From WLWT:

CINCINNATI — The press release from the anti-tax coalition carried its familiar letterhead, and this headline: “Former Governor Bob Taft endorses Issue 27.”

Taft left office this year under an ethics cloud, so when Sheriff Simon Leis said that the former governor joined other establishment Republicans such as himself, the sheriff was not amused.

“What they’re trying to do here is typical of their whole campaign,” Leis said. “They know Gov. Taft is not a very popular figure.”

Leis said he smelled a rat even before scrolling down to the fine print where the word “joke” appeared.

Opponents of Issue 27 said they were delighted their adversaries took the fake press release so sensitively and seriously.

They said the release went out by mistake, but now they’re glad it was sent.

“They can’t take a joke,” said state Rep. Tom Brinkman. “I mean, you know, lighten up a little. If you don’t have fun, don’t do it.”

The Cincinnati Republican said tax supporters should have taken the release as light hearted because it had a disclaimer identifying it as satire at the bottom of the page.

“But I think that shows what pins and needles they’re on,” Brinkman said.

In Ohio, the Republican party would be wise to hold off on ever supporting tax increases. Ohio has the 5th highest state and local tax burden in the nation, so what are voters to think about a party actively supporting sales tax increases? Hasn’t the party done enough to add to Ohioans’ tax burden?

The Hamilton County GOP seems to be too comfortable with their own power. This news is funny, but tax increases are no laughing matter.

Update @ 10:53PM- Patrick Poole over at the American Thinker Blog comments on this story here.

Recently, I reported that The Columbus Dispatch’s management put the breaks on an article, which was scheduled for publication and was damaging to Mike Coleman’s campaign.

The article was written by Dispatch reporter Jodi Andes, and I have confirmed that she called the Bill Todd campaign for a quote for the story. She also provided a brief summary of what the article was about. I couldn’t find specific details, and no one at The Dispatch would talk to me, but this article was about the Mayor’s questionable campaign expenditures.

In addition, The Dispatch allegedly is sitting on another story about Coleman and his various “misdeeds” which, rumor has it, won’t be printed until after the election… if at all. This part of the rumor stinks the most, because they supposedly had this type of dirt on Coleman during the 2006 elections. The Dispatch wouldn’t run it, but apparently they almost had to change their mind because the Toledo Blade was supposedly going to run the story… since the powers that be at the Blade supposedly wanted to clear the field for Ted Strickland in the Democrat primary.

If true, why wouldn’t The Dispatch run this story in 2006, and why did they stop Jodi Andes’ article? Who knows!? But I have a gut feeling that it all has to do with Mike Coleman’s close relationship with John F. Wolfe, publisher of The Dispatch.

John Wolfe rarely donates to politicians, but he and his family has donated to Mike Coleman:

John F Wolfe - 7/12/2007 - $500.00
Ann Islay Wolfe - 7/12/2007 - $500.00
Rita Wolfe - 7/27/2007 - $2,000.00
John F. Wolfe - 1/09/2006 - $5,000.00

It is commonly understood that The Dispatch, just like most of the dinosaur print media, is losing money. However, Wolfe Enterprises Inc. also is a local investor in Skybus airlines, the new Columbus Clippers baseball stadium, and Nationwide arena. Wolfe Enterprises is also a principal minority owner in the Columbus Blue Jackets hockey team.

And guess what? Wolfe’s friend, Mike Coleman, in his official capacity as Mayor of Columbus and while on City Council, has gone out of his way to help Wolfe’s interests. And, as you can see, it helps to know Mike!…

——————
Skybus Airlines

Nationwide Mutual Capital of Columbus controls 5 percent. Smaller local investors include Battelle, Huntington Capital Investment Co. and Wolfe Enterprises Inc., a subsidiary of The Dispatch Printing Company.

The city of Columbus, has offered incentives to Skybus totaling more than $14 million, which were proposed to city council by Mayor Mike Coleman. And the airline also was able to take advantage of $11 million of improvements to their gates in Concourse B.

