A Team Ohio

2012-01-31T13:23:00.001-05:00

http://wttan.com/MRDJ/950452.html

Obama Fever Grips Kenya as Nation Prays for His Election - FOXNews.com Elections

2008-11-01T20:48:00.000-04:00

Obama Fever Grips Kenya as Nation Prays for His Election - FOXNews.com Elections

Media endorsing Obama's socialist agenda? (OneNewsNow.com)

2008-11-01T16:55:00.000-04:00

Media endorsing Obama's socialist agenda? (OneNewsNow.com)

McCain Attacks Obama's Faith in Americans - FOXNews.com Elections

2008-11-01T16:47:00.000-04:00

McCain Attacks Obama's Faith in Americans - FOXNews.com Elections

Bishop Lennon Issues Clarification on "Faithful Citizenship" Teaching

2008-11-01T13:34:00.000-04:00

Special Diocesan Update
Newsletter #6 - Oct. 31

Human RIGHTS Begin When Human LIFE Begins!

Cleveland Right to Life Newsletter

The Bishop Speaks!

Bishop Lennon Issues Clarification on "Faithful Citizenship" Teaching:

". . . without Respect for Life, what is there left to respect?"

Cleveland Catholic Bishop Richard Lennon issued a statement today aimed at clarifying the USCCB document Faithful Citizenship and dispelling the errant thinking that has resulted in some from its faulty presentation:

"I am concerned about many things that are being said about the teaching of the bishops. From listening to many good and sincere people who are preparing to fulfill their duty to vote as Catholics and citizens, I realize they are confused in light of what is being said by certain people. For example, we hear from some that the issues and concerns raised in Faithful Citizenship are all equally important as they all impact human life. This is not at all what Faithful Citizenship taught" (emphasis added).

Bishop Lennon goes on to differentiate between issues which involve intrinsically evil actions, which "must always be rejected and opposed and must never be supported or condoned," and what he terms "life-enhancing issues" which "only matter if human life itself is a value of fundamental priority and is always protected. If human life is expendable, then these other issues really lose much of their significance."

"Certainly, abortion and euthanasia, direct attacks on human life, stand out as intrinsically evil actions," states the bishop. "(The Church's) teaching on intrinsically evil actions admits of no exception or compromise."

"(The) teaching of the bishops on immigration (and) other life-enhancing issues . . . fundamentally differs from that on abortion and euthanasia. The teaching on abortion and euthanasia are based on "God's truth" regarding the dignity and sacredness of all human life," he emphasizes. As such, these issues are "essential and foundational and can never be compromised."

The statement concludes with a directive for all Catholics who are preparing for Election Day to be guided by this teaching, "for without Respect for Life, what is there left to respect?"

Cleveland Right to Life is sincerely grateful to Bishop Lennon for the pastoral concern he has shown his flock in issuing this statement. With this definitive guidance from the bishop, who alone has the authority to teach the mind of the Church within his diocese, all conflicting theories regarding Faithful Citizenship can be thrown away. Where a candidate stands on the fundamental Life issues of abortion and euthanasia cannot be glossed over by his relative position on other, lesser points. Every Catholic is called to place these Life issues in their proper place as the most essential of all voting considerations -- and not to compromise.

Take Action!

CRTL encourages the Catholic faithful to express their gratitude and admiration to Bishop Lennon for his courage in addressing this issue at such a pivotal time: evonalt@dioceseofcleveland.org; Phone: 216-696-6525 ext. 2030; Fax: 216-696-6547; or Chancery Building - 1027 Superior Ave. - Cleveland, OH 44114-2503.
Forward this newletter to everyone you know, particularly those who may have been led astray or confused by conflicting teaching on Faithful Citizenship.

Bishop Lennon to speak on political responsibility of Catholics at Cathedral on Sunday, November 2nd at 6:30 p.m.

The Most Reverend Richard G. Lennon, Bishop of Cleveland will discuss Forming Conscience for Faithful Citizenship at a free and open to the public lecture on Sunday, November 2, 2008, 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the Cathedral of Saint John the Evangelist, E. 9th & Superior Avenue, Cleveland. See flier.

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ACORN'S Track record of fraud

2008-10-14T12:48:00.001-04:00

Thanks to the Tennessee Eagle forum & Republican National Coalition for Life for forwarding the following....

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

"Investigators (of ACORN's voter fraud) discovered that the entire offensive line of the Dallas Cowboys had signed up to vote in Las Vegas, unless it turns out that someone forged their signatures to make a quota. The rules for this game were written in Chicago."

- Columnist Wes Pruden

"I want (conservatives) to hurt as much as we did (in 2004). I want their spirits crushed, their backs broken. . . . We do that by making sure a record number of Americans reject conservative ideology, leaving it utterly discredited. The day after the election, I want to see an electoral battlefield littered with defeated Republicans, their ranks demoralized, their treasury in heavy debt, and no real leadership to take the helm."

- Liberal blogger Markos Moulitsas of the DailyKos

FOLKS, we are not fighting for a party, we are flighting for our COUNTRY. A free and fair election is the bedrock of a Constitutional Republic. Without that, we lose our nation.

1. The Pro-Barack Vote-Fraud Drive
2. Thousands of voter registration forms fakes, officials say
3. Cuyahoga board probes ACORN voter registration drive
4. Criminal inquiry possible in voter filings
5. Michigan Branch of ACORN putting Through sizable, Duplicate, Fraudulent Voter Apps
6. GOP says voter registration groups employed felons
7. 7-yr-old Gets An ACORN vote
8. I Voter, 72 Registrations
9. Is ACORN Stealing the election?
10. ACORN's Senator
11. Obama hid $800,000 payment to ACORN through "Citizen Services, Inc."
12. De-Fund ACORN, Republican Leader Insists [It's about time!]

1. The Pro-Barack Vote-Fraud Drive

SYSTEMIC corruption of our election process continues. Barack Obama and his old friends at ACORN and Project Vote are leading the way. This radical revolution is taking place in your backyard. And as I've reported before, this voter-fraud racket is on your dime.

On Monday, the two groups announced the wrap-up of a 21-state voter-registration drive targeting low-income people and minorities in such battleground states as Ohio, Pennyslvania, Colorado, Florida, New Mexico and Wisconsin.

What's wrong with that? For starters, these two groups are militantly partisan outfits purporting to engage in nonpartisan activity. And their campaign comes amid an avalanche of fresh voter-fraud allegations involving ACORN in many of those same states.

ACORN has helped register over 1.27 million people nationwide. It gets 40 percent of its revenues from the taxpayers, with the rest coming from left-wing heavyweights like billionaire George Soros and the Democracy Alliance.

Lefty lawyer Sandy Newman founded Project Vote, a 501(c)(3) organization, to register voters in welfare offices and unemployment lines with the explicit goal of turning back the Reagan revolution.

The two groups are inextricably linked - and at their nexus is Barack Obama. Despite his denials of any association with the group, Obama's political DNA is encoded with the ACORN agenda.

As I've noted previously ("ACORN: O's Ugly Ally," June 26), Obama trained ACORN members in Chicago. In turn, ACORN volunteers worked on his Illinois campaigns and ACORN's PAC endorsed him in this year's Democratic primaries back in February.

And Newman hired Obama in 1992 to lead Project Vote efforts in Illinois. The effort's motto: "It's a Power Thing." Today, the Obama campaign's "Vote for Change" registration drive is running in parallel with ACORN/Project Vote, targetting the same sorts of people.

It's an all-out scramble to scrape up every last unregistered voter sympathetic to Obama's big-government vision. "Our volume," Obama campaign manager David Plouffe bragged of the voter-registration program, "is going to be enormous."

Quantity over quality. That's the ACORN way - and the fraud allegations keep piling up:

* Yesterday, Nevada officials raided ACORN's Las Vegas office after election authorities accused the group of submitting multiple voter registrations with fake and duplicate names. Among the bogus monikers: names of former Dallas Cowboys players.

* Lake County, Ind., election officials this month rejected thousands of registration forms ACORN had turned in from its drives this summer. On a conference call yesterday, GOP officials noted that up to 11,000 of the applications were no good - tying up election officials and jeopardizing the voting rights of untold victims whose identities may have been stolen.
Read more here

2. Thousands of voter registration forms fakes, officials say
CROWN POINT, Indiana (CNN) -- More than 2,000 voter registration forms filed in northern Indiana's Lake County by a liberal activist group this week have turned out to be bogus, election officials said Thursday.

The group -- the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN -- already faces allegations of filing fraudulent voter registrations in Nevada and faces investigations in other states.

And in Lake County, home to the long-depressed steel town of Gary, the bipartisan Elections Board has stopped processing a stack of about 5,000 applications delivered just before the October 6 registration deadline after the first 2,100 turned out to be phony.

"All the signatures looked exactly the same," Ruthann Hoagland, a Republican on the board. "Everything on the card filled out looks exactly the same."
Read more here

3. Cuyahoga board probes ACORN voter registration drive

CLEVELAND -- A national organization that conducts voter registration drives for low-income people has curtailed its push in Cuyahoga County after the Board of Elections accused its workers of submitting fraudulent registration cards.

The board is investigating the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. Results of the inquiry could be turned over to the county prosecutor.

Board employees said ACORN workers often handed in the same name on a number of voter registration cards, but showing that person living at different addresses. Other times, cards had the same name listed, but a different date of birth. Still another sign of possible fraud showed a number of people living at an address that turned out to be a restaurant.
Read more here

4. Criminal inquiry possible in voter filings

At least six voter registration workers could face criminal investigations after turning in 200 to 300 fraudulent registration cards, according to the Milwaukee Election Commission and the activist group that employed them.

In one case, "one woman called us to complain because her husband has been dead for 10 years and a voter registration was submitted," said Sue Edman, the commission's executive director.

In other cases, deputy registrars working for ACORN were "making people up or registering people that were still in prison," said Carolyn Castore, ACORN's state political director.

In still other cases, workers used the same address for numerous voters or used driver's license numbers that did not fit the voters' birth dates, Edman said.

Read more here [you have to scroll down]

5. Michigan Branch of ACORN putting Through sizable, Duplicate, Fraudulent Voter Apps

The Michigan branch of Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), located in Detroit, is being investigated after several municipal clerks reported fraudulent and duplicate voter registration applications coming through.

The majority of the fraudulent and duplicate applications are coming from the liberal ACORN group based in Detroit, Michigan, which now has ACORN investigating the problem once again as well as the Secretary of State's Office turning over some of those applications to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

According to the report by Freep.com, the spokeswoman for the Michigan Secretary of State's Office, Kelly Chesney, says there is a "sizeable number of duplicate and fraudulent applications. And it appears to be widespread."

ACORN has registered 200,000 voters statewide in recent months with the use of paid, part time employees.
Read more here

6. GOP says voter registration groups employed felons

An official with the Republican National Committee said Thursday that a group involved with voter registration drives in Milwaukee is "engaged in systematic fraud and attempts to undermine our electoral system."

The comments came from Sean Cairncross, the party's chief lawyer, during a conference call with reporters in the wake of a report that the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) had hired at least seven felons as voter registration workers in the city.

The Journal Sentinel has reported on problems with voter registration cards submitted to the city by workers for the group and another liberal group, the Community Voters Project.

The newspaper reported on similar registration problems in 2004, which led to charges against some voter registration workers, as well as state reforms that bar groups from paying workers based on the number of signatures collected.
Read more here

7. 7-yr-old Gets An ACORN vote

O'jahnae Smith is ready and registered to vote this November.

There's only one problem: She's 7 years old.

The Connecticut girl is 11 years too young - and nobody in her family knows how she ended up on a voter registration form submitted by ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.

"She's registered to vote?" said a surprised Jerome Smith, O'jahnae's teenage brother. "She's too young to vote."
Read more here

8. I Voter, 72 Registrations

CLEVELAND - A man at the center of a voter-registration scandal told The Post yesterday he was given cash and cigarettes by aggressive ACORN activists in exchange for registering an astonishing 72 times, in apparent violation of Ohio laws.

"Sometimes, they come up and bribe me with a cigarette, or they'll give me a dollar to sign up," said Freddie Johnson, 19, who filled out 72 separate voter-registration cards over an 18-month period at the behest of the left-leaning Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.

"The ACORN people are everywhere, looking to sign people up. I tell them I am already registered. The girl said, 'You are?' I say, 'Yup,' and then they say, 'Can you just sign up again?' " he said.
Read more here

9. Is ACORN Stealing the election?

Election Fraud: A radical group Barack Obama used to work for is committing voter-registration fraud in several states, ahead of the election. What does Obama know about this scam?

It's a legitimate question to raise now that the FBI has raided the offices of the nonprofit Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now in Nevada and North Carolina, two states where Obama and John McCain are running neck-and-neck. ACORN has registered bogus voters in both states.

The group's voter-registration fraud is rampant, and authorities plan a nationwide sweep of ACORN offices to collect records.
Read more here

10. ACORN's Senator

Election '08: Barack Obama wasn't just the second-largest recipient of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac political contributions. He was also the senator from ACORN, the activist leader for risky "affirmative action" loans.

Despite efforts to blame the rescue bill's failure on the GOP, it should be remembered that 95 Democrats — some 40% of the Democratic Caucus — withheld support. Obama himself also deserves blame — not only for the bill's failure, but also for the crisis it was designed to solve.

As the New York Times reports, "Aides to Mr. Obama said he had not directly reached out to try to sway any House Democrats who opposed the measure." Is the reason the fact that the slush fund for ACORN in the original bill, siphoning off 20% of any future profits for such activist groups, was trimmed from the tree?

Obama, who once represented ACORN in a lawsuit against the state of Illinois, was hired by the group to train its community organizers and staff in the methods and tactics of the late Saul Alinsky. ACORN would stage in-your-face protests in bank lobbies, drive-through lanes and even at bank managers' homes to get them to issue risky loans in the inner city or face charges of racism.
Read more here

11. Obama hid $800,000 payment to ACORN through "Citizen Services, Inc."

There's much more to the story of Obama's amended campaign finance reports than what Obama and the Obamedia will tell you. I will fill you in on what's missing in a moment. What we have here, essentially, is Obama using a non-profit group called Citizens Services Inc. as a front to funnel payments to ACORN for campaign advance work. Obama officials say it's no big deal. Nothing to see here. Move along. But where there's left-wing laundering smoke, there's fire. CSI has been the subject of a little-noticed complaint to the FEC by a Democrat who smelled something rotten going on between CSI, ACORN, and a left-wing 527, Communities Voting Together.

But first, the headline:
Obama to amend report on $800,000 in spending
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review has details:
Read more here

12. De-Fund ACORN, Republican Leader Insists
Friday, October 10, 2008

(CNSNews.com) - "All federal funding to ACORN must be stopped," House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) said on Thursday, amid a widening probe into voter registration fraud by the liberal group.

Questionable or duplicate voter-registration forms submitted by the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN, have turned up in as many as nine states, including so-called swing states.

The "nonpartisan" community-organizer group works to recruit low-income, Democrat-leaning voters. Its national Web site says the group has registered 1.3 million people nationwide for the Nov. 4 election.

"The latest allegations of voter registration fraud by ACORN are further evidence that this group cannot be trusted with another dollar of the taxpayers' money," Boehner said in a news release.
Read more here

And also thanks for Maggie Thurber for the following---.............

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BUCKEYE INSTITUTE FILES STATE RICO ACTION AGAINST ACORN

Think Tank Represents Two Warren County Voters

COLUMBUS – The Buckeye Institute, a Columbus-based think tank, today filed a state RICO action against the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) on behalf of two Warren County voters. The action filed in Warren County Court of Common Pleas alleges ACORN has engaged in a pattern of corrupt activity that amounts to organized crime. It seeks ACORN's dissolution as a legal entity, the revocation of any licenses in Ohio, and an injunction against fraudulent voter registration and other illegal activities.

http://tinyurl.com/4x98wx

My guest on radio today will be Maurice Thompson, the atty who filed RICO action against ACORN.

You can listen live at 5 p.m. at www.wspd.com ... click the 'listen live' under the WSPD logo - or you can click on Brian Wilson's head since I'm subbing for him and that will also take you to the listen live link.

Maggie

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How low can this man go?

2008-01-11T07:13:00.000-05:00

I don't know what message Dennis is getting from his UFO buddies, but people here on earth know he is a loser.
Mark G Pogue

FOXNEWS,COM

Dennis Kucinich Calls for Recount in New Hampshire

CONCORD, N.H. — Democrat Dennis Kucinich, who won less than 2 percent of the vote in the New Hampshire primary, on Thursday called for a recount to ensure that all ballots in his party’s contest were counted.

He cites “serious and credible reports, allegations and rumors” about the integrity of Tuesday results.

Kucinich alluded to online reports alleging disparities around the state between hand-counted ballots, which tended to favor Barack Obama, and machine-counted ones that tended to favor Hillary Clinton. He also noted the difference between pre-election polls, which indicated Obama would win, and Clinton’s triumph by a 39 percent to 37 percent margin.

Deputy Secretary of State David Scanlan responded that Kucinich is entitled to a statewide recount, but under New Hampshire law Kucinich will have to pay for it. Scanlan said he had “every confidence” the results are accurate.

Popularity: 1% [?]

freedom's right: Before anyone ask "could it get any worse?" It has#links

2007-12-29T14:50:00.000-05:00

freedom's right: Before anyone ask "could it get any worse?" It has#links

freedom's right: Secretary of State Brunner expected to order Cuyahoga County to buy optical scanners -#links

2007-12-21T06:01:00.000-05:00

freedom's right: Secretary of State Brunner expected to order Cuyahoga County to buy optical scanners -#links

Jennifer Brunner wants to go back to a failed system

2007-12-18T04:11:00.000-05:00

This is the liberal way, when something has problems lets go back to a system that did not work, or so that the liberals can make sure that the liberals win. Liberals fear high tech because most of there un-educated voters can not understand how to use it. And that's the way the liberals want to keep it. The Democrats will never be for advancement of the poor because they will lose there vote. As Ann Coulter said "If The Democrats had any brains they would be Republicans"
MARK G POGUE

FROM THE CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER

CLEVELAND -- The elections board in Ohio's biggest county may have a decision by Thursday whether to scrap its electronic voting system.

Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner wants Cuyahoga County to stop using its touch-screen system. She wants the county to switch to optical-scan machines for the state's March 4 primary.

Brunner cited security flaws that make the touch-screen machines vulnerable to tampering.

Board members listened to the opinions of voting-machine vendors and concerned citizens during a meeting today.

The board will meet again Thursday

BOE To Decide Fate Of Voting System

Jim Trakas to announce his candidacy for the 10th Congressional District this Saturday

2007-12-13T13:28:00.001-05:00

For Immediate Release Contact: Steven M. Backiel

Wednesday, December 12, 2007 (216) 621-5417

REPUBLICAN EVENT ADVISORY

For several months, Chairman Rob Frost has worked to recruit a top tier candidate for The United States Congress in the seat abandoned by Presidential Candidate Dennis J. Kucinich, who recently denounced the United States of America on Syrian state television and voted against a memorial resolution commemorating the lives of those lost in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

We are pleased to announce that The Republican Party will vigorously contest the 10th Congressional District with a high profile, established and seasoned candidate. With the strong cooperation of Ohio Republican Party Chairman Robert T. Bennett, Vice Chairman Kevin DeWine, Chairman Rob Frost and the leadership of The Republican Party of Cuyahoga County, Former State Representative Jim Trakas of Independence will announce his candidacy for The United States Congress this Saturday.

We are inviting anyone who wants to be part of this effort to attend Jim's announcement to the public. Below are the details, and coffee and donuts will be served.

WHAT: Announcement of Jim Trakas, Candidate for The U.S. House of Representatives District 10

WHEN: Saturday December 15, 2007 10:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.

WHERE: City of Independence City Hall Council Chambers, 6800 Brecksville Road

Independence, Ohio 44131. City Hall is located on State Route 21, Brecksville Road on the Northwest Quadrant of Selig and Brecksville Roads, North of Rockside and South of

Pleasant Valley Roads in the city of Independence.

If you would like to join Jim in the announcement, please contact Steven Backiel at RPCC HQ at 216-621-5417 or sbackiel@cuyahogacountygop.com so that we may plan accordingly.

Be a part of political history for this special announcement of the campaign that will restore effective, in touch and rational leadership to Greater Cleveland's West Side

# # #

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freedom's right: 10th district should be the next target for the ORP#links

2007-12-12T05:03:00.000-05:00

freedom's right: 10th district should be the next target for the ORP#links

MIKE HUCKABEE IS A FISCAL CONSERVATIVE

2007-11-28T18:04:00.001-05:00

by Dick Morris,

Published on TheHill.com on November 28, 2007.

As Mike Huckabee rises in the polls, an inevitable process of vetting him for conservative credentials is under way in which people who know nothing of Arkansas or of the circumstances of his governorship weigh in knowingly about his record. As his political consultant in the early '90s and one who has been following Arkansas politics for 30 years, let me clue you in: Mike Huckabee is a fiscal conservative.

A recent column by Bob Novak excoriated Huckabee for a "47 percent increase in state tax burden." But during Huckabee's years in office, total state tax burden — all 50 states combined — rose by twice as much: 98 percent, increasing from $743 billion in 1993 to $1.47 trillion in 2005.

And he can win in Iowa.

When voters who have decided not to back Rudy Giuliani because of his social positions consider the contest between Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee, they will have no difficulty choosing between a real social conservative and an ersatz one.

Romney, who began as a pro-lifer and switched in order to win in Massachusetts, and then flipped back again, cannot compete with a lifelong pro-lifer, Huckabee.

