Building permit fees could go up

Marietta Times story

"On Jan. 1, the costs for residential building permits within the city of Marietta will increase as Washington County's building department takes over the city's residential and zoning permitting process."

So, Marietta residents have to pay the city (now county) for a permit to put a new roof on their house? Also, to demo an old outbuilding on their property?

I can understand some fees, especially user fees that only affect those initiating change.

However, this story has no good reasons for these fees to begin with.

""We wanted to set our fees so that they would cover the cost of doing the business, so we used actual costs of preparing the permits, including hours and manpower, to calculate the costs," Presley told the committee members on Monday."

So, why have permits? Is the only reason to pay for the wages of those processing the permits?It goes back to my suspicion that governments create fees to self perpetuate. The reasons for the fees are to pay for the permitting process.

Do we really need the nanny state telling us what kind of nails to use? Whatever happened to freedom and personal responsibility?

Dissolution threat; Village of Chauncey

Officials' infighting puts village at risk, prosecutor warns.

This would be for the best. I would hate to be the poor Township Trustees that would have to deal with these people, however.

Great Blog from Deleware County

Dave Yost from Delaware County does a great job with his blog. He is detailing the Strickland "plumbergate" story.

I've linked to his blog on this blog to the right under "my blog list", in case you lose his address, you can get it from this blog.

The liberal media lap dogs are unbelievable

Blagojevich questioning takes up Obama's time

The liberal media lap dogs are unbelievable. I guess that's redundant.

Here we have a President elect being interviewed by a Federal Prosecutor. Where was that in the news, other than buried in a story on another subject?

If this were a Republican the headline would read, "McCain interviewed in criminal investigation"

Then to deflect questions about the interview with Fitzgerald, we have Obama, using one of his appointees to "investigate" whether he or his team had "inappropriate" contact with Gov. Rod Blagojevich. This investigator declares that "Everybody behaved appropriately". To put it in other words, a quote from the Free Republic: "It's Obama's own internal "investigation." It is wholly void of objectivity. It's akin to Al Capone saying "I heard the feds had some questions about my taxes. I had my staff look into it and everything's okay. Now leave me alone.""

Then, one has to wonder about Obama's judgement in selecting Greg Craig for White House Counsel. He is a THUG from way back.

He had a hand in sending Elian Gonzalez back to communist Cuba (of course in Obama's circle, that makes him a hero)
Defended Clinton when he was impeached
Defended Senator Edward Kennedy during the rape trial of William Kennedy Smith

Then we have the Associated Press giving this ""Everybody behaved appropriately" statement all the credibility they can, (which, some would argue, is not much). Even though Greg Craig has the same amount of credibility as the press in that he is employed by Obama. (Yes, I know "credibility and press" is an oxymoron).

You thought the media was in the tank for Obama before the election? We haven't seen anything yet. Remember Pravda? How about the Russian News agency TASS?

Raising income taxes in Ohio

Thomas Suddes continues to push for higher income taxes for Ohio. Or, as he says, just delay the planned last phase of the income tax cut from the 2005 tax bill. Either way you look at it, his idea would mean higher taxes for Ohioans.

I've got an idea for Mr. Suddes. He can continue to pay the higher rate after the tax reduction is implemented. That way, he can sleep better at night.

He mentions the "21%" income tax cut in the 2005 tax bill. What he does not mention is the sales tax increase. Remember that? That's when we had our sales taxes raised because we were in an "emergency" and it was only "temporary". Then, about a year later, the sales tax hike was cut in half. In other words, after this we were left with a tax increase, though just not as much. (This is when the GOP got in trouble with their base....and I believe this is what cost them the 2006 elections......) We were told that having our sales tax hike reduced 50% was a tax cut!!! I know we've all gotten dumber since the 60s, but anytime we have a tax hike of .5 cents. Then awhile later the sales tax is reduced .25 cents, that is a tax hike of .25 cents from where we started. This was not a tax cut as the GOP tried to sell it.

Then, during this same time period, we increase the sale tax on fuel (incrementally) by 6 cents. This was to help the counties and townships (which should be abolished, townships that is) with their road maintenance.

As a matter of fact, the Tax Foundation has Ohio ranked number 47th (with 1 being good!) tax friendly state for business. This is a 2006 study. The CAT tax was implemented in 2005 and should be accounted for in this.

I'm convince that we are losing businesses (and the jobs that go with them) due to high tax rates. See previous examples here and here.

As far as personal (state and local taxes), Ohio is number 7 (with 1 being the highest). As a side note; in 1977 Ohio was number 45!