Under Mike Coleman’s plan, Skybus also received payroll and investment incentives:

* 50% of the personal income tax withheld for 7 years, at a total cost of $2,098,640
* Enterprise Zone Abatement on real and personal property improvements, 75% for 10 years at a cost of $4,505,444
* Business Development Fund Loan, $200,000
*Working Capital Fund Loan, $250,000
* Columbus Franklin County Finance Authority Financing $1,000,000
* HUD 108 Loan $1,000,000
Total Value of City Incentives given to Skybus = $14,069,596

Columbus Clippers’ New Baseball Stadium

The major sponsorships of the new stadium include: $9.3 million from The City of Columbus (infrastructure investment), and $6 million from the Columbus Dispatch (scoreboard naming rights).

Nationwide Arena

The Dispatch Printing Company owns 10% of Nationwide Arena (Nationwide Insurance Enterprise owns the rest.) And the city of Columbus was willing to provide road improvements, such as the extension of Nationwide Blvd. to Neil Ave., while improving the sewer system and other parts of the infrastructure. In addition, the arena site was reportedly exempted from real estate taxes.

——————-

So, what was The Dispatch’s article about? Who knows, but it apparently wasn’t good for John Wolfe’s friend, Mayor Coleman. Sadly, only a few people… such as Dispatch reporters… could connect the dots. Mayor Coleman has campaign expenses which seem very personal (which I bet he didn’t pay taxes on), and are spent all over the country and the world. Here are portions of 2 of his recent expenditure reports, all of which are public records:

2006 Campaign Expenditure Report

TRAVEL:
* Delta $780 2/21/06 - Atlanta
* Delta $780 2/21/06 - Atlanta
* Lufthausa Ticket Office $772.20 2/28/06
* Rail Europe $159.75 3/20/06 Travel
* Hasir Restaurant (Berlin, Germany) $6.13 4/3/06 Meal Expense
* Hasir Restaurant (Berlin, Germany) $62.77 4/3/06 Meeting Expenses
* Marriot (Memphis, TN) $61.13 5/01/06 Lodging
* The Peabody (Memphis, TN) $56.93 5/1/06 Lodging
* Marriot (Memphis, TN) $300.60 5/5/06 lodging
* Bally’s Paris (Las Vegas) $114.45 5/08/06 Travel
* Mandalay Bay (Las Vegas) $260.51 5/11/06 Lodging
* Southwest Airlines (Dallas, TX) $278.60 5/15/06 Travel
* Southwest Airlines (Dallas, TX) $339.60 5/15/06 Travel
* Hotel Burnham (Chicago) $218.11 5/16/06 Lodging
* Marriott (Washington DC) $39.00 5/18/06 Lodging
* Don Alejandros Tex (Las Vegas) $14.91 6/05/06 Travel
* Mandalay Bay Resort (Las Vegas) $292.12 5/25/06 Lodging
* Paris Boulangerie (Las Vegas) $15.62 6/6/06 Travel
* Continental $457.70 6/7/06 Travel
* Continental $457.70 6/07/06 Travel
* Southwest Airlines (Dallas TX) $188.80 6/07/06 Travel
* Cirque du Soleil (Las Vegas) $26.75 6/07/06 Travel
* Paris Boulangerie (Las Vegas) $12.66 6/07/06 Travel
* Paris La Café Du Parc (Las Vegas) $150.00 6/07/06 Travel
* Bally’s Paris (Las Vegas) $529.76 6/08/06 Travel
* Don Alejandros Tex (Las Vegas) $14.91 6/08/06 Travel
* Pampas Brazilian (Las Vegas) $39.21 6/08/06 Travel
* Borders Airport $18.32 6/09/06 Travel
* Tuscany Café (Chicago) $10.23 6/12/06 Meal Expense
* Marriott (Anaheim, CA) $30.90 6/12/06 Lodging
* Kings Fish House (Orange, CA) $54.45 6/12/06 Meal Expense
* Café TU TU Tango (Orange, CA) $38.24 6/13/06 Meal Expense
* Crowne Plaza (Akron) $125.13 7/17/06 Lodging

SECURITY:
* Sonitral $421.66 5/3/06

MEMBERSHIPS:
* Capitol Club $143.24 2/27/06 Dues
* Capitol Club $143.24 3/15/06 Dues
* Capitol Club $312.46 5/11/06 Dues
* Capitol Club $143.23 6/14/06 Dues

REIMBURSEMENT:
* Mike Coleman $273.68 3/20/06 Meeting expense/travel
* Mike Coleman $975.17 6/09/06 Travel/Meal Expense

