While this could just totally have happened by chance, our friend at RAB wasn't the only blogger to start pimping Bighead Bill out of nowhere this past January. This wouldn't really mean anything normally, but for the fact that considerable evidence has arisen that Naugle was paid to post. This begs the question--who else got a slice of the pie?

As an example, let's take a look at Commander Cornell McCleary of the PRO-Private Police Training Academy, Civilian Anti-Criminal Task Force, and the American Experience Blog. McClearly posted about Mayor Coleman once in 2006, yet began posting about Bill Todd in January of 2007. Since then McCleary has only posted 17 times on his blog--7 of them are anti-Coleman.

Quite a change of pace for the Commander, no?

Just for fun, here is a a picture of McCleary. Imagine him, Todd, and Naugle hanging out...hilarity ensues. This is the Republican A-team.

That's the line that struck me the strongest in Catherine Candisky's article in the Dispatch today. Can't say I'm entirely surprised though. While the GOP loves to shout about our "rising incomes" they always conveniently skip over the real inlation adjusted income. There's a reason - thier economic policies have been less than stellar in this real life guage of how folks are doing. Need local proof?

The median income in the Columbus school district in 2004, the last year for which an analysis was available, was $25,340, 7.8 percent less than in 1993, according to a report by the Cleveland-based Center for Community Solutions.

In fact, the average pay decreased for those living in almost a quarter of the 53 central Ohio school districts, including most of the largest ones: South-Western, Hilliard, Westerville, Pickerington, Worthington, Gahanna-Jefferson, Reynoldsburg and Newark.

How widespread are these falling real incomes? Well...

The report shows that income fell in all but 25 of Ohio's 612 school districts between 2000 and 2004. In Franklin County, it dropped everywhere but Bexley, New Albany and Canal Winchester.

And in case you didn't notice when you're driving around your town, or seeing folks struggle in general, Ohio's been hit with the brunt of the damage from these economic policies.

"Ohio has now broken the all-time record for most consecutive months in which our state's job growth has been slower than the national average. The current streak stands at 134 consecutive months, a period exceeding 11 years," he said.

The impact of all of this is that folks starting out on their own, or struggling to make it by each day, find that their essentials - food, transportation and shelter - take up a little more of their annual budget than it used to in America. That's a problem. 

The road to economic recovery is a curious one for folks in states like Ohio and elsewhere, and it deals with many different areas of our domestic and foreign policy. New energy policy will eventually lower shipping costs, and bring down the costs of stuff on the shelf (just look at how much a can of soup has gone up in price under President Bush's watch - a staple for some lower income families used to only cost 50 cents almost five years ago, today it's close to a dollar). Trade policies need to be put in place that favor middle America. It's not time for a return to protectionism, but we certainly do need to make an attempt to both decrease our dependence on Chinese lending, and rein their devalued currency in. The next Democratic president will also take a hard look at the types of bilateral agreements we've engaged in for the past decade, and I expect, for a major foundational change there. Finally, supporting health care and other programs will decrease the out of the pocket costs of the poor and middle income, and buying power will rise. NAFTA hurt Ohio bad, there's no denying that the problems in Ohio did not start with President Bush alone - but he's compounded them beyond belief and the road to recovery is around the corner.

This is pretty neat. In response to the new curriculum requirements for graduating Ohio students requiring some instruction in personal finance, State Treasurer Cordray is helping out. Over the summer he'll be sitting down with over 285 teachers to instruct them in how to teach personal finance to their students. He certainly doesn't have to do this, it's just your friendly Treasurer lending a hand.

The statewide training initiative was developed by Ohio Treasurer Richard Cordray, the Ohio Department of Education and the Ohio Council on Economic Education in answer to Ohio’s Core Curriculum Bill (S.B. No. 313), which passed late last year. The bill requires that school districts offer personal finance education as part of their high school curricula beginning in 2010.

“Teachers attending these workshops will be shaping the consumers of tomorrow,” Cordray said. “Students will become more financially savvy and be able to make decisions that will lead to financial stability for them personally, and for our economy generally,” he added.

A nationwide survey sponsored by the Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy last year found that high school seniors are failing when it comes to financial literacy. Only 52.4 percent of questions about personal finance and economics were answered by students correctly, which underscores the need for more financial education, Cordray said.

The two-day Teachers Academy program will be offered at seven statewide locations:

Youngstown State University June 13 - 14
University of Akron June 18 - 19
Bowling Green State University June 18 - 19
University of Cincinnati June 20 - 21
Wright State University June 25 - 26
Ashland University June 27 - 28
Ohio State University June 27- 28

For a detailed schedule of events, Teachers Academy curriculum details, and additional information, visit www.ohiotreasurer.gov and click on Teachers Academy.

I missed this diary in the community pool yesterday. I think it deserves a knock to the frontpage. -Jerid

Amid all the hubub a few weeks ago about Parma Mayor Dean DePiero challenging Dennis Kucinich in a 10th district primary blowout extravaganza, I sent the Mayor some words of encourgement:

Mayor DePiero,

As a resident of the 10th Congressional District, I
must say that I was excited to hear rumors that you
are considering challenging Congressman Kucinich in
next year's primary.

I write to encourage you to run, and to let you know
that you have lots of folks in the 10th who are
standing by to support you-financially and
otherwise-should you decide to run.

The 10th district deserves serious representation; the
10th district deserves DePiero (is that a great
soundbite or what?).

Respectfully Yours,

Mark M. Jablonski
Olmsted Falls, OH

Today, I received the following reply from his office:

Mr. Jablonski,

Mayor DePiero has asked that I contact you on his behalf. Mayor DePiero appreciates your support of him, his efforts, and your kind words. He asked that I convey, however, that he is currently committed to continuing to serve the citizens of Parma as Mayor and is looking forward to his re-election this November.

Should something change, I am sure that he will maintain your information for future reference.

Sincerely,
Meghann McCall
Executive Assistant
to Mayor Dean DePiero

So what does this mean? Is Dean out for sure? Will the 10th district hand the largely ineffective, absentee Congressman Kucinich yet another term on a silver platter? I really have no idea.

It's not as if Dean's reply would be the first time that a politician was slightly ambiguous about his intentions to seek higher office.

Time will tell. If you're interested in seeing Dean run, sign the petition at Paul and Ryan's Draft DePiero site here: www.draftdepiero.com

Me to Voinovich: You're an idiot, wrong, and you're missing the boat to save yourself.

Establishing credentials as something of a maverick now could be the key to Voinovich's chances for reelection 2010. The Democrats dragged down DeWine, and countless other GOPers across the country, because they walked in lockstep with Bush. Despite the fact that he will no longer be president, Bush's shadow will hang around for at least a few years. After as many messes as he has made, it will take a few years at a minimum to clean most of it up. And if the Republicans hold the White House, then god knows what new messes will arise. If Voinovich continues to march arm in arm with his party and faces a young, energetic, and well-funded challenger, he will go down in much the same way DeWine did. But instead of doing the right--and incidentally politically smart--thing, Voinovich throws out this:

“If I were president, I would have asked Alberto Gonzales to resign as attorney general,” George V. Voinovich, Republican of Ohio, said in a statement. But he said, “Today’s vote does nothing to rectify the current problem or ensure it doesn’t happen again.”(emphasis mine)

I can't be the only one who has noticed that, for a Republican, Voinovich often has fairly good instincts. He'd be doing himself and the people of Ohio a favor if he actually acted on them. Knowing him though, he'll keep running to the right like he always does. I hope Tim Ryan and the rest of the farm team are taking notes.

Unlike the rest of your top tier, there's no question this guy's a conservative.

Speaking with Robert Haines, Republican for President, on Elm Street in Manchester, he affirmed that he's, "for god, guns and anti-gays." Also, his statement "I married a 38 year old virgin from Iowa on the Capital Steps" shows that he walks the conservative walk, and that he loves this country. Holding a cross featuring a sign with his name on it, from his Texas belt buckle to the American flag on his shirt, Robert Haines fits the image of the Republican Conservative movement to a "T". For me, Haines personally conjures images of Ohio's Ken Blackwell and makes me ache for the Republicans to put up a true conservative...someone that there party appears to be lacking in the top tier.