But Huckabee's strength is not just his orthodoxy on gay marriage, abortion, gun control and the usual litany. It is his opening of the religious right to a host of new issues. He speaks firmly for the right to life, but then notes that our responsibility for children does not end with childbirth. His answer to the rise of medical costs is novel and exciting. "Eighty percent of all medical spending," he says, "is for chronic diseases." So he urges an all-out attack on teen smoking and overeating and a push for exercise not as the policies of a big-government liberal but as the requisites of a fiscal conservative anxious to save tax money.

So what happens if Huckabee wins in Iowa? With New Hampshire only five days later, his momentum will be formidable. The key may boil down to how Hillary does in Iowa. Hillary? Yes. If she loses in Iowa, most of the independents in New Hampshire will flock to the Democratic primary to vote for her or against her. That will move the Republican electorate to the right in New Hampshire — bad news for Rudy, good news for Huckabee. But if she wins in Iowa, there will be no point in voting in the Democratic primary and a goodly number will enter the GOP contest, giving Rudy a big boost.

And afterward? If Romney wins Iowa, New Hampshire, Michigan and South Carolina, sweeping the early primaries, Giuliani will have a very tough task to bring him down in Florida or on Super Tuesday. It can be done, but it's tough. But if Romney loses in Iowa (likely to Huckabee) then Rudy can survive the loss of Iowa and even New Hampshire without surrendering irresistible momentum to Romney.

In any event, neither Hillary nor Giuliani will be knocked out by defeats in Iowa and New Hampshire. Their 50-state organizations, their national base and their massive war chests will permit them to fight it out all over the United States. Even if they lose the first two contests, they will remain in the race and could well come back to win.

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20 percent of election printouts were unreadable

2007-11-28T07:51:00.000-05:00

The problem is the the Democrats want everything counted and re-counted and counted again. they created the problem and now they can't fix it. Simple solution. elimanate the over kill of paper trails.
Mark G Pogue

from the Plain Dealer

Officials fear disaster in Cuyahoga County during primary vote Wednesday, November 28, 2007Joe GuillenPlain Dealer Reporter
A recount after next year's presidential election could mean disaster for Cuyahoga County based on problems discovered Tuesday with paper records produced by electronic voting machines.

More than 20 percent of the printouts from touch-screen voting machines were unreadable and had to be reprinted. Board of Elections workers found the damaged ballots when they conducted a recount Tuesday of two races, which involved only 17 of the county's 1,436 precincts.

The recount lasted more than 12 hours. Reprinting the damaged records and hand-counting them created an extra step that added hours

"If it is as close as it's been for the last two presidential elections and it's that close again in 2008, God help us if we have to depend on Cuya- hoga County as the deciding factor with regard to making the decision on who the next president of the United States is," said County Commissioner Jimmy Dimora, a longtime opponent of the county's touch-screen voting system.

Board of Elections Director Jane Platten said recounting the entire county for the 2008 presidential election could take more than a week.

"The high number of paper audit trails that need to be reprinted was at best a difficult task to have to work through," Platten said. "I think that's going to be an indication of future recounts."

Tuesday's recounts were for a North Royalton City Council seat and positions on the Bedford Heights Charter Review Commission. The recount upheld the official results that showed Dan Kasaris won the North Royalton race. Results were not available Tuesday night for the Bedford Heights election.

Cuyahoga County uses touch-screen voting machines that store votes on a memory card inside each machine. On Election Day, a paper record of each ballot is printed inside each machine on long reels of paper.

The printout is the paper trail used during recounts. If it's damaged and unreadable -- usually because the paper jammed when printing -- a new copy is printed from the machine's memory card.

"It's workable, but tedious," said board member Rob Frost after watching Tuesday's recounts. "I think that's, in part, the nature of recounts."

Election workers inspected 70 paper printouts, which represented nearly 4,400 ballots cast Nov. 6 in North Royalton and Bedford Heights. Election workers found 15 of the 70 printouts damaged and those had to be reprinted.

"This is very much a cause for concern," board member Inajo Davis Chappell said. "All the technology issues pose a challenge to us, especially given the volume of voters we expect in the primary."

Diebold Inc. made the county's voting equipment. The company renamed its elections division Premier Election Solutions. The high percentage of damaged paper trails seen on Tuesday is not typical, Premier spokesman Chris Riggall said. "That is a percentage that prompts us to do further investigation," he said.

The board has two more recounts scheduled to begin today: A race for Olmsted Falls City Council and a seat on the Solon Board of Education. The recounts on Tuesday and today were automatically triggered because the margin of victory was one-half of 1 percent or less.

The damaged paper records found Tuesday were another problem for the board following the Nov. 6 countywide election.

The county still doesn't know why its vote-counting software crashed twice election night. An investigation into the software problem could begin next week, once the county's recounts are finished.

Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner hopes to answer concerns about the county's voting system. She has initiated a statewide voting equipment review. A report expected Dec. 14 could recommend changes.

Meanwhile, elections officials must determine the best way to hold elections with their current machinery.

"I wish those paper trails would come out pristine -- and they don't, and they're not going to," Platten said. "We're going to have to deal with it again."

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:

jguillen@plaind.com, 216-999-4675

The dumb and dumber ticket:Kucinich suggests a Republican running mate

2007-11-26T23:00:00.000-05:00

This is a perfect ticket for stupid voters, this is lower than liberal.

From the Cleveland Plain Dealer

Monday, November 26, 2007Sabrina Eaton and Stephen KoffPlain Dealer Washington Bureau
Acworth, N.H. -- Call it the liberal-libertarian ticket, where left meets right and Democrat Dennis Kucinich picks Republican Ron Paul to be his vice president.

Kucinich, the Cleveland congressman running in a longshot bid to become president, suggested it himself Sunday.

"I'm thinking about Ron Paul" as a running mate, Kucinich told a crowd of about 70 supporters at a house party here, one of numerous stops throughout New Hampshire over the Thanksgiving weekend. A Kucinich-Paul administration could bring people together "to balance the energies in this country," Kucinich said.

It would create a stunning, if dizzying, blend of beliefs, wedding two politicians who hold different views on abortion rights, the role of government in providing health care, and the use of government in fostering -- or hampering -- the public's greater good. Those are among the reasons it would never work, said a spokesman for Paul, a Texas congressman and doctor.

"Dr. Paul and Rep. Kucinich are friends and there is a lot of mutual respect," Paul communications director Jesse Benton said in an e-mail when asked whether a running-mate spot on the Kucinich ticket would be attractive to Paul. "They have worked, and will continue to work, together on ending the war and protecting civil liberties.

"However, Ron wants to substantially cut the size and scope of the federal government. There are too many differences on issues such as taxes and spending to think a joint ticket would be possible."

Kucinich and Paul are gadflies to their parties' establishments. Kucinich challenges Democrats to stop cozying up to corporate interests, while Paul challenges Republicans to shed the trappings of big government.

Both frequently cite the Constitution as providing the authority for their agendas. Paul never votes for legislation unless the measure is expressly authorized by the Constitution, his campaign says. Kucinich keeps a pocket-size copy of the Constitution handy, taking it out to invoke its authority over such proposals as the impeachment of Vice President Cheney, one of Kucinich's signature issues.

Speculation of a Kucinich-Paul ticket has surfaced on the Internet, where it also has been shot down. But Kucinich's wife, Elizabeth, did not dismiss it when asked about it after a recent Democratic candidates' debate in Las Vegas. Speaking to the Web site RawVegasTV, she called Paul "a great truth-teller," adding that Paul has "voted 100 percent right on the war."

On Sunday, her husband said, "Think of how you could unite the country, having a Democrat and a Republican on the ticket."

To reach these Plain Dealer reporters:

skoff@plaind.com, 216-999-4212,

seaton@plaind.com, 216-999-4212

State of Ohio Blogger Alliance HQ: Campaign season 08

2007-11-17T14:56:00.000-05:00

State of Ohio Blogger Alliance HQ: Campaign season 08

Polls reveal region's sour mood

2007-11-15T06:34:00.000-05:00

FROM THE CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER

Posted by nbye November 15, 2007 06:03AM

Several recent state polls offer Republican and Democratic presidential candidates something more valuable than money: a window into Ohio's psyche.

While these polls, including one from The Plain Dealer, are only snapshots in time and limited by sample size, they are the closest thing they can get to political ESP.

The candidates, however, don't need special powers to read voters' minds about President Bush's leadership and his handling of the war in Iraq.

Voters are overwhelmingly unhappy with both, according to three polls released in the last week

These reflect a strong national trend, says Karlyn Bowman, who studies opinion polls at a Washington think tank, the American Enterprise Institute.

"There is a pretty clear sense that the public wants change," she said. "There is a very sour mood."

At the same time, the Ohio polls suggest that voters are not willing to hold Bush's problems against Republican candidates at all costs.

And the parties' respective front-runners -- Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Rudy Giuliani -- also still face considerable challenges from voters.

A Quinnipiac University poll of 1,231 registered voters, conducted Nov. 6-11 and released Wednesday, shows Clinton and Giuliani have commanding leads within their parties and are deadlocked in a head-to-head match-up.

But 41 percent of voters surveyed by Quinnipiac say they would never vote for Clinton, and 39 percent say they would never consider Giuliani

A Plain Dealer poll of 625 likely voters, conducted Nov. 5-7, shows similar sentiments: 55 percent of voters say they would never vote for Clinton while, 43 percent say they would never vote for Giuliani.

Richard Bartel of McDonald, Ohio, who participated in The Plain Dealer poll, said he would not vote for either one.

"I wouldn't vote for Hillary, but not because she's a woman," says Bartel, a Teamster who describes himself as an independent.

"I think she's very smart, but we saw her true colors already."

About Giuliani, Bartel says he "is a too far left-leaning conservative."

Both Giuliani and Clinton receive support from more than 90 percent of voters within their respective parties. But independent voters, who could swing the election in a highly partisan contest, are more leery of Clinton. Fifty-nine percent said they would not vote for her; 42 percent said they would not vote for Giuliani.

Voters surveyed in The Plain Dealer poll are the kindest to Bush, who earns a 40 percent approval rating in the survey.

Just 31 percent of 713 registered voters interviewed in the University of Cincinnati's Ohio Poll, conducted Oct. 19-31, approve of the president's performance.

The Quinnipiac poll puts Bush's approval rating at 29 percent.

Looking within the University of Cincinnati's numbers, Republicans might worry because evangelical Protestants, a key Republican constituency, are split over whether Bush is doing a good job.

Bush earns poor marks for his handling of the war in Iraq in The Plain Dealer and Cincinnati polls.

Though the Quinnipiac poll did not ask the same question about the war in Iraq, it tries to weigh the influence of the issue in the presidential race.

The poll shows 60 percent of voters disagree with the notion that Democrats are going to win the White House because of weak support for Bush and the war in Iraq.

"At some point, Bush will become part of the past, and voters will judge the candidates for themselves," Bowman predicts.

The Plain Dealer poll suggests Ohio's voters -- who backed Bush over Democrat John Kerry by two percentage points in 2004 -- may still look to the GOP to guide them on national security, immigration and taxes. Voters appear to trust Democrats more on health care, education and the economy.

Bowman says many national polls show Democrats leading Republicans on even national security, which is a top issue in the campaign.

Of the three recent Ohio polls, Quinnipiac's probed an issue that has become a parlor game among pundits and Democratic leaders: If nominated by her party, will Clinton tap Ohio's Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland as a running mate?

Ohioans really like Strickland, but they really don't think he's veep material, according to the poll.

Only 29 percent said he was qualified to be vice president of the United States, whereas 49 percent said he wasn't. Fifty-three percent said they don't want him to run.

And only 13 percent of Ohio voters said they would be more likely to vote for the Democratic ticket next year if Strickland were on it.

In the end, the three polls should tell the candidates at least one thing about Ohio voters: Their hearts and minds are not made up.

Plain Dealer Washington Bureau Chief Stephen Koff contributed to this report.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:

mnaymik@plaind.com, 216-999-4849

Gov. Strickland's utility plan fizzles out

2007-11-12T13:51:00.000-05:00

Legislature dilutes energy rates proposal Monday, November 12, 2007John FunkPlain Dealer Reporter
What if your bank suddenly changed your mortgage rate? Bet you would do what it took to find out why.

That's kind of what's happening in Columbus. Lawmakers are trying to figure out how utilities should calculate what you pay for electricity.

A lot of people find the topic is easy to ignore. The discussion is loaded with jargon like "rate stabilization" and "electric security plan." And it practically takes college math to figure out a utility bill, anyway.

Legislature dilutes energy rates proposal Monday, November 12, 2007John FunkPlain Dealer Reporter
What if your bank suddenly changed your mortgage rate? Bet you would do what it took to find out why.

That's kind of what's happening in Columbus. Lawmakers are trying to figure out how utilities should calculate what you pay for electricity.

A lot of people find the topic is easy to ignore. The discussion is loaded with jargon like "rate stabilization" and "electric security plan." And it practically takes college math to figure out a utility bill, anyway.

What's at stake

When other states have allowed utilities to base rates on wholesale prices, consumers have immediately seen increases - as much as 70 percent higher in Maryland over the last year. That's great news for utility shareholders but a nightmare for customers and politicians who let it happen.

Rate shock in Ohio probably would be worse for consumers served by Columbus-based American Electric Power than for FirstEnergy Corp. customers, who are used to rates 20 percent to 50 percent higher than in other parts of Ohio. FirstEnergy insists consumers' rates would go up only slightly.

Ohio Consumers' Counsel Janine Migden-Ostrander said market rates could be less than what FirstEnergy would negotiate with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio. She wants the PUCO to figure out which is less for each utility - the market rate or PUCO rate - and customers would pay that.

Hidden changes

The power companies fumed over the governor's proposal and sent an army of lobbyists, public-relations specialists and big-gun attorneys to head off the bill in the General Assembly.

After more than 50 hours of public hearings, the Ohio Senate approved a substitute bill 12 days ago. Buried in 87 pages of legal-speak are dozens of subtle amendments. Among the changes: Consumer rates - including FirstEnergy's, the highest in the state - will never decrease.

Senators added language to the bill that sets February 2008 rates as the starting point for increases, which would be negotiated with the PUCO.

That change was far different from what Strickland proposed. In his version, new Ohio rates would be determined by what it actually cost utilities to generate the power, including the value of power plants and a rate of return - the way it always was when utilities were regulated.

The thicket of Senate alterations also means manufacturers and other big industrial users would keep their deep discounts indefinitely. They had argued that without them, Ohio manufacturing would be unable to compete.

Renewable energy

Other last-minute modifications probably will dash the governor's vision of wind farms and other clean-power plants.

The original bill required utilities by 2025 to produce 25 percent of the power they sell with wind, solar and other "advanced energy" systems such as fuel cells, high-tech coal and nuclear plants. That would create "tens of thousands" of jobs in new industries, jobs that are already being created in states with similar renewable rules, the governor argued.

When senators were done with it, the bill still required the PUCO to make annual reports, but the commission couldn't set interim benchmarks.

Instead, the PUCO would be required to hold only one hearing - in 2025. If utilities drag their feet, they would not be required to expand renewable-energy sources if doing so would raise overall average rates more than 3 percent.

The city of Cleveland, environmental groups and the consumers' counsel argue that the new language means no wind turbines will be built here, no wind turbine manufacturers will come to Ohio, and no jobs will be created.

The Strickland administration counters that renewable energy would be on the table every time a utility asked the PUCO for a rate increase.

An Ohio House committee began hearings last week and plans a leisurely pace - one hearing a week - through January, a slap in the face of the governor, who asked lawmakers to approve his bill by Dec. 31.

In the end

Rates will increase in 2009 - but not skyrocket. Assuming the governor's bill is enacted, don't look for FirstEnergy to immediately bully its way past the governor and the PUCO in 2009.

Instead, FirstEnergy will negotiate rate increases while holding out the prospect to stock analysts that its negotiated rates will move closer to what it could charge by basing rates on wholesale markets. And as the gap narrows, wholesale markets will ultimately become the standard. Profits will increase.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:

jfunk@plaind.com, 216-999-4138

Ohio likely important in 2008 election

2007-11-12T07:45:00.000-05:00

Cleveland Plain Dealer
Posted by nbye November 12, 2007 06:46AM
Washington -- The road to the White House "goes through Ohio," Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said Friday, using an adage deeply ingrained in national politics.

It's why she sought Gov. Ted Strickland's endorsement, and he gave it. It's why President Bush and his Democratic opponent, John Kerry, stopped in Ohio so often in 2004 -- bringing crowd-drawing stars such as Bruce Springsteen (with Kerry) and Arnold Schwarzenegger (with Bush) -- that the state's press corps didn't have to travel the country to cover the campaign. The campaign came to Ohio, and Ohio decided the narrow outcome.

Ohio is likely to be a bellwether for the nation again next November, when for the first time since 1952, there will be no incumbent president or vice president on the ballot.

I saw a UFO and E.T.will be my V.P.

2007-11-09T12:18:00.001-05:00

New Freedoms right

2007-10-28T17:41:00.000-04:00

I just wanted to get the word out that Freedoms right has been updated and refreshed with a new look and address.

here is the new link

http://www.freedomsright.blogspot.com/

Championship Series Schedule

2007-10-10T12:25:00.001-04:00

Although apparently the Yankees may be pinch hitting for the tribe in ALCS game 4...:)

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Ronald Reagan Breakfast Oct. 30th

2007-10-02T12:06:00.001-04:00

To help celebrate my upcoming birthday on October 30th. (well maybe that's not why-- but it's still happening) the Lake County Republican Party will be hosting the first annual Ronald Reagan Breakfast on Tuesday October 30^th at LaMalfa, 5783 Heisley Road in Mentor.

Tickets are $25 per person. You can view and or download the invitation flier at http://www.scribd.com/doc/351728/Reagan-Breakfast-flyer

Email and AIM finally together. You've gotta check out free AOL Mail!

Thompson Wins 2007 Ohio GOP Straw Poll

2007-10-02T11:45:00.001-04:00

Thanks to Dale Fellows for forwarding this..

(Columbus) - The Ohio Republican Party announced today the results of its 2007 Presidential Straw Poll, declaring former U.S. Sen. Fred

Thompson the winner with 33 percent of the vote.

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani took second with 24 percent, and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney placed third with

17 percent of the ballots cast.

"Ohio historically plays a central and often deciding role in choosing the next president, but we wanted to give voters here a voice in the

primary process as well," said Ohio Republican Party Deputy Chairman Kevin DeWine.

Political observers agree the race for the 2008 GOP presidential nomination is wide open at this point, and Ohio could play an important

role in choosing the nominee when voters here go to the polls on March 4.

"Your participation in the straw poll not only provides an early indication of how Ohio will vote but also demostrates your support of

building a strong grassroots organization through our state party," DeWine told the nearly 2,300 Ohioans who cast a straw poll ballot.

The official results of the Ohio Republican Party Presidential Straw Poll are as follows:

Fred Thompson 33%

Rudy Giuliani 24%

Mitt Romney 17%

John McCain 11%

Mike Huckabee 7%

Sam Brownback 4%

Duncan Hunter 2%

Ron Paul 1%

Tom Tancredo 1%

How do you spell objective? K-U-C-I-N-I-C-H

2007-09-26T15:23:00.001-04:00

Thanks to Scott Suttrell from Crain's for the article

How could they even question the objectivity of a liberal?

Blog entry: September 26, 2007, 10:31 am Author: SCOTT SUTTELL

It turns out there's another Kucinich who gets Republicans all bent out of shape.

Radar magazine reports that some members of the House Republican Caucus are groaning because they say Jackie Kucinich, daughter of U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, "regularly 'beats up' on conservatives via The Hill, where she's been on staff since 2005."

At least one high-ranking Republican pol has refused to be interviewed by Ms. Kucinich, Radar says, because he questions her objectivity. Plus, a few Caucus members have penned a letter they plan to soon send to The Hill asking that Kucinich's work come with a permanent disclaimer, indicating her political pedigree.

"There's just a lot of widespread concern — or, rather, worry that this hasn't raised any red flags — that the daughter of a liberal Democratic member is allowed to cover the very people he fights against: us," said a GOP congressional staffer who asked not to be named.

Ms. Kucinich's boss, editor Hugo Gurdon, isn't concerned. "Her reporting is not influenced by her father being a presidential candidate and longtime politician, except perhaps that it means she grew up in the political world and understands it well," he says.

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The ride is over at Geauga Lake

2007-09-21T16:24:00.001-04:00

Exclusive from Crain's Cleveland Business
By JOHN BOOTH

4:05 pm, September 21, 2007

Geauga Lake's amusement rides won't be back for 2008, parent company Cedar Fair announced Friday afternoon.

"The market demand simply isn't there to support the park in its current structure," Cedar Fair spokeswoman Stacy Frole said. She said Wildwater Kingdom, the $25 million water park Cedar Fair built on the south side of the lake, "has really been the most popular attraction at Geauga Lake. We believe that's where the property is going to succeed — as a water park."

Cedar Fair CEO Dick Kinzel said in a statement: "Geauga Lake's Wildwater Kingdom has been recognized as one of the finest water parks in the country. Since its opening in 2005, Wildwater Kingdom has been the park's highest-rated attribute."

The future of the rides on the 119-year-old amusement park's north side, including the classic Big Dipper wooden roller coaster, is uncertain.

"Our planning and design department is going through and analyzing what the best use for all of our assets are," Ms. Frole said. "Will some rides be located to other (Cedar Fair) parks? Yes." She would not specify which rides might be going to which other Cedar Fair properties. Cedar Fair also owns Cedar Point amusement park.

Mr. Kinzel and Cedar Fair chief operating officer Jack Falfas shared the news with employees at Geauga Lake in person. Park general manager Bill Spehn is expected to retain his position, according to Ms. Frole.

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Lakewood Mayoral debate video

2007-09-18T10:03:00.001-04:00

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=766859512777317942&hl=en

Click the above link to see video of the recent Lakewood, Ohio Mayoral debate!

