Friday, August 01, 2014

In case you missed it...........


The Huffington Post has an article about Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine's method of running his office. If you are unaware of what is going on in DeWine's office, you should read the post. Here is a small sample from the HuffingtonPost:

...Now, Ohio's Attorney General, the official that's supposed to crack down on corruption, faces a deepening scandal surrounding campaign contributors winning contracts from his office in highly inappropriate ways.....

....Doing complex legal work on behalf of a state can mean big profits, so it's no surprise that lawyers, firms, and vendors make big campaign contributions hoping to influence the selection process. Since January, several Ohio media outlets have documented exactly that pattern: over $2.5 million in campaign contributions flowing to Attorney General Mike DeWine and the Ohio GOP while those same donors win lucrative contracts from his office. Throughout, DeWine has paid himself back $1.7 million of a $2 million personal loan to his 2010 campaign. 

The facts are disturbing. Many contributions were made during or immediately before or after bids were under consideration -- sometimes checks came on the same day as bids. DeWine met more than once with his campaign fundraiser in his official office, and in one meeting in the middle of a bid process, they reviewed the roster of those seeking state work. The office has little to no documented process for scoring bidders and actually dumped scoring systems put in place by Richard Cordray, DeWine's predecessor.... 

Many Ohioans thought that corruption had disappeared after Taft and the BWC "coingate" scandals, but apparently the Republicans continue to reward their friends and campaign contributors.

• • • • •

*****  The Republicans in the House of Representatives have refused to do anything about immigration and appear to be under the control of Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, instead of John Boehner. The alleged interference is the subject of an article at the LA Times:

...Cruz had been steadily stirring up opposition to the House GOP plan to approve the $659 million, far less than the $3.7 billion sought by the White House and the $2.7 billion proposed by Senate Democrats to deal with the 57,000 unaccompanied youths who have been apprehended at the Southwest border since Oct. 1.....

...Cruz’s handiwork lighted up the telephone lines in the Capitol after an appearance on a tea party webinar. He further stoked opposition among House Republicans when he met with them privately over pizza on the eve of Thursday's vote....

....Before the chaos on the House floor, Boehner had succumbed to pressure to include a Cruz-inspired measure that would defund the administration's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program -- which has given 500,000 young immigrants legal status for meeting requirements that they remain in college or join the military....

It appears the Speaker of the House and the Republicans in the House are being controlled by Ted Cruz. You can read the entire article at LA Times.