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.

Ohio Newsbreak – January 7, 2009: Budish, Jimmy Crum Dies, Blackwell’s Quest, Dannettes Reject Offer, Ohio Economy, Fingerhut warns on tuition

• 
• Ohio’s college tuition freeze in jeapoardy – Dayton Daily News
• Lobbyists prepare for another power shift – Columbus Business First
• Somebody wants to hit Blackwell without leaving fingerprints – National Review Online
• With big dreams, Budish takes over as Speaker – Columbus Dispatch
• Budish plans to work hard for cities – The Plain Dealer
• New Ohio House Speaker sworn in – Dayton Daily News
• Dems run House again – Toledo Blade
• Jimmy Crum passes – Columbus Dispatch
• Local credit scores sliding – Cincinnati Enquirer
• Editorial: Cuyahoga Sheriff likes nepotism – The Plain Dealer
• Blackwell talks about guns and Facebook – Dayton Daily News
• Blackwell states his case – The Plain Dealer
• Blackwell continues campaign for RNC – Columbus Dispatch
• Dann Women Reject Settlement – Columbus Dispatch
• Medical Mart realty co. asks for Federal bailout – The Plain Dealer
• Capital Notes – Columbus Dispatch
• Kids’ health insurance touted – Columbus Dispatch
• Editorial: Ohio Courts’ Secrecy – Columbus Dispatch
• OU Prof will be Obama’s photog – The Plain Dealer
• Climbing prices for rock salt - Toledo Blade

Ohio Sunday Papers | Sunday, January 4, 2009

• Insight: How Bad? 5 Economists Answer Questions About Recession, Ohio Economy – Columbus Dispatch

Editor’s Note: Just when you think the Dispatch editorial staff is still on vacation, they came up with this interesting piece in Sunday’s Insight section.  Let’s hear it for localizing a national story and doing it from a broad perspective.  The economists include a liberal, conservative, a federal reserve staffer, and private sector expertise.  Check it out.

• After the Flames: The Story of the 1969 Cuyahoga River Fire – The Plain Dealer
• Killings rip apart city’s fabric – Cincinnati Enquirer
• Cuyahoga sheriff lays off some, rewards family friends with raises – The Plain Dealer
• Op-Ed, Thomas Suddes: Suddes’ Crystal Ball
• Op-Ed, Joe Hallett: Brown, Strickland optimistic on economy turning corner – Columbus Dispatch
• Editorial: That Sinking Feeling – Toledo Blade
• Strickland, Governors call for $1 trillion in aid to states – The Plain Dealer
• Measure takes aim at sexual slavery – Toledo Blade
• Plans afoot for coal to liquid fuel plant in Wellsville – Youngstown Vindicator
• New Ohio legislature begins Monday – Dayton Daily News
• Ohio AG’s Washington Office closing – The Plain Dealer
• Columbia Gas, state reach deal on gorge – Columbus Dispatch
• Fewer truckers needed as economy gears down – Columbus Dispatch
• Fighting off the bear market – Columbus Dispatch
• Dick Feagler talks about 45-year career – The Plain Dealer
• Consumer advocates see bright spot in 2009 – The Plain Dealer
• Most important Ohio legislation passed in 2008 – The Plain Dealer
• Editorial: Husted made his mark – The Plain Dealer
• Editorial: Husted won’t just warm senate seat – Dayton Daily News
• BGSU to lay off 43 salaried workers – Toledo Blade

Ohio Sunday Papers – December 28, 2008

Columbus Dispatch

• FEC closing books on Noe scandal
• O’Shaughnessy leaves legacy for city
• Central Ohioans depart for war
• Probe dishonest, biased says Dann
  

Cleveland Plain Dealer

• Op-Ed, Thomas Suddes: House-keeping ideas for Ohio Dems
• Michael Connell death spurs conspiracy theories
• Financial analysts aren’t banking on 2009 to be much different

Dayton Daily News

• Could Ohio become ‘Silicon Valley’ of alternative energy?

• Wind, water, biomass in Ohio’s future
• Green push could have local firms seeing green
• McLin legacy celebration
• Strickland says education cuts possible
• Editorial: PNC needs to hear from Dayton region
• Op-Ed, Bill Hershey: Plant closing a bittersweet reminder of GM’s glory days

Toledo Blade

• Finkbeiner bullish on Toledo development prospects
• Tom Noe now at Hocking Correctional
• Editorial: Population Squeeze

Other Sources of Ohio News

• States seek efficiency using Japanese method - Associated Press
• Ohio reaches for a lifeline – Washington Post

Ohio IG’s Report Troubling for Reasons Other Than Marc Dann’s Shenanigans

If you haven’t had a chance to read the Marc Dann report, and you’re concerned about quality, professional government – government that knows its place – you may want to check it out and see if you don’t agree with a growing number of folks who watch the state of Ohio machine work every day.

