DENVER - Democrats have chosen 55 bloggers who will be granted access to the national convention in Denver this summer.
The "State Blogger Corps" includes one blogger from each state plus the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, and one blogger representing Democrats abroad.
Party officials say the list, announced Wednesday, includes some full-time professional bloggers and some part-timers and volunteers.
They were chosen from among more than 400 applications.
Democrats say other bloggers will get credentials as part of a general pool, but party officials haven't said how big the pool will be nor what access it will have.
Watch it:
Here's her acceptance speech
Watch it:
Today's Columbus Dispatch reports findings of a Central Ohio survey that documents discrimination aimed at the LGBT community.
The survey is the just latest evidence of Ohio's need to pass pending legislation that would outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
On Tuesday, May 15th, the Senate Judiciary Committee will hear testimony on Senate Bill 305, which seeks to ban such discrimination in housing, employment or public accommodation.
Survey's respondents report threats, intolerance
They are mostly healthy, in committed relationships and happy with central Ohio's social scene.
But people responding to a first-ever survey of area gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender residents also report high levels of depression, face threats because of their sexual orientation and often suffer discrimination in the workplace.
The findings show that Columbus, although known as a gay-friendly city, still has some work to do, survey organizers said.
"We have to create a community in which everyone feels welcome and everyone feels at home, now," said Bill LaFayette, vice president of economic analysis for the Columbus Chamber.
"I think it's important for the business community to take a look at this, and take a look at themselves."
LaFayette was a volunteer member of the steering committee for the "GLBT Census of Central Ohio," a project led by the Columbus AIDS Task Force, Stonewall Columbus and the United Way of Central Ohio.
Organizers said they opted for the anonymous, online survey to attract the most participants. It isn't possible to extract demographic snapshots of the entire gay and lesbian community from U.S. Census data because it does not ask about sexual orientation.
An estimated 35,000 gay, lesbian and bisexual residents live in Columbus, with about 68,000 in the metro area.
ProgressOhio has created a website "Do What's Right Ohio" in association with our friends and allies at Equality Ohio.
The website will officially launch next week.
Together, we can make Ohio a place where everyone feels at home!Trader Joe's announced on Thursday it will stop selling eggs from Gemperle Enterprises.
A video was shot by a member of the 'Mercy for Animals' organization infiltrated the farm.
MFA says chickens there live in squalor, and are routinely brutalized.
Mercy For Animals has just released a shocking video from their latest undercover investigation documenting the routine cruelty, abuse and neglect found at battery cage egg farms.
This video made a major splash in today's LA Times and is now being featured on television stations across the state and country.
Help stop the growth of these social, environmental, and humanitarian nightmares known as factory farms, in Ohio.
- Watch the video here.
- Sign The Petition to Governor Ted Strickland urging him to ban new factory farms in Ohio. We will hand-deliver your comments to the Governor and everyone who participates will be emailed a special video.
- Make a difference by incorporating some of these delicious egg-free, vegetarian recipes into your menu
WASHINGTON DC – Scoring a big victory for American taxpayers, Congressman Zack Space (OH-18) announced today that his Coin Modernization and Taxpayer Savings Act of 2008 has passed the House of Representatives.
This measure will save an estimated $1 billion over the next ten years by mandating that the Mint change the metallic composition of coins to a cheaper substance.
Most immediately, this bill will require the Mint to switch over to a copper-plated steel penny. This change will now ensure that the penny costs only .7 cents to produce each penny – a substantial savings over the current 1.7 cent price tag.
“This legislation represents a fiscally responsible solution to a situation that grows worse with every penny minted,” Space said. “It is an insult to American taxpayers that we are manufacturing coins at a rate more than their face value represents. This bill will ensure that we reverse that situation.”
“The American taxpayer will see savings of a billion dollars over the next decade, a move that just makes sense,” Space continued.
By dramatically reducing the cost to produce pennies, this bill will also remove the impetus for the Mint’s ban preventing Jackson Metals in Jackson, Ohio from operating. That could lead to Jackson Metals again providing jobs for an area of the state that is severely depressed.
