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:

The Daily Graphic: Homes Sold For Loss Q4 2008: U.S. & Columbus, Ohio

On February 3, Zillow.com released their fourth quarter 2008 Real Estate Market Report.  In a statement the online real estate marketing and market research firm said in part, “Eighth Consecutive Quarter of Declines is Worst So Far: Home Values Fall 11.6% in 2008; One in Six Homeowners is Underwater, According to Q4 2008 Zillow® Real Estate Market Reports.”  The charts below are courtesy of Zillow.

NY Proposed Budget Paints Even Grimmer Tale Than Ohio Scenario

Gov. David Paterson of New York proposed a state budget Monday which is an austerity program to say the least.  In order to close the state’s largest projected deficit in history, Paterson’s budget proposes $9 billion in cuts including:

• $600 million in direct aid to New York City
• $700 million in education funding
• Merging several smaller state agencies
• Closing 13 prison camps or detention centers

Paterson also proposed 137 new taxes or fees:

The tax proposals are likely to touch almost every New Yorker in some way. The most notable new tax is an 18 percent levy on sugary soft drinks. But many other existing taxes would increase. The tax on car rentals would rise to 6 percent from 5 percent. Taxes on beer and wine would more than double. Taxes on gasoline, cable and satellite TV service, cigars and flavored malt beverages would also go up. And the cost of owning and operating a car would rise significantly, with 16 fee increases. The governor also proposed allowing wine sales in grocery stores and drug stores, which is expected to raise $105 million in the next fiscal year, mostly through licensing fees.

While the plan did not include an income tax increase for the wealthy, an idea pushed by Assembly Democrats, the state expects to raise $120 million next year by limiting the amount that millionaires can deduct from their state taxes.

Check out this New York Times story for more.

Executive branches from Washington to Albany propose budgets all the time.  They are a starting point in a process that winds through Congress or a state legislature and comes out on the other side as some sort of compromise.  How much of Paterson’s “proposal” is real or a tactic aimed at the incoming Obama Administration (direct aid for states) or at New York voters (prepare them for the worst, deliver something better)?

Here in Ohio, Gov. Ted Strickland rolled out his own budgetary horror show late last week.  Meant to answer reporters’ questions about what a $7 billion budget shortfall would mean, a document from his press shop painted a grim picture of prisons closing, tuition rising at state universities and education cuts.

It’s very clear that the recession has put government services at every level in a bind.  A communications, political and strategic question is, when do you put out the red alert?  Paterson released his budget today a full month early.  Strickland’s missive to the media comes at least two months before legislators get down to the full-on politics of Ohio’s next biennial budget and weeks before Barack Obama will have any bearing on direct aid to states.

Let’s hope we’re not peaking the message machine too early and desensitizing the media when we’ll really need them to tell a story about more than scenarios.

Ohio’s Budget Woes – News Roundup | December 1 &2

• Strickland asks Obama for $5 Billion in Aid – Columbus Dispatch
• Strickland, other nervous governors meet with Obama – Associated Press
• State faces $7 billion shortfall – Columbus Dispatch
• Ohio facing huge cuts in spending – Toledo Blade
• State’s budget deficit grows – Dayton Daily News
• Gov. Ted Strickland tackles large budget gap – The Plain Dealer
• Ohio faces more budget cuts and deficits – The Plain Dealer

Full Report: Ohio Inspector General Finds Fault With ‘Joe the Plumber’ Records Search by State Agency

Click here for full report from State of Ohio Inspector General, Re: Joe the Plumber Record Search.

Ohio Issues 5 and 6 – How I’m voting

My friend, cousin and spiritual advisor Skip Cornett of Gahanna sent an email the other day that I thought was the best summary of how and why to cast votes this year for Ohio Issues 5 and 6.  Skip’s Take:

If you are confused by the commercials about Issues 5 and 6 on the ballot, that is by intention.  The financial institutions impacted by these two ballot issues are spending millions of dollars to make sure you are confused so you will vote to favor their interests. Both of these issues are really pretty clear-cut.

 

Issue 5 is about protecting our most vulnerable citizens, especially the very poor, from predatory lending by payday lenders.  In a strongly bipartisan fashion, both Republicans and Democrats passed House Bill 545 capping the interest rate on payday loans. Governor Strickland signed it into law.  After 3 tries, the financial industry finally managed to get this issue on the state ballot. Now they are spending millions of dollars trying to overturn the legislation that would cap interest rates on loans and put some control on their predatory behavior by calling Issue 5 a job killer.  Vote Yes on Issue 5 to affirm the action of the Ohio General Assembly to stop predatory lending.

