From the monthly archives: July 2011
Immediately after signing the state budget, our Governor seems to have set his sights on Washington, starting the week with a fundraising e-mail entitled: “Let’s Hope D.C. Notices…” which read, in part:
With the signing of a historic budget that fills a nearly $8 billion shortfall and maintains a income tax cut, Governor John Kasich and legislative leaders have set Ohio on the path to job creation and prosperity. This effort has not gone unnoticed in the national media:
• The New York Times said John Kasich “has established himself as a get-things-done governor.” You can read more here.
• Closer to home, Ohio’s [...]
Full Story... →We owe it to our readers to tell you the truth, even if it spoils the fun for our ideological allies. I’ll admit when we uncovered this we thought about not writing about it because we love an elaborate prank just like the next guy, and this story reveals the most elaborate, sophisticate political astroturfing prank in Ohio history since Kasich Deputy Press Secretary crowned himself one of “Ohio’s top bloggers” all the time he was writing from Virginia on the Ohio Republican Party’s payroll.
Here it is: Building a Better Ohio, the campaign committee we all thought was a [...]
Full Story... →Records obtained by Plunderbund show that Robert Mecklenborg renewed his Ohio driver’s license four days after his DUI arrest in Indiana and lied about the arrest on the application form.
Here’s a quick timeline of the events:
On April 1st, 2011, Robert Mecklenborg’s Ohio driver’s license expired. On April 23rd, 2011, Mecklenborg was arrested in Indiana (with the expired license) for operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated and for endangering the 26 year old, likely stripper, in his car. Mr. Mecklenborg’s court date isn’t until July 26th, 2011. The case is still pending. On April 27th, 2011, Mecklenborg [...]
Full Story... →I stopped watching morning cable news shows a long time ago. All those people yelling at each other about idiotic talking points that early in the morning makes me nervous. They always leave me in a bad mood and that really is no way to start your day. My prohibition against morning cable news shows is the reason I didn’t know John Kasich was going to be on Morning Joe on MSNBC this morning. You can watch the whole 15 minute clip here, and I suggest you do if only to see Mika throw a hay-maker in the first [...]
Full Story... →
Today, State Treasurer Josh Mandel reported raising $2.34 million in the three months he has totally not been a candidate for the U.S. Senate. Yes, despite a campaign website, a campaign staff, and countless press releases touting endorsements for his non-candidacy, Josh Mandel still insists that he has not decided to run the United States Senate.
Here’s another number for Mandel: $22.2 million. That’s how much under projections Ohio’s return on its investments were for the month of June according to Governor Kasich’s Director of the Office of Budget and Management (see, pg. 16). You know, the investments managed [...]
Full Story... →During the campaign, John Kasich heavily criticized Ted Strickland for having an interim director at the Ohio Department of Development before making her the permanent director.
PolitiFact called this statement from Kasich “False” because it implied that there was no leadership in the office during that time when for the most part it was run by the same person. But Kasich continued to use the line of attack, saying that the failure of the Strickland Administration in having steady leadership in the agency was a reason for Ohio’s economic problems during the Great Recession.
So, how has Kasich [...]
Full Story... →Greg Sargent at the Washington Post’s The Plum Line blog shows that Senator Sherrod Brown has a simple response to his colleague’s in Congress: if you want to raise the retirement age to collect full benefits under Social Security or Medicare, then Members of Congress should agree that they can’t collect full retirement benefits from their time in Congress until they reach the same age.
Brown is introducing a proposal today in Congress that would enshrine this into law: It would amend the Federal retirement system to make the Social Security retirement age the point at which current and [...]
Full Story... →In typical Kasich fashion, it’s rumored that he’s going to rush through the appointment for the new COO for BWC, possibly scheduling it for Senate confirmation tomorrow.
The rumored appointee is Dale Hamilton who previously worked for the BWC during the big scandal era and who was, according to the Columbus Free Press, involved with a big scandal of his own:
Three years earlier the Ohio Bureau of Workman’s Compensation was caught up in a major scandal. BWC Chief Operating Office Steve Isaac was fired November 7, 1997.
Isaac then sued his former boss, Bureau Chief James Conrad, a [...]
Full Story... →Boy were we surprised when we found out that Stan Heffner not only got a last minute interview this morning for the state school superintendent job – but he actually got the job!
I can’t help but wonder if this still would have happened if we had filed our ethics complaint against Heffner earlier in the process. Of if that would have just gotten him on the list (and away from ETS) sooner.
Either way, Heffner was forced to address the complaint today, and his response is pretty – well – bad.
In short, our complaint alleges the [...]
Full Story... →We have yet to receive a thank you letter from Stan Heffner, but we know it will be in the mail soon. Our post yesterday detailing the complaint we filed with the Ohio Ethics Commission obviously confirmed that Heffner is the most qualified man for this leadership position in Ohio. Fortunately, we came along at just the right time to let the State Board of Education realize what they were about to overlook, as they abruptly took him behind closed doors into their executive session, interviewed him, then hired him with no opportunity for public discussion. Board member Rob Hovis [...]
Full Story... →On May 29, we exposed a significant conflict of interest involving Interim State Superintendent Stan W. Heffner and his involvement with House Bill 153, Ohio’s budget bill. We definitely recommend that you check out the original article if you haven’t already, but here’s the rundown:
Stan W. Heffner used his official position to represent himself as an expert and provided testimony to the Senate Finance Committee regarding House Bill 153 and specifically recommend that the committee adopt a provision that would direct 2.2 million dollars annually to Educational Testing Service (ETS), the company that announced Stan Heffner’s hiring just three weeks earlier. [...]
Full Story... →Budget Watch