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Good Riddance, Linc Chaffee

2007-09-18T09:35:00.001-04:00

From www.politics1.com

Former US Senator Lincoln Chafee -- who was defeated last year for re-election -- revealed Sunday to the Providence Journal that he had quietly "disaffiliated" in his voter registration from the Republican Party two months ago. Chafee said he hadn't mentioned it until now simply because nobody had asked before. The NRSC spent a significant amount of money on advertising that helped Chafee narrowly survive a conservative primary challenege. Chafee emphasized he still feels close to many in the Rhode Island Republican Party, but his objections were entirely focused upon the national party. "It's not my party any more," he explained. Chafee's criticism was mainly focused upon three areas: "abandoning fiscal conservatism" by passing tax cuts without spending cuts and thus creating a "permanent deficit"; the Iraq War; and the lack of GOP support for environmental protection. Chafee says he very much enjoys his current job as a distinguished visiting fellow at Brown University.

This brings to memory a meeting I had where several Ohio Republican Party staffers were in attendance, telling us how their campaign operation had helped carry Chaffee over the top in his nomination defense over his conservative challenger, MAYOR Steven Laffey. (That's right an elected Mayor of a major Rhode Island City-- not an unelectible kook). But all that mattered was that Chafee SAID he was a Republican, and was the incumbent. Well, now he's admitted what anyone with any sense knew all along Linc Chafee IS NOT A REPUBLICAN. Say hello to Jim Jeffords, and don't let the door hit you on the way out!

--Ron Lisy

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Web-user dies after three-day online binge

2007-09-18T09:10:00.001-04:00

BEIJING (AFP) - A man in southern China collapsed and died after a three-day marathon online session at a cybercafe, state media reported on Monday.

AFP/File Photo: File photo shows Chinese students playing online computer games at an internet cafe in Hangzhou....

The web-user, estimated to be 30 years old, suddenly collapsed in front of his computer terminal in Guangdong province, and emergency personnel were unable to revive him, the Beijing News reported.

"According to preliminary findings, the length of time this man spent online might have triggered heart problems," the paper quoted a local hospital emergency medic in the city of Zhongshan as saying.

The paper did not provide the man's name or the online activities he was engaged in.

Worried about growing Internet addiction, China's government has taken steps to combat the problem, including forcing online gaming sites to dock the points of gamers who stay online too long.

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Congestion, Cameras, and Cash

2007-09-18T09:02:00.001-04:00

2007 Foundation for Economic Education. www.fee.org

September 18, 2007

by Becky Akers

Becky Akers is a freelance writer who lives in Manhattan.

To combat the rush-hour traffic threatening Western civilization, American mayors are flocking to "congestion pricing." This scheme is popular worldwide because it combines yet another automotive tax with surveillance cameras at every intersection.

The theory fueling congestion pricing is the one spanning our automotive lives: driving is a "privilege" government dispenses. Driving at rush hour is an even bigger privilege. So far the state has granted this privilege for free (yep, the dozens of highway, gas, sales, license, and car taxes we pay don't count). But the gravy train is ending. There's no reason we should expect to drive cars we've bought on roads we've paid for when everyone else does. That's not how the market works, say politicians who've ridiculed, regulated, and mooched off the market their entire careers. Willfully confusing supply-and-demand with control-and-command, they insist that roads at rush hour are a scarce commodity. Serfs who want to use them then will have to pay. A lot. Hopefully, that will force commuters onto mass transit, clearing the streets for Leviathan's limousines.

Congestion pricing does thin traffic a bit, anywhere from 13 or 16 percent (in Singapore and London) to 20 percent (Stockholm). But reducing traffic is only an excuse. The state's real reasons for pushing this deviltry lie in its cameras and cash.

London's socialist mayor imposed congestion pricing on his hapless subjects in 2003. Drivers who enter "the zone between 7 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. [notice the expanding definition of "rush hour" as "daylight"], except on weekends and holidays," pay about $16 per day; they are billed when computers match their addresses to the "multiple images of [their] license plates" captured by "700 video cameras," as the New York Times explained in 2005. The cameras have since multiplied because congestion pricing, like all government programs, continually expands. Meanwhile, "there is nowhere in London you can avoid getting photographed and recorded," according to Yosef Sheffi. As director of the Center for Transportation and Logistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he advocates congestion pricing for Boston. He dismisses those who object to starring in surveillance films as hopelessly outdated: "There is also fear of privacy issues. According to the CEO of Sun Microsystems, 'You have no privacy in today's age. Get over it.'" Accurate if tragic advice for Londoners, whose city "has the most surveillance cameras per capita in the world: one for every 55 people...."

New York City's mayor, Michael Bloomberg, longingly eyes those cameras and their loot while ignoring the congestion government causes. Tolls rob drivers at most entrances into Manhattan, backing up traffic for miles. Garbage trucks block streets as a couple of workers slowly pitch an apartment building's mountain of trash into the hopper. These civil servants are never ticketed however many cars pile up behind them. The City also regularly closes roads for everything from street fairs to 9/11 commemorations. Taking even a single side street out of play on this densely populated island creates huge jams while depriving drivers who pay for roads of their use. Yet rather than resolving these mundane problems, Bloomberg highlighted congestion pricing in his blueprint for tyranny, "PlaNYC," unveiled last April. He billed it "the most sweeping plan to enhance [sic for "fundamentally rearrange citizens' lives per Mike Bloomberg's whims"] New York's urban environment in the city's modern history." Remember that this guy obsesses over what his fellow citizens eat and where they smoke; you can imagine how few details of their lives escape PlaNYC's unhealthy interest.

Bloomberg's ploy enables the City's government to wreak even more havoc than it already has. It will force people to live where they don't want to ("Use upcoming rezonings to direct growth toward areas with strong transit access"), in ways they don't want to ("Continue to develop programs to encourage home ownership, emphasizing affordable apartments over single-family homes"), while raising their taxes ("Continue to pursue creative financing strategies to reach new income brackets"). Altogether, it contains a staggering 127 "initiatives." These include pushing commuters onto the subways via an $8 tax on each car entering certain parts of Manhattan. Both the price and the area covered by this double-dipping will rise faster than baking bagels; they already have, even in the planning stages. Proponents in 2005 and 2006 were suggesting a $7 tax on roads between the Battery and 60th Street. Now they've upped not only the amount but the northern boundary, which extends to 86th Street. Look for the street number and the price to continue escalating.

Peddling Snake Oil

With help from cronies in business and the media, Bloomberg has been peddling congestion pricing as zealously as snake oil; he even taught bureaucrats from other cities how to foist it on their denizens. If you live in Albuquerque, Austin, Chicago, Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, or Trenton, tremble: your masters took lessons from Mike. Which recalls Charles James Fox's lament regarding King George III: "It is intolerable that it should be in the power of one block-head to do so much mischief."

Bloomberg excuses his mischief because of a study predicting the state of the City over the next 23 years. Our taxes bought this forecast from McKinsey & Co., a firm that employs a bevy of very expensive "problem solvers" but not a single seer. No doubt its "study" -- the term charlatans use for a guess gussied up in jargon -- is as wrong as the advice it gave AT&T in 1983, when its "problem solvers" allegedly pooh-poohed cell phones as no more than a niche market. Yet Bloomberg dictates "sweeping" changes in New Yorkers' lives because these oracles pretend to know what will happen two decades from now.

We expect no better from politicians and their consultants. But how to explain congestion pricing's embrace by a conservative think tank? It's called a "market-based" solution to traffic, as though entrepreneurs charge customers multiple times for the same service. Joining them in this slander are the corporate elite, specifically the Partnership for New York City, "a select group of two hundred CEOs ('Partners') from New York City's top corporate, investment and entrepreneurial firms" and its constituents. David Rockefeller founded the Partnership in 1979 with a chilling objective: to "allow business leaders to work more directly with government and other civic groups to address broader social and economic problems in a 'hands on' way." Who knew that CEOs stranded in traffic is a "broader social and economic problem"? No doubt they will glide about town more pleasantly when everyone else is banished to the subways.

Perhaps that's why the elites forever hype mass transit. A serf's place is on a bus or train: he shouldn't be clogging the roads for his betters. Under congestion pricing, taxpayers who refuse to submit to the subway's indignities (which now include random and warrantless searches), who prefer the freedom and independence a car brings, will pay for their uppity attitude.

Yet again.

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Thompson narrows polling gap with Rudy

2007-09-12T16:12:00.001-04:00

Following the formal (and long awaited) announcement of Fred Thompson for President, the former Tennessee Senator has jumped into 2nd place in most polls-- trailing Rudy by a single digit in a CNN poll.

Check out the data on Real Clear Politics' ---

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/president/us/republican_presidential_nomination-192.html#polls

For an interesting take on the numbers check out Oval Office 2008- http://www.ovaloffice2008.com/2007/09/bizarre-gop-polling-numbers.html

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Armey leads effort against email tax

2007-09-12T10:07:00.001-04:00

From the email box.....

From the Leader's Desk: Armey's Plan to Beat the Email Tax Again

While taxes may be one of life's certainties, the internet has, so far, miraculously managed to escape the clutches of revenue-hungry government tax collectors. That may change if Congress doesn't get its act together – and fast.

Back in 1998, when I was the House Majority Leader in Congress, we passed the Internet Tax Freedom Act, imposing a three-year moratorium on state and local taxes on internet access. The moratorium came just as some local governments began to extend their very high telecommunications taxes to internet access. State and local governments want to tax your cable modem or DSL bill, as well as internet services, and the internet backbone, but our bill stopped them cold. Our goal was simple: encourage the spread of the internet by preventing government from strangling it in its crib with high taxes.

Since then Congress has passed multiple extensions of the internet tax moratorium, the latest of which expires this November. This time around, Congress should make the ban on internet taxes permanent. Two bills, S. 156 in the Senate and H.R. 743 in the House, would do just that, but movement thus far has been stagnant and the clock is ticking.

[Take Action]

State and local internet access taxes could add 20 percent to 25 percent to the average internet consumer's bill – a tax hike of about $150 per year. That may not sound like much in Washington, D.C., but it could strand millions of low-income Americans on the wrong side of the digital divide. And higher internet charges could hinder small business from gaining access to the technology they need to compete with larger companies. Schools, libraries, and other educational and research institutions with limited budgets would also take a hit.

Supporters of new internet taxes make the case that Congress' "Hands Off the Internet" strategy has served its purpose. The internet is no longer an infant technology, they say. After all, internet use in the United States has soared from about 36 percent of the population at the end of 1998 to over 70 percent today.

But in the warp-speed world of the internet, that's yesterday's news. America still lags far behind our economic competitors when it comes to wiring homes and businesses with high-speed internet access or broadband. Even though the internet was largely invented here (but not by Al Gore!), America still ranks 16th in the world in terms of broadband deployment, behind countries like South Korea and Japan.

Widespread broadband deployment is the key to unleashing a new round of internet-driven gains in productivity and entrepreneurial activity. Respected economists estimate that 1.2 million new jobs would be generated by the broadband build-out, enough growth to generate more in taxes than states and localities hope to raise by taxing your internet access, e-mail, and other online services.

So why not just extend the moratorium for another two years or so? Because making broadband available on a near-universal basis will require billions in private investment by technology companies willing to build next generation networks like fiber-to-the-home. And companies are hesitant to put that capital at risk as long as the tax man keeps lurking right around the corner, always threatening to milk consumers and potentially destroy a good portion of the mass market for broadband.

Members of Congress have a choice to make. They can give the green light to state and local governments to saddle internet users with myriad new taxes and fees. Or they can lock the tax man away permanently and throw away the key. That should be a pretty easy call.

Contact your U.S. Representative and Senators and let them know how you feel about taxes on your email. Thanks in advance for taking action!

Take Action!

Sincerely,

Dick Armey
Chairman
FreedomWorks.org

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City Councilman: Clerk Emily Lipovan says she was harassed

2007-09-10T21:55:00.001-04:00

Haven't seen this pushed anywhere...but if it's credible it's Big News.

Saturday, September 08, 2007

Susan Vinella

Plain Dealer Reporter

A Cleveland city councilman said Friday that Emily Lipovan, the council clerk who just resigned, told him months ago that she felt she was sexually harassed by Council President Martin J. Sweeney.

But Sweeney, who this week approved a $56,000 buyout for Lipovan, vehemently denies the allegation. "That's not true," he said in a phone interview Friday.

The councilman, Joe Santiago, who describes himself as a close friend of Lipovan's, said she did not disclose what Sweeney said or did. But Santiago said Lipovan told him she planned to consult an attorney.

A half-dozen other members of council, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said they have heard similar allegations.

On Thursday, Sweeney told The Plain Dealer that the city had agreed to a severance package for Lipovan, who earned $82,000 a year, to give her time to find another job. The deal includes six months of pay plus vacation and comp time.

Council will vote Monday on whether to approve the deal. Sweeney said he expects his colleagues to support it.

The council president said Lipovan left because she wanted a different job.

Lipovan told The Plain Dealer in July she wanted to return to her previous work making business and housing deals in city neighborhoods for local development corporations.

Santiago said Lipovan applied earlier this year for a city manager's job in Oberlin without telling Sweeney. While she never interviewed for the position, her application angered the council president, Santiago said.

Lipovan's attorney Gerald Chattman, who negotiated the severance package with the city, said Friday that his client cannot speak publicly about the payout, or the reasons for it, because she's abiding by a confidentiality clause.

Law Director Bob Triozzi said the agreement is a public record.

Asked about the harassment allegation, Chattman said: "That's precisely what I believe the confidentiality agreement is intended to protect, subjects like that. It would be inappropriate for me to comment."

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Cuyahoga County commissioners want presidential primary postponed

2007-09-10T10:30:00.001-04:00

What will the three stooges think of next.

Voting machines source of worry

Monday, September 10, 2007 Joan Mazzolini
Plain Dealer Reporter

While other states jockey for power in the presidential nomination process by moving up their primaries, Cuyahoga County commissioners want Ohio's to be moved back.

The commissioners are concerned that the voting equipment used in Ohio's largest county won't be able to handle that big election, and they want to give the Cuyahoga Board of Elections and the secretary of state time to consider options, including changing the voting equipment.

They recently asked Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner to consider moving the primary from March to May, where it had been in the past. Copies of their letter also went to the governor and leaders of the Ohio House and Senate.

"Ohio's not going to have a great deal of influence in choosing the Republican or Democratic [presidential] nominee," Commissioner Tim Hagan said recently of the current primary date. "Probably 75 percent of the delegates will already be decided by then."

Brunner said she had floated the commissioners' idea to several Ohio lawmakers and: "I just heard silence. I don't see a big interest.

"But I mentioned it to a group of board of elections officials, who were enthusiastic."

The commissioners' idea, while serious, is also a way for them to alert state officials of their grave concerns over whether the voting machines can handle the upcoming presidential primary and November election and the amount of money the county may again have to fork over to ensure successful elections.

"We're captives to our technology," Hagan said. "We've outsourced our elections to private corporations."

Cuyahoga County had a successful gubernatorial election last November, but it spent more than $8 million beyond what was budgeted to pay for everything from poll worker training to extra voting machines to a special consultant to oversee the election, in addition to the board's director and deputy director.

The commissioners' letter to Brunner included a comparison showing how the cost of holding elections in Cuyahoga is higher than in other counties.

Click here for full article

Key Voting Demographic

2007-09-07T19:20:00.000-04:00

In The Know: Candidates Compete For Vital Idgit Vote

Right Angle is reporting that U.S. Rep. Paul Gillmor has died...

2007-09-05T12:33:00.001-04:00

Rep. Paul Gillmor (R-5) Has Died

Sep 5, 2007 at 11:57 am - Submitted By: Matthew

I don't think it has been reported anywhere yet as of noon today.

Robert Bluey from the Heritage Foundation sent me this forwarded email:

Sent: Wednesday, September 05, 2007 11:50 AM
Subject: Rep. Paul Gillmor - R-OH died last night

When he did not show up at the office today, staff went to his apartment and found that he had died. No cause of death but Boehner said it appears he may have died of a heart attack — though Cap Police is investigating.

My prayers are with his family.

Rep. Gillmor on Wikipedia-- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Gillmor

WTAM has now reported Rep. Gillmor's passing as well.

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I wish someone would explain this.

2007-08-25T12:13:00.000-04:00

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!

2007-08-18T06:04:00.000-04:00

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....

j

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

2007-08-17T15:59:00.000-04:00

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

2007-08-11T16:14:00.000-04:00

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

2007-08-09T15:38:00.001-04:00

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

2007-08-06T07:54:00.000-04:00

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

Protecting Police More Important Than Helping Donors

2007-07-26T17:46:00.001-04:00

For Release: July 26, 2007
Contact: David Almasi at (202) 543-4110 x11 or dalmasi@nationalcenter.org

Protecting Police Officers More Important Than Helping Political Donors, Group Says

Washington, D.C. - Congress should not put the lives of law enforcement officials at risk to benefit its trial lawyer contributors, says Deneen Borelli of the national black group Project 21.

Congress is now considering overturning the Tiahrt Amendment, a measure that restricts certain gun data from being shared outside of the law enforcement community. Project 21 members are opposing any action that allows trial lawyers, politicians, criminals and others from accessing federal gun trace information.

"The only possible purpose served by overturning the Tiahrt Amendment is to aid the anti-gun lobby and make it easier for trial lawyers to sue gun manufacturers," said Project 21 fellow Deneen Borelli. "Killing the Tiahrt Amendment would also be a great thing for criminals. Not only could they learn they are the subject of an investigation, but also the identity of special agents and informants."

The Tiahrt Amendment - named after its chief sponsor, Representative Todd Tiahrt (R-KS) - was first enacted in 2003. It amends the appropriations legislation that funds the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) to restrict the sharing of the contents of the Firearms Trace System that is administered by the BATFE's National Trace Center. Under the terms of the amendment, data regarding guns involved in crimes is restricted to domestic and foreign law enforcement and prosecutors as it relates to the investigation and prosecution of specific crimes and for national security, intelligence and counterterrorism purposes. Trace data is also inadmissible in evidence and cannot be subpoenaed.

Project 21's Borelli added: "I am a gun owner. I was appalled when a local newspaper decided to publish my name and the names of other registered gun owners in my area. It was an outrageous violation of my privacy rights. Overturning the Tiahrt Amendment could allow this violation of privacy and safety to occur on a larger and more dangerous scale."

The origin of the Tiahrt Amendment comes from a 2002 court decision that allowed trial lawyers to access the BATFE's trace data to gather information for potential lawsuits against gun manufacturers. Dave Kopel of the Independence Institute has also written about how trace data has been used by special interest groups to overstate gun violence figures.

Amendment supporters also want to protect the confidentiality of the federal database because the release of some information contained in it may compromise investigations and reveal the identities of undercover officers. The Fraternal Order of Police supports the Tiahrt Amendment "because of our concern for the safety of law enforcement officers and the integrity of law enforcement investigations." In 2006, then-BATFE director Carl J. Truscott said the Amendment "protects... sensitive data from indiscriminate disclosure."

Project 21, a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization sponsored by the National Center for Public Policy Research, has been a leading voice of the African-American community since 1992. For more information, contact David Almasi at (202) 543-4110 x11 or dalmasi@nationalcenter.org, or visit Project 21's website at www.project21.org/P21Index.html.

- 30 -

National Center for Public Policy

501 Capitol Court, N.E.
Washington, D.C. 20002
(202) 543-4110
Fax (202) 543-5975
E-Mail: info@nationalcenter.org
Web: www.nationalcenter.org

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Gingrich Jabs at GOP Pursuing 2008 White House Nod

2007-07-23T23:07:00.000-04:00

Monday, July 23, 2007

FOX NEWS

WASHINGTON — From a safe distance on the sidelines, Newt Gingrich on Monday attacked the lot of 2008 GOP presidential candidates, comparing Republicans to "pygmies" and calling them trained seals.

Speaking at a breakfast sponsored by the conservative magazine The American Spectator and reported by The Examiner, Gingrich said he could be forced into the race if Republicans don't demonstrate leadership and it then becomes "patently obvious, as the morning paper points out, that the Democrats have raised a hundred million more than the Republicans, and at some point people decide we are going to get Hillary (Clinton) unless there's a radical change."

Gingrich said the collected group of reporters will know "by mid-October" which "one of those two futures is real."

Asked whether he could be elected, given his tumultuous turn as House speaker, Gingrich said, "This is like going to (Charles) De Gaulle when he was at Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises during the Fourth Republic and saying, 'Don't you want to rush in and join the pygmies?'"

(Thanks to the rise and fall of the late French president's fortunes, Colombey, De Gaulle's home and grave site, is known metaphorically as the place to where a politician retreats before being asked to serve his country again.)

Gingrich, who Friday told The Associated Press that "I've always said it was unlikely I would run," suggested that if former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson jumps in the race and does well, it would make "it easier for me to not run."

"On the other hand," he said, "just given what you've seen with McCain the last few months, how can you predict?"

While maintaining his blasé attitude toward the 2008 election on Monday, the former Georgia congressman also took another shot at John McCain for the Arizona senator's namesake campaign finance reform law that closed the door to soft money and opened it to 527s and other independent fundraising groups.

"I have no interest in the current political process. I have no interest in trying to figure out how I can go out and raise money under John McCain's insane censorship rules so I can show up to do seven minutes and twenty seconds at some debate."

Speaking of debates, Gingrich also slammed the format and the candidates for becoming pawns to MSNBC commentator Chris Matthews.

"You're watching an utterly irrelevant, shallow television celebrity dominate everybody who claimed they want to lead the most powerful nation in the world," he said, adding that he refused to "shrink to the level of 40-second answers, standing like a trained seal, waiting for someone to throw me a fish."

