Just a Reminder....

I just want to remind you why we cannot afford to have Deborah Pryce re-elected.

Republican Rep. Deborah Pryce voted against
.....raising the minimum wage 7 times.
.....expanding the military's Tricare health insurance to cover all Reservists and National Guard members.
.....a $30 million increase for veterans' health care that would have provided more funding for combat-related trauma care for the wounded.
.....providing job-training assistance to troops returning from overseas.
.....increased port security that would have provided inspection for every container that comes into this country.

Pryce has voted with Bush 88% of the time and co-authored the book on the Social Security Privatization Plan with Rick Santorum.
Deborah Pryce took $103,000 from the energy/oil industry and consistently rubber-stamped the Bush-Cheney big oil/energy policies.
Pryce voted for her own pay raises, while voting down a bonus for our military. (Pryce could have returned the raise! Ted Strickland did.)
Pryce has failed to deliver jobs to her district, and Ohio's 15th district has actually lost jobs.
Deborah Pryce called disgraced Republican Rep. Mark Foley her best friend.
Pryce continues to support Bush's failed Iraq policy while our young people are killed and maimed in the war.

We need change and it must start in Ohio and in our district. When you go to vote next Tuesday, be sure to bring your identification, and vote a straight Democratic ticket.

Who Speaks for You?

The Dispatch is reporting that the Democrats and the Republicans have well-known celebrities visiting Ohio to stump for their respective candidates. The Democrats invited actor, Michael J. Fox, and the GOP had Rudy Giuliani speaking for them. Michael J. Fox is a respected actor, and a spokesman for stem cill research. Giuliani, on the other hand, is a former mayor and a thrice married, twice divorced, well-known adulterer---- and that is not just my opinion.

Recent polls continue to show a tight race between Democrat Mary Jo Kilroy and Republican (and best friend of Mark Foley) Deborah Pryce. In the coming days the Republicans will continue to discourage Democratic voters, but we must get out there and vote a straight Democratic tickets. Why? It is the only way to show the GOP that we are sick and tired of all the scandals and we want change.

On yesterday's Ed Schultz Show, Ed reported that Republican Mike DeWine owns $1.47 million of oil stock. Is that why DeWine has supported the oil corporations in 7 out of 10 votes? Just asking.

Jon Stewart Visits Columbus, Ohio

If you read a newspaper or see a news report on TV, the information is the same-------Ohio could be the determining factor on the Democrats controlling the House of Representatives. Here is an excerpt from the Toronto Star:

If there had been any doubts that this state is America's King of Swing as next week's U.S. mid-term elections approach, they were dashed when the arena lights came up at Ohio State University Saturday night and comic Jon Stewart recoiled in mock amazement.

There, cheering back at him, were more than 10,000 students and faculty, celebrating the arrival in their backyard of Stewart's The Daily Show, the first time the trend-setting late-night satirical news show had come to the Midwest.

Stewart said he brought his "Midwest Midterm Midtacular" to Ohio, which gave the 2004 presidency to George W. Bush, because of its status as a national barometer — and because one political scandal here involved the sale of rare coins....

...If Ohio swings back next week, it will again be kingmaker, handing control of the U.S. Congress to the Democrats.
The state appears to be a Republican graveyard, with angry voters ready to punish the ruling party over the state's economy, their ethical transgressions and the war in Iraq."All those issues have come together here," said Ohio State political scientist Herb Asher.

"In Ohio, it's hard to blame the Democrats for anything because there are no Democrats in power here."

...Asher says although Ohio will likely decide next Tuesday's national results, the state is atypical this time because of its concerns over jobs and ethics. Corruption within Republican ranks had become systemic, the product of "having one party control in this state for a long period of time," he said.

The real fight here is the Pryce-Kilroy battle. Last night, Kilroy told some 25 supporters at a private home that voters were sick of scandal in Washington and Ohio, and the state had paid a disproportionate price in Iraq."Stay the course isn't a strategy, it's a slogan," she said.

Kilroy has implied in ads that Pryce is more interested in protecting friends like Foley than protecting teenage pages in Washington...

This week, Jon Stewart's Daily Show will be broadcast from the campus of The Ohio State Buckeyes. It will be interesting to see how Stewart pokes at the Ohio Republican culture of corruption.

Democrat Jim Webb Knows How to Solve Iraq

The Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate for Virginia, Jim Webb, knows a thing or two about the military. As a decorated Viet Nam vet, and a former Navy secretary under President Reagan, Webb knows why the Bush administration has failed in Iraq. Webb also offers a solution. (Yahoo News)

...The former Republican, who was President Reagan's Navy secretary, said in the Democrats' weekly radio address that Bush's "incompetence" in Iraq had undercut the fight against terrorism...

"Since 2003, President Bush has laid out nine different plans for victory in Iraq, none of them serious and none of them workable. And most seriously, this incompetence has hindered our ability to fight international terror," Webb said.

It marked the second time since July 1 that Webb, a decorated Vietnam combat veteran, has given the Democrats' address. Both times, his focus has been Iraq.

Webb warned in a newspaper column in 2002, the year before Bush ordered the Iraq invasion, that a war there would destabilize the oil-rich Middle East and mire U.S. forces in a bloody and protracted conflict. As of Friday, 2,810 American troops had died in Iraq....

"A Democratic Congress will demand from day one that the president find a real way forward in Iraq. We'll work with the administration and other Republicans to develop a concrete plan, but none of us are ready to settle for empty rhetoric, or the same old unacceptable results," Webb said....

Webb makes a lot of sense. Either we continue to lose 100/or more of our troops per month in Iraq for the next several years or decade, or we work to get something done now to end the bloodshed. The Republicans will continue the same old rubber stamp of the Bush policies. The GOP won't provide debate, oversight, or suggestions.

I hope that the voters in Virginia choose Webb. He could be the key to finding a solution in Iraq.

Why does Pryce continue to support a failed Iraq policy?

With so many of our young men and women being killed in Iraq, we need to start asking some very serious questions of Republican Rep. Deborah Pryce (OH-15). Why does she continue to support a failed Iraq policy? How many more years does she expect that our military will remain in Iraq? Does she think that a diplomatic solution can be used to end the war?

Does Pryce fully support Dennis Hastert? Exactly when did she find out about the page scandal? Did anyone in her office know about it before her? Has she directly asked any of her pages if they had any problems with Foley or any other Republican members of Congress?

How many Ohioans have died in Iraq (125)? How many from her district? How many military funerals has she attended?

All Pryce wants to do right now is sling false charges against her Democratic opponent, Mary Jo Kilroy. Pryce needs to explain her support for the Iraq war and why her district has lost jobs. If she can't give a good explanation, she needs to lose the election.

By the way, the stupid new ad that Pryce has out now accuses Kilroy of not wanting to stop terrorist phone calls???? The law, as it stands, says that the government can get a search warrant up to 72 hours after they've started the surveillance. Why doesn't Pryce want our country to follow the law? I thought she was a lawyer. Doesn't she have any respect for the laws?

New Polls

CBS News has this about the upcoming election:
Less than two weeks before the crucial midterm congressional elections, all signs are pointing to a big night for the Democrats. But will Republican scandals and growing dissatisfaction with the war in Iraq be enough to give the Democrats the 15 seats they need to take control of the House for the first time in a dozen years?

Many experts — including leading nonpartisan analysts Charlie Cook and Stu Rothenberg — say the answer is yes, and suggest a Democratic victory could turn into a romp.....
...With all 435 House seats up in November, a CBS News analysis rates 48 races as competitive — 42 of them involving Republican-held seats versus just five held by Democrats (the one remaining seat is held by retiring Vermont Independent Bernie Sanders). Another 28 races are rated as potentially competitive — 24 Republican seats and four Democratic....

