From the monthly archives: December 2010
Back in early December of 2006, less than a month after he was elected Governor, Ted Strickland posted a thorough list of the people who would be assisting him with his transition.
The list was full of qualified individuals, including a Chief Financial Officer and a CEO who were chosen to coordinate the transition effort for the Department of Development.
Given Kasich’s frequently expressed disgust toward transparency and openness it’s not surprising that he hasn’t published a similar list or discussed any details about who is working on the transition teams for each agency.
And if [...]
Full Story... →Earlier today The Dispatch blog published a list of people who applied for one of the two open seats on Columbus City Council.
The list is actually pretty great and there are a number of people I think would be wonderful council members.
Obviously Kevin Boyce is at the top of the list. He’s already served 8 years on council and has an amazing amount of experience.
And I absolutely love Bob Fitrakis’s irreverent style of progressive activism. I know he’d bring some crazy new ideas to council (though his selection seems pretty unlikely).
Also add to the [...]
Full Story... →From the Cincinnati Enquirer’s “Opinionati” blog:
Pharaoh Kasich trips over anthills on his way to the pyramid
Those pesky, problematic little anthills — you never know when they are going to pop up and ruin your day.
And if you happen upon one with fire ants, you are in real trouble.
Gov. -elect John Kasich (R) told a group of fire ants — err, reporters — yesterday that he’s “tripping over anthills on the way to the pyramids,” implying that Ohio’s sunshine laws were already becoming a hindrance to his administration, although he does not even [...]
Full Story... →If Kasich’s irony were snowflakes… well, just look outside.
The Associated Press is reporting that Governor-elect Kasich announced at a GOP function celebrating the career of retiring U.S. Senator/former Governor George Voinovich that Kasich intends to have the new I-90 bridge in Cleveland named after Voinovich.
“The new, $450 million bridge in Cleveland replaces the Inner Belt Bridge. The project received $85 million from the federal economic stimulus package.”
It’s ironic that they’d name the bridge after Voinovich since his legacy was largely one of fiscal conservatism and rallying against pork barrel spending. Also, there’s the little [...]
Full Story... →According to the latest unemployment report from the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services, Ohio’s unemployment rate slightly dropped in November to 9.8%.
It’s the first time Ohio’s unemployment rate hasn’t been greater than the national unemployment rate in over eight years, (Oct. 2002).
Full Story... →
(HT: Mark Kovac at Ohio Capitol Blog)
Stop what you doing. Watch this video. Then send it to every Ohioan you know.
If John Kasich had said this before the election, Ted Strickland would have easily won re-election. Before the election, Kasich talked about his Administration being the model of transparency, accessibility, and accountability. Now?
Now, Governor-elect Kasich just said on video that he thinks Ohio’s Sunshine, public record, and ethics laws are “silly.” How does Governor-elect Kasich reconcile what he said before the campaign and now that he’s won?
Seriously, listen closely to what [...]
Full Story... →So, how’d that Tom Charles/John Born rollout go?
Well, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Kasich didn’t think it went too well. After the media asked Charles and Kasich a number of questions about the obvious conflicts of interest of Charles being the Director when both his wife and his son work for the Patrol (never mind the obvious conflict of Charles’ office doing an investigation involving someone whom Charles wanted to replace at the agency he was about to take over):
Charles also was asked today about potential conflicts of interest that could arise because his wife [...]
Full Story... →Just a quick add-on to Modern’s analysis of today’s PPP polls…
In addition to showing Kasich’s approval ratings plummeting and Senator Brown not doing much better, the poll also showed that more Republicans would prefer Ken Blackwell for their Senate nominee over Jon Husted, Jim Jordan, Mary Taylor, Steve LaTourette , Josh Mandel and Kevin Coughlin. (DeWine is first)
Ken Blackwell.
Seriously.
Given that the Draft Ken Blackwell for Senate 2010 Facebook group has a total of 13 members, I think his campaign is going to need a serious kick in the ass to get it off [...]
Full Story... →Tom Charles has gotten everything he’s ever wanted for John Kasich after giving the Republicans an error-ridden investigation they could use to falsely accuse the Strickland Administration of perjury and obstruction of justice, charges so ridiculous a Republican county prosecutor declared (but only after the election) there was “insufficient” evidence to pursue.
According to the Tweet feed of WOSU/NPR’s Columbus bureau Jo Ingles, today Kasich not only announced that he was appointing Tom Charles as the head of the Ohio Department of Public Safety, but that he’d also appoint John Born as the Superintendent of the Ohio Highway Patrol.
Kasich [...]
Full Story... →Yesterday, Public Policy Polling (a Democratic polling outfit) released their latest Ohio poll. The news shows that if the election were held today, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown would have a real fight on his hands.
He has approval ratings 40% to a 37% disapproval, which is not good. In hypothetical matchups against incoming Attorney General Mike DeWine, Lt. Governor-elect Mary Taylor, or Congressman Jim Jordan, Brown is barely ahead against Taylor or Jordan. He’s tied with DeWine. Even more concerning, Brown’s numbers are all at or below 43%.
But the news is even more troublesome for Governor-elect John [...]
Full Story... →Hotline gives Frances the honors because of her guitar:
Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland’s (D) wife rallied crowds on the trail by playing acoustic guitar and singing a train-themed campaign song called "Let’s Keep Ohio Moving," to the tune of Johnny Cash‘s "Folsom Prison Blues." From the song: "You know we’re on the right track / ’cause you’re the engineer. Let’s keep Ohio movin’ / Dems are goin’ four more years." Unfortunately, the song wasn’t enough to score a win for Strickland.
Here’s the music video, too:
Yep, that’s the Governor being the music stand, while now Justice [...]
Full Story... →Budget Watch