TICKETS:
* The Ohio State University $2,490.00 3/20/06 Event Tickets
* Ohio State University Athletics $1,152 5/08/06 Seasonal Tickets

DINING:
* Columbus Brewing Co $36.26 3/06/06 Meeting Expense
* Barley’s Smokehouse $24.27 3/16/06 Meal Expense
* El Vaquero $26.37 3/24/06 Meeting Expense
* Plank’s Café $17.25 3/24/06 Meeting Expense
* Knotty Pine Bar $49.20 4/10/06 Meeting Expense
* Columbus Brewing Co $26.24 4/11/06 Meeting expense
* Spagio $28.70 4/13/06 Meeting Expense
* Plank’s Café $17.89 4/17/06 Meeting Expense
* Don Pablos $48.35 5/5/06 Meeting Expense
* Spinelli’s Deli $113.58 5/05/06 Meeting Expense
* Hyde Park Prime Steak $120.35 5/09/06 Meeting Expense
* Spagio $41.76 5/30/06 Meal Expense
* Due Amici $27.92 6/01/06 Meal Expense
* Smith & Wolensky $278.09 6/02/06 Meeting Expense
* Spago $42.73 6/06/06 Meeting Expense
*Due Amici $23.72 6/12/06 Meal Expense
* Columbus Brewing Co. $31.05 6/29/06 Meeting Expense
* Brownstone on Main $25.24 7/03/06 Meeting Expense
* Smith & Wolensky $15.61 7/05/06 Meal Expense
* Abuelo $37.45 7/7/06 Meal expense
* Due Amici $73.69 7/12/06 Meeting Expense
* Due Amici $52.40 7/17/06 Meeting Expense
* Lindey’s $31.54 7/19/06 Meal Expense

And…

2007 Campaign Expenditure Report

DINING:
Indian Over 2/9.2007 $40.18 Meal Expense
Hyde Park 3/1/2007 $780.85 Meeting Expense
Hyde Park 3/2/2007 $21.89 Meal Expense
Hyde Park 3/2/2007 $171.10 Meeting Expense
The Florentine 3/9/2007 $29.28 Meal Expense
Doubletree Guest 3/12/2007 $25.24
Saigon Palace 3/12/2007 $26.65 Meal Expense
Linden Café 3/15/2007 $35.34 Meeting Expense
BOMA 3/26/2007 $134.95 Catering
Short North Tavern 3/26/2007 $200.00 Meeting Expense
Tyfoon 4/4/2007 $78.95
Brownstone 4/12/2007 $233.00 Meeting Expense
Rojo Tequilara 4/12/2007 $32.65 Meal Expense
Tony’s Italian Ristorante 4/16/2007 $56.29 Meal Expense
Brownstone 4/23/2007 $30.39 Meal Expense
BOMA 4/24/2007 $34.00 Catering
Tony’s Italian Ristorante 4/25/2007 $29.91 Meal Expense
Spice Bar 5/9/2007 $482.40 Event
The Tip Top 5/24/2007 $68.99
The Tip Top 6/15/2007 $44.54
Gordon Bierch 6/19/2007 $35.89 Meeting Expense
Flatiron Bar 6/21/2007 $38.00 Meal Expense
Spinelli’s Deli 6/22/2007 $177.80 Meeting Expense
The Tip Top 6/15/2007 $44.54
Gordon Bierch 6/19/2007 $35.89 Meeting Expense
Flatiron Bar 6/21/2007 $38.00 Meal Expense
Spinelli’s Deli 6/22/2007 $177.80 Meeting Expense

TRAVEL:
Southwest Airlines (Dallas, Tx) 6/22/07 $186.80 Travel
Smart Cars (Chicago) 7/6/07 $90.56 Travel
Smart Cars (Chicago) 7/9/07 $83.76 Travel

MEMBERSHIPS:
Capital Club 2/20/2007 $143.23 Dues
Capital Club 5/9/2007 $88.83 Dues
Lambda Boule 6/11/2007 $650.00 Dues
Capital Club 6/12/2007 $143.23 Dues

TICKETS:
Friends of CRC 6/22/2007 $720.00 Event Tickets
Human Rights 5/9/2007 $1,750.00 Event Tickets

