State of the Union

Brunner Brags about Her Timely Settling of a Lawsuit She Sought to Deal with Over Two Years Ago

On Tuesday, June 16, Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner settled a 4-year old lawsuit with the Ohio League of Women Voters.  The lawsuit stemmed from issues raised during the 2004 election.

In a display of joy and jubilation, all-around, League President Meg Flack joined Brunner in bragging about the money they saved the state, because the litigation “could have cost as much as $5 million.” 

"[Ohio League of Women Voters] President Meg Flack said the state will pay $450,000 as part of the settlement, but that was a savings considering that continued litigation could have cost as much as $5 million. Brunner also boasted about the savings to the state …”

In their elation of this “truly insulting” lawsuit settlement, and the fact that things were settled amicably (only costing taxpayer’s half-a-million dollars), Brunner somehow failed to mention that upon taking office in 2007, one of her very first initiatives was to settle this specific lawsuit:

"Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner and Attorney General Marc Dann want to resolve election-related lawsuits filed against former Secretary J. Kenneth Blackwell, a move Brunner said yesterday could cost the state ‘large sums’ in attorneys' fees.

"The 20 pending lawsuits include a sweeping complaint filed in 2005 by a group of advocates led by the League of Women Voters of Ohio that says Blackwell, former Gov. Bob Taft and their predecessors failed to ensure Ohioans' right to vote.” [Columbus Dispatch, 1/18/07]

Brunner and her good friend, then-Attorney General Marc Dann, stated that their reasoning for wanting to settle the lawsuit was, “in part because … they agree with some of the claims.”

"Brunner and Dann said they're seeking to resolve the cases in part because some date back to the 2004 election, but also because they agree with some of the claims." [Columbus Dispatch, 1/18/07]

So the questions remaining, why if Brunner sought to settle this case in January 2007, are we just seeing resolution now in June 2009, two-and-a-half years after their claim to resolve this case?  And, how much money could Brunner have saved Ohio taxpayers if she settled this in way back in 2007?

Obama vs. Strickland

According the AP, President Barack Obama and Congressional Democrats wants to tax your income, your alcohol consumption, soda and sugary drink consumption as well as establish a national sales tax, entitled the “value-added tax.”

“House Democrats have lots of potential targets for higher taxes as they aim to expand health care coverage to reach the roughly 50 million that experts say are uninsured.

[…]

“[U]nder consideration are higher alcohol taxes, increases to the Medicare payroll tax and a value-added tax, a sort of national sales tax, of up to 1.5 percent or more.

[…]

“The tax options include:
• Increasing the price of soda and other sugary drinks by 10 cents a can.

• Applying a potential 2 percent income tax increase to single taxpayers earning more than $200,000 a year and households earning more than $250,000.

• A new employer payroll tax could target 3 percent of employers' health care expenditures.

• Taxing employer-provided health insurance benefits above certain levels — a less likely option but one that still is in the running.”

Meanwhile, back here in Ohio, Governor Ted Strickland speaks adamantly against a tax increase, saying repeatedly that it would be “counterproductive” in this economy.

“When asked whether that could include a tax increase, the governor replied, ‘A tax hike under these [economic] circumstances would be, in my judgment, counterproductive.’” [Columbus Dispatch, 11/12/08]

“Asked whether it was time to consider a tax increase, Strickland responded, ‘No. Because I think a tax hike, under these circumstances, could be counterproductive. And, so, I have maintained and continue to maintain that position.’” [Daily Record (Wooster), 12/2/08]

“Gov. Ted Strickland, a Democrat, said he did not put any tax increases into his budget proposal because they would make the economic recession worse. He did, however, put dozens of new fees and fee increases into the plan.” [Associated Press, 2/25/09]

“‘The governor does not believe a tax increase would be productive at a time that so many Ohioans are struggling,’ said Strickland spokeswoman Amanda Wurst.” [Associated Press, 2/25/09]

Strickland’s Fiscal Policy – Ask for forgiveness rather than permission

The Columbus Dispatch reported that Gov. Ted Strickland exercised his right to spend money that he doesn’t have, when he gave the OK for a law firm, working outside the realm of public records requests, to help develop his “top-secret” education plan. 

