ProgressOhio

Mendenhall Lab, Rm 100

125 S. Oval Mall

Columbus, OH 43210

Join the College Democrats at Ohio State for a Town Hall meeting with Governor Ted Strickland. Also joining us will be State Representatives Joyce Beatty, Dan Stewart, Ted Celeste, and Tracy Heard.

We will be discussing a variety of issues ranging from higher education, to the economy, to the importance of the youth vote in the state of Ohio. This is the first time Governor Strickland has come to campus to speak directly to students, and we hope this dialogue sparks continued cooperation between campus and the Statehouse. The event is free and ALL members of the community are welcome to attend. We hope to see you there. 

Join the OSU Dems at the Drexel Gateway Theatre, 1550 N High Street, on Wednesday, April 25th for our first annual Candidate Meet and Greet. The event will last from 6-9 PM.

Candidates for Columbus City Council (and possibly Mayor Coleman), the Franklin County Commissioners, and other Democratic candidates and elected officials from in and around Central Ohio will be joining us. A few State Representatives and State Senators will also be in attendance. This is an excellent opportunity to hear directly from local leaders.

Admission is free with a student ID and is $10 for community members. Food and Drinks provided. We hope to see you there!

FEC reports for Quarter 1 were due today. Here is how a few key Ohioans did:

OH-1: 

Chabot--Total Receipts: $116,865  Cash on Hand: $159,776

OH-2:

Schmidt--I couldn't find Mean Jean's filing on the FEC website. She either didn't file on time or there is a glitch on the site. When I punched in OH-2, only Pat DeWine and Rob Portman's committees appeared. 

OH-14:

LaTourette--Receipts: $79,700  CoH: $172,460

OH-15:

Pryce--Receipts: $208,368  CoH: $171,446

Kilroy--Recepits: $22,923  CoH: $35,635

OH-16:

Regula--Receipts: $1,560  CoH: $91,178

OH-18:

Space--Receipts: $212,866  CoH: $180,343 

The most interesting piece of information out of all of this is Regula's abysmal fundraising this quarter. Where it appears that Chabot, Pryce, and Space are all gearing up for a fight, Regula's numbers will simply add to the speculation that he wil retire after serving this final term. I would expect LaTourette's Q2 numbers to improve significantly now that Judge William O'Neil has made it clear that he will challenge LaTourette in the 14th.

Finally, Kilroy's numbers were also accompanied by what appeared to be some pretty significant debt left over from 2006. She will have to kick her fundraising into high gear later this year in order to keep up with the money Pryce is receiving from corporate PACs--espcially those associated with the insurance industry. 

Check out www.FEC.gov to scan the database.

After first overseeing the disasterous Coingate scandal, Republicans are continuing to play politics with the Bureau of Workers' Compensation. This time, led by State Sen. Steve Stivers (R-Hilliard), they are threatening to block Gov. Strickland's nomination of a highly qualified AEP executive, Marsha Ryan, as BWC administrator. Just how qualified is Ms. Ryan to lead the BWC? Well, according the Dispatch: 

Ryan, a Toledo native, moved back to Ohio last fall to take her current post at AEP, leaving her job of two years as president and chief operating officer of Indiana Michigan Power.

She has worked for AEP since 1990, serving in executive positions in government affairs, marketing, customer care and field operations. Before that, she worked for more than 18 years with the Ohio Department of Commerce, the Ohio attorney general, the Consumers' Counsel and the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio.

Ryan has also served on the board of State Auto Mutual Insurance since 2002. Despite mountains of evidence to the contrary, Stivers had the audacity to say this:

But state Sen. Steve Stivers, R-Upper Arlington, who sits on the bureau's Oversight Commission as a nonvoting member, said it doesn't appear that Ryan has enough experience in the insurance industry or management background.

Ryan served in executive positions in four different areas at American Electric Power, served as the Chief Operating Officer of Indiana/Michigan Power, sat on the board of a major insurance company, and has 18 years of state government experience in a variety of agencies. And on top of that impressive resume, she is eager to take the job:

In an interview, Ryan said there's probably not a tougher job in state government but that she's ready for the challenge.