Analyst: GOP presidential poll shows indecision among primary voters

2007-07-23T23:04:00.000-04:00

Jim Brown
OneNewsNow.com
July 23, 2007

If the Republican presidential primary were a multiple-choice quiz, the answer would be "none of the above." That's according to a new Associated Press-Ipsos poll.

The poll states that 23 percent of likely GOP primary voters are not saying whom they will support in 2008. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani is polling at 21 percent, which gives him a narrow two-point lead over former Senator Fred Thompson (R-Tennessee), who has yet to officially enter the race. Senator John McCain (R-Arizona) is at 15 percent, while former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney is at 11 percent.

Political analyst Genevieve Wood of the Heritage Foundation believes Republican voters are more undecided than dissatisfied. "This is the first time in a long time, certainly since I can remember, that you have this many legitimate first-tier, frontrunner-type of candidates. Primaries are six months away -- why make people pick now?" questions Wood.

Wood contends most voters are still evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of the top-tier candidates.

"I think it's difficult for people who haven't really studied them, who haven't lined up early against one candidate, to now say all of a sudden, 'Oh, it's Thompson over McCain' or 'It's Romney over Giuliani,'" says Wood.

Wood acknowledges that there might be some differences between the candidates -- on the hot button issue of abortion, for example. "But each of them has a strong suit that I think make people take a second look," the analyst observes. She says voters who lined up early behind Giuliani and Romney are now contemplating whether to throw their support behind Thompson.

At this point, Wood believes the race is wide open -- and that, she adds, is a good thing for hopefuls like former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee and Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kansas), who have enough funding and name recognition to stay in the race. As she puts it: "It is not clear who's going to come away with this."

Cuyahoga County Republican Party's Anti-Gun Platform

2007-07-20T19:57:00.001-04:00

This was cross posted from King's Right Site.

I received a letter in the mail today from, Jim Irvine, Chairman of Buckeye Firearms Association, regarding the proposed RPCC Platform

In it he asks fellow Central Committee members for their support in defeating this anti-freedom platform, and inserting strong language in support of your Second Amendment rights

I will be posting more on the proposed RPCC platform in the next day or so, and will include some of the email comments. For varying reasons, many RPCC Central Committee members are voicing their opposition.

In a post on their site, Buckeye Firearms points out how the home rule language in the proposed platform is in direct conflict with strong statement sent by every Republican member of the House in the the overide of Gov. Taft on HB 347.

Click on the links below to read the whole post and the letters sent to all RPCC Central Committee members and RPCC Chairman Rob Frost -

By Jim Irvine

The Cuyahoga County Republican Party is holding a meeting on Wednesday, July 25th to adopt the party platform. A platform is a basic template of ideas the party openly supports. Candidates are encouraged (sometimes pressured) to take positions in agreement with the platform, though they are not required to be 100% in agreement.

The draft which has been sent to Central Committee members for approval contains shocking and disturbing goals for gun owners. They seek to “Oppose the efforts to curtail constitutional home rule in such areas as…gun control…

”Buckeye Firearms Association will work with our friends within the party to defeat this dangerous plank. More....

Want to Pay $10 in Tax on Your Next Cigar?

2007-07-20T11:10:00.001-04:00

From Gary Manelski,
Your Guide to Cigars.
Stay up to date!

http://cigars.about.com/b/a/256161.htm

No, the headline is not a joke, it is an actual proposal from our U.S. Senate Finance Committee. To fund an expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program, the federal excise tax on cigars could be raised from $.05 per cigar to a maximum of $10 per cigar. If the proposal is adopted, the new tax rate on large cigars will be 53.13% of the selling price, which is a monumental increase from the current five cents per cigar. When you do the math, the tax on a cigar costing $18.82 or more would be $10. The tax on a modestly priced $5 cigar would be $2.66.

The full Senate may consider the measure as soon as next week, so the time to act is now! Unless you want to pay a substantial amount more for your next cigar, contact the U.S. Senators for your State today, and voice your opposition to the proposed SCHIP legislation. Or better yet, put it on video.

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Reject RPCC Platform

2007-07-17T12:00:00.000-04:00

I am cross posting the link to my post at King's Right Site regarding the "Platform of Defeat" proposed by the RPCC.

http://kingsrightsite.blogspot.com/2007/07/rpcc-platform-should-be-rejected.html

Flynt is tracking 20 congressional sex scandal leads

2007-07-12T11:17:00.001-04:00

By Elana Schor,

The Hill

July 11, 2007

Larry Flynt, the porn-industry magnate who first linked Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) to the escort service of the "D.C. Madam," said Wednesday that his investigators are tracking more than 20 leads on alleged congressional sex scandals.

As Vitter remained missing in action for two Senate votes on defense policy, Flynt insisted that he exposed the conservative lawmaker's sexual indiscretions only because they contradicted Vitter's longtime defense of the "sanctity of marriage."

"If someone's living a life contrary to the way they're advocating ... then they become fair game," Flynt told reporters. "I don't want a man like that legislating for me, especially in the area of morality."

In addition to the phone records of "D.C. Madam" Deborah Jeane Palfrey, accused of prostitution and racketeering by federal authorities, Flynt is mining responses to an ad he placed last month in The Washington Post. The ad promised a million-dollar reward for anyone providing evidence of illicit encounters with members of Congress.

The 20-plus new leads, Flynt said, come from the newspaper ad and not Palfrey. The Hustler publisher, arrested and jailed multiple times during his decades-long career, vowed to provide clear proof and only out lawmakers whom he perceives to be hypocrites.

"You guys always know, [from] the past, I deliver," Flynt said. "And if I fail to, the mainstream media will crush me like a bug."

The Vitter scandal has touched off new anxiety among Republicans over whether their party will pay the price for members who fail to live up to their moral principles. Flynt, an unabashed Democrat, acknowledged that the GOP provides him with easier targets.

"Republicans are more fun because they get caught so easily," Flynt said. "They've been living a repressed life all their life. Democrats are liberal — they wear it on their sleeve. Their sex life is what it is. They don't spend their whole life trying to cover it up."

Flynt released the particular wireless phone bill containing Vitter's phone number on Palfrey's calling list, confirming that the Louisianan contacted the escort service while serving in the House. Flynt also claimed to have testimony from five New Orleans prostitutes about their sexual encounters with Vitter, adding that that quintet would likely share the $1 million bounty with Palfrey.

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Tancredo: Donation from Planned Parenthood physician reflects immigration stance

2007-07-11T12:56:00.001-04:00

Chad Groening
OneNewsNow.com

Presidential candidate Tom Tancredo says he won't return a campaign donation from a medical doctor who has ties to Planned Parenthood. The Colorado congressman says the donation had nothing to do with abortion, but rather the physician's support of Tancredo's immigration policy.

Recently the Sam Brownback campaign sent out an e-mail saying Tancredo accepted thousands of dollars in donations from Dr. John Tanton, the founder of the Northern Michigan Planned Parenthood Association. But Tancredo says Tanton's donation is related to the doctor's affiliation with the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). In fact, FAIR's website says Tanton is the original founder of the organization.

"John Tanton is on the board of FAIR. His issue is immigration," says Tancredo. "He supports me because of my position on immigration, and he certainly doesn't ever ask me to do anything even remotely connected with the issue of abortion -- because he knows, of course, how I feel." A senior advisor to the Tancredo campaign describes the candidate's pro-life record as "unassailable."

Tancredo says he is disappointed that Senator Brownback (R-Kansas) is trying to imply that accepting the donation means he somehow supports abortion. "[O]f course I have a longer record of pro-life commitment than does Senator Brownback," says the Colorado lawmaker. "My record on abortion is as pure and clean as one could be in opposition to it."

He argues that returning the campaign contribution would suggest that it somehow had sway on his abortion position. "If I were to give this money back, there would be some indication that I believed it had some influence over me," says Tancredo, "but of course, I know why he's supports me, and it's got nothing to do with that."

Tancredo says he wonders how Brownback can possibly know all of the people that support his campaign financially and if they are people with whom he is in total agreement.

Holy See says immigrants rights and duties go together

2007-07-11T12:26:00.001-04:00

Brussels, Jul 11, 2007 / 10:15 am (CNA).- Speaking at the Global Forum on Migration in Brussels, Belgium, Archbishop Agostino Marchetto, secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant Peoples said that the human dignity and freedoms of immigrants must be respected.

The Global Forum is an initiative that is being sponsored by the United Nations to build a more cohesive and uniform approach to policies on migration and development among its member nations.

Addressing those gathered in English, the archbishop recalled how "migrants contribute to their host country's well-being, and also because of this their human dignity must be respected and their freedoms guaranteed: the right to a dignified life, to fair treatment at work, to have access to education, health and other social benefits, to grow in competence and develop humanly, to freely manifest their culture and practice their religion.

At the same time, the archbishop was sure not to neglect the responsibilities of migrants either. "Rights and duties go together." "Migrants have the duty to respect the identity and the laws of the country of residence, strive for proper integration (not assimilation) into the host society and learn its language. They are to foster esteem and respect for their host country, even to the point of loving and defending it.

In a remark that is particularly relevant in the United States, the archbishop addressed the issue of illegal immigrants. "Unfortunately, among them there are immigrants in an irregular situation, who, however, independently of their legal status, have inalienable human dignity. Therefore their rights must be safeguarded and not ignored or violated."

"An irregular migration status, in fact, does not mean criminality. The solution is better international cooperation that discourages irregularity, with increased legal channels for migration."

Archbishop Marchetto concluded his talk by renewing the call made by the Pope in his Message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees for "governments who have not yet done so, to ratify the International Convention for the Protection of the Rights of all Migrant Workers and the Members of their Families."

Missouri bans Planned Parenthood from school sex ed classes

2007-07-11T12:23:00.001-04:00

Jefferson City, July 11 (CNA).-Missouri Governor Matt Blunt signed a bill into law this week that reclassifies abortion clinics as "ambulatory surgical centers" and places them under stricter regulations and the scrutiny of state officials.

The law, promoted by Missouri Right to Life, permits abstinence-only sex-ed classes and makes it illegal for Planned Parenthood or other pro-abortion groups to teach school sex education classes. Currently Planned Parenthood teaches in up to 40 St. Louis-area schools, reported LifeSiteNews.com.

The new law is "one of the strongest pieces of pro-life legislation in Missouri history," said Blunt at the July 9 signing ceremony.

Planned Parenthood of Missouri complained that the new law will require them to spend up to $2 million to refit their abortion centers to meet the new standards.

Paula Gianino, president of Planned Parenthood for the St. Louis Region, said the new law could leave only one abortion facility in the state.

"I say if they can't meet the same basic requirements that other (medical) providers do, then they should shut down," Blunt stated.

Gianino told St. Louis Today that the group is considering legal action to stop the law from taking effect.

Democrats to name new Summit County Executive

2007-07-11T11:07:00.001-04:00

Public meeting, panel vote Thursday at North High
By Katie Byard
Beacon Journal staff writer

The Summit County Democratic Central Committee will pick a new county executive
Thursday evening at Akron' s North High School.

So far , Summit County Councilman Tim Crawford and county Democratic Party Chair Russ Pry have expressed interest in the position. ''No one else is campaigning for it, though someone could still run that night,'' Pry said Tuesday. The winner will finish the term of the now-retired James McCarthy, and will have the option of running for election to a full four - year term in November 2008. McCarthy , 67, retired on June 30 after being the county's top official for nearly seven years.

Anyone seeking the job now must be nominated by a member of the central committee at Thursday's gathering. The committee will meet at 7 p.m. at North High , 985 Gorge Blvd . The meeting is
open to the public. Each candidate will be given five minutes to address the gathering . Committee members then will vote by secret ballot.

Th e votes should be tallied by 8 p.m., Pry said. Pry, who lives in A kron , said Tuesday that if he is not elected T hursday , he will not run in 2008. R ejection by committee members would mean ''I need to think about doing something else,'' Pr y said.

Crawford , D - N orton , said that if he does not win T hursday , he will run for the post in 2008 or seek re - election to his County Council seat. ''I'm still enjoying the political arena"

Greater Cleveland Young Republicans named nation's best

2007-07-07T23:36:00.001-04:00

I've just received a test message from Ohio Young Republicans Chair, and former Greater Cleveland YR President Lisa Stickan, that the Young Republican National Federation's National Convention in Miami has named the Greater Cleveland Young Republicans "Best Large YR club" in the Nation.

As former President of the Greater Cleveland YR's and former Ohio YR chairman I couldn't be more proud.

Ron Lisy

Official GCYR website- http://www.clevelandyoungrepublicans.com/

GCYR's on MySpace- http://www.myspace.com/clevelandyrs

Global Warming

2007-06-30T12:30:00.000-04:00

In the liberal views of Global Warming, Christians are often attacked for not caring about the planet they live on, well we have a very different view on this. I think this article from the Ohio Apostolic News gives a very good view to our side of the story.

GLOBAL WARMING
BRIAN HOLLAWAY

In recent months, the news has been filled with the discussion of “Global Warming.” “Global Warming” is a phrase that describes the conclusion of a significant number of scientists who have interpreted a recent upswing in the earth’s average surface temperatures as an indication that increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has produced a “greenhouse” effect. The long term effects of such a greenhouse effect is variously reported to include increased ocean levels that would swallow low-lying cities, increased cataclysmic weather events such as hurricanes, and structural changes to the climate of many parts of the earth. As Christians who love truth, Oneness Pentecostals should have no qualms with the science of observable changes to the world’s climate. If our climate is truly changing due to human activity, it is not unreasonable to attempt to avoid the possible destruction that climate change could produce. However, the priorities of those who would attempt to preserve the earth’s present condition seem to be in stark contrast to the Biblical description of the inevitable destruction of the earth during the end times. For example, Peter preached on the day of Pentecost that the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood at some point in the future, and the Apostle John, in the book of Revelation, points out the various judgments of God that will be poured out upon the inhabitants of the earth before the present earth passes away. Furthermore, Peter’s second epistle tells us that the earth will melt with fervent heat, and Jesus himself mentioned that heaven and earth will pass away, yet the Word of God will never perish. In fact, one of the brightest hopes of the Christian walk is the promise that our life will be preserved beyond our time on earth. Paul the Apostle told the Thessalonians that, in the last days, the saints who are still on the earth will be taken off of the earth to meet the Lord and to be with Him in heaven for the rest of eternity. Instead of proposing a plan to save the earth, the Bible implores us to plan to save ourselves from a world that will not exist forever. The problem, then, with the “Global Warming” movement is that it has moved beyond the realm of science and into a crusade to preserve our earthly environment. To “save the earth” has now become a religion, where “unbelievers” are mocked for their “immorality” concerning their inattention to the dire effects of “Global Warming.” The underlying assumption is a
humanistic teaching that humankind can avoid any and all impending danger without regard for God.
The Biblical record, on the other hand, seems to imply that future judgment is inevitable, and therefore our highest priority should be to make our relationship with God whole. Efforts to save the earth, while often well intentioned, should not be allowed to rise above the Church’s number one priority: to prepare ourselves and the rest of humanity for eternity. If anything, the Church’s response to “Global Warming” should be to redouble our efforts to alarm the world of impending judgment. In fact, since every person’s time on earth is limited, let our prayers include a petition that a “Global Warming” to the
Spirit of God would develop in these last days in a great spirit of revival!
Brian Hollaway holds a Master’s Degree of Theological Studies from the Urshan Graduate School of Theology, and serves
as Assistant Pastor at the First Apostolic Church of Dublin (pastor Richard Collins.)

Sen. Cornyn: Amnesty proponents failed to dupe Americans

2007-06-29T12:53:00.000-04:00

Jim Brown
OneNewsNow.com
June 29, 2007

One of the senators who led a successful effort to block the so-called "comprehensive immigration reform" bill is welcoming the measure's second death. John Cornyn says for the second time, the American people did not believe claims that the legislation would help secure the country's borders

The Senate has failed to invoke cloture on President Bush's plan to grant amnesty to millions of illegal aliens living in the U.S. The bill's supporters fell 14 votes shy of the 60 needed to limit debate and clear the way for final passage of the legislation.
Following the vote, Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) took to the floor and said claims from the bill's proponents were too hard for most Americans to believe. Addressing the president, Cornyn said: "The American people are pretty smart."
"When people said 'the only way you're going to get border security is if you agree to a path to citizenship for twelve-million people' ... they can see through that," the senator asserted, "and they know there's no obvious linkage between border security and a path to citizenship for twelve-million people. They know that if we really were serious about border security we would have already done it."
Cornyn said pro-amnesty Senators should have listened to the American people instead of trying to push the bill through without a transparent process. As he put it: "[T]he American people, [including] my constituents in Texas, are profoundly skeptical of big government solutions with a lot of moving parts based on big, grandiose promises when our history has been one of not delivering consistent with what we promised."
President Bush says he's "sorry" Congress did not reach an agreement on the bill, noting, "Legal immigration is one of the top concerns of the American people, and Congress's failure to act on it is a disappointment."
The immigration bill may possibly come up for consideration again in the Senate because the measure has not been permanently killed. However, on the House side, Republicans overwhelmingly oppose the measure, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) has said she would not bring up the bill without 70 GOP votes.

Ken Ham explains contrast between Democrats, GOP on evolution

2007-06-14T23:27:00.000-04:00

Jim Brown
OneNewsNow.com
June 14, 2007

A leading Christian apologist says he's not at all surprised by the results of a new Gallup poll that finds most Democrats and Independents believe Darwin's theory of evolution is true, but Republicans disbelieve it by a more than 2-to-1 margin. Church attendance, according to the poll, plays a role in those findings.

The poll found that those who go to church on a regular basis reject evolution more than those who do not. Frank Newport, editor-in-chief of the Gallup Poll, also says Republicans are likelier than Democrats or Independents to attend church services.
Dr. Ken Ham is the president of Answers in Genesis (AIG), a Christian ministry that recently unveiled the new high-tech Creation Museum in northern Kentucky. Ham does not find it surprising to find that people who would be considered on the more conservative end of the spectrum would believe that God created the heavens and the earth and its inhabitants.
"Because after all, if there is no God and there's no absolute authority, who does decide right and wrong? Who does decide good and bad?" he asks. "Those on the other end of the spectrum who believe in moral relativism, of course, wouldn't want to be accountable to God and would want to believe that everything evolved by natural processes. So you'd more suspect that those people would say they believe in evolution ...."
Ham also believes that the education system fosters this belief in evolution. "What's being taught in the public education system is that life can only be explained by natural processes," the Christian apologist laments. "That is totally atheistic, the religion of naturalism, and that's not where the majority of Americans are at."
"But if you bring a whole generation [or generations] through an education system like that -- [a system that tells them] life is a result of natural processes and God has nothing to do with it -- then that's very much going to affect how they view morality and how they view themselves," Ham claims.
Ham says "creation versus evolution" has been a hot topic in the recent presidential debates because the biblical creation movement has been able to get a lot of information out into the culture, and more and more college students are starting to question their professors concerning the issue of origins.
In addition, he believes the opening of AIG's Creation Museum last month created an international media buzz that has brought the issue to light.

DVD highlights new alliance between Iran, Russia

2007-06-12T09:04:00.000-04:00

Chad Groening
OneNewsNow.com
June 11, 2007

A Middle East expert and best-selling author hopes a new DVD he has produced will make people aware of the dangerous relationship developing between Iran and Russia

Last year Joel Rosenberg released his book Epicenter: Why The Current Rumblings In The Middle East Will Change Your Future. Now the best-selling book is being released as a DVD featuring interviews with Israeli leaders like former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the crisis in the Middle East.
Rosenberg says the release of the was timed to correspond with the 40th anniversary of the 1967 Six-Day War in which the Jewish state won a huge victory over its Arab enemies. The author explains that the DVD focuses on the huge threat now posed by Iran.
"The president of Iran [Mahmoud Ahmadinejad] is vowing to wipe Israel off the map -- and it is a situation very similar to what Israel faced in 1967," he says. "Forty years ago the enemies of Israel were threatening to throw the Jews into the sea and they were building up their forces armed, supplied, and encouraged by Russia."
Rosenberg says 40 years later, Moscow is once again playing a central menacing role. "Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, seems to be leading his country away from friendship with the West and toward an alliance with radical Islamic regimes such as in Iran," he says.
The Russian president, he points out, has become very cozy with Ahmadinejad. "Putin is now talking about changing the constitution and extending the term of the presidency from four years to as many as seven years," says Rosenberg. "At the same moment ... Ahmadinejad said that the countdown to Israel's destruction has begun.
"So it's exactly this Iranian-Russian alliance that's emerging that has me concerned -- and that's really the focus of the documentary film that we have just released."
Rosenberg says Epicenter is a must for evangelical Christians who understand the biblical significance of Israel in end-times events.

Kucinich tells debate crowd he wouldn't order bin Laden assassination

2007-06-04T20:33:00.000-04:00

from the Plain Dealer
Posted by Sabrina Eaton June 04, 2007 12:46PM
Cleveland Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich spent the weekend campaigning for president in New Hampshire, where he participated in a Sunday night debate among Democratic candidates at St. Anselm's College and addressed a state Democratic Party convention.

Kucinich set himself apart from the other candidates during the nationally televised debate when moderator Wolf Blitzer of CNN asked whether Kucinich would launch a missile strike against Osama bin Laden if he knew the terrorist leader would be at a target in Pakistan for 20 minutes and that innocent civilians would also be killed.

"I don't think that a president of the United States who believes in peace and who wants to create peace in the world is going to be using assassination as a tool, because when you do that, it comes back at your country," said Kucinich, adding that bin Laden should be tried for his crimes in an international court. A video of the exchange has been posted on YouTube.

Illinois Sen. Barack Obama lacked such reservations.

"I don't believe in assassinations, but Osama bin Laden has declared war on us, killed 3,000 people, and under existing law, including international law, when you've got a military target like bin Laden, you take him out," he said.

All the other candidates raised their hands when asked whether they'd authorize a missile strike under those circumstances, although some offered qualifications.

