You can watch the excitement from here: http://www.ohiochannel.org/
Right Ohio
WASHINGTON — A Chillicothe paper mill is losing millions of dollars in sales after becoming the unintended victim of an international trade fight sparked by the shutdown of a pilot program letting Mexican trucks operate in the United States.
Enough is enough, says Rep. Zack Space, D-Dover, who wrote to [...]
At about 2am, they cut a deal. This is from Gongwer ($):
A test drive of new public construction contracting laws and a delay in all-day kindergarten mandates for local schools provided the breakthrough late Wednesday in a stalemate over how to address an $851 million budget shortfall, according to Senate [...]
From The Zanesville Times Recorder:
Ohio’s $1.4 billion Third Frontier program already has created nearly 10,000 new jobs and nearly $300 million in tax revenues since it was approved by voters in 2005, a new report by a coalition of business executives said.
All of the state dollars will be paid [...]
Joe Hallett reports on Rep. Dan Stewart, former SEIU goon and current far-left activist:
State Rep. Dan Stewart, D-Columbus, is thought to have become the first state lawmaker to get married in the Statehouse when he and Catherine Thomsen tied the knot Nov. 28 in the Rotunda.
Stewart, 53, and Thomsen, [...]
Per James Nash’s article in The Dispatch today, I give these entrepreneurs an “A” for creativity:
Even as authorities work to shut down computer-based Sweepstakes gambling machines in Ohio, a Florida company is trying to sell Ohio retailers on the concept of scratch-off phone cards that operate on the same [...]
Bicycle shelters. Bicycle parking. Bicycle lockers.
The drive to make Columbus more bicycle-friendly is shifting into gear as enthusiasts and officials decide how to use a $490,000 federal grant from a program aimed at improving energy efficiency and conservation.
A proposal by the Capital Crossroads Special Improvement District calls [...]
COLUMBUS—State Rep. Terry Blair today introduced legislation that would put an end to the ever-growing financial waistline of the state of Ohio, tying the state’s budget to actual General Revenue Fund receipts for the previous two years.
“Since 1997, the growth of Ohio’s state government, as [...]
Over the summer, there was an incredible amount of outrage focused at Gov. Ted Strickland for his willingness to cut funding for Ohio’s libraries.
But last night, everyone who has a card in the Columbus library system was sent this link in hopes they would send emails in favor [...]
From the latest column by old man Joe:
Unless they want to voluntarily disclose that information, we probably will never know if or how much Withrow, Bennett, Douglas and others were paid from the nearly $50 million spent by Michigan online-lender Dan Gilbert and Penn National [...]
Former Lorain County Commissioner Michael Ross was sentenced to prison for 9 and 1/2 years.
Here is The Plain Dealer’s report. Here is the Associated Press. And here is the Lorain Morning Journal.
No mention of his party affiliation anywhere in the articles, so if you guessed he is [...]
This issue opens up an entire can of worms:
The probable Republican nominee for governor said he supports efforts to give Franklin County voters a chance to reject a casino in the Arena District.
Although he did not campaign against the constitutional amendment to permit casinos in the state’s four largest [...]
Downtown business owners say Columbus Public Service Director Mark Kelsey misrepresented facts to members of Columbus City Council Monday night concerning the 50-percent parking meter rate increase that went into effect Nov. 30.
Downtown business owners are dubbing the controversy “Metergate.”
“His dishonesty is absolutely unacceptable. He should resign,” said Liz [...]
We’re sure Sens. Bill Nelson (D-FL) and Ben Nelson (D-NE) are used to being mistaken for one another. But it looks pretty bad when someone running to join them in the Dem caucus does the mistaking.
In an email to supporters sent last night, OH Sec/State Jennifer [...]
Our enfeebled governor much have taken his Metamucil this morning. Is he serious? Even in this video you notice his head shaking…
Isn’t it odd that he said cardiologist? No one asked him about his cardiac health. And it is often said people who answer their questions while touching their [...]
WASHINGTON — A House subcommittee approved legislation Wednesday aimed at forcing college football to switch to a playoff system to determine its national champion, over the objections of some lawmakers who said Congress has meatier targets to tackle.