—————————————— 

Issue 6 is more complicated than just allowing casino gambling.  It is out of state interests interfering with the Ohio constitution.  Issue 6, if passed, would actually give the operators a constitutionally protected casino monopoly, with practically no accountability to anyone. Vote No on Issue 6 to stop out of state interests from amending our constitution so they can set up their monopoly casino.

 

Do not allow the financial industry and the gambling industry confuse you with their adds.  

 

Vote YES on Issue 5 to affirm the earlier legislative action of the Ohio State General Assembly and the Ohio governor on predatory lending.  

 

Vote NO on Issue 6 to protect the Ohio constitution from out of state meddling.

Text: Sen. Barack Obama Speech in Canton, Ohio | ‘One Week’ | The Closing Argument – October 27, 2008

(Source: Obama for America) (Photo: The Plain Dealer)

As Prepared for Delivery

One week.

After decades of broken politics in Washington, eight years of failed policies from George Bush, and twenty-one months of a campaign that has taken us from the rocky coast of Maine to the sunshine of California, we are one week away from change in America.

In one week, you can turn the page on policies that have put the greed and irresponsibility of Wall Street before the hard work and sacrifice of folks on Main Street. Read more

Just When I Start to Like The Arnold …

According to WOSU this a.m. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California is going to help McCain and Co. pull a play out of the Bush 2004 playbook – appear in Columbus, probably this Friday, with John McCain. The Los Angeles Times confirms. I wonder if Sarah Palin will be there. According to a website called the California Chronicle, the Governator’s endorsement of Palin is less than ringing.

What’s to like about Arnold? Mainly it is his forward thinking on energy policy and the promise of investing in a “green” economy. From afar, California appears to be years ahead of the rest of the country in the laws, policy and investment which will help the U.S. kick the foreign oil habit and clean up the environment. At times, it’s seemed downright refreshing to imagine Schwarzenegger as somewhat of a – well – maverick in Republican circles.

If Schwarzenegger cares about fostering the moderate or even progressive reputation he’s earned on some issues, appearing with McCain, a politician with policies rooted in the 1980s, seems a bit counter intuitive.

If You’re Voting Absentee Follow all the Instructions

WCMH-TV is reporting today in Columbus that there are in fact potentially hundreds of absentee ballots which will not be counted due to voters not properly placing completed ballots in their inner envelopes and signing them.

If you are voting absentee, follow the instructions. You’re vote will not be counted if it’s not signed and sealed in the inner envelope.

From their story:

Read the envelope and you’ll see a disclaimer that ballots without the required information will not be counted. But that hasn’t stopped hundreds of voters from making the same mistake.

In the 2008 primary election, 657 voters returned their ballot without the identification envelope. 372 voters didn’t sign the identification envelope and 368 voters didn’t write down their date of birth

If you did not include the identification envelope when mailing your absentee ballot, you cannot fix the mistake. That’s why it is so important to read the instructions, officials said.

Are Absentee Ballots and Early Voters’ Ballots Being Discarded in Franklin County?

A reliable source in the Central Ohio mainstream media told me earlier today that their outlet was looking into what may be “hundreds of mailed in ballots” which could be disregarded by the Franklin County, Ohio County Board of Elections.

For those of you outside Ohio, Franklin County is the home of Columbus, Ohio’s capital city.

The problem may stem from the fact that Ohio absentee ballots contain two envelopes.  The voter fills out the ballot and is supposed to seal the ballot in an envelope which they then sign and date.  That envelope then goes into the postage envelope.

My source tells me that the Board of Elections has received “hundreds” of ballots which were simply placed in the postage envelope without being sealed in the inner envelope with signature and date.  This reporter said that election officials deem those ballots “invalid.”

I asked if voters would be made aware so that they could re-cast their vote.  My source said this is not allowed.  I asked if there were more Dems or Republicans voting early.  The answer was Dems by a mile.

If this is true, and you are absentee/early voting, follow every instruction contained in that absentee voter package.

Ohio Windstorm Power Outages Update – Friday A.M.

AEP-Ohio

Since devastating winds hit the state of Ohio throughout the day Sunday, over 80 percent of AEP Ohio´s customers affected by the storm have been restored. As of 6 a.m. today, more than 550,000 AEP Ohio customers have had their electricity service restored. Just over 130,000 AEP Ohio customers remain without power.

Even the Governor and First Lady didn’t have power on Wednesday night. No report on whether or not AEP has come through for them yet. As I was leaving work last night, a friend from Clintonville got a call in the elevator that his power was back on. There were fist pumps.

 

Dayton Power & Light

We are making steady progress as 1,000 people work on the emergency restoration effort, including assistance from eight neighboring states. Overnight, service was restored to 6,000 customers. As of 7 a.m. Friday, 74,000 customers are without power. By Sunday, we plan to have the vast majority of customers back in. Final, individual pockets of outages could take longer.