"That's why I want to do it," she said. "I'm definitely up for it."

Ryan said the dominant trend throughout her professional life has been how to "fix things, improve things and make processes that work well." She wants to re-establish "professionalism, accountability and transparency" at the bureau.

A more qualified candidate does not exist. Give Sen. Stivers a call at (614) 466-5981 or email him at sd16@mailr.sen.state.oh.us, and tell him to stop playing politics with the BWC

Ohio House of Representatives

Office of Representative Ted Celeste

 For immediate release: Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Celeste reacts to Strickland’s State of the State address

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Today, State Representative Ted Celeste (D- Grandview Heights) offered the following statement in response to Governor Ted Strickland’s first State of the State address.

“Governor Strickland’s address zeroed in on exactly what Ohio needs at this critical time- an investment in all levels of education, a focus on rebuilding our economy, and a commitment to expanding health care coverage for Ohio’s children,” Celeste said.  “From the proposed increase in the state’s contribution to local schools to the twenty-five percent property tax cut for one out of four Ohio homeowners, today’s proposals will set the stage to turnaround Ohio.”

OH-15: Today's Dispatch has an interesting piece:

"We could have a primary," Brooks acknowledged.

She returned yesterday from Washington, where she attended the National Association of Counties’ annual legislative conference.

Off-hours, she courted officials of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

"I got a very good reception," she said.

Also yesterday, Kilroy announced that she was planning a rematch against U.S. Rep. Deborah Pryce, R-Upper Arlington. She began asking supporters this week for donations.

To summarize: Kilroy is in officially and Brooks unofficially. It is very early, but neither of them sounds of if they are planning on backing down from this race. That obviously leave us with a potentially contested primary.  I'm not personally going to voice and opinion because I like, respect, and have good relationships with both women.

But I will say a few things that I don't like about about a contested primary scenario:

1. It leaves two county commission seats undefended. We have our collective foot on the throat of the FCRP. The only position of any consequence outside of judges they still hold is the county auditor. I don't like potentially handling them a big homerun to revitalize a faltering county party

2. Money--this one is going to cost the big bucks, and I don't want to see our eventual nominee wasting valuable $$ on a primary. Remember, it's about taking the seat in November, not in March. Also, unless Pryce drops out, there is little change of an R primary. We don't want our candidate weakened by a primary.

3. It pits two powerful and important women in the Franklin County party against one another. I hate to lose one of them to service in the federal government, but I would especially hate to see  them both out of government at the local level. It puts incredible pressure on Marilyn Brown (the remaining commissioner) to campaign hard and get two new colleagues for herself elected. 

This debate has been raging at BSB here and here. I'd love to know what readers here think about the OH-15 race. At the very least, Pryce has got to be sweating that fact that in less than 6 months from her last election, she potentially has already got two strong challengers coming for her.

Here's the deal according to the Dispatch:

The nation’s county commissioners are calling on Congress and the White House to adopt laws that would reduce the industrial emissions believed to cause higher global temperatures.

In a meeting here yesterday attended by Franklin County Commissioner Paula Brooks, the board of directors of the National Association of Counties approved a resolution to combat global warming. It was the first time the nation’s commissioners have agreed on a climate-change policy.

"It shows broad-based support for doing something about this problem," said Brooks, a Democrat. "This is a very positive thing. It says that at the local level, people want something done."

The resolution calls on the federal government to approve a "series of practical incentives" that would allow U.S. industry to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, which is thought to be a major contributor to the rise in temperature of the Earth’s atmosphere and oceans. The resolution also asks the White House and Congress to spend more to support "all means of emissions reductions."

Ground-up action might be the only way we are going to see major change in warming policy across the United States. In the face of a seemingly paralyzed federal government, we've already seen quite a few municipalities and states across the country taking the initiative. According to the article, this is the first time the nation's county governments have gotten together and spoken on the issue, which is an important step. 

