Ohio's attorney general threw a wrench into the banking industry's push to quickly restart foreclosures by fixing faulty paperwork, and pressed them to modify mortgage loans.

In two letters released Friday, Attorney General Richard Cordray criticized a number of banks and loan-servicing companies, including Wells Fargo & Co.; Ally Financial Inc.'s GMAC Mortgage; Bank of America Corp.; and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. Mr. Cordray said the banks are trying to paper over fraud committed in foreclosures with temporary fixes that don't address underlying problems in the banks' practices

"The big mortgage servicers and financial firms continue to demonstrate their belief that they do not need to play by the same rules as everyone else who uses our court system. The suggestion by Wells Fargo and its colleagues at several other national firms that they can cure fraudulent testimony by simply refiling new affidavits and continuing to proceed toward foreclosures shows they do not recognize the seriousness of the problem they have created. There is no simple 'do-over' for false testimony that will be likely to avoid sanctions and penalties imposed by the courts. Their brazen efforts to minimize their financial exposure by sweeping these problems under the rug are an insult to the justice system in this country. These disclosures by Wells Fargo will now become the focus for a new prong of our on-going investigation."

Earlier this month, Cordray filed a lawsuit against GMAC for issuing false affidavits in many Ohio foreclosure cases. He has taken a hard-line approach with national loan servicers operating in Ohio in the wake of the foreclosure crisis. In July 2009, Ohio was the first state to file a lawsuit against a loan servicer for violating the state's consumer laws. Since then, two other cases have been filed in addition to the case against GMAC.

ProgressOhio was in Cleveland today to Thank President Obama for his hard work on Health Care, Social Security and Financial Reform.

Lots of cheers as all the folks walked by and into the rally at Cleveland State University.

Believe it or not, there are candidates that want to do the following to social security if elected to office:

• Privatize social security - meaning that you would be trusting your retirement savings to Wall Street
• Raise the retirement age to 70 - which means that you would have to work even longer to earn your retirement, whether or not you're physically able to do so
• Cut benefits - even though most elderly beneficiaries rely on Social Security for the majority of their income and many would be poor without it

Will you be joining this voter in casting your ballot for the candidates that will strengthen social security for you and your family?

An estimated 215,000 people attended a rally organized by Comedy Central talk show hosts Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert Saturday in Washington, according to a crowd estimate commissioned by CBS News.

The company AirPhotosLive.com based the attendance at the "Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear" on aerial pictures it took over the rally, which took place on the Mall in Washington. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 10 percent.

CBS News also commissioned AirPhotosLive.com to do a crowd estimate of Glenn Beck's "Restoring Honor" rally in August. That rally was estimated to have attracted 87,000 people. Amid criticism from conservatives that the estimate was low, CBS News detailed the methodology behind it here.

TBD reported that because of the high turnout many would-be rally attendees retreated to bars to watch the event.

View Rally Signs On Facebook

The Ohio Governor's race is looking like it could go either way three days out from the election. Ted Strickland has made a huge comeback in the final months of the campaign and now trails John Kasich only 49-48. PPP's most recent previous poll, in late August, had found Strickland trailing by 10 points.

What Strickland has done over the last two months is bring the base home. He's now winning 87% of the Democratic vote, up from only 78% in the previous poll. Democrats also look like they'll now account for a larger share of the electorate, as the party's voters have increased their interest in turning out as the election has moved closer.

Even though Strickland has closed in the enthusiasm gap is still a significant issue for Democratic prospects in the state. Those saying they're likely to vote this year report having supported John McCain by 3 points in 2008, in contrast to Barack Obama's actual 4 point victory in the state last time. That suggests there are still a lot of Democratic voters in Ohio planning to sit at home this year- if the final electorate ends up being even just a point or two more Democratic than we're anticipating it could end up being enough to put Strickland over the top.

Full results here

Watch Live Now:

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court has refused to block a Minnesota law requiring disclosure of corporate political spending.

The high court without comment turned away a request for an injunction from Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life.

The Supreme Court earlier this year freed businesses to spend company money on elections, overturning state restrictions on corporate political spending. Minnesota lawmakers responded by enacting disclosure requirements so that corporate campaign spending would be public.

Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life, the Taxpayers League of Minnesota and a travel agency sued, saying the reporting requirements amounted to a ban on free speech. They want the law stopped while they appeal.

CLEVELAND -- For the second time this month, a Northeast Ohio woman has filed a police report against Congressional candidate Tom Ganley.

The woman went to Cleveland police Wednesday night to give a report.

Dianne Hill says it happened in 2005, while she and two others were shopping for a car at Tom Ganley's Chevy dealership in Cleveland.

After the three chatted with Ganley in his office for nearly an hour, Hill says Ganley took them to see a car.

"As I went through the door, he didn't just grab my buttocks. He carried my buttocks through the door," Hill said.

Hill says she told police Ganley grabbed her again as they all walked back to his office after looking at the vehicle.

"I would see him wink at me. I was like, 'Oh my God.' In my head, I'm blaming myself for the first time I didn't say something," Hill said.

Days later, Hill says, Ganley asked Hill and her sister-in-law, who was trying to buy a car from Ganley, to meet him.

"He says, 'I just want you to dress in some sexy lingerie and let me smack your butts,'" Hill said.

In late September, a Cleveland woman filed a civil lawsuit against Ganley, alleging sexual harassment that took place at Ganley's Chevy dealership in Cleveland.

In anticipation of the Rally To Restore Sanity and or Fear tomorrow no doubt

Happening everywhere on Saturday, October 30 at 12:00 Noon

"Voter intimidation is a form of voter fraud. It is a serious offense requiring a strong response.  In addition to action that may be taken locally, my office will be investigating this and any other similar incidents and reporting our findings to the Ohio Attorney General.

Ohio law is clear that employees cannot be subjected to intimidation or threats by an employer stating that job benefits will be affected by the election or defeat of one or more candidates.  The voting public must not be affected by votes gained or lost in this way.

The election is just four days away. All involved would be best to play fair, fight hard for what they believe in and work together for all Ohioans and our country in this democratic process not enjoyed in countries elsewhere."

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- He's a budget hawk with Fox News face time. He's getting campaign help from Republican heavyweights. And he'll lead a vital presidential swing state if he wins Ohio's governor's race next week.

Is there any doubt John Kasich is positioning himself to be a player in 2012?

Kasich's campaign against incumbent Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland had a line-up of Republican all-stars on Friday, including potential contenders for president in 2012: Haley Barbour, Tim Pawlenty and Chris Christie, the governors of Mississippi, Minnesota and New Jersey.

Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker contemplating a White House bid, has also stumped for the 58-year-old former congressman. Other possible 2012 contenders -- Mike Huckabee, Sarah Palin, Rick Santorum -- have given money or help to his campaign.

The immediate goal is Kasich's victory. But the long view has the candidates looking at a state the GOP must win if they have a shot at ousting President Barack Obama from the White House in two years. It's far too early to tell whether Kasich would be an attractive running mate, or a viable presidential contender.

But the question is reasonable.

Ten years ago this week, John Kasich gave The New York Times a glimpse of his future "shadow" campaign strategy that ultimately became his campaign for governor in 2010. 

On October 23, 2000, the Times published an article with these Kasich quotes, perhaps hinting at a future strategy to raise large sums of money from  a few "longtime investors."  The Time reported:

Mr. Kasich has his own sights on the presidency, only the next time he will not be so starry-eyed. ''I was not prepared for the fact that money was the dominating factor,'' he said.

The solution, he says, is to eliminate the $1,000 limits on individual contributions so that a candidate can raise a significant amount of seed money from relatively few people.

''No more pied piper for John Kasich,'' he said. ''Pied pipers don't win in America.''

After months of research, the Campaign for the Moderate Majority (CMM)  has assembled the history and methodology of John Kasich's "shadow" campaign for governor - most of it hatched and executed while he was working for Lehman Brothers on Wall Street.

Read More at Come Clean Kasich

Obama says most job losses occurred before his economic policies took hold

President Barack Obama had jobs on his mind when he sat down Oct. 27, 2010, for a pre-election interview on Comedy Central's The Daily Show  with Jon Stewart.

Under questioning from Stewart, Obama came back to a familiar theme: When he took office, he inherited a mess.

"We lost 4 million jobs before I was sworn in; 750,000 the month I was sworn in; 600,000, the month after that; 600,000 the month after that. So most of the jobs that we lost were lost before the economic policies we put in place had any effect."

Candidates have sparred endlessly over who deserves the blame for the nation's high unemployment rate -- 9.6 percent in the latest tally. After the Daily Show interview, one of our readers asked us to check Obama's numbers. So we decided to take a look.

Obama didn't give a time frame for the 4 million lost jobs other than to say the losses occurred before he took office. We checked with the Bureau of Labor Statistics, official keeper of the jobs statistics, to see if the numbers matched up in some way.

We found a match: Looking at BLS data on seasonally adjusted non-farm employment from December 2007, when the recession officially began, to January 2009, the month before the stimulus was enacted (a 25-month period), the jobs number declined by 4.4 million. So Obama's first number was right, although he could have been clearer about the time frame.

When he refers to his economic policies, we presume he is referring to his main economic stimulus, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. It passed in February 2009, but it took several months before the impact of its spending was felt in the economy.

There's still plenty to debate about the stimulus and its impact on the economy, and the recent reversal of job gains is troubling. But the numbers support Obama's statement, so we rate it True.

They need to hear from you by casting your ballot now, and still afterwards once they get elected to office. I Am A Worker gives you the opportunity to tell your story and provides you with the employment resources and tools you need to help keep you informed and empowered in the current fight over extending unemployment benefits, sustaining current job growth, and other important issues that impact you and your family. Search for job openings, get employment news and learn more about important job related legislation and what you can do to help.

Sign up. Tell your story. And make sure to the join millions of others casting their vote in this election.

They like watching people having sex with farm animals, heck, with any old animal really.

They encourage a pregnant teenager carrying her father's baby to "make lemonade from those lemons."

They think the president is a "magic negro" and/or insist that they themselves are not a witch.

They think Latinos and Asians look 'about the same.'

They think some American-hating pansy-ass liberal wrote the first amendment, and a real freedom-loving, god-fearing American wrote the second.

They think the victims of Hurricane Katrina and 911 are "spoiling it for the real victims."

Their idea of "father-son bonding" is playing dress up as Nazi SS soldiers and saluting the courage of the real members of the Nazi SS.

They think voting early in the upcoming election constitutes voter fraud.

They know a guy whose uncle used to date a woman whose cousin actually saw President Obama's Kenyan birth certificate.

They think prohibition is a good idea, but the Department of Education isnt.

Take The Sanity Pledge!

Latest Installment Details David Brennan's use of Tax Dollars for Political Contributions

Columbus--ProgressOhio PAC released a new advertisement today entitled "Gold" which explores how charter school magnate David Brennan uses tax dollars collected from his schools to fund John Kasich, Mary Taylor, and Josh Mandel. This is the third video unveiled by ProgressOhio PAC in the "Brennan's Bonanza" series.

Interestingly enough, the old White Hat money machine keeps ticking, as the Columbus Dispatch reported this week that, "Among the other individuals who gave at or near the maximum amount on Kasich's 48-hour report were Ann Brennan, the wife of David Brennan of Akron, Ohio's biggest charter-school operator."

The final commercial highlights the $2 million worth of donations that Brennan has made to GOP candidates within the past five years. As owner of the White Hat Management Group, a for-profit charter school organization, newspapers have reported that Brennan' holdings net over $6 million in profit annually.

Watch It:

Brennan's Bonanza 'Gold'

Paid For by ProgressOhio PAC
Devin Russell, Treasurer
550 E. Walnut St. Columbus, OH 43215
Not Authorized By Any Candidate or Candidate's Committee.

A former campaign worker for U.S. Senate candidate Rand Paul wants an apology from the liberal activist he reportedly roughed up, but he won't be getting his campaign donation back from the Paul campaign that dropped him after the incident.

Profitt, who contributed some $1,900 to Paul's campaign, acknowledged his role in the altercation. But he insisted Wednesday that he had been wronged by the activist, 23-year-old Lauren Valle.

"I would like for her to apologize to me, to be honest with you," Profitt told WKYT-TV in an interview in which he would not allow the television station to show his face.

Following Monday's incident in Lexington, the Paul campaign promptly dropped Profitt as campaign coordinator in Bourbon County in central Kentucky and banned him from future events.

However, Paul campaign manager Jesse Benton said the tea party-backed campaign won't return Profitt's contributions.

Democrati candidate Jack Conway said Wednesday during a campaign stop in Shepherdsville that the skirmish was "horrifying," and called on the Paul campaign to identify all its supporters who were involved.

"These are the people that carry around the signs that say, 'Don't Tread on Me,'" he said. "Sounds to me like they've got it backwards."

Benton defended the Paul campaign's response, and accused Conwayof trying to exploit it.

Blog of Rights

This election season, the fight for LGBT equality isn't in a big city or coastal state, but rather in a small town in northwestern Ohio. In 2009, Bowling Green, Ohio, became one of 22 cities or counties in the state that bans discrimination in housing or employment based on sexual orientation or gender identity. But now, Bowling Green is facing a repeal of its nondiscrimination ordinances this November.

After the passage of the two nondiscrimination ordinances that would protect residents from discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, military status, pregnancy, and a host of other characteristics, opponents of equality gathered enough signatures to place a repeal of the ordinances on the November ballot.

The opposition is employing the same lies and scare tactics they have used in other places throughout the country to take away nondiscrimination protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Recently, mailers were sent to Bowling Green residents suggesting that the nondiscrimination protections create "special rights," and warns voters that the ordinances somehow makes it legal for would-be predators to enter women's bathrooms and prey on women and children. Clearly, criminal laws prohibit predatory behavior. It is simply absurd to suggest that making it illegal to fire someone from their job or kick them out of their house because of who they are somehow opens the floodgate to illegal behavior or creates "special rights."  But, LGBT advocates know this rhetoric based in fear and misinformation has been successful in the past.

Local activists are continuing to fight back with ONE Bowling Green, an extension of the group that was initially formed to help pass the ordinances last year. Weekly canvassing, phone banking, and get-out-the-vote efforts are underway to save the ordinance, and while the opposition brings in out-of-town speakers to stir up anti-LBGT sentiment, the Bowling Green residents who make up the group are out canvassing their neighbors and reminding them to support fairness.

House Minority Leader John Boehner will campaign this weekend with Rich Iott, the Ohio Republican congressional candidate who found himself embroiled in controversy several weeks ago when photos surfaced of him dressed in a Nazi SS uniform.

The Iott campaign confirmed to the Huffington Post that the two will appear together at the Lucas County Republican Party headquarters. It is, if nothing else, a risky stop for Boehner to make just days before the election.

Iott's chances at winning the seat were seemingly downgraded after photos of him dressed in Nazi garb surfaced.

"Not only has John Boehner recruited, embraced, and financed a disgraced Nazi enthusiast running for Congress, but now Boehner is pouring gasoline on the fire by throwing a campaign rally for him," said DCCC spokesman Ryan Rudominer. "Thumbing his nose at our nation's veterans, women, and people of the Jewish faith, all the while refusing to stand up for basic American values in order to try and win an election, apparently this is what Boehner meant when he said, 'We're not going to be any different than what we've been.'"

There are those out there that have promised to repeal the new health care law and are trying to say it is bad for the economy.

Listen in as Elizabeth Lessner, President and CEO of Betty's Family of Restaurants, in Columbus, discusses why she believes the new health care law is good for small business.

Betty's Family of Restaurants, runs Betty's Fine Food & Spirits, the Surly Girl Saloon, Tip Top Kitchen & Cocktails and Dirty Frank's Hot Dogs.

Ohio Restaurant CEO Supports New Health Care Law

You have heard a voice of small business, now it's time to use your voice and go vote in this election.

For voting information click here: http://www.howtovoteinohio.org

Fox's role in Kasich campaign questioned

"People can come on our website at kasichforohio.com Sunday night at 6:30," Kasich told Hannity, announcing a webcast he planned at the same time as Obama's rally. "We're going to talk about the damage the Obama agenda has done to us. And if you have any extra nickels or dimes, please send it our way: kasichforohio.com."

It was one of 16 appearances that Kasich has made on Fox television or radio programs since he formally entered the governor's race on June 1, 2009, according to a count by the Strickland campaign.

Going back to March 2008, when Kasich said he was seriously considering entering the race, there were 42 other appearances, including several times that Kasich was guest host for The O'Reilly Factor.

Critics say Kasich, an on-air personality for Fox from 2002 to 2008, has received overt help from his former employer, both in extraordinary exposure to largely conservative audiences and in potential donations to his campaign.

Today, an Ohio-based group called Citizens for Community Values issued an "Action Alert," urging its supporters in Bowling Green, Ohio to take to the polls on November 2nd to protect their children. Unlike many of the other conservative calls to action we've seen this election cycle, CCV isn't concerned about the impact of rising debt on their children or any of the other causes célèbre Republicans are tying to future generations of Americans nowadays. No, CCV is concerned about men in dresses.