I’m not talking about the subject of the report either – I’m talking about the investigators, the authors – the watchdogs.

This report does not read like a federal government GAO report.  It’s not a dispassionate exposition of the facts of Marc Dann’s ignoble reign.  It’s full of subjective, opinionated commentary and even some leaps without substantiation.

One also has to wonder why the IG didn’t just say, quite simply, there were these (insert bullet points) campaign finance-related “issues.”  They’ve been turned over to the Ohio Elections Commission for the appropriate authorities to investigate them.  I thought the IG was the watchdog for government, not campaigns.

Now we have Rep. Bill Batchelder rushing in with a legislative remedy which whether or not it could end up being a good bill, will be politically and emotionally colored by a report of investigation that read more like a Marc Dann story from the Columbus Dispatch.

Read the report for yourself.  After several months, is the best that the IG could do?  Did the IG investigation hold up other agencies who could have tackled the issues they know best while the Dann trail was still hot?  Is this a report of investigation or a compilation of news stories?  There are crumbs thrown out there in the report that left me wondering – well, did you investigate that or is it enough to say “this doesn’t look right?”

By no means is this a defense of Marc Dann.  He’s a bufoon.  He definitely mismanaged the office of Attorney General and there’s a lot of smoke there regarding actual lawbreaking and ethics violations.  But, we already knew that from what came out before the IG’s “investigation.”

I’m no expert, this is just my opinion.  But if this investigation could have been run better, more intensively and yielded more new evidence, the public would have been served.  What we got was a good read.  It’s obvious from the report that there are strings left to follow in the Dann case.  Let’s hope the appropriate, professional investigative agencies step in and finish the job.

Ohio Newsbreak – December 26

• Strickland has cuts, reforms on agenda – Toledo Blade
• Gun sales up over fear of Obama led crackdown – Dayton Daily News
• Justice had more Ohio votes than Obama – Dayton Daily News
• Retail experts predict more closings, layoffs for 2009 – The Plain Dealer
• ODJFS foster child tracking system fully online – The Plain Dealer
• Progress for a Medical Mart in Cleveland still a mystery – The Plain Dealer
• Misuse of campaign funds hard to prove – Columbus Dispatch
• Rejected ballots get sorted out – Columbus Dispatch
• Dann’s office benefited family – Columbus Dispatch
• Ohio guardsmen get Iraq call – Cincinnati Enquirer

Marc Dann – Our Own Little Slice of Blagojevich

What more can be said about Marc Dann that hasn’t already crossed someone’s lips or  illuminated some pixels on a screen or stained black a piece of newsprint?

Well, they can’t call him a douche bag in the newspaper, but I’m sure someone has in the Ohio blogosphere.  You gotta love the blogs – we can say how we really feel.

I heard someone on Cap Square utter “fucktard” in reference to Dann.  I was going to pull that one out myself tonight to try to say something that hadn’t already been said, but someone said it – I heard ‘em.

Read more

Bad Photoshop: Dannettes or Skankettes?

Click the Picture for Full Glory

Full Text: Ohio Inspector General Report on former Atty General Marc Dann | December 21

Click Here for PDF of Dann Report Part I

Click Here for Dann Report Part 2 (PDF)

Tom Charles’ OEC Filing on Dann Appears to Provide Evidence of More Than Misusing Campaign Funds

The front page of the Dispatch today has more from the 1,000 page filing Ohio Inspector General Tom Charles provided the Ohio Elections Commission this week regarding former Attorny General Marc Dann. It appears that Dann crony and former AG manager Tony Gutierriez was laundering money from Dann’s campaign account to pay his own business’s debts.

He also appears to be “singing:”

“I’ve never seen people go through money as fast as them two in my life,” Gutierrez told the IG about Marc Dann and his wife Alyssa Lenhoff.

The Dispatch also points out that Charles used words like:

• absolutely incredible
• defies logic
• inconceivable
• difficult to fathom

to describe Dann’s handling of his campaign cash.  I would provide a link to the Dispatch story, but their own link is broken as of this writing.

Act II: Marc Dann Faked Campaign Reports Says Ohio IG, Secy of State

Complaint Against Dann Filed with Ohio Elections Commission

From the Columbus Dispatch:

Former Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann falsified his campaign finance records to disguise tens of thousands of dollars spent to benefit himself, his wife, children and top campaign staffers, a complaint filed today says.

