Brian Rothenberg has an update on The Legend of Joy Padgett: Bankruptcy Court.
Remember the curious case of Joy Padgett’s Bankruptcy Abuse from last Fall. Or for those of you in eastern and central Ohio, the memorable Joy Padgett for Congress commercial where she is standing like Julie Andrews — sound-of-music like — on the family farm.
Some of you may have known that at the time she pirouetted on her TV farm, she didn’t even own the family farm having transferred ownership as part of her bankruptcy case. And during the campaign that questionable transfer became embroiled in allegations that it was fraudulent by the people she owed – her creditors.
Well, sure enough, Joy is running from creditors in ‘them there hills.’ After the music from November’s election, with visions of DC fading before her eyes, the trustee overseeing Joy Padgett’s bankruptcy proceedings filed an objection to Padgett’s proposed re-payment plan. The objection was based on several problems, including a need for “further documentation and explanation as to why property is not a fraudulent transfer.”
Of course, his title his hilarious: “THE HILLS ARE ALIVE WITH THE SOUNDS OF JOYOUS PADGETTRY”
I’m still sorting thru the mess this morning, but here is what we know:
It looks like OH18 will be the [i]only[/i] House seat to flip in Ohio, despite the nearly 30 seat landslide nationwide. Chabot won reelection in OH01, Mean Jean looks pretty likely to hold on in OH02, and it looks like Pryce did just enough to hold on to OH15.
The majority in the Senate rests on two races – MT (where Tester is leading the GOP incumbent by a slim margin), and VA (where Webb is leading Allen by an even slimmer margin). If both of those swing for Democrats, they will have a majority in both chambers.
It looks like there will be a 28-22 majority for Dems when the gubernatorial races are finally counted, as six seats have flipped.
With 59% of precincts in Franklin County reporting, Shamansky has just 49% of the vote. Given how strongly red Licking and Delaware Co. are, we have to hope that the precincts reporting in Franklin county are the outer suburbs. Shamansky has to win Franklin County to have a chance.
It appears likely – tho only one has been called – that three House seats in Indiana will flip to Dems. It appears that 1 of 2 key races in Kentucky will flip. Additionally, Democrats have picked up two Governor seats (OH and MA).
About 15 minutes until we start seeing more Ohio results.
NB: These races are NOT by any means final, but early signs are good.
IN02: Split right down the middle, 50/50, R-incumbent
IN08: 70/30 in favor of the Democratic challenger, with 14% reporting.
IN09: 50/46 in favor of the Democratic challenger, with 2% reporting.
KY03: 50/49 in favor of the Democratic challenger, with 64% reporting
KY04: 57/40 in favor of the Republican incumbent, with 1% reporting
Again, these are horse race numbers, so take ‘em with a grain of salt.
This may well be unintentional, but OhioElect’s CandidateMatch has Tiberi as completely neutral on every single issue category. BlueBexley has the blow-by-blow.
This weekend I got three mailers from Tiberi, all attacking Shamansky. They can all be refuted – but here is one straight from the Shamansky campaign office.
This mailer landed in some boxes at the same time as the scummy “fetus” mailing Tiberi dropped in the last couple of days. Like that mailer, this one is nothing but an intentional and misleading distortion of the facts.
BOGUS CLAIM: “Shamansky faces felony allegations for lying to government agents.”
FACT: Republican operatives filed a BOGUS claim about Bob’s past voting addresses just to create a scandal. There are NO felony “allegations”. This is the electoral equivalent of hitting your little brother, then going crying to mom saying he hit you. And the “government agents” ? Not Scully and Mulder. They mean the Franklin County Board of Elections.
BOGUS CLAIM: While living in a luxury high rise, Shamansky voted elsewhere. A violation of state law.
FACT: State law doesn’t define primary residence. Bob is a man of means who owns several homes.
BOGUS CLAIM: Shamansky has repeatedly failed to answer questions about his residency.
FACT: Bob held a press conference to address the GOP’s baseless allegations. That just doesn’t qualify as dodging the question. And it’s not like Pat doesn’t know it. He even used footage of the press conference in one of his slimy ads.
Pat’s trying to deceive 12th District voters in a last ditch effort to save his job. They’re smarter than that. It won’t work.
