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Friday, July 29, 2005

OH-02: Culture of Corruption and Jean Schmidt

Posted by Bob Brigham

"There is a clear difference between my opponent and myself on moral issues." -Republican Jean Schmidt

Toledo Blade:

Jean Schmidt, a former Republican state representative from the Cincinnati area, also appealed to the governor's office on behalf of a Web-based lottery. Ms. Schmidt is currently running for Congress against Paul Hackett, a Democrat who served in the Iraq War.

The race has attracted national attention.

In a November, 2001, e-mail, Jon Allison, a staff member for Governor Taft, complained that Ms. Schmidt "continues to bug me on Internet lottery."

One year later, her state representative re-election campaign garnered a $1,000 donation from Mr. Ach.

Ms. Schmidt said through a spokesman that she does not remember any conversations with the governor's office about an online lottery, although she does remember that this was a significant issue at the time.

"The documents indicate that she is lobbying the governor on behalf of Roger Ach," said her opponent, Mr. Hackett. "After doing their bidding, she takes a $1,000 donation. That is the culture of corruption - documented."

Indeed, there is a very clear difference. Paul Hackett needs your help, please volunteer and contribute. The Republican Culture of Corruption must end.

Posted at 11:27 AM in Ohio, Scandals | Technorati

Comments

Republicans sure have bad memories. I don't think they should be trusted in Government if they can't rember things like Organizations they've belonged to or investigations they've been questioned on, etc

Posted by: merlallen at July 29, 2005 12:45 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

Ohio is running so deep in corruption it is sickening. I have lived here all my life and never once remember it being this bad. I just wish the 2nd congressional district went one more county to the west so I could cast my vote for Hackett.

http://intoxination.blogspot.com

Posted by: IntoxiNation at July 29, 2005 12:57 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

In Ohio, all slime trails seem to lead past Tom Noe.

Also from the Toledo Blade:

Tom Noe used state money to try to pump up an online gambling company in which he and other prominent Republicans were investors, records show.

Mr. Noe invested at least $100,000 of the state’s rare-coin money into financially troubled Games Inc., which has plummeted in value in the last year as its CEO Roger Ach II, a politically connected Cincinnati businessman, sought public contracts.

Mr. Noe is among several prominent Republicans who have invested in Games Inc.
Brian Hicks, former chief of staff to Gov. Bob Taft; Bob Bennett, chairman of the Ohio Republican Party; former Senate President Stanley Aronoff, and Lucas County Republicans Patrick Kriner and Sally Perz all own shares in the company, records filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission show.

Posted by: Roger Spark at July 29, 2005 01:07 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

The Smoke Eater

Today on WLW
By: Peter Deane

What a difference a week makes in the 2nd District of the State of Ohio. WLW’s Bill Cunningham is not playing shock jock or bowing to his party line. I would like to thank him, and tell him, that if this election has done anything to the fine citizens of the 2nd District it has told us to wake up and unite. Political affiliation must not and should not matter in times like these. We sit in a very critical time in America.

With the election between Schmidt and Hackett, a firmer understanding of our common destination needs to cross party lines and we must now unite in the middle. Issues of supporting our troops have been cleared up by Hackett’s run. No matter what the weather it has become clear. We must support our troops wherever they are in the world. But war must always be questioned, not only by the common mother and father that is asked to sacrifice the children but also by the politicians themselves. To be a rubber stamp for those that are warring tells me that you truly do not care for those that may not come home.

I also heard Cunningham question embryonic stem cell research today and I thought of the debate between Jean Schmidt and Paul Hackett on a Christian College in Brown County. Schmidt removed my fight to make abortion illegal. As head of the Right-to-Life Cincinnati, she stated that it wouldn’t matter if Bush were to choose a Pro-Choice judge for the vacant seat on the Supreme Court. My fight to make abortion illegal ended right there (and believe me when I tell you that I once picketed the clinics) but I was still in limbo on if I could vote for a man like Hackett. He stated at the debate to keep them safe, keep them legal, and make them rare. It wasn’t until I saw the greed and corruption connected to Jean Schmidt, President of Right-to-Life Cincinnati, that I had to say that I had become Pro-Choice. The gavel that pounded it all into place was the words from Judge Roberts, “The law is settled.”

In every family in America there is not one that has not been touched in some way by abortion. I know of women in my own family that have had the procedure done and it something that we never discuss. They carry with them that word of “what if” for the rest of their lives. It is the question that will never be answered but we all go on.

I have come to see that for every woman that goes to an abortion center there are ten people around her to blame, at one time even myself. I have come to an understanding that the best way to stop an abortion is to love your sons & daughters, love your husbands & wives, love your brothers & sisters, love your nephews & nieces, love your neighbor and do not be greedy and accept the hope of new life… ridding the clinics will not do away with abortions but unconditional love and constant forgiveness will… Do your part and make them rare. If the Pope wishes to excommunicate me for thinking like this, then I will leave the church of my childhood in good conscious.

Mr. Cunningham mentioned that there were 200,000 embryos sitting in a freezer somewhere in the world. He wondered how to think on this issue. An argument in using them for stem cell research has recently been made by Senator Frist of Tennessee. In the county that I live in, Hamilton County, Ohio, there is a politician, Todd Portune, who I deeply respect for his deep convictions to make my community a better place to live. The last time I saw him walking on his own was when Bush came to Cincinnati for his war stump speech. I was helping to direct traffic for the antiwar protesters and Todd walked by me. Today, he sits in a wheelchair, a victim of tumors on his spine. And I think about him walking again… I think about those 200,000 frozen fetuses sitting in a freezer, what if Jesus was one of these fetuses, what would Jesus do? Would he want the be thrown away in some medical bag that says hazardous wastes or would he want to help those that can’t walk, those like my Councilman Todd Portune? How would Paul Hackett vote on this issue? How would Jean Schmidt vote? If I were Todd Portune’s father I know how I would vote?

Yes, a good week in the 2nd District of Ohio. This election has brought us into a greater understanding of who we are and what we truly believe. Thank you Paul Hackett for being the one that had to rise up in the 2nd District and shout for all to hear that were sitting in that unconditioned gym on Christian grounds in Brown County… “Keep it legal, keep it safe, and make it rare.”

Vote for Paul Hackett for the 2nd District of Ohio! I know that’s he’s for stem cell research and now so am I.

Sincerely,

Peter Deane

P.S. A note to Cunningham… Help end the corruption keep pushing that button… the one that says Vote for Hackett. We need unity! But after listening to your program today, I believe that you may know that already.

Posted by: The Smoke eter at July 29, 2005 04:42 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment