* Back in 1998, then Congressman John Kasich proposed eliminating the Department of Energy. Today, according to Trading Markets, Governor-elect of Ohio, Kasich is hoping that the U.S. Department of Energy delivers a $2 billion loan to USEC Inc. and their American Centrifuge Plant, in Piketon, Ohio. Amazing, isn't it? Kasich is depending on part of the federal government he did not want to deliver something he needs.
* Oh, my. The previously nicknamed, Plainly Republican (aka the Plain Dealer), has actually voiced some opposition to one of Kasich's decisions. Kasich's choice of Thomas P. Charles to head the Ohio Department of Public Safety has made the Plain Dealer question somewhat uneasy:
...Public Safety and the patrol need stable leadership. Charles' lengthy career and credibility with many legislators and reporters are intended to ensure that. A Kasich spokesman said neither member of Charles' family will be promoted while Charles is Public Safety director -- and that Charles will recuse himself in any disciplinary matter involving them.
But, like Caesar's wife, Charles must be above suspicion. And unfortunately, no matter how warranted his investigation of Public Safety might have been, the politically charged probe suggests the baggage he's carrying into the job already has a partisan tinge.
**** Speaking of investigations.....
Why would a Republican leave his cushy $80,000+/year job in the Ohio Department of Transportation on the brink of a new Republican governor taking over state government? Was there something that this member of a prominent Republican family had done? Was he forced to resign? Did it have something to do with his other job on the Board of Education of a Columbus suburban school district? So far, he isn't talking but inquiring minds want to know.