...Ohio, CD-15: Rep. Deborah Pryce, who holds the number four position in the GOP leadership, is one of the highest-ranking members of Congress in jeopardy of being ousted. Her Democratic opponent, county commissioner Mary Jo Killroy, has painted Pryce as a rubber stamp for President Bush and run ads accusing her of being part of the GOP leadership team that failed to protect pages from disgraced Republican congressman Mark Foley. Pryce faces the added burden of running as a Republican in Ohio, a state that's recently seen its GOP governor plead no contest to ethics violations and one of its GOP congressmen plead guilty to corruption charges....

This new poll by SurveyUSA shows strong support for candidate for Ohio governor Democrat Ted Strickland
and candidate for U.S. Senate Democrat Sherrod Brown.

**The Examiner gives us this information for residents of Ohio's 15th congressional district:
...GOP Rep. Deborah Pryce's suburban Columbus district is relatively affluent but suffered one of the worst jumps in unemployment in the country from 2000 to 2005 - from 3.7 percent to 6.6 percent. She's facing her toughest election challenge in more than a decade because of a range of issues, including her House GOP leadership role and her friendship with disgraced former Rep. Mark Foley....

Looks like Pryce has done nothing to help us here in the 15th district. I hope she enjoyed those 8 pay raises she voted for herself. Do you know she could have refused the pay raises? That is what Ted Strickland did. Strickland refused to take the pay raises in Congress and he also refused the health benefits. Why didn't Pryce do that? No one forced her to take the pay raises!

***Wolf Blitzer asked Lynne Cheney about her books. Watch the video and watch Mrs. Cheney get upset about the lesbian affairs in her books.

A New Direction: Mary Jo Kilroy

I recently had the honor of meeting Mary Jo Kilroy, the Democratic candidate for Ohio's 15th district. She was very respectful of everyone in our group and very willing to listen to all our concerns. With her experience as a Franklin County Commissioner, she knows how to work with people of various opinions and find solutions. Here in central Ohio, we have a rare opportunity to change the leadership and focus of our country. By voting for Kilroy, we can renew our hopes for a better tomorrow.

The Republicans in Ohio and in other states are in deep, deep trouble. This excerpt from the Dallas News says it all:

...Karen Tumulty finds more discouraging news for the GOP in Ohio, where the 15th District House race offers "no better indicator of whether this congressional election will follow the midterm norm in which voters make their decision based on their loyalties to their individual member of Congress, or whether they will be swept up by a national wave that could wash out the same Republican majority that came in on the last one in 1994."

The Time columnist reports that once-popular GOP Rep. Deborah Pryce is now "in the political fight of her life" against her Democratic challenger, a county commissioner. "It seems every plague that has been visited on Republicans nationally has found its way into this bellwether district," Ms. Tumulty writes. "The latest is the Mark Foley scandal, which probably would not have had much impact in this district were it not for the misfortune of an interview that Ms. Pryce gave to Columbus Monthly magazine a month before the scandal broke. She was asked to name her best friends in Congress, and you-know-who made her top five."

This is the first time in years that Pryce has had a strong Democratic opponent. Vote to change our future and vote for Kilroy.

OHIO GOP DIRTY TRICKS: Just like we expected!

Well, folks, it is time to use the telephone. The Ohio GOP, the losers who brought us the Taft ethics scandals, Tom Noe's Coingate, vote counting fraud, Bob Ney's scandals with Abramoff, the missing millions from the Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation, now put forth another lie. Think Progress has the story:

Yesterday, the Ohio Republican Party sent out a news release (full text here) attacking Rep. Sherrod Brown (D) for enlisting the support of comedian Al Franken:

It is not surprising that Sherrod Brown is enlisting the help of a Hollywood liberal, who like him, is so far out of the mainstream of Ohio values. What is troubling is that Brown would solicit support from someone [Franken] who compared conservatives to Nazis “who should drink poison and die.”

The quote used in the news release is taken from Bernard Goldberg book, 110 People Who Are Screwing Up America, in an alleged interview between Goldberg and Franken. But in his book, Goldberg makes it clear that the exchange is completely fictional. The Ohio Republican Party represented it as fact.

The news release was accompanied by this photograph, showing Franken dressed up like a baby bunny, wearing adult diapers and clutching a fluffy white teddy bear.
Andy Barr, director of Franken’s Midwest Values PAC, confirmed, “The picture is a fake.” The Ohio Republican Party used a 2004 AP photo of Franken for the doctored image...

Call the Ohio Republicans and tell them to stop the lies. (614) 228-2481. Even if they only give you to an answering machine/voice message, let them know that you won't be voting Republican. I called already and now it is up to you.

Hardships

Because the Republicans, including Republican Rep. Deborah Pryce (OH-15), have cut veterans' benefits, our military and their families have had to endure an incredible amount of hardships. If you know of someone whose spouse/son/daughter is serving in the military, ask them what kind of treatment their loved one is receiving.

Many stories emerge in these conversations ----
...reservists who cannot retire, even though they are over 50 years of age.
...service members who are forced to spend thousands of dollars for their own body armor, and wait and wait and wait for reimbursement.
...injured service members who are forced back into Iraq.
...service members who must travel several hours to receive medical treatment.
....problems receiving pay checks.
etc., etc., etc.

As I have written before, the Republicans have a dismal record supporting our troops. The GOP is quite willing to send your loved ones to war without adequate body armor, but they refuse to discuss how to end the war. With a Republican majority, they set the agenda and they control the vote. It is time for change and it can begin by electing Democrats like Mary Jo Kilroy and others Dems. Democrats will work to help our military and their families. Since a majority of Americans want troops home within a year, it is apparent that only Democrats will get our troops home. President Bush and his rubber stamp Republicans will only continue the war because they are unwilling to seek another strategy. Election day is our best way to change the direction of this war and our country.

Pryce and GOP Do NOT Support the Troops

To show support for our American service members, you must do more than say, "I support the troops." Republican Rep. Deborah Pryce (OH-15) and a majority of the Republicans have not delivered on promises to help our troops. The only thing that Pryce and the GOP have done is support a war based on lies in which other people's kids are getting killed.

Americans For Shared Sacrifice have compiled the list of Republicans and Democrats and how much they really support the troops. The numbers are surprising. This is the percentage of how each of the following Ohio Republicans voted for legislation to support our troops:

Steve Chabot 25%
Michael Turner 25%
Michael Oxley 13%
Paul Gillmor 25%
David Hobson 25%
John Boehner 25%
Pat Tiberi 25%
Steve LaTourette 25%
Deborah Pryce 13% (Pryce voted to support our troops only 13% of the time!)
Ralph Regula 25%
Bob Ney 25%
They should all be ashamed of themselves. I don't think any of them deserve to be re-elected.

(Ohio Democrats did show support for our troops: (Strickland 75%, Kaptur 100%, Kucinich 88%, Tubbs Jones 88%, Sherrod Brown 100%, Ryan 100%)

Our Ohio U.S. Senators, DeWine and Voinovich who are both Republicans also had poor ratings:
DeWine 56%, Voinovich 38%

Here is a story from several months ago but there is something about it that still bothers me today. The story is from the Ironton Tribune and I've provided some important excerpts:

Late was most certainly better than never for one World War II veteran who was honored Tuesday by Fran DeWine, the visiting wife of U.S. Senator Mike DeWine.

Retired Cpl. Kohn Whitley got a bevy of medals during the brief ceremony in the auditor’s office of the Lawrence County Courthouse. In addition to his American Campaign medal and commendations for working with tanks and being a carbine gunner, Whitley received the Soldier’s Medal and the Silver Star, the third highest military honor available....