Global warming is one issue where grassroots action has the potential to be incredibly effective, and we need to continue to elect local leaders who are committed to finding practical solutions to the global problems. Remember...today's city councilmen, mayors, county comissioners, etc. are tomorrow's congressmen, senators, and governors.

Congrats to Paula Brooks, Mary Jo Kilroy, Marilyn Brown and the rest of the nation's county comissioners who signed on to this resolution.  

I made a bit of a mistake earlier when I made it sound like the Kilroy/Pryce match was a certain thing. There has been no official word from Kilroy yet on her intentions, but mounting evidence suggests that she is strongly considering (if not already decided) making the run again.

Anyways the point of the post is to drum up early netroots support for Mary Jo and encourage her to get in the race again. You can still help by going to Russ Feingold's Progressive Patriots site and putting in her name. It literally takes 30 seconds and is well worth the effort. As we all know, early support is critical to the success of a campaign. 

Let's show Mary Jo what we can do. 

HT to Kos...I don't know how I missed this one. From ABC's Brian Ross:

he National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) won't say what it plans to do with thousands of dollars in campaign donations it received from an accused terror financier.

Abdul Tawala Ibn Ali Alishtari gave $15,250 to the NRCC since 2002, according to FEC records published on the Web site opensecrets.org. (emphasis mine)

I always new the Republicans were willing to sell out the American people for a campaign donation. They did it with the drug companies while writing the medicare bill and with the enegery companies while writing Bush's enegry plan, but this is a little extreme even for them.

The fact that this guy gave to the NRCC means that any Republican who takes NRCC money is tainted by it. Afterall, the NRRC is the:

main political group dedicated to helping the Republican party win seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. 

My favorite part of the whole deal is that not only did the NRCC take alleged terrorist money, they also named the guy their "Businessperson of the Year" and a lifetime member of their "Inner Circle."

The guy is pretty dirty according to the indictment handed down by a grand jury in New York. He is accused of laundering somewhere in the neighborhood of $150,000 to buy night vision goggles and other equipment for terrorist training camps. You know...the same kind of equipment the Republicans never seem to be able to give the troops. The campaign commercial pretty much writes itself for this one.

You won't see this on any rightie blogs today:

With Bush's approval ratings mired by the unpopular war, Americans trust congressional Democrats over Bush to handle the situation in Iraq by a margin of 54 percent to 34 percent.

It has slipped slightly since the State of the Union when we held an advantage in the mid-20% range, but the message is undeniable: The people trust Democrats to get us out of Iraq. Hopefully the congressional leadership will remember that as they get creative with upcoming legislation. This isn't necessarily a call for an immediate withdrawl, but we can certainly take it as a sign that the American people are ready for a timetable to get the hell out of there. Let's have the troops home by the end of 2008. It is an entirely reasonable request.

ABC and CNN all have it. It appears to be for one reason and one reason only: he can't raise the money. From the ABC report:

He simply hasn't raised enough of it to pay the bills of the size staff he would need to run a credible campaign.  One source said he hadn't even raised $1 million so far this year, and the expenses were growing. 

He is not expected, however, to denounce the notion that only the well-funded and rich can run for president. Another however: you are sure to hear a round of hand-wringing about this from some of the other candidates and some pundits.

He told his staff only this morning of his decision.  They did not try to talk him out of it.  He also started making calls to his supporters this morning.

I'm not surprised although I had hoped it wouldn't start happening this early. With Hillary and Obama apparently beating the hell out of each other, I worry about a situation where our front-runners are bloody and our second tier is all but nonexistent. We have to hope that Richardson, Dodd, etc. will stay in for the long haul.

Another interesting thing I picked up from ABC news is a glowing endorsement from Jimmy Carter for Al Gore. I can envision a scenario where Gore jumps into the race late after Hillary, Obama, or Edwards (or perhaps all three) have self-destructed or totally blasted each other to pieces. Gore is the only candidate who could afford to wait. It still seems unlikely, but it is within the realm of possibility.