Columbus, Ohio: You boldy predicted that Bush’s approval ratings would rebound — instead he is, according to Gallup, the most unpopular presdient [sic] in history. Will you finally admit that your vision for this nation has been overwhelmingly rejected by the majority of the people?
Karl Rove: Get your facts right — there are at least three president who had worse approval ratings, Truman, Johnson and Nixon. I’m absolutely positive history will be kind to this president, who made the right decisions in a difficult time for this nation.
Rove needs to get his facts straight. The questioner is right. While Bush’s approval rating is not the lowest in history (but still near the bottom), his disapproval rating is actually the worst. According to the recent Gallup poll referenced by the questioner, Bush is indeed the most unpopular president in history — beating Truman, Johnson, and Nixon:
A recent poll of professional historians also found that “98.2 percent assessed the presidency of Mr. Bush to be a failure while 1.8 percent classified it as a success.” More than 61 percent of the historians “concluded that the current presidency is the worst in the nation’s history.”
Rove says he is still “absolutely positive history will be kind to this president.” How positive is he? As positive as he was that Republicans would win the 2006 elections?
Original Content From Center For American Progress
Remember the Pepsi-Coke Challenge?
Here's a new twist: Try the Bush-McCain Challenge—our new online quiz—and see if you can tell the difference between Bush and McCain!
Actually we don't expect the cheers to start pouring in from the Ohio GOP, but Secretary of State Brunner and Ohio voting documented another big win that you may have missed in the furor over AG Dann.
Cuyahoga vote audit matches primary results
CLEVELAND (AP) - The elections board in Cuyahoga County says a hand-count audit of votes from the presidential primary matches the results from scanned paper ballots.
A sample of 30,000 paper ballots from 99 precincts were hand-counted by teams composed of Republicans and Democrats last week.
Board of Elections Deputy Director Pat McDonald said Monday that the voluntary audit was part of a pilot program of Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner to help determine consistency and performance of high-speed optical scanning.
I guess the Ohio GOP just forgot about what happened in the Cuyohoga Primary in 2006 under Republican Secretary of State Ken Blackwell:
In the 2006 primary, Cuyahoga County used the controversial Diebold touchscreen voting machines. These machines suffered a well-publicized meltdown, in which many malfunctioned. A report from the Election Science Institute (ESI) documented significant differences between votes actually cast on the machines as opposed to those officially counte
Immediately following the election, 562,498 votes were reported cast in Cuyahoga County, with 30,791 listed as absentee or provisional ballots. But the official results show just 468,056 counted. This means that 94,442 ballots cast in the unofficial total disappeared in the official tallies, representing a shocking 16.8% of all the votes cast in Cuyahoga.
We expect to hear "three cheers for Secretary Brunner" from the OHIO GOP any day now, but we're just not going to be foolish and hold our breath.
Barack Obama issued a response ad this afternoon answering Hillary Clinton's final spots in IN and NC.
In her ad, Clinton asks: "What's happened to Barack Obama? He's attacking Hillary's plan to give you a break on gas prices."
Obama counters: "A war that should never have been waged. An economy in turmoil. Record prices at the pump. America held hostage to foreign oil. And what does Hillary Clinton offer us? More of the same old negative politics."
First, HRC's spot, "What's Happened?" ...
And Obama's "Hometown" ...
Dear Supporter,
Please join us this Thursday, May 8th to take back the Ohio Healthy Families Act from the legislature. For 4 months the Ohio General Assembly has silenced millions of Ohioans and their families by failing to address this important proposed law.
On Thursday, May 8th the legislature's time will run out and the Ohioans for Healthy Families coalition will kick-off our drive to the ballot with a press conference and rally hosted by coalition partner, Progress Ohio.
Click here to RSVP for Thursday or to let us know you stand with the campaign!
Thursday's event will be the first step towards taking the Ohio Healthy Families Act back into the hands of the people and passing paid sick days on the November 4, 2008 General Election ballot.
With your continued help Ohioans will not be denied the basic right to care for their families!
