A Slap in the Face

Looks like Steve Stivers has decided to skip the big Sarah Palin-Ohio Right to Life shindig. According to the Buckeye State Blog, Stivers plans to do his own fundraiser with the California governor. I'm sure this will certainly offend those on the right who were thinking about supporting him. Many people in the Ohio Right group thought that Stivers was not conservative enough on their issues. There have already been some grumblings about Stivers.

Will this obvious slap in the face force the Ohio Righties to abstain from voting for Stivers and support David Ryon instead? Is it possible that Steve Stivers thinks he doesn't need the Ohio Right to win? Why is he refusing to meet with his base?

McCain

At the health care summit, President Obama had to deal with grumpy Sen. John McCain. It might be that McCain still isn't over the fact that he LOST!

Washington Examiner:

....McCain said the bill "was produced with unsavory deal-making" and he harkened back to the 2008 presidential campaign when, as the GOP nominee, he and Obama pledged to put a stop to it.

"We promised change in Washington and what we got was a process that you and I both said we would change," MCain said.

When Obama got the microphone back, he was quick to slap down McCain, telling him, "we are not campaigning any more, the election is over."

(Link)

McCain must be getting a little old because he can't even discuss the topic at hand. He sounds like a cranky, unhappy, old man.

Here is what a writer at Gather.com had to say about McCain:

First off, why is John McCain even at today's health care summit organized by President Obama? He sat there looking smug and childish throughout the first section of the discussion. Then when given a chance to talk in the second section he dropped all pretense of being there to work towards a solution in health care. He was there simply to play partisan games like a spoiled brat angry that he didn't win Miss Congeniality at the prom.

I give President Obama credit for largely ignoring McCain's schoolyard ploy, acknowledging that McCain was merely venting talking points with no attempt at serious legislating, and moved on to have Secretary Sebelius. Obama is an adult, I'm sorry to say that Senator McCain, whom I once held in high regard, has proven to be immature and, frankly, an embarrassment to his colleagues.....

Americans aren't concerned with talking points or even crabby, old John McCain. We want progress on health care. Can you believe that the Republicans said that they never hear complaints about the cost and availability of health care!!!!! That sounds like a challenge.

In case you're interested in facts and figures, Open Secrets has this little tidbit about John McCain:

During John McCain's career, he has accepted $2,910,303 in campaign funds from those associated with the insurance industry. Looks like McCain is doing a great job representing their interests.

Money is For Trains

WHIO-TV :

The federal government said Ohio must use $400 million in stimulus money for a new passenger train project, not on highways as suggested by Republican gubernatorial candidate John Kasich....

...Rob Kulat, a spokesman for the Federal Rail Administration, said Wednesday the money can't be reallocated. It was part of $8 billion that the stimulus bill set aside for rail projects in the United States. The awards were given to 31 states based on competitive bids.

....Kasich spokesman Rob Nichols said Kasich still believes that Gov. Ted Strickland should ask the federal government for flexibility.

I don't think Gov. Strickland will be taking any advice from Kasich.

Pre-Teddy Roosevelt??????

Writer David Weigel of the Washington Independent was on NPR radio today with Terry Gross. The entire transcript from the program is available online at NPR. According to Mr. Weigel, the Tea Party activists have some bizarre goals.

Mr. Weigel on NPR:

...They basically stand for undoing first the end of the Bush years and everything's Barack Obama's done, but then really rolling back all reform of American economics and social democracy, back to the pre-Teddy Roosevelt kind of gilded age politics.....

Later, Mr. Weigel said this----

....I mean one of the Republicans who is taken most seriously by the Tea Party is Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina, and he's explicit about this. He's introduced bills that would take people's Social Security taxes, put them in funds that they can keep for themselves. These are policies that used to be things the Republican base might talk about but wouldnt do and now you can't be a real Republican, you can't be a real Tea Party activist, if youre not for those things.....

Here are the facts:

Teddy Roosevelt was President from 1901-1909.
The 19th Amendment to the Constitution gave women the right to vote in 1920.
Social Security was signed into law in 1935.
The Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964.
Medicare and Medicaid were part of the Social Security Act of 1965.
The voting age was lowered to 18, and many other laws and rights were passed after 1909.
Apparently, tea partiers are against all of this, plus more.

