July 2006

The Plundercrew came through. Obtained a copy of the recently referenced Mike DeWine Chamber of Commerce ad. More desperation. The Chamber of Commerce will soon spend the most ever to maintain their stranglehold on the legislature via the corrupt Republican, ahum, I mean Independent Conservative Party. Roll Call (snippet from behind the pay wall):

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, hoping to influence this year’s House and Senate races, is launching what the group calls its largest and most expensive campaign effort ever.

The business group plans to fork over much more than $10 million to fund campaign ads and get-out-the-vote efforts, including a cross-country bus trip next month, the chamber’s national political director and vice president of Congressional affairs, Bill Miller, announced Wednesday.

The ad? Well, for starters it is horrible! It looks like a kid with very little photoshop skillz did the graphics. Second, it touts a plan which actually is about to hurt seniors. I’d expect a strong response. Congress screwed this one up, in many ways. Look for that to get exposed soon. Hint. Hint.

The Brown camp responds, asking the chamber to also thank Mike for:

VOTING TO EXPORT OHIO JOBS. Even though Ohio has lost 246,500 manufacturing jobs since President Bush took office, Mike DeWine voted for the president’s trade agreements that helped moved Ohio plants offshore and outsourced jobs. He voted against repealing tax incentives for domestic companies that move their manufacturing plants offshore, and against prohibiting American tax dollars from being used to ship jobs outside the country. DeWine also voted to keep tax breaks for companies that operate overseas, while he opposed tax cuts for domestic manufacturers.

VOTING TO BOOST OIL COMPANY PROFITS, RAISE GAS PRICES. One year ago this week, Mike DeWine voted for an energy bill that gave billions of dollars in subsidies to the energy industry. Today, gas prices and oil company profits are at record highs, and our dependence on foreign oil has not declined. The average price of a regular gallon of gasoline in Ohio was $2.23 in July 2005 when the energy bill passed. Today it is $2.97. DeWine has accepted $300,000 in contributions from the oil and gas industry.

VOTING AGAINST MINIMUM WAGE AND WORKER PROTECTIONS. Mike DeWine has opposed increasing the minimum wage at least 9 times. (Note to Chamber: As part of his election year makeover, in 2005 DeWine voted twice for an increase in the minimum wage . You may want to invest your money quickly to thank him for opposing an increase in the past! You wouldn’t want DeWine to pander to families struggling to pay their bills, would you?) DeWine also voted three times against overtime pay protection and six times against extending unemployment benefits to workers who lost their jobs.

VOTING TO HELP WALL STREET INSTEAD OF MAIN STREET. DeWine voted twice to create Health Savings Accounts, which would increase the cost of health care and swell the ranks of the uninsured. HSAs could raise as much as $75 billion for Wall Street special interests. DeWine voted to raid the Social Security Trust Fund for privatization and said he supported adding private accounts to Social Security, leaving Ohioans retirement security in the hands of Wall Street traders.

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