State of Ohio Received Some of AIG’s Bailout

You can add $490 million to Ohio’s federal stimulus total.

That’s the amount Ohio has received from AIG since the federal government put the world’s largest insurer on life support last fall. Sunday evening AIG released information regarding how it spent over $70 billion of the $180 billion it has received from U.S. taxpayers through the U.S. Treasury Dept. and the Federal Reserve.  Ohio and several other states were on the list of businesses or government entities for which AIG used federal funds to settle debts.

From AIG’s press release on Sunday:

Municipalities in the states listed on Attachment C received a total of $12.1 billion from AIGFP between September 16, 2008 and December 31, 2008 in satisfaction of Guaranteed Investment Agreement (GIA) obligations. GIAs are structured investments with a guaranteed rate of return. Municipalities typically use GIAs to invest the proceeds from bond issuances until the funds are needed.

Screen Grabs from Attachment C:

Ohio Sunday Papers – Casinos: State Newspapers No Likey

• Huron County’s 18.3% unemployment rate – Associated Press
• State making more records available online – Columbus Dispatch
• Banks face long climb – Cincinnati Enquirer
• New Schools Fall Short of Strickland’s Standards – Columbus Dispatch
• Editorial: Fool’s Gold (Casinos) – Toledo Blade
• Editorial: False Promises (Casinos) – Columbus Dispatch
• Editorial: Highway Funds, er, Safety – Toledo Blade
• Editorial: Strickland – Let Charter Schools Bloom – The Plain Dealer
• Editorial: Trust in Change (Higher Ed) – Akron Beacon-Journal
• Op-Ed, Dennis Willard: Big Brother, Big Brother, big money – Akron Beacon-Journal
• Op-Ed, David Skolnick: Congressman Ryan Man of the Hour – Youngstown Vindicator
• Op-Ed, Thomas Suddes: Gambling Promoters & Their Self Serving Ideas – The Plain Dealer
• Op-Ed, Jonathan Riskind: Pollution plan fuels bipartisan fight – Columbus Dispatch
• Op-Ed, Joe Hallett: Ohio needs to upgrade Capitol statuary – Columbus Dispatch

Mary Taylor Audited for Hypocrisy, Recklessness

The stakes are too high as Ohio navigates the perilous waters of the current recession.  That’s why state of Ohio Auditor Mary Taylor should have known better than to call the state “unauditable” last week.

The basis for her stretcher (that’s what we used to call lies in Southern Ohio) was the fact that an important end of fiscal year report was past due.  As the Auditor of State, her office has been kept abreast of the issues the state has had in transitioning to its new accounting system known as OAKS.  As the Auditor, she’s been treated professionally and her staff always have had a seat at the table.  In fact, the state auditor’s office was probably better prepared for the OAKS transition than some state agencies.

That’s why she should have known better than to nitpick an administrative hassle and turn it into a potentially financially harmful circumstance for her state. The state of Ohio is not unauditable.

What’s at the root of the current economic crisis?  The financial markets – they’re not working properly.  Every aspect of the financial markets are gummed up and there is a dearth of something even more important than money in these markets: trust.  Mary Taylor’s outrageous pronouncement that the state is “unauditable” was an overreach and could have harmed Ohio’s credit rating.

As a politician, Mary Taylor is living up to that which so many of us have grown sick and tired – grandstanding for purely political gain.  Today, the Ohio Democratic Party brought my attention to something I missed over the weekend.  Mary Taylor’s own end of year reporting was late as well.  I don’t remember her chastising herself on this point last week.

From the ODP:

COLUMBUS – Just days after State Auditor Mary Taylor stood before the entire Statehouse press corps to accuse Governor Strickland of delaying the state audit, it was revealed that the audit of Taylor’s own office was months late, raising questions about the sincerity of her accusations.

As reported by the Columbus Dispatch (“Audit of Taylor’s office also late,” 3/7/09), under Ohio law, the audit of Taylor’s office had to be completed by October 15.  It was not finished until December 8, nearly two months late.

While the Strickland administration acknowledged the delay in both cases is due to the complicated transition to the Taft-initiated Ohio Administrative Knowledge System, Taylor continues to use exaggerated partisan rhetoric even as she begins to backtrack.  Now Taylor admits she “knew there would be delays” months before last week’s press conference.

Let me just back one thing up contained in the paragraphs above from ODP.  In May of 2008, Taylor was informed that the end of year report she was expecting would be late, perhaps not ready until the Fall of 2009.  This was before the fiscal year was even up.  Again in August, Taylor was updated some weeks after the end of the fiscal year.  This time the news was better.  The report would be late, but she could expect it as early as March or by perhaps late Spring.

