According to Survey USA

In fact, Dewine has 33% of the African American vote compared to Blackwell's 32%. If DeWine's number holds up, he will win, however, Blackwell needs to get more if he's going to pull this thing off. According to the Survey numbers, Blackwell is down 28% and DeWine down 14%.

We had no idea about the text of the issue, but here it is...

THE OHIO FAIR MINIMUM WAGE AMENDMENT

Be it Resolved by the People of the State of Ohio that Article II, Section 34a of the Ohio Constitution is hereby enacted as follows:

Except as provided in this section, every employer shall pay their employees a wage rate of not less than six dollars and eighty-five cents per hour beginning January 1, 2007. On the thirtieth day of each September, beginning in 2007, this state minimum wage rate shall be increased effective the first day of the following January by the rate of inflation for the twelve month period prior to that September according to the consumer price index or its successor index for all urban wage earners and clerical workers for all items as calculated by the federal government rounded to the nearest five cents. Employees under the age of sixteen and employees of businesses with annual gross receipts of two hundred fifty thousand dollars or less for the preceding calendar year shall be paid a wage rate of not less than that established under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act or its successor law. This gross revenue figure shall be increased each year beginning January 1, 2008 by the change in the consumer price index or its successor index in the same manner as the required annual adjustment in the minimum wage rate set forth above rounded to the nearest one thousand dollars. An employer may pay an employee less than, but not less than half, the minimum wage rate required by this section if the employer is able to demonstrate that the employee receives tips that combined with the wages paid by the employer are equal to or greater than the minimum wage rate for all hours worked. The provisions of this section shall not apply to employees of a solely family owned and operated business who are family members of an owner. The state may issue licenses to employers authorizing payment of a wage rate below that required by this section to individuals with mental or physical disabilities that may otherwise adversely affect their opportunity for employment.

As used in this section: “employer,” “employee,” “employ,” “person” and “independent contractor” have the same meanings as under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act or its successor law, except that “employer” shall also include the state and every political subdivision and “employee” shall not include an individual employed in or about the property of the employer or individual's residence on a casual basis. Only the exemptions set forth in this section shall apply to this section.

An employer shall at the time of hire provide an employee the employer's name, address, telephone number, and other contact information and update such information when it changes. An employer shall maintain a record of the name, address, occupation, pay rate, hours worked for each day worked and each amount paid an employee for a period of not less than three years following the last date the employee was employed. Such information shall be provided without charge to an employee or person acting on behalf of an employee upon request. An employee, person acting on behalf of one or more employees and/or any other interested party may file a complaint with the state for a violation of any provision of this section or any law or regulation implementing its provisions. Such complaint shall be promptly investigated and resolved by the state. The employee's name shall be kept confidential unless disclosure is necessary to resolution of a complaint and the employee consents to disclosure. The state may on its own initiative investigate an employer's compliance with this section and any law or regulation implementing its provisions. The employer shall make available to the state any records related to such investigation and other information required for enforcement of this section or any law or regulation implementing its provisions. No employer shall discharge or in any other manner discriminate or retaliate against an employee for exercising any right under this section or any law or regulation implementing its provisions or against any person for providing assistance to an employee or information regarding the same.

An action for equitable and monetary relief may be brought against an employer by the attorney general and/or an employee or person acting on behalf of an employee or all similarly situated employees in any court of competent jurisdiction, including the common pleas court of an employee's county of residence, for any violation of this section or any law or regulation implementing its provisions within three years of the violation or of when the violation ceased if it was of a continuing nature, or within one year after notification to the employee of final disposition by the state of a complaint for the same violation, whichever is later. There shall be no exhaustion requirement, no procedural, pleading or burden of proof requirements beyond those that apply generally to civil suits in order to maintain such action and no liability for costs or attorney's fees on an employee except upon a finding that such action was frivolous in accordance with the same standards that apply generally in civil suits. Where an employer is found by the state or a court to have violated any provision of this section, the employer shall within thirty days of the finding pay the employee back wages, damages, and the employee's costs and reasonable attorney's fees. Damages shall be calculated as an additional two times the amount of the back wages and in the case of a violation of an anti-retaliation provision an amount set by the state or court sufficient to compensate the employee and deter future violations, but not less than one hundred fifty dollars for each day that the violation continued. Payment under this paragraph shall not be stayed pending any appeal.

This section shall be liberally construed in favor of its purposes. Laws may be passed to implement its provisions and create additional remedies, increase the minimum wage rate and extend the coverage of the section, but in no manner restricting any provision of the section or the power of municipalities under Article XVIII of this constitution with respect to the same.