I always thought that the tea party people wanted to turn back time to the 1950's. However, their desire to go back to before President Teddy Roosevelt's term only confirms my belief that these people are racists, anti-women's rights, and they are against equality and freedom for all Americans. The Tea Party people are clearly too extreme.

What about it?

Fayette County, Ohio, appears to be a politically active community with several meet and greet forums set up to talk with candidates for public office. Democratic candidate for Ohio Secretary of State, Mary Ellen O'Shaughnessy, addressed a recent group and spoke of her qualifications, according to the Recordherald.com:

....She currently serves as Clerk of Franklin County Court of Common Pleas.

In this position, she oversees a vast system of county records, as well as a staff of 231 and a budget of $12.5 million. Prior to serving as clerk, O'Shaughnessy was elected three times as a Columbus City Council member.....

That is a very important asset in managing the elections in the 88 Ohio counties.

In a story in the DailyRecord, O'Shaughnessy spoke about her family and her goals at the Wayne County Democratic Party Jackson Day Banquet:

....Maryellen O'Shaughnessy, candidate for Ohio secretary of state, who promised to have the longest name on the ballot of any candidate this fall. She introduced herself as a fifth-generation Ohioan of Irish-Catholic heritage, who comes from a long line of political activists in Franklin County. She said her grandfather, father, mother and two brothers all were politically active and either sought elective office or worked in other aspects of the political arena....
....Some of the key things O'Shaughnessy said she is running on is reapportionment reform, protection of minority representation and making the processes of the office transparent....

I haven't heard Jon "empty suit" Husted (of Kettering and Upper Arlington), the Republican candidate for Ohio Sec. of State, mention anything about protecting "...minority representation..." Would Husted go back to the same strategy concerning voting machines that was used by former Republican Sec. of State, Ken Blackwell?

Taylor's Office

Update: Progress Ohio has some photos of Taylor's very empty office in Canton. You can see it here.


Have you been questioning how much has been spent providing for State Auditor Mary Taylor's office in the Canton area? It was only recently revealed that Taylor spends most of her time working at a state office near her home in Canton. In an article in the Dispatch, it was noted that Taylor communicates with the main office in Columbus through e-mails, conference calls, etc. Did Taylor purposely cover up her work location? Have newspapers, TV, and other media failed to report Taylor's work habits?

I am a wife and mother. I've successfully juggled the working mother/wife thing for years, but I have little sympathy for Taylor's work arrangement. When one accepts a job, the requirements of the job are known. If Taylor knew that she had no intention of working within the confines of the Auditor's office in Columbus, she should have notified voters before she was elected.

Other questions persist about Taylor's office location in the Canton area:

1) How much state money was used to accommodate/remodel/furnish an office in Canton?
2) What additional fees were spent on new computers and software for this office? Were additional employees hired?
3) How does Taylor directly supervise employees in Columbus? Does she know the names, work habits, and skills of the employees within her department?
4) What is the monthly cost of conference calls, internet usage, car mileage/gasoline, security, utilities, and other extras to allow Taylor to keep in contact with the main Auditor's office in Columbus?
5) If elected as Lieutenant Governor, will Taylor continue to keep the same work arrangement and not spend the bulk of her time in Columbus?

The Kasich-Taylor ticket has provided little if any details to Ohio voters. How would they provide for the stability of the state if they eliminated the state income tax? We are tired of generalities, and hidden agendas coming from these Republicans. It is time for them to step up, answer real questions, and provide real details for Ohioans. We don't need anymore secret office situations in Canton.

Not Ready for Prime Time--- GOP

Do you wonder why the CPAC meeting in DC invited the John Birch Society to put their propaganda in a booth near the meeting hall? Have the Republicans sold their souls to extremists, racists and teabaggers?

Have you noticed that Husted, Kasich, and Stivers are only going to speaking engagements that have only Republicans? I guess they are too afraid to take their right wing talking points in front of average working men and women. Ohioans are concerned about job security, jobs, health care, having social security when they retire, and providing a good future for their children. Regular people don't care about capital gains taxes or their 401ks.

There is an excellent article in Rolling Stone by Matt Taibbi about how the Wall Street titans, like Kasich and others, screwed our financial system. Here is the RollingStone link.

