Your relationship with his buddies, disgraced former consultants Brett Buerck and Kyle Sisk, doesn't help either.)

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Video: How has the middle class really fared under Sherrod Brown and Barack Obama?

2012-01-24T12:56:00.001-05:00

Tonight, expect to hear more of the same tired class warfare from Barack Obama. He will focus straw man attacks, once again, aimed at blaming others for the failure of his disastrous policies.

A trillion dollar stimulus plan that failed, even by his own measure of success. A health care takeover that has driven health care costs higher instead of "bending costs down". Increased regulation of the energy industry by executive fiat, not through Congress, where he couldn't even get enough of his own Democrats to play along. Blocking tens of thousands of jobs in a shovel-ready project that even his big labor friends urged him to approve.

He failed, and will look for someone else to blame. He will fall back to the old tactic of accusing "big banks" and millionaires of "attacking the middle class." He has promised to lift up the middle class during his entire presidency.

So, after 3 years of Obamanomics, where does the middle class stand today?

We've tried Obama and Brown's way for the last 3 years. It not only failed, but added trillions and trillions of new debt. It's time for a change.

http://twitter.com/Bytor3BP

What you won't hear from Obama in the State of the Union

2012-01-24T09:14:00.001-05:00

Tonight Barack Obama makes a big campaign speech. You won't hear about how his economic policy has completely failed, and made a bad situation worse. You won't hear about tax dollars wasted by making bad loans to poorly run "green" companies to reward his political donors. You won't hear about how he violated the war powers act.

You also won't hear the President demand that the Democrat controlled Senate pass a budget. They haven't done so in 1000 days. For all of the talk of our huge debt problems, Sherrod Brown and his colleagues absolutely refuse to take responsibility and address the problem by working with the House to pass a budget.

Budgeting our tax dollars is the most basic and most important of our government's duties. It should be at the top of the priority list. Yet, Sherrod Brown doesn't care. He thinks it's more important to heap praise on filthy Communist protestors who have been arrested by the thousands and to tackle the huge problem of NFL blackouts.

It's time to make sure Sherrod Brown and Barack Obama are both "1-term propositions."

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Sherrod Brown's Shameful Record

2012-01-21T14:10:00.002-05:00

Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) served 7 terms in the House – starting in 1993 – before his 2006 election to the U.S. Senate. I’m 28, and Yale graduate Sherrod Brown has been peddling his blue-collar class warfare elixir in Washington since I was in 4th grade.

Does his record merit reelection this November? If you have any vaguely conservative beliefs, the answer is a resounding “NO.” Ranked as the leftmost senator in 2009 and 2010 by National Journal, Sherrod has a lifetime 7.77 rating from the American Conservative Union (ACU). What sort of voting history puts someone to the left of Dianne Feinstein and Harry Reid?

Here’s a compilation of Sherrod Brown’s most notable votes, accompanied by his ACU rating for each year!

1993: Sherrod voted for the Brady Bill, D.C. statehood, missile defense cuts, preventing employers from replacing strikers, and Clinton’s “Emergency Stimulus” spending and tax hike package. He opposed school choice funding and missed a debt ceiling vote. ACU Rating: 9.00
1994: Sherrod voted for the assault weapons ban, a $30 billion Omnibus Crime Bill jammed with pork, and a motion to kill the House Post Office ethics investigation. ACU Rating: 14.00
1995: Sherrod voted for “family planning” funding ultimately given to Planned Parenthood, and for enforcement of vast EPA and FDA regulations. He voted against the partial-birth abortion ban, welfare reform, tax & domestic spending cuts, and the “Mexico City Policy” restricting U.S. dollars spent on abortion in foreign countries. ACU Rating: 32.00
1996: Sherrod voted to increase the minimum wage and in favor of killing school choice vouchers. He voted against the GOP budget, welfare reform, repealing the assault weapons ban, overriding Clinton’s partial-birth abortion ban veto, and making English the official language of the U.S. government. ACU Rating: 0.00
1997: Sherrod voted for national education testing and B-2 bomber budget cuts. He voted against the Hyde Amendment, tax & domestic spending cuts, school choice, and converting federal housing programs into block grants. ACU Rating: 12.00
1998: Sherrod again supported national education testing, and voted to allow a minor to be transported across state lines by a non-parent for an abortion. He voted against tax cuts, the partial-birth abortion ban, D.C. school vouchers, opening impeachment hearings, and ending racial preferences. ACU Rating: 4.00
1999: Sherrod voted against impeachment proceedings, a broad tax cut package, medical savings accounts, and education block grants. He voted to delay missile defense implementation, and to continue funding the United Nations without demanding UN reforms. ACU Rating: 0
2000: Sherrod voted against banning partial-birth abortion, eliminating the death tax, and cutting taxes to alleviate the marriage penalty. He voted to lift the embargo on Cuba, increase the federal minimum wage, and impose the federal minimum wage on the states. ACU Rating: 4
2001: Sherrod voted against making it a crime to kill an unborn child while committing another crime. He voted against school vouchers. He voted to allow taxpayer funding for abortions in federal prisons, lift the embargo on Cuba, tighten SUV mileage standards, and maintain the ANWR oil-drilling ban. ACU Rating: 4
2002: Sherrod voted against extending welfare reform, eliminating the death tax, banning partial-birth abortion, capping medical malpractice suits, and a broad 1% domestic spending cut. He voted to limit free speech in the months preceding an election, and to allow Homeland Security employees to unionize. ACU Rating: 4
2003: Sherrod voted against a partial-birth abortion ban, medical malpractice reform, class action lawsuit reform, death tax repeal, and DC school choice vouchers. He voted to fund abortions at military hospitals, keep ANWR closed from drilling, allow human cloning, and allow negligence suits against gun manufacturers when a gun is used to commit a crime. ACU Rating: 16
2004: Sherrod again voted against making it a criminal offense to kill an unborn child while committing another crime. He voted against medical malpractice reform, allowing small businesses to buy health insurance as a group, drilling in ANWR, and a 1% cut in non-defense discretionary spending. He voted to fund abortion at military hospitals, block “bunker-buster” development, and cut military spending in favor of green energy programs. ACU Rating: 4
2005: Sherrod voted to block oil drilling in ANWR, hike fuel efficiency standards, and spend taxpayer funds on embryonic stem cell research. He voted against bankruptcy law reform, Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac reform, tying UN funding to UN reforms, and requiring parental notification to transport a minor across state lines for an abortion. ACU Rating: 4
2006: Sherrod voted to impose Net Neutrality. He voted against a capital gains tax cut, a death tax cut, and ending the offshore oil & gas drilling moratorium. ACU Rating: 25
2007: Sherrod voted to ban incandescent light bulbs, expand SCHIP, and spend tax dollars on embryonic stem cell research. He voted against death tax repeal, Alternative Minimum Tax repeal, extension of the Bush tax cuts, and improved earmark disclosure. ACU Rating: 0
2008: Sherrod voted for more risky Fannie & Freddie lending, two separate $4 billion Fannie & Freddie bailouts, the auto industry bailout, TARP, and a tax hike on energy companies. He voted against missile defense, an earmark moratorium, and a discretionary spending cap. ACU Rating: 8
2009: Sherrod voted for Obama’s “stimulus,” Cash for Clunkers, Obamacare, and Eric Holder’s confirmation as Attorney General. He voted against medical malpractice reform, D.C. school choice, and de-funding ACORN. ACU Rating: 0
2010: Sherrod voted for New START, the DREAM Act, and Craig Becker’s appointment to the NLRB. He voted against an earmark moratorium, D.C. school choice, death tax repeal, and a fence on the southern border. ACU Rating: 0

With a few commendable lapses, Sherrod Brown has spent two decades as a foe of fiscal prudence, the Second Amendment, and national defense. Sherrod is an equally consistent supporter of Big Labor, bigger central government, and the abortion lobby.