MISC:
Renaissance Hotel (Atlanta) 2/13/2007 $1,285.67 Event Supplies
Coleman Associates 5/9/2007 $1,500.00 Catering (ATLANTA)
Bath & Body Works 4/13/2007 $42.70
Flower Galaxy 5/9/2007 $144.14 Flowers

So why was campaign funds spent outside of the country? Why was Mayor Mike Coleman in Las Vegas, and who was he with? It appears that the Dispatch knows, and they allegedly know that it could possibly damage his campaign… And it also appears that John Wolfe allegedly saved his friend. Will The Other Paper, The Blade, The Plain Dealer, or someone else be able to connect the dots? Who knows, but I’ve learned not to count on liberal reporters for anything.

In addition, Mike Coleman has some very interesting people working for him. For example, Coleman’s Executive Assistant, Greg Winbush, is a convict who did prison time. Why does the mayor have an executive assistant (a top level staffer) who has a criminal record?

Also, who is Yanet Santana? She was hired in June of 2007 in a newly created position (How did she know to interview for the position if it was allegedly created for her and what is her background?) in the Department of Finance to work directly for Joel Taylor, the Finance and Management Director. She earns $17/hour, and Francisco Santana, is in federal prison and is allegedly a “friend” of Mayor Coleman. This is clearly a questionable patronage job….. or possibly something else!

Also, who is Nikki Jenkins? I probably can’t go further in my questioning about Nikki without being sued. (I don’t know what to make of them, but check out Nikki’s book excerpts here.)

The Dispatch is committing a huge public disservice by allegedly sitting on important stories that Columbus voters deserve to know about. The media is supposedly entrusted by the public to keep an eye on public corruption and government doing, but it appears that The Dispatch will gladly put personal finances and friendships over exposing the truth.

I’ll report more on the story when I can confirm more facts. But we know for certain that The Dispatch killed at least 1 major story about Mike Coleman that they should have published. It is time to demand answers from The Dispatch.

There are usually more than 1 side to every issue. But if what Jeff reports here is true, and I’m not missing any details, then he shouldn’t have been fired from the Plain Dealer. I rarely agree with Jeff, but he is a polite liberal who would have held the same positions regardless of who he gave $100 to.

In fact, I’m surprised Jeff wasn’t hired as a reporter for The Plain Dealer!… His prose and approach to issues from a liberal point of view is very similar, if not identical, to the average Plain Dealer or AP news article. If you have kept up with his writing, any fair minded person would know that I’m not exaggerating.

However, when weren’t the inherent problems of an established newspaper hiring bloggers painfully obvious to all involved? Jill, Dave, and Tom should investigate this matter and consider quitting the Plain Dealer.

An excellent new ad from the Bill Todd campaign:

Click here to view the PDFs:

Part 1

Part 2

This is a second probable cause hearing, scheduled for Thursday, because of another dishonest mail piece sent by Bob Latta’s campaign. (Wasn’t it Birthright Bob’s campaign spokesman who told Kevin DeWine that they would be running a clean campaign from now on?) If found guilty, Latta will have 2 cases before the Ohio Elections Commission against him on Monday, the day before Election Day.

It is important to note that at the end of the complaint, it is refers Bob Latta for criminal prosecution. I’ll have more details and will report back on the decision on Thursday. Stay tuned!

From The Blade:

COLUMBUS - A shortened clock set by the court has worked against an attempt to repeal a new state law limiting damages in consumer lawsuits and prohibiting public nuisance lawsuits broadly targeting an entire industry.

A coalition of trial attorneys and consumer advocates yesterday scrambled to gather enough signatures of registered voters by today’s deadline.

“I’ve got petitions coming in from all over the state and runners picking up petitions from people still out working to get us over the top,” said Akron attorney Laura McDowall.

Gov. Ted Strickland’s attempt to veto the bill on his first day in office was thwarted by the Republican-controlled General Assembly and Ohio Supreme Court.

By the time the dust settled, opponents of the law had just 60 of the usual 90 days left to complete a petition effort to place the law on hold until voters could weigh in on the issue in the November, 2008, election.

On his first day in office, Mr. Strickland recovered from the secretary of state’s office and vetoed a bill his predecessor, Gov. Bob Taft, had intended to become law without his signature. The state’s high court, however, overturned that veto.