Today's Washington Post has a story about pressure on Congress to pass national standards that require paper trail for voting machines:

Efforts are intensifying in Congress to pass legislation that would require electronic touch-screen voting machines used in federal elections to provide paper trails that could be checked in the case of a recount.

The new momentum is the result of lingering concerns about the machines as the 2008 presidential primaries fast approach, as well as strong support for changes by the new Democratic majority, with Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), chair of the Rules Committee, taking a leading role.

"We are closer to paper-trail legislation than we have been before," said Doug Chapin, director of Electionline.org, an elections clearinghouse.

"Democrats are committed to election-reform legislation that requires all voting machines produce a paper trail," said Brendan Daly, a spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).

The work at the national level echoes moves in many states. Often under pressure from voting-rights groups, 27 states have decided to require paper trails.

It appears that Sen. Feinstein will be leading the charge along with Rep. Holt (D-NJ). Holt has already introduced paper trail legislation in the House with over 200 cosponsors. Feinstein is set to introduce parallel legislation soon. The goal is to have everything in place in time for the 2008 primary season. It is ambitious, but after the disaster in Florida's 13th Congressional District this past cycle people seem motivated to get this done. 

Florida is already moving towards optical scan voting, which is how Ohio currently counts its absentee ballots. Personally, I find this particular method ideal for voting because of how straightforward it is. Voters fill out ballots by hand which are then fed through an optical scanner. The scanner makes a fast count in order to get election night totals. If necessary the machine can go back and read the ballots more slowly. The actual ballots can also be counted by hand. 

Ohio would be smart to switch to this system as well. Not only does it better ensure accuracy, but it reduces the time it takes to vote. Instead of being limited by the number of machines provided by the Board of Elections, each precinct can simply set up more tables and dividers to allow for an overflow of voters. It also requires less poll worker training and no computer confusion. Overall, it appears to be the best system out there to ensure orderly and accurate elections.

See the full WaPo story here.

State Rep. Ted Celeste (D-Grandview Heights) announced Thursday that he has been named to serve on the House Education Committee. I know that he was very anxious to get that particular appointment, so congratulations go out to him for that.

It is especially important that dedicated State Reps like Ted are serving on this key committee. Both Ted Strickland and Ted Celeste talked a lot about education during the campaign, and hopefully they will have an opportunity to move forward where the righties have failed so miserably.

As a former OSU Trustee, Celeste is very knowledgeable about education and will be an asset to the governor and the legislature as they attempt to reform our convoluted education system.

For more information: tedceleste.com or his Ohio House webpage

I'm posting the entire press release below the fold. 

Finally someone says it. From CNN:

"This war is a serious situation. It involves the worst foreign policy mistake in the history of this country," Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nevada, told CNN's "Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer."

"So we should take everything seriously. We find ourselves in a very deep hole and we need to find a way to dig out of it."

Asked whether he considers it a worse blunder than Vietnam, Reid responded, "Yes."

Comparisons to Vietnam are nothing new, but a "worse than" designation from a top lawmaker is. (emphasis added)

Obviously in a head to head casuality count Vietnam remains a more deadly conflict. The war in Iraq also hasn't dragged on that long...yet, but it's the broader implications of what Bush and Co. have done to the region that make Reid's statement such an apt observation. By invading Iraq and then doing next to nothing to stabilize the country, Bush has opened the lid on a thousand year old sectarian conflict. It isn't likely the any amount of American military power would be capable of putting that lid back on this late in the game. Bush has created a breeding ground for terrorists that makes Taliban-era Afghanistan look like a kindergarten classroom. 

Perhaps the more dangerous implication of Bush's Iraq policy is the empowerment of Iran. By taking out Saddam, Bush broke the dam holding back the Iranians. He opened the door for Iranian hegemony in a region that needs it like I need a hole in my head. Strategically, Bush has screwed us for the foreseeable future.

and you know what? THANK GOD. At the very least we are in for a fun campaign. Franken announced today on his final radio show. From CNN:

"I'm not a typical politician," Franken said in an 8½ minute video message on his Web site. "I've spent my career as a comedian. Minnesotans have a right to be skeptical about whether I'm ready for this challenge, and to wonder how seriously I would take the responsibility that I'm asking you to give me."