>>> Here is a clue of how desperate Husted is in Mahoning County. Vindy.com:

State Sen. Jon Husted, a Republican candidate for Ohio secretary of state, will visit the Mahoning County Republican Party’s headquarters, 621 Boardman-Canfield Road in Boardman, today at 4 p.m (2/19/10). The public is invited to attend.

The event is being hosted by the Mahoning County Teenage Republicans.....

The Mahoning County Teenage Republican group is open for teens from ages 13 to 19. Are there any grownup Republican supporters in Mahoning County that are interested in Husted's candidacy?

Desperate Conservatives

The Conservatives are descending on Washington, DC for their big CPAC meeting. In an effort to recruit people under the age of 80, the conservatives are desperately going after the younger voters. Unfortunately, the level of celebrity (below the "D" list), the attractions (questions with Stephen Baldwin(?)), Sarah Huckabee, and the sponsorship (includes Focus on the Family), I can't think of any hip, educated, twenty to thirty year olds that would attend the XPAC event. The CPAC people are trying to get the legions of college students that worked for Obama and the Democrats to come over to the old, white, backward-thinking, conservative, mostly male, Republican Party. The only people that CPAC and XPAC will get are the small groups of College Republicans, and other confused individuals.


Here is a fun fact! The OSUDems (FacebookOSUcollegedems), a student organization at the Ohio State University, is the one of the largest CollegeDems groups in the country. GO BUCKS!

Still Snowing!

* We've had an additional ten inches of snow overnight here in central Ohio. The Ohio State University, most schools, and businesses are closed because the roads are treacherous.

* If you have the opportunity to watch a Green Planet television series called Blood, Sweat, and T-Shirts, grab it. The series follows British young people as they investigate, and then work in the sweatshops in India, where many of the clothes they wear are made. It is a fascinating look at the horrible working and living conditions that men, women, and children endure to manufacture clothing.

* Republican Rep. John Boehner will have a Democratic opponent in the upcoming election. According to Cincinnati.com, Democrat Justin Coussoule, will announce his candidacy this week. I'm still not sure how Boehner continues to be elected, given the fact that he has done so little for his district. (I still believe that radio giant, Stephanie Miller, pronounces Boehner's name correctly.)

* Speaking of Boehner---- Last fall, John Boehner had demanded open, televised meetings with the President to discuss health care reform. Now that Boehner is going to get those meetings, he is running scared. Boehner is such a pompous jerk.

News to Use

Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, Rob Portman, a member of the Bush administration, was a big supporter for privatizing Social Security. If Ohio voters send Portman to the U.S. Senate, he will help push it again.(source)

* The Dayton Daily News has a question for readers today:

Which U.S. President do you admire most?

Answers vary on their website. My own personal answer would include Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.
Visit the Dayton Daily News and add your comments: Link


* There is some speculation that Goldman Sachs has ties to the financial crisis in Greece.
NYTimes:

Wall Street tactics akin to the ones that fostered subprime mortgages in America have worsened the financial crisis shaking Greece and undermining the euro by enabling European governments to hide their mounting debts....

....Even as the crisis was nearing the flashpoint, banks were searching for ways to help Greece forestall the day of reckoning. In early November — three months before Athens became the epicenter of global financial anxiety — a team from Goldman Sachs arrived in the ancient city with a very modern proposition for a government struggling to pay its bills, according to two people who were briefed on the meeting.

The bankers, led by Goldman’s president, Gary D. Cohn, held out a financing instrument that would have pushed debt from Greece’s health care system far into the future, much as when strapped homeowners take out second mortgages to pay off their credit cards....

Some people might say that Goldman Sachs might be promoting dangerous schemes.

Tough Talk from Obama

There is a very good article from Politico about President Obama's nominations that have been held up by the Republicans:

The Senate confirmed a huge group of administration nominees on Thursday, following a tense exchange between President Barack Obama and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).....