It appears doubtful the repeal effort will be able to file sufficient signatures by today to place the bill on hold. There has been rumbling among the ranks about going to court to challenge the shortened clock.

Hurry up guys! If you want to line your pockets by working with cities to file frivolous, junk lawsuits against paint manufacturers and with excessive non-economic damages from lawsuits, you need to do better than this.

From WLWT:

Some prominent officials made their positions known Monday on the sales tax hike intended to pay for a new Hamilton County Jail.

Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann announced he was on board with the plan, which also includes funding for safety programs aimed at reducing crime.

Dann, a Democrat, joined Hamilton County Sheriff Simon Leis, a Republican, at a Price Hill rally in support of Issue 27.

A group of Republicans, however, gathered to express their disapproval of the county’s GOP leadership, which has endorsed the tax hike.

The Club for Growth will start running this ad in the 5th district tomorrow.

Also, the Bowling Green student newspaper’s Tim Sampson reports about Bob Latta’s deceitful poll tactics:

Little more than a week after he was reported to be lagging behind in the polls, State Sen. Steve Buehrer is reporting a lead in the race for the U.S. House of Representatives.

Club for Growth, a Washington D.C-based political action committee announced the results of a poll yesterday. It shows Buehrer with a three-percentage point lead over his closest rival in the Republican primary for the 5th district congressional special election, State Rep. Bob Latta.

The poll, conducted by the Washington-based Basswood Research, surveyed 300 likely Republican primary voters in the 5th district over the weekend and found that 28 percent said they would vote for Buehrer.

Of all the rest surveyed, 25 percent said they would vote for Latta, 6 percent said they would vote for one of the three other candidates running and 41 percent said they were undecided.

These numbers stand in contrast to poll results announced by the Latta campaign on Oct. 19. That poll showed Latta with a 19 percent lead over Buehrer.

Club for Growth spokeswoman Nachama Soloveichik expressed skepticism in Latta’s earlier results.

“It’s not hard to make polls say what you want them to say,” Soloveichik said.

Buehrer’s campaign manager Jim Banks said the new poll numbers reflect the effectiveness of the their campaign, admitting that Buehrer had been behind at the time Latta’s poll was conducted.

Banks cited a recent advertising blitz that started after Latta’s poll numbers were announced to explain the turnabout.

“They did their poll before we started our advertising campaign,” Banks said. “And I think as people see the kind of person Bob Latta is they’ve turned to Steve Buehrer.”

And just today, the leftards over at Buckeye State Blog endorsed liberal Bob Latta. I especially like this from their press release: “Like Ken Blackwell, Steve Buehrer has shown a contempt to the spirit of compromise in almost all circumstances in a devout pursuit of 100% ideological conservatism. Latta shares this devotion to far right causes, but is at the least willing to occasionally work with leaders to achieve the pragmatic over the ideological.” And what does “achieve the pragmatic” mean? You guessed it! Raise your taxes, with the help of Larry Householder and Bob Taft. (I wonder if Jerid understands that conservatism is the negation of ideology? The true political fanatics who oppose pragmatic approaches to issues are the leftists.)

This is excellent news from The Plain Dealer. Click here to read it.

David Briggs, the same guy who wrote that blog post, tried to defend Imam Ahmed Alzaree on Saturday. But David was no match for bloggers Tom and Pat. Good work guys!

The Club for Growth just sent around a poll which shows that conservative Steve Buehrer is leading over Birthright Bob Latta. Here are the results, from Basswood Research. The polls are from 300 likely GOP primary voters, with a margin of error of 5.66%:

Among the most informed voters, meaning those who have an opinion of both Latta and Buehrer, either favorable or unfavorable, Buehrer is doing even better:

The race is still within the margin of error, but the trends show that Latta certainly isn’t running away with it, as his internet trolls who leave comments on RAB would like you to believe.

More details are posted here.

From the Enquirer

Ohio’s tax commissioner was in Cincinnati recently speaking to chamber and Ohio CPA members, and I went - both for one of my lunch lessons and because I thought I could learn something about the progress of Ohio’s much-touted tax reform under new Gov. Ted Strickland.