Sherrod Brown is easily one of the worst senators up for reelection this November. Share his shameful record with every Ohio voter you know!

You can find Sherrod Brown’s Republican opponent, Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel, at JoshMandel.com.

Follow me on Twitter: @jasonahart
Compiled from my series at Big Government. Cross-posted at RedState.

Rob Portman to endorse Romney UPDATED

2012-01-18T22:55:00.003-05:00

From an email from Portman:

Because you are one of my top supporters, I wanted you to have a heads up that I plan to endorse Mitt Romney for President tomorrow morning. As you may know, I had not planned on endorsing this early in the primary process. However, I decided to act sooner because I feel Mitt Romney's policy positions, debate performances, and character make him the best candidate to take on President Obama. I also feel our chances in November will be improved by coalescing around one candidate and stopping the political attacks among Republicans. President Reagan's 11th Commandment came to mind: Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican! I must admit, the attacks demonizing private investment and Mitt Romney's private sector experience have also influenced my thinking.

I have included below the draft speech I plan to make tomorrow morning in South Carolina that further explains my reasons. For the sake of my family, your family, the people of Ohio, and for the sake of our great country, I hope Barack Obama will be replaced by Mitt Romney in the Oval Office next year.

Here is Portman's email from this morning, and the speech he plans to give in South Carolina:

Today I will be endorsing Mitt Romney for President. I had not planned on endorsing this early in the primary process. However, I feel one candidate's policy positions, debate performances, and character make him the best candidate to take on President Obama, and I feel our chances in November will be improved by coalescing around one candidate and stopping the political attacks among Republicans.

I admire all of our candidates. They have been willing to throw their hats in the ring, endure long days on the road, time away from their families and plenty of criticism from many quarters, all in a selfless effort to help the country they love. Each has his strengths.

But I have become convinced that one of those candidates is the right person to lead our nation in perilous times. That leader is Mitt Romney, and I am proud to stand at his side.

All the best,

Rob Portman

It's great to be here today in the Palmetto State where, once again, the people of South Carolina will be playing a key role in choosing our Party's nominee -- this time during a time in our nation's history when the stakes could not be higher.

And that's why I am here, now, endorsing sooner than I had planned, and all the way from Ohio. No, it was not simply to get away from the snow, but to help the man who I really want to see as the next President of the United States, the candidate who I believe will be best equipped to take on President Obama, and to lead our nation back in the right direction.

I admire all of our candidates: they have been willing to throw their hats in the ring, endure long days on the road, time away from their families and plenty of criticism from many quarters, all in a selfless effort to help the country they love. Each has his or her strengths.

But I have become convinced that one of those candidates is the right person to lead our nation in perilous times. That leader is Mitt Romney and I am proud to stand at his side.

I have had the opportunity to work for two presidents, and have seen firsthand the tough decisions that come across a president's desk and the kind of steady leadership required in the Oval Office. And home in Ohio I have seen firsthand the desperate need for a new kind of leadership to turn things around in this economy and bring back the hope, the middle class jobs and the opportunity that defines the American dream.

Mitt Romney combines the personal traits, knowledge and experience to be that leader: to be as successful as president as he has been in everything else he has attempted in his life. He is in this race for the right reasons. I have watched him and spoken to him: It's not about him, and it is not about partisan advantage. It is about helping Americans achieve their great potential.

And he is smart, determined and compassionate, These character traits, combined with his depth of knowledge of finance and business and what it takes to create jobs, along with his optimism and his love of country have convinced me that he represents the best hope for restoring America's greatness.

The choice is so clear--

If you feel that the Obama administration has lost its way and we need a fresh, new direction, and a decisive, principled leader in the White House, Mitt Romney is your man.

If you, a family member or a friend are out of work or worry about your next paycheck, but know that the federal government can't spend its way to prosperity, and instead believe it is the private sector that creates the middle class jobs we need, Mitt Romney is your man.

If you agree that government has grown too large, too powerful and too invasive, and that excessive federal regulation and Washington's complicated and loophole-riddled tax code are choking small businesses and making it more costly and difficult to add jobs, Mitt Romney is your man.

If you believe that every life is precious, Mitt Romney is your man.

If you think a record $15 trillion National Debt threatens the future our kids and grandkids, Mitt Romney is your man.

If you don't want the Federal Government dictating what kind of medical care works for your family, and you want a president truly committee to energy independence, Mitt Romney is your man.

If you believe that America's military needs to be strong and respected to keep the peace and remain a force for freedom, Mitt Romney is your man.

If you are looking for a president who will work with Congress and the American people to solve big problems, not blame others while acting as spectator-in-chief, Mitt Romney is your man.

And If you believe that the President of the United States needs to represent all Americans, and work to bring people together, not further divide us at this critical time, Mitt Romney is your man.

It is time to take a stand. It is time for our great Party to come together around someone who can defeat President Obama in November and begin the task of repairing our broken economy, and ensuring that the United States remains that shining beacon of hope and opportunity for the rest of the world. Ladies and Gentlemen, to get America back on track, Mitt Romney is our man. Thank you very much!

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Lis Smith brings her losing ways to the Obama campaign

2012-01-18T22:22:00.001-05:00

Our old friend Lis Smith is back in the news. Lis was the communications director for Ted Strickland during his campaign for reelection back in 2010. The bulk of her communication strategy seems to revolve around making snarky comments about Republicans on Twitter. And she isn't even very good at that. For example, she tweeted out that someone who blocked her on Twitter had a "glass jaw" and mockingly called him a "grown man". Here at Third Base Politics, it was revealed that someone else also blocked others on Twitter.

Her boss, Ted Strickland.

Somehow, despite how unimportant this issue was, Smith, after all that she said, still thought it was a big enough deal to try to cover for her boss and pretend he never blocked me. Me. A blogger. In his pajamas.

She's paid for this, people.

Rather than focusing on developing the right message for Ohioans, she's lowering the tone of the debate and trying to prevent herself from eating her own words.

Oops!

Even simple jobs at her latest position, working for the Democratic Governor's Association, seemed a bit challenging. As communications director for the DGA, their website was her responsibility. The DGA has a straightforward purpose. Promote Democrats, and attack Republicans. Which is why we, and others, found it amusing that the DGA website was posting glowingly positive news about Republican governors.

What Lis posted is an article from the St. Petersburg Times. The headline reads "In Orlando, Republican governors tout can-do reform efforts." And its right there on the DGA website. What else will people browsing the DGA find out about Republican governors?

But turn your attention away from Washington and you'll see plenty of bold leadership in America's state capitals: drastic spending cuts leading to balanced budgets, slashed public employee pensions and education reform measures bucking powerful teacher unions.