Ohio Edison

AKRON, Ohio – Service to 93 percent of FirstEnergy’s utility operating company customers has been restored following Sunday’s massive wind storm. As of 10:00 a.m. Thursday, approximately 70,400 customers of Ohio Edison, Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company, Pennsylvania Electric and Pennsylvania Power remain without service.

Wednesday p.m. – Windstorm news, many still without power across state, Brunner, Strickland, Beatty

Ohio News

• 8 p.m. Electricity still out in 47,000 greater Cleveland homes – The Plain Dealer
• Eaton rejects $25 million incentives and leaves Cleveland – The Plain Dealer
• Cleveland councilwoman resigns to take Ohio Senate Seat – The Plain Dealer
• 5 p.m. AEP nears halfway mark in restoring power – Columbus Dispatch
• Two sue over Brunner’s absentee ruling – Columbus Dispatch

• Biden rips McCain in Maumee for ignoring middle class – Columbus Dispatch
• OSU to pay Beatty $320,000 in new job – Columbus Dispatch
• 7 p.m. Storm leaves Dayton on brink of ‘food crisis’ – Dayton Daily News
• Strickland seeks $7 million in federal aid for storm relief – Dayton Daily News

West Central/Central Ohio Power Outages: Wednesday p.m.

Information from the Utilities

AEP is reporting 330,000 of their 650,000 customers who were without power have had service restored. Following this link will take you to their Storms & Outages information page. If you live in the Columbus area there are links to maps of sections of the metro area with estimates of when power will be back on.

Dayton Power & Light latest information can be found here. Wednesday morning they were reporting half of their customers who were without power have been restored with about 105,000 customers left. They are also reporting they are finding unreported damage as they repair the grid which is adding some time to efforts.

Lines Down in Dayton Area

Tuesday a.m. – Ohio Windstorm Storm Updates & Wall Street Woes

Storm Links

Click Here for Latest Windstorm News from Dayton, West Cent. Ohio from The Dayton Daily News

Dayton Power & Light Consumer Information

American Electric Power – Ohio

Columbus Dispatch home page – storm coverage

NE Ohio updates from Cleveland Plain Dealer

Other News

Officials try to stem crisis; Fed to meet – New York Times

Shares drop in Europe and Asia – New York Times

Race for cash at A.I.G. – New York Times

Wall Street posts first loss since 2001 – New York Times

Galveston: Searchers fear more grim discoveries – Houston Chronicle

Bank turmoil slams Asian indexes – Wall Street Journal

Fed’s mettle will continue to be tested – Wall Street Journal

Op-Ed: Why Obama’s Health Plan is Better – Wall Street Journal

Government struggles to control crisis – Washington Post

Ohio Wrestles with Remnants of Hurricane Ike

Sunday was the Wind, Monday began the cleanup

The view from the greater Columbus area was surreal in places after several hours of sustained winds of 30-50 m.p.h. with hurricane gusts of 75-77 m.p.h. Trees of three to four feet in diameter uprooted and knocked over were almost commonplace Sunday night and Monday morning as people ventured out to look for open restaurants or just sightsee. The occasional numbskull blew through dead traffic lights like one of Ike’s gusts. I can’t believe there hasn’t been a T-bone car accident at every non-functioning traffic signal in town.

Governor Strickland announced this afternoon that by everyone’s best count there were approximately 2 million electric utility customers without power around the state. Here in Central Ohio, 60% of American Electric Power’s customers were without service. For the first time since moving to my Bexley neighborhood four months ago, I saw groups of kids moving in knots from yard to yard. I guess all those little rugrats really do spend their days indoors. Strickland declared a state of emergency for the state, making it a simpler proposition for state agencies to render local assistance to counties and municipalities. Ted Strickland is a swell guy. Thank God, Ken Blackwell didn’t win that election. With all of his hot air we’d have trees blowin’ over every day.

My power went out around 4:30 p.m. Sunday and was restored at about the same time on Monday. If it wouldn’t have been for both mine and my wife’s car becoming entombed in our detached garage – there’s no side door – being without power would’ve been fine for a day. It’s a hassle, sure. But the quiet at night and watching the neighborhood come to life for a few hours Sunday evening and Monday morning was worth it. I wonder if that taste of outdoors adventure set in with those kids? I’ll have to keep my eyes out for them …

For Latest Updates Click Here for Main Page

 

From Cincy Enquirer 1

• Gas prices, supply make people nervous – Columbus Dispatch
• Governor Strickland declares emergency – Columbus Dispatch
• Repairs could take a week – Columbus Dispatch
• AEP OHIO Power Outage Information – AEP Ohio Website
• Restoring service could take a week in some areas – Cincinnati Enquirer

Illustration by Dayton Daily News

• Dayton Power & Light: Repairs could stretch into weekend – Dayton Daily News

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