The reform seems to be as controversial as ever - loved by manufacturers and those with high equipment inventories, but disliked by service companies, grocers and commercial contractors among others. But the Strickland administration is as committed to the reforms as the Taft administration had been. Tax Commissioner Richard Levin called our old tax structure “a disincentive to investment” in Ohio. He said with the switch to a commercial activity tax - as well as an overall $3.9 billion net reduction in state taxes on businesses - “Ohio will soon be on the cutting edge of tax reform, and that will help us attract new business.”

From Gongwer:

Scott Pullins, an attorney representing both Mr. Elsass and Rep. Latta, said Sen. Buehrer could have bought the footage from the production company but chose not to. As such, the Strategy Group saw fit to use the clips it owns for the Latta spot, he said.

“There’s nothing legally or ethically wrong with using footage,” Mr. Pullins said, describing the practice as “commonplace” in the industry.

The Latta campaign could have obtained camcorder footage or other pictures that made the opposing candidate look worse, he added.

“It was good footage of him,” Mr. Pullins said in dismissing suggestions that the clips were over the top in portraying Sen. Buehrer in a negative light. “It wasn’t footage of him in a restroom taking a leak.”

Mr. Pullins said The Strategy Group has not seen a backlash from the spot, noting Mr. Elsass now has clients in 25 states. “He’s got a national reputation. He tends to get these complaints from folks when he’s been successful against them,” Mr. Pullins said.

This came out on Friday, so it would have changed the tone of Joe Hallett’s Sunday column if he would have included quotes of Bob Latta’s and Rex Elsass’ arrogant attorney.

But it’s nice to know that Rex draws the line at showing film of former clients going #1 or #2.

From the PD:

Sen. George Voinovich is a legendary penny-pincher, made famous by the time he plucked a perfectly good penny from a men’s room urinal.

People who plan on shaking George’s hand may want to reconsider.

From The Plain Dealer:

Sen. Sherrod Brown prefers mutual funds, including one, Muhlenkamp, with a large stake - $122 million, according to a recent filing - in the Mexican cement company Cemex. Cemex has had a terrific reputation among investors, but the U.S. government accused it for years of violating trade laws by selling its cement in this country at below-market prices, undercutting U.S. suppliers. It benefits now from a treaty that relaxed U.S.- Mexico trade relations.

Brown, a staunch trade critic, can’t stand those relations. He says he didn’t pay attention to where Muhlenkamp invested his and other shareholders’ money.

If I was in Sherrod’s position, my response would have been: “How dare Cemex sell quality cement at low, attractive prices. What do they think they are? A business?!?”

But Sherrod wouldn’t be allowed to give such a smartass answer, because he wrote an awful book about how terrible free markets supposedly are and has had a long, unproductive career in public service where he has been screaming about trade for decades (By the way, Sherrod, I bought your book, used, on the open market, for $4.).

The word “hypocrite” comes to mind.

Maybe crazy Connie’s next Pulitzer Prize-winning column can be about how evil Cemex is?

From James Nash in The Dispatch:

On the morning of Oct. 16, a private jet whisked Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann and his wife from Youngstown, near their home, to Houston, home of the powerhouse law firm of Bailey Perrin Bailey LLP.

During his day in Houston, Dann solicited checks from the firm’s lawyers, although not for his own campaign fund. Dann, a Democrat, was reeling in donations on behalf of a little-known organization in Denver that could play a key role when he stands for re-election in three years.

Dann is angling for the chairmanship of the Democratic Attorneys General Association, an organization that raised more than $2 million last year to help Democrats win and retain positions as the top lawyers in 31 states. In addition to the Texas trip, Dann has jetted to Washington, D.C., to hit up lawyers on behalf of the association.

Bailey Perrin Bailey has been good to the Democratic Attorneys General Association. Partner Ken Bailey gave $25,000 to the organization at the end of 2005 and an additional $35,000 in the weeks before last year’s election. Records of the firm’s contributions during the Oct. 16 fundraiser with Dann aren’t public yet.

This summer, the Houston law firm landed its first contract in Ohio. The firm will take on three major pharmaceutical companies in wide-ranging cases alleging that they illegally marketed anti-anxiety drugs to people who didn’t need them, and that the drugs later caused side effects.