Maybe if Lis didn't spend most of her day being sarcastic about Republicans on Twitter, she might have a website, and a strategy, that promotes the Democrats she is supposed to be helping. Or maybe she is just really really excited that she was quoted in a newspaper!

I hope somebody knocked on her office door and said "Hey Lis, you're doing it wrong."

Now, the Obama administration has hired her to be their "Director of Rapid Response".

President Barack Obama's re-election team picked Strickland campaign veteran Lis Smith to be its director of rapid response.

Her role for Obama's campaign will be "responding to attacks from Republicans, making sure voters know the truth about our opponent's record," according to a campaign source.

Wait a minute...isn't that what Attack Watch was supposed to do?

So, will Lis be taking over Attack Watch? Or will the Attack Watch people be competing with her to see who can be the first one to make a devastating sarcastic tweet after the GOP candidate points out what a complete failure every part of Barack Obama's domestic policy has been? Actually, this makes sense. Attack Watch and Lis Smith both use Twitter as their grand strategy on their way to becoming laughing stocks.

Let's just hope that Lis's association with the campaign has the same effect as it did for these candidates:

2010: Worked on Ted Strickland's reelection campaign. Result: LOST
2009: Worked on Governor Jon Corzine's reelection campaign. In Democratic New Jersey. Result: LOST
2009: Worked on Terry McAuliffe's VA gubernatorial campaign, who had major name recognition and outspent everyone else in the race. Result: LOST
2008: Worked on Dan Seals campaign for Congress. In deep blue Illinois in a Democrat wave. LOST
2007: Smith made this "most stupid" comment and apparently got booted from Chris Koster's MO AG campaign

Obama sure knows how to pick 'em...

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Maggi Cook: Plagiarist, ORP Central Committee Candidate

2012-01-18T09:00:00.000-05:00

I avoid writing about myself because I realize I'm boring, but something I read yesterday merits an exception. I was disappointed to learn Maggi Cook is a candidate for the Ohio Republican Party Central Committee in the 7th District. Cook has complained of being pressured to drop out of the race:

“Both sides, especially Kasich, have overreached and overplayed their hands,” Cook said. “It’s a power play by the governor’s staff, and it’s a bit like Joe McCarthy. ‘Trust me little girl, we know best.’ ”

Apart from her hackish McCarthy reference and the implication of sexism - which is doubly stupid because all three candidates are women - Maggi Cook is unsuited for a Central Committee seat because she is a plagiarist. I know because she plagiarized me less than a year ago (view PDF printed 01/17/2012):

Bruce Wyngaard, Associate Executive Director, AFSCME Local 11, had a salary of $94,337 in 2009. Also in 2009, the eleven local staffers of this Public Employee Union were paid more than $5.8 million. All 30,870 members of AFSCME paid approximately $190 each for their local staff.

AFSCME Council 8 President John Lyall was scheduled to testify against Senate Bill 5 today. Lyall was paid $155,482 in 2009. Excluding payments to officers such as Lyall – and $148,265 for First VP Robert Mitchell – AFSCME Council 8 employees were paid more than $5.7 million in 2009. Annual disbursements to union employees equaled more than $155 per member.

The unions spent less than half as much on benefits – pensions, medical insurance, etc. – as on union pay in 2009. AFSCME Local 11 spent a little over $2.5 million on benefits; AFSCME Council 8 spent less than $2 million. Do you really believe that Lyall, Wyngaard and Mitchell are concerned about shops, stores, gas stations and other merchants in communities across this state or do you think they are concerned about their incredibly generous paychecks?

Maggi Cook lifted these three paragraphs without attribution from one of my posts, which had been published at that hero, Third Base Politics, The Buckeye Institute's Liberty Wall, and the Columbus Tea Party site before "her" piece went up. My version:

Public union boss Bruce Wyngaard has a good job - to the tune of $94,337 in 2009. Lots of other American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 11 staffers have good jobs, too: the union paid its employees over $5.8 million in 2009. Taken from 30,870 members, that's the equivalent of nearly $190 per member.

AFSCME Council 8 President John Lyall will testify against Senate Bill 5 on Thursday. Lyall was paid $155,482 in 2009. Think he'll mention that while he's railing about spending cuts? Excluding payments to officers such as Lyall - and $148,265 for First VP Robert Mitchell - AFSCME Council 8 employees were paid more than $5.7 million in 2009. Annual disbursements to union employees equaled more than $155 per member.

For context, the unions spent less than half as much on benefits - pensions, medical insurance, etc. - as on union pay in 2009. AFSCME Local 11 spent a little over $2.5 million on benefits; AFSCME Council 8 spent less than $2 million. Is it unreasonable to conclude the primary service provided by government unions is the enrichment of union bosses?

Clearly, Maggi Cook had plagiarized my research - both on her own site and at Examiner.com - and failed to cite me. Trying to give the benefit of a doubt, I sent her a tweet requesting attribution... and received no response. Another tweet, and still nothing, although her Twitter account was active in the intervening time.

My fellow Third Base Politics (3BP) admin Bytor had communicated with Maggi briefly about an unrelated topic, so I gave him a heads up: this lady plagiarized me, ignored my good-faith effort to reach out, and should probably be avoided in the future.

Bytor sent Maggi a friendly email asking that she cite and link to 3BP when using 3BP content. Maggi plead ignorance. Bytor sent further clarification, including my writing side-by-side with her mangled copy of my writing. Maggi bizarrely insisted he was mistaken. He emailed her a third time, going to even more painstaking lengths to explain she had obviously plagiarized me and obviously should publish quotes as quotes instead of changing a few words and pretending it's her own work.

She never replied.

That was last February. I was happy to ignore Maggi Cook until I learned she's the "Tea Party" candidate for a Central Committee seat. If you're unable to meet 9th-grade requirements for writing and unwilling to admit when you've made a simple mistake, I don't want you anywhere near a leadership position in the Ohio Republican Party.

Of course, I'm in no position to endorse a candidate in the District 7 Central Committee race, but I can affirm Maggi Cook is a plagiarist. If you want a central committee representative who lifts work from fellow Ohioans and plays dumb when called on it, look no further!

Cross-posted at that hero.

Big Labor Partisanship at Teacher Expense

2012-01-17T19:31:00.001-05:00

However they market themselves, public unions are political by nature, brimming partisanship that goes beyond their skewed campaign spending. Every Republican teacher, public safety worker, and government employee forced to pay “fair share” dues should be outraged.

Ohio’s National Education Association (NEA) affiliate, the Ohio Education Association (OEA), takes millions in fees from non-members each year. Operating on NEA’s model, OEA insists all teachers be forced to pay for the union’s non-political business. This would be well and good, if OEA conducted any non-political business.

From the union’s mission statement:

OEA believes that for those whose business is public education, activism is an obligation.

OEA has the same definition of “activism” as every garden variety leftist group: Demand bigger government under the guise of fairness and equality. For example, ACORN’s 2005-06 Political Program (hat tip: Publius’ Forum) lists OEA as a “Coalition Partner” -

We see the combination of these efforts as key to maintaining and expanding the level of electoral participation by more progressive voters in the state, along with playing a role in pushing voter alignment along axes of community concerns and economic security.