"That is very difficult to answer in the abstract," said New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, who noted that a missile strike authorized by her husband, former President Bill Clinton, failed to kill bin Laden. "If we could do it without a tremendous amount of collateral damage, I think maybe with one or two exceptions, we would give the order to do it, knowing what a weighty responsibility that is."

Kucinich's presidential campaign posted highlights of his Saturday speech before New Hampshire's Democratic party on YouTube. An account of the event in the Concord Monitor newspaper reported that Kucinich, despite his low poll numbers, "perhaps rallied the most enthusiasm, drawing several sustained ovations from the crowd."

After that speech, an enthusiastic Kucinich gave a video interview to BuckeyeStateBlog, where he discussed his Ohio campaign operation. Saying that he has "a very strong base in Ohio," Kucinich said the issues he'll pursue in the state include opposing NAFTA and protecting the state's industrial base.

"There is no other candidate running for president who has the understanding of Ohio that I have, and frankly there might not be many that have the understanding of New Hampshire that I have, which is why I got the response I got," Kucinich told the blog.

Fisher faces accusations of favoritism

2007-06-03T10:55:00.001-04:00

Columbus mayor's wife's hiring, pay probe at issue

Sunday, June 03, 2007

Reginald Fields and Aaron Marshall

Plain Dealer Reporters

Columbus -- Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher gave the wife of a powerful political ally a $70,000-a-year state job without a clear job description and without interviewing anyone else.

During her first weeks at the Ohio Department of Development, Frankie Coleman -- wife of Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman -- told co-workers that she wasn't sure what her job would be or even what title she should put on her business cards.

Fisher is director of development. His hiring of Coleman and questions about whether she cheated on payroll timesheets have ignited accusations of political favoritism and a state investigation in the early months of the administration of Demo cratic Gov. Ted Strickland, who has vowed to rid state government of corruption.

The timesheet issue was raised by Glenda Williamson, Coleman's supervisor and a holdover from the previous Republican administration. Fisher fired Williamson two days after she confronted Coleman.

Fisher said Williamson's termination was based on his wish to bring in his own leadership team and was not related to her complaints about Coleman.

For years, Michael Coleman has been important to Fisher and Strickland.

He signed on in 1998 as a running mate in Fisher's unsuccessful campaign for governor and more recently helping Strickland - a former congressman from Appalachia - connect with urban and black voters.

Mayor Coleman was the Democratic gubernatorial front-runner in late 2005 before his campaign imploded, clearing the way for Strickland to win the party's nomination.

His wife's drunken-driving crash and arrest in October 2005 was among Coleman's campaign setbacks. When Frankie Coleman was arrested, her blood-alcohol level was more than three times the state's legal limit.

Michael Coleman stayed in the background for months but emerged last June to publicly back Strickland. After winning the governorship, Strickland appointed Mayor Coleman to head his transition team.

see entire article--http://www.cleveland.com/open/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1180859505294500.xml&coll=2

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The Goal Is Freedom: A Democracy of Dunces?

2007-06-01T13:13:00.001-04:00

News & Commentary

June 1, 2007

by Sheldon Richman

Sheldon Richman is the editor of The Freeman and "In brief." TGIF appears Fridays.

When pro-free-market critics of democracy explain why laissez faire is not a winning election issue, they usually say that voters have a no incentive to research economic policy because one vote won't sway the election and the expected payoff to any individual voter is infinitesimal. So they, quite rationally, vote on other bases. This "rational ignorance" leaves space for special interests to have their way, despite the fact that if the voters paid attention to what was going on, they wouldn't put up with it.

That explanation leads to the conclusion that democracy does not work because outcomes diverge from what people really want but are powerless to obtain. On the other hand, fans of democracy think that the rejection of laissez faire shows the system is working just fine. But both sides agree that voters are rational (employing reason) under the circumstances.

Which story is true? Maybe neither.

Bryan Caplan's new book, The Myth of the Rational Voter: Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies, which is beginning to make a splash (see this New York Times Magazine article), offers another reason why consistent pro-market policies don't do well: Voters feel that interventionist policies are good policies and have no incentive of any kind to acquire information that would upset long-held preferences.. He turns to this explanation because he finds too many problems with the rational-ignorance alternative. As Caplan writes,

In the naive public-interest view, democracy works because it does what voters want. In the view of most democracy skeptics, it fails because it does not do what voters want. In my view, democracy fails because it does what voters want.

For Caplan, as for other economists and political theorists, the basic problem is that in a democracy, individuals don't pay the price for their preferences:

In economic jargon, democracy has a built-in externality. An irrational voter does not hurt only himself. He also hurts everyone who is, as a result of his irrationality, more likely to live under misguided policies. Since most of the cost of voter irrationality is external -- paid for by other people, why not indulge? If enough voters think this way, socially injurious policies win by popular demand.

If bad economic policies are winning political platforms, the majority of voters are getting what they want. This is not good news.

Caplan says lots of people systematically (not randomly) make foolish choices at the ballot box about economic policies because they dogmatically believe those policies are good for the country. They don't understand the benefits of the free market, and would resist the evidence. He quotes Ludwig von Mises in agreement: "There is no use deceiving ourselves. American public opinion rejects the market economy." But this doesn't imply that they also make foolish choices in their private lives, because the political and personal arenas are substantially different. At the level of personal economic choice, the chooser bears most of the costs. If you want to buy Cheerios, your choice is decisive, you enjoy or suffer the consequences, and act accordingly in the future. If you vote for a protectionist, your choice is not decisive (the winner would have won anyway) and you don't bear all the consequences but only a minute fraction of them. I nearly applauded when I read Caplan's words asking us to "drop specious analogies between markets and politics, between shopping and voting."

When shopping, you won't refuse to examine a bad idea for long because it's costly to you. But, Caplan writes, "the price of ideological loyalty is close to zero. So we should expect people to 'satiate' their demand for political delusion, to believe whatever makes them feel best."

Antimarket Bias

Why do people have faith that bad economic polices are good? Because they incorporated biases into their worldview as they grew up and have no desire to examine them. Most people don't study economics, and most who do don't let their studies "corrupt" their biases. Market ideas are not intuitive. Caplan points out that while political scientists have been empirically documenting voters' systematic bias against free markets, economists have failed to assimilate the findings. "Economists' blind spot is particularly hard to excuse because they stand at the end of a long tradition with a lot to say about bias," Caplan writes. "Many of the most famous economists of the past, like Adam Smith and Frederic Bastiat, obsessed over the public's wrongheaded beliefs about economics, its stubborn resistance to basic principles like opportunity cost and comparative advantage." (It's why Bastiat wrote about "what is not seen" and why, in our time, Manual Ayau called his article on comparative cost "The Most Elusive Proposition" [pdf].)

Caplan breaks the bias down into four varieties: antimarket bias, antiforeign bias, make-work bias, and pessimistic bias. Antimarket bias refers a "tendency to underestimate the economic benefits of the market mechanism." This comes from the counterintuitiveness of spontaneous order ("invisible hand"), win-win exchange, general good arising from self-interested action, the social role of profit, market pricing, and so on. I think this bias stems partly from the derogation of self-interest so common in religion and moral philosophy. Caplan writes, "...[Adam] Smith's thesis [that general good grows out our private gain] was counterintuitive to his contemporaries, and remains counterintuitive today."

Antiforeign bias means underappreciation of the benefits of trading with people in other countries. This apparently results, primarily, from some natural but unreasonable fear of foreigners, as well as a lack of understanding about the division of labor and law of comparative advantage, or costs. The result is a disposition against unconditional free trade. Even when trade is liberalized, it has to be done in a perverse way -- by promising it will lead to more exports, which is irrational since it's imports (consumption opportunities) that people ought to be concerned about. That misplaced concern goes back to the reason Adam Smith wrote The Wealth of Nation, the public's mistaking money for wealth.

The make-work bias, Caplan writes, is the "tendency to underestimate the economic benefits of conserving labor." It shows up whenever something -- technology, foreign competition, whatever -- makes particular domestic jobs unnecessary. Here's a way to think about that bias. Imagine that a person from America circa 1800 traveled to our era in a time machine. You show him your iPod and explain what it does. He says, "That's wonderful, but really, you people are foolish. How can you have workers making those things when they are needed to grow food?" The answer, of course, is that they aren't needed to grow food because machines and knowledge enable us to grow far more food than was grown in 1800 with a far smaller fraction of the population. Yet popular prejudice would have it that when people were no longer needed on the farm, they faced a life of unemployment. What's missing? That fact that wants always exceed resources and labor. So when we can accomplish a task with fewer resources and less labor, the savings are available for new things we couldn't afford yesterday. There's no need to make work, which wouldn't be hard to do anyway. We can create jobs whenever we want -- by, for instance, outlawing any machinery invented after 1920 -- but we wouldn't be creating prosperity. Quite the opposite.

The final category of bias is the pessimistic bias -- "a tendency to overestimate the severity of economic problems and underestimate the (recent) past, present, and future performance of the economy." This is the prevalent belief that the present does not live up to some golden age. Of course, back in that supposed golden age, people were saying the same thing about some previous golden age, and so on, ad infinitum. Caplan notes that this belief has been attributed to the gradualness of progress (Smith) and to human nature (David Hume). Regardless of the cause, the tendency toward pessimism seems resistant to facts. People think ours is an era of decline, while economists argue over whether the rate of growth is slowing or not.

Caplan's thesis is more complex than I've indicated here, so interested readers should buy the book. (Here's an extract [pdf].) I've not dealt with many questions, such as the role of special interests and whether government's systematic historical intervention on behalf of business has tainted people's sense of what "free markets" and capitalism mean. But the core of the thesis strikes me as sound. It's not what voters don't know that brings them trouble, but what they know that isn't so. (That's Artemus Ward applied to politics.)

Caplan's solution is to "rely more on private choice and the free market." Good idea, though you'd have to get people to vote for that, so I'm not sure how effective that will be. Economic education for the public also would also seem in order. But just straightforward teaching won't be enough, for as Caplan elaborates, people hold fast to their errors through "emotional commitment." "A good teacher could change some minds, but the best teacher in the world would be lucky to convince half," he writes. Dogma dies hard.

At the very least, this implies that the case for liberty must be pressed across the entire cultural front, especially in movies and novels where emotions as well as reason can be appealed to. We must find emotional commitments in the population that are consistent with freedom. Libertarian strategic wisdom may well begin with Jonathan Swift's insight: "It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into."

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Speaking Up for Freedom

2007-06-01T13:05:00.000-04:00

By Fred Thompson
Friday, June 1, 2007

Well, he's done it. Hugo Chavez was already systematically silencing criticism of his autocratic rule through threats and intimidation. Journalists have been threatened, beaten and even killed. Now he's shut down the last opposition television networks in Venezuela and arrested nearly 200 protesters – mostly students. It's a monumental tragedy and the Venezuelan people will pay the price for decades to come. Americans are also at risk as he funds anti-American candidates and radicals all over Latin America.

It's equally tragic that the U.S. is in no position to provide the victims of this emerging dictator with the truth. There was a time, though, when Americans were on the front lines of pro-freedom movements all over the world. I'm talking about the "surrogate" broadcast network that included Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty, often called "the Radios."

In this photo released by Miraflores Press Office, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez speaks during a meeting with retired people in La Guaira, Venezuela, Tuesday, May 29, 2007. Chavez defended his decision not to renew the license of a popular opposition-aligned television network and warned he might crack down on another critical TV station, accusing it of trying to incite attempts on his life. (AP Photo/Miraflores Press Office)

When Ronald Reagan was elected, he greatly empowered the private, congressionally funded effort and handpicked the Radios' top staff to bring freedom to the Soviet Union. Steve Forbes led the group.

Cynics still say that the USSR fell of its own weight, and that President Reagan's efforts to bring it down were irrelevant, but Boris Yeltsin and Mikhail Gorbachev say differently. Both have said that, without the Radios, the USSR wouldn't have fallen. The Radios were not some bland public relations effort, attracting audiences only with American pop music. They engaged the intellectual and influential populations behind the Iron Curtain with accurate news and smart programming about freedom and democracy. They had sources and networks within those countries that sometimes outperformed the CIA. When Soviet hardliners and reformers were facing off, and crowds and tanks were on the streets of Moscow and Bucharest, the radios were sending real-time information to the people, including the military, and reminding them of what was at stake.

Then we won the Cold War. The USSR collapsed in 1991, and America relaxed. Military downsizing began and the Radios began to reduce broadcast air time to target countries.

Now, of course, we know that the Islamofascists, many trained by the old Soviets, were making plans and plots of their own. Unfortunately, the plans to broadcast a pro-freedom message into Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Uzbekistan, Georgia, Kurdistan and Ukraine were shelved or diluted. Reagan's ideological audacity was replaced with a more "diplomatic" tone.

And see where it's got us? Not only has Islamic totalitarianism spread without a true ideological challenge, many of the freed Soviet bloc countries are slipping back into repression. Russia is making the same old threats and even protecting Iran's efforts to build nukes.

We'll never know if Afghanistan might have rejected al Qaeda if America had actively engaged that country as we did those Eastern Europeans. We can't know if Venezuelans would have chosen liberty over the false security of authoritarianism if they had been challenged to face the issues. I do know, though, that it's time for a new generation of Americans to stand up for freedom -- like others before us. And this time, we'll have a whole new set of media technologies.

Fred Thompson is an actor and former Senator. His radio commentary airs on the ABC Radio Network and be blogs on The Fred Thompson Report.

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Rosie O'Donnell vs Elisabeth Hasselbeck is a good thing

2007-05-24T21:30:00.000-04:00

Ok so you are thinking how could this be a good thing ? It shows that not everyone in America thinks that President Bush is a bad President. It is about time that we have some Right wing nuts speak there mind. To long have we been silent on the side lines being good little boys and girls.As much as I hate the pain at the pump there is more at stake here than out pocket books. OHIO AND THE REST OF THE NATION CONSERVATIVES, SPEAK UP AND BE HEARD!

IF YOU REALLY WANT TO KNOW WHAT I THINK CLICK HERE OR COPY PASTE

http://neopolitics.com/blog/index.php?op=ViewArticle&articleId=535&blogId=24

21 Reasons Why Homosexuality is Immoral

2007-05-24T13:45:00.000-04:00

Written by Mark Jordan, UPCI Ohio District Superintendent
Monday, 21 May 2007

1.
According to scripture, there is a natural and an unnatural type of sexual behavior. Unnatural means “against nature” or to violate natural law. The book of Romans emphatically and categorically condemns homosexuality. Anyone who denies this fact on the grounds that the Apostle Paul was biased against homosexuality rejects the Bible as a whole. If we can censor any part of the Bible, we must allow censorship in every other part as well. The consequences of such a position would be tantamount to a repudiation of the entire body of scripture.

2.

God’s first human creation involved a male and a female. The woman was created for the man. God’s construct holds enormous implications for humankind in terms of procreation, proper relationships, social order civilization itself. Any opposition to his creation constitutes a challenge to God’s omniscience.

3.

Homosexual behavior does not lead to reproduction. Left alone as a group, homosexuals will become extinct. Even if one rejects the existence of God and the Genesis account of creation, nature itself forces this conclusion. Animals which ought not to procreate, mules for example, are born sterile. Mutants or genetic aberrations in the species often cannot reproduce. The point here is that probable or possible reproduction forms the basis of the sexual relationship. Since two members of the same sex cannot reproduce, it follows that they should not become sexually involved.

4.

Without reproduction, homosexuals must prey upon others to perpetuate themselves. While some may debate this contention on a case-by-case basis, viewed as a group-wide phenomenon, no other option exists.

5.

Two males or two females are not anatomically constructed to naturally accommodate each other sexually. Forced accommodation automatically makes the case that homosexuality perverts the natural creation and natural use of the body.

6.

Society marginalizes homosexuality. The most basic study of the whole of culture reveals that it rests upon the nuclear family. Elaborate rites, ceremonies and societal concepts hinge upon man, woman and child. Examples are birth, dedication, romance, engagement, marriage, motherhood, father as protector of the family, role models, etc. There is no natural place for the homosexual.

7.

The announcement that one is homosexual does not result in great joy. At best, family members may lukewarmly attempt to affirm them or adopt a sense of acceptance. Any celebration is artificial or contrived for the purposes of political correctness, or to make the best of a bad situation. They do not experience genuine joy.

8.

The greatest happiness for any married couple is to present a new baby to the world. This is not sentimental garbage. It is emotionally, psychologically, socially and spiritually fulfilling and rewarding. It has legal, economic and traditional meaning. The homosexual lifestyle precludes such an event.

9.

Any appeal to historical homosexual alliances such as the Greek culture is inoperative as a justification for homosexual behavior because it is fundamentally biased in its inception. The Greeks also practiced pedophilia, slavery and bigamy and embraced other beliefs that we would regard as immoral.

10.

Using the animal kingdom as a defense is unacceptable because animals also behave in ways that humans regard as base or brutal. These include feeding on their young, abandonment and multiple sexual partners.

11.

The word “homosexuality” has been afforded an unwarranted legitimacy in our language and, hence, in our society. It is a euphemism fashioned for the purpose of ridding the stigma associated with perverted sexual behavior. Formerly, it was referred to as sodomy or sexual perversion.

12.

Homosexual practice is a sin like any other sin. Fornication, adultery, theft, lying and many other sins have never received an acceptable status. Neither should homosexuality. It involves lust, wrong choices, disobedience to scriptural commands, and frequently it leads to an attempt to cover it up or to justify it.

13.

We are created as sexual, not homosexual. To define a person as a homosexual is equal to naming one who commits adultery as an adulterer, one who steals as a thief, and so on. We can do it, but no one appreciates being called an adulterer or a thief because it is pejorative in nature.

14.

If fornication and adultery is a sin against the body, homosexuality is a sin against the body, mind and soul. This is because it perverts natural sexual behavior into something unnatural. The same thing happens in other kinds of sins. Murder that goes beyond basic taking of a life and leads to mutilation or cannibalism is perverted. Fornication that goes beyond the basic sex act to sadism, masochism or even into pedophilia, bestiality or necrophilia is perverted.

15.

The reason homosexuality seems to be an inescapable lifestyle is not because one is born homosexual, but because many types of sins are addicting or enslaving. Chemical and substance abuse illustrate this, but psychological addictions are present in many kinds of sinful activities. The same offender often repeats sex crimes such as rape and child molestation. Does this mean that this person was born a rapist or molester? Is an adulterer or thief born to be this way? No. The reason homosexuals commit their particular sin is that it a) gives them carnal pleasure, b) they were most likely introduced to this kind of sin at an impressionable age, c) they harbor a rebellion or hatred against an authority figure, or d) they lacked some fundamental building blocks of character development as they were growing up.

16.

Let’s examine some common ways homosexuals justify their behavior:

a. “Do you think I chose to be this way?” Self-motivated, no. Self-determined, yes. There is a personal choice in everything we do, whether is be right or wrong. Sexual orientation can be an extremely complex issue and many things must be considered such a parental relationships, hormonal distribution, experiences, etc. In the final analysis, however, if a person is born with male genitalia, he is a male, period.

b. “There is nothing wrong with me.” Yes, there is. A male who acts like a female, or treats other males like females is not right. His behavior is the matter in question, not his male anatomy. Besides, anyone who makes this statement is begging the question. He is undergoing serious turmoil regarding his own desires and behavior or he would not adopt his defensive mode.

c. “I’m just as moral as you are.” Wrong. Homosexuality is inherently immoral. If this person means that he obeys the law, pays his taxes and is a good neighbor, that’s one thing. On the other hand, if he means that morality in civil matters transfers to his perverted sexual practices, it is a non-sequitur. Jeffrey Dahmer was good to his parents, too.

d. “You are wrong for judging me.” All of us can categorize behavior. While judgment of motive or underlying reasons may not be condoned, actual behavior not only can, but must be judged. In fact, discrimination between kinds of behavior is necessary for society to work.

e. “I love my partner as much as a man and woman love each other.” Perverted or improper feelings of love are entirely possible, including love for animals, inanimate objects, and another person’s spouse. Such subjective expressions of love are based on feelings, sensations and perceptions. Feelings need not be rooted in truth to be convincing. Many outrageous and criminal acts have been perpetrated by those who felt right and justified in what they did.

17.

Freedom from the sin of homosexuality is the same as it is from any other addicting kind of sin: Repentance, abhorrence of the sin, removal of the evidences of the lifestyle, removal of oneself from the environment where the sin is practiced, cleansing oneself with the Word of god, staying filled with the Spirit of God, frequent periods of intense prayer and fasting, and becoming accountable to a spiritual authority figure. Therapy may also be required to reach a level of understanding about the motivations and circumstances that led to the sin.

18.

Homosexuality is fueled dishonesty concerning the application of God’s laws. Freedom from perverse sins takes brutal honesty. Once a repented homosexual permits deceitfulness to reclaim his mindset, he will fail.

19.

Homosexuality cannot be congenital because to find only one person who is delivered from it would negate the argument. We define deliverance as, a) the lack of inclination to engage in homosexual behavior, and/or b) the refusal to act out homosexual urges because of a higher submission to the will of God. There have been many instances of such deliverances.

20.

As an historical fact, homosexuality was dropped as a disorder from the DSM-III by fiat, induced by pressure from gay rights groups. Unlike other additions or eliminations from this listing, no conclusive proof that warranted this new position has ever been advanced. Therefore, this so-called scientific evaluation was determined by politics rather than research data.

21.

The primary personal definition, identity, motivational force and raison d’etre of a homosexual are embodied in his homosexuality. All other considerations are secondary. While the natural male/female relationship is tempered by corresponding personalities, general life goals and sexual drives, a male/male relationship is dominated by lust and sexual thoughts.