Statements of receipts and expenditures that Dann’s campaign filed with the secretary of state “contain incomplete, inaccurate and false information concerning expenditures from the fund for travel, food, beverages, cell phones and other expenditures,” Inspector General Thomas P. Charles said in a sworn statement filed with the complaint before the Ohio Elections Commission.

Go to the Dispatch for the rest of the story.

Ohio News Check – Saturday – Strickland Democrats’ Radio Response

Politics and Elections

• Strickland slams McCain’s economic policies – Bloomberg
• Dems radio address bashes McCain – Associated Press
• Ballots with missing check marks to be counted – The Plain Dealer
• Ohio early voting survives court challenge – Associated Press

• Analysis says Ohio casino figures vague – Associated Press
• State Analysis says Issue 6 language vague – Columbus Dispatch
• Hamburgers, soap can offer political lessons – Associated Press
• Op-Ed, Joe Frolik: GOP’s downs and ups – The Plain Dealer
• Cordray has cash lead in AG’s race – Columbus Dispatch
• Marc Dann: Threats forced use of campaign cash – Columbus Dispatch
• Mediation in AG Harassment case loses steam – Columbus Dispatch

Other News

• Ohio minimum wage to rise in 2009 – Toledo Blade
• Regional indicators point to slow Cleveland recovery – The Plain Dealer

Ohio News Update – Lots of Work for Jennifer Brunner, Marc Dann still paying piper for being unethical, More on State budget cuts, Obama and Ohio

Brunner Makes Most News 

• Republicans reject Brunner’s proposal on disputed absentee ballots – Cleveland Plain Dealer
• Ohio GOP sues to block early voting – Toledo Blade
• Republicans file suit against Ohio Secy State – Dayton Daily News
• Brunner faces GOP suit; payday lending issues – Columbus Dispatch
• GOP Chief, Brunner clash over ballots – Columbus Dispatch
• Brunner may toss signatures on payday lending ballot issue – Columbus Dispatch
• State to go after former legislator – Columbus Dispatch
• Dann told to payback campaign for funds used on home – Cleveland Plain Dealer
• Dann must pay campaign $40k – Columbus Dispatch
• Ash borer adds Licking County to its domain – Columbus Dispatch

• Editorial: Needless Nitpicking – Columbus Dispatch
• Federal housing program causes tension in SW Ohio – Dayton Daily News

• Local programs will feel state cuts – Dayton Daily News
• Obama’s economic focus credited with lead in Ohio poll – Dayton Daily News
• Officials monitor Scioto River for parasite – Canton Repository
• Op-Ed, David Skolnick: Reach out and touch a political spinner – Youngstown Vindicator

Wednesday Late Nite News – Strickland Releases Economic Plan, Tommi Dorris, Parole Board, GOP, Barack Obama, Tave Zelman, Karl Rove

Ohio News

• Strickland Unveils Economic Development Plan – Cleveland Plain Dealer
• Strickland Releases Economic Plan – Associated Press
• Governor’s Office Unveils Plan to Give Ohio Economic Shot in the Arm – Dayton Business Journal
• Lofty Goals for Governor’s Economic Plan – Columbus Dispatch
• Obama Has Democratic Surrogates in Ohio – Associated Press
• Parole Board Rejects Prisoner’s Too-Fat-to-Die Argument – Youngstown Vindicator
• Outgoing State Schools Chief will Work for Public Broadcasting – Columbus Dispatch
• GOP Back on Track – Columbus Dispatch
• Democrat blames Dann Furor on Exit From Race – Columbus Dispatch
• Rove Reminds Ohio It’s Still Key – Columbus Dispatch
• 3 Subtly Make Case for 2010 Governor’s Race – Columbus Dispatch

Ohio News Update – Austria Plagiarizes, Boehner on Palin, OH Guard to LA, Grocery Tax No More, Dispatch RNC Coverage, Payday Lenders, Cordray

Austria accused of plagiarism in local paper – Dayton Daily News

Boehner: Palin Critics Elitist – Politico

Ohio Guard Sending 1,500 Troops to LA – Columbus Dispatch

Appeals Court throws out CAT tax for grocers – Dayton Daily News

Court Voids State Grocery Tax – Columbus Dispatch

Party is muted but Palin news isn’t – Columbus Dispatch

Cordray, Dann find little in common – Columbus Dispatch

Minnesotan fires up Ohio delegates – Columbus Dispatch

Corporate cruise able to double as storm fundraiser – Columbus Dispatch

Editorial: Lose it or pay – Columbus Dispatch

Ohio fills abandoned mines to avoid collapses – Cleveland Plain Dealer

Payday lending issue step closer to ballot – Dayton Daily News

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