...“It’s just my pleasure to give them to him,” (MRS.) DeWine said. “It’s just so important that we take care of our veterans and recognize them, whether it’s our veterans from World War II or our men and women coming back from Iraq. We’ve got to.”

To that end, (MRS.) DeWine touted some of the work that her husband has done for veterans while serving for 12 years in the senate....

Do you mean that Mike DeWine was too busy to schedule the ceremony for a time when HE would be back in Ohio? His wife gave the veteran the medals?????? What is her official position within the government? Do you think she knows that her husband, Sen. Mike DeWine, only voted 56% of the time to support Veterans? Seriously, this presentation of medals could have been done by DeWine or a member of the U.S. military. Mrs. DeWine was NOT an appropriate presenter and I think it insults this veteran and all vets.

You've Heard It Before

I've quoted it before, but it should be repeated. Rolling Stone:

With Tom DeLay in political exile, the race against Pryce – the GOP’s deputy whip and fourth-ranking member – represents the Democrats’ best chance to make Republicans pay for the party’s rampant corruption and unquestioning support of the president’s far-right agenda.

Pryce not only spearheaded Bush’s effort to privatize Social Security, she also benefited from at least ten fund-raisers hosted by disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff.....(my emphasis)

Looks like Kentucky has something in common with Ohio ------ Republican corruption. How nice!

Rasmussen Reports has Bush's approval rating at 41% and his disapproval at 58%.

Americablog has information on the Republican congressional candidate, Barbara Curbin of Wyoming, who said to Thomas Rankin, a wheelchair bound Libertarian candidate, "If you weren't sitting in that chair, I'd slap you across the face."

Although the President may not call it staying the course (since they've changed their talking points vocabulary), our death toll continues to climb in Iraq: 2803. John Murtha was right all along.

This is the Time for Change

I almost fell off my chair laughing because Tony Snow, Presidential Spokesliar, said the Bush never used the phrase "stay the course." Then this morning, The Young Turks of Air America Radio, played audio of Bush repeatedly saying "stay the course."

We've had 125 Ohioans killed in Iraq. Ohio has lost over 200,000 jobs since Bush took office. Our Republican House and Senate elected officials do their best to pass legislation especially written for and sometimes by their political contributors like oil conglomerates, Halliburton, drug companies, and others.

Despite Republican Deborah Pryce saying that Ohio is on the "cusp" of some economic recovery, we haven't seen it. Have you tried to get a job recently? Has your college-educated son/daughter tried to find a job in Ohio? Also, this morning, I'm a little upset that executives from Scott's Miracle Grow are providing contributions to Pryce because she is pro-business. (I may decide to boycott the company.)

Ohio's scandal-filled Republican-controlled government has robbed Ohioans of tax money, honesty, fairness, and trust. This is the time for change. We've got to change which people we send to Washington and the state government and we must do it this election.

President Clinton Visits Columbus

President Bill Clinton spoke at a fundraiser in Columbus to support Sherrod Brown, Ted Strickland, and other Democrats. Here is an excerpt from the Dispatch:

...The former president also urged the election of other Ohio Democrats, noting he especially wanted Jennifer Brunner to win the race for secretary of state "to make sure we count the votes," a poke at J. Kenneth Blackwell, current Republican secretary of state and gubernatorial candidate.

Clinton drew a hearty cheer when he declared, "The best thing I could wish for you is that both the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Ohio Democrats will have a clean sweep."

Sean Hannity Doesn't Want Dems to Vote

According to OpEd News, right wing radio/TV talkshow host, Sean Hannity, said the following:
"I don't want everybody to vote; I want well-informed people to vote. . . . You've gotta accept the fact that your vote doesn't matter anyway. So all you Democrats, stay home. So, you know, why don't you stay home on Election Day?"

In my humble opinion, who the heck does Hannity think he is telling me not to vote? Who is he to determine which people are well-informed and those who are not?

Sean Hannity is an idiot and a pin head. He also is very upset because Faux News is losing viewers by the boatload to MSNBC because people are sick and tired of their lies and political talking points. The Republican Party and their talking heads have brought us war, war dead and injured, massive layoffs in Ohio and other states, loss of funding for education, payoff to Halliburton, and the largest national debt in our nation's history.

If you really, really want to get Hannity, Rove, Bush, and the rest of the Republicans angry and upset, go out AND VOTE A STRAIGHT DEMOCRATIC TICKET. I think that if the Dems won both the House and the Senate, there would be lots of upset stomachs in the Republican Party.

If you live in Ohio, make sure you have your picture ID, and vote Democratic. We cannot afford a continuation of the mess given to us by the Republicans.

Pryce is Wrong About "Staying the Course" in Iraq

Republican Rep. Deborah Pryce (OH-15) is wrong about her assertion to "stay the course" in Iraq. As a nation, we cannot afford to stay the course: we are losing our service members in record numbers and the financial bleeding is unprecedented.

Democratic candidate for Ohio's 15th congressional district, Mary Jo Kilroy, has said repeatedly, "Stay the course is not a strategy, it’s a slogan. We need to change the course."

Without a strategy to fight, maintain, and leave Iraq, this administration has allowed our troops to be caught in a war without a plan. When the generals offered advice, Bush and Rumsfeld derided them and ignored their expertise. Now our young men and women are being targeted by insurgents in Iraq.

Our nation's fatalities continue in Iraq, according to the Iraq Coalition Casualties site. We've lost 2800 of our military so far and, unfortunately, the death toll continues to increase on a daily basis.

Just as Mary Jo Kilroy said that we must change the course, we must still do more. The only way to change the course is to vote for Democrats, get the corrupt Republicans out of DC, and set a new agenda. That new agenda must include a withdrawal, redeployment, or whatever we want to call it, and get our loved ones home.

And......
US News and World Report has a few things to say about the Kilroy - Pryce battle in central Ohio:
Ohio's 15th Congressional District race should have been an easy slide into an eighth term for moderate Republican Rep. Deborah Pryce. It's been anything but.
Pryce is the fourth-highest-ranking Republican in the House and the highest-ranking woman in the Republican majority. Her slide has run into two major obstacles: the Abramoff lobbying scandal and then the Foley page scandal....

...Franklin County Commissioner and Democratic challenger Mary Jo Kilroy immediately took out ads on Christian and conservative radio stations, to appeal to family-values-oriented listeners. The Associated Press reported: "The ad...blames Pryce for standing by House Speaker Dennis Hastert, complaining that he looked the other way when warned of Foley's behavior." Pryce claims her poll numbers have since rebounded from a 12 percent lag behind Kilroy. She's trying to shift the race away from national concerns and back to her record of service for Columbus-area and central Ohio voters.

But you've got to give Kilroy's ad campaign team an A for effort. A recent TV ad, dubbed "The Pryce Is Wrong" and done game-show style, accuses Pryce of voting to cut funding for veterans' benefits....

And from CNN...
Sixty five active duty service members are officially asking Congress to end the war in Iraq -- the first time active troops have done so since U.S. invasion began in 2003.

Three of the service members will hold a press conference Wednesday explaining their decision to send "Appeals for Redress" under the Military Whistleblower Protection Act to their members of Congress. Under the act, National Guard and Reservists can send communications about any subject to their member of Congress without punishment.

Why we cannot elect Republicans to the House & Senate

Other than the fact that the Republicans are morally bankrupt, thieves, scoundrels, and self-centered corrupt individuals, there is one more reason we cannot elect Republicans......(from Bloomberg.com)..

President George W. Bush said Republicans can hold their congressional majority by focusing on national security and the economy, and that he will return to overhauling Social Security as a top domestic priority for his last two years in office.....

Some people never learn.