Franken said he takes such issues seriously because of his background -- growing up in a working-class family that moved from New Jersey to Minnesota when he was 4 years old -- and his wife's family background -- she grew up with a widowed mother and four siblings who lived on Social Security survivor's benefits.

"That's what progressives like me believe the government is there for," he said. "To provide security for middle-class families like the one I grew up in, and opportunity for working poor families like the one [my wife] grew up in."

I think Franken will be a major help in forcing the Democratic candidates to speak in plain english. We won't be getting much political BS from Al or other midwestern/western Dems.  Meanwhile his Bush-appeaser opponent is going to run like hell from the Republican party for the next two years.

2008 is going to be a year of great pickup opportunities, which has been one of the arguments against Franken getting into the race. Franken isn't stupid, he doesn't want Coleman to remain in the Senate, and he certainly doesn't want to help the Republicans. To all the doubters out there I will just say this: don't underestimate Al Franken or the quirky Minnesota voter.

Check out alfranken.com for more.

Over the weekend, Matt Naugle of Right Angle Blog posted a funny, if totally misleading, video about the ridiculous Pelosi plane controversy. It was a satire of VH1's show "Fabulous Life." Now anyone who knows me knows that I love a good youtube moment (see my work with Deborah Pryce's campaign staff), but I can't help taking a swipe at him for this one.

We don't really need to relive the story, but for anyone who doesn't know it was a pretty stupid thing for the righties to get inflamed about. Basically it happened like this: since 9/11, the military provides extra security for the Speaker including a plane for use on official business. The plane Hastert used didn't have the fuel capacity to reach San Franciso, so the House sergeant-at-arms asked for one that could make the whole trip. The righties blew up, and the rest is history. If you really need to read more click here. 

Anyways if you take a close look at Naugle's post, you make an interesting observation:

Submitted by Matthew on February 10, 2007 - 8:26pm. Tags: Democrat Corruption

Apparently Saturday nights are a little lonely in Naugle-land. 

According to The Washington Post's Anne Applebaum, yes it is:

Don’t get me wrong: I was convinced of the consensus on global warming a long time ago, have accepted that human use of fossil fuels has caused it and am very glad so many European politicians take the scientists’ words seriously. The question is whether these same Europeans will start taking the solutions seriously. If so, they must begin by abandoning the bankrupt Kyoto treaty on climate change and encouraging the United States to do so, too.

The column discusses how Kyoto is unenforceable and how few of the nations who actually did sign are on track to make their emissions targets. China and India, the countries with fastest growing emissions rates, are totally exempt because they are "developing nations."

Applebaum seems to think that the only way to force major change is instate a broadbased carbon tax.

Lasting solutions will have to be extremely simple and, because of the cost implicit in reducing the use and emissions of fossil fuels, also will have to benefit countries that impose them in other ways. There is such a solution that is grippingly unoriginal, requires no special knowledge of economics and is easy for any country to implement. It’s called a carbon tax, and it should be applied across the board to every industry that uses fossil fuels, every home or building with a heating system, every motorist and every public-transportation system. It would produce a wealth of innovations to save fuel, as well as incentives to conserve. More to the point, it would produce a big chunk of money that could be used for other things. Anyone for balancing the budget? As a foreign-policy side benefit, users of the tax would suddenly find themselves less dependent on Persian Gulf oil or Russian natural gas, too.

I don't know enough about climate change policy to make a good judgement call on this one, but I can see how a carbon tax would force innovation. Republicans love to say that the market will take care of the problem, but can we jumpstart the process by making use of fossil fuels economically inefficient? It makes for an interesting discussion.

I'm stealing Jill's topic, but I don't think she'll mind. Here is a letter I wrote to the Upper Arlington News. It was published in this week's paper.

To the Editor:

Last week's UA News contained two letters defending Congresswoman Deborah Pryce by making two terribly misguided assertions. The first is that anyone who expresses concern about Pryce's actions or record is part of an anti-Deborah conspiracy. The second is that Pryce is a moderate Republican.