These are just two instances I have read about or heard about regarding communication between the Auditor’s office and the Strickland Administration.  I know there were more, a source tells me that the Auditor’s office is “copied on everything.”

Mary Taylor is getting ready to run for something.  This context for her reckless behavior as a public servant is not lost on anyone who follows events on Capitol Square.  Let’s hope that the public servants in the Capitol and the state office towers in Columbus can make up for her shameless act.

Ohio Sunday Papers – Ill winds beginning to blow on Cap Square

• Governor’s doubters grow – Columbus Dispatch
• Foreclosure crisis everywhere in Cleveland – The Plain Dealer
• 1933 eviction riots in Cleveland bear similarities to today – The Plain Dealer
• Plummeting stock prices rock four venerable Toledo firms – The Toledo Blade
• Op-Ed, Joe Hallett: Brunner v. Fisher could be Dem nightmare – Columbus Dispatch
• Op-Ed, Dennis Willard: Ohio legislators divided and evasive – Akron Beacon Journal
• Op-Ed, Aaron Marshall: Ohio House Republicans ready to fight – The Plain Dealer
• Op-Ed, Jonathan Riskind: Voinovich far from being lame duck – Columbus Dispatch
• Editorial: Ohio Auditor has waited long enough for data – The Plain Dealer
• Editorial: Stimulus should focus on fixing what’s broken – Columbus Dispatch
• Editorial: Passenger rail – waiting at the station – Akron Beacon Journal
• Some Lucas County agency heads get raises – The Toledo Blade
• Use of furloughs for workers on the rise – The Plain Dealer
• Personal bailouts sought on Ohio site – Akron Beacon Journal
• Where will the local stimulus dollars go? – Akron Beacon Journal
• Ohio stimulus proposals point out crumbling infrastructure – The Plain Dealer
• Fragile mental health safety net – Columbus Dispatch
• Ohio mental health facts – Columbus Dispatch
• Traficant could be back in Ohio soon – Youngstown Vindicator
• Dettelbach rises to top of U.S. Atty list – The Plain Dealer

Plain Dealer, Dispatch Get A Couple Things Wrong on Editorial Pages This Week

There are the kinds of opinions that are like – you know what – (everyone has one).  Then there is what should be the considered, discerned opinion of major daily newspapers.  The newspaper editorials which serve the public best are those based in fact and not shallowly rooted in knee-jerk ideology.

Facts may be analyzed in different ways leading to reasonable people disagreeing on public policy, political motivations, etc.  But when an opinion is based on a careless understanding of the facts – or worse – a purposeful twisting – it’s merely stupidity.  When a newspaper does this, it’s recklessness on a much larger scale.

Read more

Jon Husted’s Profile in Public Fraud May End Up A Chance for A Jennifer Brunner Profile In Courage

The Dayton Daily News is reporting tonight that the Montgomery County Board of Elections cast a tie vote along party lines, punting to Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner to make the final determination on how big a fraud State Sen. Jon Husted, R-Upper Arlington, really is.

Progress Ohio, a public interest group based in Columbus, filed the original complaint in Montgomery County against Husted.  By Ohio law, state representatives and state senators must live in their districts.  Husted claims to be “R-Kettering,” but is actually “R-Upper Arlington.”  He was elected to be “R-Kettering,” but since he has been “R-Upper Arlington” for so long he is illegitimate.  Some have even speculated that he is “A-Upper Arlington.” (“A” is for asshole, party of one – him.)

In a bit of drama tonight, Progress Ohio beseeched Brunner to live up to her Profile in Courage Award by officially declaring Slick Jonny irrelevant.  At any rate, it’s the stated editorial opinion of this blog that Jon Husted should be banned in 38 states and all the provinces of Canada.

What follows is real, from the Dayton Daily News:

Husted testified at his hearing that he is at his Kettering home weekly, but declined to say how often he or his family sleep there. He and his family are rarely seen in Kettering, according to neighbors and Dayton Daily News spot checks. A review of water records show very low water usage at the house, with bills for three quarters in 2007 and 2008 showing less than 750 gallons used.

Twenty-two spots checks of his home since Jan. 5 showed no sign of Husted or a vehicle at various times through the day and night. Newspapers stayed on the driveway for days and sometimes there were no tire tracks in snow on his driveway or indication that it had been shoveled. At night there is usually the same light and television on in the house.

On Jan. 17 at 6 p.m. there was no sign of lights or TV but a package blocked the front door. Two hours later, the same package blocked the door, but the television could be seen flickering through the blinds. The next morning at 10 a.m., the same package was still blocking the door.

Husted denies using a timer to control the television and he refused to say where he parks when he is home. He declined to answer further questions.