If any part of this section is held invalid, the remainder of the section shall not be affected by such holding and shall continue in full force and effect.

Ah yes, The New York Times takes part in yellow journalism in regards to the Mike DeWine campaign.

This is from the Plain Dealer Open blog-

RNC: Ohio remains a top priority


Republican National Committee chairman Ken Mehlman this morning disputed assertions by anonymous party officials that the GOP is giving up on Mike DeWine and taking its money elsewhere.

Mehlman, in a conference call with reporters, said the story in today's New York Times was "very inaccurate." He said, "Ohio is and remains an incredibly top priority to us." As for the claims that the party was pulling back its financial resources, he said, "No state will receive more resources from the Republican National Committee than the state of Ohio." The money will be for getting out the vote and for disseminating the message.

That includes, he said, money from the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Dan Ronanyne, NRSC spokesman, reinforced that, calling the premise of the Times story "completely wrong."

Proof, however, will be in the details, as it is possible to spend heavily in Ohio but not specifically on helping DeWine, who has his own financial advantage over Democratic opponent Sherrod Brown. Mehlman would not specify how, exactly, his party will spend.

- Stephen Koff

And here is the transcript of the conference call with RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman

Ken Mehlman Conference Call On Ohio Senate Race

10/16/2006
10:30 AM

Aaron McLear: Thank you Michelle, good morning everybody and thank you for coming on with such short notice. We appreciate that. We have Chairman Ken Mehlman on the line to discuss the NY Times piece that ran this morning, and with that, I’ll turn it over to Ken.

Ken Mehlman: Thanks Aaron and thanks everyone for taking time. I enjoyed visiting with a number of you last week when I was in town with Senator DeWine. We did a press conference and had a chance to meet with a lot of the county chairs and grassroots activists. What I said then, I still strongly believe which is that Mike DeWine can and will win. I believe that for a lot of different reasons. One of them is the incredible grass roots energy. In the last week, last week, in four days of last week we saw the same level of grassroots energy in terms of volunteer contacts that we saw in the final five days leading up to the 2004 election.

What I’m about to do though is something I don’t do, and that is I don’t believe in giving away your game plan before the game, but because there is a very inaccurate story in the NY Times I am going to provide some information. Let me walk through some facts and then open it up to questions. I don’t intend to get more specific than on this call, again, because I don’t believe in giving away the game plan but I do believe in correcting the record.

Ohio is and remains an incredibly top priority for us. It’s one I’m very confident Mike DeWine can and will win. The evidence of our commitment is that we’re putting our money where our mouth is. We will…No state will receive more resources from the Republican National Committee than Ohio. From this point forward, we will spend millions more on turnout and millions more on message. We have a huge staff. And intend and have right now a very aggressive program.

While all of this is important, why do I think Mike DeWine wins at the end of the day? First, it’s a race that polls indicate, most recently the University of Akron poll, is an even race. He has a huge cash advantage and if you look at the issues, which is what people focus on the last three weeks of the election, leading up to any election. I don’t believe the people of Ohio are going to elect a Senator who is to the left of Dennis Kucinich, who is against the Patriot Act, who voted against $87 billion for our trips, who voted to cut intel after 9-11, who favors higher taxes and who on issue after issue after issue, is way out of the mainstream in a state that likes to elect mainstream Senators. People know senator DeWine, they like senator DeWine and they respect senator DeWine and that’s generating tremendous energy.

This is an enormously important state for a number of other reasons too. It’s enormously important because of the Blackwell campaign. It’s enormously important because of a number of a number of the congressional races which are obviously, excuse me, highly competitive.

So I wanted to correct the record, make clear that Ohio remains a top priority. And as I said, no state will receive more resources out of the RNC anywhere in the country than the state of Ohio this year. And there is millions more to spend in the coming three weeks, both on turnout and on message. Happy to answer your questions and appreciate you doing this on short notice.

But of course, simply by making the GOP hold this press conference, the New York Times have accomplished their mission and served their Democrat masters well. How so?

Well the idiots at the Plain Dealer (the same publication Sherrod Brown's wife writes for), still gets to frame the story as this:

As you can see, the story is perfectly framed for the rest of the liberal media, and the New York Times accomplished their mission to help the Democrat party. And the New York Times wonders why so many Americans don't take their newspaper seriously?