Strickland hired the law firm of Squire, Sanders & Dempsey (whose employees donated $29,525 to Strickland in ‘05 and ‘06) to serve as special counsel for the development of his evidence-based education plan.  The problem was that Strickland put the cart before the horse, and hired the firm BEFORE the Attorney General made the hiring official.

The Columbus law firm helping to develop Gov. Ted Strickland's school-funding proposal had already run up a bill of $49,275 before it received written authorization to do the job.

But, as they say in the infomercials, “wait there’s more…”.  The billing came just shy of the $50,000 threshold to trigger the public approval of the State Controlling Board.  Not to mention that $40,000 of the bill was billed late… after the December approval had been signed-off on.

Then-Attorney General Nancy H. Rogers signed the paperwork officially hiring Squire, Sanders & Dempsey as special counsel on the governor's proposal on Dec. 5 and 31, 2008. By then, the law firm's bills had almost reached the $50,000 threshold that would have required the Strickland administration to obtain approval from the State Controlling Board, a bipartisan legislative spending panel.

[…]

Gregory W. Stype, a lawyer with the firm who performed much of the work, said he recently became aware that the $40,142 bill for November had not been submitted for payment due to an "oversight."

A conspiracy theorist could, by these circumstances, surmise that in Strickland’s crusade to keep the lid on his education plan, he did whatever he could to reduce the paper trail.  Could it be that Strickland purposely kept the billing below the controlling board threshold so as to keep quiet about hiring an outside law firm?  Could it be that Strickland arranged with the law firm to wait until after the signed approval to submit their billing? 

Much like the quandary of the number of licks it takes to get to the tootsie roll center of a tootsie pop, “the world may never know.”

Brunner’s Slushie

As the Ohio legislature is considering regulations for the transition accounts used by statewide officeholders, one has to wonder how Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner feels about the issue?

These unregulated accounts led in part to the fall of former Attorney General Marc Dann.  Dann was using his transition account as a “slush fund” according to Ohio Inspector General, Tom Charles.

So why should Brunner’s opinion be a factor in all of this?  Brunner had a family affair with setting up Marc Dann’s transition “slush” account.  You may recall this from the Columbus Dispatch:

[Ohio Inspector General Thomas] Charles questioned whether any statewide official except the governor has legal authority to set up a transition fund, although almost all of them have in recent years. Two of the original trustees for Dann's were Brunner's daughter and husband, who also did legal work for Dann's campaign.

Or the Cleveland Plain Dealer who also helped drive-home the point in this editorial:

Gov. Ted Strickland, Dann and other Ohio Democrats won statewide office in November 2006 by railing against scandals during Republican Bob Taft's governorship. So Dann's fellow Democrats forced him to resign. The Democrats even expelled Dann from their party, an action more reminiscent of a Balkan politburo than Ohio politics. Their real goal was to let nothing get in the way of delivering Ohio's presidential vote to a fellow Democrat.

Earlier, however, other Democrats had enabled Dann. One of Inspector General Thomas P. Charles' discoveries was a Dann "transition" fund that amounted to a legal but off-the-books slush fund. Helping Dann create the "transition" fund was Columbus lawyer Rick Brunner, husband of Democratic Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner - who just happens to have jurisdiction over Ohio campaign-finance laws.

So does Brunner praise this legislation as another weapon to fight scandal (which she helped create) or does she keep her noise down and try to avoid more mention of her name in connection with this issue?

Strickland’s Experiment-ication

In what sounded like a metaphor for his own education proposal, Gov. Ted Strickland recently told a group of Miami University students of the importance of experimentation in education:

“[Using technology in the classroom is] so needed, but change is threatening,” Strickland said. “It’s safer to conform. It’s safer to not experiment, because you might fail. And you will fail. That idea of conformity ... is deadly to education.”

Surrounded by idealist college students, Strickland was of course able to soften his tone on education reform and utilize terms like “experiment.”  Curious though, how different Strickland’s tone was when addressing the Ohio General Assembly for the 2009 State of the State in which he unveiled his “top-secret” education plan.  Note his emphasis on assuredness in the “best research” and how Strickland sounds as if there are no flaws in his education plan:

I’ve met with parents, educators, researchers, business and community leaders.  I’ve looked at the best research available on what we should teach and how we should teach it.  And in the last few months I’ve benefited from the considerable experience and wisdom of Ohio’s new Superintendent of Public Instruction Deborah Delisle.

[…]

The plan is based on a very simple premise: we should design our education system around what works. I have embraced an evidence-based education approach that harnesses research results and applies those findings to Ohio’s specific circumstances.

Could it be that Strickland’s mask briefly came off and he admitted that his education plan is nothing more than an over-priced experiment?

The Hsu (Shoe) Fit and Brunner Wore It

The Associated Press reports that scandal-tainted Democratic fundraiser, Norman Hsu (pronounced “shoe”), has been convicted in federal court for his campaign finance law violations.  Hsu was found guilty of allegations that he reimbursed his business colleagues for their political donations (same federal crime committed by Ohio’s own Tom Noe).

Hsu gained notoriety as a prominent fundraiser for Hillary Clinton’s failed presidential bid as well as many other prominent Democrats.  The Associated Press also reports that, just days ago, Hsu pled guilty to 10 counts of wire and mail fraud and cheating investors out of $20 million in a Ponzi scheme.

One thing that the Associated Press, or the rest of the national media for that matter, will fail to mention: Hsu once had his scandalous eyes cast toward helping Ohio’s Secretary of State, Jennifer Brunner, in her 2006 election.

According to the Columbus Dispatch’s August 31, 2007 account of the issue, Brunner actually traveled to New York to speak at Hsu’s home:

“Brunner isn't certain whether the $3,000 she got from Hsu on Nov. 9, 2006, came from a campaign fundraising letter or through a Democratic National Committee appeal, spokesman Jeff Ortega said. But Brunner did speak at Hsu's New York home on June 27 this year at the request of the Twenty-First Century Democrats, which held a fundraiser there, he said.”

This was just another example of out-of-state ideologues trying to inject someone to do their bidding into the Ohio Secretary of State’s office to tilt the playing field in 2008.  Unfortunately, they succeeded.

The Cost of a New Home Just Got More Expensive… Thanks Ted Strickland

According to the Columbus Dispatch environmentalists have warned that Ohio could lose out on millions of federal stimulus dollars if we don’t adopt stricter environmental building codes set by the federal government. Gov. Strickland, all too gleefully, promised the feds that Ohio would adopt those standards.  So we can rest assured that we are getting more of our one-time handout. 

The catch, however, is that home builders estimate that these changes could add as much as $5,000 to the cost of a new home. 

So when Ohio is in the midst of Ohio’s “unprecedented economic challenges,” Ohioans will have to pay more for their homes.  When you purchase your next home and you seen those additional costs, thank Ted Strickland and his inability to tackle tough issues in the face of being handed short-term dollars and more bureaucracy from his pals in Washington.

The Sign Says It All

Citizen for Pepper

A campaign committee is just that, a committee.  It is supposed to be an independent entity of people showing broad-based support to help elect a candidate.  This is why you see such committee titles as “Friends of Bob Smith,” or “Citizens for Bob Smith.” 

So why then does newly announced Auditor of State candidate David Pepper only have one person supporting him? 

On Pepper’s campaign website he lists his Paid for by information as “Citizen for Pepper.”  That’s right “Citizen” singular, not plural.

Strickland’s Office Banks on the Economy Going Backwards

In Sunday’s Columbus Dispatch, Strickland spokeswoman, Amanda Wurst, tried to rebut the astute analysis that Strickland’s education plan is not sustainable and his numbers are grossly miscalculated. So, her brilliant response: who knows what will happen to the economy down the road, “[w]e could very well see deflation in the next 10 years.”

Does this mean that the governor’s office is banking on a shrinking economy to reduce the costs of its education plan?  Wouldn’t deflation also mean that with the reduced costs of his education plan, there would be a relative reduction in the state’s budget?

The last time we checked, deflation, or a general reduction in the economy, is considered a bad thing.

This is just another example of Strickland’s people showing their lack of understanding for basic economics and accounting?

Bold Education Reform! (So long as it doesn’t anger my supporters)

Critics have pointed out Ted Strickland’s plan to hold an education rally with US Education Secretary Arne Duncan that was blatantly planned around the Ohio Education Association’s Columbus meeting:

“Some critics of Gov. Ted Strickland's education plan are accusing the governor of holding a rally Friday in support of his plan with U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan outside the Schottenstein Center at Ohio State because the Ohio Education Association also is holding an event there this week.

“The critics point out that the OEA, which supports the governor, is promoting the rally on its Web site and even is holding a recess from its Spring Representative Assembly for members to participate in the rally. The suggestion is that Strickland is trying ensure a big, friendly crowd.” [Columbus Dispatch’s The Daily Briefing Blog, 5/5/09]

Strickland’s latest political ploy to promote his education plan shouldn’t come as a surprise.  This is just another instance where Strickland bows to organized labor when making his “bold” decisions.  As Tom Suddes aptly pointed out in a recent editorial, Strickland’s education plan for change “doesn’t really rankle teachers’ unions.” 

“In fairness, Strickland's plan does offer some real change, but it'd be change that doesn't really rankle teachers' unions. That speaks volumes.” [Editorial by Thomas Suddes, 4/12/09]

Going back through the archives one easily finds more evidence of Strickland’s slobbering, bought-and-paid-for, love affair with the teachers unions.  Strickland once told the Ohio Education Association “there’s no way” we would have remained in Congress had it not been for them:

“Earlier yesterday, Mr. Strickland addressed the Ohio Education Association in Columbus at the organization's statewide representative assembly. Mr. Strickland, a former member of the organization, said the group was key in several of his congressional elections. ‘He said point blank: There's no way he would have been able to do it for 12 years in Congress had it not been for us,’ said Deidra Reese, the association's director of government services. ‘We helped him win, we put him over the top in several elections. He's very committed to us.’” [Toledo Blade, 5/6/06]

In his political, Strickland has received more than $162,000 through teachers unions.

Strickland Praises GOP on Education Funding

On Monday, Gov. Ted Strickland gave praise to the GOP who worked hard over the last several years to pragmatically correct Ohio’s school funding mess. 

In his remarks to the Columbus Metropolitan Club about his school funding plan, Strickland pointed out that education funding in Ohio had increased by 47 percent from 1999 – 2008 (years of a GOP-controlled legislature and governor’s office).  Strickland followed up his point by admitting that his plan won’t match that same funding-level increase – noting that his plan will only increase funding over the next decade by 45 percent.

“In fact, from 1999 to 2008, the state increased its investment in primary and secondary education by 47 percent. With the plan before the legislature now, we will build on those investments by making a commitment to increase funding by an additional 45 percent in the decade ahead.” (Remarks by Gov. Ted Strickland, Columbus Metropolitan Club, 5/4/09)

Who Really Cares About Future Budgets? Well, at One Point Strickland Did

If Doc Brown pulled up in front of the statehouse, driving his souped-up time-traveling DeLorean, and offered Ted Strickland a glimpse at Ohio’s budget future – would he take it?

Probably not. 

In this week’s Columbus Dispatch, Strickland said that we need to be focused on the here-and-now and wonders why there is “such incredible interest in the 2012-2013 budget.”

“‘I am puzzled that there is such incredible interest in the 2012-2013 budget when we ought to be focusing on trying to deal constructively with the problems that exist now,’ the governor said last week.”

This was not the case when Strickland offered up his first budget two years ago.  The, then curious, governor provided four year budget projections, which his budget director gloated about:

“Two years ago, state Budget Director J. Pari Sabety bragged to lawmakers that ‘for the first time in Ohio history, this executive budget has projected revenues and expenses for the next four years.’ Republicans have noticed that the four-year projection does not exist in this budget -- further fueling speculation that the budget can be sustained only for the next two years, just enough to carry Strickland through re-election in 2010.”

No Voter Fraud, Madame Secretary?

In a speech to the Washington County Democratic Party on Saturday, April 24, Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner must have doing her best impression of Pinocchio. The Marietta Times reported Brunner saying there was, “no voter fraud” in the 2008 general election.

“As the 2008 general election approached, Brunner said Republicans began pushing accusations of voter fraud as groups like ACORN sought to register voters. … ‘There was no voter fraud, although everyone seemed to be saying there was,’ Brunner said.”

Among the myriad of high profile cases of voter fraud in 2008, three people in Franklin County pled guilty to voter fraud on April 28 – a mere three days after Brunner’s commentary.  The Columbus Dispatch reports:

“Three staff members for Vote Today Ohio, an independent get-out-the-vote organization supporting Barack Obama, pleaded guilty in Franklin County this afternoon to voter fraud. The three came to Ohio from states where Obama was likely to win in an effort to swing Ohio's electoral college vote toward their candidate, Judge Charles A. Schneider said. The judge gave all three 60 days in jail but suspended it if they paid a $1,000 fine. He also ordered a year's probation.”

What's Another $622 Million in Spending...

The Associated Press reports that the House Dems' version of the budget adds $622 million in "new spending on top of the governor's plan."

"The changes pushed by Democrats amount to $91 million in additional spending from their first revision of Strickland's budget. In all, the changes would result in about $622 million in new spending on top of the governor's plan."

Looks like the mound of debt that the Dems are kicking down the road, just got bigger.

Ted’s Wet and Soggy April

It’s been a rough month for Gov. Ted Strickland: 

1) His long-awaited education plan flops and has to be rescued by the House Dems

2) Auditor Mary Taylor exposes the truck-sized, $8 billion hole in his budget

3) Ohio lost another 37,500 jobs and now this…

4) Congressman Tim Ryan gives his old friend the stiff arm and by rejecting the chance to serve as Ohio’s number 2.

Cheer up Governor, April showers bring… well you know the rest.

Sen. Miller Fined for Campaign Finance Negligence, Again

The Columbus Dispatch reports: State Senator Ray Miller (and former Senate Minority Leader) was fined, again, for the Swiss cheese campaign finance reports he filed – two years late.

Devoid of saying “the dog ate my finance reports,” Miller paid his $1,000 fine and probably mentally noted that this one comes on top of the $1,500 fine in February of 2008 and the $936 he was fined for having staff run his political operation on state time.

Ohio Elections Commission Chair, Chuck Calvert, summed up the situation well by saying:

“This is not a committee or a first-time candidate who had no idea what he was supposed to do. … It also concerns me that Sen. Miller (was) elected minority leader in the Senate and therefore was involved with other candidates. He is a leader, and in my opinion he did not set a very good example as a leader of other candidates.”

