* Cute excerpt from ProgressOhio: ....Former Speaker “Cactus” Jon Husted – he of the zero water consumption in his district home - is running for Secretary of State.....
I don't know about you, but I prefer a grownup for Ohio Secretary of State. Husted is known for temper tantrums and shouting matches with various individuals, boards, and state agencies. (see: Cleveland.com --- Note the word "pressure" concerning Husted. "Pressure" is a polite word for the gross, rude, loud, behavior Husted displayed at a meeting with some boards. Does Husted still want to exert "pressure" on various public employee retirement pensions regarding their investments?
* Have you heard about the "shadow budget" that the Republicans have been planning? Republicans, John Boehner and Paul Ryan, are carrying around a super secret "shadow budget" plan to push for privatizing social security and cutting Medicare (see TalkingPointsMemo).
We've also seen hints from other GOPers. Republican Rep. Marsha Blackburn has been on TV talking about privatizing Social Security and Medicare (source: TPMDC). Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann wants to "...wean everybody..." off Social Security and Medicare (see ThinkProgress).
Can you just imagine what would have happened if we had followed the Republican plan to privatize Social Security just before the recent Wall Street collapse? OMG! You and I would have had our parents and in-laws living with us!!!!!
* Republican Rep. Pat Tiberi (OH-12) has been accused of talking out of both sides of his mouth. Cleveland.com:
...U.S. Rep. Pat Tiberi of suburban Columbus is among more than a dozen Republican lawmakers who criticized Obama's economic stimulus plan, then turned around and quietly sought money from the plan, according to a blistering story today in the Washington Times....
....In October, Tiberi complained that the stimulus package bill was "loaded with Nancy Pelosi's grab bag of big spending wishes" and that it "saddles future generations with mountains of debt," the Times reported.....
Tsk. Tsk. Tsk.Even the right wing Columbus Dispatch had this about Tiberi's pleas for stimulus money:
...Tiberi made his request in a letter last July to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Commerce Secretary Gary Locke. In the letter, Tiberi wrote that C.O.W. Industries of Columbus "has informed me that the project could support numerous jobs in Ohio.''
Gabby Adler, a spokeswoman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, charged that Tiberi "was writing private letters lobbying for projects'' paid for by a stimulus package that never would have passed the House "if Tiberi had his way.''
...Not a single House Republican supported the stimulus package, which was designed to inject a spark into the nation's battered economy. They argued the bill would add hundreds of billions of dollars to the national debt and would not be an effective way to create jobs in the private sector...
Tiberi wouldn't offer a helping hand in getting the stimulus package passed and he shouldn't expect anything now.