These thoughts and observations are offered as a way to move beyond a visceral reaction against homosexuality that many men possess. We must also ground ourselves in scripture, sound teaching and reasoned arguments. This may not be necessary for our own personal belief system, but if we hope to confront the propagandized minds of the new generation, it is necessary. Much more can be said, of course, but hopefully this represents a start in the right direction.

Bedford teacher gets ODNR award

2007-05-22T20:24:00.000-04:00

From the PD

Dan Weller, a Bedford High School physical- education teacher, recently was presented with the Na tional Water Safety Congress Award of Merit by the Ohio Department of National Resources, Division of Watercraft.

Weller has been teaching a water safety course at the school for 31 years, focusing on boating and canoeing safety. A canoe trip is offered as a finale to the class.

Ohio family advocate says governor boosting 'gay rights'

2007-05-22T19:39:00.000-04:00

Ed Thomas
OneNewsNow.com
May 22, 2007

Ohio Governor Ted Strickland signed an executive order last week that added "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" to the non-discrimination policy for current or potential state employees. One of the state's most well-known pro-family activists says the move was an effort to help homosexual activists lay groundwork for the legislative process.
The order addresses discrimination based on "gender identity" and "actual or perceived" homosexuality. Phil Burress of Citizens for Community Values (CCV) says there are at least two problems with those definitions -- first, there is no definitive test for homosexuality; and secondly, the word "perceived" addresses what people think.
The latter causes Burress to ask: "So we're going to be suing people because of what someone was thinking?"
Those were the kinds of inconsistencies the CCV spokesman says led Strickland's predecessor, Bob Taft, not to renew a similar executive order signed by his predecessor; thereby leaving the policy out of state employment issues for eight years. Until, says Burress, Strickland -- whom he calls a "liberal Democrat governor" -- decided to try and change people's attitudes toward making new state law down the road.
"Really the reason why they're doing this," remarks Burress, "is because they're going to want to introduce legislation in the state of Ohio to make this mandatory even in the private industry."
Burress explains that his organization has been unable to find one case in his state or elsewhere in the United States in which discrimination because of sexual gender or identity in employment-related cases has been proven. For him that makes Governor Strickland's new executive order very suspect.
Burress believes it is likely a move to help homosexual activists, who hope to eventually get a law passed through the state legislature that codifies special rights for them because of their sexual orientation.
"This is really just a stepping stone; this isn't about discrimination," Burress offers. "This is about furthering the homosexual agenda -- and the end result of the agenda, under the stair-step approach to this, is to get people used to thinking about sexual orientation as a minority class."
The pro-family activist claims that is so that some day "they can force their behavior on all of us."

Ohio moving toward tough rules on sex businesses

2007-05-18T18:05:00.000-04:00

Ed Thomas
OneNewsNow.com
May 18, 2007

Ohio legislators are on the verge of sending their governor a bill that would set several restrictions on the state's 500-plus sexually-oriented businesses. Those restrictions are designed to reduce crime and detrimental effects pro-family leaders say are associated with their presence in cities and towns.
The Community Defense Act, known as SB 16, has moved from passage in the state Senate and House to reconciliation of the differing chamber versions. It places regulations on businesses including clubs, massage parlors, adult bookstores, theatres, and video stores.
David Miller of Citizens for Community Values (CCV), which has helped push the measure, says the Senate needs to approve House changes to the bill. Those changes, he explains, includes some very positive ones for enforcement of the basic provisions -- so such no touching of nude or semi-nude employees in strip clubs, and closure between midnight and 6 a.m.
Miller says local governments will now get help protecting the state law and their own related local ordinances from legal challenges. If such challenges arise, "then they have protection that's going to be provided, not only in free legal counsel from the attorney general, but defense of those regulations," says the CCV spokesman. According to Miller, that could even include a worse-case scenario -- say, a judgment against the local government for damages. In that case, he explains, "then the state is going to pick that up."
That protection was added, says Miller, because of the traditionally problematic litigation of the sex industry with municipalities, which he points out often discourages those governments from taking strong action.
This time, though, he says the legislators appear determined to help the state overcome that problem. "I think that we have legislators who do understand that communities want some basic protections from the harms of this industry," Miller shares. A Mother's Day poll of 500 Ohioans indicated overwhelming support for such protections.
Associated Press reports there is no indication yet whether Ohio Governor Ted Strickland will sign the bill. Miller is scheduled to meet with an administration policy representative next week.

All Original Content Copyright 2006-2007 American Family News Network - All Rights Reserved

Ohioans don't seek help they're due

2007-04-30T23:32:00.001-04:00

$1.5 billion goes unclaimed yearly

Barb Galbincea

Plain Dealer Reporter

About $1.5 billion in public benefits goes unclaimed by eligible Ohioans every year.

That includes everything from tax credits to food stamps, according to the man appointed by Gov. Ted Strickland to help more low- and moderate-income residents get the help they're due.

Ralph Gildehaus, director of the Ohio Benefit Bank, said many people aren't aware they qualify for help; others are turned off by exhaustive paperwork, confusing terminology, long lines at public agencies or the prospect of visiting multiple offices to assemble needed benefits.

As a result, they may miss out on thousands of dollars in additional income from such sources as tax refunds, home energy as sistance, child-care subsidies and medical aid. In the eight states, plus the District of Columbia, where the Benefit Bank now operates, counselors identified an average $6,450 more in annual benefits for each client.

Strickland and Gildehaus both were at the Cleveland Foodbank on Friday for the local launch of the Benefit Bank, a free, Web- based program to help people apply for an array of assistance, file tax returns and even register to vote.

"We don't have to look very hard to see Ohioans who are struggling," said Strickland, who estimated that 80 percent of the unclaimed benefits are from federal sources.

That means that, in addition to helping Ohio families, drawing on those benefits would bring more money into the state's economy.

But as the governor was touting the Benefit Bank in Cleveland, the $770,000 he had recommended for the program over the next two years seemed to be in jeopardy Friday as House members worked through the budget proposal.

A spokesman for the governor said in an e-mail that the state money would draw an equal federal match and he reiterated Strickland's support for the Benefit Bank as "an example of the power of partnership between the religious community, private citizens and the state to assist the neediest Ohioans."

Lisa Hamler-Fugitt, executive director of the Ohio Association of Second Harvest Foodbanks, said that about 500,000 Ohioans whose incomes make them eligible for food stamps -- a federal program -- are not collecting. She said the notion that money intended to help low-income Ohioans access such benefits could be stripped from the state budget "makes me sick."

The association of 12 food banks, including those in Northeast Ohio, is helping to implement the Benefit Bank statewide. Begun in Ohio last fall as a pilot program, it already has linked people to more than $4.5 million in assistance, Gildehaus said.

"I think this is really going to be a great thing for the state of Ohio," said Anne Goodman, executive director of the Cleveland Foodbank, noting that the George Gund Foundation provided a grant to help with the local effort.

There are now more than 200 Benefit Bank sites statewide and Strickland appealed to his audience -- many representing community, social service or faith- based organizations -- to help the program spread.

Participating groups agree to have staff or volunteer counselors trained to use the online program. The training is free.

The counselor then works with a client to key in personal and financial information. The software identifies potential benefits and fills out the appropriate application.

Hamler-Fugitt said that by offering the service at community sites "wherever people live, work, play and pray," they are more likely to seek help.

PERSPECTIVE: Vices of strip clubs, slots viewed differently

2007-04-30T23:31:00.001-04:00

By JULIE CARR SMYTH

The Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — David Zanotti sees a certain irony in the push to crack down on Ohio's strip clubs.

After all, the opponents of expanded gambling that Zanotti's Ohio Roundtable represents can present just as many studies as strip-club foes can, pointing to the supposed harmful effects of their targeted vice on communities.

Yet state lawmakers seem to hate one and love the other.

"You have far more significant well-studied research that shows the dangers of video lottery terminals around the country," Zanotti said. "They are actually called the crack cocaine of gambling devices. That they would oppose both would be a very logical conclusion."

Take a look, though, at two proposals moving through the Republican-controlled state Legislature at the moment.

One is the crackdown on strip clubs. The bill would pre-empt most local strip club rules across the state and uniformly restrict club hours and dancers' proximity to patrons.

Fueled by arguments that the clubs are bad for neighborhoods — promoting crime, drug dealing, prostitution and economic decline — the proposal has already soared through the Ohio Senate and was only slowed in the House after opponents publicly complained last week.

A second proposal, one in a long line to expand gambling options in the state, would allow Ohio's seven horse tracks to install banks of instant racing terminals on their premises. Opponents lay out similar arguments about the harmful effects of gaming locations, among them more crime and drugs, with a very different response.

"The devil's always in the details," said state Rep. Bill Seitz, a Cincinnati Republican who supported an earlier strip-club crackdown yet backs expanded gambling. "I've never argued that there were deleterious effects to gambling, but the opponents have never done the cost-benefit analysis."

What Seitz means is that Ohio is losing hundreds of millions of dollars each year to casino-like slots operations across its border, particularly in his hometown of Cincinnati, and near the West Virginia border, according to legislative calculations.

Lawmakers split on DUI bill

2007-04-30T23:29:00.001-04:00

Senate wants to compel test for repeat offense

Monday, April 30, 2007

By Jim Siegel

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Repeat drunken drivers are in the legislative cross hairs.

The number of Ohioans with five or more DUIs now tops 33,000, and despite several new laws in recent years to crack down on drunken driving, the level of alcohol-related accidents in Ohio has remained steady.

But will the House and Senate come to an agreement on the best next step to curb those who insist on driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs?

The Senate is moving a bill that prohibits repeat DUI offenders from refusing to take a blood-alcohol test. But a key House Republican wants to prevent even first-time offenders from turning on a car before they take a breath test.

Law-enforcement officials, prosecutors and anti-DUI crusaders have been frustrated for years that drivers can potentially avoid a DUI conviction by refusing to take a blood-alcohol test, such as blowing into a Breathalyzer.

Attorneys regularly advise clients that the instant one-year license suspension that comes with a refusal is better than handing over evidence proving their blood-alcohol level is more than 0.08 percent, the limit in which a person is considered to be driving drunk in Ohio.

"The penalty is meaningless to those who have been convicted of multiple DUI offenses," Summit County Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh told a Senate committee.

Under Senate Bill 17, which is getting final tinkering in committee, no one with two or more DUI convictions in the previous six years would be allowed to refuse an officer's request to take a blood-alcohol test.

Walsh compared it to obtaining fingerprints from a burglary suspect, or DNA from someone accused of rape -- they are not allowed to refuse.

But Jon Saia, a Columbus defense attorney who specializes in DUI cases, said the bill is reminiscent of the Soviet Union.

"It's pretty frightening that they can hold you down and put a needle in you for a traffic offense," he said. "This is action without a court order. This is allowing police on the street to make that determination with Gestapo-type tactics.

Other proposals in the bill, sponsored by Sen. Timothy J. Grendell, R-Chesterland, would require multiple DUI offenders to wear a "smart bracelet" to monitor blood-alcohol levels and would make it easier to prove a person is criminally liable for loaning a vehicle to someone who is drunk or has no driver's license.

In the House, Rep. Bill Seitz, R-Cincinnati, argues that increasing penalties and requirements on those who refuse to be tested is an idea "that has gone nowhere (in) the last four years, and I don't think it will go anywhere again."

Instead, Seitz is crafting his own DUI bill that would require even first-time offenders to install an ignition interlock device, which prevents a car from starting unless the driver breathes into it to prove he or she was not drinking.

Seitz called it a "far preferable and more effective way of dealing with this problem."

Grendell disagrees. "We have room for interlock, but in and of itself, it is not enough of a deterrent," he said, noting that offenders can beat the system by having someone else breathe into it.

Seitz said his bill will be modeled after a 2005 law passed in New Mexico. But New Mexico's system isn't as effective as some might think, said Linda Atkinson, executive director of the DWI Resource Center, an Albuquerque-based group focused on reducing the impact of drunken driving.

"I think it's a great tool, but I don't like it being sold as a panacea," Atkinson said of interlock devices. She noted that alcohol-related fatalities there fell only a little, from 194 in 2005 to 191 last year.

In New Mexico, she said, the law is enforced by an overwhelmed court system. "Our lower jurisdiction courts don't have the personnel to oversee these," she said.

Doug Scoles, executive director of Ohio Mothers Against Drunk Driving, said that ignition devices could stop the first-time offenders who too often repeat their crimes.

"The generation of interlocks has come so far. We think it's the way to go in the future in mandating these for all DUI offenders," he said.

Seitz said his bill also will propose increasing license suspensions but lessening jail time.

"Jail is not a very effective deterrent for first- and second-time offenders, and it's expensive to the counties," he said.

jsiegel@dispatch.com

"Jail is not a very effective deterrent for first- and second-time offenders, and it's expensive to the counties."

Rep. Bill Seitz
R-Cincinnati

Rep. Millender-McDonald dies

2007-04-22T15:46:00.001-04:00

By Mike Soraghan,

The Hill

April 22, 2007
Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald (D-Calif.), who'd taken leave from Congress after being diagnosed with cancer, died Sunday, a Congressional source said.

House Clerk Lorraine Miller has secured Millender-McDonald's office and is to oversee the office until an election can be held to replace her.

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/rep.-millender-mcdonald-dies-aide-says-2007-04-22.html

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Rudy Giuliani: Lifelong Liberal

2007-04-18T21:54:00.001-04:00

By: George J. Marlin
April 16, 2007 06:33 PM EST

Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani has been barnstorming the nation, claiming the Ronald Reagan mantle. Recent opinion polls suggest his campaign is striking a chord with the GOP's rank and file but indicate most Republicans don't really know where Mr. Giuliani stands on key issues.

Those who do know are glossing over some very striking philosophical flaws -- at least from a truly conservative perspective. Rudy not only supports abortion but also has advocated for partial-birth abortion and government funding of abortion. He favors gun control, gay rights, domestic partnerships and bias-crime laws. And that's just a short list.

As a conservative activist who has observed Giuliani for many years (and who ran against him in the 1993 mayoral election), I can say categorically that he is not now, nor has he ever been, a conservative. In my judgment, his record leaves no doubt that he's a lifelong liberal.

In college, Rudy attacked senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona, the 1964 GOP presidential nominee, as an "incompetent, confused and sometimes idiotic man," and he urged Republicans to "find men who will adequately address themselves to the problems of discrimination, of poverty, of education, of public housing and the many more problems that Sen. Goldwater and company throw aside in the name of small laissez-faire government."

Former New York governor Mario Cuomo, a liberal icon, put it this way: "(Giuliani's) basically very pragmatic. And he's progressive. He is not a Neanderthal, a primitive conservative. But look, he's a clever human being. He can shave and draw fine distinctions when he needs to."

Giuliani's first wife, Regina, agreed. She told Giuliani biographer Wayne Barrett that when she and Rudy separated in 1980, she "still considered him to be a liberal Democrat." She also observed that "(Rudy) generally won't do things unless he believes them, ... but he's not a saint, and he will do things that serve his interests."

Rudy first switched from Democrat to Independent, and then to Republican, not because he embraced the tenets of conservatism but in order to move up the U.S. Justice Department ladder.

"He only became a Republican after he began to get all these (Justice Department) jobs," Rudy's mother, Helen Giuliani, told Barrett. "He's definitely not a conservative Republican. He thinks he is, but he isn't. He still feels very sorry for the poor."

As a candidate for mayor of New York, Giuliani distanced himself from Ronald Reagan and the GOP. During his first mayoral bid, in 1989, The New York Times pointed out that he "noted frequently that he was supported by the liberal wing of the Republican Party and maintained that he never embraced Mr. Reagan's broad conservative agenda." And when conservatives attacked him during that 1993 mayoral campaign, Giuliani said, "Their fear of me is that I'm going to be a beachhead for the establishment of a more progressive form of Republicanism."

On another occasion he told a television host, "I do not look to see what the catechism of conservatism says about how to solve a problem."

And we mustn't forget that when Giuliani endorsed governor Cuomo for reelection to a fourth term in 1994, he did so, he said, because Republican George Pataki had "a very right-wing voting record" and because Pataki proposed an "irresponsible" 25 percent state income tax cut.

Giuliani also seriously considered endorsing Bill Clinton in 1996 and instead backed Republican nominee Bob Dole with very little fanfare.

"Most of Clinton's policies," he said at the time, "are very similar to mine."

Some Republicans and conservatives are now claiming that Rudy has changed and really become more conservative, and they cite as an example his abandonment of his former vehement opposition to school vouchers. But when Rudy Crew, former New York City Public Schools chancellor, asked Giuliani about this policy shift, the mayor said, "Don't worry about it. It's just a political thing, a campaign thing. I'm not going to do anything. Don't take it seriously." This particular rightward shift was simply a ploy to enhance Giuliani's 2000 U.S. Senate candidacy.

Contrary to what we've been hearing and reading, Rudy Giuliani is today what he has always been: a liberal. Conservatives should take stories of his Damascus Road-like conversion with a grain of salt. Rudy, like Hillary, is campaigning for the presidency in order to implement lifelong leftist beliefs.

George J. Marlin's latest book is "Squandered Opportunities: New York's Pataki Years" (St. Augustine's Press, 2006). In 1993, he was the Conservative Party candidate for mayor of New York City.

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Democratic Presidential Candidates respond to Supreme Court abortion decision

2007-04-18T21:08:00.001-04:00

Thanks to Diane Stover and Gary Lankford for passing these on to me................

John Edwards for President
Apr 18, 2007

Chapel Hill, North Carolina – Senator John Edwards released the following statement about today's 5-4 Supreme Court ruling upholding the federal abortion ban.

"I could not disagree more strongly with today's Supreme Court decision. The ban upheld by the Court is an ill-considered and sweeping prohibition that does not even take account for serious threats to the health of individual women. This hard right turn is a stark reminder of why Democrats cannot afford to lose the 2008 election. Too much is at stake - starting with, as the Court made all too clear today, a woman's right to choose."

4/18/2007

Hillary Clinton Statement on Supreme Court's Gonzales v. Carhart Decision

Washington, DC -- "This decision marks a dramatic departure from four decades of Supreme Court rulings that upheld a woman's right to choose and recognized the importance of women's health. Today's decision blatantly defies the Court's recent decision in 2000 striking down a state partial-birth abortion law because of its failure to provide an exception for the health of the mother. As the Supreme Court recognized in Roe v. Wade in 1973, this issue is complex and highly personal; the rights and lives of women must be taken into account. It is precisely this erosion of our constitutional rights that I warned against when I opposed the nominations of Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito."

Barack Hussein Obama Statement

I strongly disagree with today's Supreme Court ruling, which dramatically departs from previous precedents safeguarding the health of pregnant women. As Justice Ginsburg emphasized in her dissenting opinion, this ruling signals an alarming willingness on the part of the conservative majority to disregard its prior rulings respecting a woman's medical concerns and the very personal decisions between a doctor and patient. I am extremely concerned that this ruling will embolden state legislatures to enact further measures to restrict a woman's right to choose, and that the conservative Supreme Court justices will look for other opportunities to erode Roe v. Wade, which is established federal law and a matter of equal rights for women.

Lobbyists spent less on officials in '06, report says

2007-04-18T19:27:00.001-04:00

38 percent drop came during nonbudget year

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Mark Naymik

Plain Dealer Politics Writer

Ohio lobbyists and their employers spent nearly $350,000 in 2006 feeding lawmakers and state officials and buying them small gifts, far less money than the nearly $560,000 they doled out 2005.

The numbers were released recently by the Joint Legislative Ethics Committee, which tracked the activities of the roughly 1,700 lobbyists and 1,600 employers registered with the state during 2006.

The 38 percent drop in spending is typical of an election year and when the biennial budget is not at issue.

In 2004, for instance, lobbyists and their employers spent nearly $395,000, but far more - $636,000 - during the 2003 budget year.

Legislative Inspector General Tony Bledsoe, who oversees the ethics committee, said he has observed a pattern of spending since joining the committee in 2001 that suggests there is more lobbying activity in a budget year.

"In an election year, there are fewer lobbying events," he said. "Individuals tend to interact at the [campaign] fund-raising events, so there are fewer lobbying receptions, dinners, etc. The campaign events, of course, are reported in campaign finance reports and not as lobbying expenditures."

The biggest spender in 2006 was the Wholesale Beer & Wine Association, a powerful lobby that fights tax increases on the sale of beer and wine. It spent $31,287 on receptions for lawmakers. Rounding out the top five spenders were:

The Ohio Children's Hospital Association: $13,607 on receptions and $135 on token gifts.

The Ohio Chemistry Council: $13,742 on receptions.

The Ohio State University: $4,496 on receptions, $4,779 on tickets and gifts, and $672 on meals and beverages.

A Message Regarding the Vacancy on the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections

2007-03-31T10:12:00.001-04:00

A message from Ron Lisy

Dear Friends,

As you are probably aware, our friend Republican Cuyahoga County Board of Elections member Sally Florkiewicz has announced her intention to resign from the Board effective April 2nd.

This follows a politically charged demand from Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner to all four Cuyahoga county Board of Elections members to resign their positions.

Of the four members, only Ohio Republican Party Chairman Bob Bennett, who also serves as Chairman of the Board of Elections remains seated on the Board past April 2nd.

Many of you are also aware that I have been employed at the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections for the past nine months, joining the Board staff soon after the May 2006 primary debacle.

I've learned the nuts and bolts of the elections process, and seen many areas where the Board needs to improve. I believe it is crucial that our faith in the elections process be restored, and the value of the county taxpayers' dollars be respected.

Several of you have stated that this experience and insight along with my previous activities with the Republican Party, and as an elected member of Bedford City Council would make me an ideal candidate for the Board of Elections vacancy.

Although I am flattered at the suggestion, and did give it active consideration, I will not be a candidate for this vacancy.

In my opinion, an extremely qualified candidate, and an extremely committed Republican has stepped forward and declared himself a candidate -- that person is Judge Jeff Hastings.