That's right -- men in dresses scaring little girls in public restrooms.

Citizens for Community Values' President Phil Burress lays out this nightmare scenario in the group's "Action Alert":

On Saturday, October 30, President Bill Clinton will join Ohio Governor Ted Strickland and Lt. Governor candidate Yvette McGee Brown for campaign events with supporters in Boardman, Massillon, and Columbus.

Saturday, October 30

Boardman Rally

WHO: President Bill Clinton
          Governor Ted Strickland
          Lt. Governor Candidate Yvette McGee Brown
WHEN: 9:30 AM
WHERE: Mr. Anthony's, 7434 South Avenue, Boardman


Massillon Rally

WHO: President Bill Clinton
          Governor Ted Strickland
          Lt. Governor Candidate Yvette McGee Brown
WHEN: 12:00 PM
WHERE: Paul Pfeiffer Middle School, 4315 13th St. SW, Massillon


Columbus Rally/Canvass Kick-Off

WHO: President Bill Clinton
          Governor Ted Strickland
          Lt. Governor Candidate Yvette McGee Brown
WHEN: 3:45 PM
WHERE: Teamsters Local 413, 555 East Rich St., Columbus

"Unexpectedly, towards the end of her address, Congresswoman Schmidt brought up the topic of abortion, and I am writing you to make you aware of this. Your children may come home with questions, especially if this is a topic that has not been broached in your home. I do not recall the exact words she used, but she paused towards the end of her speech and stated that this would be the only time when she would be 'political' in her address. She defined abortion as the taking of a child's life in the mother's womb. She indicated that abortion involves the killing of a child before it is born. She was not graphic or any more detailed in this regard. Later, when a child asked about it, she indicated that an abortion is something that a doctor does when a mother requests this.

I apologize for any confusion or fear that this may elicit on the part of your child, and for the awkward position this may put you in of introducing a difficult issue at a time that may be premature for you. ... Rep. Schmidt was invited because she holds an honorable position as a U.S. Congresswoman. She was not invited to further any political agenda."

"I consider the Congresswoman's comments to these children to be very concerning. It shows the same awful judgement that she has displayed in Washington. Whether she's calling a decorated marine a coward, or joining the conspiracy theorists in questioning Obama's birth certificate, with her latest, Schmidt continues to embarrass the 2nd District. We deserve better," Yalamanchili said.

"Further, it is troubling that the Congresswoman's campaign statement clearly contradicts what the principal has said in the letter. This inconsistency matches her attempted denials of her previous comments to the late Rep. Murtha in 2005 and her videotaped comments about Obama's citizenship in 2009. She demonstrates failed judgment in making her statements and a staggering lack of accountability after the fact. This consistently matches her unwillingness to take responsibility for the role she has played in raising the national debt, record unemployment, bank bailouts, or the rest of her troubling Congressional record," Yalamanchili added.

ProgressOhio PAC today released an ad which will air on TV in the 13^th Congressional District.

The TV ad focusing on Tom Ganley & John Boehner highlights Tom Ganley's prehistoric views on jobs, health care and energy make him an ideal lapdog for John Boehner.

People are looking for answers and the only one we're getting from these two cavemen is 'no'.

Ganley-Boehner Caveman TV Ad

Paid For by ProgressOhio PAC
Devin Russell, Treasurer
550 E. Walnut St. Columbus, OH 43215
Not Authorized By Any Candidate or Candidate's Committee.

Obama Better Positioned For Re-Elect Than Reagan

More Americans want Pres. Obama to seek re-election in 2012 than wanted Ronald Reagan to run for a second term when he was facing his first midterm election in 1982, according to new polling.

Still, Obama's position isn't particularly strong in the Pew Research/National Journal Congressional Connection poll that was sponsored by SHRM. The poll found that 47 percent want Obama to seek a second term. In August of 1982, only 36 percent wanted Reagan to run again.

And, unlike Reagan, less say Obama should not run for re-election. Forty-two percent responded that Obama should sit out 2012, compared to a majority -- 51 percent -- who said the same of Reagan in 1982.

The numbers indicate the well-documented struggles presidents typically have when they face their first midterm election after winning the White House. Both Reagan and Obama faced severe economic problems in their first two years in office. Like Reagan, Obama will undoubtedly seek to rebound after what looks like it will be a devastating midterm election for his party this year.

Obama's numbers are most reminiscent of Pres. Bill Clinton's when he was going into the GOP tidal wave in the 1994 midterm election. That year, 44 percent wanted Clinton to run again while a higher percentage -- 47 percent -- said he shouldn't.

Vanity Fair:

With his perma-tan, two-pack-a-day baritone, and natty wardrobe, House Republican leader John Boehner is a backslapping, deal-making throwback to the G.O.P.'s past. But his recent "Hell, no!" anti-Obama strategy, as he seeks to ride the Tea Party wave, may point to an ugly future.

Ever since Obama took office, Boehner has been among the chief congressional architects of the Republicans' "Hell, no!" strategy--their decision not to seek compromise but to attempt to block virtually all of the president's major initiatives, from the economic-stimulus package to health-insurance overhaul to financial regulatory reform.

Fox hosts like Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, and Bill O'Reilly play on the fears and prejudices of their audiences and help create a climate of uncertainty, paranoia, and hate. Network contributors like Sarah Palin, Karl Rove, and Newt Gingrich appear as political experts while trafficking in lies and misinformation.

Join the fight. Visit FoxKeepsFearAlive.com today!

Fox News is not a news organization. Fox News is a right-wing political operation.

Enough is enough. It is time to Drop Fox.

From The Raw Story:

Tea Party activists have fumed at accusations of intolerance and racism, insisting their concerns about President Barack Obama are policy-oriented. Yet dozens of Tea Party groups have openly admitted to the Washington Post that the president's race is a factor in their activism.

In a lengthy investigation into the fledgling political movement that has made tremendous waves nationally, Amy Gardner reported that the Post identified more than 1,400 Tea Party groups across the nation and spoke extensively with 647 of them about their philosophies and ambitions.

"Eleven percent said that Obama's race, religion or ethnic background was either a 'very important' or 'somewhat important' factor in the support their group has received," the Post concluded.

As per the Post's reporting, that amounts to over 70 Tea Party organizations (eleven percent of 647) that willingly concede Obama's race is fueling their members' activism.

The Post's investigation also found that the size and scope of the Tea Party movement has been "inflated" or misreported, concluding that some Tea Party organizations notably exaggerate the volume of groups or followers under their umbrella.

"The European companies are funding almost exclusively Senate candidates who have been outspoken in their opposition to comprehensive climate policy in the US and candidates who actively deny the scientific consensus that climate change is happening and is caused by people."

The Economy Shed Almost 8 Million Jobs Under Republican Policies Before The Recovery Act Took Effect. According to economist Robert J. Shapiro:

From December 2007 to July 2009 - the last year of the Bush second term and the first six months of the Obama presidency, before his policies could affect the economy - private sector employment crashed from 115,574,000 jobs to 107,778,000 jobs. Employment continued to fall, however, for the next six months, reaching a low of 107,107,000 jobs in December of 2009. So, out of 8,467,000 private sector jobs lost in this dismal cycle, 7,796,000 of those jobs or 92 percent were lost on the Republicans' watch or under the sway of their policies. Some 671,000 additional jobs were lost as the stimulus and other moves by the administration kicked in, but 630,000 jobs then came back in the following six months. The tally, to date: Mr. Obama can be held accountable for the net loss of 41,000 jobs (671,000 - 630,000), while the Republicans should be held responsible for the net losses of 7,796,000 jobs. [Sonecon.com, 8/10/10, emphasis added]

Based on Shapiro's research, the Washington Post's Ezra Klein created the following chart showing net job losses before and after the Recovery Act was enacted:

The major benefits start in 2014, when tens of millions of the uninsured will gain coverage through Medicaid or by buying private coverage -- with government help for low- and middle-income Americans -- on the new competitive exchanges. If you lose your job, you will no longer lose access to insurance. And with government help the coverage should be affordable.

The Columbus Dispatch reports:

Former President Bill Clinton is expected to campaign in Columbus next Saturday for Gov. Ted Strickland and Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy, D-Columbus.

Clinton, who is among the most popular of Democrats nationally, has been campaigning across the country as Democrats try to hold onto their congressional and gubernatorial seats.

No doubt about it President Clinton is among the most popular of Democrats nationally and arguably the only national politician who would be welcome to campaign literally everywhere in the country. Above it all, President Clinton remains one of the premier political talents in recent history.

But for all of Clinton's considerable talents, in his first midterm cycle, his party's candidates ran away from him; he wasn't welcome in districts nationwide; his fellow Democrats allowed themselves to become "human pinatas"; and his party lost both the House and Senate.

And while the nation remembers that the 8 years of peace and prosperity under Clinton were great, it is also worth noting that many of the reasons Obama has had so much blow-back from the "Professional Left" is because they think he hasn't undone many of Clinton's policies, whether it be DADT, DOMA, health care, or fixing the economy that was trashed in some part because of Clinton era deregulation fast enough.

So does President Obama so often seem to be getting hit from both the right and left, while President Clinton (the "Big Dog") is revered.  

Josh Marshall wrote about this yesterday:

"Being president is hard. Being president two years into your first term is hard. And being at the center of the polarizing political storm -- as Obama is today and Clinton was 16 years ago -- tends to wipe the political genius and midas touch and all the other good stuff right off of you. 10% unemployment doesn't make you look that good either. This isn't justifying any mistakes. But I'm surprised how short the memories are of many people who do this political analysis thing for a living."

How stereotypes influence the interpretation of information

Neither black nor white store owners are in business to display the virtues of admitting people of all colors, creeds, and fashions to their stores. They are in business to make money. I would want to take precautions to prevent robbery; I would look closely at people entering the store. The race of a potential customer would be one factor among many to be considered as I girded myself against thieves.

But in Washington and almost all other major cities, blacks do patronize jewelry stores. A jeweler in Beverly Hills who closed his door to heavily bejeweled Mr. T would be foolishly closing his cash register. Unless I am a racist, race and age cannot be the sole deciding factors in calculating whom I will and will not let into my store. And I certainly would not close my door to, say, all young black men - not even to those who are casually dressed and behaving nervously. I would act cautiously in dealing with them, as I would with an antic, strangely dressed white man.

As a cabdriver I would apply the same considerations. Discrimination can be used judiciously. I would certainly exclude one class of people: those who struck me as dangerous. Nervous-looking people with bulges under their jackets would not be picked up; nor would those who looked obviously drunk or stoned. It all comes down to a subjective judgment of what dangerous people look like. This does not necessarily entail a racial judgment. Cabdrivers who don't pick up young black men as a rule are making a poorly informed decision. Racism is a lazy man's substitute for using good judgment.

The elevator question is disingenuous. I suspect you are suggesting that i am a white woman getting into an apartment building elevator with a strange black man. Of course, black women have just as much to fear as white women. Nevertheless, black women living in black neighborhoods ride elevators with black men frequently, and do so without being raped. In this situation and all others, common sense in my constant guard. Common sense becomes racism when skin color becomes a formula for figuring out who is a danger to me.

Juan Williams

The White House garden is part of the Let's Move! Initiative which seeks to end childhood obesity within a generation through improved nutrition and increased physical activity.  In the spring of 2009, the First Lady and students from the DC area broke ground for the garden and since then nearly 1,600 pounds of food has been harvested. The produce is used in the White House but is also donated to local area food banks. The White House Garden has inspired communities across the country to plant similar gardens at schools, in abandoned lots, and in community spaces. 

Connecting chefs, gardens, and schools has been a critical component of the Let's Move! initiative.  Through the Chef's Move to Schools program and the Healthier US Schools Challenge hundreds of schools and communities are improving the health of America's children. What are you waiting for? Plant a garden at your school or in your community and have a harvest yourself.

Read More at The White House Blog

The President and First Lady take the stage in Columbus, Ohio on Oct. 17th

As the president's numbers climb sharply, results suggest that Democrats may be succeeding in firing up their base.

Newsweek:

"Despite doom-saying about Democrats' chances in the midterms, the latest NEWSWEEK poll shows that they remain in a close race with Republicans 12 days before Election Day, while the president's approval ratings have climbed sharply.

The poll finds that 48 percent of registered voters would be more likely to vote for Democrats, compared to 42 percent who lean Republican (those numbers are similar to those in the last NEWSWEEK poll, which found Democrats favored 48 percent to 43 percent).

President Obama's approval ratings have jumped substantially, crossing the magic halfway threshold to 54 percent, up from 48 percent in late September, while the portion of respondents who disapprove of the president dropped to 40 percent, the lowest disapproval rating in a NEWSWEEK poll since February 2010."

Kilroy Campaign Charges Opponent with Lying in a Pattern Seen Throughout the Country

Negative campaigning and the use of ads to undermine an opponent is nothing new. 

Today, however, some campaigns just make things up. Literally. 

Such is the case in Ohio's 15th District where Mary Jo Kilroy (D-OH), running for re-election has charged her opponent, Steve Stivers with running a false TV ad:

"Steve Stivers has finally taken things too far. His campaign of lies and deceit is now running a blatantly false television advertisement in a desperate attempt to win an election. In response to his attempt to deceive central Ohioans, Mary Jo Kilroy's campaign has filed a complaint with the Ohio Elections Commission demanding the ad be taken off the air."

According to the Kilroy campaign, the ad in question revolves around a series of lies about the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, claiming that Kilroy has created jobs in China. Kilroy's campaign has filed a complaint with the Ohio Elections Commission demanding the ad be taken off the air.

"Too bad for Corporate Lobbyist Stivers," says the press release from Kilroy's campaign. "His case isn't backed up by the facts. According to the nonpartisan Politifact, no jobs have been created in China as a result of Kilroy's vote for President Obama's stimulus plan."

"There is an enormous difference between talking about policy differences and out and out lying to the voters," said Brad Bauman, Communications Director for Mary Jo Kilroy.

"This ad falls so far on the latter side that it's mind-boggling the Stivers campaign ever thought this was within the realm of social acceptability. This ad should be taken down immediately and we will fight to make sure that is exactly what happens."

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) responded to the latest revelations about the millions of dollars behind the Chamber political attack ads. "They give new meaning to the term 'Buy American'...they want to buy these elections," she said on MSNBC. "[I]f they were to win, it would mean that we are now...a plutocracy and oligarchy. Whatever these few wealthy, secret, unlimited sources of money are can control our entire agenda."

NBC's Michael Isikoff reported last night that Karl Rove's coalition of right-wing groups is "expected to raise as much as $250 million." Most of this money "is coming from big fat cat donor" and undisclosed "secret money pouring into American elections," Isikoff said, adding that "many $20 million-plus checks have come in from hedge fund moguls and other big business executives."

Yes, you read that right: NPR gets absolutely no direct federal funding. Zilch, nada, zippo.

NPR CEO Vivian Schiller:

Q: Could NPR live without federal funding?

A: Let's go on a sidebar. There's a misperception about federal funding and public radio. There's the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. They receive $90 million a year and a vast majority goes to member public radio stations. Those stations pull in more than $1 billion collectively a year. It's significant and important but not even close to the lion's share of revenues for public radio. NPR gets no allocation from CPB. Zero. We are a private 501(c)3. We've had journalists call up and ask what department of the government we report to.  That's laughable. Have you listened to our shows? We do apply for competitive grants from  the likes of the Ford Foundation and the Knight Foundation. As a result, some money from CPB does come to us when we win grants. Depending on the year, it represents just one to three percent of our total budget.

President Obama tonight released a video in the "It Gets Better" series, aimed at reaching gay youth driven to the brink of suicide by bullying.

Recently, several young people have taken their own lives after being bullied for being gay - or perceived as being gay - by their peers. Their deaths are shocking and heartbreaking tragedies. No one should have to endure relentless harassment or tormenting. No one should ever feel so alone or desperate that they feel have nowhere to turn. We each share a responsibility to protect our young people. And we also have an obligation to set an example of respect and kindness, regardless of our differences.

In the wake of these terrible tragedies, thousands of Americans have come together to share their stories of hope and encouragement for LGBT youth who are struggling as part of the It Gets Better Project.  Their messages are simple: no matter how difficult or hopeless life may seem when you're a young person who's been tormented by your peers or feels like you don't fit in: life will get better.

We all have a responsibility to protect all of our children.  But we also have an obligation to set an example of respect and kindness regardless of our differences.

Watch It:

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton released a similiar video, "Tomorrow Will Be Better" on Tuesday.

You can visit the It Gets Better Project to see other videos--from famous faces and everyday Americans--speaking against hate and reaching out a hand in compassion. For those who may be suffering from bullying, we urge you to reach out to The Trevor Project anytime, day or night, at 866-4-U-TREVOR (866-488-7386). The Trevor Project works to end LGBT youth suicide and is always there to help, 24 hours a day.

Remember, it does get better and America will be a better place because you are in it.

Today, in Chicago, former President George W. Bush said that his greatest failure as president was not privatizing Social Security.  Had the Republicans successfully privatized Social Security, when the market crashed retirees could have lost 40 percent of their investments.

