From the 1/17/06 Dayton Daily News:

 

 

Boehner says he disliked lobbyist

Candidate opposed to system where Abramoff flourished

By Jessica Wehrman

Washington Bureau

 

WASHINGTON | Rep. John Boehner said the only time he met fallen lobbyist Jack Abramoff he decided then and there he didn't like him.

 

"I've got 11 brothers and sisters and my dad owned a bar," said Boehner, R-West Chester, who said he met Abramoff at a fundraiser for then-Sen. Don Nickles. "It's great training for what I do every day. You stand behind a bar, and it doesn't take long to sort of size people up. Some you like, and some you don't, and he just wasn't someone I liked. I knew it the moment I met him."

 

Fellow Rep. Bob Ney, R-Heath, resigned his chairmanship of the House Administration Committee on Sunday because of his links to Abramoff — a decision Boehner says he supports.

 

More at:

 

http://www.daytondailynews.com/localnews/content/localnews/daily/0117boehner.html

 

Interesting to watch all these Members of Congress run away from Abramoff like roaches when the lights go on. 

 

For years, they have resisted attempts at campaign finance reform and reigning in lobbyists, with no progress and even some backroom resistance.  Now... low and behold... many of them are caught with at least having received money from Abramoff and they can't runaway fast enough to distance themselves from this guy, all the while professing a (now) urgent need for reform.

 

Frankly, we already have the power to reform ... it's called remembering these guys in November and voting for their opponents.

More Ohio challenges key to Democrats' designs on Congress

1/27/2006, 6:55 p.m. ET

By DAVID HAMMER

The Associated Press   

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats are going to great lengths to challenge two popular and powerful Republican House incumbents this year, hoping state and federal corruption scandals will hurt the GOP and that Ohio can propel the party back into control of Congress.

 

But Republicans are comfortable with their ability to hold Ohio seats and an overall House majority. They doubt their opponents can tie Reps. Steve Chabot and Deborah Pryce to ethics problems by simple association.

 

The GOP even sees the southern Ohio seat being vacated by Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Ted Strickland as its best chance to add to a 231-202 advantage, National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Carl Forti said.

 

More at:

http://www.cleveland.com/newsflash/cleveland/index.ssf?/base/news-22/1138406648305060.xml&storylist=cleveland

Congressional leadership a mixed blessing for home districts

1/29/2006, 12:00 a.m. ET

By DAVID HAMMER

The Associated Press   

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — The winner of the House majority leader race faces unprecedented challenges in balancing national responsibilities with providing federal funding for his home district.

 

Leadership positions, key committee chairmanships or spots on an appropriations committee traditionally have given members of Congress the strongest voice for their constituents' needs. But wide-ranging ethics scandals have brought new scrutiny to Congress' role in doling out federal money.

 

Full story at:

http://www.cleveland.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/news-22/1138511958176630.xml&storylist=cleveland

Saying no to Petro cost us, lawyers say

2 whose firms lost work link change to refusal to donate to campaign

Sunday, January 29, 2006

Sandy Theis

Plain Dealer Bureau Chief

 

Columbus- Two prominent Republican lawyers said their law firms lost virtually all of their state legal business after they refused to donate to Attorney General Jim Petro's campaign.  One of the lawyers, Jack Morrison, said Petro personally explained that his firm would be pun ished for donating to Joe Deters, who briefly challenged Petro for the 2002 Republican nomination for attorney general.

 

After Deters dropped out of the race and cleared the field for Petro, Morrison said, he did a fellow lawyer a favor by attending a fund-raiser he hosted in Petro's honor.  Morrison said he bought no ticket to the event but did bring one of his law partners to help boost the crowd size.

 

"I'll never forget it," Morrison told The Plain Dealer.  Petro accompanied him out of the party and said, " 'Jack, you're going to be very unhappy with me next year . . . because I have to be loyal to those that were loyal to me and you supported Joe Deters,' " Morrison said. 

 

Full article at http://www.cleveland.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/news/113852727892640.xml&coll=2

From the 1/22/06 Enquirer:

 

 

Census proposal would add illegal immigrants

Inside Columbus

BY JON CRAIG | ENQUIRER COLUMBUS BUREAU

 

COLUMBUS - Besides abortion, higher education, minimum wage and voting issues, state legislators hope to tackle another thorny topic during the next month: whether to count illegal immigrants in the U.S. Census.