Jeff is an ideal person for this seat, with experience in the Ohio Attorney General's office under both Betty Montgomery and Jim Petro, experience serving as Executive Director of the Cuyahoga County Republican Party, and a stint as a Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge, which earned him wide praise for his judicial temperment and legal skills--and nearly re-election despite running against a "legendary name" and the Democratic tidal wave in Ohio.

Jeff Hastings will do us proud on the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections.

I hope that you will attend the meeting of the Cuyahoga County Republican Party Central & Executive Committees, scheduled for Wednesday April 4th at 6 to 8 pm, Independence Civic Center, 6363 Selig Drive in Independence and join me in supporting Judge Jeff Hastings for the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections.

With Regards,

Ron Lisy

Analyst says Democrats' budget would hit families hard

2007-03-29T19:29:00.000-04:00

Jim Brown
OneNewsNow.com
March 29, 2007

A budget analyst says a plan by Democrats in Congress to implement the "largest peacetime tax increase in U.S. history" would deliver a damaging blow to American families.

Critics of the Democrats' proposed budget for fiscal year 2008 estimate it would increase taxes $900 billion over five years and $3.3 trillion over ten years. Brian Riedl, senior budget analyst at the Heritage Foundation, says if the Democrats' budget were enacted into law, the typical American household would see an average tax increase of $2,641 per year over the next ten years.

Riedl says the proposed plan does not do a single thing to address growing entitlements for millions of retiring baby boomers -- an issue he describes as "the greatest economic challenge of our era."

"We're about to have 77 million retiring baby boomers added on to our Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid rolls. The costs are enormous," says the analyst. "I mean, this would force us to either double all tax rates or pretty much eliminate every other government program if we don't do anything about this."

Yet the Democrats, Riedl says, prefer to "kick the can down the road" and ignore it.

"They reject the president's reform proposals [and] they say, we'll let the future worry about it," he laments. "And what's even more cynical and irresponsible about that is that the head of the Senate Budget Committee, Kent Conrad (D - North Dakota), went on 60 Minutes and said that Congress knows this is a problem, but too many members lack the courage to address it." And so does Conrad's own budget, the Heritage Foundation spokesman adds.

Riedl says the Democrats' budget would repeal all of President Bush's tax cuts, including the child credit, bring back the marriage penalty and the death tax, as well as raise taxes on investors.

All Original Content Copyright 2006-2007 American Family News Network - All Rights Reserved

Stockman charged with securities fraud, will "vigorously fight" charges

2007-03-26T22:23:00.001-04:00

By Martha Graybow

Reuters

NEW YORK (March 26) - U.S. prosecutors on Monday charged David Stockman, a former chief executive of Collins & Aikman Corp., and seven other former company officials with fraud related to alleged financial misdeeds at the bankrupt auto parts maker.

Stockman, a former Reagan administration budget director, and others are accused of misleading the company's investors to hide its declining financial condition, according to the indictment brought by federal prosecutors in Manhattan.

Stockman "hid the full truth from the company's investors and lenders," Manhattan U.S. Attorney Michael Garcia said at a news conference.

He said that Stockman and other executives "resorted to lies, tricks and fraud" to boost Collins & Aikman's financial performance when they could not improve it legitimately.

Stockman and three others -- former Collins & Aikman executives J. Michael Stepp, David Cosgrove and Paul Barnaba -- were charged in a criminal indictment unsealed on Monday with conspiracy, securities fraud and other charges related to the alleged scheme. Prosecutors said the fraud lasted from December 2001 until the company filed for bankruptcy in May 2005.

Four other former company officials have pleaded guilty to criminal charges related to the alleged scheme, bringing the total number of people charged in the case to eight, prosecutors said.

Collins & Aikman was not named in the indictment. Garcia said his office had reached a non-prosecution agreement with the company, which has agreed to continue to cooperate with the government in its investigation.

Stockman, in a statement posted on his lawyer's Web site, said that the government's charges were implausible.

"My actions were motivated by the goal of saving the company, its investors and thousands of employees from a brutal financial squeeze by the Big Three automakers," he said. "There is not a hint of wrongful gain."

Stockman left the company five days before it filed for bankruptcy.

Separately, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission brought civil charges against Stockman and other individuals, as well as against the company. The SEC said the auto parts supplier has settled the charges, without admitting or denying the allegations. The agreement requires court approval.

Collins & Aikman remains under bankruptcy protection and is in the process of selling its remaining assets.

A former Michigan congressman, Stockman headed the Office of Management and Budget during the Reagan administration. He became famous as a promoter of supply-side economic policies, dubbed "Reaganomics."

Stockman became a private equity investor after leaving government. He joined Collins & Aikman in 2002, soon after Heartland Industrial Partners, a buyout fund that he co-founded in 1999, bought a controlling stake in the company. Stockman and Heartland lost hundreds of millions of dollars when Collins & Aikman sought bankruptcy protection.

Last week, in anticipation of government charges, Stockman told The Wall Street Journal he would "vigorously fight" any federal criminal charges filed against him.

A Collins & Aikman representative was not immediately available to comment on the indictments.

Additional reporting by Edith Honan in New York and David Bailey in Chicago

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Club for Growth Denounces Pork-Stuffed Spending Bill

2007-03-25T18:58:00.000-04:00

Club for Growth Denounces Passage of Pork-Stuffed
House Iraq Spending Bill
Singles out "Blue Dog" Democrats who Broke Their Word

The Club for Growth denounced the 218 Democrats and 2 Republicans in the House of Representative who voted for the Iraq supplemental spending bill, containing $24 billion worth of wasteful pork-barrel projects. The Club specifically singled out freshmen Democratic Representatives Nancy Boyda (KS-02); Heath Schuler (NC-11); Nick Lampson (TX-22); Tim Mahoney (FL-16); and Harry Mitchell (AZ-05) who won their House seats on a campaign to restore fiscal responsibility to Congress and cut out earmarks. Instead these politicians caved to political pressure, throwing American taxpayers under the bus on their way down.

"Unfortunately, these candidates will say anything to get elected, but when push comes to shove, they roll over and play dead at the smallest command from their Democratic Party leaders," said Club for Growth President Pat Toomey. "The U.S. Congress though, is not a canine obedience school. American taxpayers want to be represented by responsible stewards of their hard-earned money, not poodles. Ultimately, these congressmen will be held accountable for their empty promises and their cavalier attitude towards American taxpayers."

"The Club for Growth also urges President Bush to abide by his threat to veto the spending legislation when it reaches his desk," Mr. Toomey continued. "While the Democrats have made it clear that they cannot keep even the simplest of pledges, we hope the President will set a better example."

Romney finds peril in checklist for '08

2007-03-25T18:50:00.001-04:00

As Mitt Romney transitions from one-term governor to presidential candidate, he has been ticking through a presidential checklist, sometimes with perilous results.

Where he lacked foreign policy experience, his staff arranged one-day visits to Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Check, check, check.

Where there were questions about Second Amendment issues, he enrolled as a "lifetime" member of the National Rifle Association.

Check again.

But this month, Romney scratched when he tried to wade through the cauldron of Cuban-American politics during a speech to South Florida Republicans.

"Hugo Chavez has tried to steal an inspiring phrase – 'Patria o muerte, venceremos.'" Romney said, referring to the Venezuelan president and persistent U.S. critic. "It does not belong to him. It belongs to a free Cuba."

In truth, the phrase does not belong to free Cubans. It has been the trademark speechmaking sign-off of their most despised opponent, Fidel Castro. And unlike Romney, Castro would switch to English to declare, "Fatherland or death, we shall overcome."

The mistake pointed up Romney's newness to the scene and the freshness of some of his positions.

"No human being can ever know every nuance to every issue. And the steeper the learning curve, the more likely you are to see inadvertent errors," said Dan Schnur, a Republican communications consultant in California. He worked for Pete Wilson's 1996 presidential campaign and Sen. John McCain's 2000 presidential campaign, but is not involved in the 2008 race.

"I've never seen one of these things take down a campaign, but it's critical for the candidate to show these type of things are an aberration, not a rule," Schnur said.

Unlike some of his better-known Democratic and Republican rivals, Romney, 60, lacks extensive national and international political experience. Romney has made a series of foreign and domestic policy pronouncements as he rushes to close gaps in his campaign's portfolio.

On the plus side, Romney's mostly nonpolitical background – primarily as a venture capitalist, as well as head of the 2002 Winter Olympics – means he does not have a long history on many contentious issues. That gives him great leeway as he adopts his policy positions.

At the same time, it puts him at a disadvantage with more experienced rivals, for whom many contemporary issues are second nature.

That lack of depth and familiarity increases the chance of missteps, as well as outright contradictions with past policy views.

In Romney's case, critics have lambasted him for reversals on abortion rights, gay rights and tax policy.

His Chavez comment to a March 9 Lincoln Day dinner in Miami-Dade County, as well as his mispronunciation of the names of several prominent Cuban-Americans, set off a murmur within the crowd.

Kevin Madden, Romney's spokesman, said the speech was overwhelmingly well-received despite any mistakes.

"I think what's new is there is a higher level of scrutiny now because he's a presidential candidate," Madden said. "But as far as the governor's ideas, the substance of his proposals and his blueprint for America, this is the first time everybody is hearing it, and we are confident that the substance of his policies is what's going to bring more and more people to his campaign."

Recent campaigns are littered with examples of similar gaffes.

In 2004, Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, the Democratic presidential nominee, found himself backpedaling after he stopped in Wisconsin and declared his affection for "Lambert" Field. The proper name for the home of the state's beloved Green Bay Packers is "Lambeau" Field.

McCain took an unusual step as he proceeded through his own position checklist amid the 2000 GOP primary campaign.

After repeatedly flubbing when asked whether it was appropriate for South Carolina to fly the Confederate flag over its Capitol, McCain pulled out a statement written by his staff and read it aloud.

For the record, McCain declared that he saw the flag as a symbol of Southern heritage, not slavery. Yet after he lost the nomination to then Texas Gov. George W. Bush, McCain flew back to South Carolina and apologized.

The senator who prided himself on "straight talk" said he personally opposed the flag, but had offered a purely political answer during the campaign.

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Hagel: Some see impeachment as option

2007-03-25T18:48:00.001-04:00

With his go-it-alone approach on Iraq, President Bush is flouting Congress and the public, so angering lawmakers that some consider impeachment an option over his war policy, a senator from Bush's own party said Sunday.

Meanwhile, the Senate's No. 2 Republican leader harshly criticized House Democrats for setting an "artificial date" for withdrawing troops from Iraq and said he believes Republicans have enough votes to prevent passage of a similar bill in the Senate.

"We need to put that kind of decision in the hands of our commanders who are there on the ground with the men and women," said Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss. "For Congress to impose an artificial date of any kind is totally irresponsible."

GOP Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a frequent critic of the war, stopped short of calling for Bush's impeachment. But he made clear that some lawmakers viewed that as an option should Bush choose to push ahead despite public sentiment against the war.

"Any president who says, I don't care, or I will not respond to what the people of this country are saying about Iraq or anything else, or I don't care what the Congress does, I am going to proceed – if a president really believes that, then there are – what I was pointing out, there are ways to deal with that," said Hagel, who is considering a 2008 presidential run.

The Senate planned to begin debate Monday on a war spending bill that would set a nonbinding goal of March 31, 2008, for the removal of combat troops.

That comes after the House narrowly passed a bill Friday that would pay for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan this year but would require that combat troops come home from Iraq before September 2008 – or earlier if the Iraqi government did not meet certain requirements.

On Sunday, Hagel said he was bothered by Bush's apparent disregard of congressional sentiment on Iraq, such as his decision to send additional troops. He said lawmakers now stood ready to stand up to the president when necessary.

In the April edition of Esquire magazine, Hagel described Bush as someone who doesn't believe he's accountable to anyone. "He's not accountable anymore, which isn't totally true. You can impeach him, and before this is over, you might see calls for his impeachment. I don't know. It depends on how this goes," Hagel told the magazine.

In his weekly address Saturday, Bush accused Democrats of partisanship in the House vote and said it would cut the number of troops below a level that U.S. military commanders say they need. Vice President Dick Cheney also accused Democrats of undermining U.S. troops in Iraq and of sending a message to terrorists that America will retreat in the face danger.

"We have clearly a situation where the president has lost the confidence of the American people in his war effort," Hagel said. "It is now time, going into the fifth year of that effort, for the Congress to step forward and be part of setting some boundaries and some conditions as to our involvement."

"This is not a monarchy," he added, referring to the possibility that some lawmakers may seek impeachment. "There are ways to deal with it. And I would hope the president understands that."

Lott said setting withdrawal dates is a futile and potentially dangerous exercise because Bush has made clear he will veto any such legislation.

"There are members in the Senate in both parties that are not comfortable with how things have gone in Iraq," Lott said. "But they understand that artificial timetables, even as goals, are a problem. ...We will try to take out the arbitrary dates."

Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., said the Senate bill seeks to heed the recommendations of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group by setting a goal of withdrawing some troops while leaving others behind to train the Iraqi army for border patrol and other missions.

"That, combined with a very aggressive, diplomatic effort in the region is what we're going to need to have," he said.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said she believed that setting a timetable was appropriate but declined to predict whether it would garner enough Senate votes to pass.

"People of this country have spoken overwhelmingly. It's been constant now," Feinstein said. "They want us out. It is time for the Senate to weigh in. I hope we will have the votes."

Hagel spoke on ABC's "This Week," Feinstein and Lott appeared on "Fox News Sunday," and Nelson was on CNN's "Late Edition."

Elyria's Midway Mall Removes "No Guns" Signs

2007-03-24T11:01:00.001-04:00

Written by Rich Hardway
from Ohioans for Concealed Carry...www.ohioccw.org
I have been asked to write an account about my experience in changing management's opinion and policy on posting "No Guns" signs on the doors at Elyria's Midway Mall in Elyria, OH so others might learn from the way I handled the situation. I was asked by Daniel White, OFCC Director-At-Large, to verify that the Midway Mall had indeed posted signs on the doors as reported by a member in the forums on the OFCC web site. He asked me if I would be willing to talk to someone about their policy if the doors were in fact posted. I accepted his request on behalf of the members of OFCC and went to the mall that evening after work. I walked the perimeter of the mall to look at each door and indeed all but one was posted. I then went to the office of the mall but found it to be closed because it was after 5:00 PM. I then decided this was a good thing because it gave me a chance to prepare what I wanted to say to the mall managers. I then went to the information booth where they rent the strollers and wheel chairs to ask who I might be able to talk to about the signs or someone in public relations. The lady handed me a business card for the assistant manager of the mall. That night at home I developed my plan of action with the power points that I wished to cover in a meeting with him the next morning The next morning bright and early I went to the mall wearing an OFCC shirt and a large smile on my face. I asked to speak with the gentleman on the card I received the night before. When he came to the counter, I introduced myself and asked him if we could sit down and discuss the mall's new policy prohibiting legal concealed handguns. We began our conversation on what OFCC is and represents. Then we began talking about the mall's reasons for changing their policy and posting of the property. Within a few minutes, he stopped me and said that he wanted to bring in a couple other management members. After a brief introduction to the general manager, Mark, I began all over again. I asked them why they suddenly changed their policy. Mark said that they wanted to create a safer environment for their customers' shopping experience. I asked them if they truly feel that they had achieved this goal by refusing to allow law-abiding citizens in the mall that had properly and legally obtained a permit from the state of Ohio to carry a concealed handgun. I went on to say that I don't feel they did. They made a reference to the recent shooting in a Utah mall and that they did not want a similar action in their mall. I fully agreed with them that I also never want to hear or see such a thing in any mall. I then countered with the facts. The facts are that a deranged teenager went to that mall with a premeditated plan to illegally assault and kill as many victims as he possibly could. If it was not for the fact that an off-duty police officer was dining in that mall at the time, many more innocent people would have become victims at the killer's hands. The truth is that due to the off duty police officer's ability to carry a concealed handgun, he was able to cut the rampage short until police arrived and put an end to the carnage. This man saved innocent lives. I then asked them if they really think that any sign posted at the door of the Utah mall would have stopped the teen from entering that mall on that day with the small arsenal that he had to support his plan of terror. In fact, that mall did have a "No Weapons" policy. John Lott reported on his website and linked to a picture of the actual sign on the doors. You can view the sign by clicking here.

I asked both managers if they had ever read the concealed carry law, as I handed them a copy of it. Then I made the following statement: "People that have a license to carry a concealed firearm issued by the state of Ohio have obtained that license after successfully attending the mandatory class, been fingerprinted by their local Sheriff, and passed a complete background check that the Sheriff has performed."

When someone has a license you know that that person is someone that has a clean background and has never been convicted of a serious crime. You can not say that about anyone who comes into your mall that has not received a license just off the fact they don't have a license

Then I told them that people that have a license would do one of two things when they see the sign on the door. They will either return to their car and remove their sidearm, locking it in the trunk before returning to shop or they will do their shopping at a retailer that respects and supports their Second Amendment rights under the law.

Let's look at Wal-Mart for a moment. I think we can all agree that Wal-Mart is one of the largest retails in the world and they understand the thinking here. They removed their signs and changed their policy to a pro-choice stance and with that they let the American people decide if they want to carry a concealed handgun or not with their license.

Although law-abiding people will honor your request to not bring a weapon into your mall, criminals will ignore your signs and do as they please. Which customers would you prefer do their shopping here?

The Manager was agreeing with what I was saying and he said that the mall would remove the signs and make changes to their policy as well.

Three hours later I received the following e-mail from him.

Mr. Hardway:

Thank you for coming in to see me today and addressing your concerns. After talking with you and considering the facts that you have voiced we have reconsidered our position and have elected to remove the signs prohibiting the carrying of concealed weapons. They have all been removed today.

Our intention for posting the signage was an attempt to create a safer environment for our shoppers. However, your points are well taken and thus we have removed the signage.

We hope you and the other members of the O.F.C.C. will continue to consider the Midway Mall a safe place to shop in the future that does value and respect your rights under Federal and State laws. We recognize the fact as pointed out by you that people whom have been issued a permit to carry a concealed weapon are law bidding citizens and that's the type of shoppers we want in our stores.

Thanks again.

Mark J. Bressler
General Manager
Midway Mall

As OFCC members, we can all make a difference with a polite and understanding voice. The use of diplomacy with education and the truth must be our weapons of choice. The facts are a powerful thing when delivered with respect.

Mr. Hardway is a proud OFCC member that shows what one dedicated individual can achieve. This is his first article for our website.

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Presidential candidate Brownback: Homosexual acts are immoral

2007-03-17T12:11:00.000-04:00

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Republican presidential candidate Sam Brownback is backing the nation's top general over his remarks that homosexual acts are immoral.

The Kansas senator planned to send a letter on Thursday to President Bush supporting Marine Gen. Peter Pace, who earlier this week likened homosexuality to adultery and said the military should not condone it by allowing gay personnel to serve openly.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs also said in an interview with the Chicago Tribune: "I believe that homosexual acts between individuals are immoral and that we should not condone immoral acts. I do not believe the United States is well-served by a policy that says it is OK to be immoral in any way." (Watch how Pace's comments stirred the debate )

'Unfair and unfortunate'
Lawmakers of both parties criticized the remarks, but Brownback's letter called the criticism "both unfair and unfortunate."

"We should not expect someone as qualified, accomplished and articulate as General Pace to lack personal views on important moral issues," Brownback said. "In fact, we should expect that anyone entrusted with such great responsibility will have strong moral views."

Asked whether he agreed with Pace's comments, Brownback said: "I do not believe being a homosexual is immoral, but I do believe homosexual acts are. I'm a Catholic and the church has clear teachings on this."

Clinton: It's for 'others to conclude'
Democratic candidates Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama initially tried to sidestep the issue when asked about it this week, but both sought to clarify their opposition to Pace's comments on Thursday. (Read how Clinton later said she "does not share [Pace's] view, plain and simple")

Obama did not directly answer on Wednesday when asked if same-sex relationships were immoral, Newsday reported. Obama issued a statement on Thursday, saying, "I do not agree with General Pace that homosexuality is immoral. Attempts to divide people like this have consumed too much of our politics over the past six years."

Clinton told ABC News Wednesday that it's for "others to conclude" whether homosexuality is immoral. On Thursday, she put out a statement saying that she'd heard from gay friends who said her answer sounded evasive.

"I should have echoed my colleague Senator John Warner's statement forcefully stating that homosexuality is not immoral because that is what I believe," her statement said.

Meanwhile, Democratic hopeful Bill Richardson called Pace's remarks "unfortunate" and said the Bush administration should reject them, adding that he would push Congress to repeal military's "don't ask, don't tell policy" in which gay service members are required to keep their sexual orientation private.

"People should not be judged based on their sexual orientation," the New Mexico Governor said in Santa Fe. "Throughout my entire career I have fought for equal rights and against discrimination of any kind."

Brownback: 'We applaud Gen. Pace'
While there is no indication that Pace's job is in jeopardy, Brownback's letter to Bush said "personal moral beliefs" should not disqualify anyone from a position of leadership in the U.S. military.

"General Pace's recent remarks do not deserve the criticism they have received," the letter said. "In fact, we applaud General Pace for maintaining a personal commitment to moral principles."

Pace said he supports "don't ask, don't tell," something Brownback said is "an appropriate policy."

Brownback, a favorite of the religious right, has been a prominent opponent of gay marriage.

Brownback spokesman Brian Hart said the senator was working Thursday to get other lawmakers to sign his letter. Hart said Brownback's office would not disclose who has signed on to the letter until there is "a final count."

On his campaign bus in Iowa on Thursday, Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, declined to comment when asked whether he agreed with Gen. Peter Pace's comment that homosexuality was immoral. He said he still backs the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy. "It's working."