"Republicans' agenda is what it always was - turn the Social Security seniors worked hard to earn over to Wall Street," said Ryan Rudominer, National Press Secretary for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.  "If Republicans has their way, seniors could have lost 40 percent of their retirement investments when the market crashed.  America's seniors deserve better."

"The former president [George W. Bush] said his greatest failure in office was not passing Social Security reform." [Chicago Tribune/WGN, 10/21/10]

Washington, DC - Health Care for America Now (HCAN), the 1,000-member coalition that led the successful fight for health reform, launched a 10-state telephone campaign today to warn a half-million seniors, including tens of thousands in the 15^th and 16^th Ohio Congressional Districts, about deceptive television ads designed to scare them into thinking their Medicare-provided health care will be disrupted. The biggest lie in the ads is that the Affordable Care Act (ACA), enacted on March 23, will cut the guaranteed Medicare benefits seniors receive. That is a falsehood spread by insurance industry interests trying to protect their excessive profits. The leading seniors group, AARP, says that's not true and that the law is filled with good things for Medicare and its enrollees.

"The ACA strengthens Medicare by protecting and improving guaranteed benefits and cracking down on waste, fraud and inefficiency," said Brian Rothenberg, ProgressOhio. "It will keep Medicare financially stable for 12 years longer than if the law hadn't been passed, and it prevents cuts to Medicare's guaranteed benefits, and reduces the cost of prescription drugs."

Our keynote speaker at this year's Rootscamp will be Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner. Secretary Brunner is a progressive leader who was awarded a Profile in Courage Award for her efforts reforming the voting system in the state.

Will you join us and Secretary Brunner for Rootscamp on Saturday November, 13th?

Although the date is different, the purpose is the same - putting progressives in touch with progressives in order to learn and connect with each other.

Let us know you're coming by ordering your free tickets today.

Join the progressive activists, organizers, bloggers, movers and shakers who will present their thoughts on what has gone right and wrong over the last year.

Farm, Labor and Environmental Groups Credit Betty Sutton as a Champion of Trade Fairness

Washington D.C. - America's largest non-partisan trade coalition, with over 11 million combined members, endorsed Congresswoman Sutton today as "a true champion of trade" to acknowledge her solid reform record on this crucial issue. She received the support of the Trade Brigade of Citizens Trade Campaign as one of the "real reformers in Congress," joining fewer than ten percent of her colleagues in this category

"A lot of candidates talk about trade reform at election time, but Congresswoman Sutton is walking the walk in Washington," said PAC Director Andy Gussert. "She is an innovator, voting for real change, and is taking principled stands to make sure we can expand trade without outsourcing and offshoring our state jobs."

Representative Sutton recently cosponsored the Trade Reform, Accountability, Development and Employment Act (The TRADE Act - H.R. 3012) to offer a more balanced way to expand trade. This reform legislation lays out a fair way forward, outlining what congress should support - and must oppose -- in future globalization reform policy. It also means Congresswoman Sutton took a tough stand against the Chamber of Commerce and other large multinational corporations who oppose trade reform, and are fighting to keep the status quo.

"We all support trade," acknowledged Gussert, "And Representative Sutton is taking needed steps to expand trade and increase exports. But she also knows that every trade agreement is not automatically a good trade agreement." Sutton joined over 140 of her colleagues in cosponsoring the TRADE Act, and has consistently opposed job killing trade deals modeled after the failed North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

"Congresswoman Sutton is working hard to make sure we craft agreements that will reflect the interests of a majority of people in her district," concluded Gussert. "We applaud her for being a real reformer on trade, and enthusiastically offer our endorsement to her campaign."

Citizens Trade Campaign first coalesced in 1992 when many diverse groups united against the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The non-profit non-partisan coalition is dedicated to fighting job-killing trade deals like NAFTA and CAFTA. CTC advocates for fair trade policies that better serve the interests of the majority, rather than the agenda of large multination corporations seeking to exploit lax foreign environmental laws and cheap overseas labor.

Tea Partiers voting for the GOP because they expect significant deficit reduction are going to be sorely disappointed.

NYT: As G.O.P. Seeks Spending Cuts, Details Are Scarce

If there is a single message unifying Republican candidates this year, it is a call to grab hold of the federal checkbook, slam it closed and begin to slash spending. To bolster their case that action is needed, Republicans are citing major legislation over the four years that Democrats have controlled Congress, notably the financial system bailout, the economic stimulus and the new health care law.

But while polls show that the Republicans' message is succeeding politically, Republican candidates and party leaders are offering few specifics about how they would tackle the nation's $13.7 trillion debt, and budget analysts said the party was glossing over the difficulty of carrying out its ideas, especially when sharp spending cuts could impede an already weak economic recovery.

"On the actual campaign trail, you are hearing virtually none of the kind of blatant honesty that we need about what changes would fix this situation," said Maya MacGuineas, the president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, an advocacy group in Washington that promotes fiscal restraint.

The parties share blame for the current fiscal situation, but federal budget statistics show that Republican policies over the last decade, and the cost of the two wars, added far more to the deficit than initiatives approved by the Democratic Congress since 2006, giving voters reason to be skeptical of campaign promises.

Calculations by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office and other independent fiscal experts show that the $1.1 trillion cost over the next 10 years of the Medicare prescription drug program, which the Republican-controlled Congress adopted in 2003, by itself would add more to the deficit than the combined costs of the bailout, the stimulus and the health care law.

The House Republican leader, John A. Boehner of Ohio, has called for immediate cuts in "non-security discretionary" spending to prerecession 2008 levels. Independent analysts say that would require eliminating about $105 billion -- or more than 20 percent of spending by departments like Education, Transportation, Interior, Commerce and Energy -- a level of reductions that history suggests would be extremely hard to execute. (Since 1982, nonmilitary discretionary spending has never dropped by more than 5.5 percentage points in any given year.)

At the same time, most Republicans are calling for the permanent extension of all Bush-era tax cuts, which would add $700 billion more to the deficit over the next 10 years than President Obama and Democratic leaders have proposed by continuing only some of the lower rates.

Why a potential Republican majority shouldn't excite fiscal conservatives:

The blue parts of that chart are the parts Republicans have said they won't cut. The red slice, well that's fair game.

Republicans' Fiscal Fantasyland:

Even if you were to eliminate this entire slice of the budget (meaning you're willing to gut the Department of Homeland Security and defund all other federal agencies and departments) it wouldn't even eliminate half of last year's deficit.

Three new studies were released yesterday examining the impact of Republican Social Security privatization plans. All three reports find privatizing Social Security and turning it over to the whims of Wall Street, would cut Social Security benefits for seniors.

According to the Chief Actuary of Social Security in a report for Congressman Earl Pomeroy (D-ND), Chairman of the Ways & Means Social Security Subcommittee, Republican proposals--including those by Budget Committee Ranking Member Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) and House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH)--would result in Social Security benefits cuts ranging from 10% to as high as 50%, with workers losing nearly 30% of their Social Security benefits on average. Read the report»

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities analysis confirms and builds on those findings--showing that the Ryan plan would cut benefits for 70% of Social Security recipients, just by basing benefits for new retirees on changes in prices rather than changes in wages. Social Security benefits for a medium-earning retiree would be cut $350 a month (someone earning $43,000 in today's terms-once the plan is fully phased-in, in 2080):

The Ohio Department of Education is siding, in part, with a group of tax-funded charter schools that is trying to break free of the state's largest for-profit school management company, White Hat Management Co., the Akron-based firm of David L. Brennen

Yesterday Attorney General Richard Cordray - on behalf of the Ohio Department of Education - filed motion for summary judgment in favor of the charter schools.

The AG argues White Hat's management agreements with the schools are invalid because the public charter schools handed over nearly all funding - 96 percent - to White Hat and were given essentially no accountability or transparency as to how the funds were spent. As is clear from the Motion's Summary of Argument, Cordray believes the law doesn't allow a public entity, like a public charter school, to give away most or all of its authority and funding to a private company without accountability.

This video shows the story of how one man profits from Ohio's under-performing charter schools and how this money is used to back Republican candidates.

View PART II of Brennan's Bonanza Here

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has issued a temporary stay of U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips's Oct. 12 order in Log Cabin Republicans v. United States halting all enforcement of the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.

In a brief order, Judges O'Scannlain, Trott and W. Fletcher wrote:

This court has received appellant's emergency motion to stay the district court's October 12, 2010 order pending appeal.  The order is stayed temporarily in order to provide this court with an opportunity to consider fully the issues presented.

Appellee may file an opposition to the motion for a stay pending appeal by October 25, 2010.  To expedite consideration of the motion, no reply shall be filed.

This means that a temporary stay of the trial court injunction of DADT has been granted until the Ninth Circuit can decide whether to issue a stay pending the appeal of the case to the Ninth Circuit.

Iott accused of overplaying his military service during campaign

Candidate in volunteer militia

Nothing dresses up a politician's resume like military experience -- and Republican Rich Iott has not been shy in making the most of his in the contest for the 9th Congressional District seat.

Mr. Iott, who is running against incumbent Marcy Kaptur (D., Toledo), is a colonel in the Ohio Military Reserve, an unarmed, volunteer state militia that is authorized by the Ohio Adjutant General.

The Monclova Township businessman often mentions his Ohio Military Reserve experience on the campaign trail and in mailings to prospective voters.

One glossy mailing portrays Mr. Iott in civilian and military garb and says, "Rich Iott understands the sacrifices our men and women in uniform have made because he serves himself."

Another one says, "Reservist Rich Iott will stand up and fight for our veterans."

But Mr. Iott's claim to be a member of the military, when he was never on active duty, have rankled those serving in or retired from the armed forces.

Retired Ohio Adjutant General John Smith, a Vietnam veteran who was once commander of the 180th Air National Guard fighter wing based at Toledo, said the OMR has no role in the national defense and has never been called up for duty.

"He's stretching it in terms of what the Ohio Military Reserve does. He's giving the impression, I would suggest, that he is involved in matters related to national security and to state matters, and they are not. They are never consulted," General Smith said.

General Smith said it's unlikely the governor ever will activate the reserve because of the cost of paying a lot of high-ranking reservists.

Read the full article at The Toledeo Blade

The guy really likes to play soldier doesn't he?

First we find out that he likes to dress up as a Nazi SS Trooper and now we see that he's padding his resume with this quasi-official unarmed, volunteer state militia.

We wanted to be sure that you caught Senator Brown's op-ed in Monday's New York Times.

Sherrod has been fighting for tough enforcement of trade rules with China for years. Our country's trade relations with China are anything but normal. China's unfair trade practices are costing us jobs and hurting Ohio manufacturers, including the clean-energy industry. It's time the administration takes a stand.

The full op-ed is below:

TEN years ago this fall the Senate sold out American manufacturing. By a vote of 83 to 15, it established so-called permanent normal trade relations with China, paving the way for that country to join the World Trade Organization. As a result, Chinese imports to the United States fell under the same low tariffs and high quotas as those from countries like Canada and Britain.

Today, though, our trade relations with China are anything but normal. The 2000 agreement's proponents insisted it would enable a billion Chinese consumers to buy American products. Instead, our bilateral trade deficit has increased 170 percent, largely because China has undermined free-market competition through illegal subsidies and currency manipulation.

Unless the administration takes punitive steps in response to China's unfair trade practices, the American economy -- and the American worker -- will continue to suffer.

The old agreement on trade with China was never really about promoting American manufacturing. Rather, it was a cynical ploy on the part of many multinational companies. They lobbied Congress to approve it, promising a boost to American exports; then, once it passed, they closed domestic plants, moved production overseas and sold their products back to American consumers.

As for those billion Chinese consumers? We now know that what the companies were really so excited about was a billion inexpensive Chinese workers.

True, our exports to China have increased. But reporting only exports is like reporting just one team's score in baseball: the Cubs scoring five runs sounds good, until you hear that the Reds tallied 12.

Indeed, our exports pale in comparison to the torrent of artificially cheap Chinese imports. Economists, including free-traders, estimate that price manipulation keeps Chinese products 40 percent cheaper than comparable American-made goods.

Inexpensive products might sound nice, but we lose 13,000 net jobs for every $1 billion increase in our trade deficit. Our $226 billion deficit with China has meant shuttered factories, lost jobs and devastated communities across America.

And it's no longer just Chinese bicycles and electronics that are flooding our markets. China will soon make half the world's wind turbines and solar panels, most of which it plans to export to America. And, as usual, China's clean-energy industry relies on large government subsidies, in direct violation of international trade laws.

In response, the Obama administration recently accepted a petition, filed by the United Steelworkers under Section 301 of the 1974 Trade Act, to investigate China's state support for clean-energy exports. If the White House finds that the support violates international trade rules, Section 301 allows it to respond with a range of aggressive measures, including tariffs.

This strategy has worked before: in the 1980s and '90s, the United States used its 301 authority to combat Japanese and Korean subsidies and trade barriers. Though critics warned of bitter trade wars, the get-tough approach actually led to more balanced trade relationships, and even encouraged foreign investors, like Asian auto companies, to build plants in America.

In trying to get China to play fair, though, Washington has instead relied on rhetoric and moral suasion. It hasn't worked. Only rigorous enforcement of trade rules by the Obama administration can reverse the harm caused by the permanent normal trade relations agreement.

Congress has a role to play, too: when the Senate reconvenes next month, it should vote, as the House did in September, to expand the president's authority to impose tariffs on China or any other country that unfairly manipulates its currency.

Many politicians claim they support products "made in America." But the phrase is more than an empty slogan; it means standing up for American manufacturers. Only by learning the lessons of "normal" trade with China -- and acknowledging buyer's remorse -- can we reach a truly balanced bilateral relationship that works for America.

An ugly episode nearly nine years ago involving a reprimand against Colorado Republican Senate candidate Ken Buck, while he was serving at the time as an assistant U.S. attorney in Denver, continues to shadow the candidate -- as well it should.

When an assistant federal prosecutor is reprimanded by the Department of Justice for improperly disclosing internal government deliberations about a pending case to a defense attorney, it is not something that can or should be sloughed off as a youthful indiscretion.

Buck's opponent in the GOP primary, Jane Norton, had raised the issue of Buck's 2001 reprimand during this summer's primary battle, but its importance was largely lost in the heat of that contest. Moreover, because the incident involved an investigation of improper firearms sales by a then-licensed gun dealer in Aurora, the important ethical aspect of the matter was obscured by the emotionalism that almost invariably attaches itself to Second Amendment issues. This is unfortunate, because the episode raises legitimate concerns about ethics, professionalism and loyalty in one of the most sensitive of public jobs -- that of a federal prosecutor.

The basic facts of the case appear largely undisputed. In 1998, an investigation was presented to Buck, serving at the time as one of the top assistants in then-U.S. Attorney Henry Solano's office. The investigating agency, Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, believed a firearms dealer in Aurora was engaged in the sale of guns to so-called "straw buyers," in violation of federal law. Buck declined to pursue the prosecution, and the ATF apparently did not at the time appeal that decision to Solano.

Shortly thereafter, Tom Strickland, Solano's successor, decided to review the gun case -- as was his prerogative as a U.S. attorney. He elected to present the case to a grand jury, which returned an indictment against Greg and Leonid Golyansky and Dmitriy Baravik. And that's when the trouble began.

There obviously was disagreement within the U.S. attorney's office over the decision to pursue the case against the alleged firearms violators, something not unheard of. Normally, such internal opinions are kept within the four walls of the prosecutor's office. This is not only ethical and professional, but pragmatic as well. If word were to leak out -- especially to a defense attorney -- that questions about the strength or weaknesses of the government's case had been raised internally, this would almost certainly provide grist for defense arguments to the judge and the jury; and would at least indirectly pressure the government to settle the case more favorably to the defendant.

Yet this is exactly what Buck did. He revealed to a defense attorney the fact that there was an internal government memorandum outlining possible weaknesses in the government's case. Buck did this, even though by his own admission he had not seen the internal memo. Not surprisingly, two years later the case was finally concluded against the three defendants on terms far less favorable to the government than it likely could have obtained had the defense not been tipped off by Buck.

Buck's clearly improper communication to a defense attorney about a pending prosecution was not only contrary to ethical and professional standards that govern attorneys; it also represented an act of disloyalty toward his superior -- U.S. Attorney Strickland.

Strickland sent the matter of Buck's improper communication to the appropriate Justice Department office in Washington, and a formal letter of reprimand was issued in December 2001. Buck resigned shortly thereafter.

It is important to note that the U.S. attorney who gave Buck the reprimand was a Republican, John Suthers. This was not a partisan effort to "get" Ken Buck. Nor are the questions the incident raises those of an everyday, "off-the-record chat" between a prosecutor and a defense attorney, as Buck now characterizes the incident. To continue to belittle this incident serves only to reinforce the concerns that were the basis of the 2001 letter of reprimand in the first place.

Now it comes to light that Buck, as a Senate candidate, has received campaign money from the same corrupt gun dealer who was charged with 37 felonies but convicted for only one misdemeanor after Buck's improper communication to his defense attorney.

