Chief Justice Roberts Defects, Obamacare Ruled Constitutional

While there is still much to be decided in the convoluted mess that is Obamacare, the Supreme Court has ruled the Individual Mandate constitutional.  In a surprising move, it wasn't Justice Kennedy that ended up as the deciding factor, but rather what many considered a reliable conservative, Chief Justice John Roberts, that tipped the scales in favor of the liberal bloc.

There will be much more to come, but the biggest takeaway from today's ruling is simple: we need to elect Mitt Romney and a GOP House and Senate.  The Court's opinion today has basically allowed government to rule every aspect of American life, and we absolutely cannot survive as a free nation without electing officials who believe in limited government.

I'm sending my check to Romney and Mandel today and will be volunteering on both campaigns with every free moment I have from here until Election Day.

If you, like the 67% of Ohioans who voted against Obamacare in 2011, believe that the federal government has gone too far, join the movement and let's get America back on the right path.

Kasich Derangement Syndrome among Ohio's left worsening

I really didn't want to do another Plunderpal post. Seriously. But the Kasich-hate over at that blog is getting worse all the time.

Back in February, the administration made a change in some of the signage used on Ohio highways, to include a new tip line to report suspicious activity to the Ohio Highway Patrol. The old number, 1-877-7-PATROL, was hard to remember, and kind of long for a person who is driving to punch into their cell phone, especially considering that you had to look for the letters on the keys. The new number is #677.

Even a simple change as this was enough to warrant a post full of scorn from Plunderbund, the main hangout for Ohio's moonbat left. They dubbed it "Kasich's anti-crime plan" and even described it as encouraging people to "nark on their neighbors". As if no other jurisdiction has tip line for citizens to report crimes. What childishness.

Thousands of calls have been made to the tip line, and earlier today, one such call resulted in a major drug arrest.

The first bust stemming from Ohio’s new #677 tip line posted on highways statewide was a big one: 32 kilos of cocaine worth an estimated $2.8 million.

A Canadian man faces felony charges after being stopped about 2 a.m. today while driving a white 2003 Freightliner on I-70 eastbound near Springfield. He was stopped based on an anonymous tip phoned to the new #677 line that Gov. John Kasich ordered posted on highways around the state in February.

Was the new tip line the entirety of an anti-crime plan? Of course not. It was one simple change that Governor Kasich put into effect to make it easier for citizens to report drug activity. And it worked out big time today. You would think the Plunderpals would just ignore the story after they literally called it "nuts and unlikely to remove any illegal drugs from the streets."

You would be wrong. Even after such great news as almost $3 million of cocaine removed from the street, they couldn't contain their hate, and actually doubled down on the grade school sarcasm with another ridiculous post about it today. Again, they lie and say that the tip line is the "center of Kasich's anti-crime agenda."

Get a grip, guys. We know you are Democrats, and thus, will write negative posts about the Republican governor. I get it. But constantly looking for ways to take even the obvious good news and turn it into mindless ridicule like this is just infantile.

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Unions Continue Same Sad Lies as Layoffs Continue in Public Schools

It's the same sad song unions have been singing for over a year, and every word of it is a lie:

First off, it's Lorain, not Lorraine.  Apparently, teachers' union hacks must be products of a system where educators aren't held accountable for actually teaching students, or in other words, Ohio's public school system.  But aside from the poor spelling and grammar, the statement is straight up false.

Just take a look at Lorain's recent five year forecast:

Barack Obama's shameful hypocrisy on collective bargaining

Today, the Obama campaign released this video saying that the attempt to reform collective bargaining laws for government employees was "an attack on the middle class."



It's a rehash of the same lame attacks on Governor Kasich from last year. The fact is that the reforms in Issue 2 still allowed collective bargaining for many issues, like safety equipment and salary. Where the reforms came in, was where the bill required a minimum contribution to an empoyee's health care benefits and pension.

I'm not going to reopen an old debate. The point is that when Barack Obama starts criticizing governors who attempt to reform collective bargaining laws for government employees in their states, he is showing an incredible amount of hyprocrisy.

Because guess which government employees have NO collective bargaining priveleges whatsoever? The ones that report to Barack Obama.

That's right. Federal employees do not have the privilege of collective bargaining like most of their counterparts in state and local government do.

What has Obama done to grant collective bargaining power to federal employees? To members of the armed services under his authority?

Nothing.

So, the next time you see him criticizing governors who attempt to reign in out of control public employee benefit costs by reforming collective bargaining laws, remember that none of the people who work for him have collective bargaining power, and how ridiculous it is for him to utter a critical word on the subject.