What: The Ohioans for Healthy Families Drive to November Press Conference and Rally
Where: Progress Ohio, 251 S. 3rd Street, Columbus, Ohio 43215
When: Thursday, May 8th 2:00 pm
Click here to RSVP for Thursday or to let us know you stand with the campaign!
Despite over a quarter-million signatures of Ohio voters already collected, the Ohio General Assembly refuses to act on Paid Sick Days.
At the end of this week thousands across Ohio will begin signing petitions to place Paid Sick Days on the November ballot. Legislators continue to take paid sick days themselves, and they continue to block our efforts on behalf of millions of hard working friends, family and neighbors who simply need the ability to EARN paid sick days to care for themselves and their families.
Go to http://www.sickdaysohio.org to download petitions now, email people in your circle, talk up our campaign and join us over the next 90 days as we succeed in giving Ohio voters an opportunity which the politicians want to deny. Signature gathering begins at 12:00 am May 9th!
Click here to RSVP for Thursday or to let us know you stand with us!
Thank you for you continued support!
Brian Dunn
Campaign Manager
Ohioans for Healthy Families
Governor Strickland met with the press today on the Statehouse steps to discuss the letter he and all Statewide Democrats sent yesterday calling on embattled Attorney General Marc Dann to resign from office.
Dann has rebuffed the request saying in an email delivered today, "I am in the office, have rolled up my sleeves and am working on behalf of the people of the state of Ohio. I hope you will do the same."
Watch It:
A spokesman wouldn't share details of the buy except for saying it is "significant" and in "select markets."
Watch it:
Here’s a little reminder of what those “bold solutions” entail:
- Boldly leave 56 million people with pre-existing conditions vulnerable in the private market
- Boldly threaten coverage for 158 million workers
- Boldly let insurance companies refuse coverage to folks with diabetes, heart disease, cancer, or dangerous jobs
- Boldly dole out a $2 billion tax cut for big insurance companies
- Boldly raise taxes on some families who buy health insurance
- Boldly propose a plan that costs $3.6 trillion over 10 years, over double what Clinton’s or Obama’s cost
- Boldly rely on expensive, debunked methods to only partially cover the poor and uninsured
- Boldly slash funding for hospitals that serve the uninsured without a plan for universal coverage
- Boldly deny coverage to a 9-year-old child with a cleft palate
Tim Russo at Blogger Interrupted attended the McCain Cleveland Clinic event yesterday with the objective of asking John McCain one question: Who pays for McCain's health care?
He never got to ask his question of McCain, but as his video demonstrates what he did find was an eyeful of just how Dickensian health care, Cleveland, and America, have become under the Republicans.
Watch it:
On Wednesday, Rep. John Boehner, the Republican leader in the House of Representatives, gave his members a presentation designed to teach them how they can retake the House from Democrats this fall.
In part, the presentation is a pep talk, clearly aimed at lifting Republicans' spirits, which are low because of current polling and their big losses in 2006.
Boehner: "Why We Can Win"Here, then, is a look back on John McCain's words on the mission accomplished in Iraq:
On the Run-Up to War
"Look, we're going to send young men and women in harm's way and that's always a great danger, but I cannot believe that there is an Iraqi soldier who is going to be willing to die for Saddam Hussein, particularly since he will know that our objective is to remove Saddam Hussein from power."
John McCain, September 15, 2002.
"But the fact is, I think we could go in with much smaller numbers than we had to do in the past. But any military man worth his salt is going to have to prepare for any contingency, but I don't believe it's going to be nearly the size and scope that it was in 1991."
John McCain, September 15, 2002.
"He's a patriot who has the best interests of his country at heart."
John McCain, on Ahmed Chalabi, 2003.
On Saddam's Weapons of Mass Destruction
"Proponents of containment claim that Iraq is in a "box." But it is a box with no lid, no bottom, and whose sides are falling out. Within this box are definitive footprints of germ, chemical and nuclear programs."
John McCain, February 13, 2003.
"I remain confident that we will find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq."