Kimberley Strassel, a member of the Wall Street Journal's editorial board, has penned an article entitled A Tale of Two GOPs: The state of the party in Ohio versus Florida and it could not be more correct if I wrote it.

Cases in point:

In the Ohio governor's race, Ken Blackwell is trailing his Democratic competitor, Ted Strickland, by double digits. Save a last-minute miracle, Mr. Blackwell will lose the governor's mansion, and so end 16 years of GOP dominance.

In the Florida governor's race, Charlie Crist is leading his Democratic competitor, Jim Davis, by double digits. Save a last-minute misstep, Mr. Crist is set to give the state GOP a third term in the governor's mansion, overseeing a strong Republican legislative majority.

Their respective failure and success is not ideological: Messrs. Blackwell and Crist are both running on the same agenda of tax cuts, fiscal responsibility and broad government reform. This, instead, is a story of the state parties behind them. In Florida, Republicans have spent the past eight years keeping their promises to voters; in Ohio the GOP forgot what "promise" meant somewhere in the '90s. The tale of these two GOPs offers broader lessons for congressional Republicans, who are facing a rout this fall.

That this election is a referendum on the entire Republican philosophy is the standard line so far this year. Democrats from Nancy Pelosi to Chuck Schumer argue that voters who vote blue are sending a message that they are tired of Republicans' "extreme" views on national security, taxes or social policy.

Quite the opposite, really. If voters are unhappy with Republicans, it's because the party hasn't lived up to its own principles. In the Capitol, in Ohio, and in plenty of places between and beyond, the party that promised to reform government has become the party of government.

And:

Take Ohio. Republicans have practiced one-party rule in the state since 1994--more than enough time to lose one's principles. Former Gov. George Voinovich set the standard in 1992 by breaking his word and signing tax hikes. His successor, Bob Taft, with the help of the GOP legislature, in 2003 broke pledges not to raise taxes without voter permission. Some $3 billion in tax increases later, Ohio jumped to fourth place in the rankings for state and local tax burdens. (It was 23rd in 1994, when the GOP took over.) Over their first 10 years in power, Republicans increased Ohio's general operating budget by 71%--the highest increase in the nation.

The Taft and Spend strategy socked it to the Ohio economy. Its gross state product grew a measly 1% between 2004 and 2005, while Ohio lost 150,000 jobs between 2000 and 2005. Unemployment levels have hovered above the national average. If corruption is the product of big, unconstrained government, it was no surprise to watch the GOP engulfed by scandals that swept up everyone from Mr. Taft to Congressman Bob Ney. By November of last year, Mr. Taft's approval rating was 6.5%; if anyone had been keeping track, the legislature may have scored even lower.

Mr. Blackwell didn't sign onto any of this. While the rest of his party was riding down the big-government river, the secretary of state was pushing a voter initiative to create a constitutional limit on spending. He's been running this year on tax cuts, charter schools and privatizing the Ohio Turnpike. He hasn't been touched by the scandals.

"There hasn't been a bigger critic of the Taft administration than Ken Blackwell," says Ken Blackwell . . . again and again. Voters can't find it in themselves to make the distinction. The Ohio Democratic Party understands that better than anyone, and routinely refers to its opponent as "Ken Taftwell." Mr. Strickland is so good at keeping the focus on the failed GOP, nobody has noticed he's a fan of the very tax-and-spend policies that landed Republicans in trouble in the first place.

Meanwhile, Jeb Bush has given Florida the policies that Ken would give Ohio if he acted like Ken:

But now look to Florida. Jeb Bush came to office in 1999 touting a sweeping reform agenda of the sort that gives Ms. Pelosi the "extremist" fits. More to the point, the governor, with the support of a Republican legislature, has instituted most of it.

Florida Republicans have passed tax cuts every year of the eight Mr. Bush has held office--a whopping $19 billion, including the elimination of the infamous "intangibles" tax, levied on investments. While Florida's budget has grown at a rapid clip, Mr. Bush vetoed more than $2.1 billion in wasteful spending, earning him the nickname "Veto Corleone" among frustrated state lobbyists. He's trimmed 11,000 state jobs.

Tort reform? Did it. Overhauling the child welfare system? Done. Florida has led the way in greater education accountability and school voucher programs; test scores, especially among minorities, are on the rise. The state won federal permission for the most dramatic Medicaid reforms in the country, the first to inject private competition into the system.