Unlike those liberal softies John McCain and President Bush, Haines has a real solution to America's immigration problem - a solution that conservatives are sure to praise. Hear it from the candidate yourself:

Haines is on his fourth campaign for President, running in '92, '96 and '04 as well (in '04 he came in 5th place in the NH GOP primary). As cars zoomed by, he mentioned that in this campaign he's "been running for 16 months under the radar of the media....[but] things are beginning to look good." From the sound of things, things look great! Haines stated his belief that he has an advantage in Iowa because his wife graduated from college from that state. Also, unlike John McCain or Mitt Romney, Haines plans to aggressively tackle the Iowa Ames Straw Poll. Openely criticizing Mitt, Haines doesn't understand how someone can have solid liberal credentials one day in one state, and then change them the next day when they're running for President (and for the Record, I don't understand that one either Robert).

Hailing from Trinity University, (which Haines describes as "the Harvard of the West...Stanford is bigger and in a different category"), the candidate mentioned his long history working on energy innovation and policy at countless schools around the country. Haines takes a slightly different approach from the rest of the field though. As he said, "we've been working on energy independence for 40 years, ever since Jimmy Carter, what we need is energy security."

To learn more about Robert, the Dartmouth Review has an excellent interview from when he stopped by in 2003 (and was banned from campus for wearing a bullet proof vest).

Even if it's for nothing more than to help a mayoral campaign where even the candidate acknowledges he has no chance of winning.  From the mouth and deep recesses of Bob Bennett's empty, tortured soul:

The Strickland administration is obviously making an attempt at damage control as this scandal continues to build.  The allegations of fraud and deception under Lee Fisher's watch cannot be swept under the rug with a convenient resignation, and Ohioans should expect more from an administration that campaigned on setting a higher ethical standard in state government.  Only months on the job the Strickland team has established a troubling pattern of cronyism and political patronage. 

“Unfortunately, the Ohio Democratic Party stands silent while its officeholders fill the state payroll with people of questionable character.  So much for hiring people with a "Peace Corps spirit." 

“I look forward to the Inspector General’s report and I hope the prosecutor takes a good, hard look at it.”

If the Strickland Administration was trying to sweep this under the rug and stay silent, then Bob-o, they've done a horrible job of it.  Especially given that the Governor publicly ordered the investigation by the Inspector General (so fast you didn't even have time to send out a press release blasting him for not doing it already), and the Administration has released countless public records.  Contrasting that to the stonewalling and whitewashing that went on regularly during Republican rule across multiple statewide offices and the assertion of the Taft Administration from releasing politically embarassing documents in public records requests by asserting specious claims of executive privilege, the Strickland Administration has shown a refreshing transparency to handle this matter properly instead of what had been the course of conduct under Republican rule (V Group, PIE malpractice insurance, Tom Noe, Coingate, Bob Ney, etc.)

Given that Bob Bennett is chair of historically one of the most corrupt state political parties in our nation in modern times, it's hysterical to listen to Bennett act like the good government morality police.  Unlike Congressmen Bob Ney and Mark Foley, Frankie Coleman was known to have an ongoing struggle with alcoholism beforehand (check out Naugle's posts sometimes, he obsesses over it almost as he does Bill Todd or Ken Blackwell).  She's not going into therapy with alterior motives; she has a drinking problem.  And having the GOP push the false story that Coleman was not qualified for the job she was hired is even more outrageous.

But then again, Bob, why should we expect any different from a man who had to resign in disgrace as chairman of the Cuyahoga Board of Elections, and then had the guts to issue a press release declaring "victory" over keeping your utter incompotence from being established on the record?

Yesterday it said that Bighead Bill Todd was a 35 year resident of Columbus. Today it says that he is 35 year resident of Central Ohio. Unfortunately I didn't think to grab a screen shot, but just between us politicos it kinda sucks to be caught in a lie doesn't it? Since you're now posting here Eric (don't let your bosses find out!), I'll be eagerly awaiting your reply.

So just how little connection does the carpetbagger candidate have to Columbus? Let's explore:

Since September 2005, Todd has been a resident of the far north side of Columbus—it is literally almost as close to his old home in Powell (which is in Delaware County) as you can get and still be in Columbus. The home he purchased also falls in suburban Worthington’s school district, which is ironic since one of Todd’s three campaign themes involves using City Hall to overrun the Columbus Public Schools.

Isn't it sad that this is the best the Franklin County GOP could do? The guy just barely moves into Columbus, steers clear of Columbus public schools, and then lies on his campaign website saying he is a 35 year resident of the city. He is clearly really invested in the community.