Whacky Ohio Stimulus Project of the Evening

This comes from the latest file of stimulus proposals being made to state of Ohio government:

Project Name: Broader Bands

Project Description: The Columbus Dispatch Co. should begin to use broader rubber bands to secure the newspapers which are delivered to homes across Franklin and the surrounding counties – the skinny ones break.  The larger rubber bands will require an additional person to help stretch the bands so that they fit over the rolled-up newspaper.

Project cost and stimulus created is listed as $300.

The Daily Graphic: U.S. Housing Starts Historic Low

Strickland Says Ohio’s Stimulus Haul Will Be Around $8.2 Billion

Despite some recent reports that the final version of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act would leave a hole in Ohio’s next biennial budget, Gov. Ted Strickland said today that Ohio stands to take in over $8 billion in federal investment related to the economic stimulus bill.

“The effects of this recession reach deep into the lives and pocketbooks of everyday Ohioans. The federal stimulus is the right investment at exactly the right time to jumpstart the stalled economy,” said Strickland.

“These resources will save or create more than 130,000 jobs for Ohioans and provide tax cuts to working families, while also helping to protect essential state services that Ohioans rely upon every day,” Strickland said. “The stimulus resources will enable Ohio to make targeted investments in the critical sectors of our economy that will create and grow jobs – laying the foundation for future economic growth and shared prosperity.”

Strickland’s office summed up Ohio’s stimulus investment:

• Direct Relief through State Fiscal Stabilization Funds and Enhanced Federal Medical Assistance Percentages (FMAP): $4.8 billion
• Infrastructure: $1.5 billion
• Education: $981 million
• Health and Human Services: $597 billion
• Energy: $399 million
• Criminal Justice: $75 million
  

Ohio Sunday Papers – February 15

• Celeste, (Chris), exploring U.S. Senate run – The Plain Dealer
• Part of Strickland’s school funding formula involves judgement calls – Columbus Dispatch
• Plan calls for judging teachers on results – Columbus Dispatch
• Editorial: School Funding – Evidence of Confusion – Akron Beacon Journal
• State’s use of stimulus: Plodding or on Pace? – Columbus Dispatch

• Economists: This recession deeper than ‘83 – Dayton Daily News
• Op-Ed, Thomas Suddes: Ohio Legislature = Boys Town - The Plain Dealer
• GM, Chrysler labor talks slow – The Plain Dealer
• Steamed about heating bills – Toledo Blade
• Surprise: Pryce becoming a lobbyist – Columbus Dispatch
• Ohio Turnpike toll plan takes from other states – Toledo Blade
• Food inspection complex, has holes – Columbus Dispatch
• Payday lenders use loophole to continue high interest rates – The Plain Dealer
• Health agencies brace for cuts – Columbus Dispatch
• Editorial: Improve Democracy – Columbus Dispatch
• Op-Ed, Roger Geiger: Secret ballots must remain in union elections – Toledo Blade
• Op-Ed, Joe Hallett: High School buddies solve economic mess – Columbus Dispatch

The Daily Graphic: Where Does the State of Ohio Spend Money?

The Strickland Administration and the Ohio General Assembly begin working in earnest this week on the Fiscal Years 2010-11 state budget.  According to the Ohio Office of Budget and Mangement, here’s where your tax dollars go:

Ohio Sunday Papers – February 8, 2009

• 
• Op-Ed, Thomas Suddes: Strickland’s budget has some odd twists and turns – The Plain Dealer
• GOP’s Carey scrutinizes Strickland budget – Dayton Daily News
• Op-Ed, Joe Hallett: Ohio Dems Clumsily stoop into the mud in attacking Portman - Columbus Dispatch
• Sen. Brown touts Ohio’s $6.8 BN in stimulus - Toledo Blade
• No stimulus deal for Voinovich – The Plain Dealer
• Unemployment hits nearly every area of Ohio analysis shows - The Plain Dealer
• Ohio likes Obama – Columbus Dispatch
• Ohio Mayors in line for stimulus cash – Columbus Dispatch
• Op-Ed, Jonathan Riskind: Buy American is no sale for Obama – Columbus Dispatch
• Ohio prison staffs feeling strained – Dayton Daily News
• Malaise grows, resources shrink – Columbus Dispatch
• Some wealthy districts would gain, some poor would lose in school funding – Columbus Dispatch
• Op-Ed, Dennis Willard: Reforming schools starts with audits – Akron Beacon Journal
• Factors in Strickland school funding plan – Columbus Dispatch
• Kasich says wait and see – Columbus Dispatch
• Region has clout in Ohio legislative ranks – Cincinnati Enquirer
• Ohio stem cell researchers get ready for old rules to be tossed – Columbus Dispatch
• Head of PUCO reappointed – Associated Press
• Maureen O’Connor to run for Chief Justice – The Plain Dealer
• Lake Erie ice fishermen rescued, one dies – The Plain Dealer