Work for Change

Democratic candidate for Ohio's 15th congressional district, Mary Jo Kilroy, who is a Franklin County Commissioner has voiced her concerns about ballot security. Dispatch:

...Commissioner Mary Jo Kilroy brought up the ballotsecurity issue last week as Franklin County officials discussed Election Day preparations.

Bev Harris, director of the national elections watchdog group Black Box Voting, said she’s concerned about who has access to absentee ballots and how they’re counted...

The Boston Globe has this:
...In addition, senior Republicans such as Reynolds and Representative Deborah Pryce of Ohio, the GOP's conference chair, are under fire for failing to take action against Foley. And some analysts think the ethics cases have combined to fuel voters' desire to clean house...

The Orange County Register reports the following:

...Ohio, usually a swing state, has become a disaster for Republicans, not only because of national issues and a sluggish local economy, but because the Republicans who have occupied both the governorship and the Legislature for 18 years have not only raised taxes but become embroiled in numerous scandals. Thus two-term Republican Sen. Michael DeWine, who is not connected to the scandals, is expected to lose big-time.

A Democratic sweep in Ohio will not only take down DeWine (who was just cut off from additional funds from the national party), it could sweep out Deborah Pryce and state Sen. Joy Padgett, running for the seat vacated by the indicted Rep. Bob Ney....

Change is coming. Want to work for change? Contact Kilroy for Congress and volunteer your time. You could make phone calls, pass out pamphlets, or help in their headquarters. With your help, you will be able to tell your children and friends that you helped change the political climate of Ohio and our country. Change depends on your vote and your action.

Kilroy Pushes For Ethanol-Based Fuels

The Columbus Dispatch:

Congressional candidate Mary Jo Kilroy said yesterday that she would support incentives to make ethanolbased fuels available to more drivers and to invest more in the research and development of alternative energy sources.

Kilroy, a Democrat, said that as a Franklin County commissioner, she helped switch the county’s bus fleet to ethanol.

At a news conference with Rep. Jay Inslee, a Seattle-area Democrat and an environmentalist, Kilroy attacked opponent Rep. Deborah Pryce’s environmental credentials and said plant-based fuels could be a boon to Ohio farmers.....

Kilroy is a forward-thinking leader. Her proposals could help Ohio farmers and Ohio's economy.

Republican candidate Greg Hartmann owes money to someone. Dispatch:

Greg Hartmann, the Republican candidate for secretary of state, left the private sector owing Pepsi Cola Bottling Group a debt of $15,000, which he says he has no plans to repay because he considers it a corporate debt, a newspaper reported yesterday.

Pepsi won a $15,141 judgment against Hartmann over a 1992 contract for goods and services he signed while serving as vice president of Airline Distribution Services Inc. in San Francisco, the Dayton Daily News reported....

...Catherine Turcer, of political watchdog Ohio Citizen Action, disagreed with Hartmann’s interpretation of the case.

"Maybe he doesn’t believe he owes that money, but that’s too bad," she said. "That’s not what the court decided."

Hartmann is a former county prosecutor now serving as Hamilton County clerk of courts. He faces Democrat Jennifer L. Brunner, an election lawyer and former Franklin County Common Pleas judge, in the Nov. 7 election.

There is a real chance for change for our state and our nation. However, in order to have change we have to elect more Democrats to support a Democratic Ohio Governor and a Democratic House and Senate. If Strickland wins in Ohio, he'll need a strong Democratic legislature to get things moving. Otherwise, the Republicans will just stop everything.

Keep Working for Change

Last night there was a program on CSPAN that featured former Democratic Senator Tom Daschle and Charlie Cook, of The Cook Political Report. Daschle and Cook were appearing before a forum at the Center for American Progress.

Charlie Cook made the following points:
1.The Democrats will pick up at least three Senate seats ( Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Montana).
2.The Democrats will pick up at least 20, and possibly as many as 35 or more seats in the House of Representatives.
3.The number one concern of Americans is Iraq.


The election is 18 days away and anything can happen. However, we have to continue to talk to our friends and family about the importance of voting for change. Here in Ohio's 15th congressional district, the change starts when we vote for Democrat Mary Jo Kilroy for our Congress Member.

Have you heard how some of these Republicans are worried about the possibility of Nancy Pelosi becoming Speaker of the House of Representatives? Why? Why are Republicans afraid of a strong woman like Pelosi? We need change. The male-dominated Republicans in the House have really messed up everything. It is time to change the agenda and the leadership. Pelosi and a Democratic majority will bring us fresh ideas and a needed cleansing of the scandal-laced halls of Congress.

>>Check out the title of this article from the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel ---- Disillusionment with GOP Scares Lawmaker
Is Chocola kidding? Here are several excerpts from the article:

...Like other endangered incumbents, Chocola has had difficult races in the past, and he's even run - and won - against Democratic challenger Joe Donnelly before. In a nearby Indiana district, Rep. Mike Sodrel and former Democratic Rep. Baron Hill are rivals for the third straight campaign in a district so divided that each man has won once.

Republican senators in Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Ohio and Montana trail by significant margins in the polls, and a fifth, in Virginia, is in a close contest, the result of public dissatisfaction with President Bush, Congress, the Iraq war and more.

In House races, Rep. Heather Wilson of New Mexico is perennially at the top of the Democratic target list. Rep. Jim Gerlach in the Philadelphia suburbs has won twice without ever getting more than 51 percent of the vote. An admission of adultery has helped plunged Pennsylvania Rep. Don Sherwood into difficulty. Two members of the leadership in customarily safe seats, Rep. Deborah Pryce of Ohio and John Doolittle of California, are struggling....

Hellloooooooooo, Republicans!!!! You did it to yourselves! The Republican scandals have made every American absolutely sick! Now the Republicans are wondering why people are upset with their party???!!!!! Give me a break! The GOP allowed Mark Foley to be friendly with the congressional pages by looking the other way. The GOP allowed and encouraged Tom DeLay and Bob Ney to work with Abramoff and other lobbyists to get favors and money. The GOP has looked the other way in Ohio with the coingate scandals and the millions of missing dollars at the Bureau of Workers' Compensation. The GOP has allowed no bid contracts in Ohio to reward their political donors. The "family values" GOP has people like Don Sherwood, Mike Ferguson, Newt Gingrich, and others who say one thing but behave in a manner that insults all women and families. This Republican administration gave us lies about the reason for going to war in Iraq and now our kids are paying with their lives.

ATTENTION, REPUBLICANS!!! WE HAVE HAD ENOUGH!!!!

Tidal Wave of Change?

Chris Redfern of the Ohio Democratic Party said that Ohioans were experiencing "fatigue" with the Republican scandals. Recent polls have shown that Americans are ready and eager for change. Check out the poll list at Majority Watch:

Republican Incumbent Deborah Pryce 41%
Democratic Challenger Mary Jo Kilroy 53%

(poll interviews: Oct. 8-10, 2006)

We should remain cautiously optimistic while we continue to work for and talk about the need for change. Speak with your friends and family. Talk to them about the need to vote for Democratic candidates who will provide fresh ideas and a focus on helping all Americans, not just lobbyists and Halliburton.

Work for change and vote for change. Our children are depending on us.

The New York Times has an interesting article on Republican Rep. Bob Ney (OH-18):

Representative Bob Ney is headed to prison early next year after pleading guilty to charges of accepting tens of thousands of dollars in illegal gifts from lobbyists. Until then, Mr. Ney, a six-term Republican from Ohio, has a comfortable place to bide his time....
...Mr. Lawler was critical of skeptics who question whether Mr. Ney, whose most recent disclosure forms suggest that his only major asset is a second home in Greece worth $100,000 to $250,000, is holding on in Congress mostly because he wants to cash his final paychecks...
...The refusal to resign means that Mr. Ney can continue to draw on his $165,200-a-year salary, equivalent to $3,176 for each week he remains in the House, and his Congressional expense account, and to make use of a suite of offices on Capitol Hill, as well as four offices in his district in southeastern Ohio....