 

House Speaker Jon Husted, during a Thursday roundtable with Statehouse reporters, said his staff is talking to Ohio's congressional delegation about seeking to amend the U.S. Constitution to change the way residents are counted every 10 years.

 

...

 

Jon Craig covers state government for the Enquirer; e-mail [email protected]; (614) 224-4640.

 

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060122/NEWS01/601220338/1056/rss02

 

While they are at it, they should stop counting inmates when apportioning representation.  That is a big boon for rural districts, at the expense of a largely urban incarcerated population.

Jim Petro the self-proclaimed good Christian (just see his boastful television ads)

 

 

What an a**hole

""I’m pro-choice, I’m pro-gayrights, I’m pro-gun-rights. Call me nuts, but I think they’re all based on the same principle and that is we don’t need government dictating to us how we live our private lives."

 

Asked to define being pro-gayrights, Hackett said anybody who tries to deny homosexuals the same rights, including marriage, as every other citizen is un-American. Are you saying, he was asked, that the 62 percent of Ohioans who voted in November 2004 to constitutionally deny same-sex marriages are un-American?

 

"If what they believe is that we’re going to have a scale on judging which Americans have equal rights, yeah, that’s un-American. They’ve got to accept that. It’s absolutely un-American."

 

"The Republican Party has been hijacked by the religious fanatics that, in my opinion, aren’t a whole lot different than Osama bin Laden and a lot of the other religious nuts around the world," he said. "The challenge is for the rest of us moderate Americans and citizens of the world to put down the fork and spoon, turn off the TV, and participate in the process and try to push back on these radical nuts – and they are nuts."

 

http://www.dispatch.com/editorials-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/01/15/20060115-B5-02.html

 

Hackett's response to the Ohio Republican Party Chairman demanding an apology for his remarks:

 

""I said it. I meant it. I stand behind it," he said."

 

http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/01/18/20060118-B4-06.html

 

He's got my vote.

 

 

Amen, brother!

It's amazing what common sense is worth these days.

Republicans arn't a whole lot different from Osama Bin Laden?

Well, to be fair, so are Democrats.  But I find the difference is that Republicans tend to be a bit more hypocritical versus the Democrats these days.  By "a bit," I mean ALOT.

This guy is saying the stuff that I wish more politicians, if they had a backbone, would say.  I heard him talking on Air America Radio and he called Bush & Co. (Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, etc) "Chicken-asses" and "Chicken Hawks"!  :clap:

It'll be a tough decision between voting for him and Sherrod Brown.  But regardless, both men are good and right for the job, and I will stand behind whichever one wins the primary.

Come on now...

 

Republicans arn't a whole lot different from Osama Bin Laden?

 

"The Republican Party has been hijacked by the religious fanatics that, in my opinion, aren’t a whole lot different than Osama bin Laden and a lot of the other religious nuts around the world,"

 

I think if you correctly break the sentence down, the direct object of the comparision is the Religious fanatics.  Don't make me start diagramming sentences up in here!

 

"Religious fanatics aren’t a whole lot different than Osama bin Laden and a lot of the other religious nuts around the world,"

 

^Well yes the statement is directed at the religious fanactics, but it states that the Reps have been taken over by them, thus is representative of the Republicans.

I love Hackett's straightforward, candid approach. 

His approach is definitely refreshing

^Well yes the statement is directed at the religious fanactics, but it states that the Reps have been taken over by them, thus is representative of the Republicans.

 

They do want to represent Republicans. Just look at Blackwell and his Republican imitators running for governor.

Here's his site.

 

http://www.hackettforohio.com/

OK, since no one is taking up my Ken Blackwell bet, same offer for the Senate...

 

I bet (one beer per bet):

 

a) Sherrod Brown defeats Hackett

 

b) Sherrod Brown looses to Dewine.

 

(but yeah, Hackett will be fun to watch while he lasts).