In other words, OEA worked with ACORN to push the entitlement mindset and get entitlement-minded voters to the polls. For… the children?

More recently, OEA was listed as a state partner of “Health Care for America NOW” (a lobbying group devoted to socialized medicine) and the Ohio Voter Fund (a coalition of leftists against voter ID).

NEA and its state affiliates are enthusiastic cheerleaders for Keynesian deficit spending, though I wouldn’t want the task of finding a math teacher who insists one minus two equals jobs!

Honestly, NEA’s entire “Education Votes” blog could be an Obama 2012 campaign site. NEA publicly endorsed Obama’s reelection last July, ending hours of heated debate among no one: every Big Labor affiliation and stump speech flies in the face of the lie that partisanship is limited to official campaign spending.

When the public union stranglehold was threatened in Ohio last winter, OEA’s class war machine went into overdrive at the expense of willing and unwilling dues-payers alike. Progressive talking points come easily to a group that instructs members to indoctrinate children on the glories of unionism!

NEA bosses take advantage of the goodwill teachers generate, paying themselves and Democrats handsomely while claiming credit for members’ hard work. Unless you look forward to the second Obama term NEA is sinking millions into, be sure your friends and family know teachers’ unions want higher taxes and bigger government.

There’s much more evidence than what I’ve listed here, and I’ll continue highlighting the ugly Progressive truth about NEA and its partners here in Ohio.

Follow me on Twitter: @jasonahart
Cross-posted from that hero.

Ohio Workers Keep Losing Thanks to Big Labor’s Win

2012-01-13T18:41:00.001-05:00

In Wisconsin, Governor Walker’s public union reforms are pummeling the Big Labor narrative by saving taxpayer dollars and teachers’ jobs. Meanwhile, the professional class-warriors who get rich pushing “solidarity” force districts into layoffs by refusing to revisit unaffordable contracts.

After similar reforms failed in Ohio thanks to a smear campaign exceeding $30 million, Ohio’s public workers are enjoying the sort of union victory that’s often accompanied by a pink slip.

A month ago I shared stories from around the state of firings caused by the same union bosses who screeched against Governor Kasich’s “attack on workers.” To the surprise of neither of my website’s readers, this avoidable trend continues.

Voters who opposed reform have caused the very problems Big Labor insisted reform would create:

Marion Police say they are committed to answering the city’s 9-1-1 calls but come the [sic] January 1st, callers could see delays in response times.

That’s because the [sic] 15 officers are being cut from the department. Another position is expected to be eliminated in 2012.

Emphasis mine. Delayed response times were one of the many unexplained evils that would have allegedly resulted from making public employees a little more accountable to the public.

In Lorain, millions in cuts plus millions borrowed from the state aren’t enough:

The cuts would be in addition to laying off 18 teachers and nine teachers’ aides, which was approved Wednesday night by board members and would save $1.5 million. The layoffs take effect Jan. 23.

In Wapakoneta, home of Neil Armstrong, the teachers’ union is preparing to strike over a pay freeze and increased benefit costs, although administrators and non-union staff have already taken a pay freeze:

The district, like many, has faced difficult financial times. It had $1.2 million of deficit spending last fiscal year and is projected to spend $1.6 million more than its annual revenue this year.

Shelli Jackson, the union’s “Labor Relations Consultant,” was paid $111,811 in member dues last year. An Ohio Education Association-orchestrated strike against a struggling district would be one small notch in her class warfare belt, and one giant kick in the pants for taxpayers.

The Gallia County Schools union has also threatened to strike if they’re asked to pay anything towards their insurance:

Gallia County Schools Superintendent Charla Evans told WSAZ.com the board has made several offers they believe to be fair. She said the school system is spending more than it is taking in. The teachers and support staff have rejected both offers.

In Hancock County, the Van Buren Education Association threatened a strike when their school board voted to impose a final offer with inadequate raises:

That offer included a two-year contract that freezes teacher salaries this year, with a 1.12 percent raise in the 2012-13 school year.

Teachers who are on the single health care plan are also required to pay more toward benefits.

Threatening to strike when asked to pay slightly more towards insurance is a common public union tactic because it works. For Exhibit A in the National Education Association’s top-down mastery of class warfare, refer again to the results of the Ohio union reform campaign.

Exit survey: How un-frozen has your salary been over the past few years? When is the last time you heard a public employer suggest a pay cut? What do you expect will happen to teachers without seniority when local unions squeeze school boards into contracts they cannot afford?

Cross-posted from that hero and Big Government.

Maybe this is why the White house tried to hide Biden's Columbus fundraiser

2012-01-13T12:42:00.001-05:00

Earlier this week on Monday, we told you about how Vice President Joe Biden was holding a fundraiser during his visit to the Columbus area. 3BP reported this information before any of the media did.

GLHS just happens to be the alma mater of yours truly, so its pretty exciting to see my old high school get a visit from a sitting Vice President. I might even say that it's a "big f-ing deal", but for the fact that Joe Biden is such a buffoon, that even Barack Obama must wish that he had chosen someone else to be his "foreign policy expert".

However, what is not being reported is Biden's other appointment on Thursday. The White House doesn't want you to know, but Third Base Politics has learned that Biden will attend a private fundraiser in downtown Columbus that same evening.

Only on Thursday, the day of Biden's visit, did Ohio newspapers finally mention the fundraiser Biden was in town to attend.

In emails, the Ohio GOP and Republican National Committee say Biden’s trip has a political purpose — he’ll also attend a private fundraiser at the Athletic Club of Columbus on Thursday evening to raise money for Obama’s re-election campaign.

I initially assumed that the White House wanted to keep the fundraiser on the hush-hush so that it would look like he actually came to town just to talk to the students, (which was really just another campaign event, anyway.)

But information from the Dispatch's Joe Vardon actually makes me think there was another reason.

40?!

Seriously? The Vice President of the United States traveled to a swing state and could only draw 40 people, and raised a measly $40,000?

Yeah. I wouldn't want people to know about that, either.

http://twitter.com/Bytor3BP

An excellent video illustration of our debt problem

2012-01-13T10:31:00.002-05:00

President Obama has just requested that the US debt ceiling be increased. Again. Didn't we just have this debate?

And yes, while under his watch, the annual deficits have skyrocketed to 4 times the highest deficit under George W. Bush, Obama isn't the only guilty party. But he and his party certainly lead the charge to demonize ANY attempt to solve this problem by reforming the entitlements that are increasingly unsustainable.

Medicare and Social Security must be changed. Americans need to understand this. This video is a great illustration of how absurd it is that Congress continues to ignore the problem.

Please share this video and visit http://www.debtlimitusa.org for more info on how you can help spread the word.

http://twitter.com/Bytor3BP

You! Yes, you! We still need you to chip in $20 to bring clean water to people who need it

2012-01-11T21:08:00.000-05:00

It only takes $20 to help us dig a clean water well for a village that has nothing. Please join us in helping people who are truly among the world's poorest.

See all of the details, and the link to donate here.

Thank you.

Water Changes Everything. from charity: water on Vimeo.

Follow @Bytor3BP

Ohio liberals put their class and maturity on display

2012-01-11T16:44:00.001-05:00

This is just sad.