What? Ney has a house in Greece????

Key Words

There are key words that define things and people. Here is my list of Republicans
and the key words that define them:

Deborah Pryce: BFFF - Best Friend Forever of Foley's
Bob Ney: Golfing in Scotland with Abramoff
Tom Noe: Used state money in Coingate Scandal
Dennis Hastert: See No Evil
Tom DeLay: The Hammer
Jean Schmidt: Hates Marines
Duke Cunningham: The Dukester Scandal
Gov. Bob Taft: Ethics Scandals
John Bohner: Tobacco handouts on floor of Congress
Mike DeWhine: BBFF - Bush's Best Friend Forever
George Allen: Prejudiced
Mike Ferguson of NJ: Georgetown Co-ed
Tom Reynolds: Looked the Other Way
Rick Santorum: Disgusting
Don Sherwood: Choked Mistress
Kenneth Blackwell: Owns Diebold Stock
Curt Weldon: Lobbying Scandal
Bill O'Reilly: Falafel
Pat Tiberi: Yes Man for Bush


*Even though multiple scandals have rocked the Republican controlled Congress, GOP leaders have no plans to change anything if they continue to maintain the majority in the House.
The Hill:
...in numerous interviews with The Hill in September, most Republicans expressed comfort with the party’s electoral standing and said there would be little need for reassessments or rehabilitation if they retained control of the House in the 110th Congress....
and....

“I don’t see the need for changes. We rise and fall with the president in this environment,” said Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.), former chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee on the day before the Foley story broke. Davis said any significant loss would prompt an examination, but, “If we hold it together I don’t think you will see any change at all.”

Doesn't that make you just want to go up to a Republican member of Congress and say, "Wake up!"

Pryce and Foley Effect

There is an interesting report at NPR about how Republican Rep. Deborah Pryce's (OH-15) campaign is suffering because of her friendship with disgraced former congressman, Mark Foley.

Here is what BAD PRYCE had to say about Pryce's knowledge of Foley's behavior:

The House Republican Leadership is cracking under the weight of Mark Foley's inappropriate behavior. Here's what we know:

• Pryce took more money from Foley than any other member of Congress over the last two years. The fact that Foley was so generous to Pryce indicates that the two had a close relationship.
• Instead of giving the $5,000 that Foley gave to Pryce to charity, she gave the money back to her good friend, Mark Foley.
• In the Columbus Monthly, Pryce identified Mark Foley as one of her five closest friends in Congress. He also managed Pryce's Republican leadership campaign for GOP Conference secretary in 2000. [CQ Weekly, 10/27/00]
• Fellow members of the House leadership including Reps. Hastert, Boehner and Reynolds knew about Foley and chose to cover it up. Pryce is the #4 Republican in the House. It seems likely that she would've heard about the allegations given that so many of her colleagues knew.
• Pryce denied that she knew anything about Foley's alleged sexual misconduct with minors.

Many of Pryce's fellow Republican leaders knew about Foley. Pryce claims to have been good friends with Foley. Foley gave Pryce a lot of money. Given her close relationship with Foley and Republican leadership, it's amazing that Pryce claims she had no clue.

Given Pryce's poor performance in delivering for her constituents, her cheerleader status for the Bush administration policies, and the Foley scandal, it is time to send a new person to represent us in the House of Representatives. The Republican controlled House of Representatives has become a cesspool. It is time to clean and refresh the legislative branch and that can be done with a new voice and new leadership.

I believe that Ohioans and all Americans are going to do a little early spring cleaning this year at the polls.

Pryce Could Lose, Oh My!

A commentary in the Seattle PI paper reveals a small bit of information to voters in central Ohio:

...Two more members of the Republican leadership, Reps. Deborah Pryce, R-Ohio, and Tom Reynolds, R-N.Y., migrated upward the same day on The Washington Post's list of lawmakers most likely to lose their seats.

Masters of the Republican House are showing Americans the truth of an old Greek adage: The fish rots from the head.....

Despite what Pryce might say, she is the fourth ranking Republican in the House. She, like those who rank above her, is responsible for the mess in the House of Representatives. Pryce and her colleagues looked the other way when Republican Representative Mark Foley showed inappropriate interest in congressional pages.

What other times have the Republicans looked the other way because they were so intent to keep their power? We may never know.

In the meantime, how is it possible for Mark Foley to continue to reside outside of jail. He is innocent until proven guilty, but is there someone investigating if, how, where, and when he behaved in the manner of a sexual predator? I don't think I want the Republicans to investigate the legal aspects of Foley's behavior.

....And from TIME MAGAZINE........

....Kilroy framed the election as a referendum not only on Pryce but on the Republican leadership in Congress and on the Bush Administration. "We need a change in Washington," she said. "We need a new direction."

The polls at the moment would suggest that voters in Ohio agree. Unless something happens to change the dynamic between now and election day, the state that in 2004 handed George W. Bush the electoral votes he need to win a second term could be a complete washout for his party this year. The Foley scandal, says Franklin County Republican Chairman Doug Preisse, is "one more pebble in a balance that was already weighted heavily against us."

Really. Are we supposed to have sympathy for the Republicans? The Republicans did it to themselves! The Republicans took trips from lobbyists. The Republicans got favors from lobbyists and special interest groups. The Republicans flew on private jets provided by large corporations. The Republicans took corruption to a new level in our country and Ohio. The Republicans looked the other way when they saw the suspicious of Mark Foley (one of Deborah Pryce's best friends). The Republicans can only blame themselves. Duke Cunningham, Tom DeLay, Bob Ney, Tom Noe, Bob Taft, Mark Foley, Dennis Hastert, Don Sherwood, Conrad Burns, etc., etc. etc., all are Republicans who served their own needs before that of their constituents. Shame on all of them!

Ohioans Looking for Rescue

Ohio's Democratic candidates are grabbing a lot of attention with Ohio voters. Ohioans are looking for candidates to pull the state, the nation, and their local communities out of the economic funk and scandal-plagued Republican Party control.

According to people I've talked to, many people will vote for a straight Democratic ticket this election. Why? The Republican scandals have turned off many people. Voters hope that with a fresh group of Democrats elected, local, state, and federal governments will actually get something done. Wouldn't that be great?

Bad Week for Pryce and Republicans

Could things get worse for the Republicans? Possibly. Here is a sample of the how things are going for Republicans---

Columbus Dispatch:
Rep. Bob Ney is guilty. Now, House GOP leaders want him gone.

Ney pleaded guilty to federal charges yesterday for accepting thousands of dollars in expensive trips from lobbyist Jack Abramoff and a Syrian businessman. After his appearance in U.S. District Court, the Republican from Licking County said in a statement that he would resign his eastern Ohio congressional seat "in the next few weeks." That’s not soon enough for his party’s bosses, who vowed to remove him from Congress when it reconvenes Nov. 9.

House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., said Ney "betrayed his oath of office. ... If he chooses not to resign his office, we will move to expel him immediately as our first order of business" when Congress convenes Nov. 9....

Yea, right. Blah. Blah. Blah. I hope Ney takes his little old time to resign because he makes a nice poster boy for corruption.

The Chicago Tribune: In the color-coded, Crayola world of politics, Ohio is a red state.
But if one pays close attention--listening to the grumbles of unhappy voters, reading the poll numbers and catching the hang-dog expressions of Republicans--it's almost as if one can hear the drip-drip-dripping of the dye into the electoral paint can, changing the hue of the great state of Ohio ever closer to blue....