 

 

Democrats urge pay-to-play probe of Petro

Calls based on lawyer's claim of demand for donations

Tuesday, January 31, 2006

Sandy Theis

Plain Dealer Bureau Chief

 

Democrats called on federal and county prosecutors to investigate a lawyer's assertion that Attorney General Jim Petro personally demanded campaign contributions in exchange for state legal work.  The requests came after The Plain Dealer quoted Akron lawyer Jack Morrison, a prominent Republican, saying that Petro had warned him that his firm would lose legal business because it supported a rival candidate -- but could earn some of the business back through future donations.

 

Petro maintains that he never had such a conversation, and he attempted to move his campaign forward Monday by formally announcing that state Sen. Joy Padgett of Coshocton will be his running mate.

 

He called her "experienced and well-respected" and supporters said Padgett would help Petro in a potential contest against Democratic front-runner Ted Strickland -- who is from the same region of the state and, as Padgett does, enjoys support from the powerful National Rifle Association.

 

Full article at http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1138700389122070.xml&coll=2

A lengthier story from CNN.com

 

Boehner elected House majority leader

Republicans choose Ohio lawmaker to succeed DeLay

 

(CNN) -- House Republicans on Thursday elected U.S. Rep. John Boehner of Ohio as majority leader.

 

He upset Rep. Roy Blunt of Missouri in a 122-109 vote on the second ballot. Rep. John Shadegg of Arizona dropped out of the running after the first ballot.

 

After the vote, Boehner said "It's been a well-fought race."

 

Find this article at:

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/02/02/house.leadership/index.html 

 

Thanks noozer for following this, can you update the title?

This could be an interesting development for Ohio, even though Boehner is not known for bringing back "pork" to Ohio or his district, he does understand economic development and job creation.  This would make him valuable to advance national legislation along these lines that could ultimately benefit Ohio..... such as a railroad infrastructure funding program, which could benefit the Ohio Hub Plan and other state-sponsored passenger & freight rail projects.

 

 

From the 2/2/06 PD:

 

 

Petro drops appeal of election lawsuit

Thursday, February 02, 2006

Bill Sloat

Plain Dealer Reporter

 

Cincinnati - A federal court dismissed a lawsuit left over from foulups in Ohio on Election Day 2004 in a ruling that came after Attorney General Jim Petro's office missed a deadline for filing its written legal brief.

 

Petro's office sought this week's dismissal order from the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, ending further conflict with Ohio Democratic Party lawyers, who already had asked that the case be tossed because the paperwork came in late.

 

...

 

http://www.cleveland.com/ohio/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1138873474253690.xml&coll=2

 

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060203/NEWS09/602030371/-1/NEWS

-- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Article published February 3, 2006

 

Some question if Boehner can aid Ohio

Analyst says selection as House majority leader won't necessarily benefit state projects

 

By JAMES DREW and JIM TANKERSLEY

BLADE STAFF WRITERS

 

 

COLUMBUS - Republicans and political analysts said Ohio will benefit from John Boehner's new job, but several Democrats - and at least one analyst - questioned how much.

 

House Republicans elected Mr. Boehner of West Chester, near Cincinnati, as majority leader yesterday. Mr. Boehner replaces Rep. Tom DeLay (R., Texas) in a position that includes advancing the GOP's legislative goals and setting the daily agenda in the House.

 

Several Ohio Republicans called Mr. Boehner's victory a proud day for the state party and a boost for Ohio's power in Washington - but not necessarily for the state's government-funded projects.

 

More at link above:

From the AP, 2/3/06:

 

Determined to show vote was fair, Ohio kept up court fight; it's over

BY JOHN MCCARTHY | THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

 

COLUMBUS - The state has dropped its appeal of a lawsuit originally filed by Democrats to alleviate long voting lines in the 2004 presidential election.

 

The state had tried to keep the lawsuit going to try to prove Ohio conducted a legal election.

 

...

 

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060203/NEWS01/602030451/1056/rss02

Petro speaks for himself in the 2/3/06 PD:

 

Jim Petro: Donations don't sway decisions

Friday, February 03, 2006

Jim Petro

 

The art of dirty-tricks politics, which this newspaper has often condemned, reached a new low on Sunday when The Plain Dealer published an article containing the completely false accusation that in 2002 I told Akron lawyer Jack Morrison that he needed to contribute to my campaign to get work from the attorney general's office.

 

Let me set the record straight: I have never, ever said this to any lawyer, to any law firm or to anyone else. No one who has ever worked for me has ever been authorized to say anything like this.  In fact, my employees know that if I learned that a conversation like this ever took place, it would result in their immediate dismissal.