The state asked for suggestions for slogans to be put on Ohio's new license plates. Suggestions that would show what pride we have in our state. Suggestions of what Ohio has to offer. The Plain Dealer has a story on the results.

About three-quarters of the nearly 400,000 responses the state received contained the word God, with most of those settling on Ohio's motto, "With God, all things are possible."

The suggestions were solicited by the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles as part of a promotional campaign for the new plates.

Of course, with any anonymous suggestion process like this, you're going to get your share of people who submit entries that are full of profanity and sexual slurs. It's a reality of life, but still kind of a sad statement on society.

Unless you are the Plunderpals. Then it is something to celebrate and publish with glee. Exhibiting all the class and maturity of your average middle-schooler, the left-wing Ohio blog Plunderbund actually dug through the list to find all the naughty words and proudly published them for all to see.

As of this afternoon, the Plain Dealer has all of the responses online in a searchable database. As they point out, a lot of the suggestions have to do with God or Lebron James, but a great deal of them also refer to John Kasich, and most of those were unprintable in the Plain Dealer’s article.

Thankfully, we don’t have the same constraints.

Not only did they publish them, but judging from the comments, their audience laps it up and thinks it's all great stuff. Plunderbund actually appears to take some pride in having encouraged people to go online and submit vulgar phrases.

Back in October John Kasich asked Ohioans to suggest slogans to appear on Ohio’s new license plates.

At the time, we made some suggestions, and it turns out we may have had at least a little impact on the over 400,000 responses received by the Ohio BMV.

So, first they suggested that the new plates were some sort of Kasich conspiracy to take a swipe at public employees, and then they boast about the profane suggestions and how they helped to encourage them.

That says more about them and their readers than any criticism we could issue. Whatever floats your boat, I suppose.

Like I said, it's just kind of sad.

http://twitter.com/Bytor3BP

Athens County Commissioner arrested for domestic violence again

2012-01-11T13:32:00.002-05:00

Democrat Mark Sullivan, an Athens County Commissioner, has been arrested for head-butting his niece in the face.

Sullivan is accused of head-butting his niece, Samantha Sullivan, Tuesday evening. Nelsonville police responded to Sullivan's Nelsonville Woodland Drive residence and took him into custody, booking the commissioner into the Southeastern Ohio Regional Jail at 7 p.m.

WOUB also reports:

Mark Sullivan is being released from the Southeast Ohio Regional Jail on his own recognizance, but has been ordered to have no contact with his niece.

That means he has to find a new place to live, since he lives with his niece.

Yes, folks. Mark Sullivan, 59 years old, lives with his mom. Maybe he wouldn't have needed to move back in with his mother if it weren't for his many legal issues. This wasn't his first time in trouble with the law.

Last year, Sullivan was also arrested for domestic violence after reportedly hitting his wife.

Athens County Commissioner Mark Sullivan has pleaded guilty to a reduced charge in a domestic violence case. On Tuesday, Sullivan pleaded guilty in Athens County Municipal Court to persistent disorderly conduct, and was fined $250.

Judge Thomas Cornn also gave Sullivan 30 days in jail, suspended on condition that he perform 25 days of community service, and complete counseling and a domestic violence intervention program.

Sounds like the intervention program isn't working out so well. It doesn't end there. In 2010, Sullivan was arrested for disorderly conduct and spent the night in jail after getting drunk and causing trouble at a local bar.

Athens County Commissioner Mark Sullivan was arrested in Nelsonville Saturday night for allegedly being drunk and disorderly in a bar, and a minor drug abuse charge was added after officers at the regional jail found two prescription drug tablets in his pocket.

[Police Chief] Wallace said his department responded to a call from the Mine Tavern on Nelsonville's Public Square that Sullivan was causing trouble, and when asked by officers, Sullivan agreed to leave the premises.

However, the chief said, the commissioner then returned to the bar later in the night, and when police were called again, they arrested him. Based on a police incident report, the arrest appears to have taken place shortly before 11 p.m.

To top it all off, Sullivan is also under investigation for growing pot. His wife claimed that he grew it on the property and dried it inside the house.

Blackburn said that on July 20, Sullivan's wife, Tammie Sullivan who has previously made allegations of domestic violence against the commissioner called the Athens County Sheriff's Office to report that pot plants were growing behind the couple's home. Reportedly, she also claimed marijuana had been dried upstairs in the home. She allegedly directed officers to the plants and also produced marijuana seeds from a vehicle. Officers seized 39 plants, according to Blackburn.

Despite the plants and the seeds, Sullivan says he is innocent.

It's gotten to the point where Democrat-friendly newspapers The Athens News and The Athens Messenger have urged the Democrat to resign.

But this is Athens County, where the largest employer is Ohio University. It's easily one of the most left-wing counties in the state. Sullivan knows that he can misbehave, and his Democrat constituents will keep voting for him.

He has been in office since 1999, and is running for reelection. He faces primary challanges, but is expected to win both the primary and the general election. Gotta love those crazy liberals in Athens County. We're still waiting for the Ohio Democratic Party to ask him to resign.

http://twitter.com/Bytor3BP

More lies from Obama's Campaign

2012-01-11T10:03:00.000-05:00

From Obama's Campaign:

Mitt Romney just won the New Hampshire primary. A lot of people think he's going to be the Republican nominee. We don't know that for sure. From here on, anything can happen. Do you want to have a president who says he likes to fire people? There's only one candidate in this race fighting for the middle class -- and that's our guy. Please chip in $3 or more to help build this campaign:

As Ronald Regan said, Facts are stubborn things. Here is what Romney actually had to say:

Did Chris Redfern engineer Kucinich's exit from Congress?

2012-01-10T22:27:00.001-05:00

The Dennis and Marcy primary saga continues.

First, a look at Kucinich's and Kaptur's districts as they stand today, before redistricting. Dennis's 10th comprises most of western Cuyahoga county. Marcy, in the 9th, represents most of Lucas County (including Toledo), all of Ottawa and Erie Counties, and western and southern Lorain County where I live.

We knew that we were going to lose 2 seats in Congress, and the speculation began as to which seats would be drawn together to condense the map from 18 districts to 16. It was widely anticipated that Dennis would be eliminated by the Republican majority. But in September, when we first saw the new map, it looked like the one below.

Both Kucinich's and Kaptur's seats had been drawn together, and Dennis was elated that he kept a large portion of his most loyal support.

Dear Friends,

We have a district! The race is on! In a stunning development, the redistricting gave most of the Republican part of my old district to three incumbent Republican congressmen and left most of the Democratic part of my district intact.

What happened next is that the Ohio Democratic Party stomped their feet and threatened to put the map to a voter referendum, which would've put the map on hold. You can read the entire history here, but in the end, the map below is what was finalized in December.

What happened was that while Republicans were negotiating to alter the map to get enough Democrats aboard, the new 9th was changed, and the advantage swung back to Marcy Kaptur. The Toledo Blade has some good analysis of the district here. Dennis, of course, was not happy about this. Check out what he said even before the redrawn map was made public. He knew who to blame: his fellow Democrats in the statehouse.

In the past week a mind-boggling number of re-mapping efforts by Democrats in the Ohio General Assembly have been made to try to reshape our district in such a way as to dilute the strength of my core constituency in Cleveland, Cuyahoga County. Yes, the Republicans drew a Democratic district, using most of my present district and creating a seat which is based in the Cleveland area. This map gave the advantage to my constituents in the greater Cleveland area. I have said so. Some statehouse Democrats want to repeal this map. I don't.