..... In a statement Thursday night, Obama said: "At the beginning of the week, a staggering 63 nominees had been stalled in the Senate because one or more senators placed a hold on their nomination. ... And so on Tuesday, I told Senator McConnell that if Republican senators did not release these holds, I would exercise my authority to fill critically-needed positions in the federal government temporarily through the use of recess appointments. ... Since that meeting, I am gratified that Republican senators have responded by releasing many of these holds and allowing 29 nominees to receive a vote in the Senate. While this is a good first step, there are still dozens of nominees on hold who deserve a similar vote, and I will be looking for action from the Senate when it returns from recess. If they do not act, I reserve the right to use my recess appointment authority in the future."

.... McConnell replied that the Democrats did the same thing when President George W. Bush was in office. Obama disagreed, saying that when Bush made his first recess appointments, a handful of nominees had been waiting for more than a month. Obama had more than 60 waiting....

I think some of those Republicans need a few more direct conversations with the President. The Republicans have responded "NO" to everything. Saying "NO!" does not demonstrate leadership.

Here is what you'll get from Republicans....

It was a secret, but now it is public. Republican Rep. Paul Ryan (Wisconsin-1st) has revealed his plan to balance to budget and eliminate the national debt------- privatize Social Security and eliminate Medicare. Seriously. The sad part of this is that Ryan and the Republicans are still working on the same ideas they used during the Bush administration. Senior citizens and those of us who are middle aged need to nip this plan in the bud. If you'd like to contact Paul Ryan and share your opinion of his cockamamie idea, check out his web page here.


* This is for the morons that say that the huge amounts of snow disprove global warming.

YahooNews:

...There is some evidence that climate change could in fact make such massive snowstorms more common, even as the world continues to warm. As the meteorologist Jeff Masters points out in his excellent blog at Weather Underground, the two major storms that hit Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C., this winter - in December and during the first weekend of February - are already among the 10 heaviest snowfalls those cities have ever recorded. The chance of that happening in the same winter is incredibly unlikely.

But there have been hints that it was coming. The 2009 U.S. Climate Impacts Report found that large-scale cold-weather storm systems have gradually tracked to the north in the U.S. over the past 50 years. While the frequency of storms in the middle latitudes has decreased as the climate has warmed, the intensity of those storms has increased. That's in part because of global warming - hotter air can hold more moisture, so when a storm gathers it can unleash massive amounts of snow. Colder air, by contrast, is drier; if we were in a truly vicious cold snap, like the one that occurred over much of the East Coast during parts of January, we would be unlikely to see heavy snowfall....

So there!

"Lead, follow, or get out of the way."

The quote at the top came from American writer and patriot, Thomas Paine. We should take this quote and apply it to the entire Republican Party.

"Lead, follow, or get out of the way."
If Republicans are unable or unwilling to provide their own health care reform legislation, we advise them to "...get out of the way."

"Lead, follow, or get out of the way."
If Republicans are unable or unwilling to provide a means of getting people back to work, just sit down and support legislation devised by Democrats. Americans can't wait for the Republicans to get off their hands and do something. Republicans should just "...get out of the way."

The Republicans can filibuster and delay all they want but it won't create one job, protect our country from terrorism, help students get a college education, fix our infrastructure, or help people get medical treatment.

Republicans apparently remain the party of "NO!" because they continue to stand in the way of progress. Republicans are endangering our country by not allowing nominations to even be voted upon in the Senate. The Republicans are a moronic bunch of old, rich, pathetic, self-centered, self-righteous, white men, who are more concerned about their tans, their "tweets" and golf scores than the country's welfare. Abraham Lincoln would be shocked at the people who call themselves Republicans.

John Murtha

Rep. John Murtha, Democrat of Pennsylvania, has passed away.

Pittsburgh Post Gazette:

Congressman John P. Murtha, D-Johnstown, died this afternoon at 1:18 p.m. at Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington, Va.

His family was at his bedside....

....First elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in February of 1974, Murtha was a Marine who became the first Vietnam War combat Veteran elected to the U.S. Congress....

Murtha had always been an advocate for our men and women in uniform. He will be missed.

I'd Rather Watch the Puppies

I confess--- I watched more of the Puppy Bowl than I did the Super Bowl. Those puppies are sooooo cute!

* Did you see that huge crowd of people at the Tea Party convention? They had almost 500 people??? Wow. 500 people?????!!! Where were the busloads of people they had before? Only 500 people??? Sad.

I thought Sarah Palin and her "palm notes" were pathetic. Raw Story has info and the video.

