Doremus Jessup's Blog

Ohio has a corruption problem

User from Columbus, OH — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 13:12:34 EST

USA Today has a story about which state has had the most federal public corruption convictions between 1998-2007. Ohio does not fare well.

Republicans dominated Ohio state politics during this period which saw 537 convictions meted out in Ohio. This the same exact number of convictions as in California, a state with over three times our population.

Hopefully we have turned the cornered with new leadership in Ohio and Washington. But expect past cases to still percolate through the system like yesterday's indictment of University of Akron trustee, Jack Morrison Jr., Republican, for having an interest in a property the university bought.

Justice for sale

User from Columbus, OH — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 11:11:57 EDT

Why are the supreme court races getting no meaninful press attention? Of all the races in Ohio these two are going to have the most effect on the people of Ohio.

COLUMBUS -- Supreme Court candidate Judge Joseph D. Russo said that the high court must shake what he believes is a perception that justice can be bought in Ohio and he has a plan to do it.

A Supreme Court justice would have to automatically recuse himself or herself from any case involving an entity -- such as a law firm or business -- whose aggregate contribution to the judge exceeds $10,000 within the past seven years, under Russo's idea.

Why People Drink Bottled Water

User from Columbus, OH — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 14:41:01 EDT

The Associated Press has done an exhaustive study of drugs in big city municipal water supplies and Columbus does not fare well. Of the 62 municipalities Columbus has the fourth highest number of drugs behind Philadelphia Northern New Jersey and Washington DC. The findings could be the result of better testing in Columbus but some how I doubt it. Columbus needs to find ways to get both human drugs and pesticides like Atrazine out of it's water supply.

Waiting for a Swift Boat

User from Columbus, OH — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 14:24:48 EST

The special election next week in the Ohio 5th CD may be getting more than a little nasty. The National Republican Congressional Campaign has reported they are spending $280,000 to oppose the Democratic candidate Robin Weirauch. The NRCC has hired Stevens Reed Curcio & Potholm to do the job. Stevens Reed created the very first Swift Boat ad. Are they going to lie about Robin Weirauch record like they did about John Kerry? We need a full, honest discussion on issues of the day like Iraq, the economy, the credit crunch and gasoline prices, not political bile.

Money makes the world go round

User from Columbus, OH — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 00:41:23 EDT

Check out PoliticalMoneyLine to see the latest campaign finance numbers for Congress members and candidates for the US House of Representatives. Two interesting observations on Ohio candidates in the new filings due Sunday (7/15).
First, Deb Pryce raised $260,486 from PACs the last three months, the 11th largest total in the country.
Second, former Congressman and Bush appointee, Bob Portman’s old congressional committee has $1,484,873 in the bank. That makes his committee the 21st largest congressional war chest in the country and the largest of any Ohio representative. All numbers accurate as of 12:30 AM.