John McCain, June 11, 2003.
On Being Greeted as Liberators
"Absolutely. Absolutely."
John McCain, asked by Chris Matthews, "you believe that the people of Iraq or at least a large number of them will treat us as liberators?" March 12, 2003.
"Not only that, they'll be relieved that he's not in the neighborhood because he has invaded his neighbors on several occasions."
John McCain, asked by Chris Matthews, "And you think the Arab world will come to a grudging recognition that what we did was necessary?" March 12, 2003.
"There's no doubt in my mind that we will prevail and there's no doubt in my mind, once these people are gone, that we will be welcomed as liberators."
John McCain, March 24, 2003.
On a Rapid Victory and Mission Accomplished
"I think the victory will be rapid, within about three weeks."
John McCain, January 28, 2003.
"It's clear that the end is very much in sight...It won't be long. It, it'll be a fairly short period of time."
John McCain, April 9, 2003.
"Well, then why was there a banner that said mission accomplished on the aircraft carrier?"
John McCain, responding to assertion by Fox News' Neil Cavuto that "many argue the conflict isn't over," June 11, 2003.
"I have said a long time that reconstruction of Iraq would be a long, long, difficult process, but the conflict -- the major conflict is over, the regime change has been accomplished, and it's very appropriate."
John McCain, June 11, 2003.
"I'm confident we're on the right course."
John McCain, March 7, 2004.
"We're either going to lose this thing or win this thing within the next several months."
John McCain, November 12, 2006.
"My friends, the war will be over soon, the war for all intents and purposes although the insurgency will go on for years and years and years."
John McCain, February 25, 2008.
On the Safe Streets of Baghdad
"[There] there "are neighborhoods in Baghdad where you and I could walk through those neighborhoods, today."
John McCain, after touring a Baghdad market wearing a bulletproof vest and guarded by "100 American soldiers, with three Blackhawk helicopters, and two Apache gunships overhead, April 1, 2007.
"There's problems in America with safe neighborhoods as we well know."
John McCain, March 8, 2008.
On President Bush and His Team
"We are very fortunate that our president in these challenging days can rely on the counsel of a man who has demonstrated time and again the resolve, experience, and patriotism that will be required for success and the hard-headed clear thinking necessary to prevail in this global fight between good and evil."
John McCain, on Dick Cheney, July 16, 2004.
"I think he strengthened our national defenses. I think he has a good team around him."
John McCain, on President Bush, September 3, 2004.
"I said no. My answer is still no. No confidence."
John McCain, on whether he had confidence in Bush Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, December 15, 2004.
On the Non-Existent Alliance Between Al Qaeda and Iran
"But Al Qaeda is there, they are functioning, they are supported in many times, in many ways by the Iranians."
John McCain, February 28, 2008.
"As you know, there are al Qaeda operatives that are taken back into Iran, given training as leaders, and they're moving back into Iraq."
John McCain, March 17, 2008.
"[Iranian operatives are] "taking al-Qaeda into Iran, training them and sending them back."
John McCain, March 18, 2008.
"[It is] common knowledge and has been reported in the media that al-Qaeda is going back into Iran and receiving training and are coming back into Iraq from Iran, that's well known. And it's unfortunate."
John McCain, March 18, 2008.
"Al Qaeda and Shia extremists -- with support from external powers such as Iran -- are on the run but not defeated."
McCain campaign statement, March 19, 2008.
"To think that I would have some lack of knowledge about Sunni and Shia after my eighth visit and my deep involvement in this issue is a bit ludicrous."
John McCain, March 19, 2008.
"Do you still view Al Qaeda in Iraq as a major threat? Certainly not an obscure sect of the Shiites overall…"
John McCain, questioning General David Petraeus, April 8, 2008.
On a Permanent American Military Presence in Iraq
"We cannot keep our forces indefinitely staged in the region. Were we to attempt again to contain Saddam, we would eventually have to withdraw them. The world is full of dangers and, more likely than not, we will need some of those brave men and women to face them down."
John McCain, February 13, 2003.