Ohio is taxing itself out of existence. It looks like Ohio will lose two more congressional seats. This is determined by state's population vs. other states. We all know folks that have moved to Texas and Alaska looking for and finding work. We all probably know retirees that have moved to Florida to shield their income from Ohio's income tax.

I'd say we need to lower taxes, not raise them. And we need to do it fast before the last one out forgets to turn the lights off.

Senate Bill 380

This is a good change. Not sure why it took a catastrophe like our last election to bring this change about, though....someone should have seen this coming. Strickland needs to ignore the partisan Brunner and sign this bill.

"• Senate Bill 380, which would reduce early voting from 35 days to 20 days before an election and make other election-law changes that Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner has said should not be rushed this year. Strickland, a fellow Democrat, has not specifically said he will veto the measure but will "take into consideration the secretary of state's concerns about the bill," said spokesman Keith Dailey.
By reducing early voting, legislative Republicans hope to eliminate "Golden Week," during which Ohioans were able to register and vote on the same day. The bill, which passed the Senate on a party-line vote, also addresses absentee ballot envelopes, voter database mismatches and partisan poll observers."

Top 'Joe the plumber' snoop quits

Still no calls by the media on what Strickland knew and when he knew it. If this were a Republican administration, the questioning would be non-stop until the Governor showed proof he/she was not involved. The standards are different when the dems are in charge, however.

Chuck Norris is missing his own point

While I agree with what Chuck Norris is saying (who knew he could write?), he misses the point. This time of year has always been a time of celebration for pagans around the world. They celebrate the winter solstice. Some of their celebrations have slipped into the Christian's celebration of the birth of the Savior. Worse yet, they/we (Christians) not only seem oblivious to this fact, but get downright nasty when it's pointed out to them. The point is, it's been happening for centuries. This is not a recent phenomenon.


Let's count the ways from the past that we take for granted as being part of "Christmas".

1. "Christmas Tree": Most historians agree that the origins of the "Christmas Tree" was with the Romans at their Saturnalia celebration. This celebration honored their Saturn God and started on Dec 17th. A "Christmas Tree" has noting to do with Christmas.



2. Mistletoe: Passed down from the pagan Druids who think that the plant is "all healing" and brings fertility to animals and is an antidote for all poisons. They considered mistletoe to be sacred. Known as "Druid's Weed". A pagan belief that has nothing to do with the birth of the Messiah.



3. "Bringing in the Yule and burning the Yule log": bringing in the Yule was the practice of a festival by the Scandinavian peoples of sacrificing (sometimes human) to the god Odin. Burning a Yule log cut from a fruit tree is a token of the fertility of the next year in the land. Nothing to do with the birth of the Messiah.



4. Santa Claus is a lot older than we think. He's really an ancient pagan shaman, from either Lapland or Siberia (just one of the places we get this old story from), who climbs in and out of tent smoke holes to return with gifts of prophecy and wonder from the Otherworlds. We tried to "Christianize" him by associating a story about "Saint" Nicholas of Patara to him. But he's way older than that, older even than the birth of Christ. Nothing to do with the birth of the Messiah.

I could go on, but wouldn't want to ruin your "Christmas spirit".

So, Chuck is right in that Atheists want to rid Christmas of Christ. But it looks to me that we (Christians) are doing a pretty good job of that without the atheist's help.

Christmas (Christ's Mass) is a remembrance / celebration of Christ's birth in Bethlehem, to a virgin....with the purpose of providing a sacrifice for the world's sins.

Santa Claus, "Christmas" trees, Yule logs, Reindeer, mistletoe, etc, etc......have nothing to do with the birth of the Messiah, no matter how many good intentions, reasons, explanations we offer for continuing to use these pagan items at Christmas time. One thing to remember, this is the time of the winter solstice and it's good to know which of these items belong in which celebration.

Someone with common sense in Athens?

Sean Jones wrote a recent letter to the editor about the insane requirement that landlords inform renters of certain information. But, more than that, they have to provide the city paper documentation stating that this has been completed. If the landlords do not comply, they are in violation and can be fined.

We suggested a common sense fix for this here a few weeks ago.

Here's Sean's letter to the editor.

"For example, quarter-page advertisements in the local papers once or twice a year would reach the general populace, and surely this would be less expensive than the personnel required to process, record and store thousands of three-page forms every year. Moreover, given that the majority of renters in the city of Athens are university students, would it be possible to work with the university to send an announcement via e-mail?"