... Once again Ohio, credited with giving President Bush a second term two years ago, is the national battleground in miniature. The war in Iraq has left the veteran Senate incumbent, Mike DeWine, surprisingly vulnerable. Rep. Bob Ney pleaded guilty to felony corruption charges Friday, but has yet to leave office. And the Rep. Mark Foley congressional page sex scandal has damaged the campaign of the fourth-ranking Republican in the House, Deborah Pryce, who described Foley as a friend in a recent magazine article....

We always tell our kids that, like it or not, we are known by the company we keep.

In describing Ohio's politics, The Chicago Tribune said.....
....Then came the war, the coin scandal, a stumbling economy and the trio of Bob Taft, Bob Ney and Mark Foley.

"It's a perfect storm," said Hugh Quill, the Democratic treasurer of Montgomery County, "but it's a perfect storm of their own making."

The Republicans did it to themselves. It is time for change in Ohio and our country.

Republican Scandals In Full View

>Republican Rep. Bob Ney (OH-18) will plead guilty today. WKYC:
Congressman Bob Ney is expected to plead guilty Friday to a pair of felonies that could send him to prison for up to ten years. He is the first congressman to fall in the Jack Abramoff influence-peddling case.

Ney signed papers a month ago admitting charges of conspiracy and making false statements.

The Congressman says he took tens of thousands of dollars worth of trips, sports tickets, meals and other contributions in exchange for support of Abramoff's clients....

>While the Ney scandal continues to unfold, Republican fundraiser, Tom "Coingate" Noe's trial continues to search for jurors.

>Republican Rep. Deborah Pryce (OH-15) faced her Democratic opponent, Mary Jo Kilroy, in a televised debate last night. Pryce looked visibly angry. Since her interview in the Columbus Monthly, where she claimed that Republican Mark Foley was her best friend, Pryce's support has fallen in central Ohio.

Live from Columbus--Kilroy vs. Pryce Debate

Republican Rep. Deborah Pryce debated her Democratic rival, Mary Jo Kilroy, at WOSU-TV this evening.

Here are my observations:
Kilroy was calm. However, Pryce seemed to be angry at times and under great stress. At time she appeared to be yelling. Her neck was red throughout the hour.

Here are some of the things that were said by the candidates.....

Kilroy said...
...Congress follows instead of leads...
...we need a plan to bring the war to a conclusion...
....Pryce is in a state of denial about Iraq.
....that job loss in Ohio is a critical issue and healthcare needs to be put on the congressional agenda.
....bankruptcies are up and minimum wage workers haven't had a raise in ten years
...congress needs a new voice independent of the lobbyists
...Pryce has been a right wing apologist, does not advance a moderate agenda, and her PAC gives to right wingers
....Pryce got a 0% from the Children's Defense Fund, and was put on the environmental "Dirty Dozen"
....the Republicans in Congress have a "see no evil" view when something goes wrong


Pryce said...
...used the Republican talking point "....fight them over there...."
...defended former Democrat, Lieberman....
...that Iraqis are happy with their freedoms (yes, she said it)
...blamed George Soros
...Ohio is on the cusp of a wonderful recovery.....this is a textbook economy
...she supports drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge

On Olbermann tonight, Rev. Barry Lynn, author of Piety & Politics talked about how Karl Rove called the religious right "nuts."

From Real Clear Politics Blog:
On Tuesday, SurveyUSA released polls in Tennessee and Kentucky that showed post-Foley movement toward Republicans. Tonight they have released polls in Missouri and Ohio that show movement toward Democrats. Ohio's Senate poll moved four points toward Sherrod Brown and now has him with a 14-point lead over Mike DeWine, considerably higher than the RCP Average that has Brown ahead 5.7%. In Missouri, SurveyUSA shows an 8-point move toward Democrat Claire McCaskill giving her a 51% to 42% lead, - again, considerably higher than the RCP Average which stands at McCaskill +1.8%....

That is good news!

Pryce's Internal Polls Show She is Losing Support

UPDATE: The Kilroy (D) - Pryce (R) debate will be live tonight at 7pm: WOSU-TV, WOSU 820, and online at http://www.wosu.org/

The New York Times has this article about how the Foley case has been a drag on Republican Rep. Deborah Pryce's (OH-15) campaign. Here are some excerpts. I have highlight important points:

Representative Deborah Pryce is a former municipal court judge, a Republican and a member of the House leadership who has represented her central Ohio district for 14 years. She is also friends with Mark Foley, the congressman who resigned in the page scandal, as she told Columbus Monthly for a feature it published just last month.

Ms. Pryce always thought she would have a difficult re-election campaign this year in a state raked by Republican scandals. But since Mr. Foley quit, she said in an interview on a tense day of campaigning here, her own internal polls have measured a steady drop in support under the weight of attacks by Mary Jo Kilroy, her Democratic opponent...

...In an interview on Wednesday, Ms. Kilroy questioned whether Ms. Pryce had had any warning about Mr. Foley’s conduct, and why Ms. Pryce, the No. 4 Republican in the House, had not called for the resignation of Representative J. Dennis Hastert of Illinois as speaker.

“When you have a member of Congress abusing his authority and his position with pages, and you have leaders of Congress looking the other way — protecting their majority instead of protecting the pages — people here saw that and said, that’s the final straw,” Ms. Kilroy said. “She’s in leadership. And I don’t understand why she is not calling on those leaders who didn’t act to step down.”

“What did she know?” Ms. Kilroy said, sitting in her campaign headquarters Wednesday during a break in preparation for a debate here Thursday night. “What did she do about it?”

Read the entire article and you'll come to the same conclusion I have----Mary Jo Kilroy is running one tough campaign.

My Unscientific Poll

I live in Ohio's 15th congressional district. This morning I drove by approximately 400 homes in the city of Worthington, Ohio, and I found some disturbing news, if you are a Republican. This is my unscientific poll of yard signs in Worthington - Democratic candidate for Ohio-15, Mary Jo Kilroy's yard signs outnumber Republican Rep. Deborah Pryce's yard signs by nearly 20 to 1.

Senator Barack Obama (IL-D) paid a visit yesterday to Columbus, Ohio, to show his support for Democratic candidates. The Columbus Dispatch had just a little to say about Sen. Obama's visit to Columbus:

....Yesterday, Strickland sought to shore up his support among black voters at a rally featuring Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., at the Martin Luther King Jr. Performing & Cultural Arts Complex on the Near East Side.

"This helps energize the African-American voter base to go out and vote, and vote heavily," said Columbus Mayor Michael B. Coleman, who introduced Obama.

Obama told a standing-roomonly audience that the "arrogance of power" displayed by the Bush administration and Republicans controlling Congress and the Ohio Statehouse has caused widespread disgruntlement that the country is on the wrong track.

Here is what the Akron Beacon Journal reported about his visit:

Sen. Barack Obama told a crowded hall of supporters Tuesday that the American mood is somber and serious heading into the fall elections as voters grow weary of high health care costs, struggling schools and the war in Iraq.

But said he sees people's engagement in issues as a good thing.

"For too many years, our politics have been a sideshow," he told spectators at the King Arts Complex on Columbus' near east side. "It's like WWF."

Obama, who has been floated as a presidential contender in 2008, was in town campaigning for gubernatorial nominee Ted Strickland, Senate candidate Sherrod Brown and other Democrats.

In his second appearance in Columbus since June, Obama accused the Bush administration of underwriting both sides of the war on terrorism, underfunding the No Child Left Behind education act and ignoring scientific evidence of global warming.

"The only scientists who still deny that climate change exists are in the White House," he said.

He said Republicans, who have controlled Congress and all branches of Ohio government for more than a decade, are struggling against Democrats this year because they grew too cavalier with their power.

"The Lord has a way, when you stop being humble, he'll knock you down," he said....

Rolling Stone Magazine: OH-15 Key to Taking Back Congress

The October 19th issue of Rolling Stone Magazine is not online as yet. However, if you happen to hit the magazine rack, check the article on page 59. The article, Taking Back Congress, lists those races that the Democrats must win to get back the majority. Included as a key race ------- Ohio's 15th District. The author, Tim Dickinson, makes these key points:

>..Pryce not only spearheded Bush's effort to privatize Social Security, she also benefited from at least ten fund-raisers hosted by disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff...
>...Pryce is ommitting her party affiliation from her campaign ads...
>...Iraq where the war has killed or wounded nearly a third of the soldiers in the Marine reserve unit stationed in Columbus.


In today's mail I also received campaign literature from the Democratic candidate for Ohio's 15th district, Mary Jo Kilroy. The material states the following about Republican Deborah Pryce:

*Pryce ran up the largest deficit in history
*Pryce would jeopardize Social Security
*Pryce voted to raise the debt ceiling 5 times in 5 years (in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006).
*Pryce supports $85 billion in subsidies to big oil.

As you can tell, Ohio's 15th district has a very, very hot campaign.

Pryce: Toughest Reelection Race of Her Career

The Washington Post has some very tough news for Republicans: The could lose 7 to 30 House Seats.
Oh, my! We can only hope it comes true!

Here is an excerpt from the Washington Post, as it relates to Republican Rep. Deborah Pryce (OH-15):

Rep. Deborah Pryce (Ohio), the fourth-ranking GOP leader, is facing the toughest reelection race of her career. She has said she had no prior knowledge of the Foley affair but has faced criticism for telling a reporter the former congressman was one of her closest friends in Congress.

"I don't think this is personally sticking to Deborah Pryce, but it is certainly having people have a more jaundiced view of Washington, which is not good for Republicans," said George Rasley, Pryce's spokesman. Pryce had a slight lead over Mary Jo Kilroy in her internal polling before the Foley scandal, an aide said, but Republicans expect Pryce to suffer as much as any incumbent for the renewed scrutiny of congressional ethics.

Scandals are hurting Republicans elsewhere in Ohio, where charges of corruption have rocked the GOP at the local and state levels for the past two years. In the open seat vacated by indicted GOP Rep. Robert W. Ney, Joy Padgett is struggling to lock down a reliably GOP seat east of Columbus, the state capital. Polls show Democrat Zach Space, a liberal critic of the war, on top and GOP strategists agree Padgett is behind.

"It is definitely a challenge to overcome," says Padgett spokesman Morgan Ortagus. "Voters are definitely in a throw-the-bums-out mood."

Space is calling for Hastert's resignation and is asking Padgett to do the same. Padgett cancelled a fundraiser with Hastert last week....

In the past, Pryce has had an easy time at winning the election. However, it appears that the Republican scandals may make voters decide to vote her out of office. Why? Pryce, as a Republican leader, is partially responsible for the behavior, climate, and work that goes on in the House. The Republicans have held their power firmly and now we see the results: They chose their own political party over what was best for the country.

Eyes on the 15th

If you missed the radio program tonight that featured the Kilroy-Pryce race and Ohio politics, you can still download the podcast. Visit http://www.radioopensource.org/be-a-source/hear-on-the-radio/ to get the podcast.

The last few minutes of the broadcast features my voice and opinions about Ohio. :)

The program featured many different people and provided a good discussion of what is happening in Ohio.

Ohio's 15 District on the Radio Tonight

Tonight Radio Open Source will feature an hour program about Ohio's 15th congressional district. Here is an excerpt from information at their site:

Ohio’s 15th congressional district presents one of the top opportunities for Democrats this year. The Columbus-area electorate is thinking about sending its long-term and influential Representative to the sidelines, and filling her position with a relative rookie. With a month to go, polls show first-term county commissioner Mary Jo Kilroy in an even heat with seven-term incumbent Deborah Pryce. If Pryce gets the boot it may not be because she played the game poorly but because she’s on the wrong team.

Republican Pryce, Chair of the Congressional Republican Conference, has been a shoo-in since she took office in 1993; in 2004 she garnered more than 60% of the vote. But now she’s fighting for her political life as Ney’s high crimes, Foley’s indiscretions and Bush’s plummeting approval ratings have turned her Grand Old Party into the elephant in the room. Even the Taft name, once a 24-karat commodity in Ohio, has turned to dross. Pryce is now billing herself as “an independent voice” in an effort to unhitch her wagon from the GOP star before she crashes and burns.....

Listen live HERE tonight starting at 7pm. Many bloggers from central Ohio, including myself, were interviewed for the program.

By the way, tomorrow is the first day of Tom "Coingate" Noe's trial.

Another GOP Congress Member Knew about Foley

How many Republican House members knew about Foley?

Star Telegram:
A Republican congressman knew of disgraced former Rep. Mark Foley's inappropriate Internet exchanges as far back as 2000 and personally confronted Foley about his communications.

A spokeswoman for Rep. Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz., confirmed Sunday that a former page showed the congressman Internet messages that had made the youth feel uncomfortable with the direction that Foley, R-Fla., was taking their e-mail relationship. Last week, when the Foley matter erupted, a Kolbe staff member suggested to the former page that he take the matter to the clerk of the House, Karen Haas, said Kolbe's press secretary, Korenna Cline....

The Republicans knew about Foley's behavior toward congressional pages, yet they continued to give him leadership roles, take his campaign contributions, and allow him to continue his harrassment of pages. The Republicans just looked the other way. Hastert, Blunt, Boehner, Pryce, and other GOP members have lots of questions to answer about what they knew and when they knew it. They are ultimately responsible for whatever happened because their leadership allowed it to go on.

Lots of Speculation about Deborah Pryce

There is a lot of speculation on the internet about Republican Rep. Deborah Pryce (OH-15) and what she knew about her friend, former Republican Rep. Mark Foley. Pryce, who once described Foley as one of her best friends, may now be in serious danger of losing her congressional seat.

1. Check out a new You Tube feature on Deborah Pryce called When Did She Know? The video questions exactly what Pryce knew about Foley and when did she know it.

2. MSNBC has a story about how the Republican sex scandal is, as one Republican said, "sucking the air out of the room." Even in the MSNBC story, the anti-Pryce ads being run by Kilroy are mentioned.

3. People in Ohio have had enough of the scandals. The religious right wing is very upset with the morality, lies, scandals, trickery, and unethical behavior that they've seen in Ohio's Republicans. The Cincinnati Enquirer has captured what a lot of Ohioans are thinking:

"I'm concerned about a backlash," said Phil Burress, president of Citizens for Community Values. "I believe a lot of (Republicans) will lose because of the Republican Party losing its moral rudder."

Burress' group and others around the country have spent years backing GOP candidates who supported the causes of so-called "values voters," or those who oppose abortion, gay marriage and what they see as a coarsening of American culture.

Those voters were outraged a week ago when Republican Rep. Mark Foley of Florida resigned after he was accused of sending inappropriate e-mails and sexually explicit instant messages to a 16-year-old congressional page.

The scandal also ensnared GOP leaders who are accused of failing to act sooner on warnings about Foley's behavior. Burress said the party could pay a price on Election Day....

4. A website called Bad Pryce has collected the some of the things that Pryce has done and it isn't pretty. Visit http://www.badpryce.org for some interesting facts.

The Toledo Blade has endorsed Ted Strickland for Ohio Governor.

Congratulations to The Ohio State Buckeyes!!!!