"We have had troops in South Korea for 60 years and nobody minds."
John McCain, June 7, 2007.
"Make it a hundred."
John McCain, told that President Bush had said American troops could remain in Iraq for 50 years, January 3, 2008.
"I asked McCain about his 'hundred years' comment, and he reaffirmed the remark, excitedly declaring that U.S. troops could be in Iraq for 'a thousand years' or 'a million years,' as far as he was concerned."
David Corn, January 3, 2008.
"The U.S. could have a military presence anywhere in the world for a long period of time."
John McCain, February 20, 2008.
From the always great Perspectives Blog
ProgressOhio is enlisting you!
Operation Objective: Provide a better night's sleep for deployed members of the Ohio National Guard.
Targets: 60 Twin-Sized Sheets. 80 Mattress Covers. Phone Cards. Plastic Hangers.
Secondary Objective: Provide rations for the soldiers' families that help package the supplies.
Further mission details, including coordinates for supply depots available here.
Brian Rothenberg
Executive Director
ProgressOhio.org
Please forward to your friends and colleagues!
ProgressOhio - "We're Powered By You"
Thought the GOP was doing the right thing in capping PayDay loans at 28%.
Naw. Couldn't be.
Speaker Husted just put in a provision that would ban Keno expansion which Governor Strickland had proposed to use to raise dwindling state revenues.
Why.
1) Because he can say he was for the 28% PayDay cap but either forced Democrats to vote against the Governor or planned to gum up the legislation without passing the House.
2) Because the House wants the Senate to act as Bad Cop and bottle up the bill.
3) Because the House wants to throw a bone to the Pay Day lawyer's pockets by giving them a challenge to the law -- through violation of the Ohio Constitutions single subject provision.
Either way, the games being played at the Statehouse have higher stakes than Keno.
UPDATE: After seeing a ban on Keno passed into the Bill, House Republicans recessed, returned to session and reconsidered the Keno amendment -- stripped it from the Bill and then by a large margin the Ohio House passed a 28% rate cap on PayDay lending.
As Speaker Husted heads toward term limits, surprises like these should get more interesting -- especially with such a narrow majority in an election year with leadership changes on the horizon.
Three weeks ago it was dead.
Two weeks ago on the heels of a lobbying scandal PayDay was likely up for a vote with a 36% cap.
Last week, it was gutted by Committee Chair Chris Widener to eliminate any PayDay loan caps.
But with a fresh breath of Ted Strickland's coat-tails after he called for a 36% loan cap -- the GOP did them better.
Today, in an agile maneuver that places a 28%...that's correct...28% cap on small loans, cuts the maximum loan from $800 to $500, caps the number of loans to 4 in a 12 month period, mandates counseling and a data base, bans internet lending and allows for only 2 loans at one time that must amount to $500.
The House FIRES committee is expected to vote on this bill Wed at 9:00 am in Rm 121. It could be voted out of the House by tomorrow.
It won't have Bill Batchelder or Bobby Hagan's name on it -- but it is the Batchelder/Hagan bill with an even stronger interest rate cap.
Kudo's to Batchelder, Hagan, Governor Strickland and some deft recovery by House Democrats in forcing the Speaker's hand on PayDay Lending.
Consumers win. Now that's something to go home and campaign about.
Paid Sick Days/ Mom's Rising Burrito-Gram Delivery today at the Statehouse
Watch it:
Make your voice heard – urge your State Senator or Representative to endorse the Ohio Healthy Families Act and encourage legislative leaders to allow its introduction.
In a new ad called "Feeling The Pain," the SEIU slams John McCain for opposing measures that would mitigate rising health care costs.
"Like President Bush, John McCain won't stop rising health care costs," a narrator says. The ad notes McCain's opposition to allowing seniors to buy prescriptions through Medicare and mentions his support for Bush's decision not to renew the children's health insurance program known as SCHIP.
McCain is in Florida today talking about his health care policy and will be in Cleveland on Thursday promoting his Health Care Plan which is based on tax credits.
SEIU, as has 1.9 million members and is the largest health care union.
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