In the month since the 110th Congress convened, Pryce has voted against a bill designed to lower the cost of prescription drugs for seniors, against an increase in our use of alternative energy sources—a goal even President Bush supports—and against a resolution to increase congressional oversight and strengthen our intelligence gathering.

At a time when 60% of Americans oppose it, Pryce has also told the Dispatch that an escalation of President Bush's failed adventure in Iraq is our "best option." Not only is she out of touch with the American people but also with members of her own party. Republicans Warner, Coleman, Smith, and Collins in the Senate, and Jones, Gilchrest, Duncan, Coble, Paul, Bartlett, and LaTourette in the House have all expressed opposition to sending more troops to Iraq. As usual, Pryce's position is on the far right wing.

Pryce is against cheaper drugs for seniors, against alternative energy, and against a stronger and better-managed intelligence community. The only thing she stands for is a pointless escalation of the failed war in Iraq. That is not a record of moderation. That is a record of failure.

Community newspapers are an excellent targets for LTEs. They get wide readership in a targeted community and generally don't have as much letter traffic. This means that your letter is much more likely to get published.

We experimented with this during the Kilroy campaign, and we found that it was a very effective way to get a message out from a different angle. Having neighborhood supporters speak on a candidate's behalf is a fresh approach. Since it isn't directly tied to the campaign, it can grab attention in a way that campaign communications might not.

From CNN:

An umbrella insurgent group claimed responsibility for downing a U.S. helicopter and "burning it down completely" near Baghdad on Wednesday, according to a claim listed on various Islamist Web sites.

CNN was unable to confirm the authenticity of the statement from the group, which includes al Qaeda in Iraq.

It was the fifth U.S. helicopter to go down in Iraq in almost three weeks.

The Internet posting says that "the defense air brigade of the Islamic state of Iraq" shot down a Chinook helicopter in the Karma region of Anbar province, near Falluja.

Needless to say, the insurgents' track record over the last few weeks has raised some concerns.

our U.S. helicopters -- three military and one civilian -- were shot down in Iraq between January 20 and Friday, raising concerns that insurgents are becoming more proficient at downing the aircraft.

Sixteen U.S. troops died in the three military chopper crashes, and five employees of the Blackwater private security company were killed January 23 when their helicopter came under heavy fire in eastern Baghdad.

The Senate Armed Services Committee raised the issue during a hearing Tuesday on the military budget.

There shouldn't be any confusion in Congress or anywhere else abou the "proficiency" of the insurgents in bringing down our choppers. I'd say their track record over the last few weeks demonstrates a level of expertise hitherto unseen amongst Iraqi fighters. 

Meanwhile, the House opens three days of debate beginning Tuesday on Iraq. All members will be given five minutes to express their views on the conflict before a vote on the resolution late Thursday. I'll be especially interested to hear from Deb Pryce, considering that she told the Dispatch a few weeks ago that the escalation was our best option. 

HT Kos

The EFCA is one of the most important pieces of workers' rights legislation likely to come up this year. It requires the immediate certification of a union if 50% of employees in a workplace have signed up for it. The way the law is written now allows employers to harrass and intimdate employees in order to get them vote against creating a union. The bill has 230 co-sponsors in the House. More info at the AFL-CIO blog.

This bill is huge for labor, and has to potential to jump-start faltering union strength. No word yet on when it will come to the floor for a vote or its prospects in the Senate. Stay tuned, this will be an important bill to watch. Anti-worker Republicans will most certainly try to sabotage the legislation at some stage, most likely when it reaches the Senate. Kudos to Ohio Reps. Space, Tubbs-Jones, Kaptur, Kucinich, Ryan, Sutton, Wilson, and LaTourette (yes I'm praising a Republican...it's a good bill.) for signing on as co-sponsers.

Special dig at Deborah Pryce for backing away from this one. Put this on the ammo pile to use against "Ms. Moderate" in 2008.