I also got the flyer about “experimentation on live fetuses“. Seriously. As near as I can tell (and it’s tough to find easy access to 97th Congress records while at work), they are referring to this act:
1982 – Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 97-375 substituted provision that the President shall, not later than Dec. 31 of each year, make an annual report to Congress on the activities, status, and changes in the composition of advisory committees in existence during the preceding fiscal year, for provision the President, not later than March 31 of each calendar year after 1972, make an annual report to Congress on the activities, status, and changes in the composition of advisory committees in existence during the preceding calendar year.
The act added reporting to an existing law about research ethics.
During the considerations of the National Commission, it recommended that certain kinds of research with the fetus and with children be submitted to a “National Ethics Advisory Board” that would be established within the Department of Health, Education and Welfare. In response, the Ethics Advisory Board was appointed by Califano in 1977.
So there you go – adding a requirement for reporting to a ethics advisory board for medical research is equivalent to “support[ing] ‘experimentation’ on live human fetuses”.
Put away the petri dish. Turn off the Bunsen burner. When mid-term election results start to roll in next Tuesday, few groups will be as glued to the television as America’s scientists.
In a country grousing for new leadership, the elections will be a referendum on an unpopular president and a chance for science-friendly candidates to hang out a shingle on Capitol Hill. The change could prompt government action on a range of issues.
In New Mexico’s 1st Congressional District, Republican incumbent Heather Wilson and Democratic challenger Patricia Madrid have made stem cells and green energy campaign priorities. In California’s 11th Congressional District, Republican incumbent Richard Pombo, a rancher who wants to scuttle the Endangered Species Act, is in a tight race with mathematics Ph.D. and alternative energy advocate Jerry McNerney.
If, as projected, Democrats like McNerney take control of the House, they will almost certainly attempt to usher in a more hospitable environment for scientific research and innovation. “You will see a greater concentration on science,” said Alisha Prather, communications director for the Science Committee Democrats in the House. “There’s a widely recognized feeling among Democrats that our country needs to do more from a science and math perspective if we want to remain world leaders.”
In related news, Sen. Ted “It’s a Series of Tubes!” Stevens rated as more tech-saavy than our very own Mike DeWine. Not exactly the kind of strong leadership we need to help move Ohio ahead in the technology race.
We’ve all seen the signs that a significant swing Blue is possible in the House. However, something changed this weekend, and a number of districts are polling significantly more Democratic now than they were last week. Someone I know who works in the NRCC told me today that while he still believes that the GOP holding the House is possible (a large number of races are within the polling MOE), he now believes that the previous “nightmare” scenario – a 30+ seat loss – is now “50/50″.
This is not the time to sit back, feeling secure that the House majority is won. Every seat we win now is a seat that is easier to hold next time. Now is when we push hard to get people like Shamansky and Wulsin over the top in districts that have been safe seats for the GOP – and are now both winnable races for the Democrats.
This is the first step in rebuilding America’s proud tradition of progressive politics.
A new poll by Majority Watch shows Shamansky a few points back of Tiberi. The total numbers are 51% to 46%, with a 3% MOE, but Tiberi’s current edge is very soft – amongst voters showing a strong preference, Tiberi leads just 41% to 40%.
Kilroy is way in front, 53% to 41%. Space is up 51% to 42%.
Nice endorsement from Suburban New Papers here in central Ohio. The papers reach more than 185,000 households.
Although this is Shamansky’s first run for public office in more than 20 years, he still shows a firm grasp of the challenges facing the nation. If Democrats win control of the House on Nov. 7, Shamansky will be a clear, strong voice for change, especially in the Bush administration’s disastrous foreign policies. And since he’s financing his campaign mostly with his own money – to the tune of more than $1 million, he says – Shamansky, who previously served one term in Congress in the 1980s, will go back to Washington owing nobody any favors. Because of the crucial issues facing this country today, at home and around the world, the choices in these two races couldn’t be more clear:
A vote for Pryce or Tiberi is a vote for George W. Bush and
the status quo.
A vote for Kilroy or Shamansky is a vote for change.
SNP urges voters to support Mary Jo Kilroy in the 15th Congressional District and Bob Shamansky in the 12th Congressional District.