Of course we are falling in the trap by giving alternative compliance options of actually giving this dumb resolution credibility. Why does Athens even need such a resolution to begin with?

What's really hurting the auto industry

The UAW union!!!!

This is the Ford / UAW contract!

The GOP members in the US Senate, our Sen Voinovich excluded of course, tried to force changes in the labor contracts. This would have made the 3 auto companies more competitive. The bill failed because the dems want to continue to receive their campaign checks from the UAW. If the union members had to take a pay cut, there would be less money going into the UAW's coffers and less money being funnelled to the dems. They really don't care a hoot about the "workers", THEY JUST WANT THEIR MONEY TO HELP THEM STAY IN OFFICE.

How flexible can a company be with a contract like this? This sounds like something the federal government would come up with.


"In the event the Plant Engineering Department decides it is unable to perform the work in question, the local union will be so advised and if the Union so requests, a meeting will be arranged by the Plant Industrial Relations Manager for the purpose of having advance discussion with the union as to the reasons why plant forces cannot perform the work. 3. In the event such advance discussion with the union results in the Company deciding it cannot perform any of the work or only part and the union concurs in this result, a memorandum concerning the results of the meeting will be prepared by the Company and a copy provided to the union. In addition to the written information outlined above, if part of the project is to be performed by Ford forces, that portion should be so identified in the memorandum. It was also agreed that the parties would urge the adoption of the above procedure in all locations where a mutually acceptable outside contracting clearance procedure does not now exist. In addition, it was agreed that in those locations...."

If your not sure, don't shoot!

There is no excuse for these types of accidents.

A man has 2 legs, a deer 4.
A deer has brown fur, a man does not.
A man walks with his body vertical, a deer horizontal.

No, it doesn't matter that the victim was not wearing orange. The shooter should know what he is shooting at before he ever aims the gun, let alone pull the trigger.

The only thing that probably saved the victim was the fact that the shooter was using a muzzle loader, making it a single shot.

Man mistakes cousin for deer, shoots him with muzzle-loader

"After a 48-year-old Amesville area man let his cousin go deer hunting on his land Monday, the visiting relative accidentally shot him, according to a state wildlife official.
Jack Jago of Wrightstown Road was listed as being in fair condition Wednesday morning at Grant Medical Center in Columbus."
"Reportedly, Jack Jago had allowed his cousin to hunt on his land. The landowner was out walking a property line to make sure that no other unauthorized hunters were on his property, when Addison Jago, thinking he was a deer, shot him, Donnelly said."

A depression? Hardly.

You can tell the economy is not as bad as the media and pandering politicians say. If it were, those protesting new jobs would be shouted down. A new plant creating new jobs with almost no emissions, what else do they want?

If the economy were really that bad, there would be folks there asking for jobs.

Marietta Times story

"Members of the Waterford community expressed their concerns Tuesday over a proposed high-purity silicon processing plant planned by Solsil Inc., a sister company of Globe Metallurgical Inc.
"The amount of pollution being put into the air, how do you know how that will affect the quality of life for the people in this area?" asked Linda See, who lives near the site being considered by the company."

Hitler had "activists" too (Brown Shirts)

I wonder what Obama calls his? When is he going to tell them that since he's elected, he no longer needs them to commit fraud and steal elections?

Link to BBC story


"Mr Obama recorded a radio advertisement for Mr Martin, but did not campaign in the state, despite a request. He did send 100 activists to Georgia to help get out the vote for Mr Martin."

I only wish I had a gun rather than a camera.

Mumbai photographer: I wish I'd had a gun, not a camera. Armed police would not fire back

One more argument supporting concealed carry and how it's not safe in establishments that don't allow law abiding folks to carry their weapons on them.

What a shame!

Phillips nets 514-vote victory margin

We've went from being represented by an Ohio right to life / NRA endorsed Jimmy Stewart to a dope smoking, coal hating (well she likes "clean coal if the technology allows it")....like I said, coal hating, Wal-Mart protesting liberal freak (is that too strong?).....Debbie Phillips.

If it doesn't smell right.....

Am I the only one that thinks this seems, unseemly?


"Marietta City Council adopted Resolution 67 during a regular session at Lookout Park last Thursday, authorizing the nonprofit group Friends of the Lower Muskingum to apply to the Ohio Public Works Commission for a Clean Ohio grant to purchase land owned in part by Mayor Michael Mullen."

Your vote does count

The local ballot initiative to allow Cool Spot (Coolville) to sell alcohol has passed. By one vote. 108 - 107.

This follows another ballot initiative (2007 general) in Troy East precinct to allow alcohol sales in Hockingport. It also passed by one vote. 149 - 148.

My question is: Both the Methodist churches (Coolville / Hockingport) had signs on their property opposing Ohio issue 6 (casino). Why didn't they become active in these local issues that have a direct impact locally? If they did oppose it, they sure were quiet about it.

One vote.

Honest hippies are a lot of laughs

"Those poachers need to lock and load with God's Green Herb and blow smoke instead of bullets"


See the comments section at the bottom of this Athens News story.


Yes, they are freaks, but they are a lot of fun when they take the veil off and tell you what they really think.

The Dispatch gets it.

They still don't ask the question on people's minds: What did Strickland know and when did he know it?

I know it's not in the GOP's nature to do this sort of thing, but the Senate should investigate what the Governor knew about this. Did he approve of this? Due to the lenient penalty, one wonders.

Dave Yost's blog has been on top of this.

Editorial: Weak response
Governor should have sent a stronger message about the abuse of office
Sunday, November 23, 2008 3:30 AM
Two serious examples of unethical behavior should be more than enough for Gov. Ted Strickland to demand the resignation of the head of a state agency. But instead of being removed from office, Helen Jones-Kelley, director of the Department of Job and Family Services, was penalized with nothing more than a month of unpaid leave for misusing her office for political purposes.
In a report unveiled on Thursday, Inspector General Thomas P. Charles found that Jones-Kelley used a state computer and e-mail account to raise money for the presidential campaign of Barack Obama, violating the governor's policy against such abuse of position. She also authorized an attempt to dredge up dirt on "Joe the plumber," an Ohioan named Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher who gained sudden fame after questioning Obama on his tax policies during a Toledo-area appearance by the candidate. Republican Sen. John McCain used Wurzelbacher's question to challenge Obama in their Oct. 15 presidential debate.
Jones-Kelley justified the search of agency records on Wurzelbacher on the grounds that the agency occasionally reviews personal data on people who suddenly appear in the public spotlight. But Charles' report said Jones-Kelley had no legitimate reason for reviewing Wurzelbacher's records and that her explanations for doing so were not credible. Charles' report didn't conclude that the data-checking was politically motivated, but that's the only logical explanation. Officials in a Democratic administration were mining damaging information on an Ohioan who had challenged their presidential candidate.
This misuse of government power against a citizen is a grave matter. Americans should be able to challenge politicians without fear that government officials will try to damage their reputations. Fear of being targeted in that way can chill political speech and participation.
After Charles issued his report, the governor unveiled a directive calling for clear policies on when state employees can access private personal data and restricting such activity to legitimate government purposes. Agency directors must appoint data-privacy officers to help achieve better controls on access to sensitive personal data.
This directive is useful, but how much weight will it carry when state employees see how little penalty there is for violating it?
If two such glaring violations of public trust do not merit removal from office, what would the governor consider worthy of such punishment? For an administration that launched itself with much fanfare about its strict ethics policies, the response to Jones-Kelley's actions is inexplicable.
In light of the governor's failure to impose an appropriate punishment, the legislature has all the more reason to step in with statutes that spell out the limits for government workers with access to confidential information about Ohioans and penalties for those who overstep them.

OEPA pursues action against Marietta Industrial Enterprises

I know the OPEA works with companies towards good results. They keep in mind that we need to keep businesses in business. I wonder sometimes however, just how would the Chinese handle a company like this? Would they even care? We keep adding costs and requirements on our businesses, then wonder why they shut down and move elsewhere.

http://mariettaregister.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=698&Itemid=1

"The director of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency is ordering a business operating on State Route 7 near Marietta to test their emissions for manganese and provide the state with information about its processes.....The OEPA Director is also insisting on the testing of manganese emissions (in terms of pounds per hour) and demonstrated compliance with set emissions limitations within 90 days."

"MIE president Scott Elliott said in an interview on Monday that the company doesn't handle manganese and hasn't handled manganese for years.
"We don't even handle manganese anymore. We haven't handled manganese for three years," he said. "So there's no chance that we do not report manganese emissions because we don't have them."

Do as I say, not as I do

Green Obama’s official limo is a gas guzzler

"On the campaign trail, Barack Obama promised to get a million plug-in hybrid cars on the road by 2015. His own new presidential limousine will be far from green, however.
The Obamobile being prepared for the president-elect is said to be a monster gas-guzzler made by General Motors, the troubled car giant. It will look like a black Cadillac but is built like a tank. A spy photographer who tracks down future car models for magazines snatched pictures of the heavily disguised first-car-in-waiting when it was being road-tested last summer.
The armour-plated car, which has a raised roof, windows up to 5in thick, extra-strength tyres and a body made of steel, aluminium, titanium and ceramics, is thought to be based on a GMC 2500 truck that gets less than 10 miles to the gallon."

County expects ’09 budget to shrink 9 percent

Picture from the Athens News article here

So maybe it's time to get rid of the "Meals on Wheels" program. Maybe this program isn't funded by the county, but this story reminds me of all the Meals on Wheels trucks I happen upon on the back roads when gas was $4.25 a gallon.

Wouldn't it be cheaper to mail Happy meals to the "needy"????

I wonder if the Meals on Wheels employees are AFSCME members? If that's the case, we wouldn't get rid of this program if it cost $50 a meal to deliver. Take a look at this link to AFSCME's website and you'll realize I'm right about that.

Charlie Wilson does not understand economics

Too many comments on this one.

First he votes to raise the minimum wage. If he'd do a little reading, he'd understand this puts people out of work. If employers have to decide if it's more cost effective to buy a machine since they can't afford to hire workers, how does this help those this "raise" is supposed to help? Also, if stores raise their prices because the labor price goes up, who pays? Those that the bill was supposed to have helped. And on top of paying higher prices, now they are out of work.

Which brings me to the next point:

Now he votes to extend unemployment "benefits" (redistribution of wealth). He also voted to do this in May. So how does paying people not to work help our unemployment situation? We should be encouraging folks to work, not paying them not to.

Another dumb idea: Bailout the auto industry. We should let them make the decisions they have to to stay in business. Everyone knows they need to get rid of the greedy union thugs sucking them dry and making our automobiles less competitive than Honda, Nissan, Toyota, etc, who, by the way, do just fine building cars in the US. The only difference is, they are non-union. Giving Detroit taxpayer money would reward bad management and just prolong the inevitable. If they had to fix their business now, they might have a chance. Of course the union backed dems want to continue to receive their campaign contributions from the unions, hence their support of this bailout.

Lastly, Wilson's support of the deceptively labelled "Employee Free Choice Act". See previous post here.

Our Representative knows nothing about economics.................or he does know about economics and doesn't care, just wanting to receive union campaign checks. Either way, he needs to go.

We get the government we deserve

Lawsuit on horizon over landlord-tenant ordinance

"The attorney for a local landlords’ group confirmed Wednesday that he is preparing a lawsuit to challenge the city of Athens’ legally required landlord-tenant forms."



I've got an idea, why doesn't the city of Athens just put a public notice in the Athens Messenger with the information they want conveyed to the tenants? Instead they come up with a scheme forcing landlords to do the city's work. Of course, no one reads the Messenger and one has to pay to view it on the web.....but that's another story.

It took them how long to come up with this theory?

How long have we been saying this? With this type of delayed deductive reasoning, how did we ever "evolve" from the apes???

"The other statistic that emerged from a study of active killers is that they almost exclusively seek out "gun free" zones for their attacks.
In most states, concealed handguns are prohibited at schools and on college campuses even for those with permits.
Many malls and workplaces also place signs at their entrances prohibiting firearms on the premises.
Now tacticians believe the signs themselves may be an invitation to the active killers. The psychological profile of a mass murderer indicates he is looking to inflict the most casualties as quickly as possible.
Also, the data show most active killers have no intention of surviving the event."

I've been trying to impress on my daughter that it's simply not safe to enter businesses with "no guns allowed" signs posted. The reasoning is this: the only people in the business with a gun would be a criminal. Since law abiding citizens follow the rules, they'll leave their concealed carry guns in their cars. This leaves the only people with guns in the business; criminals. Hence, it's not safe to enter establishments with these signs posted.

Another reason the GOP should not listen to the media

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAUmIv2SGYY

Another reason the GOP should not listen to the media when they want to give advice on winning elections. John Fortney must have attended a creative math school!

We should go after 6 year olds to vote? I think the dems have that vote bottled up with ACORN.
The media only look the other way when dems conduct voter fraud.

Unintentional, unscripted truth from state GOP

DeWine's desire to shift away from social issues leads to uproar

Dumb comments from state GOP deputy chairman DeWine; "the party has to, “exchange a fiscal message and an economic message in for the social message that has dominated the messaging of this party for the past decade,” and said the GOP has had a “distracting focus on social issues.”

So, which is it?

then, when called on it he sends an email; "DeWine said in an e-mail to Republicans on Tuesday that the party is not abandoning its positions on social issues.
“This is not to suggest that we yield in combating the assault on our values. Our party's platform on the critical issues of life and marriage is clear, and I'm proud of my pro-life and pro-family record in the General Assembly. I can assure you that we will continue to advance those core values,”

If the GOP wants to abandon the "values voters" (another dumb media label) who will be left? A few Bob Taft Republicans?

Another comment that gets to the bottom line:

"Dan Prince, chairman of the Warren County Republican Party’s central committee, said DeWine’s comments weren’t particularly damaging, but warned that continued statements that the party needs to move away from talking about social issues could alienate social conservatives who form the backbone of the party’s get out the vote efforts.
“That would be the risk, I would say, that Kevin might be taking is alienating people who would otherwise be very good workers for the party,” he said. “Even though in the end I think they’ll vote the way he hopes, but keeping them engaged as workers is key.”

Finally someone tells us the truth, the truth that we've always felt, but no one has ever verbalized: We don't really care what you want, just get out there and work and vote. We'll take care of the rest.

Bomb threat reported at Mountaineer Plant

Bomb threats at local power plants.

I wonder where one could find a group of radical "environmentalists" capable of doing such a thing in Southeastern Ohio????

"NEW HAVEN, W.Va. — Employees at Appalachian Power’s Mountaineer plant were evacuated Monday morning as law enforcement officers with the West Virginia State Police searched the area for a bomb."

"This is the second bomb threat the company has had the state police investigate. A similar call was placed at the John Amos Power Plant in Putnam County last week, Moye said. It was the fifth call made to that plant within several weeks."

Another one gone. Hello, Mr. Strickland.

BELLEFONTAINE, Ohio (Map, News) - German industrial conglomerate Siemens AG says it is closing a plant in Bellefontaine (behl-FOWN'-tin), leading to the loss of 434 jobs.

The layoffs will begin Jan. 5 and conclude by the end of March. The factory makes circuit breakers for commercial and industrial markets.

Spokesman Michael Krampe says the company's competitors have moved their production offshore and it's no longer cost-effective to make products at the Bellefontaine factory.

Siemens says no additional job cuts are planned at its other central Ohio locations, which include Columbus, Dublin and Worthington.

More workers accused of politicking on state time

Let's see, union workers politicking on state time, I wonder who they were supporting??

http://www.dispatchpolitics.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/11/13/copy/HATCH.ART_ART_11-13-08_B4_HJBSG3G.html?adsec=politics&sid=101

'Suspended agency director Helen Jones-Kelley isn't the only Ohio government employee under investigation for allegedly dabbling in politics on state time.

Three employees of the Ohio Rehabilitation Services Commission are being investigated for possible violations of the federal law that prohibits engaging in political activity on government time or using official resources.

The union that represents the three, the Ohio Civil Service Employees Association, is part of a coalition of unions that backed Obama"

That really wasn't a surprise, was it?

Nothing about politics

This is a neat story from the post. The photographer is definitely talented.

http://www.thepost.ohiou.edu/Articles/News/2008/11/13/26386/

High taxes = job losses

When Ohio is taxed like this, you get job losses like this!

When are we going to cut spending and taxes??? Or is everyone going to have to leave Ohio before we take some extreme measures?

The boot lickers in the media are disgusting!

The media covering for Obama already! I wonder if they took this "poll" at the behest of the Obama folks....or they just thought they'd give him some cover when he decides that we can't "afford" the tax cuts promised.

AP poll: Public seems willing to wait on tax cuts

"Yes We Can . . . Ban Guns"

You really didn't believe him when he said he wouldn't ban guns, did you?

"Yes We Can . . . Ban Guns"--Obama Announces Gun Ban Agenda Before The Final Vote Count Is In

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_onYrbme3c

Friday, November 07, 2008

Senator Barack Obama's presidential campaign slogan, "the audacity of hope," should have instead been "the audacity of deceit." After months of telling the American people that he supports the Second Amendment, and only hours after being declared the president-elect, the Obama transition team website announced an agenda taken straight from the anti-gun lobby--four initiatives designed to ban guns and drive law-abiding firearm manufacturers and dealers out of business:

• "Making the expired federal assault weapons ban permanent."
• "Repeal the Tiahrt Amendment." The amendment--endorsed by the Fraternal Order of Police
• "Closing the gun show loophole." There is no "loophole."
• "Making guns in this country childproof." "Childproof" is a codeword for a variety of schemes designed to prevent the sale of firearms"

Race an issue for the Media, not Appalachians

As Athens votes for Obama, Appalachia votes for McCain

Even in this balanced story from the Athens News (yes, they have some) the reporter could not help himself from asking the race question......you know, these people are from Appalachia, so they must be racists, right?

Asked if race could have played a factor in Appalachian counties voting for McCain, Tribe said, “probably a little bit, but I don’t think it’s a whole lot.”

Then as if once wasn't enough to make his point (or maybe he didn't get the answer he wanted), he had to ask another interviewee the same question:

"Asked about race, he said that it also could have played a role.
“I would also argue that the issue of familiarity played a part in the amount of support that McCain did get,” Miller said. “Part of that familiarity does have a racial element to it.”"

It's the media that keep the racial tensions burning, not the residents of Appalachia.

You wanted change, you got it.

Obama to use executive orders for immediate impact

"One of Bush's first acts was to reinstate full abortion restrictions on U.S. overseas aid. The restrictions were first ordered by President Reagan and the first President Bush followed suit. President Clinton lifted them soon after he occupied the Oval Office and it wouldn't be surprising if Obama did the same."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081109/ap_on_go_pr_wh/obama

So, the first thing he's going to do is lift the restrictions on abortions that were tied to US aid funding.
Then he's going to make it harder for us to drill our own oil in our own country.

We've got change alright.

The deceptively titled "Employee Free Choice Act "

Now it's payback time! Labor unions ask political backing for organizing law.

The bottom line is, get rid of secret ballots for organizing a union. How un-American is that? The unions must think they can coerce folks into signing cards in public, much more so than convincing folks to vote their way in a secret ballot election.

I expect Mr. ACORN uh, excuse me Mr. Obama to support it....as he said he would.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081109/pl_nm/us_usa_obama_labor_1

Stewart first Meigs senator for half century

From The Daily Sentinel

http://www.mydailysentinel.com/articles/2008/11/05/news/news00.txt

By Brian J. Reed
Published:
Thursday, November 6, 2008 12:21 AM EST
POMEROY — State Rep. Jimmy Stewart, R-Albany, was elected Ohio Senator Tuesday, defeating Morgan County Commissioner Rick Shriver by a margin of 55 percent.The 20th District Senate seat was open because Senator Joy Padgett, R-Coshocton, chose not to seek re-election.Stewart lives in western Meigs County, and is completing his third term in the Ohio House for the 92nd District. Shriver received 40 percent of the vote, and Green Party candidate Timothy Kettler, five percent.Stewart said he is only the third Meigs County resident to serve as a state senator in Ohio’s history. The last, he said, was State Senator Bob Jones, in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s.
= 1200463200) && (nAdsysTime
Stewart acknowledged that he spent most of his energy on campaigning in the northern part of the 20th District, where he is lesser known. The 20th, he said, is the largest Ohio Senate District.“It’s really a humbling experience and was a daunting challenge, covering nine counties from Meigs to Coshocton County, but I am grateful I was able to do it with a bi-partisan support, and a combination of support from organized labor and the business community,” Stewart said.“It is difficult to come from a small county like Meigs and win a legislative district.”Stewart said he expects a smooth transition because of his six-year experience in the statehouse. He said two legislative matters, a bill regulating unlicensed contractors and projected budget shortfalls, will be his focus between now and the end of his term in the House.“Balancing the budget is going to be a challenge for all of us at the state level,” Stewart said.

Democrats say McCain can help mediate standoffs

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081106/ap_on_el_pr/mccain

Um, no thanks John:

1. If the media thinks it's a good idea, it isn't.
2. If the dems think it's a good idea, it isn't.
3. You need to get into the habit of opposing leftists, not negotiating with them.
4. If you haven't learned by now that cozying up to the left gets you nothing, well...

E-mails get leader of state office suspended

http://www.dispatchpolitics.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/11/08/copy/JFS_trouble.ART_ART_11-08-08_A1_JFBR1J0.html?adsec=politics&sid=101

• Using a government computer and e-mail to fund raise for Obama
• Using a government computer to look up dirt on "Joe the Plumber"

If this happened under a Republican administration, the media would be asking "what did the Governor know and when did he know it?"

With a dem Governor, the media silence is deafening.

Larry Payne, new Republican Athens County Commissioner

http://www.athensnews.com/news/election/2008/nov/06/athens-county-gets-first-republican-commissioner-m/

A lot can be taken from this quote from the story: "Inside the city of Athens, Pancake didn’t do badly, winning 13 of 23 precincts, some by healthy margins."
My first thought is, these must have been completely straight ticket voters.