Bailey Perrin Bailey will take a share of any award or settlement, which could put its take in the millions of dollars. In contrast, most outside lawyers working for the state are paid by the hour.

And of course, Dann didn’t hire this Houston-based lawfirm because of the money they donated to the Democratic Attorneys General Association. Dann couldn’t find a single lawfirm in Ohio full of talented lawyers to take this job, so out of the goodness of his heart, Dann reached out to politically connected Democrat lawyers in Huston, Texas for their first Ohio-based job. Dann’s story is as believable as if he said he would of hired his spokesbabe, Jennifer Brindisi, even if she looked like Ernest Borgnine.

Marc Dann is Ohio’s new king of pay-to-play politics. And it is good to see that he is so sloppy about it that even the MSM can’t help but notice.

From Old Man Joe:

But this campaign is remarkable for reaching a new low. Last year, Buehrer paid Elsass to make TV commercials for his state Senate primary. Last week, Elsass took outtakes from those ads, unflattering images of Buehrer, and used them in a Latta ad attacking Buehrer.

Elsass told me he owns the footage and legally can use it as he wants, although he regrets doing it because of the controversy it caused. Buehrer said he paid Elsass for the ad footage and claimed it was “a moral and ethical breach” for Elsass to use it against him.

“It potentially puts a chilling effect on every campaign in Ohio,” Buehrer said. “How can you trust as you stand in front of a camera that the vendor you’re paying won’t turn around and sell that to your adversaries? As a lawyer, if I did that, I’d be disbarred.”

Paul Wilson, a media consultant in Washington who has worked for many Ohio GOP candidates dating back to former Gov. James A. Rhodes in 1974, said he has never seen a fellow ad-man do what Elsass did.

“I think candidates should be protected,” Wilson said. “It’s not really good business.”

What a soulless jackass Elsass sounds like in this article! He is sorry… because of the controversy it caused (aka, the business he will lose because of it). The type of sorry given by Elsass is the same type of sorry that an imaginary person gave in this hypothetical, false statement: “I’m deeply sorry Rex Elsass was ran over by a COTA bus, because it left a serious mess on the street, which will be expensive to clean up.” Is the imaginary person sorry and sad? Yes, but certainly not for the reasons he should be.

The rest of his column is simply annoying, because Joe tries to make the case that there is very little difference between Birthright Bob Latta and Steve Buehrer, and seems annoyed that our party still beats up on Bob Taft (That fun pastime will never get old).

But Joe failed to mention why Bob Taft is still an issue. It wasn’t very long ago when corrupt former speaker of the House, Larry Householder, along with Bob Taft, proposed the largest tax increase in Ohio’s history. Because of political pressure, Bob Latta supported it, while Steve Buehrer opposed it and Larry, as a form of retaliation, kicked Steve off of his committee appointments and hurt him politically. This is not a minor issue- Ohio’s taxes are the 5th highest in the nation, and out of these two candidates, only Steve Buehrer stood up for taxpayers and job-creating Ohio businesses.

Joe says “there’s not a dime’s worth of difference between the candidates.” And maybe he’s right…. There is actually about 2 cents difference between the candidates, which represents the 2 additional cents on every dollar of sales that taxpayers had to pay, thanks to Bob Taft, Larry Householder, and Bob Latta. And those two cents are enough for voters in the 5th district to understand the principles that each of these candidates live by.

Maybe… The campaign for a $600 million casino off of I-71 in Clinton County has a website: MyOhioNow.com. Details are posted here and here.

Do gambling interests understand that Ohio voters aren’t very fond of plans to expand gambling? The “Ohio Learn and Earn” campaign was as shameless as the current SCHIP campaign with their shameless use of images of cute, racially diverse children to promote their cause. If voters aren’t going to support gambling in exchange for more funding for education, then what sort of song and dance can they do in 2008 to win?

Oh well- I suppose that election season wouldn’t feel quite like election season if Dave Zanotti didn’t have something to bitch about.

From John Fund:

Phyllis Schlafly, president of the national Eagle Forum, is even more blunt. “[Mike Huckabee] destroyed the conservative movement in Arkansas, and left the Republican Party a shambles,” she says. “Yet some of the same evangelicals who sold us on George W. Bush as a ‘compassionate conservative’ are now trying to sell us on Mike Huckabee.”

Ouch!