The bill, which faces steep odds, would ban the promotion [...]
Yesterday, I reported that Kevin DeWine pulled the plug on a potential endorsement in the race for AG. Tonight, Bill Hershey in the Dayton Daily News has the candidates’ responses:
Yost said he was disappointed but would continue working.
Mike DeWine said he was not disappointed.
“My focus [...]
President Obama’s campaign manager David Plouffe endorsed Ohio Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher in a fundraising e-mail for the Democrat’s Senate campaign.
“I get asked quite a bit what I think the most important campaigns in 2010 will be. And the Ohio Senate race is always near the top [...]
Did you know his daughter worked for the SEIU?
The poster boy for these two broken promises is Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown. If you’ve never heard of Senator Brown he is probably most famous for being mistaken for an African-American by Rush Limbaugh because of his name. He is actually [...]
Unemployment in Ohio has jumped to 10.5%, the state is wrestling with an $851 million budget shortfall, and Governor Ted Strickland has proposed delaying a tax cut approved in 2005. Add it all together, and it’s a tough environment for the incumbent Democratic governor who now trails his expected [...]

This week, the Ohio GOP’s screening committee was scheduled to meet before the central committee’s meeting on Friday. As was decided in September, they were supposed to consider making an endorsement in the one state-wide race they had not made one in yet… the race Ohio [...]
Jim Geraghty mentions Jennifer Brunner’s major flip-flop-pander on Afghanistan, and Jesse Hathaway properly mocks.
But the truth here is Secretary Brunner doesn’t know a hill of beans about foreign policy and is simply saying what needs to be said. This isn’t about national security, and it isn’t a real [...]
Roger Geiger of the Ohio NFIB is thoroughly annoyed at the Democrat-controlled Ohio House for passing heavy handed insurance mandates:
“The Ohio House of Representatives today approved two measures that guarantee higher health insurance premiums for small businesses that could not have come at a worse time, as most small [...]
Out-of-work Ohioans will now be able to continue to receive unemployment benefits while enrolled full-time in education and training programs, the Strickland administration announced Monday, Dec. 7.
“This policy change will help those Ohioans hardest hit by the recession to obtain job training skills without sacrificing their ability [...]
Here is the list of people you should know about. Unfortunately, Dirtbag Mayor Coleman is on the list.
[...]“I believe Ohio, as I’ve said, has everything that is needed to be an economic success story,” [Gov. Ted Strickland] said. “All we need is a little more time to put all the pieces together.”
What pieces? You mean raising income taxes this year by 4.2% to fill [...]
Jesse Hathaway has a great update about what ACORN is up to in Ohio. In fact, it is so good, Instapundit picked up on it!
And Warner Todd Hudson at Big Government has an update about the 47 felons who were collecting signatures for the latest anti-smoking nannystate ballot [...]
My friend Beth Lear, former education analyst at The Buckeye Institute, is running for the 2nd House District:
Galena, OH – Beth Lear, Republican from Galena, announced today that she will campaign for State Representative in Ohio’s 2nd House District, currently held by Kris Jordan (R – Powell). Representative Jordan [...]
Watch out for those parentheses!:
Here’s the deal with Statehouse shrieking over when to renew the Third Frontier, Ohio’s job-development program:
In 2011, Ohio will run out of Third Frontier money. Gov. Ted Strickland and House Speaker Armond Budish of Beachwood, want to ask Ohioans in May 2010 to extend the [...]
From Bill Bush in The Columbus Dispatch:
Columbus City Schools have more than 120 buildings designed for teaching.
But in a three-day effort to teach its teachers, the district is renting banquet halls, high-end hotels and conference centers — using almost $145,000 in federal grant dollars.[...]
The district will pay up to [...]
She is now making the big bucks at the Department of Transportation.
In the Democrat party, voter fraud is quite profitable.
[...]What Kevin Holtsberry calls “bold,” I call cheap, gimmicky Keynesianism, and reminiscent of President Bush’s 2008 tax rebate which was part of his “stimulus” package and had no effect on household spending.