UPDATE: Some very interesting and useful links have popped up in the comments. First to clarify when I say Powell, I mean the City of Powell which is in Delaware County. Follow these links to see Bighead Bill's former residence and voting precinct, Powell B. That should clear up any confusion.

For a race with a sitting 36 year Republican incumbent, this race sure is getting a lot of attention. At least that's got to be what our friends on the right are thinking this morning as they scratch their heads. Heh.

First, John made the New York Times today. Wooheee, that's the big time!

Now, with Regula approaching his 83rd birthday Dec. 3 — he is the second-oldest member of the House of Representatives — Regula is seen by some observers as a possible target for a Democratic Party takeover bid in 2008, or as a possible congressional retiree. And while Regula has not yet announced his plans for next year, candidates in both parties already are trying to get ahead of the curve in the 2008 campaign cycle.

Democratic hopeful John Boccieri, a state senator, formally kicked off his campaign Monday after saying a few weeks ago that he would run in the 16th regardless of what Regula does.

Also stepping forward on the Republican side is another state senator, J. Kirk Schuring, who filed paperwork last week with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to organize an “exploratory” committee for a possible campaign in the 16th. But Schuring’s candidacy is more speculative: He says it would become official only if Regula chooses not to seek a 19th term next year.

Strong candidates don't waffle on their intentions to get in the race. Do, or do not, Senator Schuring, there is no try.

Nipping at the heels of the Times was a nice article on John from the ABJ.

Strickland spoke to about 100 people gathered in Bitzer Park more than 16 months before the election.

Strickland emphasized Boccieri's military service -- he is an Air Force Reserve major who has served in Iraq -- in introducing a candidate Democrats hope can win a seat held by Republican Ralph Regula since the early 1970s.

Regula, 82, has said he is undecided about running again. State Sen. Kirk Shuring, R-Jackson Township, has said he will run for the seat if Regula retires.

Strickland said at Monday's event that 37-year-old Boccieri ``deserves our support.... He has paid the price.''

If the Governor says John deserves our support, that's good enough for me.

Yeehaw, John Boccieri had his announcement for Congress this afternoon in North Canton. Along for the ride ere Governor Strickland and Treasurer Cordray, among numerous other supporters. Couldn't make the announcement for one of the biggest Congressional showdowns of '08? Well we've got video for ya' (a major hat tip goes out to Daily Left and SRTV).

I like what I hear out of John. He's centered on jobs and that's what we need to hear about here at home. I know it's early still, but take a minute and go check out John's brand new website. You're going to like what you see.

Here's the deal...

Matt Hurm's the new field director for American's Against the Escalation. We've learned the past few years that twiddling our fingers isn't going to get us out of Iraq since the President is so bent on turning this into a generational problem. Well Matt and his crew of six youngish organizers are here to help put the pressure on folks from the Ohio angle.

One problem though, Matt's six cadets don't have any housing. That's where you come in...whether it's that extra room you're using to store the holiday decorations, or maybe the guest room over the garage, or maybe just a room in the basement - Matt's crew needs it. So please, please, please help a brother out:

I just arrived in Columbus last night and my first project is to find housing in Ohio for my six young field organizers and myself. They arrive June 19th and will be in state until September 3rd. They are generally college age and passionate about stopping the war.

I need to find housing for two east of Cleveland, two in Columbus, and two in Cincinnati.

If you can house a field organizer or know someone who can, please call me at (612) 240-2228 or email me at matthurm@hotmail.com.

UPDATE: Just saw the Plunderbund'ers are starting to weigh in.

Ok - if you make it through the audio file below you'll hear three minute of me talking to Eric Cameron Forbes about how much we both love Matt, Bill Todd, and RightAngle. Yay!

Eric had obviously already read my post on Naugle this morning, and he was ready for my call. You can tell from his pauses, and how much easier he slides into his spin once I bring up Naugle. Because of that we don't know how reliable the information he gave us is. However, there are little tidbits of meat positioned throughout the conversation.

1. Matt Naugle did consulting for the Todd campaign. This consulting most likely came back in February/March/April - right around the same time Right Angle Blog started covering Bill Todd's campaign with such fervor. As Eric put it Matt did "some advising...you probably noticed Matt has put up a lot of things on his blog...he's the best." As of this time, we don't know how much the Todd campaign paid for that consulting. All we know for sure is that the consulting probably coincided with Naugle's increase of Bighead Todd coverage.

2. Eric disclosed that Eroots has created Bighead's website. As he discloses, Sam Gedert is the founder of the company. That would be the same Sam Gedert that hosted a fundraiser for Bighead Todd back in March. Interestingly enough, Todd's not listed as one of Gedert's clients online. Can't say that I'm not a little surprised at that...I would think Gedert would be more careful disclosing the clients whom he throws fundraisers for. Smells almost like pay-to-play...Gedert rounds up all his friends and business associate for Todd, Todd shakes them down, then gives Gedert his cut in the form of hiring him to run his web outfit. How enterprising gang!

3. Eric mentioned that Naugle had something come up which prevented him from taking on Todd's job. I wonder what that was exactly.

4. So I've got to ask, how much did all that favorable RAB coverage set you back while Matt was "advising"?

Ah...the life of a young pirate.

There is a story in today's Akron Beacon Journal concerning the odious practice of "Pay Day Lending":

Gail Meyers was newly divorced with a 6-year-old daughter, a full- and a part-time job and a payday loan she couldn't get out from under. Every other Friday she would go to a payday lender in Columbus and hand over $345 in cash. The lender would then rip up a check from Meyers for a like amount that she wrote two weeks earlier. The next day, Meyers would go back to the lender, write another check for $345 and get $300 in cash back -- enough to keep her going for the next two weeks until she could repeat the process again. She did this for two years until an income tax refund allowed her to repay the payday loan. The $300 ending up costing Meyers about $2,100.

The article goes on to discuss two State Representatives who are going to introduce a bill to further regulate these Payday Lenders. Who are they? The first is newly minted State Rep Matt Lundy, Democrat from Lorain County. But the other Rep? William Batchelder, a Medina Republican who recently returned to the State Legislature after a stint as a Judge. How can this be? It was just a few months ago that Matt was beginning the push to have Batchelder promoted to Speaker of the House next term when Husted has to step aside.

As long as Republicans hang on to the Ohio House, I proudly endorse State Rep. Bill Batchelder as Speaker of the House. You should too.

He continued with this:

Batchelder is 100% pro-life, 100% pro-gun, and truly stands for Republican principles

Now Matt is a big personal freedoms kinda guy, the sort of chap who is on record supporting the right of a pet owner to abuse their pet, so how must it feel to Matt to see his conservative hero actually want to put any sort of restrictions on these businesses? What has happened to the "invisible hand of the marketplace", Matt?

[UPDATED] As the comments and David Harding at Progress Ohio have reported, Mayor Coleman has also issued a statement announcing that his wife has entered into an inpatient alcohol treatment program.   Mayor Coleman left town with his wife today to check her into an alcohol inpatient treatment center.  Mayor Coleman released this statement:

Today is one of the toughest of our lives, but Frankie and I are dealing with it together.  I am proud of Frankie for accepting responsibility for her problem and seeking help through a respected inpatient alcohol treatment center.  I love her very much and my only concern at this point is for a healthy recovery."

One wished we lived in a world where such addictions were seen for the disease they are, and not the point of ridicule that they treated simply to gain some political advantage.  It's shame this world exists with people who would rather put partisan politicans over respect of a person's marriage.  But then again, why should I be surprised at how low gutter tripe like Bill Todd and his "pay to say" toadie will stoop?

Apparently, the Columbus Dispatch is just getting the story today.  The Dispatch also reports that the Inspector General's office should be issuing their investigative findings this week.  And, no, I don't believe it's a coinicidence the nexus between the timing between the two.

Lt. Governor Lee Fisher, director of the Department of Development, accepted her resignation.

We'll likely hear more about this as the story develops.  Coleman's letter does not directly address the IG's investigation, and it's been some time since we've heard any public comment on Mrs. Coleman's behalf.

So, the process is showing signs of real movement, and we will get more answers when the IG's report is issued.

Roughly, two weeks ago, I called on Mrs. Coleman to come clean while at the same time asked the Republicans to keep it clean and refrain from the obvious misrepresentation that Mrs. Coleman was not qualified to work in the Ohio Department of Commerce.

I don't know if this is evidence of either happening yet.