Another Republican candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who has been criticized for changing his views on gay rights to conform with conservative views, said he thought Pace's comments were "inappropriate for public discourse."

"He can believe what he wants to, that's the great thing about America -- believe in what you want. But in a governmental setting, the right way to go is to show more of an outpouring of tolerance," Romney said on CNN's "Larry King Live."

He said he didn't think the "don't ask, don't tell policy" made a lot of sense, but added he wouldn't change it now.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Do we need Churches to be that politically active?

2007-03-13T21:20:00.000-04:00

While I do believe it is Church going conservative God given right to vote and fight for his right to have a Church and worship God, I am not sure of how much of a responsibility it is for him/her to be politically active. As a Pentecostal conservative I do get very involved in politics, but I do not try to recruit people from my Church because I feel it’s wrong to do so. When I see a young mother bring her kids to church and just try to do the right thing for God, who am I to ask her to come and make phone calls for some candidate that may be seeking votes from the conservative right? but also introducing this person to a arena they may not understand. A few weeks ago I posted something from my church web site “Consciously sedated in a Cultural Quagmire” written by our web master Jeremy Kiner. I am not sure but I don’t think he is ever been involved in a political campaign but he goes to collage and is very well aware of what is going on in the world and knows very well who the enemy is. And he does vote and I think most Church people including I feel the same way he does in his posting.

For some people in Church need to be focused on God, Church and family alone and not get involved in a world of back stabbing politics. For those of us that do go to Church and are politically active we need to remember to fight for those people rights. And besides that I think that the Republican think tank just wants our votes and don’t care what or who we think should best run the country other wise the Republican front runners would be people like Sam Brownback, Mike Huckabee, Duncan Hunter, Tom Tancredo
Instead of trying to appease the left and right wing moderates with the likes of John McCain, Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani who has tabloid flavor but no true conservative backing except that they say they will go against there personal beliefs and support the true conservative.

If you want Church People to vote, Don’t ask them to weaken there morals for the Republican party, Just give them a candidate that has a very strong conservative evangelical background, and will run the office with that agenda and passion, the God fearing conservatives will come out of there Churches and go to the polls in massive numbers.

If you would like to read "Consciously Sedated in a Cultural Quagmire" by Jeremy Kiner please click below.

http://www.thebranchcommunity.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=85&Itemid=63

Folger urges conservatives not to settle for GOP frontrunners

2007-03-12T20:40:00.000-04:00

Jim Brown
OneNewsNow.com
March 12, 2007

Conservative author and talk show host Janet Folger of the group Faith 2 Action believes GOP presidential frontrunners -- Rudy Giuliani, John McCain and Mitt Romney -- are Republicans in name only. Meanwhile, she says GOP presidential candidates who actually agree with the party's platform are not even being considered by the mainstream press and many conservative leaders.

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Folger calls Rudy Giuliani "completely unacceptable," describing the former New York City Mayor as pro-abortion and "anti-marriage." And as for Arizona Senator John McCain, she says he is "disqualified" because of his opposition to the Federal Marriage Amendment and his campaign finance reform, which she contends "blacked out free speech."

McCain should also be disqualified for, among other things, "leading the 'gang of 14' who stood in the way of breaking the judicial filibuster," the Faith 2 Action spokeswoman says. He is also "a guy that voted against the federal marriage amendment [and] who, in his campaign finance reform, literally blacked out free speech, ripped it up," she notes.

Essentially, 30 days before a primary or 60 days before a general election, Folger explains, Senator McCain in effect tells Amerians they can forget about free speech. "In fact," she notes, "John McCain just sued Wisconsin Right to Life, taking them to court because they had the audacity to suggest that people lobby Congress, and it was during one of those federally mandated gag rules."

But Folger says she is especially troubled that many conservative leaders are rushing to support former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. "This is the most concerning," she says, "because there's a lot of people who are running to him because he suddenly and conveniently switched from being an ardent, hardcore pro-abort."

In actuality, the pro-family talk radio host says, Romney is "extreme," as he "not only wants abortion -- he wants you to pay for it with your tax dollars." And that is exactly what the candidate's healthcare plan said, she points out, "even after his supposed conversion."

Romney also "mandated marriage licenses to homosexual couples," Folger adds, "even after his supposed pro-marriage conversion." Instead of looking at name-only Republican presidential hopefuls such as McCain and Romney, she argues, conservatives need to take a closer look at candidates like Duncan Hunter, Tom Tancredo, Sam Brownback and Mike Huckabee, and others who more closely align with the Republican Party's platform.

All Original Content Copyright 2006-2007 American Family News Network - All Rights Reserved

Is Giuliani Too New York?

2007-03-11T11:12:00.001-04:00

"When Republicans say they are skeptical that" former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) "can survive their party's presidential nominating process, they usually point to his record of support for abortion rights, gay rights and gun control," notes the New York Times. "But there may be a less obvious hurdle that Mr. Giuliani has to overcome: Whether he is too much of a New Yorker for the rest of the country."

"Americans like New York City, as officials in both parties are quick to say. Most find it vibrant, entertaining and an object of sympathy and pride since the terrorist attacks five and a half years ago that made Mr. Giuliani the national contender he is today. But the city, with all its tumult and rough edges, is not for everyone. And few people embody all the complicated facets of New York City as much as Mr. Giuliani."

From Taegan Goddard's Political Wire- http://politicalwire.com/

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February 2007 Marks 42nd Consecutive Month Of Job Growth

2007-03-11T11:04:00.000-04:00

Fact Sheet: Job Creation Continues - More Than 7.5 Million Jobs Created Since August 2003

Today, The Bureau Of Labor Statistics Released New Jobs Figures – 97,000 Jobs Created In February. Since August 2003, more than 7.5 million jobs have been created, with 2 million jobs created over the last 12 months. Our economy has now added jobs for 42 straight months, and the unemployment rate remains low at 4.5 percent.

More American Workers Are Finding Jobs And Taking Home More Pay

Real Wages Rose 2.2 Percent Over The Past 12 Months Ending In January. This is substantially faster than the average rate of the late 1990s economy, and it means an extra $1,279 in the past year for the typical family with two wage earners.

Real After-Tax Income Per Person Has Risen By 10 Percent – More Than $2,900 – Since President Bush Took Office.

The Economy Has Now Experienced Over Five Years Of Uninterrupted Growth, Averaging 3.0 Percent A Year Since 2001.

The Dow Is Up Over 40 Percent Since The President's Tax Relief Took Effect. The NASDAQ is up more than 55 percent over the same period.

The President's Agenda Will Help Keep America's Economy Strong, Flexible, And Dynamic

In His FY 2008 Budget, President Bush Laid Out A Detailed Plan To Balance The Budget By 2012 Without Raising Taxes. He has called on Congress to work together with him to spend taxpayers' money wisely and to tackle unfunded obligations in entitlement programs such as Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.

President Bush Has Called On Congress To Act In Four Key Areas To Keep America's Economy Flexible And Dynamic:

1. Breaking Down Barriers To Trade So American Workers Can Sell More Goods And Services To The 95 Percent Of The World's Customers Who Live Outside Our Borders. Global trade talks like the Doha Round at the World Trade Organization have the potential to level the playing field so America can compete on fair terms in foreign markets, while helping lift millions of people out of poverty around the world. The President calls on Congress to extend Trade Promotion Authority so we can complete the Doha Round and make headway on other trade agreements.
2. Making Private Health Insurance More Affordable And Giving Patients More Choices And Control Over Their Health Care. The President has proposed reforming the tax code with a standard deduction for every American who buys health insurance, whether they get it through their jobs or on their own. His proposal also taps the innovation of States in making basic, affordable insurance available to all by creating Affordable Choices grants to redirect institutional subsidies to help ensure the poor and hard-to-insure have access to private health insurance.
3. Continuing To Diversify Our Energy Supply To Benefit Our Economy, National Security, And Environment. In his State of the Union Address, the President set an ambitious goal of reducing gasoline usage in the United States by 20 percent over the next 10 years – Twenty in Ten. To reach this goal, he has proposed setting a mandatory fuels standard to require 35 billion gallons of renewable and other alternative fuels in 2017 and reforming and improving fuel efficiency standards for cars like we did with light trucks, which could reduce projected annual gasoline use by up to 8.5 billion gallons in 2017.
4. Reauthorizing And Strengthening The No Child Left Behind Act While Preserving Its Core Principles. A strong and vibrant education system is vital to maintaining our Nation's competitive edge in the world and extending economic opportunity to every citizen here at home.

# # #

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Long Shot GOP Candidate Brownback Just Five Points Behind Clinton

2007-03-11T10:49:00.001-04:00

With the high negatives of Clinton & Obama's lack of experience, I've been convinced that the DEM that will be toughest to beat is Edwards. A true conservative like Brownback may be the best matchup against him-- Even though Edwards is now positioning himself to the left of Clinton & Obama, he may be acceptable to moderate voters once he centers his views for the general election. A Republican candidate who appeals to traditional Republican points, a la Ronald Reagan is crucial. Clearly acticulated GOP values win.

The danger with Brownback is that he cannot go overboard with being "the religious candidate"- a tag that alienated secular voters against Ken Blackwell in the 2006 Ohio Governors race. Brownback's religious views can only be a part of his marketing "package". The role-model here is George W. Bush. Be religious, but don't be a "bible-thumper"-- no Pat Robertson campaign, or the moderates will flee for the DEM.

But then why not a true GOP moderate like Giuliani or McCain? look to the 2000 election and the result with the left fleeing to GREEN Ralph Nader. A well-known Constitution Party candidate, like Pat Buchanan, Alan Keyes or Tom Tancredo and the DEMs can walk back into the White House with 48% of the popular vote.

--Ron Lisy

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From rasmussenreports.com

The first Rasmussen Reports telephone survey gauging general-election support for Republican Senator Sam Brownback (news, bio, voting record) shows him trailing Democratic Senator Hillary Clinton among likely voters by the narrow margin of just five percentage points. It's Clinton 46% Brownback 41%.

However, Democratic Senator Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record) leads Senator Brownback by the much wider margin of 49% to 34%.

Clinton and Obama lead the polls for Democrats seeking their party's 2008 Presidential nomination. While Clinton has been ahead in every Rasmussen Reports poll for the Democratic nomination, Obama and former North Carolina Senator John Edwards generally do better in general election match-ups (see summary of all match-ups).

Brownback, who announced his presidential candidacy on January 20 as a staunch religious conservative, is in the second tier of GOP Presidential hopefuls.

Both Clinton and Obama have high name recognition, but Clinton is saddled with higher unfavorables. Forty-eight percent (48%) view her unfavorably, 34% "very unfavorably." Throughout 2005 and 2006, our Hillary Meter indicated that a plurality of likely voters would not vote for the former First Lady no matter who she might run against.

Obama is viewed unfavorably by 37%. Only 14% dislike him strongly.

Brownback is an unknown to 43%, and viewed favorably by only 19%. Just a couple weeks after his announcement, the percentage who view him favorably isn't any larger even among Republicans.

That may change as Senator Brownback becomes better known. But the enthusiasm especially for Giuliani among Republicans persists despite the mayor's willingness to openly acknowledge disagreements with social conservatives on abortion and other hot-button issues.

This national telephone survey of 800 Likely Voters was conducted by Rasmussen Reports March 5-6, 2007. The margin of sampling error for the survey is +/- 4 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.

Rasmussen Reports is an electronic publishing firm specializing in the collection, publication, and distribution of public opinion polling information.

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Gun Owners of America Praises Overturn of DC Gun Ban

2007-03-10T11:19:00.001-05:00

"For 31 years, the DC gun ban has been the criminal class's best friend. DC victims have been legally disarmed and helpless in the face of savagery from home invaders and street assailants," said Larry Pratt about today‚s ruling by the DC Court of Appeals overturning the DC law.

"DC has been home to the nation's highest murder rate for most of the 31 years of the gun ban. DC's politicians and the Congress as well never wanted to admit that their law was killing people. The criminals were the only ones to benefit from the law because they never cared what that law, or any other law, said.

"Congress has never overturned this murderous law, even though it is their constitutional responsibility to oversee the laws of the District of Columbia. The Court has provided a lengthy and well-reasoned rebuke to those who have willfully misinterpreted what the Second Amendment protects ˆ an individual right to keep and bear arms.

"It remains to be seen whether the Supreme Court will choose to take up this case. In the meantime, the sovereigns of the country, the individual American citizen, have had a measure of their rightful power restored to them," Pratt concluded.

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National NAACP refuses to do the work required for progress for black people

2007-03-08T20:53:00.001-05:00

by Cornell McCleary, http://www.formerwtvnbadboy.typepad.com/

NAACP Chairman Julian Bond and a majority of the 64-member national board wants to continue giving lip service for progress instead of taking responsibility for making progress happen.

Outgoing President of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Bruce S. Gordon officially, and finally, told the world what most African-Americans already knows. The national NAACP does not want to do anything but look good and get in peoples face. The real challenges facing blacks, black on black crime, babies having babies, lack of job skills and the likes, the national leadership wants no part of that. Even though their list of what whites are doing to hinder the progress of blacks is short, the battle cry of the national leadership is still "We shall overcome."

Personally, I can feel Gordon's pain. I was the former Chairman of the Ohio NAACP's Legislation and Lobbying Committee and the former 1st Vice President of the Columbus Branch of the NAACP in the 80's. I left the NAACP for the exact same reason that Gordon did. The old guard is lazy and comfortable and, for the most part, compromised. The progressive leadership of the local chapters is often frustrated because of the lack of support from the national office.

Many national so-called leaders justifies their continued do nothing approach by declaring what Julian Bond has recently declared, that few American blacks would quibble that equality remains an unfulfilled dream. Equality will always remain an unfulfilled dream for everyone. The American experience has never been or will never be about equality. The American spirit is about parity and opportunity - the potential to gain.

The American Constitution is about individual rights not group's right. It is flat out impossible to apply group rights and not go against the grain of the Constitution with few exceptions. The Civil Rights Act of 1866, The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 gave blacks parity rights in America. Now, as individuals, blacks must personally do the heavy lifting to achieve individual prosperity and success.

This is not to say that there is no disparity due to race. Disparity does in fact exist but, there are very few institutional solutions to the problems that exceed the viability of personal achievement, development and spirituality. A great house is built one brick at a time. A great nation also requires each and every one of us during our personal pursuits and endeavors to contribute as a matter of will, our best efforts for the collective that we call America.

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Is the Christian Right a Fascist Movement?

2007-03-08T20:49:00.001-05:00

By John W. Whitehead
March 8, 2007

"I'm a Christian first and a mean-spirited, bigoted conservative second, and don't you ever forget it."
—Ann Coulter

"To a large extent, Dobson and his gang of thugs are real nasty bullies."
—Former House Majority Leader Dick Armey

In his new book American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America (2007), Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and former war correspondent Chris Hedges contends that today's Christian Right resembles the early fascist movements in Italy and Germany that emerged at the beginning of the 20th century.

Known primarily as Dominionists, these Christians promote the belief that they are destined to take over and rule the world by taking "dominion" over the political process and reinstituting biblical law. Many perceive this as a campaign to use America to create a global, Christian empire. And statements by evangelical leaders like D. James Kennedy, who has declared that "Our job is to reclaim America for Christ, whatever the cost," only serve to foster this perception.

For those on the outside looking in, it might seem as if there is reason to be alarmed. As professor Charles Marsh notes in a New York Times editorial, American evangelicals "have amassed greater political power than at any time in our history." This power, which can be traced to a handful of evangelical leaders with decided political agendas, reaches into the Oval Office and deep into the bowels of Congress.

Indeed, Dominionist-influenced leaders often have a direct line into the White House. For example, James Dobson, the head of Focus on the Family, reportedly held weekly telephone conversations with Bush advisor Karl Rove during the 2004 campaign. And as Jerry Falwell remarked to Vanity Fair, "Everyone takes our calls."

However, in his book Tempting Faith: An Inside Story of Political Seduction (2006), former White House insider David Kuo suggests that Christians are the ones being manipulated and used for their voting power. Hedges disagrees. In a recent interview with me, Hedges stated: "The neo-cons view these people as the useful idiots. I think it is reversed. I believe, in the end, that the neo-cons will be the useful idiots. I think that however buffoonish figures such as Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Benny Hinn, Paul and Jan Crouch and many of the others may appear to be, there are tens of millions of people in this country who take these people with deadly seriousness. And whatever buffoonish qualities the Falwells, et cetera, may have on the outside, on the inside these people have a very different stature."

Calling this particular confluence of religion and politics "Christo-fascism," Hedges argues that today's Christian evangelical movement has many of the same characteristics as fascism: a claim for moral and physical supremacy of a master race, in this case American Christians; blind obedience to a male hierarchy that often claims to speak for God; intolerance toward non-believers; and disdain for rational intellectual inquiry.

Ann Coulter, a spokesperson for the Christian Right, is adept at magnifying her personality through her own useful idiots, the media. A darling of right-wing talk shows, Coulter embodies some of the above qualities, especially the tendency to demonize one's opponents. As Susan Estrich points out in Soulless: Ann Coulter and the Right-Wing Church of Hate (2006), Coulter "has called the 9/11 widows 'witches' and 'harpies,' referred to Muslims as 'ragheads,' called Al Gore a 'total fag,' and said that both New York Times editor Bill Keller and antiwar congressman Jack Murtha deserved to die."

Whether the leaders of the Christian Right are really fascists or whether their hateful bombasts are just ploys to stir up their supporters and shore up their funding base is open to question. But I do know that they are not Christo-fascists. In fact, the word Christo-fascist is a contradiction in terms because Christ was certainly not a fascist. Indeed, what Jesus taught undermined both the religious and political empires of his day. And it got him killed.

Where the Christian Right gets it wrong is that the present spiritual problems we face today will not be changed through the political system. Although it is a valued and necessary part of the process in a democracy, the ballot box is not the answer to mankind's ills. And, in fact, Christians who place their hope in a political answer to the world's ills often become nothing more than another tool in the politician's toolbox.

Former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, remarking about those who want to impose their version of "righteousness" on others through the hammer of law, wrote in October 2006, "Our movement must avoid the temptations of power and those who would twist the good intentions of Christian voters to support policies that undermine freedom and grow government."

The influential Christian theologian Francis Schaeffer went one step further when he stated that Christians must avoid joining forces with the government. "We must not confuse the Kingdom of God with our country," Schaeffer writes. "To say it another way, 'We should not wrap Christianity in our national flag.'"

WC: 833

Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of The Rutherford Institute. He can be contacted at johnw@rutherford.org. Information about The Rutherford Institute is available at http://www.rutherford.org

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Firefighters initially moved to snub Giuliani

2007-03-08T20:38:00.001-05:00

By Sam Youngman,

The Hill

March 08, 2007

Citing a "disgraceful lack of respect" for firefighters killed in the 9/11 attacks, an influential union initially decided that former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani would be the only presidential candidate not invited to the union's upcoming presidential forum.

In a draft letter that was never finalized, International Association of Fire Fighters President Harold Schaitberger and other affiliate officers wrote "the disrespect that [Giuliani] exhibited to our 343 fallen FDNY brothers, their families and our New York City IAFF leadership in the wake of that tragic day has not been forgiven or forgotten."

However, the firefighters changed their minds and Giuliani was subsequently invited to speak at the forum scheduled for next week. He accepted the invitation but pulled out of the event late Wednesday.

The forum will include 2008 candidates from both parties.

In the draft letter obtained by The Hill, Schaitberger and other union officials say Giuliani, in November 2001, "sharply" reduced the number of firefighters allowed to search the remains at Ground Zero. The letter estimates the number allowed to search was cut from 300 to 25.

When firefighters and family members protested the move, 15 firefighters, including some union leaders, were arrested.

Giuliani eventually changed course and allowed the firefighters back to Ground Zero.

Giuliani's campaign did not comment by press time.

"Our disdain for him is not about issues or a disputed contract, it is about a visceral personal affront to the fallen, to our union and, indeed, to every one of us who has ever risked our lives by going into a burning building to save lives and property," the draft letter states.

It concludes with the union leaders urging members, if contacted by Giuliani or a campaign representative, to "say not just, 'No,' but 'Hell no.'"

Giuliani, whose stature rose nationally in the days following 9/11, earning him the nickname, "America's Mayor," is soaring in national and most state polls.

Giuliani's campaign did not comment by press time.

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USC PROFESSOR PLEADS GUILTY IN $1.5 MILLION SCAM THAT BILKED STUDENTS

2007-03-07T23:01:00.001-05:00

Los Angeles, CA - An Orange County man has pleaded guilty to a federal wire fraud count, admitting that he ran a real estate investment scam that lured victims with bogus claims of large returns on investments in commercial real estate developments.

Barry Landreth, 37, formerly of Coto de Caza, pleaded guilty Monday afternoon to the felony charge that carries a penalty of up to 20 years in federal prison.

By pleading guilty, Landreth, a former adjunct professor of real estate finance at the University of Southern California, admitted that he ran two schemes involving purported real estate development projects in Chicago and Las Vegas. Through his company, Webster Realty Investors, Landreth offered short-term, high-yield real estate investments in two projects that he called Discovery Chicago LLC and Discovery Las Vegas LLC. Landreth induced victims, including wealthy investors and several USC students, to invest with promises that their money would be used in one of the two projects. In fact, Landreth did not use the victims' money for either project, but instead spent the money on business expenses for Webster Realty Investors and on personal expenses.

As part of the scheme, Landreth falsely represented to victims that the projects would provide 190 percent returns on investments within 30 days to 45 days.

In court documents, the government presented evidence that Landreth used victims' money to buy a Cadillac Escalade and several show jumping horses.

Landreth pleaded guilty in Santa Ana federal court before United States District Judge Cormac J. Carney, who is scheduled to sentence the defendant on June 4.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which received assistance from the California Department of Corporations.

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