Florida today has the highest rate of job creation in the country, and an unemployment rate of 3.3%. It's bond rating hit triple A. Revenue is pumping into the state coffers, giving Florida $6.4 billion in reserves. Gov. Bush's approval rating stands at 55%. Even the House Democratic leader, Dan Gelber, admitted his chief nemesis was a "rock star."

While I am not anywhere near giving up on Ken Blackwell and conceding Ohio to more of the same failed Tax-and-Spend policies from Tax ... er ...Ted Strickland, Mr. Strassel concludes his piece with a little piece of wisdom that accurately sums up the political landscape today:

If congressional Republicans are facing a rout come November, it's in no small part because they've been headed down the Ohio highway. A few Supreme Court appointments and tax cuts aside, Republicans have largely abandoned the reform agenda that swept them to power in 1994. Their zeal has instead been directed at retaining power, which explains the earmarking epidemic and the Abramoff corruption that followed. Reform of Medicare and Social Security, the death tax, immigration, health care--all fell off the map.

Democrats would certainly call this agenda extreme, but it was never the existence of the platform that angered voters. It was Republicans' failure to act on it.

I shudder to think where our economy would be today without President Bush's tax cuts, but the damage that the GOP has done to the conservative movement is horrendous. It is for conservatives to be in the GOP, but not of it. Unfortunately, Ken Blackwell's campaign thus far shows that he may have forgotten that important truism.

Say it ain't so, Ken! Can't we all just get along? Win one for the Gipper!

Whatever it takes to motivate you, please do not kill the Ohio that I love by sticking us with a third Taft administration.

With the warm Florida temperatures, the wonderful policies of the Bush administration and satellite Buckeye football games, it is no wonder so many Ohioans are now Floridians.

Not only did Robert Novak's latest column mention the 1999 incident where Rep. Ted Strickland apparently defended sex between men and little boys, but it also started out with this little gem:

Republican-oriented tax lobbyists are being told that they had better make some belated Democrat contributions for a ticket to enter the office of Rep. Charles Rangel as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee in a Democrat-controlled House.

Such blatant setting of the price of access to Rangel is part of a fundraising whirlwind by both parties in the final month before the midterm elections.

Let me see; now what is that called? Oh yes, I know: Pay-to-Play!

It's a Democrat game after all!

Cincinnati tops Ohio for manufacturing; Cincinnati Business Courier; October 10, 2006

More than 34,000 jobs and 384 plants have left over the past 12 months, but Ohio remains among the top three states in the country for manufacturing jobs.

Ohio accounts for 5.8 percent of U.S. industrial employment, according to the Ohio Manufacturers Directory, published annually by Evanston, Ill.-based Manufacturers' News Inc.

The state's three largest cities account for more than 236,000 of Ohio's 1.1 million industrial jobs. Cincinnati tops the list, with 99,700 jobs and 1,589 plants; followed by Cleveland with 80,367 jobs and 1,977 plants; and Columbus with 56,282 jobs and 1,017 plants.

Cincinnati ranks sixth in the United States for manufacturing jobs, Cleveland is 10th and Columbus is 19th.

Other cities in the Ohio top 10 include, in order, Dayton, Akron, Toledo, Canton, Mansfield, Findlay and Mentor.

The state is home to 21,250 manufacturing companies, but the number is shrinking fast, the publication said in a news release.

"Rust Belt manufacturers continue to be lured by cheaper labor costs overseas, particularly in China, which is increasingly capable of handling greater production capacity," said Tim Dubin, president of Manufacturers' News Inc.

Pennsylvania, Michigan and New York have seen similar losses, Dubin added.

Jobs could be retained in Ohio, and actually increased, if Ohio would reduce or more importantly eliminate the business tax all together. Let’s face it, no corporation ever really pays taxes, they just pass them along to the consumer. The question Ohio voters have to ask themselves, do you want higher corporate tax revenues and bigger coffers for politicians to spend, or jobs? Rather than complaining about China its time we beat them at their own game; get rid of corporate tax and bring jobs back to
Ohio!

Also found at the MVCA Commentary and Journal.

From the Blade

"The Bush tax cuts don't reward work," said Mr. Brown, who has proposed replacing the cuts with a package he says is more targeted to the middle class.

"They reward investment… When Mike DeWine and I get tax cuts at our income level, somebody's got to pay the freight," Mr. Brown said. Mr. DeWine said he's never calculated how much the cuts helped him, but he knows they've helped Ohio families. "I voted for tax cuts for average Ohioans," Mr. DeWine said, "and it's made a difference."

Well if you don't work and don't make any money, you won't get a tax cut because you WON'T PAY TAXES!

