Friday, May 24, 2013

Shame on Mike DeWine


Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, a Republican, appears on television more than any politician in the state. Every week, Mike DeWine has several press conferences, announcements, and interviews.  This week there was a raid at a pharmacy and Mike DeWine showed up there while cameras were rolling and investigators were at work.  When does Mike DeWine do his job?

Plunderbund:

In December of 2011, DeWine announced another initiative by his office to begin processing untested rape kits from around the state.  DeWine said he was going to hire new staff and ultimately process 3000 kits per year (or 250 kits per month).

This week the Dispatch reported that, as of now, only 888 of the 2,984 kits received by the AG’s office have been tested.   That’s a backlog of over 2,000 untested kits with a processing rate of just over 50 per month – no where near the promised 250 per month rate....

...In a recent statement, David Pepper took DeWine to task:
“Moving these rape kits from one set of shelves in local police stations to another set of shelves in the Attorney General’s office doesn’t bring justice.  The fact that the backlog is growing is troubling, and years of delays are simply unacceptable,” Pepper said....

If you or someone you know has been a rape victim, their case cannot be completed because Mike DeWine has refused to process "....over 2,000 untested kits..." while he is prancing around the state in front of TV cameras.  Shame on Mike DeWine.

(Update on Mike DeWine: on WBNS TV, Channel 10 in Columbus, Mike DeWine has just been interviewed again.)

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>>> College students will pay higher interest rates for loans thanks to the House Republicans. Even though Republicans called the bill a "smarter solution," it is a smarter solution for bankers and bank stockholders. The CRS summary of HR 1911 states the following:

...Smarter Solutions for Students Act - Amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to set the annual interest rate on Direct Stafford loans and Direct Unsubsidized Stafford loans at the rate on high-yield 10-year Treasury notes plus 2.5%, but caps that rate at 8.5%.

Sets the annual interest rate on Direct PLUS loans at the rate on high-yield 10-year Treasury notes plus 4.5%, but caps that rate at 10.5%....

Clerk House of Representatives: HR 1911: Roll Call Vote 183:

---- AYES    221 ---

Aderholt
Alexander
Amash
Amodei
Bachmann
Bachus
Barletta
Barr
Barton
Benishek
Bentivolio
Bilirakis
Bishop (UT)
Black
Blackburn
Boehner
Boustany
Brady (TX)
Bridenstine
Brooks (IN)
Broun (GA)
Bucshon
Burgess
Calvert
Camp
Campbell
Cantor
Capito
Carter
Cassidy
Chabot
Chaffetz
Coble
Coffman
Collins (GA)
Collins (NY)
Conaway
Cook
Cramer
Crawford
Crenshaw
Culberson
Daines
Davis, Rodney
Denham
Dent
DeSantis
DesJarlais
Diaz-Balart
Duffy
Duncan (SC)
Duncan (TN)
Ellmers
Farenthold
Fincher
Fitzpatrick
Fleischmann
Fleming
Flores
Forbes
Fortenberry
Foxx
Franks (AZ)
Frelinghuysen
Garcia
Gardner
Garrett
Gerlach
Gibbs
Gingrey (GA)
Goodlatte
Gosar
Gowdy
Granger
Graves (MO)
Griffin (AR)
Griffith (VA)
Guthrie
Hall
Hanna
Harper
Harris
Hartzler
Hastings (WA)
Heck (NV)
Hensarling
Holding
Hudson
Huelskamp
Huizenga (MI)
Hultgren
Hunter
Hurt
Issa
Jenkins
Johnson (OH)
Johnson, Sam
Jordan
Joyce
Kelly (PA)
King (IA)
King (NY)
Kingston
Kinzinger (IL)
Kline
Labrador
LaMalfa
Lamborn
Lance
Lankford
Latham
Latta
LoBiondo
Long
Lucas
Luetkemeyer
Lummis
Maffei
Marchant
Marino
Massie
McCarthy (CA)
McCaul
McClintock
McHenry
McKeon
McKinley
McMorris Rodgers
Meadows
Meehan
Messer
Mica
Miller (FL)
Miller (MI)
Mullin
Mulvaney
Murphy (PA)
Neugebauer
Noem
Nugent
Nunes
Nunnelee
Olson
Palazzo
Paulsen
Pearce
Perry
Peters (CA)
Petri
Pittenger
Pitts
Poe (TX)
Polis
Pompeo
Posey
Price (GA)
Radel
Reed
Reichert
Renacci
Ribble
Rice (SC)
Rigell
Roby
Roe (TN)
Rogers (AL)
Rogers (KY)
Rogers (MI)
Rohrabacher
Rokita
Rooney
Ros-Lehtinen
Roskam
Ross
Rothfus
Royce
Runyan
Ryan (WI)
Salmon
Sanford
Scalise
Schock
Schweikert
Scott, Austin
Sensenbrenner
Sessions
Shimkus
Shuster
Simpson
Smith (NE)
Smith (NJ)
Smith (TX)
Southerland
Stewart
Stivers
Stockman
Terry
Thompson (PA)
Thornberry

Tiberi
Tipton
Turner
Upton
Valadao
Wagner
Walberg
Walden
Walorski
Weber (TX)
Webster (FL)
Wenstrup
Whitfield
Williams
Wilson (SC)
Wittman
Womack
Woodall
Yoder
Yoho
Young (FL)
Young (IN)

Note the Ohio Republicans that voted for this bill: Pat Tiberi, Steve Stivers, John Boehner, Steve Chabot, Mike Turner, Bob Gibbs, Jim Renacci, Brad Wenstrup, Jim Jordan, Bob Latta, Bill Johnson, and Steve Joyce, all voted to raise interest rates on student loans.  Here is a link to a contact page. Click on the names of the Ohio Republicans to offer some feedback.