 

As someone who has run for statewide office five times, I am not new to the political process or hardball politics.  However, I have never experienced anything like the vicious and unethical tactics employed this year by those who fear the positive changes I would bring to Ohio as governor.

 

Petro is Ohio's attorney general and a Republican candidate for governor.

 

More at http://www.cleveland.com/politics/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/isgov/1138962818260740.xml&coll=2

 

Boehner extra generous to Republicans during leadership bid

Saturday, February 04, 2006

Jonathan Riskind

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

WASHINGTON — Call it the price of admission to power in the U.S. House of Representatives.

 

When newly elected Republican House Majority Leader John Boehner, of West Chester, was laying the groundwork for a run at the second-ranking House leadership post late last year, he did more than just talk to colleagues and lay out his policy and political agenda for running the House.

 

Boehner distributed more than $180,000 in December alone to fellow Republicans — many of whom supported his bid Thursday to upset the frontrunner for the job, Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Mo.

 

More at:

http://dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/02/04/20060204-A1-04.html

isnt he the highest ranking ohioan since 1931?

Yes he is.

From Gannett, 2/5/06:

 

Fundraising aided rise

Boehner's given about $3M to GOP colleagues

BY MALIA RULON | ENQUIRER WASHINGTON BUREAU

 

WASHINGTON - In a town thick with connections and deep pockets, raising campaign money is nearly tantamount to breathing - and those who do it best tend to advance the farthest.

 

Enter new House Majority Leader John Boehner, a charming and perpetually tan Republican from West Chester who is known as much for the parties he throws as his policies.

 

Boehner's money-raising machine - dubbed the Freedom Project - is a political action committee that has played a crucial role in his return to power.

 

More at:

 

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060205/NEWS01/602050350/1056/rss02

 

Social Security numbers are still on almost all Ohioans' driver's licenses

Tuesday, February 07, 2006

Associated Press

 

Columbus- Nearly all of Ohio's 7.6 million licensed drivers still have Social Security numbers on their licenses despite a new federal law that prohibits those numbers being displayed and warnings from privacy experts.

 

The state will pursue changes to state law to bring it in line with federal law. The new Ohio law probably would be a strict ban on including Social Security numbers on driver's licenses, according to Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles spokesman Fred Stratmann.

 

 

© 2006 The Plain Dealer

© 2006 cleveland.com All Rights Reserved.

http://www.cleveland.com/ohio/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1139316952145660.xml&coll=2

"That's because state policy also requires clerks at state license offices to tell people the consequence of not displaying the number: that if they have the number removed, they will have to bring their Social Security card the next time they renew their licenses."

 

And that is why people put their SS# on there in the first place. So they dont have to deal with all the BS in renewing their driver licenses.

Not on mine!

not on mine either.  I just turned 21 and need to get a new license.  I lost my SS card and need to find something official with my SSN.  Such a pain in the ass.....lol :wink:

I have it on my current license, but I think I'll take the SSN off when I renew my license.  I'm turning 21 at the end of this month, but I am out-of-state, and the next time I'll be in the Buckeye State is middle March; so it looks like I'd better be a law-abiding driver and get no tickets until then  :-D (not that I'd be a bad driver without an expired license  :wink:)

No SSN on my license!

 

Speaking of bureaucratic hassle, apparently when I was renewing my license upon turning 21, they failed to shove some form or other in front of me to sign, and about a month later I got a notice in the mail stating something to that effect and that this somehow rendered my license invalid.  So I had to go repeat the process, getting a new license (as opposed to just signing whatever was missing).  No big deal, as I was not charged any fees for this second time around, but it seemed strange somehow, and I still have no idea which form was not signed.

funny, i always get harassed for not having mine on my MI License (which there is no option for it whatsoever), turns out its illegal.......take that national city!

From Gannett, 2/9/06:

 

 

Post adds scrutiny for Boehner

BY MALIA RULON | ENQUIRER WASHINGTON BUREAU

 

WASHINGTON - Less than a week after West Chester Rep. John Boehner was elected House majority leader, he's already been targeted for connections to lobbyists.