U.S. Senate hopeful Rob Portman says the economy needs an additional stimulus, besides what the [...]
So Democrats and the black caucus cry raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaacism!:
Oddly enough, Ted Strickland even supports the changes. But I suppose this is what happens when a number of districts in the state legislature are “set asides” for some very ignorant politicians.
[...]This is the same company behind the successful Issue 3 casino campaign. I wonder why they are doing this?
[...]Gut the income tax, kill the death tax, reduce regulations and taxes on businesses Publish a “slick” new online magazine featuring cities in Michigan?:
COLUMBUS — A slick new online magazine designed to promote Ohio features Grand Haven, Saugatuck, East Grand Rapids and other cities you won’t find on an [...]
The madness of distorting the marketplace with helicopter money dumps never ends:
The U.S. Department of Energy has approved $11 million to fund rebates for Ohioans who purchase energy efficient appliances.
The money, which comes from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA), will provide nearly 90,000 rebates to residential consumers who [...]
In addition to DeWine firing his spokesman, DeWine’s fundraiser, Amanda Sima is leaving the sinking Titanic known as the Mike DeWine for Attorney General campaign. Amanda is one of the most prominent Republicans fundraisers in Ohio, and I had the pleasure of working with her on the Blackwell campaign [...]

And he wants Brian Hicks and Michael Billirakis to be fired:
Ouch! Thems fightin’ words! Nicely done, Senator Grendell.
In 2005 I worked within the OSU student government to pass a resolution to fire Brian Hicks from their Board of Trustees, and certain people at the Ohio [...]

A political match made in Heaven:
Christina Haddad and Jeffrey Polesovsky
engaged to wed
Christina Haddad, the daughter of Sam Haddad of Toledo, and Lora Haddad of Mebane, North Carolina, and Jeffrey Polesovsky, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Polesovsky of Maumee, announce their engagement.
Ms. Haddad, [...]
The Ohio House on Tuesday, Dec. 1, by a 79-19 vote approved legislation increasing the penalty for cockfighting.
House Bill 108 would make cockfighting a fifth degree felony, which carries a prison term of up to 12 months and a fine of up to $2,500.[...]
Rep. James [...]

It is confirmed by three credible sources that anti-gun Mike DeWine’s DC-based political consultant, Jon Seaton, former national field director for failed presidential candidate John McCain, has been fired and will be leaving DeWine’s campaign at the end of the year.
As this race for Attorney General [...]
From The Dispatch’s news wire:
Columbus is one of 10 major cities across the nation that have decked out a signature landmark in red lights to observe World AIDS Day.
Mayor Michael Coleman was joined by city officials and AIDS activists in illuminating City Hall last [...]
Gubernatorial Candidate John Kasich supports phasing out the Ohio estate tax and the Ohio office of Americans for Prosperity are putting an issue on the ballot that will do just that, but Democrats in Congress are ready to extend the Federal state tax indefinitely.
Here is a good video [...]
Jesse Hathaway’s correspondence with the Ohio Attorney General’s office may show that Rich Cordray believes the partisan document snooping on Samuel “Joe the Plumber” Wurzelbacher was not illegal. I expect the O’Reilly Factor to pick up on this story again.
At Kyle Sisk’s website, an anonymous blogger with a good [...]
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Cleveland’s anti-discrimination laws will grow to protect transgender citizens under an ordinance passed Monday by City Council.
Existing city codes prohibit businesses from denying jobs or housing to citizens for reasons of age, race, religion or sexual orientation.
Activists in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and [...]
On Oct. 30, John Kasich took part in a fascinating discussion at Regent University about free markets and economic liberalism. Click here to watch. (Not sure why they didn’t bring in a translator for Arianna.)
Not only does John Kasich embody the same optimistic spirit of Ronald Reagan and explains [...]
has been indicted on two more charges for her illegal scheme to pay $5/voter via the Ohio University College Democrats.
She was already indicted for laundering more than $27,000 in campaign contributions through personal bank accounts during her race for county prosecutor.
Ted Strickland has remained silent throughout these ongoing scandals.
