****Want to read something interesting? The following is from the Ohio GOP website:
Stark County GOP on Democrat John Boccieri announcement to run for Congress in 16th District
John Boccieri wants to do for the 16th Congressional District what he’s done for the Mahoning Valley. Boccieri is from the Youngstown area. Boccieri talked about the needs of the 16th Congressional District, but being from the Youngstown area he has no firsthand knowledge whatsoever of the needs of North Canton, Canton, Massillon, and the other areas he now wants to represent. Youngstown and Mahoning County are in horrendous shape, with unemployment at 6.4%, Boccieri has displayed his inability to solve those problems.
Stark County Republican Party Chairman Curt Braden said “The Democrats are so desperate for this seat that they have brought in a carpetbagger. The 16th District has an experienced, dedicated Congressman in Ralph Regula.....
I thought the Republican attack on Boccieri was hilarious. The Ohio Republicans don't want you to know that Republican Rep. Paul Gillmor (OH-5) doesn't live in his district. Even though Gillmor claims he resides in Old Fort, Ohio, Gillmor's son lives at the Old Fort residence. According the the Buckeye State Blog:
...From yesterday's Toledo Blade, we learned the Gilmor's have bought a new home . . . near Columbus. . . hundreds of miles away from the district in a transaction involving lobbying company and campaign contributor.
But you wouldn't know Gilmor bought from the Union County Recorder's Office.
Mortgage and sales documents kept by the county recorder show the owner to be a subsidiary of a prominent law firm, lobbyist, and campaign contributor to Mr. Gillmor.
. . .In 1996, the Gillmors bought a four-bedroom, 3,571 square-foot house in Dublin for $364,900, according to the Franklin County auditor.
They sold that house for $460,000 March 27 . . . Only four days earlier, Mr. Gillmor satisfied a $966,900 adjustable rate mortgage on a Dublin property in Union County titled to the Zenith Holding and Trading Corp. since 2004. Mr. Gillmor's name appears nowhere on the mortgage release....
...In the disclosure Mr. Gillmor filed last year, there is no mention of Zenith Holding or a house under construction at a golf course.
And what does Congressman Gillmor have to say about this entire transaction?
"There's nothing unethical or unusual," Mr. Gillmor said. "It's all pretty much above-board." (Emphasis added.)
AND...
Here is the Toledo Blade article mentioned by the Buckeye State Blog-----
...This new home, all three stories and four garages, also is in Dublin, but it lies along an Arnold Palmer golf course. This is clearly a case of movin’ on up for the congressman and his wife, Karen, who serves on the State Employee Relations Board, and their three sons.
We have no objection to upward mobility — Mr. Gillmor’s personal wealth has increased to somewhere between $2.6 million and $27.8 million — but a congressman who lives outside his district is breaking faith with the people who elected him....
The concluding paragraph from the Toledo Blade---
....In that context, his attitude suggests that of a royalist French duke who prefers Paris: “I’ll be happy to serve the 5th District, just don’t expect me to live among the serfs.”
Why is it okay for Gillmor to live outside his district?
**I just saw this post over at Crooks and Liars. Apparently, extreme right winger, Jonah Goldberg, wants to do away with public schools. Here is the post by Steve Benen---
Jonah Goldberg offers a new talking point for the GOP: close public schools.
Here’s a good question for you: Why have public schools at all?
OK, cue the marching music. We need public schools because blah blah blah and yada yada yada. We could say blah is common culture and yada is the government’s interest in promoting the general welfare. Or that children are the future. And a mind is a terrible thing to waste. Because we can’t leave any child behind.
The problem with all these bromides is that they leave out the simple fact that one of the surest ways to leave a kid “behind” is to hand him over to the government. Americans want universal education, just as they want universally safe food. But nobody believes that the government should run 90% of the restaurants, farms and supermarkets. Why should it run 90% of the schools — particularly when it gets terrible results?
Let’s do all we can to share Goldberg’s words of wisdom to American families from coast to coast — the right wants to shut down your local public school and privatize education. That ought to go over well.
Obviously, the right wingers like Goldberg and Republicans are so accustomed to their privileged, private club, fine dining, private school lifestyle, that they have no connection with real life and death issues. Isn't Jonah within the age to serve in the military??????