 

The Washington Post reported Wednesday that Boehner is renting a two-bedroom basement apartment on Capitol Hill from a veteran lobbyist whose clients have an interest in legislation that Boehner has worked on.

 

Boehner spokesman Don Seymour confirmed that Boehner has rented an apartment from John D. Milne and Milne's wife, Debra Anderson, for about a year and a half. But, he said the arrangement presents no conflicts because Milne, senior vice president at the Washington lobbying firm mCapitol Management, doesn't lobby Boehner.

 

More at:

 

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060209/NEWS01/602090364/1056/rss02

 

COMMENTARY

Sprawl issues could give lift to Democrats

Sunday, February 12, 2006

 

JOE HALLETT

Columbus Dispatch

 

 

In the lexicon of Democrats, there is a word for Delaware, Licking, Fairfield and Union counties: unwinnable.

 

After the May 2 primary election, the Democratic nominee for governor will plot a county-by-county strategy for winning in November. He will look at the four Columbus-area counties and the other six among Ohio’s 10 fastestgrowing counties and be tempted to ask his aides, "Why bother? " ...

 

Joe Hallett is Dispatch senior editor.

 

 

[email protected]

http://dispatch.com/editorials-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/02/12/20060212-B1-00.html

BTW: If you'd like to learn what Greater Ohio is all about, here is the link to their website:

 

http://www.greaterohio.org/

^ It is a "BAD THING"  Taft is a disgrace, good riddance!

Does this come as a suprise to anyone???  Well, maybe Taft, but by now he should know he sucks!

From the 2/14/06 Enquirer:

 

 

Boehner 'never gave up'

Newly minted majority leader

BY JESSICA BROWN | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER

 

WEST CHESTER TWP. - John Boehner's goals as the new House Majority Leader are to keep the Republican majority in the House, stay close to his colleagues and "be the same old jackass I've always been."

 

That's what the congressman told a cheering crowd of Republicans at a lunch reception Monday at the Marriott hotel here.

 

More at:

 

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060214/NEWS01/602140355/1056/rss02

 

From the 2/14/06 Dayton Daily News:

 

Feds launch inquiry into allegations against Petro

AG's office denies it had pay-to-play requirement

By Laura A. Bischoff

Dayton Daily News

 

COLUMBUS — Federal authorities are looking into allegations made by two Akron-area lawyers who said they lost state contracts after they did not to contribute to Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro's campaign.  Jack Morrison of the law firm Amer Cunningham said he's to speak with officials from the FBI's Akron office on Wednesday about a discussion he had with Petro at a 2002 fundraiser.

 

Morrison said he and his law partner were leaving the event when Petro approached them and said: "I have to be loyal to those who were loyal to me from the beginning and you weren't.  You supported Joe Deters and as a consequence, you're going to lose all your attorney general work."

 

Deters, who had been state treasurer, planned to challenge Petro for the attorney general's office in 2002. Petro has strongly denied the allegations.  He has never made such a comment to anyone and didn't recall meeting Morrison at the fund-raiser, he said.

 

Full article at http://www.daytondailynews.com/localnews/content/localnews/daily/0214petro.html

 

GO PLAIN DEALER! This guy is a true weasel.

 

 

FBI probes Petro contract charges

Lawyers: No campaign aid, no work

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Ted Wendling and Sandy Theis

Plain Dealer Bureau

 

The FBI has opened an inquiry into a report that Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro took lucrative state legal work away from two Akron law firms after their principals refused to contribute to his campaign.  Akron lawyers Jack Morrison and Ray Weber said they have been contacted by FBI agents and the Summit County prosecutor's office as a result of comments they made in a Jan. 29 Plain Dealer story.

 

Both lawyers said Petro punished them in 2002 for not supporting his campaign by withdrawing special-counsel contracts they had received from former Attorney General Betty Montgomery to handle patent and intellectual- property mat ters.

 

Weber said two FBI agents interviewed him for two hours on Thursday.  Morrison said he agreed to meet with agents today.  FBI spokesman Scott Wilson would not comment, but Weber said the agents called the interview a "fact-finding" inquiry.  Morrison said an agent told him it was part of a continuing probe.

 

More at http://www.cleveland.com/plaindealer

Ohio RNC head Bennett might get his wish.  But not for the reasons he would like.  :lol: