Left hook! Left hook! Body blow!

Three stories appeared in the Columbus Dispatch this morning.

All three knocked the wind a little further out of Ted Strickland's sails. And two of them came from the liberal left.

LEFT HOOK!

Apparently Ted Strickland, despite going to DC on his hands and knees begging for federal tax dollars, has failed to actually pocket the stimulus cash he so badly wanted. It's so bad that even Unions are going after him.

Gov. Ted Strickland's administration is trying to swat down a lawsuit claiming that Ohio has lagged in securing federal stimulus money, keeping thousands of union members out of work. [...] The owner, Steven Brown of National Building Resources Inc., said state officials squandered the opportunity to put thousands of laborers to work this summer by dragging their feet on applying for money from the Obama administration. Brown seeks to compel Strickland to move more decisively in the next round of applications, due in March 2010. [...]

Allison Kolodziej, a spokeswoman for Strickland, said the governor and his aides are moving quickly.

"Put simply, the governor thinks the stimulus is working," she said. "We are seeing the impacts today."

Honestly, you can't make this stuff up.

In just the six months of data between the federal stimulus being enacted and our most recent jobs data from July, Ohio unemployment has worsened by 18%.

Now imagine if Ohioans were told by the Obama and Strickland that if we passed the stimulus, Ohio unemployment would only worsen by 18% in six months.

Would anyone go for that? I don't think so.

May want to go back to the talking points drawing board, Allison.

ANOTHER LEFT HOOK!

In a post here on 3BP last July, we included a screen cap of Ted Strickland's 2006 campaign Turnaround Ohio site where he boldly stated that early education was going to be his 1st priority as Governor.

Not so much. It turns out Early Education for some of Ohio's most poor students was one of the first things to get cut when the Governor finally came out from under his rock to look at the budget mess he enabled.

One educator of early education students said this in this morning's Dispatch:

"All around the state, about 12,000 of these kids were onboard, and they've been dumped out of the boat," he said. "I don't think legislators had any idea what this program was doing. I don't think the governor knew."

How's that promise working out for you, Governor?

BODY BLOW!

In a follow-up to the killer story last week about Strickland taking cash donated to the blind and for organ donation, the Dispatch reports that the Governor's Administration has finally given back the money it "raided".

Although the administration has defended the raids as necessary to avoid tax increases, the governor conceded that it is wrong to redirect money that Ohioans voluntarily contributed specifically for blindness prevention and organ donation.

In the nine years since Save Our Sight program was created, for example, an estimated 129,195 children have benefited from protective eyewear and other equipment, preventing 2,500 eye injuries.

Raiding the funds was necessary to avoid tax increases? Really? That's your excuse?

Alright, fine. Since you ended up returning the money, I look forward to hearing what taxes you want raised.

Unless the definition of "necessary" has changed recently, that is....

UPDATE: As if it couldn't get anymore ridiculous for the Governor today. LOL @.....

Gov. Ted Strickland this morning revealed the resignations of the battling heads of the Ohio Department of Public Safety and the State Highway Patrol.

Public Safety Director Henry Guzman turned in his resignation yesterday and Col. Richard H. Collins, the patrol superintendent, followed suit later in the day. Guzman will stay on until a replacement is named, and Collins will remain until Guzman's successor chooses a new superintendent.

The governor acknowledged that morale at the agency was a factor in both departures.

[...]

Strickland hired Guzman, who had run the safety and service departments in Columbus and Cleveland, as public safety director shortly after taking office in 2007. Guzman was the first Hispanic cabinet officer in Ohio in years. The selection was controversial in some circles, as Guzman had never been a police officer.

Dare I say....

SUCKERPUNCH!!!