The other way to look at this is Payne one 10 out of 23 precincts in Athens City. Which is great for any Republican.

Larry also had great numbers "out in the county".

Larry will do a great job. It's about time we had some DIVERSITY in Athens County.

Obama: with election over, U.S. must work together

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081108/pl_nm/us_usa_election_8

I get it, now that he's elected we must work together! Unlike the last 2 years the dems and the media have been tearing our country apart.

When will the media hold Gov. Strickland accountable?

Not one mention of Strickland in this story. If we had a Republican Governor, his name would have been in the headline.

Jobless rate highest in 14 years
Saturday, November 8, 2008 3:25 AM
By Dan Gearino
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
President-elect Obama's first news conference grabs the attention of a trader at the New York Stock Exchange. The market briefly dipped in response." src="http://www.dispatch.com/wwwexportcontent/sites/dispatch/images/nov/1108_WALL_STREET_OBAMA_a1_11-08-08_A1_1MBR1A0.jpg" border=0>
Richard Drew Associated Press
President-elect Obama's first news conference grabs the attention of a trader at the New York Stock Exchange. The market briefly dipped in response.

U.S. employers cut 240,000 jobs last month, continuing a free fall for an economy that has yet to hit bottom.
The job market has sunk further and faster than many economists were expecting. A staggering 1.2 million jobs have disappeared this year, with more to come, experts say.
"We really got clobbered," said George Vredeveld, director of the Economics Center for Education & Research at the University of Cincinnati.
The news from the U.S. Labor Department showed that the national jobless rate zoomed from 6.1 percent in September to 6.5 percent in October, matching the rate in March 1994.
Unemployment has now surpassed the high reached after the 2001 recession. The jobless rate peaked at 6.3 percent in June 2003.
October's decline marked the 10th straight month of payroll reductions, and government revisions showed that job losses in August and September turned out to be much deeper. Employers cut 127,000 positions in August, compared with the 73,000 previously reported. A whopping 284,000 jobs were axed in September, compared with the initial report of 159,000.
More than half of the 1.2 million jobs lost this year occurred in the past three months.
And the figures don't include the auto workers who will be losing their jobs during the next couple of months. Yesterday, GM said it will eliminate 5,500 more white-collar and factory workers and Ford will shed more than 2,000 white-collar workers, as both reported quarterly losses.
That's on top of the 1,166 jobs GM is cutting at the Moraine plant, and the 819 Chrysler is laying off in Toledo. The cuts, part of the closing of both plants, are expected to be completed by December.
News from the automakers and the national employment numbers are an uneasy prelude to the state jobless figures, which will be issued in two weeks. In September, the state's jobless rate was about a percentage point higher than the nation's. Ohio's job losses have been proportionally greater than the country's, so state officials are preparing for more bad news.
Columbus has dodged the brunt of job losses, but the city is headed for a rough fourth quarter, said Bill
LaFayette, vice president for economic analysis at the Columbus Chamber.
"As of now, we're doing OK, but don't expect that to continue," he said.
The job losses nationwide are occurring alongside a rapid increase in the number of unemployed, which grew by 603,000 in October to reach 10.1 million. In a separate report this week, the Labor Department said that 3.8 million Americans are drawing unemployment benefits, the highest level since 1983. Not all unemployed people draw benefits.
"In the broadest terms, we're in recession, and it remains to be seen how severe it will be in the end," said Richard J. DeKaser, senior vice president and chief economist at National City Corp. in Cleveland.
Ohio posted a jobless rate of 7.2 percent in September. The state has lost 80,400 nonfarm jobs through the first nine months of the year. The number would be much higher except for a gain of 17,200 jobs in September, which officials said was likely a fluke.
Amid the turmoil that has gripped the rest of the state, Columbus employment has remained stable. The metro area gained 1,300 jobs through the first nine months of the year.
LaFayette said the gains have come largely from sectors that might be hit hard by a weak holiday shopping season, such as retail, transportation and warehousing.
"I'm expecting the fourth quarter to be much, much weaker for us," he said.
The recent job cuts by the Big Three automakers likely won't show up in state unemployment reports until early next year, said Brian Harter, spokesman for the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.
"That would be a realistic statement to say that the end of this year or the first quarter of next year is when we should 'hit rock bottom,' " he said.
Vredeveld is less certain, and more pessimistic.
"I don't know where the bottom is," he said. "But I wouldn't be surprised if nine to 12 months from today, we're not back to our normal state."
Information from the Associated Press was included in this story.
dgearino@dispatch.com