* Rob Portman, Bush friend and member of the Bush administration, seems to be gaining support with Tea Party supporters (MiddletownJournal). Did Rob Portman get that taxpayer money to do his renovations? (see FCDP)

Shelby is Endangering the Nation

Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama is endangering the nation.

TalkingPointsMemo:

Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) has put an extraordinary "blanket hold" on at least 70 nominations President Obama has sent to the Senate, CongressDaily (sub. req.) reports. The hold means no nominations can move forward unless Senate Democrats can secure a 60-member cloture vote to break it, or until Shelby lifts the hold....
....Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid broke the news of the blanket hold this afternoon after Shelby announced it to him in a letter sent today. Reid aides told CongressDaily the hold extends to "all executive nominations on the Senate calendar."

According to the report, Shelby is holding Obama's nominees hostage until a pair of lucrative programs that would send billions in taxpayer dollars to his home state get back on track....

Shelby's behavior is disgusting. If you'd like to call or fax one of Shelby's offices, check below:

Birmingham, Alabama: Telephone: (205) 731-1384 Fax: (205) 731-1386

Huntsville, Alabama: Telephone: (256) 772-0460 Fax: (256) 772-8387

Mobile, Alabama: Telephone: (251) 694-4164 Fax: (251) 694-4166

Montgomery, Alabama: Telephone: (334) 223-7303 Fax: (334) 223-7317

Tuscaloosa, Alabama: Telephone: (205) 759-5047 Fax: (205) 759-5067

Washington, DC: Telephone: (202) 224-5744 Fax: (202) 224-3416

For It, But Now Against It

It appears that Sen. John McCain has been doing some flip flopping on the issues of gays in the military. Washington Post:

Three years ago, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) was pretty clear about his stand on the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy.....

...."The day that the leadership of the military comes to me and says, 'Senator, we ought to change the policy,' then I think we ought to consider seriously changing it," McCain said in October 2006 to an audience of Iowa State University students....

However, on Tuesday, February 2, 2010, when McCain heard both Defense Sec. Gates and Joint Chiefs Chairman Mullen state that it was time to repeal DADT ("don't ask, don't tell"), he nearly jumped out of his chair. According to the Washington Post:

....McCain declared himself "disappointed" in the testimony. "At this moment of immense hardship for our armed services, we should not be seeking to overturn the 'don't ask, don't tell' policy," he said bluntly, before describing it as "imperfect but effective."...

McCain's opposition to DADT appears to be his way of opposing anything and everything proposed by the Obama administration. Once again we see McCain and the Republicans denying equality to another group of Americans. How pathetic!

It is time for Republicans to get to work instead of delaying the tasks before us. Republicans are following the advice of Frank Luntz who has told them to delay and lie to stop legislation. While the GOP follows this strategy, people are removed from military service, families lose homes, men and women lose jobs, etc., etc. We are all suffering because of the roadblocks put up by Luntz and the GOP.

GOP Strategy: Recycle their old ideas, plans

TPMLivewire:

In the name of deficit reduction, House Republicans are going back to the Social Security well, offering budget proposals similar to those President George W. Bush proposed after his 2004 re-election that would privatize Social Security accounts and reduce cost of living adjustments.

Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) appeared on Hardball tonight and advocated balancing the budget by privatizing Social Security and cutting benefits for those now under 55.

"You can get better health care and better retirement security if you go to a defined contribution plan. We had this debate in Social Security a few years ago," Hensarling said....

Seriously. Is Hensarling stupid or does he think the American public is stupid? Doesn't he realize what would have happened if all those under age 55 would have invested in the stock market like Bush and the Republicans wanted? All of their retirement savings from the stock market would have been completely gone!!!!! Do the Republicans have suffer from a creative deficit? Are they unable to develop any new ideas or strategies to offer the American people????? How pathetic!

>>>> Just when Ohioans thought that it was going to be a good election year, Republican candidate for Ohio Secretary of State, Jon Husted, had this message on his Twitter page:

"In Senate we are voting on an elections reform bill, that among many things eliminates the golden week registering/voting on the same day."

11:08 AM Dec 9th, 2009 from UberTwitter

The Ohio House is controlled by Democrats, and they've passed their own election reform bill that is very different from Husted and the Republican plan to suppress the vote.