As an update to my post on the Ohio House Democrat’s questionable numbers the supposed benefits of the 3rd Frontier corporate welfare scheme, Minority Leader Bill Batchelder is pissed:
“It has come to our attention that for more than half a year the House Democrats have been drafting, working and [...]
I doubt that General Stanley McChrystal is the leader whose advice we should follow without significant validation of his recommendations. Gen. McChrystal recommended the deployment of additional troops in a “surge” modeled after the one in Iraq. Also, General McChrystal’s previous association with the abuse [...]
Hamilton County Commissioner David Pepper, candidate for Ohio Auditor, lied to voters and cast a lone vote for higher property taxes.
[...]From the inbox:
Program has created over 40K jobs and provided a 10 to 1 return for taxpayers
COLUMBUS – Citing an impressive job-creation performance and a strong return on investment for taxpayers, State Reps. Sandra Williams and Jay Goyal joined business leaders in growing high-tech industries from across the state to [...]
Now that Gov. Mike Huckabee’s presidential aspirations are sunk with his own version of Willie Horton, I wonder how comfortable Gov. Ted Strickland feels about recently releasing 78 convicts from prison?
If Ted takes the vetting process as serious as he did his appointment of a trustee to [...]
With that initial editorial, the Dispatch was merely warming to the fight. The Sunday after the election, the newspaper’s first-rate senior editor, Joe Hallett, piled on, arguing in a column, “Like strip clubs, casinos should be put to a test of acceptance from the communities where they [...]
Watch this video about health care from the Ted Strickland campaign:
Did you get the idea that many children without health insurance now have it, thanks to Gov. Strickland? After all, it did say “He’s passed legislation guaranteeing health-care access for all Ohio children, and he’s working to make that [...]
His union masters will be pleased:
WASHINGTON Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams is scheduled to appear 9 a.m. today on C-SPAN’s “Washington Journal.”
Williams is expected to discuss the success of stimulus funding to the city of Youngstown and will point out the the city received $350,000 in Recovery Act funding that [...]
“In the 1990s, Kasich tried to get rid of the Appalachian Regional Commission, which would have completely devastated our area,” said Molly Varner, chair of the Washington County Democratic Party. “The ARC is more than just â€pet projects’ as he once called them. If Kasich wants [...]
The Other Paper gave reporters the chance to take anonymous cheap shots at their least favorite PR professionals. Check out what was said about Ted Strickland’s Spokesbabe:
Amanda Wurst may be the most beloved spokeswoman (by her bosses) to ever work a media room. The voice of Gov. Ted [...]
From Senator Sherrod Brown’s email (my TWENTY-FIFTH Happy Thanksgiving email from a politician):
I’m personally most thankful to have all our kids living in Ohio again, and look forward to spending as much time with them as I can. On Thanksgiving, we’ll be gathering at my brother Bob’s house and the [...]
Unless you have been living under a rock (or only read the NY Times), you heard that the myth of man-made Global Warming was totally destroyed this month. Glad that’s over!:
[...]Right Ohio proudly endorses Dennis Spisak for Governor of Ohio.
According to his website, he is true liberal who is not a fan of the corporatist nature of ObamaCare’s health insurance mandates. And, more importantly, while running as an independent, he earned almost 5% of the vote running against [...]
Then this column from Maura J. Casey in First Things will thoroughly depress you.
However, to quote the wise philosopher of Cleveland, Mike Trivisonno, “It is only a gambling problem if you are losing.”
[...]Paul Aker, one of the last few serious investigative reporters in Columbus, exposes what they are doing with your money in the Strickland administration:
Now I finally know where to go for a good deal on a Mac!
[...]Apparently, Gov. Ted Strickland, who as a Congressional benchwarmer was an early supporter of HillaryCare in 1993, is so anxious to reduce the quality of medical care in Ohio that he’s not even waiting for Obamacare and death panels to become a reality…
From the Ohio Hospital Association:
(COLUMBUS, OH) – [...]
Just like Connie Schultz is quick to call anyone who opposed her husband’s Utopian health care scheme a Nazi-sign-waving nut, she is wrong to call her readers racist for their reactions to a SERIAL MURDER.
