State of the Union

Ok, two months is long enough

We've been working on some changes to our blog format, but we've gone dark long enough.  Until the changes are ready, it's back to posting.

220 years ago today

Thirty-nine men signed their names to the greatest government document in the history of the world:

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

If you haven't read it lately, take another look.

Ohio GOP Video Blog - from St. Paul, Minnesota

from St. Paul Minnesota, home of the 2008 Republican National Convention. We talk with Cyrus Krohn, eCampaign Director for the RNC about how the internet is changing campaigns. Meanwhile, Ohio Democrats ignore the state constitution.

Back from Minneapolis

Sorry for the light posting lately.  We were in Minneapolis last week for an RNC meeting and some strategic conversations about preparing for the 2008 convention and presidential election. 

One of the highlights of the visit was a site review of the Xcel Energy Center, where thousands of Republicans will converge next September for the Republican National Convention.  The facility is actually in St. Paul, a few miles east of Minneapolis, but it's an excellent venue that offers a lot of options for dealing with the complicated details of staging an international media event. 

RNC Co-Chair Jo Ann Davidson of Ohio chairs the committee responsible for planning and staging the convention, and she is doing a remarkable job leading that effort. 

We will have other highlights from the meeting in a video blog this week.    

Ohio GOP Video Blog

State Auditor Mary Taylor turns up the heat on government spending. Governor Strickland engages in political payback. Deputy Chairman Kevin DeWine talks about the Republican agenda.

Objective Journalism?

MSNBC says 9 out of 10 journalists contributed to Democrats in the last three years (2004-07).  This one was interesting:

(D) The Blade, Toledo, James Bradley, copy editor, $250 to John Kerry in June 2004, and $250 to the Democratic National Committee in September 2004.

Bradley, who edits news copy, said he didn't know whether the paper has a policy on political activity. "It's never come up."

So the Blade doesn't have a policy against bias in its newsroom?  Shocking. 

Ohio GOP Video Blog - from Columbus City Hall

Ohio GOP Video Blog - From Washington, DC

The partisanship of the Democrats in the U.S. House and Senate is in full bloom. Watch Sherrod Brown flip-flop on a vote and see how the Democrat tax hike will affect you.

Cuyahoga County Board of Elections

Still smarting over their defeat in 2004, Democrats in Ohio have been making up stories or creating fish tales out of events surrounding the 2004 election in an effort to undercut the public's confidence in Ohio's election system.

One big target has been Cuyahoga County and Board of Elections Chairman Bob Bennett, who also serves as Chairman of the Ohio Republican Party.

[NOTE: AS A POLICY, THE OHIO GOP AND ITS STAFF DOES NOT PARTICIPATE IN CHAIRMAN BENNETT'S ROLE AS CHAIRMAN OF THE CUYAHOGA COUNTY BOARD OF ELECTIONS]

Today, new Democrat Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner called for the resignation of Chairman Bennett and the rest of the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, citing problems from 2004 and the 2006 primary election.

Taking their lead from Brunner's press release, the left-wing instantly began a crusade to eliminate Bennett.

Jerid Kurtz at Buckeye State Blog encouraged his readers to call Bennett at his home.

The following is Bennett's statement at a press conference today regarding Brunner's demands:

I will fulfill my appointed term as a member of the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections which expires February 28, 2010. The statements of Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner do not change my intentions.

I believe the Secretary of State has hit the wrong target in her attempt to make corrections in Cuyahoga County.

The first and most pressing wrong is the unfair treatment of Jacqui Maiden and Kathy Dreamer, two excellent Board employees who were sentenced to prison terms for what amounts to a question over procedure.

I have been investigating how this wrong could have possibly happened and I believe that the fault lies at Cuyahoga County Prosecutor William Mason's doorstep.

Prosecutor Mason, and his agent Assistant County Prosecutor Reno Oradini,

Had knowledge of the procedural problems,

Had the power to prevent the problems,

Had the sworn duty to advise their client of the problems,

And did nothing.

Having ducked their duty on one hand, they prosecuted two employees for taking actions that could have been prevented with one word from them.

Prosecutor Mason and his agents cannot have it both ways. Therefore, I will be filing a formal complaint against Mr. Oradini at the Disciplinary Counsel of the Ohio Supreme Court. I will ask the Disciplinary Counsel to investigate this conduct and take action. I may, upon further investigation, also file a complaint against Mr. Mason.

I will reveal further action that results from my investigation at the Board of Electiosn meeting Wednesday.

Finally, I would like to remind the Secretary of State and you that the Board did a good job in this past gubernatorial election. We lead the state - and possibly the nation - in poll worker training, put more election devices in the field to eliminate long lines, and generally improved the voter experience. We are making progress on our major goal, which is to restore the voter confidence in Cuyahoga County elections, and we ask Secretary Brunner to join us in that effort.

GOP Translator

With Ohio's media spending most of it's time writing fluffy pieces about the Democrats and lining them up for GQ-like photo shoots (did you see the Dispatch on Sunday?!?! - what a disgrace!), we've decided to invest in the creation of a "GOP Translator."

This fancy device will take a look at the news stories of the day and filter out all of the left-leaning bias and sugarcoating of the issues to give you the real facts about what's going on at the Statehouse and in Washington, DC.

Here's today's story:

from the Associated Press:

Gov. Ted Strickland said Monday he will propose eliminating some tax breaks [translation: increase taxes] and take his first steps toward fixing Ohio's school-funding problems in his upcoming budget.

The Democratic governor, whose first budget proposal will be released Thursday, said his two-year spending plan will reflect what he considers to be the state's priorities -- education, health care and economic development [priorities for every governor in Ohio history].

He was guarded about the specifics of his plan… [because he really doesn’t have any]

He tried to dampen expectations on repairing Ohio's school funding… [wonder why? Remember that Strickland said if he couldn’t fix school funding then he will have failed as a governor] Strickland, who became governor in January, said he hasn't had enough time in office to find a comprehensive solution that everyone can agree on...

Having already promised not to raise taxes or increase fees, Strickland said eliminating some tax breaks for businesses or individuals is one way to raise revenue.
''We are going to invest in the things that truly matter.... and in order to do that, we've got to have some resources,'' Strickland said. (Strickland set to unveil his first budget proposal. Associated Press. March 13, 2007)

That word "invest" is a tricky one. The Democrats have spent the last year trying to convince Ohio that increased fees and taxes are actually investments in Ohio.

The most egregious comment was made by Democrat Party Chairman Chris Redfern at a joint appearance with Chairman Bennett at the Ohio Association of Realtors in March of 2006.

''It’s time we view taxes as investments,'' Redfern said.

Please keep an eye out for any mention of “investment” by our Democrat friends. Their softening of words is only masking their long-held liberal belief in government control and higher taxes.