Watch It:

Rolling Stone has a great article about Barack Obama in its October 18th edition called "The Case for Obama".

The charges are familiar: He's a compromiser who hasn't stood up to the GOP or Wall Street. But a look at his record reveals something even more startling -- a truly historic presidency.

When the history of this administration is written, Obama's opening act is likely to be judged as more impressive than any president's -- Democrat or Republican -- since the mid-1960s.

"If you're looking at the first-two-year legislative record," says [conservative American Enterprise Institute scholar Norman] Ornstein, "you really don't have any rivals since Lyndon Johnson -- and that includes Ronald Reagan."

Less than halfway through his first term, Obama has compiled a remarkable track record. As president, he has rewritten America's social contract to make health care accessible for all citizens. He has brought 100,000 troops home from war and forged a once-unthinkable consensus around the endgame for the Bush administration's $3 trillion blunder in Iraq. He has secured sweeping financial reforms that elevate the rights of consumers over Wall Street bankers and give regulators powerful new tools to prevent another collapse. And most important of all, he has achieved all of this while moving boldly to ward off another Great Depression and put the country back on a halting path to recovery.

Along the way, Obama delivered record tax cuts to the middle class and slashed nearly $200 billion in corporate welfare -- reinvesting that money to make college more accessible and Medicare more solvent. He single-handedly prevented the collapse of the Big Three automakers -- saving more than 1 million jobs -- and brought Big Tobacco, at last, under the yoke of federal regulation. Even in the face of congressional intransigence on climate change, he has fought to constrain carbon pollution by executive fiat and to invest $200 billion in clean energy -- an initiative bigger than John F. Kennedy's moonshot and one that's on track to double America's capacity to generate renewable energy by the end of Obama's first term.

On the social front, he has improved pay parity for women and hate-crime protections for gays and lesbians. He has brought a measure of sanity to the drug war, reducing the sentencing disparity for crack cocaine while granting states wide latitude to experiment with marijuana laws. And he has installed two young, female justices on the Supreme Court, creating what Brinkley calls "an Obama imprint on the court for generations."

What's even more impressive about Obama's accomplishments, historians say, is the fractious political coalition he had to marshal to victory. "He didn't have the majority that LBJ had," says Goodwin. Indeed, Johnson could count on 68 Democratic senators to pass Medicare, Medicaid and the Voting Rights Act. For his part, Franklin Roosevelt had the backing of 69 Senate Democrats when he passed Social Security in 1935. At its zenith, Obama's governing coalition in the Senate comprised 57 Democrats, a socialist, a Republican turncoat -- and Joe Lieberman.

In his quest for progress, Obama has also had to maneuver against an unrelenting head wind from the "Party of No" and its billionaire backers. "Obama is harassed as well as opposed," says Princeton historian Sean Wilentz. "The crazy Republican right is now unfettered. You've got a Senate with no adult leadership. And Obama's up against Rupert Murdoch, Dick Armey, the Koch brothers and the rest of the professional right." Compared to the opposition faced by the most transformative Democratic presidents, adds Wilentz, "it's a wholly different scale."

Despite such obstacles, Obama has succeeded in forging a progressive legacy that, anchored by health care reform, puts him "into the same conversation with FDR and LBJ," says Brinkley, "though those two accomplished more." Goodwin, herself a former Johnson aide, likens the thrust of Obama's social agenda to LBJ's historic package of measures known as the Great Society. "What is comparable," she says, "is the idea of using government to expand social and economic justice. That's what the health care bill is about. That's what Obama tried to do with the financial reforms. That's what he's doing with education. The Great Society was about using the collective energies of the nation to make life better for more people -- and that's what Obama has tried to do."

Read the full article at Rolling Stone

"Each of you can make a difference. We've seen it before, we know we can do it again," the first lady says.

"There's no more important time to be out there knocking on doors, making phone calls and helping voters get to the polls," President Obama says.

In the over one-minute-long online video, the two use a casual tone and invoke rhetoric from the 2008 campaign.

"If you step up to the plate, then together we can continue to move this country forward," the president says.

Michelle signs off saying, "see ya."

Watch It:

Campaign talking points in both camps are using the economy to blame each other. Meanwhile, one party in particular has selective memory issues.  Republicans are rewriting history to suit their own agenda, which is the catalyst to striking fear into the hearts of Americans.

When Clinton was president we had a surplus. We were paying down the national debt. Then the Republicans seized power and the surplus quickly became a deficit. They cut taxes for the rich and started two expensive wars. The deregulated the financial markets and allowed the big banks to steal to the point of global economic collapse.

A federal judge on Tuesday evening denied the federal government's request to postpone enforcement of an injunction she issued last week to stop enforcement of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

In a six-page order, U.S. District Court Judge Virginia Phillips on October 19 denied a request for a stay from the U.S. Department of Justice, seeking to stop enforcement of Phillips' October 12 injunction.

In her order Tuesday, Phillips noted that, before she issued the injunction, DOJ "provided no evidence regarding the alleged disruption" to military readiness or regarding the "need to revise dozens of policies and regulations" that DOJ claimed would be associated with compliance with the injunction.

And at a hearing on the injunction October 18, she said, DOJ's evidence was "unpersuasive" and "belied by the uncontroverted evidence presented at trial regarding the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Act's effect on military readiness and unit cohesion."

Phillips ruled on September 9 that DADT violates the First Amendment rights to free speech and the Fifth Amendment right to due process in the federal constitution. She formally entered her opinion on October 12, along with the injunction, ordering the federal government to stop enforcement of DADT.

The DOJ has already indicated it would seek a stay from the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, if necessary, and the 9th Circuit will likely act on that motion quickly

White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer said Obama will tape his appearance on Wednesday Oct. 27, just three days before Stewart's "Rally to Restore Sanity" on the National Mall.

The appearance follows several recent Obama campaign rallies at high-profile college campuses, including Ohio State University and the University of Wisconsin.

Read More at Think Progress

When the group tried to erect billboards that state "Shame on Steve Driehaus! Driehaus voted FOR taxpayer-funded abortion," the Ohio representative complained to the state elections commission last week that it was a "false claim" and therefore illegal under the state's election law.

The commission agreed that the ads probably broke the law and allowed the case to proceed, and the billboard company took the ads down as a result. But SBA List isn't taking the commission's decision lying down.

The group filed a lawsuit in U.S. district court yesterday arguing that the state election law governing false claims is unconstitutional because it violates the group's right to free speech. "SBA List's speech is chilled because SBA List is unable to post its planned billboards," the group's lawsuit states.

SBA List's speech has undoubtedly been chilled, but the group's desired speech, in this case, is also undoubtedly false. With two weeks before the election, the group will likely be unable to run its ads, but the courts' eventual decision will have implications for the the limits of freedom of speech and the determination of what constitutes an acceptable campaign ad.

On the issue of whether creationism should be taught in public schools, a highly skeptical O'Donnell questioned Coon's assertion that the First Amendment calls for the separation of church and state.

"The First Amendment does?" O'Donnell asked during the Tuesday morning debate. "Let me just clarify: You're telling me that the separation of church and state is found in the First Amendment?"

Coons responded by quoting the relevant text: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion."

"That's in the First Amendment?" a still skeptical O'Donnell replied smiling, as laughter could be heard from the crowd.

Earlier in the debate, O'Donnell flat out asked, "Where in the Constitution is separation of Church and State?" - a question that Coons did not appear to take seriously.

Unfortunately for O'Donnell, the Tea Party-backed candidate also stumbled over the Fourteenth and Sixteenth Amendments when asked if she would support repealing them.

"I'm sorry, I didn't bring my Constitution with me. Fortunately, senators don't have to memorize the Constitution. Can you remind me of [them]?" O'Donnell said.

Some Republicans and members of the Tea Party movement have advocated repealing the provision in the Fourteenth Amendment that grants citizenship to every individual born in the United States and the Sixteenth Amendment that created the Federal Income Tax.

Members of the Tea Party movement have also called for a repeal of the Seventeenth Amendment - the provision that calls for direct election of U.S. senators. O'Donnell was aware of that amendment and said she supported it.

Watch It:

Apparently there are many many more who were there with me.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Yesterday, President Obama hosted the White House Science Fair celebrating the winners of a broad range of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) competitions.

The White House Science Fair fulfills a commitment the President made at the launch of his Educate to Innovate campaign in November 2009 to move American students from the middle to the top of the pack in science and math achievement over the next decade. 

 "If you win the NCAA championship, you come to the White House. Well, if you're a young person and you produce the best experiment or design, the best hardware or software, you ought to be recognized for that achievement, too," the President said in November.

The White House Science Fair kicks off a week that culminates with the USA Science and Engineering Festival on the National Mall and in 50 satellite locations, poised to engage more than a million people nationwide.

Watch It:

Phillips said the government has not proven that her order would harm troops or in any way impede efforts to implement new regulations for the military to deal with openly gay service members.

If she rejects the request, Justice Department officials say the Obama administration would appeal. Experts say they will likely find friendlier venues in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in San Francisco and, ultimately, the U.S. Supreme Court.

"The farther the decision gets from the presentation of evidence in the trial court, the more likely it is that courts will assume the military must have some critically important interest at stake," said Diane Mazur, a law professor who opposes the policy.

The military has promised to abide by the injunction against the "don't ask, don't tell" policy as long as her order remained in place.

Under the 1993 law, the military cannot inquire into service members' sexual orientation and punish them for it as long as they keep it to themselves. President Barack Obama has said he wants the law repealed in Congress.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates, a Republican, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen, the military's top uniformed officer, both say they support lifting the ban. But Gates and Mullen also have warned that they would prefer to move slowly.

Gates has ordered a sweeping study due Dec. 1 that includes a survey of troops and their families.

The president agreed to the Pentagon study but also worked with Democrats to write a bill that would have lifted the ban, pending completion of the Defense Department review and certification from the military that troop morale wouldn't suffer.

That legislation passed the House but was blocked in the Senate by Republicans.

Gay rights activists worry that expected Republican gains in the midterm elections next month could make it even more difficult to overturn the policy in Congress.

America's Holy Writ

Tea Party evangelists claim the Constitution as their sacred text. Why that's wrong.

Contemporary Constitution worshipers claim that they've distilled their entire political platform--lower taxes, less regulation, minimal federal government--directly from the original text of the founding document. Any overlap with mainstream conservatism is incidental, they say; they're simply following the Framers' precise instructions. If this were true, it would be quite the political coup: oppose us, the Tea Party could claim, and you're opposing James Madison. But the reality is that Tea Partiers engage with the Constitution in such a selective manner, and for such nakedly political purposes, that they're clearly relying on it more as an instrument of self-affirmation and cultural division than a source of policy inspiration.

<snip>

The Tea Partiers belong to a different tradition--a tradition of divisive fundamentalism. Like other fundamentalists, they seek refuge from the complexity and confusion of modern life in the comforting embrace of an authoritarian scripture and the imagined past it supposedly represents. Like other fundamentalists, they see in their good book only what they want to see: confirmation of their preexisting beliefs. Like other fundamentalists, they don't sweat the details, and they ignore all ambiguities. And like other fundamentalists, they make enemies or evildoers of those who disagree with their doctrine. In the 1930s, the American Liberty League opposed FDR's New Deal by flogging its version of the Constitution with what historian Frederick Rudolph once described as "a worshipful intensity." In the 1960s, the John Birch Society imagined a vast communist conspiracy in similar terms. In 1992 conservative activists formed what came to be known as the Constitution Party--Sharron Angle was once a member--in order to "restore American jurisprudence to its Biblical foundations and to limit the federal government to its Constitutional boundaries." Today, Angle asserts that "separation of church and state is an unconstitutional doctrine," and Palin claims that "the Constitution...essentially acknowledg[es] that our unalienable rights...come from God." The point is always the same: to suggest that the Constitution, like the Bible, decrees what's right and wrong (rather than what's legal and illegal), and to insist that only the fundamentalists and their ilk can access its truths. We are moral, you are not; we represent America, you do not. Theirs is the rallying cry of culture war.

The Tea Partiers are right to revere the Constitution. It's a remarkable, even miraculous document. But there are many Constitutions: the Constitution of 1789, of 1864, of 1925, of 1936, of 1970, of today. Where O'Donnell & Co. go wrong is in insisting that their idealized document is the country's one true Constitution, and that dissenters are somehow un-American. By putting the Constitution front and center, the Tea Party has reinvigorated a long-simmering argument over who we are and who we want to be. That's great. But to truly honor the Founders' spirit, they have to make room for actual debate. As usual, Thomas Jefferson put it best. In a letter to a friend in 1816, he mocked "men [who] look at constitutions with sanctimonious reverence, and deem them like the arc of the covenant, too sacred to be touched"; "who ascribe to the men of the preceding age a wisdom more than human, and suppose what they did to be beyond amendment." "Let us follow no such examples, nor weakly believe that one generation is not as capable as another of taking care of itself, and of ordering its own affairs," he concluded. "Each generation is as independent as the one preceding, as that was of all which had gone before." Amen.

Read the whole piece at Newsweek

October 18, 2010

The Honorable Ron Kirk
Office of the United States Trade Representative
600 17th Street NW
Washington, DC  20508


Dear Ambassador Kirk:

I write today to applaud your initiation of an investigation under Section 301 of the 1974 Trade Act, in response to a petition filed by the United Steelworkers.  I encourage you to make this issue a top priority and proceed with the investigation as quickly as possible.

The predatory practices utilized by the Chinese government in the renewable energy sector, such as hundreds of billions of dollars in subsidies, restrictions on access to critical materials, and discrimination against foreign firms, threaten both America's economy and our quest for energy independence.  

The outcome of this investigation is critically important to Ohioans, as the state's advanced and renewable energy sectors are important growth industries.  In 2007, we established one of the strongest advanced energy portfolio standards in the country, requiring that 25% of all energy consumed by Ohioans will come from advanced and renewable sources by the year 2025.  These and other policies have laid a foundation for a strong renewable energy industry in Ohio - and we are starting to see results:

• There are currently over 532 active or emerging companies in the Ohio wind supply chain, from machine shops to sensor developers.

• In September, we took an 80-acre solar farm online.  This project used 159,000 solar panels that were made in Ohio and installed by Ohioans.

• Just last week, we announced a joint venture between the State of Ohio, Turning Point Solar, American Electric Power, and prominent Spanish solar power component manufacturers, Prius Energy and Isofoton, to develop a 49-megawatt solar array, making Ohio the home to one of the largest solar projects in the country and creating over 600 jobs.  The two Spanish companies supplying the 239,400 panels have announced that they will be making significant capital investments to establish their North American production headquarters in Ohio.

Even while we are working to advance this industry and accelerate job creation, Chinese exports have increased by more than 400 percent.  The USW petition outlines over 80 Chinese laws and practices that seek to benefit Chinese green technology firms that unfairly undercut American competitors.  I believe that both Ohio's and the national economy would recover more quickly if we could compete on a level playing field to grow this emerging industry.  

Ambassador, I appreciate all that you have done to promote fair trade during your tenure as US Trade Representative.

Because of Ohio's unique leadership position in both the U.S. manufacturing industry and the advanced and renewable energy industries, I believe that we can be helpful to you as your office conducts this investigation.  Please do not hesitate to call upon me or my office to provide assistance.

Sincerely,

Ted Strickland

Governor, State of Ohio

ProgressOhio held a successful Thank You Mr. President event yesterday at The Ohio State University on the corner of Lane and High Street.

We would like to thank those who participated and sent messages to President Obama.  They were hand delivered to the President's aide on Sunday.

I was able to meet with the President at the airport and deliver the messages of appreciation.  The President and First Lady were very gracious and appreciative of our words of support. I let him know the deep appreciation the members of ProgressOhio had for his efforts, especially on health care reform, and let him know we were also holding an event at the university. 

Since 5:00pm ProgressOhio staff and supporters held a banner on the corner of Lane and High Street.  Darkness was beginning to fall as the motorcade quickly whisked passed the corner filled with supporters on both sides of the intersection.  The wait for the supporters was worth it when they realized that the president, with the thick glass of the presidential limo window rolled down, smiled at the large banner and waved to the group.

Washington (CNN) - Last week the Democratic National Committee announced it raised a record $16 million last month. This week the DNC is announcing where it's investing some of that big cash haul.

Monday, the DNC said it's transferring this month $5.5 million to the Democrat's House and Senate election committees and to state party committees.

According to the DNC, $1.83 million goes to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee with an equal amount transferred to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

The Ohio Democratic party chapter receives half a million dollars, with the state party in Wisconsin receiving $300,000, followed by a quarter million to Minnesota and New Hampshire, $233,000 to Oregon, $200,000 to Maine and $100,000 to the state party in South Carolina. Ohio and Minnesota have competitive gubernatorial contests, as does New Hampshire and Oregon.

The transfers are part of what the DNC says is a $50 million "Vote 2010" midterm election program.

DNC communications director Brad Woodhouse calls the effort "the largest midterm investment ever by the DNC," and add that "more than $20 million of which is cash transferred directly to committees and state parties."

