ProgressOhio

COLUMBUS, Ohio) — Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray announced that a New York Federal District Court has issued an important ruling that will allow a major lawsuit to proceed against Bank of America, Merrill Lynch and various individual officers and directors.

U.S. District Court Judge P. Kevin Castel substantially denied the defendants' motions to dismiss the case. The ruling clears the way for Ohio's pension funds and allied pension systems to move forward with their claims that the defendants committed securities fraud and issued false proxy statements. If successful, the lawsuit could potentially recover billions of dollars for shareholders.

The lawsuit alleges that Bank of America, during merger negotiations, agreed to allow Merrill Lynch to pay up to $5.8 billion in accelerated year-end bonuses to its executives and employees, but failed to disclose that information to shareholders before they voted to approve the merger.

Additionally, in the two months before shareholders voted on the merger, Merrill Lynch suffered billions of dollars in losses. The complaint alleges that senior executives at both Merrill Lynch and Bank of America were aware of these massive losses but did not disclose the information to investors prior to the shareholder vote on the merger.

With the end of combat operations in Iraq days ahead, the President salutes our troops for their service and pledges to fulfill America’s commitment to them as veterans.  90,000 troops have left Iraq since the President came into office, and by the end of next year even the troops taking part in the non-combat mission will be home.  

The administration is upholding the sacred trust with our veterans by building a 21st century VA, making it easier for veterans with PTSD to receive the benefits they need, funding and implementing a Post-9/11 GI Bill, and devoting new resources to job training and placement to help those veterans looking for work in a tough economy.

Watch It:

Full transcript of the President's remarks below:

From the shocking undercover video showing cow abuse in rural Ohio to the young man recently killed by a pet bear, we need to change the way we treat our animals.

However, the abusive animal practice that may have the most impact on humans is overuse of antibiotics. By stopping the overuse of antibiotics in healthy animals we can prevent the next superbug we don't know how to treat.

The FDA wants to hear from you by 5 pm today!!

Tell them the health of our families is on the line and we need strict regulations, not recommendations.

It's not difficult to see why Maryellen won this hard-fought endorsement. Just look at how she describes the grassroots campaign she's running:

I entered the race for Ohio Secretary of State just a few short weeks before the filing deadline. In that time, I accumulated over 2,800 signatures from 60 of Ohio's 88 counties. Quite a feat! This only happened because of the hard work of grassroots activists who wanted to see my name appear on the ballot in November.

Democracy for America is committed to electing progressives up and down the ballot -- to school boards, city councils and state legislatures. These offices have a huge impact on local communities and help build a bench of progressive talent that will grow and sustain a long-term progressive movement.

“Once again, Congressman Kasich proves that he prefers election-year gimmicks to substantive policy proposals. Last week, he proposed a plan to outsource the state's economic development activities to Wall Street, and now he's recycling an initiative already undertaken by Governor Strickland.

“Governor Strickland has helped grow our economy from the bottom-up by doing the things Congressman Kasich only talks about, like eliminating and revising more than 2,000 rules and regulations and increasing access to capital so that small businesses can grow and create jobs here in Ohio. Given Congressman Kasich's long history of outsourcing jobs and supporting policies that benefit Wall Street and the very wealthy at the expense of Ohioans, we can't afford to turn Ohio over to him."

(COLUMBUS, Ohio) – Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray, joined by 16 other state attorneys general, is calling on the craigslist online classified advertising service to immediately take down the Adult Services portion of the site. Cordray's action is due to continued prostitution advertisements and concern about reported sex trafficking of children through the Adult Services section of the craigslist website.

The multi-state letter, to craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster and founder Craig Newmark, contends that craigslist cannot – or will not – adequately screen these illicit ads, so it must stop accepting them altogether and shut down the Adult Services section.

"The increasingly sharp public criticism of craigslist's Adult Services section reflects a growing recognition that ads for prostitution – including ads trafficking children – are rampant on it," Cordray said. "In our view, the company should take immediate action to end the misery for the women and children who may be exploited and victimized by these ads."

"Your much-touted 'manual review' of Adult Services ads has failed to yield any discernable reduction in obvious solicitations," the letter says. "We recognize that craigslist may lose the considerable revenue generated by the Adult Services ads," the attorneys general said. "No amount of money can justify the scourge of illegal prostitution, and the suffering of the woman and children who will continue to be victimized, in the market and trafficking provided by craigslist."

This morning US House Representative John Boehner gave a speech in Cleveland where he offered an economic agenda for our country. But he was really sketchy on providing any details, and that's not much of a plan. It's a good thing we know 5 actions Congress can take on taxes that will help create jobs and strengthen the economy.