I really hate Connie Schultz.
[...]BLOG POST EDITED: I originally referred to the DeWine campaign being “run out” of the Ohio GOP office. That certainly isn’t true, at least in the physical sense of an actual office space. In addition, Hall is not currently an employee of the Ohio Republican Party.
All [...]
I’ve personally examined the collection of shoes that Rep. Josh Mandel has worn out. After the cameras turned off for this news report, I can assure you that Josh kept walking, and walking, and walking….
[...]At an anniversary for the 30th Anniversary of the day he was elected Mayor of Cleveland. He was the only Republican not to not vote against moving forward on debate on socialized health care.
George is a man who will not hesitate to describe himself as a deficit hawk, so [...]
His name is Lou Gentile of Steubenville, a former Strickland congressional staffer who worked for the Strickland office worker who exposed himself to 12 year old girls.
The unpopular Governor gave his former employee a glowing endorsement:
“I know how much Lou loves this region,” said Gov. Ted Strickland. “I [...]
Unemployment continues to skyrocket:
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio’s unemployment rate was 10.5 percent in October, up from 10.1 percent in September, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services said today.
Ohio’s nonfarm wage and salary employment increased 1,400 over the month, from 5,097,000 in September to 5,098,400 in October.
And this [...]
It is fantastic news to hear the Senate is again deadlocked on a budget agreement, but why does Stephen Majors and most Ohio reporters insist on using the phrase “tax cut delay” or “tax freeze?”
Taxpayers must be thrilled that it isn’t actually a tax hike, so they [...]
Bill Buckley once suggested that he would rather have the US government run by the first 400 people in the Boston telephone book. And considering that 79% of voters are apparently smarter on fiscal policy than your average Democrat Congressman, I agree:
As the policy debate has unfolded in Washington [...]
Gary Andres in the Weekly Standard explains that Rep. Zack Space, who represents a district where Pres. Obama received less than 50% of the vote, is playing a political risky game by supporting cap-and-trade and ObamaCare.
[...]From Dan Balz in the Washington Post:
That issue flared briefly during the opening day of the Republican Governors Association annual conference here Wednesday. Former Ohio representative John Kasich offered a provocative assessment of his party’s failures on that front when he complained about the lack of success of [...]
For those of you who are fans of syrupy compassionate-conservatism and a record on taxes in Arkansas which mirrors that of Gov. Bob Taft’s in Ohio, Mike Huckabee will be at the Easton Barnes & Noble from noon to 1 p.m. today.
From his eloquent column today in The Plain Dealer:
People are catching on. The longer the debate on health care goes on, the more unmistakable the power grab becomes and the more the opposition to it grows.
And yet, across that philosophical chasm I see a vast number of Americans tempted [...]
Not only did Meteorologist Ben Gelbert write a fascinating column in the NY Times about global warming from a historical perspective, he has his own rap song!:

From the Dayton Daily News this evening:
It is rather amusing to hear Ted Strickland’s office talk about responsible budgeting. By “responsible,” does Spokesbabe Amanda mean: 1) plugging budget holes with incredibly optimistic projections about revenues that could be generated from various morons at slot machines [...]
The erosion among independents, however, isn’t simply a regional problem. Democrats are anxious about the prospects of five-term Sen. Chris Dodd in Connecticut, who trails one of his GOP opponents by 28 percentage points among independents in a prospective head-to-head matchup, and Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter and [...]
In her column today, she calls her white readers racists, explains how horrible life is in poor urban cities that have been ruined by decades of corrupt Democrat leadership, and fantasizes about rape.
[...]Bill Sloat, former Plain Dealer newspaper reporter turned Democrat political blogger (no difference in the job, other than the salary), has caught onto an interesting story about Team Fisher.
[...]I thought it was rather interesting to see the Ohio Society of Certified Public Accountants throwing in their two cents on the state budget debate, essentially calling for government consolidation, move to zero-based budgeting, and plan to sunset agencies by evaluating them at least every decade, and sin taxes.