'Deborah Pryce is part of the problem in Congress'

*With 29 days to go before the midterm elections, the Democrats are ready to fight for the right to lead the Congress, and possibly the U.S. Senate. The Democratic candidate for Ohio's 15th congressional district, Mary Jo Kilroy, will begin running ads certain ads against Republican Rep. Deborah Pryce. The new ads target the audiences of Christian radio stations:

(HOTLINE BLOG)

ANNCR: What is going on in Washington? Our troops are sent to war without proper body armor, members of Congress like Deborah Pryce gave themselves $30,000 in pay raises while running up the largest deficit in American history.

Deborah Pryce's friend Mark Foley is caught using his position to take advantage of 16 year old pages. Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert looked the other way when he was warned of Foley's predatory behavior. Deborah Pryce is one of the top Republicans in Congress. No wonder Pryce refused to criticize Hastert for ignoring the Foley problem. No wonder she won't call for Foley to resign. Now Pryce is protecting Hastert, even though he protected a sex predator?.

Republican leaders were more concerned about protecting politicians than protecting teenagers.
Deborah Pryce is part of the problem in Congress.
It's time for change.

**The Kilroy-Pryce battle is also mentioned in the NY Times:

...George Rasley, an aide to Representative Deborah Pryce, Republican of Ohio, who was linked to Mr. Foley in a Democratic advertisement that began running Friday, said the Foley investigation further soured an already tough environment for Republicans in Ohio, a state hammered by corruption investigations this year.

“This is one more thing that makes people wonder about politicians and politics,” Mr. Rasley said. “It reinforces this notion of Washington being a place that bears no resemblance to real America.”

Let me explain something to Mr. Rasley, Ms. Pryce, and the rest of the Republicans. People who look the other way because of a sexual predator, do not deserve to be re-elected or elected to any office. People who belong to a political party that has taken hundreds of thousands of dollars from a sexual predator, need to sit down and examine why they allowed these improper communications and activities to go on under their leadership. Americans have had enough.

***I was interviewed by Open Source Radio and my interview may/may not be part of a program scheduled for Monday, Oct. 9th, from 7pm-8pm. Listen Live Here. The Open Source staff has highlighted Ohio's 15th congressional district as a district to watch. Read the article on the 15th here.

GO BUCKEYES!

Work for Change

What ever happened to that Homeland Security official, Brian J. Doyle, who was charged with the sex crimes? MSNBC has the original information. I had almost forgotten about that scandal.

Republican Rep. Deborah Pryce (OH-15) is trying to distance herself from her "friend" former Republican Rep. Mark Foley. Today's Columbus Dispatch has an article about Pryce and her friendship with Foley. Here are some excerpts:

Last month, when Columbus Monthly magazine asked her to list some of her friends in Washington, Rep. Deborah Pryce mentioned Rep. Mark Foley as one of them.

Now, that seemingly innocuous comment has become part of Pryce’s close re-election race against Democrat Mary Jo Kilroy. Foley, R-Fla., resigned from Congress last Friday after revelations that he sent sexually explicit electronic messages to teenagers who had served as pages in the U.S. House.....
...Pryce acknowledged that Foley was one of 28 House Republicans who helped round up votes on her behalf in 1997 when she was elected to House leadership as secretary of the Republican conference...
...In an interview with WOSU Radio on Wednesday, Kilroy assailed Pryce, saying, "She’s Foley’s best friend in Washington. He managed her campaign for leadership. Is it credible that she did not know? I don’t think it is."

The entire Foley scandal is just another example of the failures, corruption, and lies that the Republican Party have provided to the American people. The Republicans created this mess with the congressional pages, Jack Abramoff, Bob Ney, Duke Cunningham, Tom Noe, Bob Taft, Donald Rumsfeld, the WMD lies, the failures with FEMA, the war in Iraq, the failure to respond to Hurricane Katrina, the missing millions from the Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation, etc., etc.

It is time to set a new course for our country and our state. It is time to vote for Democrats and Progressives who will lead us to a better and safer community, nation, and future.

You can be part of the change. --- Volunteers are still needed at MoveOn.Org in Columbus.
Contact Conor: 1-847-875-7848 or e-mail: conor.mchale@operationdemocracy.org

The Republican Scandals Continue

The Republicans are finally going to get the Ethics Committee together. Apparently, they were too busy to meet on other Republicans Tom DeLay and Bob Ney, but now they have to do something.

The Other Paper has an article about Republican Rep. Deborah Pryce's response to the alleged sexual activities of former Republican Rep. Mark Foley. Pryce (OH-15) is part of the Republican leadership in the House of Representatives. Here is an excerpt from the article:

Deborah Pryce learned something about one of her good friends last week. She learned that he’s a sexual predator.

Prior to Friday, Pryce considered Mark Foley one of her best friends in the U.S. House of Representatives....

...At any rate, Pryce has not yet joined the those—including her election opponent, Democratic Franklin County Commissioner Mary Jo Kilroy—who are calling for Hastert’s head. She said she believes he had no knowledge of the sexually explicit messages from Foley.

Pryce said nothing has convinced her the speaker “had any access to this.”

“I don’t know that he did. I’m almost certain he didn’t or he wouldn’t have let this stuff go on.”

>Brian Ross of ABC News is reporting that 3 more pages are accusing Foley. Here is an excerpt from that article:

...The pages served in the classes of 1998, 2000 and 2002. They independently approached ABC News after the Foley resignation through the Brian Ross & the Investigative Team's tip line on ABCNews.com. None wanted their names used because of the sensitive nature of the communications....

**There are rumors on the "internets" that the Republicans warned their Republican pages, but not those pages serving for Democrats. I'm sure in the days to come, more information will be revealed about this latest Republican scandal.

>>>Republican Rep. Mike Ferguson (NJ-7) must be another family value GOP member. According to the Washington Post, Ferguson was drunk in a bar near the Georgetown campus, and he had an altercation with a female student. Ferguson should spend more time with his wife and children.

Is the entire Republican Party having a meltdown??????

Republican Leadership Scandal

Mark Foley is a Republican (despite what Faux News says).

Just in from USA Today:
....The campaign website for Mary Jo Kilroy, a Democrat challenging Rep. Deborah Pryce, R-Ohio, notes that Pryce recently said that Foley was "one of her five friends in Washington" and this year gave her "more money than ANY other House Republican." Pryce, a member of the House GOP leadership, has said she'll return the donations....

From Hypothetically Speaking:
According to last month's Columbus Monthly interview of Deb Pryce, she and Foley were more than just congressional colleagues [emphasis added]:

When Congress is in session, she lives by herself in an apartment on Pennsylvania Avenue. Pryce counts among her friends fellow represenatives Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Mark Foley of Florida, Eric Cantor of Virginia, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia and Dave Camp of Michigan. All are Republicans......

Republican Mark Foley's scandal has revealed something about how the Republican controlled House of Representatives works. Foley was protected by the Republican leadership. He brought in money, voted the Republican way, and supported other Republicans. Hastert, Blunt, Reynolds, Boehner, Pryce, and others, tolerated his behavior because it allowed them to keep their power.

Don't believe all the Republican outrage now. The behavior of the GOP has been obscene not only regarding Foley, but also the way the Republican party has acted in other matters: not voting for body armor, supporting tax cuts for the rich, cutting funding for schools, cutting veterans benefits, giving tax cuts to oil companies, getting huge political contributions from drug companies as they were designing the Medicare drug plan, no oversight in the war, etc., etc.

The American people have a chance to do some early spring cleaning this election. We should take this opportunity and vote out the Republican leadership and other GOP members who have forgotten that they represent people, not corporations.

By the way, ABC News said their source for the Foley story was a Republican. Despite what the GOP spin machine has said, all of the information has been provided by Republicans.

*****Attention Columbus Progressives:
Volunteers are still needed for MoveOn.Org's local office. Contact the Field Organizer, Conor ( 1-847-875-7848 or e-mail: conor.mchale@operationdemocracy.org ), and ask how you can help.