President Obama told the crowd that with the frustration people have with the economy, Republicans are counting on voters "forgetting who caused the mess in the first place."

The president acknowledged there are people "hanging by a thread," but said Republicans have only offered the "philosophy that nearly destroyed our economy." He encouraged Ohio voters to tell the GOP they don't want to go back to those principles.

So, Ohio, that's why I need you working even harder in this election than you did in the last election.  We need you to fight their millions of dollars with our millions of voices.   I look out on this crowd and I see millions of voices all across the country.  We've got to finish what we started in 2008.  Because if everybody who fought so hard for change in 2008 shows up to vote in 2010, I am absolutely confident we will win.  And most of the polls say the same thing. 

See, what the other side is counting on, what they're counting on is you're going to stay home.  They're counting on your silence.  They're counting on your amnesia.  They're counting on your apathy.  They're counting on young people staying home and union members staying home and black folks staying home and middle-class families staying home.  They're counting on the fact that they made the argument so ugly in Washington that you just completely turned off and you're not going to vote for anybody.  And if that happens, they win.

Let's prove them wrong, Ohio.  Let's show Washington one more time change doesn't come from the top -- it comes from the bottom.  It doesn't come from millions of dollars of ads -- it comes because people are out there knocking on doors, making phone calls, going into the beauty shops, going into the barber shops.  We have come -- I know we're a long way from the day, the hope and excitement we all felt on election night.  We're far from inauguration day.  But I always told you it was going to take time.  I always told you it was going to be hard.  Because change has always been hard.

But from the first days as our nation, every time Americans have tried to bring about real, meaningful change, we've faced down setbacks, we've faced down disappointments.  We have faced fear and we have faced down doubt.  As Americans, we've always moved forward.  We've always kept fighting.  We've always remembered that in the United States of America, our destiny is not written for us -- it is written by us. 

That's how we came through war.  That's how we came through depression.  That's how we got civil rights legislation.  That's how we got workers' rights.  That's how we got women's rights.  It's being tested right now, but if you keep moving forward in the face of difficulty, I promise you we will not lose this election.  We will win this election.  And we will make sure that every American has the opportunity to live out the American Dream.

God bless you, and God bless the United States of America

ProgressOhio is holding a Thank You Mr. President! Event this Sunday at The Ohio State University.

We will be gathering on the corner of Lane Avenue and High Street holding a large banner thanking the president for his hard work on health care.

Event: Thank You Mr. President!
Group: ProgressOhio
Where: The Ohio State University, Corner of Lane Avenue and High Street
When: 5:00 p.m. Sunday, October 17^th

ProgressOhio would also like to thank all those who sent Thank You messages to President Obama. They will be hand delivered earlier on Sunday to the President

COLUMBUS, Ohio - As we quickly approach the November 2 general election, Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner is inviting media to help remind Ohio voters that Election Day is the one day we are all equal and can make our voices heard through our votes. 

The core message of the Public Service Announcement campaign is to empower voters with disabilities to exercise their right to vote, regardless of any obstacles they may face.  Simply having a disability should not stop a person from voting, there is still a reason and a way one can fully participate in Ohio's democratic process.    

The ad was funded through federal Health and Human Services funding and pulls footage from a poll worker training video created to educate over 45,000 Ohio poll workers on the importance of assisting voters with disabilities.  A portion of this funding is designated for education and outreach activities. 

Watch It:

Early voting in Ohio continues through Saturday, October 30, the deadline to request an absentee ballot by mail is noon on October 30. Voters may complete an absentee ballot request form on line at our website: www.avoidtheline.org, then print, sign and mail it to their local county board of elections. 

Voting absentee in person is also an option for voters through October 30 at noon.  This link will show your where to go in your county. 

The DSCC nearly doubled the NRSC in fundraising in September, boosting its chances of being able to hold on to the Senate this year.

The Democratic committee hauled in $15.5M in September and has $25.6M in its bank account, according to reports. The NRSC raised $8.3M but finished the quarter with $19.2M in its warchest.

The cash on hand numbers show that both sides will be well equipped to slug it out in key Senate races in the run-up to Election Day.

The DSCC benefited from a few large contributions from party officials. It received a $1.7M check from the DNC as part of its Vote 2010 program. And Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY), a former chairman of the DSCC, also gave the committee $1M in September.

Even so, the DSCC's haul is impressive. The committee has raised more than $100M so far this cycle.

The NRSC's September haul is also a record-setter for the Republican committee; it is the most they have raised in one month in the last six years.

On Thursday, the DCCC also announced that it had outraised the NRCC, showing that both committees are well funded in their quest to defend both chambers this year.

ProgressOhio PAC released the second video in it's "Brennan's Bonanza" series today entitled "Pepperoni Pizza".

The ad explains the financial relationship between Ohio charter school guru David Brennan and John Kasich.

In the commercial, John Kasich is quoted comparing Ohio's education system to pizza shops and pepperonis, stating that more tax dollars should be given to alternatives such as Brennan's charter schools. David Brennan and his family are some of the largest financial contributors to John Kasich.

"Charter schools are the primary channel through which Brennan profits from public funds." said Brian Rothenberg, executive director at ProgressOhio.

"Funding John Kasich is an investment to ensure that more tax dollars are funneled his way if Kasich were to win the Governor's race."

Watch It:

Brennan's Bonanza
Pepperoni Pizza

View last week's episode of Brennan's Bonanza here.

Paid For by ProgressOhio PAC
Not Authorized By Any Candidate
or Candidate's Committee

Have joined together to become . . .

and Oprah has tickets for everyone.

Watch It:

Sodexo workers on strike in Columbus want their employer and the public to understand the effects that poverty-wage jobs can have on local communities. So this week, they took to the streets of their own neighborhoods to show an audience of supporters and local leaders the results of working for companies like Sodexo.

In the Hilltop and Bottoms neighborhoods where many Sodexo workers live, residents say they have seen crime and foreclosure rates skyrocket as good jobs in the area disappeared and were replaced with low-wage service sector jobs.

The bus tour started out at the site of the now-demolished General Motors factory and continued to the homes of Sodxeo workers like Marcia Snell and Sandy Dailey in the west side neighborhoods of Columbus.

Susan B. Anthony List, Other Anti-Reform Organizations Could be Penalized for False Ads

Washington, DC - The Ohio Elections Commission today found probable cause that the group Susan B. Anthony List broke the law by falsely asserting in political advertisements that Congressman Steve Dreihaus (OH-01) voted to allow federal funding of abortion. The ruling has wide-reaching implications for self-described pro-life groups currently engaged in smear campaigns against a number of elected officials who voted for the health care reform act earlier this year.

Since the bill passed, a host of organizations - including the Susan B. Anthony List, Americans United for Life, National Right to Life Committee, Family Research Council, and the National Republican Congressional Committee - have used the false abortion funding claim to improperly influence the November elections. In doing so, they ignored expert analyses and independent fact-checks showing that the abortion funding claim was inaccurate. The ruling has national implications because similar ads sponsored by the Susan B. Anthony List and Americans United for Life are running against numerous Democratic Congressional candidates, including Reps. John Boccieri (OH-16), Kathy Dalhkemper (PA-03), Joe Donnelly (IN-02), and Tom Perriello (VA-05).

"The Ohio Election Commission's probable cause finding confirms what we've said all along: that organizations like the Susan B. Anthony List are deliberately spreading lies for political gain," said Chris Korzen, executive director of Catholics United. "In doing so, these groups have betrayed the voters and made a mockery of the democratic process."

The Affordable Care Act Offers Tax Cuts To Roughly 127,800 Small Businesses In Ohio. According to a report by Families USA and Small Business Majority, 127,800 small businesses (85.7 percent) in Ohio are eligible for tax credits to defray some of the costs associated with employer-based health insurance. [A Helping Hand for Small Businesses: Health Insurance Tax Credits, Families USA and Small Business Majority, July 2010]

• Small Businesses Are Eligible To Receive Tax Credits For Up To 35 Percent Of The Employer Premium Contribution. According to The Commonwealth Fund: "Between 2010 and 2013, the legislation provides tax credits for up to 35 percent of the employer premium contribution (which must be at least 50 percent of the full premium) for employers with fewer than 25 employees and average wages below $50,000. The full 35 percent tax credit is available to employers with 10 or fewer full-time employees and average wages of $25,000 or less and phases out for larger firms." [The Commonwealth Fund, 9/2/10]
• By 2014, Small Businesses Will Be Eligible To Deduct Up To 50 Percent Of Their Insurance Premium Contributions For A Tax Credit. According to Small Business Majority: "Beginning in tax year 2014, the maximum tax credit increases to 50% of premium expenses and coverage must be purchased from a state health insurance exchange. This tax credit is available for a total of any two years."  [Small Business Majority, accessed 9/30/10]
• Qualifying Small Businesses In Ohio Will Be Eligible For Thousands Of Dollars In Tax Credits. Under the health care reform law, qualifying small businesses in Ohio that provide health insurance for their workers will be eligible to receive a tax credit worth up to 35 percent of the average premium in the state. In 2014, that tax credit increases to 50 percent of the average state premium. According to the 2010 IRS health insurance cost estimate, in Ohio a qualifying employer is eligible for a tax credit of approximately $1,633 per employee and $3,952 per family ($4,667 for individuals and $11,293 for families). [IRS.gov, accessed 10/4/10; IRS.gov, accessed 10/4/10]

The Obama administration is asking a California federal appeals court to stay the recent ruling that found the military policy that punishes those who are gay in the military.

Lawyer Dan Woods said his client, Log Cabin Republicans, which won the ruling on Tuesday, has been notified that the Justice Department "will appeal and seek a stay later today."

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs would only say that guidance will be coming soon. He did not say what the policies would be.

From the Advocate's Kerry Eleveld:

Sources said Justice Department attorneys are expected to file the request to U.S. district judge Virginia A. Phillips in Riverside, Calif. this afternoon.

Should Phillips deny the request for a stay, government attorneys are expected to file an emergency request to the U.S. court of appeals for the ninth circuit.

It's an attack ad that writes itself: The House Republican leader, Rep. John Boehner (Ohio), votes with liberal Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) a majority of the time.

The statistic seems impossible to believe, given the ferocity with which Boehner denounces Pelosi, the progressive champion of San Francisco elitism and favorite GOP villain.

But it's true, according to an analysis by Democrats. Boehner has voted with the Democratic leadership 52 percent of the time in 2010. So has Rep. Mike Pence (Ind.), chairman of the Republican conference and former head of the conservative Republican Study Committee.

Rep. Eric Cantor (Va.), the House Republican whip, and Rep. Pete Sessions (Tex.), head of the GOP's House campaign committee, are even cozier with Pelosi. They've voted with her 57 percent of the time.

And Rep. Michele Bachmann (Minn.), the conservative firebrand who has compared the Democratic agenda to socialism? She's with Pelosi on 58 percent of House votes.

Politico reports:

House Minority Leader John Boehner's political action committee gave $5,000 to Rich Iott, the Ohio Republican candidate who has dressed up as a Nazi officer during World War II re-enactments.

The contribution from Boehner's Freedom Project to fellow Buckeye Iott was recorded on Sept. 22, according to a quarterly report Iott filed with the Federal Election Commission on Wednesday.

Democrats criticized Boehner and called on him to apologize for the donation to Iott.

"For the past week, John Boehner has chosen to remain silent about his embrace of this Nazi enthusiast running for congress, now we know why, it turns out he was financing his congressional bid," said Ryan Rudominer, a spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. "... John Boehner must apologize immediately to the American people especially to our veterans, to women, and to those of the Jewish faith for recruiting all these extremists and fatally flawed candidates."

Boehner was the only lawmaker to give to Iott in the quarter.

In the Delaware Senate debate Wednesday night, Republican Christine O'Donnell tripped up and was unable to name a single recent Supreme Court decision she disagreed with, a moment similar to an infamous 2008 gaffe by Sarah Palin.

During the debate, O'Donnell said she opposed activist judges, citing the recent court decision ordering an immediate halt to military discharges because Don't Ask, Don't Tell. But when the moderators asked her to name a recent Supreme Court decision with which she disagreed, she was unable to name a single one:

Watch It:

~ Huffington Post

Environmental extremists, they better not make the environment god. They got a hang-up in that way just as well. A little bit of balance here. [O'Reilly Factor, 5/28/04]

As you know, global warming is cyclical, and the focus of a ferocious debate, almost as ferocious as a T. Rex. [O'Reilly Factor, 7/3/08]

Save me from a cap and trade bill that's going to put a dagger in the Midwest and is basically one politician against slapping another on the back. [Sean Hannity, 7/8/09]

As a congressman, Kasich voted against implementing greenhouse pollution policy. During the gubernatorial campaign, Kasich has threatened to kill Ohio's renewable energy standard. "It will drive up utility bills because we don't have it ready and have to buy it somewhere else," he claimed. "I don't like that and you can't mandate invention."

Gov. Ted Strickland accused Kasich of being "ill-informed" and "reckless" for opposing the renewable standard. "New-energy jobs are the wave of the future and creating a new energy standard not only means a better environment for future Ohioans, it means that growing advanced energy companies, such as the ones standing with me, are locating and growing right here in Ohio." Strickland said.

News Corp billionaire Rupert Murdoch gave $1 million to the Republican Governors Association because of his "friendship with John Kasich."

~ Wonk Room

See Also:

Shadows On High: Gone with Kasich's Wind

View In High Definition

If you can't attend the thank you event on Sunday you can send us a message to thank President Obama for his work on Health Care, Social Security and Financial Reform.

The deadline to send us your message is by this Saturday, October 16^th so that we have time to compile the messages that will be hand delivered to President Obama this Sunday.

Event: Thank You Mr. President!
Group: ProgressOhio
Where: The Ohio State University, Corner of Lane Avenue and High Street
When: 5:00 p.m. Sunday, October 17^th

Send your Thank You Messages to info@progressohio.org

Here's your chance to ask the President about the issues that have been weighing on your mind.  Tomorrow at 4 PM EDT, President Obama will be participating in a live youth town hall event in partnership with MTV, BET, and CMT. 

The President will be taking questions from the live audience and Twitter.  To ask your question, just use the hashtag #ask plus the topic of your question.  For example, if your question is about jobs use #askjobs, if it's about energy use #askenergy.  You can also comment the event using the hashtag #comment. Be sure to tune in tomorrow at 4 PM EDT to see if your question gets asked.

To get the latest news and updates from the White House be sure to follow @WhiteHouse on Twitter.

As millions of Americans struggle in this economy, the rich and powerful special interests should not be able to drown out the voices of citizens.

Today, Common Cause, a nonpartisan organization dedicated to transparency and accountability in the political process, underscored the dangerous impact GOP's obstruction of the DISCLOSE Act is having on our democracy, writing:

...this year, thanks to the US Supreme Court, a few "citizens" have decided to hedge their bets and exploit our political rules; they're trying to tell the rest of us how to vote without revealing who they are or what they have at stake in our elections.

...Americans shouldn't have to endure another election year in which we can't know who is spending mystery money, foreign or domestic, by the millions to affect who gets chosen in our own elections.

The DISCLOSE Act would require disclosure of donations in the wake of the Supreme Court Citizens United decision earlier this year that opened up American elections to unlimited corporate, and possibly foreign, funding. The House passed the DISCLOSE Act in June, despite 99% of Republicans voting against it. Since then, Republicans in the Senate and their allies worked to defeat it - and the transparency and accountability the American people deserve.

Common Cause:

Our Democracy is Not Based on Secrecy

Tens of thousands of Americans are engaged this October in the good work of citizenship: running for office, contributing their money, time and talents on behalf of candidates and causes.

These Americans are justifiably proud of their activities. They join in civic life with pride, signing their names to letters-to-the-editor, identifying themselves when they go door-to-door to distribute campaign literature, openly contributing money to candidates and political action groups. They understand that transparency is fundamental to fair play in politics.

But this year, thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court, a few "citizens" have decided to hedge their bets and exploit our political rules; they're trying to tell the rest of us how to vote without revealing who they are or what they have at stake in our elections.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is merely the most visible player in this game. The Chamber and some other trade groups and corporations are pouring millions of dollars into our political system in secret, using the tax laws to hide their own involvement, as well as their donors.

Even worse, questions are being raised about whether the Chamber, which has pledged to invest up to $75 million in this campaign cycle, is providing a conduit for foreign businesses to influence the elections. The Chamber denies it, but so far has declined to open its books for inspection.

Our democracy is not based on secrecy. If disclosure is what we deserve from the people who run for office and the people who contribute to candidates, surely it's what we deserve from EVERYONE who invests in our political system, especially those investing millions of dollars.

Even if every penny of the Chamber's political spending comes from domestic sources, the money - and all the rest of what's being spent under the cloak of secrecy - is tainted.

And the sad fact is this all could have been avoided. The DISCLOSE Act, twice blocked from even coming up for a vote in the Senate by a minority of senators through the filibuster, would have imposed reasonable disclosure requirements on the Chamber and other groups now exploiting campaign finance laws.

And the Fair Elections Now Act, ready for passage in the House when it comes to a vote, would let candidates run competitive races without having to rely on big donors, foreign or domestic.

When Congress returns to Washington after the election, it must get busy and pass both DISCLOSE and the Fair Elections Now Act. Americans shouldn't have to endure another election year in which we can't know who is spending mystery money, foreign or domestic, by the millions to affect who gets chosen in our own elections.

Today, too many Americans don't get the preventive health care they need to stay healthy, avoid or delay the onset of disease, lead productive lives, and reduce health care costs. Often because of cost, Americans use at about half the recommended rate. Yet chronic diseases, such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes - which are responsible for 7 of 10 deaths among Americans each year and account for 75 percent of the nation's health spending - often are preventable.

Cost sharing (including deductibles, coinsurance, or copayments) reduces the likelihood that preventive services will be used. Expanding access to preventive care will reduce health disparities for 41 million African Americans (14% of the population) by helping to prevent many diseases that have a disproportionate impact on this group. The death rate for African Americans is higher than that of whites for heart diseases, stroke, cancer, asthma, influenza, diabetes, and HIV/AIDS - conditions that can often be prevented

The health insurance reform legislation passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama on March 23 - will help make prevention affordable and accessible for all Americans by requiring health plans to cover preventive services and by eliminating cost sharing.

According to new regulations released by the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), Labor, and the Treasury, if an individual or family enrolls in a new health plan on or after September 23, 2010, then that plan will be required to cover recommended preventive services without charging a deductible, copayment or coinsurance.

Expanding access to preventive care can improve health outcomes for African Americans and all Americans.

AA Fact Sheet-Card91410

Landlords of charter schools on the hook for property taxes

Many schools or their for-profit management companies across the state will owe years of back taxes, Sims said. Some will be unable to pay because they are prohibited from using their state financial aid to pay taxes.

The court's decision overturned a ruling by the state Board of Tax Appeals concerning a for-profit entity that leased property to Cincinnati College Preparatory Academy. The school paid almost $23,000 a month in rent in a "triple-net" lease in which the school was obligated to pay all taxes, insurance and maintenance. The two parties applied for and were granted a "schoolhouse exemption" to paying property taxes.

In overturning that decision, the court ruled that under case law dating to 1874, the exemption would be valid only if the property is used "without any view to profit," either on the part of the school or the landlord.

Republican Justice Stratton invited the state legislature to amend the schoolhouse-exemption law so that any building housing a charter school would be tax-exempt, regardless of whether the landlord profits.

So, who will Republicans in the Ohio Legislature turn to to decide what they should do?

David Brennan, of course . . .

"Brennan's Bonanza"

October 12, 2010

Dear Mr. Attorney General,

We are writing to bring to your attention the recently issued decision of Judge Virginia A. Phillips of the United States District Court of the Central District of California in Log Cabin Republicans v. United States, which declared that the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT) underlying law violates the U.S. Constitution's guarantees of due process and free speech, thereby rendering DADT unconstitutional. In light of important national security concerns, we respectfully request that you, in your capacity at the Department of Justice, refrain from appealing this decision or the permanent injunction granted against this law.

The following quote from the judge's decision captures the overwhelming reason why the decision should stand: "Among those discharged were many with critically needed skills ... Far from furthering the military's readiness, the discharge of these service men and women had a direct and deleterious effect on this governmental interest." As one of many criteria that the Justice Department will examine in deciding whether to appeal the permanent injunction to this policy, we ask that you examine whether or not an appeal furthers a legitimate governmental interest. We would say any appeal does not.

Additionally, DADT harms military readiness, as well as the morale and the cohesiveness of our armed forces, at a time when our military's resources are strained and unity is critically important. For every person discharged after ten years of service, six new servicemembers would need to be recruited to recover the level of experience lost by that discharge. This not only weakens our military, but neither is it an effective use of our government resources or taxpayer monies.

President Obama, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, have all publicly advocated for the repeal of this harmful law. There is no legal or military justification and not one shred of credible evidence that supports continuing the discriminatory DADT law, and considering the guidance of the commander-in-chief and the nation's top two defense officials, we urge you to refrain from seeking an appeal. The federal court decision was a step in the right direction, and we are confident that the Senate will take the ultimate step by voting this fall on the fiscal year 2011 National Defense Authorization Act to permanently lift the ban on gays in the military. Although we understand that only action by Congress can bring real finality to this issue, we believe an appeal of the recent federal court decision could set back those congressional efforts. Therefore, we request your assistance in ensuring that we can eradicate this discriminatory law permanently and urge the Justice Department to choose not to appeal any court decision that would keep this law in place.

Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter. We look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Senators:
Udall (CO)
Gillibrand
Kerry
Schumer
Burris
Whitehouse
Landrieu
Sanders
Merkley
Shaheen
Johnson
Franken
Boxer
Feingold
Lautenberg
Durbin
Menendez
Bennet
Mikulski
Sherrod Brown
Cardin

A federal judge has issued a worldwide injunction stopping enforcement of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, ending the military's 17-year-old ban on openly gay troops.

Judge Virginia Phillip -- the California federal judge who ruled that Don't Ask, Don't Tell violated the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment and freedom of speech under the First Amendment -- granted the Log Cabin Republican's request for a broad injunction against further discharges:

(2) PERMANENTLY ENJOINS Defendants United States of America and the Secretary of Defense, their agents, servants, officers, employees, and attorneys, and all persons acting in participation or concert with them or under their direction or command, from enforcing or applying the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Act and implementing regulations, against any person under their jurisdiction or command;

(3) ORDERS Defendants United States of America and the Secretary of Defense immediately to suspend and discontinue any investigation, or discharge, separation, or other proceeding, that may have been commenced under the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Act, or pursuant to U.S.C. § 654 or its implementing regulations, on or prior to the date of this Judgment.

In an opinion that accompanied the injunction, Phillips explains that the plaintiff (the Log Cabin Republicans) "has established standing to bring and maintain this suit on behalf of its members. Additionally, Log Cabin Republicans has demonstrated the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Act, on its face, violates the constitutional rights of its members. Plaintiff is entitled to the relief sought in its First Amended Complaint: a judicial declaration to that effect and a permanent injunction barring further enforcement of the Act."

U.S. Department of Justice attorneys have 60 days to appeal. Legal experts say the department is under no legal obligation to do so and could let Phillips' ruling stand.

~ Wonk Room

What you might not know is George Bush appointed Rob Portman as his top Trade Representative, where he was a true leader when it came to leading Ohio jobs elsewhere.

Watch this new video, a trip around the world to the many places where Rob Portman has shipped Ohio jobs.

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Not Authorized By Any Candidate or Candidate's Committee

Visit "The (Mis)Informant"

Live today at 1:00pm EDT., Elizabeth Warren discusses the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a watchdog for the American consumer.

The live event has concluded. Here is a replay.

Watch It:

Now that the new school year is comfortably underway, it's a good time to talk teachers. Teachers who made a difference, that is.

Every morning, we pack those lunches, and pack the kids off to school, hoping that they'll learn some things about the world, and some things about themselves. And one day, maybe, they'll connect with a very special teacher who will unlock a curious mind and inspire confidence.

This week, we want to hear your stories about teachers who made a difference in your life. Maybe it was that French instructor who helped you break through a language barrier. Or a piano teacher who saw the talent you never thought you had.

Participate and tell your story about teachers who made a difference in your life at NPR.

"In no way, shape, or form does the Lucas County Republican Party condone the exploits of the Nazis."

"This is nothing more than a political attack against a candidate that has run a strong campaign against a 28 year incumbent who has neglected her constituents."

"This is a perfect example of dirty mudslinging politics - when people take something and spin it into more than what it is."

Read the full statement here.

A campaign spokesman for car dealership owner Tom Ganley confirmed Monday night that he has canceled hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of planned TV ads. The spokesman said Ganley is merely shifting strategies -- not giving up on his congressional bid.

Ganley has denied accusations by a 39-year-old Cleveland woman who is suing him, claiming he propositioned and groped her in 2009 when she tried to volunteer for his campaign.

Spokesman Jeff Longstreth said the change in advertising plans shouldn't be read as a retreat from the race. Ganley has decided to advertise instead on cable TV and the radio -- which cost a fraction as much -- to reach more voters, he said.

Ganley had once said he would pour as much as $7 million of his own money into the race against incumbent Betty Sutton.

During tough economic times, one of the toughest jobs to hold is as a construction worker.  In almost any city or town in America, you're likely to see buildings, projects, or roads left half-done after investments made by private enterprise or state and local governments based on expectations of a brighter economic future dried up.

Peter Diamond, a lauded economist at MIT, won the Nobel Prize, along with Dale T. Mortensen and Christopher A. Pissarides. The three economists won for their examination of "markets with search frictions." In Diamond's case, he focused on labor markets and unemployment.

But Diamond remains held up in the Senate confirmation process for a Federal Reserve seat, due to the objections of Republican senators over his qualifications. Again, they have questions about whether Diamond, who once taught Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke economics and now has won a Nobel prize, is qualified.

Here's Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) on Diamond this summer:

"I do not believe he's ready to be a member of the Federal Reserve Board. I do not believe that the current environment of uncertainty would benefit from monetary policy decisions made by board members who are learning on the job."

~ Washington Independent

Cantor did the right thing by repudiating Iott, but his decision to do so is surprising in light of the fact that Cantor and other GOP leaders have consistently refused to denounce the most extreme right-wing candidates in this election cycle.

Here are just a few examples of the kind of radical views that are perfectly at home in today's Republican Party:

• Eliminating Medicare" Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), the top Republican on the House Budget Committee, proposed phasing-out Medicare by replacing the entire Medicare program with a privatized voucher system and then having that voucher gradually decrease in value over time. Yet Republicans have kept Ryan as their chief budget policymaker in the House, and Cantor even co-authored a book touting himself and Ryan as the party's new "Young Guns."  Some Republican candidates have even claimed that Medicare is unconstitutional.
• Privatizing Social Security: Countless GOP lawmakers and candidates -- including Republican budget chief Ryan -- want to privatize Social Security, even though privatization imposes significant new risks on seniors, creates new administrative costs, forces benefit reductions, and costs more money than the present system.  Some of these candidates also believe that Social Security is unconstitutional.
• Tearing Up The Constitution: Beyond the fringe claims that Social Security and Medicare are unconstitutional, leading GOPers have embraced repealing the Constitution's grant of citizenship to all children born in the United States, repealing the constitutional right to elect your own senators, and one leading GOP Senate candidate claimed that it is unconstitutional for the United States to belong to the United Nations.
• Former Witches Against Masturbation:  The National Republican Senatorial Committee even cut a $42,000 check to Delaware GOP Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell, an anti-masturbation activist who "dabbled into witchcraft" and who wants to stop the "whole country from having sex."

"Anyone who knows me would tell you that I am a proud American who loves this country and loves Freedom and those who have died fighting to preserve it. The despicable accusations and distortions of the truth that have been leveled at me, sadly exemplify why people have lost faith in the political process and with the media as well.

"Never, in any of my re-enacting of military history, have I meant any disrespect to anyone who served in our military or anyone who has been affected by the tragedy of war. I have immense respect for veterans who served our country valiantly, particularly those who fought to rid the world of tyranny and aggression by relegating Nazism to the trash heap of history. In fact, my respect for the military and our veterans is one of the reasons I have actively studied military history throughout my life.

"Historical re-enacting is a hobby enjoyed by millions of men - and women - around the world. I have been involved in historical re-enacting from many different eras since I was in college. When my son was old enough to participate, it became a hobby that the two of us could do together and I'm grateful for the father-son bonding we shared as we participated in the events."

"This election needs to be about issues, not false character attacks. Middle class families are struggling and honest people are out of work, which is why I hope my opponent will join me in condemning these blatant distortions and attacks and pledge to focus on the issues that Ohioans so desperately want Washington to address."

Walkout comes days after Crew Stadium concessions workers strike

Columbus, OH--Ohio State fans who flooded the Horseshoe to watch the Buckeyes take on the Hoosiers on Saturday witnessed dozens of striking Sodexo food service workers marching into the stadium. They walked off of the job protesting Sodexo's illegal retaliation in response to their attempts to raise wages and gain access to affordable health insurance by forming a union.

Recently, Sodexo denied hours to some employees at OSU who showed support for forming a union. During football season, Sodexo workers at OSU work up to 18 hours a day preparing and serving food during games. However, because the Shoe is closed over the summer months, these workers depend on working hours at other locations where Sodexo serves food--like Crew Stadium--to get by during the summer.

"I've worked at Crew Stadium every summer for the last five years," says Marcia Snell, who works for Sodexo at OSU preparing food and stocking stands, "Now this summer I'm not getting hours at Crew. Neither are the other union activists. I need that income just to keep my electricity on."

Despite making more than a billion dollars profit in 2009, France-based Sodexo pays its workers in the United States as little as $7.50 an hour--just 25 cents above the minimum wage--and does not offer affordable healthcare options to its employees; two-thirds of Sodexo's non-managerial employees in the United States are not covered by health insurance offered by the company.

OSU's Sodexo workers began organizing 10 months ago in an attempt to raise wages and gain access to affordable health care. Many of the food service workers at Ohio State are paid so little that they qualify for food stamps and most have no health insurance.

Today's strike in protest of Sodexo's unlawful retaliation comes a week after Sodexo workers at Crew stadium walked off the job during the San Jose Earthquakes soccer game. Workers at Crew were also striking to protest Sodexo's retaliation against workers for organizing.

This action is part of a national workers movement where workers at Morehouse College, Highland Park school district and Tulane University have all gone on strike over similar cases of retaliation, interrogation and threats by management. More at http://cleanupsodexo.org.

An election year already notable for its menagerie of extreme and unusual candidates can add another one: Rich Iott, the Republican nominee for Congress from Ohio's 9th District, and a Tea Party favorite, who for years donned a German Waffen SS uniform and participated in Nazi re-enactments.

Rich Iott, second from right, in a Nazi SS Waffen uniform.

Iott, whose district lies in Northwest Ohio, was involved with a group that calls itself Wiking, whose members are devoted to re-enacting the exploits of an actual Nazi division, the 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking, which fought mainly on the Eastern Front during World War II. Iott's participation in the Wiking group is not mentioned on his campaign's website, and his name and photographs were removed from the Wiking website.

Read more about Tea Party favorite Rich Iott in The Altlantic

WASHINGTON--Citing a desire to gain influence in Washington, the American people confirmed Friday that they have hired high-powered D.C. lobbyist Jack Weldon of the firm Patton Boggs to help advance their agenda in Congress.

Known among Beltway insiders for his ability to sway public policy on behalf of massive corporations such as Johnson & Johnson, Monsanto, and AT&T, Weldon, 53, is expected to use his vast network of political connections to give his new client a voice in the legislative process.

Weldon is reportedly charging the American people $795 an hour.

"Unlike R.J. Reynolds, Pfizer, or Bank of America, the U.S. populace lacks the access to public officials required to further its legislative goals," a statement from the nation read in part. "Jack Weldon gives us that access."

"His daily presence in the Capitol will ensure the American people finally get a seat at the table," the statement continued. "And it will allow him to advance our message that everyone, including Americans, deserves to be represented in Washington."

The 310-million-member group said it will rely on Weldon's considerable clout to ensure its concerns are taken into account when Congress addresses issues such as education, immigration, national security, health care, transportation, the economy, affordable college tuition, infrastructure, jobs, equal rights, taxes, Social Security, the environment, housing, the national debt, agriculture, energy, alternative energy, nutrition, imports, exports, foreign relations, the arts, and crime.

Read More > >

Today, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) is set to deliver another "major speech" that will serve as his "closing argument" before the midterm elections. This time, the would-be Speaker of the House isn't taking any risks with the venue for his pitch. According to Roll Call:

House Minority Leader John Boehner is planning to give a major speech on jobs and government spending Friday at a Cincinnati company that the Ohio Republican's office described as a "small family business."

But the announcement did not mention that the executives of the company are also major political donors, both personally and through their leadership of a trade association political action committee that gives hundreds of thousands of dollars almost exclusively to Republican candidates. [...]

Mark Mosley, Daniel Freese and Kevin Sell, three top executives at the Cincinnati-based firm, have contributed thousands to Boehner as well as other Republican candidates, according to Federal Election Commission records.

Mr. Boehner is hoping the American people have forgotten the Republicans were responsible for bringing our economy to the brink - more than 8 million jobs lost, national debt nearly doubled, the foreign-held debt more than doubled, $17.5 trillion in household wealth and retirement security lost, and the worst private sector jobs record of any Administration in 75 years.

United We Rally

Join US Congressman Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), US Congresswoman Marcia L. Fudge (D-OH) and local leaders for a community rally - because everyone deserves the opportunity to achieve the American Dream - a good job, a safe home, quality education, healthcare, and justice.