Here is the resolution in which Ted Strickland stood with the kook fringe of his party to stand up for pedophiles. Almost all members of the US House supported this resolution, but 13, including Ted Strickland, voted "present":

s. 107

Whereas no segment of our society is more critical to the future of human survival than our children;

Whereas children are a precious gift and responsibility given to parents by God;

Whereas the spiritual, physical, and mental well-being of children are parents' sacred duty;

Whereas parents have the right to expect government to refrain from interfering with them in fulfilling their sacred duty and to render necessary assistance;

Whereas the Supreme Court has held that parents ``who have this primary responsibility for children's well-being are entitled to the support of laws designed to aid discharge of that responsibility'' (Ginsberg v. New York, 390 U.S. 629, 639 (1968));

Whereas it is the obligation of all public policymakers not only to support, but also to defend, the health and rights of parents, families, and children;

Whereas information endangering children is being made public and, in some instances, may be given unwarranted or unintended credibility through release under professional titles or through professional organizations;

Whereas elected officials have a duty to inform and counter actions they consider damaging to children, parents, families, and society;

Whereas Congress has made sexual molestation and exploitation of children a felony;

Whereas all credible studies in this area, including those published by the American Psychological Association, condemn child sexual abuse as criminal and harmful to children;

Whereas, once published and allowed to stand, scientific literature may become a source for additional research;

Whereas the Psychological Bulletin has recently published a severely flawed study, entitled ``A Meta-Analytic Examination of Assumed Properties of Child Sexual Abuse Using College Samples'', which suggests that sexual relationships between adults and children are less harmful than believed and might be positive for ``willing'' children (Psychological Bulletin, vol. 124, No. 1, July 1998);

Whereas, in order to clarify any inconsistencies between the two conclusions the authors of the study suggest and the position of the American Psychological Association that sexual relations between children and adults are abusive, exploitive, and reprehensible, and should never be considered or labeled as harmless or acceptable, the American Psychological Association has issued a public ``Resolution Opposing Child Sexual Abuse'';

Whereas the American Psychological Association should be congratulated for publicly clarifying its opposition to any adult-child sexual relations, which will help to deny pedophiles from citing ``A Meta-Analytic Examination of Assumed Properties of Child Sexual Abuse Using College Samples'' in a legal defense, and for resolving to evaluate the scientific articles it publishes in light of their potential social, legal, and political implications;

Whereas the Supreme Court has recognized that ``sexually exploited children are unable to develop healthy affectionate relationships in later life, have sexual dysfunctions, and have a tendency to become sexual abusers as adults'' (New York v. Ferber, 458 U.S. 747, 758, n.9 (1982));

Whereas Paidika--The Journal of Pedophilia, a publication advocating the legalization of sex with ``willing'' children, has published an article by one of the authors of the study, Robert Bauserman, Ph.D. (see ``Man-Boy Sexual Relationships in a Cross-Cultural Perspective,'' vol. 2, No. 1, Summer 1989); and

Whereas pedophiles and organizations, such as the North American Man-Boy Love Association, that advocate laws to permit sex between adults and children are exploiting the study to promote and justify child sexual abuse: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That Congress--

(1) condemns and denounces all suggestions in the article ``A Meta- Analytic Examination of Assumed Properties of Child Sexual Abuse Using College Samples'' that indicate that sexual relationships between adults and ``willing'' children are less harmful than believed and might be positive for ``willing'' children (Psychological Bulletin, vol. 124, No. 1, July 1998);

(2) vigorously opposes any public policy or legislative attempts to normalize adult-child sex or to lower the age of consent;

(3) urges the President likewise to reject and condemn, in the strongest possible terms, any suggestion that sexual relations between children and adults--regardless of the child's frame of mind--are anything but abusive, destructive, exploitive, reprehensible, and punishable by law; and

(4) encourages competent investigations to continue to research the effects of child sexual abuse using the best methodology, so that the public, and public policymakers, may act upon accurate information.

And when Ted was sent a tip that he hired a pervert on his staff, he did not act. He says he has always shared the values with those he has hired. I wonder what values he shares with a staffer who exposed himself to young children, and masturbated in front of them?

Ted Strickland should be ashamed of himself.

from the Dispatch

Bob Burney, on Friday. reviewed the criminal records of that Ted Strickland staffer who exposed himself to young childen.

Click here to hear the most important audio clip from Friday.

Jerome Corsi has new details.

Here is the audio clip.