I wish someone would explain this.

Why Micheal Vick is in so much trouble for dog fighting and killing dogs while thousands of unborn babies are being sucked out of there mothers womb and no body is serving time for this liberal justification of murder? Vick's punishment is over kill. I support with all my heart any movement for the complete release and reinstatement to the NFL for Micheal Vick. When this country can support the rights of unborn human babies who have no voice, then maybe we can talk about animals rights.

State Sen. Kevin Coughlin; Arshinkoff Needs to GO!

Long time Summit County Republican Party Chairman, Alex Arshinkoff, is getting pressure to step down or be tossed aside.

State Sen. Kevin Coughlin, fed up with Arshinkoff's bunker mentality and empty promises to candidates, is mounting a challenge for his seat.

Coughlin said in a no-holds barred, three-page letter dated Aug. 14 and released today that the party ''has slipped into a pathetic state'' even though the ''demographics of Summit County are more favorable than ever.'' More....

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Will the GOP give a Supreme Court seat to the DEMs in 2010?

When U.S. Rep. Deborah Pryce announced that she wouldn’t be seeking another term, one name mentioned as a possible successor was former Ohio Attorney General & Auditor of State Jim Petro.

Petro has stated that he may be interested, but that he is also considering keeping his powder dry in ’08 to seek election as Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice in 2010.



A Plain Dealer article then discussed other possibilities for Chief Justice. Including Two Sitting Associate Justices up for re-election in 2008; Evelyn Stratton & Maureen O’Connor. (As well as fellow Associate Justice Paul Pfeifer).

The problem with the ’08 candidates is that if elected Chief Justice they would have to resign from their current seats—opening up an appointment to the all-Republican Court by Liberal Governor Ted Strickland.

While Pfeifer could simply shift to the Chief Justice seat, allowing another Republican to seek the seat he would vacate, O’Connor & Stratton would create a no-win situation for the Republican Party, simply for the prestige of being “the boss”.

Personally, I have issues with Pfeifer’s interpretation of law; I have even greater issues with talk of O’Connor & Stratton handing over their current seats to the DEMs to fill.

I believe that the Ohio Republican party should DEMAND that Justices Stratton and O’Connor commit to stay out of the Chief Justice race in 2010, OR step aside from their re-election bids in 2008—allowing another Republican to be nominated in the primary and elected in November 2008.

Otherwise the GOP could be in a no-win situation in 2010, where the DEMs would win the Chief Justice seat, or the Democrat nominee could count on being appointed by Governor Strickland to the seat that their GOP opponent vacates.

We should not be placed in that situation.


Key paragraphs from the Plain Dealer article are…

Two justices, Maureen O'Connor and Evelyn Lundberg Stratton, are up for re-election in 2008 and both have been mentioned as chief candidates in 2010.

"I have heard it and I haven't ruled it out," O'Connor said, adding that, for now, she's focusing on retaining her seat.
Stratton said she had planned to run for chief until a recent family illness caused her to rethink whether she would want to mount another campaign so soon after 2008.

That's because if a sitting member of the bench were elected chief, Gov. Ted Strickland, a Democrat, would get to make the appointment to fill the vacancy.

Read the entire article here

Campbell & Murtha square off on Tubbs-Jones earmark

In case you missed the feature on FOX news, California Rep. John Campbell squared off with Rep. John Murtha over a Congressional funding earmark for the Sherwin-Williams Corporation, based in Cleveland. The earmark was proposed by Stephanie Tubbs-Jones, Cleveland Democrat.

Here is the video...

Cigar Tax Update

by Gary Manelski,
Your Guide to Cigars.
Stay up to date

Both the U.S. House and Senate have passed their own versions of bills to continue, and provide additional funding for the State Children's Health Insurance Program, by increasing the federal excise tax on tobacco products - including cigars. Congress is now on vacation for the month of August, but they will attempt to reconcile their differences before the end of September, when the current program is scheduled to expire. A joint bill will then be sent to the President, who must approve the legislation before it becomes the law of the land. However, President Bush has threatened to veto this legislation, so both the House and Senate will need enough votes to override the veto. Therefore, at this point, anything is still possible.

Here are the latest proposed increases in the federal excise tax on cigars:

Current Tax: $.05 per cigar
House Version: 33% tax rate with a maximum tax of $1 per cigar
Senate Version: 53% tax rate with a maximum tax of $3 per cigar

Under the House version, the new tax would be $1 on cigars costing $3 or more, and 33% on cigars costing less than $3. Under the Senate version, the new tax would be $3 on cigars costing $5.65 or more, and 53% on cigars costing less than $5.65. Although the House version is less damaging to cigar smokers, a $1 tax still represents an increase of 2,000%, compared to a nickel. According to the current results of our ongoing opinion poll, 48% of cigar smokers would quit smoking if the tax was raised to $0.25 or more per cigar. If the tax was raised to $.050 or more per cigar, 80% of cigar smokers would stop smoking cigars. This would virtually put an end to the cigar industry as we now know it.

Unless you want to pay $25 to $75 more for your next box of cigars, the time to act is now!

Click Here For No New Cigar Taxes

ALSO HERE"S A YOU TUBE VIDEO FROM ROCKY PATEL OF PATEL PREMIUM CIGARS ON THE TAX INCREASE

Husted on School Choice in Ohio

From: Husted, Jon
Sent: Monday, July 16, 2007 9:11 AM
Subject: School Choice in Ohio
July 16, 2007

RE: School Choice in Ohio

In his State of the State speech on March 14, 2007, Ohio’s new Governor, Ted Strickland vowed to strike a blow against school choice by placing a moratorium on charter schools, cutting funding to them and eliminating the Ed Choice Scholarship Program – a statewide voucher program for children trapped in chronically underperforming schools.

In a March 29 editorial, the Wall Street Journal noted, “New Governor Ted Strickland has decided that one of his first priorities should be an assault on public and private school choice.” Students, parents, educators and legislators, quickly rallied in order to respond to the policies set forth by the governor in his executive budget proposal that would have virtually eliminated the school choice options that were serving nearly 100,000 of our state’s children.

I write today to let you know we defeated the Governor’s proposals to eliminate school choice and actually advanced the school choice agenda in Ohio.

With the strong case that the advocates for school choice made during the months of debate, we were able to pass the budget in the House, restoring the school choice provisions, 97-0. The Senate followed with a 33-0 vote, and eventually the Governor signed the bill. However, it was not before he line-item vetoed the special needs voucher program – a new program we had included in the bill.

I want to reassure all, especially the parents and special needs students that we will not let the special needs issue die and will work to change the Governor’s mind and the law.

Overall, this was a success story, not just because we restored and advanced school choice, but because we have begun to change hearts and minds.

I thank you for the work you are doing to promote school choice. Your support is meaningful in this success story, and it is my hope that Ohio can serve as an example of why school choice is so important and the lives it touches everywhere. Be sure that I will continue to work to preserve and expand the opportunity for children to learn in a school of their choice.

Sincerely,

Jon A. HustedSpeaker
Ohio House of Representatives


Enclosure: Preserving School Choice for Ohio Students and Parents