Monday, October 11, 2010
4pm - 5:30pm
Mt. Sinai Church
7510 Woodland Ave
Cleveland, Ohio

Sponsored by HOLA, Hispanic Alliance, Hispanic Roundtable, Cleveland NAACP, Nueva Luz Urban Resource Center, Iglesia Nueva Vida, Cleveland Jobs With Justice, Urban League of Greater Cleveland, Northshore AFL-CIO, Young Latino Network, Coalition of Hispanic Issues in Progress, and ProgressOhio

For more information or to get involved contact Veronica Dahlberg at (440) 812-4626.

Republican Ohio Secretary of State candidate Jon Husted slammed opponent Maryellen O'Shaughnessy in a recent television advertisement as a career politician who once passed legislation to increase her own pay.

O'Shaughnessy, of Columbus, has heard the criticisms before. But that didn't stop Husted from recycling them within a more current anti-Democrat framework.

"O'Shaughnessy even voted for her own personal stimulus package - a taxpayer-funded pay raise for herself," the commercial's narrator says.

It's an accusation O'Shaughnessy has heard before. Her opponent in a 2002 race for Franklin County Commissioner, Dewey Stokes, also produced a TV commercial that ripped O'Shaughnessy for raising her own pay, according to the Columbus Dispatch.

O'Shaughnessy's campaign said she couldn't be blamed for boosting her pay because she was ineligible for the raise after she and the rest of Columbus City Council approved it.

She didn't approve a pay raise for herself. She voted to increase pay for whomever was elected to take that council seat. The voters decided she should get the pay raise by re-electing her in 2001.

We rate Husted's statement False.

When I learned of it last Thursday, it sounded innocuous to me, but then I started looking at the timing of the bill. GMAC, owned by Ally, had just suspended its foreclosure actions in 23 states, including Ohio. I had already referred Chase Home Finance, LLC, on August 23, 2010, to the U.S. Department of Justice, asking it to review and investigate Chase's document notarization practices in home foreclosures (18,000 documents per month were being notarized by 8 people, along with other irregularities). I license notaries in the State of Ohio. Even though I don't have the power under state law to investigate or prosecute, I couldn't stand idly by without acting. That's why I'm asking you to email or call the President at 202-456-1111 to ask him not to sign the bill.

Banks demand we follow every letter of their contracts. We must demand they follow the law. It's that simple. Please join me in urging President Obama not to sign the bill by sending an email or calling 202-456-1111.

Thank you Secretary Brunner for once again leading the way on this issue!

See Also:

Secretary Brunner Takes Leading Role On Issue Of Notary Abuse In Home Mortgage Foreclosures

Secretary Brunner: Please tell President Obama NOT to sign the Interstate Recognition of Notarizations Act

Secretary Brunner Issues Directive Regarding Voting Rights And Foreclosures; Refers Specific Cases Of Notary Abuse To Federal Prosecutors

Judge George Caram Steeh ruled that Congress did not exceed its authority by requiring people to have insurance by 2014. He also turned down a challenge Thursday to the financial penalty that comes with having no insurance.

A Michigan-based Christian legal group and four people filed a lawsuit in March, claiming the law is unconstitutional.

This may be the first federal court decision to address claims that Congress over-stepped its constitutional authority by requiring most individuals to obtain health care insurance coverage or pay a penalty, beginning in 2014.

Similar challenges to the new law are pending in several other courts across the country.

The judge said lawmakers intended to lower the overall cost of health insurance by requiring people to participate. Steeh said Congress didn't exceed powers allowed under the Constitution's commerce clause, which  authorizes Congress to regulate activities which substantially affect interstate commerce.

You can read the judge's entire opinion at mied.uscourts.gov.

Watch It:

The purpose of the "Interstate Recognition of Notarizations (IRON) Act -- written by Rep. Robert Aderholt, R-Al., and currently sitting on the president's proverbial desk -- is to streamline the recognition of notarizations across state lines.  Aderholt said in a statement that the legislation "will help businesses around the nation by eliminating the confusion which arises when states refuse to acknowledge the integrity of documents notarized out-of-state. This issue continues to be a problem for businesses and individuals who engage in business across state lines."

The bill passed the House in April and sailed through the Senate without debate at the end of September, as Congress adjourned for the Fall recess.

But consumer groups and some state officials noted that the legislation could have the unintended consequence of exacerbating an ugly trend of unfair home foreclosures. By requiring the acceptance of out-of-state notarizations, the bill could make it more difficult for homeowners to challenge improper foreclosure attempts.

The White House issued the following statement:

Today, the White House announced that President Obama will not sign H.R. 3808, the Interstate Recognition of Notarizations Act of 2010, and will return the bill to the House of Representatives.  The Interstate Recognition of Notarizations Act of 2010 was designed to remove impediments to interstate commerce.  While we share this goal, we believe it is necessary to have further deliberations about the intended and unintended impact of this bill on consumer protections, including those for mortgages, before this bill can be finalized.

Notarizations are important for a large range of documents, including financial documents.  As the President has made clear, consumer financial protections are incredibly important, and he has made this one of his top priorities, including signing into law the strongest consumer protections in history in the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.  That is why we need to think through the intended and unintended consequences of this bill on consumer protections, especially in light of the recent developments with mortgage processors.

The authors of this bill no doubt had the best intentions in mind when trying to remove impediments to interstate commerce.  We will work with them and other leaders in Congress to explore the best ways to achieve this goal going forward.

Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner and Attorney General Richard Cordray have been leaders on this issue. 

See Also:

Attorney General Cordray Files Lawsuit Against GMAC Mortgage

Secretary Brunner Takes Leading Role On Issue Of Notary Abuse In Home Mortgage Foreclosures

Secretary Brunner: Please tell President Obama NOT to sign the Interstate Recognition of Notarizations Act

Secretary Brunner Issues Directive Regarding Voting Rights And Foreclosures; Refers Specific Cases Of Notary Abuse To Federal Prosecutors

It's the true story of how one man profits from his underperforming for-profit charter schools and uses his money to influence Ohio politicians.

Starring: "White Hat" David Brennan, as boss and profiteer of Ohio's bad charter schools

Featuring: John Kasich
With guest appearances by: Mary Taylor and John Husted

You can watch the first video here and donate to help us raise money to put a 30-second version on the air.

Give this video two progressive thumbs up and help get the series in front of more viewers by donating now to ProgressOhio PAC.

Please forward it to your friends and help stop Boss Brennan from ripping off Ohioans.

The NRSC is pulling its controversial West Virginia Senate ad that features actors posing as native West Virginians.

GOP sources said they expect the ad to be taken down in light of new reports that it was filmed in Philadelphia, and that a casting call was looking for characters with a "'hicky' blue collar look," according to a report from Politico.

The hasty move to pull the ad is a sign Republicans are seriously concerned that the revelations could threaten John Raese's (R) surging candidacy in the Mountain State.

Will John Kasich do the same thing with his new ad featuring an actor playing an "out of work Ohio Steelworker?

Watch It:

Untitled from Jeremy Froughlin on Vimeo.

Memo on Week 4 Track - SFG October 6

COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Advisory Council to the Secretary of State's Voting Rights Institute (VRI) will sponsor a candidate forum October 12^th featuring the three secretary of state candidates on the ballot for the General Election being held November 2, 2010. Ann Fisher, host of "All Sides with Ann Fisher" on WOSU Radio, will serve as moderator at the forum which will provide an outlet for an informal debate between the candidates. The public are invited to attend and the Ohio Channel will be filming the forum to air at a later date.

"It's important to give Ohio voters every opportunity to educate themselves about the candidates who seek to supervise the state's elections and keep the state's records," said Secretary Brunner. "We are fortunate that all three candidates for secretary of state are taking time from their busy campaign schedules to participate in this forum so voters can learn about their plans for the office should they become our next Ohio Secretary of State."

WHO: Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner
Charles Earl, Libertarian candidate for secretary of state
Jon Husted, Republican candidate for secretary of state
Maryellen O'Shaughnessy, Democratic candidate for secretary of state

WHAT: Secretary of State Candidate Forum

WHEN: Tuesday October 12, 2010 at 3:00 p.m.

WHERE:  State Library of Ohio
274 East 1^st Avenue
Columbus, OH  43201
www.library.ohio.gov

To learn more about candidates on the ballot this November, visit the Secretary of State's online Judicial and Candidate Voter Guide for Ohio.

Public Statements Reveal Truth: Gibbs Wants to Privatize Social Security and Raise Retirement Age

Bob Gibbs' still sinking campaign this week suffered another setback when the Pulitzer Prize winning website Politifact.com caught him engaging in a cover-up scheme intended to hide his true position on Social Security. 

After numerous statements to the contrary, near the end of August, Gibbs quietly slipped a new section "reaffirming his commitment to Social Security" onto the "Issues" page of his campaign website.  However, while he attempts to provide himself with political cover for his radical positions, his record and multiple public statements reveal his true intentions.

Bob Gibbs' Social Security position somersaults from website to public statements to campaign lines

No Ones Vote Is More Important Than Yours!

On Monday, September 27, 2010, U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA), on the Senate floor, asked that the Judiciary Committee be discharged from further consideration of a bill that would hurt consumers.

H.R. 3808 requires federal and state courts to recognize notarized documents from other states, including ones that contain electronic notarizations that are not subject to the same consumer safeguards of documents notarized in person. Some financial institutions are using electronic notarizations to process home foreclosure documents.

Sen. Casey asked that the Senate move forward with immediate consideration of the bill with unanimous consent that the bill pass with no other action or debate. The Senate passed the bill without amendment by unanimous consent. It now sits on the President's desk. I'm asking you to email or call the President at 202-456-1111 to ask him not to sign the bill.

H.R. 3808 is known as the "Interstate Recognition of Notarizations Act." It passed the House under a suspension of the rules in April 2010. It requires federal and state courts to recognize any notarization that is lawful in the state where the notary is licensed. Now, in one day, it passed in the Senate.

When I learned of it last Thursday, it sounded innocuous to me, but then I started looking at the timing of the bill. GMAC, owned by Ally, had just suspended its foreclosure actions in 23 states, including Ohio. I had already referred Chase Home Finance, LLC, on August 23, 2010, to the U.S. Department of Justice, asking it to review and investigate Chase's document notarization practices in home foreclosures (18,000 documents per month were being notarized by 8 people, along with other irregularities). I license notaries in the State of Ohio. Even though I don't have the power under state law to investigate or prosecute, I couldn't stand idly by without acting. That's why I'm asking you to email or call the President at 202-456-1111 to ask him not to sign the bill.

Last Wednesday, the day before I announced the DOJ referral, JPMorgan Chase announced it was having third party counsel review its document procedures for foreclosures. Just two days before, the U.S. Senate had rushed through H.R. 3808. Something didn't seem right. Since then others agree with me.

I would like to extend our thanks to the many organizations and individuals ProgressOhio worked with over the past several months to organize for the One Nation Working Together movement.

This past Saturday we marched in Washington with tens of thousands of people from across the county to advocate for jobs, justice, and education. Events also took place back home in Ohio in support of this event.

We are very grateful to have had the opportunity to help organize and support this historic march and will continue to fight with you for the principles behind this important movement.

Through mobilization and collectivism, we can demand progressive changes in both government and society and these values will greatly influence the upcoming elections and beyond.

At the GreenGov Symposium this morning, Secretary of Energy Steven Chu announced that the the Obama White House will bring back solar power, removed decades ago by the Reagan administration. "The number one question we get when greening the White House, is whether we're putting solar panels on the roof," Council on Environmental Quality chair Nancy Sutley said in her introduction.

After noting the many practical steps the Obama administration has taken to restore the solar energy industry in this nation, Chu announced that the the "White House will lead by example" by installing solar panels and a solar water heater on the roof:

As we move towards a clean energy economy, the White House will lead by example. I am pleased to announce that by the end of this spring, there will be solar panels that convert sunlight into electricity and a solar hot water heater on the roof of the White House. It's been a long time since we've had them up there. These two solar installations will be part of a Department of Energy demonstration project. The project will show that American solar technology is available, reliable, and ready to install in homes throughout the country. Around the world, the White House is a symbol of freedom and democracy. It should also be a symbol of America's commitment to a clean energy future.

Watch it:

~ Wonk Room

About 250 young people will be in the audience for the MTV event, Viacom officials said. It will be shown live at 4 p.m. on Oct. 14 on six channels owned by Viacom: MTV, MTVu, BET, CENTRIC, CMT, and the bilingual Tr3s. MTV has the largest audience of the six.

Proposition B, otherwise known as the puppy mill cruelty issue on the Nov. 2 ballot, is shaping up to be as much of a dog fight as any of Missouri's candidate races to be decided by state voters.

Supporters of Prop. B contend the initiative will end widespread abuse of dogs raised in poorly-managed puppy breeding facilities. Opponents of Prop. B see it as a radical animal activist measure that will hurt jobs in the state and put legitimate breeding operations out of business.

The Humane Society argues that there's nothing radical in outlawing the squalid conditions of puppy mills. A group called the Alliance for Truth argues that Prop. B is not necessary and will hurt pet food companies, pet suppliers, veterinarians, hunters and farmers.

After participating in one election forum against Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy, Republican challenger Steve Stivers is backing out of another -- allegedly because it will feature the two minor-party candidates on the ballot.

Kilroy's campaign announced today that Stivers won't participate in a WBNS-TV debate that was to have included David Ryon of the Constitution Party and Libertarian William J. Kammerer. The Stivers campaign confirmed his non-participation.

On Monday, Stivers and Kilroy appeared at a Rotary Club-sponsored forum that excluded the minor-party contenders. Kilroy spent much of the half-hour forum excoriating Stivers over alleged flip-flops in his positions.

Ryon criticized Stivers as a faux conservative in an article published the same day.

The Kilroy campaign accused Stivers of chickening out because he was likely to face attacks both from the Democratic incumbent and the conservative minor-party candidates.

"Stivers knows that if he were to share the stage with David Ryon and Bill Kammerer, he would not be able to defend his changing positions and would be exposed as a phony," Kilroy's campaign charged in a press release.

Congesswoman Kilroy is up on Facebook running this ad:

Now David Ryon the Constitution Party candidate is taunting Stivers on Twitter:

What's the real problem here? Well, it could be that Congresswoman Kilroy beat him so badly the last time they were on stage together that "wittle Stevie cried wee, wee , wee all the way home".

Jonathan McIntosh
http://www.rebelliouspixels.com

Glenn Beck responds.

As expected, Glenn's defense was riddled with distortions, deceit and downright nonsense. Thereby proving the video's point.

Watch It:

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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 7, 7:00 pm

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From our affiliate, The Courage Campaign's Prop 8 Trial Tracker:

It is obvious to all of us that the so-called National Organization for Marriage doesn't receive permission for use of the music they play at their public rallies. If they had asked permission, they would know that the artists whose works they're co-opting want nothing to do with NOM and their bigoted anti-equality campaigns.

I'm sure you remember the cease and desist letter sent to NOM President Brian Brown in response to the organization's use of the Peter, Paul & Mary recording of Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land" at their rally in Albany, NY.

Well, John Mellencamp isn't happy about NOM's use of his music, either.

Read The Full Story Here

At the Paris Motor Show today, electric cars are everywhere.

Chevrolet is showing off the Volt, its plug-in hybrid due in U.S. showrooms this December. (Motown music blared as a Chevy rep told me all about the car's performance.) Nissan is displaying the Leaf, its all-electric sedan scheduled to roll off assembly lines in Tennessee starting in 2012. Volvo has new plug-in models. So do Saab, Peugot and other European manufacturers. And as I walked through the gates in a huge crowd, the first paper put in my hands was a glossy newspaper describing the show under the headline "Un Mondial Electrique" ("An Electric World").

And even though I'm a Michigan Wolverine, my favorite might have been the sleek all-electric "Buckeye Bullet" built by a team at Ohio State University that broke records going 320 miles per hour on the Bonneville Salt Flats in August.

Read The Full Story Here

David Sandalow is the Assistant Secretary for Policy and International Affairs

COLUMBUS, Ohio - October 4, 2010 - Kasich "will risk everything we've earned" says a new AFL-CIO mail piece going out union retiree households across the state today.  The mailer features a message from union retirees Norma and Jim Schlosser who are not supporting gubernatorial candidate John Kasich because of his support of Social Security privatization and involvement in pushing deals, while at Lehman Brothers, that cost Ohio pension funds $480 million.

The mailer is one of three AFL-CIO mailings on the Governor's race.  The other pieces include a comparison piece that details Governor Strickland support for prevailing wage laws and opposition to Social Security privatization and trade deals that outsourced jobs, issues that Kasich has a record of supporting. 

The final mailer highlights Governor Strickland's strong record on sportsmen rights.  Strickland voted against the Clinton Gun Ban and has received the endorsement of the National Rifle Association (NRA).  John Kasich voted for the Clinton Gun Ban and received an "F" rating from the NRA.

The mailers are part the Ohio Labor 2010 program and a nationwide mail effort by the AFL-CIO that hits 3 million union members' mailboxes this week.

The Ohio Labor 2010 program is mobilizing union volunteers across Ohio to educate tens of thousands of workers each week about their choice in the mid-term elections.  The program - launched by the Ohio AFL-CIO and participating unions in July - is the largest voter mobilization efforts in the state, reaching union households daily through telephone, direct mail, door-to-door walks, and worksite leafleting. 

The Ohio AFL-CIO represents 650,000 workers from 1,600 local unions across Ohio to fight for working families, brings economic justice to the workplace, and to achieve social justice for all Ohioans.

Compounding reports from the weekend that Democrats, one month out from election day, are experiencing a miniature resurgence of sorts is the news that the Democratic National Committee hauled in $16 million in September. The total represents the biggest month of the 2010 election cycle (or, for that matter, of any midterm election in nearly a decade) for the DNC, notes The Washington Post's Chris Cillizza.

More than 80 percent of it was raised from online and direct-mail donors, giving Democrats cause to argue that their base is rapidly reawakening.

Even as Democrats face a difficult October, there are signs that President Obama's 2008 supporters are beginning to wake up.

The Democratic National Committee will report today that September was the committee's best fundraising month of the election cycle, besting its previous high, in March, by a significant amount.

Brad Woodhouse, a spokesman for the DNC, said the organization plans to report raising more than $16 million last month; in March, the committee raised about $13.3 million.

Even better for the Democrats, most of that money came from the kind of contributors who fueled the Obama for President campaign in 2008: low-dollar donors who gave online or sent small checks in the mail.

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) argued in an op-ed that the Tea Party is divisive, driven by anger and doesn't like America "the way we are."

Writing in Monday's USA Today, Brown said that liberals should be proud to run on healthcare and Wall Street reform and discuss the accomplishments "in specific, understandable terms."

Progressives are an impatient bunch. We fight for people who have waited too long already -- for health care, for educational opportunity, for jobs to keep them in the middle class.

But for generations, conservatives have appealed to fear to protect the privileged and preserve the status quo -- fear of immigrants, fear of diversity, fear of big government. For conservatives in 2010, it's easy:

"Stop."

"No."

"Repeal."

Meanwhile, for more than a century -- in churches and temples, in union halls and neighborhood centers, in the streets and at the ballot box -- progressives have moved the country forward. Progressives brought us minimum wage and Social Security in the 1930s, civil rights and Medicare in the 1960s, and health care and Wall Street reform in 2010.

Opponents of these accomplishments -- some of society's most privileged and well-entrenched interest groups -- have not changed much. The John Birch Society of 1965 has bequeathed its fervor and extremism to the Tea Party of 2010.

History tells us that rage on the right should not be confused with populism. The far right attacks government regulation as it feeds Wall Street and the insurance companies. It rails against government spending for the least privileged as it lavishes tax cuts favoring the most privileged.

Read Senator Brown's Full Op-Ed at USAToday

The September round of the Pepsi Refresh contest ended Thursday night at midnight and the official results are in.

Thanks to your incredible support, we raised $550,000 for 14 progressive non-profit organizations!

Because of your daily votes, here are all the organizations that won and the projects that are going to get funded:

Wellstone Action Education Fund ($50,000) - Working with Native American leaders for social change

Inner City Law Center ($50,000) - Saving kids from vermin-infested housing

Keystone Progress ($50,000) - Teach non-profits how to tell the story of their invaluable work

Coalition on Homelessness & Housing in Ohio ($50,000) - Teach communities in Ohio how to prevent housing crises

Polaris Project ($50,000) - End modern-day slavery in the United States

State Voices ($50,000) - Support nonpartisan civic engagement in 16 states

Rockwood Leadership Institute ($50,000) - Provide leadership training for staff of nonprofit organizations

Midwest Academy ($25,000) - Train community organizers

Fuse Washington ($25,000) - Create communications plan that engages activists in Washington

PLAN Nevada ($25,000) - Lift up community voices in Las Vegas and Reno, NV

The SHARE Food Program ($25,000) - Promote health by providing affordable wholesome food to families

Policy Matters Ohio ($25,000) - Do research to create green jobs, clean cities & opportunity for all

The League of Young Voters Education Fund also won $50,000 and the United States Student Association won $25,000!

You should take a minute and read through the projects. It's inspiring.

From preventing homelessness and fighting human trafficking to training new civic leaders and mobilizing young voters, these projects wouldn't be happening without the money you won. It's half a million dollars going to social change and you're responsible for every penny.

In fact, this project was so successful that we're going to do it again in November.

We're going to take off the month of October and come back on November 1st even stronger.

Elections can be productive or destructive, but are rarely both.

And this year, it is particularly destructive.

These days John Kasich is employing a predictable campaign tactic - if his opponent, Gov. Ted Strickland, is for something he's against it. Doesn't matter what it is or what his rhetoric would mean for Ohioans if it ever came to pass.

So while there's no surprise that Rep. Kasich is blowing hot air on Gov. Strickland's energy bill that will create wind farms on Lake Erie, it is destructive nonetheless. It is sucking the air out of a bipartisan, job-creating policy, and is exactly the type of destructive political wind that far too often has set Ohio back.

Finally Ohio harnessed a natural asset, wind, for positive gain. Rep. Kasich's diatribe on the other hand, blew political smoke on a major industrial expansion for Ohio. How much longer must Ohio's economic sails be battered by political winds, instead of steered towards the jobs that clean energy industries will bring over the horizon?

This latest storm stemmed from recent public comments where Kasich referenced plans for "putting some sort of wind turbine in Lake Erie in a spawning area.... I know some people that fish up there at Lake Erie once a year - they're not gonna put windmills - that's just dumb. If the facts of that hold to be true, it isn't gonna happen. We're gonna fight it." He has since tried to explain and backtrack but still supports potentially changing the legislation.

General Electric, the world's second largest company, has a major division headquartered in Ohio, just miles from Lake Erie. They're hoping to become known not only for their light bulbs, television networks and jet engines, but also their wind turbines - particularly the five massive ones planned for a few miles off Cleveland's shore.

Usually politicians fight for jobs, not against them. What gives, John?

Alternative energy is a burgeoning industry in Ohio. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources has signed off on protections. The wind is already there John, all we have to do is put the windmills up there for it to propel. The whole thing sounds politically fishy to me.

The deadline to register to vote in the Nov. 2 election is Monday.

Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner says registration forms have to be postmarked by Monday October 4th.

People can also drop off registration forms at county election boards, libraries and the Secretary of State's office.

• If you're on Facebook and haven't yet friended us yet, visit our Facebook page and click Like. On Monday night, we'll randomly select two of our new Facebook friends and send them a free copy.
• If you're not on Facebook or have already friended us, you can still win. Simply email and tell us the name of the best book you've read this year. We'll select two more winners at random.

House Republican Leadership have recruited, endorsed and donated nearly $115,000 to a series of Young Guns candidates with disturbing backgrounds and legal problems. 

Just yesterday it was reported reported that NRCC Young Gun Tom Ganley (OH-13) is being sued by a potential campaign volunteer for attempted rape and sexual assault.  Ganley's legal troubles come on the heels of recent reports about Republican "Young Gun" Jim Renacci (OH-16).

Did Republican Leaders know - or just not care - about their Republican recruits' lies, harassment of women, lawsuits, tax cheating, assault and negligent behavior?  

Tom Ganley (OH-13)

Republicans thought they were handed a gift when well-known multi-millionaire Tom Ganley decided to run for Congress. But Republicans failed to look into how Ganley made millions of dollars by ripping off hardworking people in Ohio.

• Ganley Sued Over 400 Times for Discrimination, Unethical Business Practices. Ganley has been sued over 400 times, including employees who have filed a series of discrimination claims over sexual, age and racial discrimination. Ganley's dealerships have also faced lawsuits from customers who were sold a car that was unsafe to drive; lied to about mileage and accident history; told to "live with" body damage; and loaned a stolen car. [Fox News, 9/07/10; Cuyahoga Court of Common Pleas]

• Ganley Sued for Attempted Rape and Sexual Assault. Just yesterday we learned that a woman has filed a suit against Ganley for sexual assault. Ganley allegedly met with the woman, who was interested in volunteering for his U.S. Senate campaign and talking about her car payments, when he propositioned and sexually assaulted her in his private office. [Plain Dealer, 9/30/10]

• Ganley received $18,500 from GOP Leadership. Ganley has received at least $18,500 in contributions from GOP leadership. [CQ Moneyline]

Jim Renacci (OH-16)

Jim Renacci made millions of dollars as the owner and operator of nursing homes throughout Ohio. Republican officials thought Renacci would be able to tout his experience in health care - but did they know he endangered his nursing home residents to make more money while sheltering his income from taxes?

• A Renacci Nursing Home Patient Dies. In 2001, a woman died in a nursing home operated by Renacci after another patient with a history of verbal and physical abuse attacked her. The woman died two days later.

• Renacci Placed Profits Before Safety. In a deposition, the nursing home administrator testified that the center did not have sufficient trained staff to control aggressive patients but that Renacci opposed any attempt to remove those patients because it would adversely affect the income of the center. [Stark County Clerk of Courts, 2001CV00598]

• Renacci Sheltered $14 Million from Taxes. In 2006, Renacci was assessed nearly $1.4 million in unpaid state taxes, interest and fees after trying to shelter some $14 million in income. For years, Renacci fought the assessment after ignoring warnings from the Tax Commissioner of Ohio that it would impose fraud penalties on taxpayers who did not file amended returns and pay the taxes due. Politifact.com found "mostly true" the statements that Renacci "cheated on his income taxes" and was a "deadbeat." [Associated Press, 4/13/10; Politifact.com, 8/27/10]

• Renacci received $34,000 from GOP Leadership. Renacci has received $34,000 from GOP leadership. [CQ Moneyline]

If you couldn't make it to Washington D.C. on today for the One Nation march, you can participate in the action by watching Free Speech TV's live coverage hosted by Grit TV's Laura Flanders and radio host Thom Hartmann.

Our coverage starts at 12 noon today!

A 40-year-old Tennessee man was charged Friday with threatening to burn down the home of Democratic Rep. John Boccieri during the midst of the healthcare debate. 

Federal prosecutors brought charges against James Schmidlin for allegedly threatening Boccieri with arson over the phone in early March.

Authorities allege Schmidlin made the threat around March 4, several weeks before Congress voted to pass the controversial legislation.

Boccieri was one of several lawmakers from both parties to receive threats from the public during the course of the debate. Several individuals have been charged or convicted of making the threats in recent weeks.

Several weeks after authorities allege the threat was made, Boccieri released a statement saying, 

"Having flown missions in and out of Iraq and Afghanistan, I know what it's like to be in harm's way. But I never imagined serving in Congress could feel the same."

The freshman lawmaker, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan as a member of the Air Force Reserve, was one of a handful of House Democrats to switch their vote from no to yes on the healthcare legislation.

§  it is the notary and not the document signer who gives an oath who fills in numbers in the affidavits used in court ordered foreclosures,

§  no oath is administered for the signing of each document,

§  notarized documents are not verified by the person signing and giving oath that they have personal knowledge of the contents of the documents, but rather, signers are relying on verification by others,

§  documents are signed in bulk and notarized in bulk separately,

§  notaries know this at the time they notarize documents in this process.

Secretary Brunner made the following statement on the situation:

"Mortgage foreclosure documents must be notarized according to the law. Requiring this is not an afterthought or an exercise of form over substance--the law must be followed when taking away someone's home, regardless of the circumstances.

For too long thousands of homes have been taken from consumers without proof that the foreclosing party actually has that right. Our courts must be cautious and require absolute adherence to the law. As the officer in Ohio who licenses notaries, I cannot stand idly by and watch financial institutions concoct a chain of title they never had by abusing the notary process.

 It's not fair to consumers or to the employees who by virtue of their jobs, are signing these documents. I urge the U.S. Department of Justice to take up this investigation with vigor and purpose to protect consumers and hold financial institutions to the standards of scrutiny and exactitude required by law, even if it means prosecuting some of our largest corporations. These apparent violations of state law point to schemes that merit federal investigation of large institution lending practices and use of the U.S. Postal Service."

Last week, GMAC Mortgage announced it had suspended evictions and post-foreclosure closings in 23 states over concerns about employees preparing foreclosures with affidavits submitted to judges containing information they did not personally verify. Yesterday it was announced that JPMorgan Chase and Co hired external counsel to review its affidavit process based on the depositions of Beth Cottrell and is delaying approximately 56,000 current foreclosure proceedings.

His accuser said she attended a Cleveland Tea Party rally where Ganley spoke on July 3, 2009, when he was a candidate for the U.S. Senate, before he decided to run for Congress. Impressed by Ganley's anti-abortion platform, the lawsuit says, the woman approached him, introduced herself and her children and offered to volunteer on his campaign.

The woman then visited Ganley's Chevrolet dealership on Lorain Avenue in Cleveland three times during the following weeks, to discuss volunteer campaign duties and a reduction in the interest rate on a car loan she received from a Ganley dealership, the lawsuit says.

Ganley talked during the meetings about fixing her van for free, reducing her interest rate and giving her a job at a dealership, according to the suit.

In their second meeting, Ganley told the woman that he and his wife lead separate lives and live on opposite sides of their home, the suit says. In each of the meetings, the suit says, Ganley pressed her about what she does for "fun."

On her last visit to Ganley's office, Aug. 1, the woman said she dropped off her van for repairs. While she waited in Ganley's office, the suit says, he made sexually suggestive comments and invited her to join him and his friends at a condominium he owns in Strongsville. Ganley gave her a $100 bill and told her to buy some lingerie and high-heeled shoes, according to the lawsuit.

Ganley told her he wanted her to dominate her, parade her on a leash and have sex with her in front of his "play friends," the suit says. It accuses him of grabbing her from behind, wrapping his arms around her, kissing her and, despite her resistance, reaching into her pants.

Ganley, a conservative Republican, faces incumbent Betty Sutton, a Democrat, in the 13th Congressional District.

On Saturday hundreds of thousands of people from throughout the county will march on Washington to put America back to work and pull Americas back together as part of the One Nation Working together movement.

This is a rapidly growing movement of everyday people across America - people of all backgrounds, hues and faiths - who have come together to reclaim our country: to reclaim it from those who evade the people's priorities instead of investing in them. They share the belief that in America today the unalienable rights our nation was founded on means jobs, justice and education.

Even if you can't make it to Washington, you can still have an impact right here in Columbus. This Saturday, October 2nd there will be a Rally and Neighborhood Walk in support of the One Nation Working Together Movement march on Washington.

Join others from the area to make a stand and reclaim our fundamental right to the American Dream on Saturday, October 2^nd at 9 am at the Central Ohio Labor Council, 1545 Alum Creek Dr., Columbus, OH 43209.

Click here to learn more about the One Nation Working Together Movement and what you can do to hold our representatives in Washington accountable for re-focusing national priorities on what is important - the American people.

Governor Ted Strickland has signed an executive order eliminating property taxes for advanced and renewable energy project facilities.

The move was taken to make it easier for energy companies to develop projects in the state - and create jobs.

Under the order, projects that begin construction before January 1, 2012, and generate power by 2013 will not face tangible personal property taxes or real property taxes.

As well as renewable energy projects, the order also grants tax exemptions for nuclear, "clean" coal and cogeneration projects.

"As Ohio residents and businesses are fighting hard to recover from the crippling Wall Street recession, we must give promising companies every reason to develop and invest in Ohio as quickly as possible," Gov. Strickland said.

"I signed this order to implement these rules and help spur business investment immediately. This tax reform is part of our economic development strategy to strengthen Ohio's business climate and help create jobs for Ohioans in our growing industries like advanced energy."

Officials in the Governor's office said companies can submit applications for their projects now. Rules and application forms will be available at the Ohio Department of Development's website.

This must be a first. Congressional Republicans are complaining that Democrats are calling them out for what they stand for: a party that wants to privatize Social Security and hand it over to Wall Street and end Medicare as we know. In fact, privatizing Social Security and ending Medicare as we know it are two pillars of Mr. Ryan's own alternative budget proposal the "Roadmap for America's Future." From the Washington Post:

Some GOP lawmakers also have endorsed Ryan's alternative budget plan, which would wipe out deficits in part by privatizing Social Security and replacing traditional Medicare benefits with an insurance voucher for people age 55 and older.

The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office analyzed the Ryan-GOP plan:

Traditional retirement benefits would be reduced below those scheduled under current law for many workers who are age 55 or younger in 2011...

And Mr. Ryan recently reiterated the GOP plan to privatize Social Security in his joint literary endeavor, "Young Guns," written with House Republican Whip Eric Cantor and House Republican Chief Deputy Whip Kevin McCarthy.

American workers and their families know the GOP wants to take Social Security and turn it from a guaranteed benefit to a guaranteed gamble. No matter how hard they try, Congressional Republicans can't hide from their own words.

It's not a response to the recession or to health care reform or to some kind of spectacular new liberal overreach.

It's what happens whenever a Democrat takes over the White House.

When FDR was in office in the 1930s, conservative zealotry coalesced in the Liberty League. When JFK won the presidency in the '60s, the John Birch Society flourished. When Bill Clinton ended the Reagan Revolution in the '90s, talk radio erupted with the conspiracy theories of the Arkansas Project. And today, with Barack Obama in the Oval Office, it's the tea party's turn.