Then, this past Saturday, Brent Larkin of the Plain Dealer dropped a bombshell. He says Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern orchestrated the change. Why would he do this? Because he has his eye on the seat for the eventual day that Kaptur retires, and wanted to shift the influence of the district back towards Northwest Ohio, his home base.

Part of what happened is Kucinich got mugged by his own party chair. Four people with firsthand knowledge of what transpired, but who declined to be identified for fear of retribution, fingered Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern as a key proponent of changing the boundaries to benefit Kaptur.

The change makes it likely that much of Greater Cleveland, the foundation of the state's Democratic base, will be represented in Congress for the next decade by someone who resides in western Ohio.

Redfern did not return a phone call. But both he and State Rep. Matt Szollosi, the assistant House minority leader, live in Northwest Ohio and are believed to covet Kaptur's seat in Congress when she leaves it. Szollosi voted for the map that shifted votes to Northwest Ohio.

Did Dennis really get thrown under the pirate ship by the ODP Chairman? Redfern says Larkin is a liar.

"He tends to invent things," Redfern said, referring to Larkin. "And in this case, he invented one on Sunday."

“It’s good that he’s retired. I just wish that he’d focus at times on the truth rather than inventing his own version of the facts.”

ODP Chairman Chris Redfern

Other facts tend to back up Larkin's story, though. He is running for the Ohio House in his Northwest Ohio district. He is relatively young, and could spend quite a few years building a power base from the Ohio House while he waits for Marcy to finally retire. On the flip side, however, Kaptur has given no indication she will retire any time soon. She has been in Congress a LONG time, and soon could be her party's ranking member on the powerful Appropriations committee, making her chairman if the Dems ever took back the majority. That's not something someone gives up lightly.

Don't count Dennis out, though. He has pulled out tough wins before in his career. One thing is for sure. Joe the Plumber and the other Republicans are wasting their time. No Republican will ever hold this seat.

But the Kaptur/Kucinich battle will be one more fun thing to watch on primary night.

http://twitter.com/Bytor3BP

Joe Biden coming back to Columbus to raise money

2012-01-09T20:48:00.002-05:00

So, VP Joe Biden is coming to Ohio again this week. According to the White House, he is only coming to speak to students at Gahanna Lincoln High School.

Vice President Joe Biden will visit Gahanna Lincoln High School on Thursday afternoon to talk about college affordability with high-school students and their parents, officials said.

Biden, accompanied by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, will speak at noon during a town hall-style meeting at one of the high school’s gymnasiums, said Michael Straughter, spokesman for the Gahanna-Jefferson school district.

GLHS just happens to be the alma mater of yours truly, so its pretty exciting to see my old high school get a visit from a sitting Vice President. I might even say that it's a "big f-ing deal", but for the fact that Joe Biden is such a buffoon, that even Barack Obama must wish that he had chosen someone else to be his "foreign policy expert".

However, what is not being reported is Biden's other appointment on Thursday. The White House doesn't want you to know, but Third Base Politics has learned that Biden will attend a private fundraiser in downtown Columbus that same evening. It will also be interesting to see if Sherrod Brown makes himself scarce like he did when Obama came to Ohio last week. Maybe he will hide from Joe in the same steakhouse that he hid out in last Wednesday.

So, enjoy the visit, Golden Lions. But don't think that Joe came to see you. He's just stopping by to campaign on the way to his real reason for flying to Columbus.

Follow @Bytor3BP

The State Against Blacks Revisited

2012-01-06T16:28:00.001-05:00

In early 2011, the Wall Street Journal had an interview with Walter Williams, an economist at George Mason University. Mr. Williams raises many issues that appear to explain the destuction of the black family, and related metrics that seem to explain the "inequality" that so many in the main stream media chirp about. Here are some key comments made by Mr. Williams:

"We lived in the Richard Allen housing projects" in Philadelphia, says Mr. Williams. "My father deserted us when I was three and my sister was two. But we were the only kids who didn't have a mother and father in the house. These were poor black people and a few whites living in a housing project, and it was unusual not to have a mother and father in the house. Today, in the same projects, it would be rare to have a mother and father in the house." Even in the antebellum era, when slaves often weren't permitted to wed, most black children lived with a biological mother and father. During Reconstruction and up until the 1940s, 75% to 85% of black children lived in two-parent families. Today, more than 70% of black children are born to single women. "The welfare state has done to black Americans what slavery couldn't do, what Jim Crow couldn't do, what the harshest racism couldn't do," Mr. Williams says. "And that is to destroy the black family."

On the economic front, Mr. Williams observes:

Mr. Williams distinguished himself in the mid-1970s through his research on the effects of the Davis-Bacon Act of 1931—which got the government involved in setting wage levels—and on the impact of minimum-wage law on youth and minority unemployment. He concluded that minimum wages caused high rates of teenage unemployment, particularly among minority teenagers. His research also showed that Davis-Bacon, which requires high prevailing (read: union) wages on federally financed or assisted construction projects, was the product of lawmakers with explicitly racist motivations. One of Congress's goals at the time was to stop black laborers from displacing whites by working for less money.... Today just 17% of construction workers are unionized, but Democratic politicians, in deference to the AFL-CIO, have kept Davis-Bacon in place to protect them. Because most black construction workers aren't union members, however, the law has the effect of freezing them out of jobs. It also serves to significantly increase the costs of government projects, since there are fewer contractors to bid on them than there would be without Davis-Bacon.

Adding to the economic dimension, Mr. Williams says:

In his first book, "The State Against Blacks," arguing that laws regulating economic activity are far larger impediments to black progress than racial bigotry and discrimination. Nearly 30 years later, he stands by that premise. The 70% illegitimacy rate is a devastating problem, but it doesn't have a damn thing to do with racism. The fact that in some areas black people are huddled in their homes at night, sometimes serving meals on the floor so they don't get hit by a stray bullet—that's not because the Klan is riding through the neighborhood."

What I find encouraging is Williams making the comment that:

"If there is anything good to be said about the Democratic White House and the [previous] Congress and their brazen attempt to take over the economy and control our lives, it's that the tea party movement has come out of it. But we have gone so far from the basic constitutional principles that made us a great country that it's a question of whether we can get back. "You find more and more black people—not enough in my opinion but more and more—questioning the status quo," he says. "When I fill in for Rush, I get emails from blacks who say they agree with what I'm saying. And there are a lot of white people questioning ideas on race, too. "

Here is a table from Mary Perry at the Carpe Diem blog. It shows how the breakdown of families and the resulting fallout leads to inequality, which results in a continuation of the destruction of families. A number of studies indicate that blacks are a disproportionate portion of welfare recipients.

Looking at this table, it is clear that there are stong correlations between the following items: Income, two parent families, having a full time job, no jobs at all (negative correlation), and Education (a college degree). As to what is the chicken and what is the egg, I tend to side with Mr. Williams, it's the destruction of the black family. It's time to think about different government policies regarding the poor and lower middle class to avoid the inequality that future generations will face. Welfare reform benefits have been hard to see, but with the money that is spent on the Welfare, there has to be a better solution than having people on the government dole.

That being said, being poor in America is not what most people envision.

Finding a durable solution to the Welfare State is a win-win for taxpayers and welfare recipeients.

Sherrod Brown is taking credit for John Kasich's successes

2012-01-05T22:50:00.001-05:00

Senator Sherrod Brown sent out an email today, telling everyone what he has been doing for Northeast Ohio in the last quarter. And boy, has he been busy! Brown has done some terrific work, including finding "ways to create jobs and strengthen our economy."

For example, he's fighting to protect a program for the Ohio National Guard and to save the US Postal Service. He also honored some Northeast Ohio veterans. And to top it all off, he helped create 400 new jobs at Republic Steel in Lorain and save 1,400 jobs at the Ford Plant in Avon Lake.

Wait...WHAT!?

Sherrod Brown is taking credit for Ohio jobs created and retained directly as a result of Governor Kasich's efforts.

As we told you in November, the Republic Steel expansion was a direct result of work done by Kasich and the team at JobsOhio. Oh, and remember this video of the Ford worker we showed you in December? Whose leadership did this UAW worker credit with saving the jobs at the Avon Lake plant?

Governor Kasich's leadership. As in not Sherrod Brown.

Brown tries to posit that he deserves the credit because his vote for the auto bailouts helped save the Ford jobs, even though...um...Ford didn't take a bailout. No, seriously, this is what he says:

With more than 792,000 Ohio jobs dependent upon the auto industry, Sen. Brown has been an outspoken advocate for Ohio’s auto industry.

While Ford did not require assistance through the auto restructuring, saving the auto industry prevented damage to the entire supply chain.

Bull. The Ford plant was saved because JobsOhio worked with Ford to insource existing truck production from Mexico to Ohio. So, what's his rationale for claiming he worked to bring the 400 new Republic Steel jobs?

Sen. Brown has been a strong supporter of Ohio’s steel industry. In Dec. 2009 and Sept. 2010, Brown testified before the International Trade Commission on behalf of Ohio steel workers in Lorain, Youngstown, and Warren. The ruling helped increase demand for domestic production.

That's quite a stretch, Senator. But even if it were true, Republic was considering expanding in other states or even in Mexico. It was the leadership and incentives offered by Governor Kasich's team that brought those jobs to Ohio.

This is shameful, Senator Brown. Not only do you take credit for jobs you had zero involvement with, you leave out the biggest part of the story, which is that these announcements were the results of work done by the Kasich administration.

Here is a link (3MB file) to the screen capture of Brown's entire email. I only get his Northeast Ohio edition. I assume he sends out different ones to the state's other regions. If anyone out there has them and would forward them to us, it would be appreciated. Our contact info is on the top right of the blog. I'm curious to see if Sherrod is taking credit for Governor Kasich's other new jobs successes, as well.

Follow @Bytor3BP

Sherrod Brown hid out in steakhouse while Obama spoke in Ohio

2012-01-05T16:44:00.001-05:00

Yesterday, we told you about how Senator Sherrod Brown was nowhere to be seen when Barack Obama spoke in suburban Cleveland yesterday.

Sherrod can't use Senate business as an excuse. He is in Ohio today.

What Sherrod and Obama WANT you to believe is that he had pre-existing appointments. But we are talking about the President of the United States here. Most members of Congress are eager to be seen with the leader of the free world in front of their constituents.

And when you look at Sherrod Brown's history of attending Obama's visits to Ohio, his excuse makes even less sense.

We then shared with you the list of Obama's visits to Ohio and Brown's excellent attendance of those visits that...suddenly changed about 4 months ago.

The President was at the high school from roughly 12:45 to 2:15. Where was Sherrod Brown, who is also up for reelection this year, during that time period?

Eating steak.

Watch the video below, where Senator Brown was seen entering Mitchell's Steakhouse at 12:15 and hiding out from Obama in there until 1:30.

Sherrod Brown votes with Obama's positions 98% of the time. So, why is he so afraid to stand publicly with the president in front of his fellow Ohioans?

http://twitter.com/Bytor3BP

Republican Governors Association brings in record haul

2012-01-05T16:01:00.001-05:00

Republican Mike Pence is running for Indiana Governor

This is not good news for Ted Strickland, Richard Cordray, Tim Ryan, or whoever else is considering challenging Governor Kasich in 2014. The Republican Governors Association (RGA) continues to get better and better at raising money. They just announced their total for 2011, and it was a huge year.

The Republican Governors Association raised $44.1 million in 2011, more than doubling its fundraising total from 2007, the last comparable election year. The RGA also carried forward into 2012 $26.6 million, giving the RGA more cash on hand than any other political party committee.

How did Democrat Governors do in comparison? They came up embarrassingly short, raising only $20 million last year. All of the momemtum is on the RGA's side. While the RGA more than doubled its total from 2007, the DGA only brought in 57% more.

It almost makes you feel bad for Lis Smith, the Director of Communications for the DGA. She has a history of working for employers who lose. First, Jon Corzine, then Ted Strickland, and now the DGA. She has to come out and spin this, and the best she can do is to say "umm, it doesn't matter how much money the RGA has because it doesn't help them win!".

In 2010, the RGA helped to flip 6 governorships back into the red column, including here in Ohio, of course. (Remember that, Lis? I bet Ted Strickland remembers how effective the RGA was!) That put Republicans back in control of the majority of states, with 29 governorships compared to 20 for Democrats.

Even better news for the GOP is that 2012 looks to be a brutal year for Democrats in governors' races. There are 11 races this year, and 8 of them are currently blue. That is a lot of seats to defend, especially with an unpopular president on the ticket. The 3 seats that Republicans have to defend are extremely safe (UT, ND and IN), and RGA chairman Bob McDonnell plans to use the RGA's superior resources to "go on offense" in those other 8 races. Of the Washington Post's list of the 5 most likely governorships to change parties, all 5 are Democrats.

With a year such as this, the RGA may be able to bank a lot of what they have raised to build a bigger warchest for 2014. That's good news for John Kasich.

http://twitter.com/Bytor3BP

Is Kevin DeWine Misleading ORP Donors?

2012-01-05T09:15:00.000-05:00

During the flood of uniformly annoying December 31 fundraising mailers, Kevin DeWine and the Ohio Republican Party (ORP) sent an email titled, "Every Dollar Raised in Ohio, Stays in Ohio." Does this mean ORP has severed ties with Brett Buerck and his Florida consulting firm, Majority Strategies?

As recently as November 2, 2011, The Columbus Dispatch covered ORP's Buerck connection:

Ohio GOP Chairman Kevin DeWine wouldn’t address whether the comeback of Buerck and Sisk was controversial for the party. But he and a spokesman for the Romney campaign separately vouched for the work of Buerck’s firm.

During the 2010 statewide campaign, the state party paid Majority Strategies about $1.8 million. It also paid $3.3 million for direct-mail services to King Strategic Communications, a firm owned by Joe King, a former Ohio GOP official who also did campaign work for Gov. John Kasich — who tried to depose DeWine.

“We were quite pleased with the performance of both vendors,” DeWine said of the Buerck and King firms.

Emphasis mine. Is Majority Strategies of Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida still an ORP vendor? If so, it's awfully misleading to say "every dollar raised in Ohio, stays in Ohio" when what you mean is that every dollar is spent on Ohio campaigns.

A screencap of the complete message follows; there are several references to donations remaining in-state, starting with the subject line. In the first paragraph:

Every generous dollar you donate to the Ohio Republican Party stays right here in Ohio.

In the fourth paragraph:

Every dollar goes toward ensuring we work together to advance conservative policy and support Republican candidates right here in the Buckeye State.

In the closing:

Remember, every dime you give to the Ohio Republican Party, stays in Ohio!

Out of four references to donations staying in-state, one asserts only that money will be spent on Ohio races and three suggest money will not leave the state.

I ask again: is Majority Strategies still an ORP vendor? If DeWine is still sending big bucks to a Florida consultant, this email represents unacceptable dishonesty to donors.

I do not like writing about ORP infighting; if you're wondering why I'm bothering to follow this Democrat-fodder story, allow me to defer to Tom Blumer of BizzyBlog. During the 2010 primary I foolishly assumed I could trust the Ohio Republican Party, but Kevin DeWine taught me the error of my ways.

I've covered the reasons Ohio conservatives should be leery of Buerck, whose contracts with ORP appear to have resumed in 2008 before DeWine became party chairman. Unfair as it may be, there's no statute of limitations on a blotted record - even though criminal charges were never leveled against Buerck following the scandal several years ago.

The Dispatch story quoted above mentions DeWine wouldn't discuss whether working with Buerck had caused a stir in the Central Committee. I wonder what sort of input Committee members have had since November, whether they are willing to send millions to Buerck's firm today, and how they feel about this email!

Click for the full size image:

Obama gives the finger to the Democratic process

2012-01-05T06:28:00.001-05:00

From Obama's "grass roots" Organizing for America:

President Obama has been saying for months he won't wait around for Congress to get middle-class families and working Americans back on their feet. He'll work with Congress when he can, but if they refuse to act -- he will. So today the President appointed former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray as Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. For months, Senate Republicans -- with Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum right behind them -- have fought this bureau every step of the way, and their latest strategy is to refuse to allow even an up-or-down vote on this nomination. The issue isn't his qualifications: Cordray has bipartisan support from elected officials across the country and a clear majority of the Senate behind him.
They won't allow a confirmation vote on any director -- because they don't want the agency to exist at all. We can't afford to continue allowing Wall Street to write its own rules. But today's action by the President is already coming under partisan attack, which we expect to intensify in the days to come. Say you stand with President Obama and Richard Cordray today. Without a director, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is legally prevented from doing its job to protect millions of Americans -- including those of us with credit cards, mortgages, student loans, or home equity lines. But with Mr. Cordray at the helm, the agency will make sure payday lenders, private student loan providers, debt collectors, and the like have to play by the rules. That's what this campaign is all about: electing a President who makes sure everyone plays by the same rules and gets a fair shake. But Mitt Romney apparently doesn't think consumers deserve any protection at all from predatory lenders and other bad actors. His plan to fix the economy is simply to deregulate it. His proposal for the housing market is to let it "hit the bottom" so that investors can come in and make a quick buck. The President thinks we need a cop on the beat preventing the reckless behavior that helped cause the financial crisis and so many problems for middle-class families in the first place. But if the past is any guide, the GOP and Romney are not going to let this happen without a fight. They'll be doing everything they can to stand in Cordray's way. Tell President Obama and Richard Cordray that you're standing with them:

Democrats in their own words, including Obama:

Dems: Recess Appointments Are An ‘Abuse Of Power,’ ‘Troubling’

THEN-SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL): Recess appointments ‘the wrong thing to do.’ “‘It’s the wrong thing to do. John Bolton is the wrong person for the job,’ said Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., a member of Foreign Relations Committee.” (“Officials: White House To Bypass Congress For Bolton Nomination,” The Associated Press, 7/30/05)

·

OBAMA: A recess appointee is ‘damaged goods… we will have less credibility.’ “To some degree, he's damaged goods… somebody who couldn't get through a nomination in the Senate. And I think that that means that we will have less credibility...” (“Bush Sends Bolton To U.N.” The State Journal-Register [Springfield, IL], 8/2/05)

SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV): ‘An end run around the Senate and the Constitution.’ “I will keep the Senate in pro forma session to block the President from doing an end run around the Senate and the Constitution with his controversial nominations.” (Sen. Reid, Congressional Record, S.15980, 12/19/07)

·

REID: ‘They are mischievous.’ “Also, understand this: We have had a difficult problem with the President now for some time. We don't let him have recess appointments because they are mischievous, and unless we have an agreement before the recess, there will be no recess. We will meet every third day pro forma, as we have done during the last series of breaks.” (Sen. Reid, Congressional Record, S.7558, 7/28/08)

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REID: Recess appointments an ‘abuse of power.’ “Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) denounced the appointment as ‘the latest abuse of power by the Bush administration,’ adding that Bolton would arrive at the UN ‘with a cloud hanging over his head’ because he could not win confirmation.” (“Bush Puts Bolton In UN Post,” Chicago Tribune, 8/2/05)

·

REID: A recess appointee will have ‘a cloud hanging over his head.’ “Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) denounced the appointment as ‘the latest abuse of power by the Bush administration,’ adding that Bolton would arrive at the UN ‘with a cloud hanging over his head’ because he could not win confirmation.” (“Bush Puts Bolton In UN Post,” Chicago Tribune, 8/2/05)

SEN. DICK DURBIN (D-IL): ‘Troubling.’ “When you have an appointment that is this critical and this sensitive, and the president basically says he's going to ignore the will of the senate and push someone through, it really is troubling.” (“Bush Sends Bolton To U.N.” The State Journal-Register [Springfield, IL], 8/2/05)

·

DURBIN: ‘Could easily be unconstitutional.’ “I agree with Senator Kennedy that Mr. Pryor's recess appointment, which occurred during a brief recess of Congress, could easily be unconstitutional. It was certainly confrontational. Recess appointments lack the permanence and independence contemplated by the Framers of the Constitution.” (Sen. Durbin, Congressional Record, S.6253, 6/9/05)

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA): Recess appointments an ‘abuse [of] the power of the presidency.’ “‘It’s sad but not surprising that this White House would abuse the power of the presidency to reward a donor over the objections of the Senate,’ Kerry said in a statement ...” (“Recess Appointments Granted to ‘Swift Boat’ Donor, 2 Other Nominees,” The Washington Post, 4/5/07)

SEN. FRANK LAUTENBERG (D-NJ): “…bends the rules and circumvents the will of Congress.” (“President Sends Bolton to U.N.; Bypasses Senate,” The New York Times, 8/2/05)

SEN. MAX BAUCUS (D-MT): “Senate confirmation of presidential appointees is an essential process prescribed by the Constitution that serves as a check on executive power and protects Montanans and all Americans by ensuring that crucial questions are asked of the nominee — and answered…” (“Dem Baucus Joins GOP In Blasting Obama CMS Recess Appointment,” The Hill, 7/7/10)

Senator Richard Shelby articulates the concerns that have been voiced by Senate Republicans: Apparently a "Constitutional Lawyer" doesn't believe in the checks and balances that our founding fathers thought were important to the Democratic process.