Economic Stimulus Bill – White House Talks About Impact for Ohio

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is the proper name of the Obama Administration’s economic stimulus bill now pending in the U.S. Congress.  The purpose of the bill is to jolt our flagging economy by government investment in infrastructure, health care, green energy efforts and other measures that create jobs immediately or over the next 18 months.  The way the bill is shaping up in Congress, much of the money will flow through state governments.  Original bill drafts and summaries made fairly clear that state governors would be key to helping to target funds for the wisest use with the most immediate job-creating impact.  Yesterday, the White House produced a fact sheet for selected potential impacts, state by state.

What the White House Said About Ohio:

• Creating or saving 141,700 jobs over the next two years. Jobs created will be in a range of industries from clean energy to health care, with over 90% in the private sector. [Source: White House Estimate based on Romer and Bernstein, “The Job Impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan.” January 9, 2009.]•

• Providing a making work pay tax cut of up to $1,000 for 4,530,000 workers and their families. The plan will make a down payment on the President’s Making Work Pay tax cut for 95% of workers and their families, designed to pay out immediately into workers’ paychecks. [Source: White House Estimate based on IRS Statistics of Income]•

• Making 128,000 families eligible for a new American Opportunity Tax Credit to make college affordable. By creating a new $2,500 partially refundable tax credit for four years of college, this plan will give 3.8 million families nationwide – and 128,000 families in Ohio – new assistance to put college within their reach. [Source: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities analysis of U.S. Census data]•

• Offering an additional $100 per month in unemployment insurance benefits to 666,000 workers in Ohio who have lost their jobs in this recession, and providing extended unemployment benefits to an additional 92,000 laid-off workers. [Source: National Employment Law Project]•

• Providing funding sufficient to modernize at least 369 schools in Ohio so our children have the labs, classrooms and libraries they need to compete in the 21st century economy. [Source: White House Estimate]

Ohio Newsbreak – State Budget Coverage

• State of Pain – Columbus Dispatch
• Budget winners and losers – Columbus Dispatch
• School funding plan not so simple – Columbus Dispatch
• Pay cuts, medical facilities stir outcry – Columbus Dispatch
• Higher fees a tax hike? – Columbus Dispatch
• GOP leaders troubled by one time budget money – Columbus Dispatch
• Federal money for federal debt – Columbus Dispatch
• Governor Strickland’s transportation plan – The Plain Dealer
• Budget effect on NE Ohio schools – The Plain Dealer
• New and increased fees – The Plain Dealer
• Strickland reveals budget – The Plain Dealer

Sen. Coughlin Tilting at Windmills or Just Building the Name Rec?

He Can’t Really Be Running for Governor

Question: What distinguishes State Sen. Kevin Coughlin from any other Republican in Columbus?

Answer: Nothing.

What is this all about if it’s not about ego?  Coughlin is running for Governor?  Yep.

This quote from the Dispatch article takes the cake:

Promising to change “the smallness of our politics and our government,” Coughlin said, “We have to make sure we are focused on issues that are really important to Ohioans and there is nothing more important than reviving our economy and bringing jobs to this state and retaining jobs.”

The only “smallness” in Ohio politics and government has come from two places over the past six or seven years:

1. Ohio Republicans
2. Marc Dann

The only adults in the room at any given time on Capital Square are Ted Strickland and sometimes Sen. Harris.  It appears that Strickland has put forth something the Republicans couldn’t do in sixteen years of being in charge – a plan for reforming Ohio’s education system.  I also seem to remember that last year the Governor dragged the Republican House and Senate through the Energy bill.  Without Ted Strickland’s leadership, Ohioans would be paying more to heat and light their homes and Ohio businesses wouldn’t be able to count on stable energy costs.  Republicans came along, but only at the Governor’s urging.

Republicans have done a lot of small talk over the years when it comes to state regulatory reform – Strickland has done something about it.  An Associated Press article that got more treatment around the country than it did in Ohio reported a couple of weeks ago about the weeks of time businesses are being saved in their dealings with Bureau of Workers Compensation.  Not too long ago Strickland had ODNR, Ohio EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers all in one room for a week to fix the problems with some coal mining permit processes.

The “biggest” thing that’s happened to Ohio politics and its positive impact on people since the bygone era of Vernal G. Riffe and Jimmy Rhodes is Ted Strickland.

When Coughlin talks of  “smallness” in state leadership he need only look at his own Ohio Republican Party for the best contemporary example.

Next Page »