Plunderbund » State Politics

Two Republican Staff Members Were Paid $210,000 to Staff the State Redistricting Committee

Ben — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 01:47:47 +0000

Two Republican staff members received a combined $210,000 to serve for three months has the secretaries for the Legislative Task Force on Redistricting. While it was assumed that both staff members would serve in their positions as state employees, instead the Republican members of the Task Force entered into contracts with their respective private companies and paid them $105,000 a piece.

Documents included in the Ohio Redistricting Transparency Report show that both Heather Mann and Ray DiRossi entered into contracts with the Task Force to be paid $105,000 a piece. Republican members on the task force entered into [...]

Speaker Boehner was influential in gerrymandering redistricting maps

Ben — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 00:29:36 +0000

United States House Speaker John Boehner and political advisors close to him played a key role in determining how redistricting lines were drawn according to emails in the Ohio Redistricting Transparency Report.

Tom Whatman, Executive Director of Team Boehner, and Adam Kincaid, Redistricting Coordinator for the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), played key roles in directing Ohio state house Republicans on how exactly they should exactly draft redistricting maps.

In January of this year Tom Whatman was named Executive Director of Team Boehner, a PAC to work in tandem with the NRCC and the Republican National Committee to elected [...]

Ohio Republican Redistricting Plan? “Keep It Secret”

Ben — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 01:03:55 +0000

According to the Ohio Redistricting Transparency Report released this afternoon, Republican lawmakers at the state house implemented a strategy of deliberate secrecy to withhold information from the public about redistricting efforts. The documents paint a picture of lawmakers who purposely operated in a legal gray area to prevent their actions from ever being made public.

For months, Republican lawmakers and staff meet in secret to work on redistricting efforts in possible violation of Ohio’s open meetings law. The documents show a Republican party that are so obsessed with privacy that they used taxpayer dollars to rent a secret hotel [...]

Marathon Oil received millions of dollars in tax breaks in Kasich’s budget

Ben — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 22:00:12 +0000

In all of the post-budget excitement an interesting story went somewhat under reported. On June 30th John Kasich held a press conference in Findlay to announce that the state had agreed to offer Marathon Oil two separate tax credits and agreed to exempted certain practices done by Marathon Oil from the Commercial Activity Tax (CAT). These breaks will end up costing the state tens of millions of dollars every year. As the Columbus Dispatch reported the next day:

Marathon Petroleum will get a 75 percent, 15-year job-retention tax credit from the state to keep its 1,650 employees in Findlay and a [...]

Speaker Batchelder likes making rich people even richer, pens letter to WSJ to say so

Ben — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 23:43:46 +0000

Speaker Bill Batchelder got his letter writing campaign on over the weekend by getting a letter to the editor published in the Wall Street Journal regarding the repeal of the estate tax in Ohio. (I like to think he either hand wrote a letter and mailed it to the Wall Street Journal or sent a telegram. For some reason every time I think of him I just get a picture of Mr. Burns in my head.) Considering that the estate tax is one of the Journal’s favorite topics of conversation this whole letter must have been like cat-nip for [...]

OH-12: Tiberi is yes on Wall Street bailouts; No on reform

ModernEsquire — Tue, 11 May 2010 20:22:20 +0000

(HT: BSB)

The Columbus Dispatch has reported on the new television ad being run by the “American Action Network” praising Pat Tiberi for loving puppies or something. I dunno because the ad makes a series of claims without citing a single source or roll call vote.

It praises Tiberi, a guy who voted for the bailouts, for being against wasteful spending. Seriously.

Of course, the Dispatch fails to note that the “American Action Network” is the brainchild of former Senator Norm Coleman (who lost to Al Franken… which I only mention because it pisses [...]

Let me get this straight…

ModernEsquire — Thu, 06 May 2010 01:16:07 +0000

I’m supposed to be worried because John Kasich’s 88-county GOTV full throated effort netted him only 100,000 more votes in his primary when compared to the Strickland campaign which ran no GOTV at all?

I’m supposed to still be concerned about a Tea Party movement that the Ohio GOP doesn’t worry about?

The GOP Auditor and Secretary of State primaries were ho-hum, even though the State GOP had to have spent over $1 million influencing those primaries?? Which, of course, is less money than they’ll have for the general election.

John Kasich best response to Ted Strickland’s ad really is [...]

LIVE PlunderChat on Primary Election Night @ 10 p.m.

ModernEsquire — Sun, 02 May 2010 22:03:44 +0000

Live Primary Election Blog Talk Radio show Tuesday night from 10pm-12am.

Guest call-in number: (347) 327-9877 – (877) 503-5037

Listen and chat live here

Join us on primary election night for a special internet radio show live here starting at 10 p.m.

We have a few folks calling in, taking questions about their race, and talking about the general election.? Our guests will include:

Governor Ted Strickland (confirmed) U.S. Democratic Senate candidate/Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner (confirmed) Democratic Secretary of State candidate Maryellen O’Shaughnessy (confirmed) Ohio Treasurer Kevin Boyce (confirmed) Ohio House Majority Whip Jay Goyal (D-73) (confirmed) [...]

OH-02- Hamilton/Clermont Democratic Chairmen blast Krikorian, announce they’re voting for Yalamanchili

ModernEsquire — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 22:50:28 +0000

Wow.? This is unprecedented, especially when Krikorian has been viewed as frontrunner of the Democratic primary in the Second Congressional race.

The Chairmen of the Hamilton and Clermont Democratic Parties, easily the two most populous counties, have announced that they are voting for Surya Yalamanchili and blasted self-described “Blue Dog Democrat” and “Reagan conservative” David Krikorian over allegations that Krikorian mocked Yalamanchili’s ethnic name and his anti-public union comments as shown on Buckeye State Blog.

Here’s a copy of the Chairmen’s letter:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/30664195/Hamilton-Clermont-Chairs-Letter

The Chairmen announce that in response they’re voting for Suri Yalamanchili

Also ODP [...]

[UPDATED:] About that GOP momentum in Ohio…

ModernEsquire — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 14:49:11 +0000

Back on the 8th, the Columbus Dispatch ran a story by Mark Niquette titled “GOP swelling as Ohio voters switch parties” that was breathlessly picked up by just about every major newspaper in Ohio.

After reading it, you’d expect that you are the only person in Ohio who hasn’t left the Democratic Party for the Republican Party, and therefore, are missing out of the hottest political fad.

Except it’s all bullshit.

The Ohio Democratic Party has researched the story and found it to be one part highly misleading and one part out right false.

First, the Ohio Democratic [...]