In case you’re having trouble keeping up with Miller’s improprieties, here is a quick review:

Failure to File Reports for “More than Two Years.” “The veteran lawmaker [Ray Miller] was fined $1,500 by the Ohio Elections Commission in late February after he went more than two years without filing finance reports required under Ohio election law. Just before the commission hearing, Miller turned in reports dating back to 2002, but many details remained missing.”  (Editorial, “Details, details,” Columbus Dispatch, 3/27/08)

The Secretary of State’s Office Sent Miller Nearly 100 Pages of Material Regarding His Reports.“Efforts to straighten out Miller's campaign-finance reports continued yesterday when the office of Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner sent the Columbus Democrat a new 42-page audit letter informing him that his filings still leave a number of unanswered questions, which follows up a 51-page letter sent to Miller in April asking for more information from his initial filing.”  (Editorial, “Details, details,” Columbus Dispatch, 3/27/08)

The Secretary of State’s Office Said $34,588 Worth of Campaign Reimbursements Lacked “Sufficient Verification.” “The letter sent to Miller yesterday said that between 2002 and 2007, he got 53 reimbursements from his campaign totaling $34,588. ‘Many of the payments to Sen. Miller lack sufficient verification needed to accept the expense as legitimate,’ wrote J. Curtis Mayhew, campaign finance administrator for the secretary of state's office.” (Editorial, “Details, details,” Columbus Dispatch, 3/27/08)

Miller Used “About $20,000 in Campaign Money With His Business Operations.”  “Ohio Senate Minority Leader Ray Miller of Columbus, who, from 2006 to 2007, mingled about $20,000 in campaign money with his business operations. That includes rent for an office near the Statehouse.”  (Editorial, “Details, details,” Columbus Dispatch, 3/27/08)

A Joint Legislative Ethics Committee Investigation Found Miller Guilty of Allowing Staff to Work for His Political Organization, “Reclaim Our Democracy,” On State Time.  “[T]he [Joint Legislative Ethics Committee] accepted a letter of apology and $936 in restitution from Sen. Ray Miller, a Columbus Democrat who allowed a staff member to work on his private, nonprofit company while she was on state time. The money will cover the aide's salary for the time she worked for Reclaim Our Democracy, a political organization run by Miller.”  (Jim Siegel, “Ethics failings get light penalty,” Columbus Dispatch, 12/14/05)

All this and Miller had the audacity to co-sign the letter asking Marc Dann to step down from the Attorney General’s office, and who could forget that Miller served on the oversight board for the BWC while it was investing in those pesky rare coins.  Miller, “topped the absentee list,” (according to the Columbus Dispatch, 6/19/05) for missed meetings on that board.

Maybe Toledo Needed Obama at Their Police Graduation More Than Columbus Did

Only a month ago, President Barack Obama swooped into Columbus for the day, gracing us with his presence and letting us hail him for saving 25 police jobs in the Capital City.

Maybe the President should have chosen Toledo to grace his presence instead, where the struggling economy has forced an already hard-hit area to shed 150 police officers.

One can’t help but scratch their heads and wonder if the 334,709 votes Obama received in Franklin County vs. the 142,852 votes he received in Lucas County was a factor in Obama’s decision to hail Columbus?

Independent, Legislative Service Commission Verifies that Strickland’s Education Plan is Simply Delaying the Real Costs for Another Day

The Columbus Dispatch reports that the Legislative Service Commission estimates that a 31 percent sales-tax increase or a 24 percent income-tax increase would be needed to fund Stricklands the House Dem’s doughnut-hole education plan:

“House Republicans released a report today showing that when taking the amount of one-time funding in the proposed 2010-11 state budget and subtracting it from the Office of Budget and Management's projected growth for 2012-13, the difference is $4.29 billion.

“Making up that much money in the next two-year budget would require a 31 percent sales-tax increase or a 24 percent income-tax increase, according to a report conducted by the Legislative Service Commission at the request of House Republicans.”

Not that we shouldn’t constantly strive to improve Ohio’s education system, but shouldn’t there be some pride in the fact that a highly accredited education analysis group recently ranked Ohio’s education system “sixth-best education system in the nation,”

and that a recent study ranked Ohio as one of the top three states nationally to improve it funding disparities?

Coming to a Democrat bumper near you...