1. Allow the 2001 and 2003 tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans to expire this year as scheduled. Inefficient tax loopholes and preferences for those earning more than $250,000 a year should be closed.
2. Ward off billions in new tax cuts for the very rich by maintaining a strong federal estate tax. There should also be a surtax on very large estates, such as those valued at more than $20 million.
3. Eliminate tax loopholes for big corporations and the very wealthy, and hold Wall Street accountable. Prevent offshore maneuvering by multi-national corporations to avoid taxes. Curb wasteful subsidies for oil and gas companies.
4. Ensure economic security for working families. Extend improvements in the Child Tax Credit, Earned Income Tax Credit, and American Opportunity Tax Credit for college so millions of low- and moderate-income working families do not lose tax credits at the same time other middle class tax cuts are extended.
5. Stop ineffective and wasteful tax cuts. Making further cuts in taxes without paying for them is not responsible; it worsens the federal deficit and jeopardizes economic growth over the long run. It benefits the wealthy or corporations and takes money that could be used to assist struggling families and communities, invest in critical national priorities, or reduce the deficit.

Call John Boehner now. Tell him to invest in our country's future by supporting this 5 point plan for fair and responsible taxes that will help create jobs and revive our county's economy.

Butler County Office
(513) 779-5400

This morning, House Republican Leader John Boehner outlined his ‘economic plan’ at the City Club of Cleveland—which would return us to the same failed policies of the Bush Administration. Mr. Boehner endorsed proposals to privatize and cut Social Security, cut taxes for the wealthiest Americans, protect corporations that ship American jobs overseas, and dismissed regulations that protect consumers and workers.

Speaker Pelosi on the address:

Today, House Republican Leader John Boehner did the public a favor by revealing the Republican plan to return to the failed Bush economic policies that produced a deep recession, record deficits, a loss of 8 million jobs and an unprecedented financial crisis. America must continue to move forward in a New Direction, not back to the ‘exact same agenda’ of the Bush years.

Mr. Boehner reiterated the Republican leadership’s opposition to additional regulation of our food supplies – at the very time American consumers face risks of food safety in eggs and meat. Republicans also opposed protecting consumers against the unfair practices of oil companies, insurance companies and Wall Street financial institutions.

Democrats will not allow the scare tactics and empty rhetoric of Leader Boehner and his Republican colleagues to go unanswered. We must keep moving America forward, not back to failed Bush economic policies, which is all Mr. Boehner proposed this morning.

“I have had enough – and the American people have had enough – of Washington politicians talking about wanting to create jobs as a ploy to get themselves re-elected while doing everything possible to prevent jobs from being created,” Boehner said. But as the Washington Post noted, the speech “does not expand the GOP’s existing economic proposals in any significant way.”

WASHINGTON D.C. - U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) today applauded Ohio's inclusion in the federal "Race to the Top" program.  The program, administered by the U.S. Department of Education, awards Recovery Act funds to schools that measurably improve their quality of education. 

"By including Ohio in the Race to the Top program, the U.S. Department of Education is providing a mark of confidence to the hardworking teachers, school administrators, and parents who work day in and day out to make Ohio schools some of the best in the country," said Brown. "These critical Recovery Act funds will not only improve our education system for today's students, but lay the groundwork to provide a world-class education to future Ohioans. I applaud Governor Strickland and his administration-in addition to Superintendent Deb Delisle and the State Board of Education-for putting together a strong application for the program and working tirelessly to improve our state's schools."

More than 530 Ohio school districts signed on to the state's application for funding.  In January, Brown wrote to U.S. Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan urging that Ohio's application be given strong consideration.

"Ohio has commenced its new biennium with a comprehensive education reform plan," Brown wrote. "Funding provided through the Race to the Top program would accelerate the state's existing agenda to strategically address gaps in delivering a highly effective learning experience to all students."  The same month, Ohio's education system was rated the fifth-best in the nation by Education Week, the state's highest rating yet from the publication.

The full text of Sen. Brown's letter can be found here.

"I want to thank Secretary Duncan and the Obama administration for this opportunity to implement what I believe is a visionary education plan for Ohio's children. Our students deserve every opportunity to succeed in and beyond the classroom, and I believe the creative and forward-thinking initiatives outlined in our winning application provide just that," Strickland said. "Ohio has shown its commitment to encouraging innovation by passing successful economic development initiatives like Ohio Third Frontier, and this award builds on our job creation strategy by helping prepare the next generation of Ohio entrepreneurs and innovators."

"I give my heartfelt thanks and appreciation to our education and community partners who supported this application, and our dedicated team of education leaders who worked tirelessly on behalf of Ohio's children," Strickland said.

The Round 2 Race to the Top application was submitted by the Ohio Department of Education in June. In total, more than 538 Local Education Agencies, representing more than 60 percent, or about 1 million, of Ohio's school children, agreed to participate directly in Ohio's Race to the Top activities. Ohio was selected as a finalist in late July and a team from Ohio made a presentation and answered questions from U.S. Department of Education reviewers earlier this month.

The bear owner kept dozens of other dangerous, wild pets on his property including tigers, wolves and a lion. He's been convicted in federal court for his animal trafficking and had to be barred from forcing bears to wrestle humans.

If you want to end this abusive treatment of animals, tell the farm board to live up to their promise to make animals and people safer across Ohio.

For over twenty years, regulators have been unwilling or unable to shut down this operation, which is inhumane for animals and lethal for humans.

Gov. Ted Strickland is working to put an end to lethal, renegade operations like this. We need to make sure the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board is held accountable and lives up to this promise and others at their meeting this week.

Click here to contact them. Tell them we need to change the way Ohio treats our wild, domestic and farm animals.