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Flash Rally planned for Sherrod Brown's office Thursday

A local tea party group will be holding a rally outside Senator Sherrod Brown's Lorain office tomorrow, the same day that the SCOTUS decision is expected on the Obamacare case. Sherrod Brown cast the deciding vote for the healthcare law that was soundly rejected by Ohio voters in the 2011 election.

Date - Thursday, June 28, 2012
Time - 4:00-6:00 pm
Place - 205 West 20th Street, Lorain OH

Bring signs and show your support.

Contact Kirsten Hill for more information at kirstenphill@gmail.com.

https://twitter.com/Nick3BP

Obama's Reality Gap on the Economy

While Barack Obama continues to campaign around the country, claiming that “the private sector is doing fine” and that his policies are working, more and more worrisome new data continues to raise red flags for the economy.

President Obama’s Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, once again visits Ohio this week. Last week while on the campaign trail on behalf of the Obama campaign, the Secretary seemed to echo Obama's cluelessness and said that the economy has “obviously turned the corner.” One glance at recent headlines may cause him to change his tune. We may be headed for a double-dip recession.

On Thursday, the labor department released the latest round of unemployment data, this time highlighting the number of Americans applying for jobless benefits. As Bloomberg reports,

More Americans than forecast filed applications for unemployment benefits last week, indicating the labor market continues to struggle. . . . The four-week average, a less volatile measure, climbed to the highest of the year.

Another Poll, More Bad News for Obama

With just over 130 days until Election Day 2012, and now that Republicans have a presumptive candidate to rally behind, things are really starting to take shape for the presidential election.  And it isn't good news for President Obama.

Democratic polling institute Public Policy Polling (PPP) released their latest numbers on Ohio, and the top lines keep moving up for Romney and Kasich, while Obama finds himself trending down.

Obama's Approval Rating
From February to May, Obama enjoyed an even approval/disapproval rating at 48%.  While not stellar--any numbers under 50% are necessarily problematic--they remained steady.  Not so today.

PPP's newest numbers now have Obama underwater, with only 44% approving of his performance and 51% disapproval.  That's a -7% swing in just over a month.

Of course, PPP offered their own take on the numbers:

Dispatch, Vardon Follow Liberal Talking Points on Jackson Character Assassination

Former OSU Quarterback Stanley Jackson thought he was volunteering his time and energy to improving the lives of Ohio's children. Instead, he finds himself in the middle of an overblown controversy that should have never gotten to this point:

The Kasich administration could not provide a resume yesterday for Jackson, whom it named late Monday afternoon to serve the final six months of an at-large term on the 19-member panel...

Jackson is Kasich’s eighth appointment to the state Board of Education in his 17 months in office, and his third of someone who has no education experience. Of the other five, two were former members of district school boards, one was a former district superintendent, one was a teacher and one worked for the U.S. Department of Education.

Of course, this mirrors the attacks coming from the most liberal Ohioans: none other than the infamously inappropriate and increasingly inaccurate Plunder-Pals:

Masters Preparatory Academy Charter School is not yet in operation in Ohio and the recently registered website (mpaam.org) lists Jackson’s home address in Marion as the organization’s location. Neither is it listed by the Ohio Department of Education as a prospective school that will be opening in the 2012-2013 school year.

In other words, the Dispatch, through reporter Joe Vardon, seems to be taking marching orders from Ohio's most liberally skewed blog instead of reporting the news. And not only that, but they're reaffirming their jaded and misguided talking points that somehow Mr. Jackson's lack of a college degree somehow precludes him from having anything substantive to add to his new position.

Empty Promises Lead Youth Vote Away From Obama

If there’s one thing that was certain in the 2008 elections, it was that Barack Obama was an amazing campaigner. His election promises captivated audiences and swung the youth vote heavily in his favor, ultimately leading to his election that November.

Unfortunately for him, the youth aren’t buying it any more.

A new study released today shows that the President’s support among those between the ages of 18 and 29 has eroded, from 68% in 2008, to only 50% today. And the answer is simple:

Political Scientist Jason Johnson, who heads the college's year-long "Listening to Young Voters" project, says young voters are disappointed that Obama hasn't solved nation's problems over the past four years, but aren't convinced that Romney will do any better…

Sherrod Brown joins the Obama War on Coal

We've previously told you about the war that Barack Obama is waging on the coal industry. His declaration that he wanted to bankrupt coal plants apparently didn't phase Ted Strickland, who is out there making a fool of himself by claiming that Obama is actually a friend to coal.

Now fellow Ohio Democrat Sherrod Brown has joined Obama in the trenches to destroy coal jobs and cheap energy for Ohioans, who get 86% of their electricity from coal. One of Obama's new regulations abuses executive power and is called Utility Maximum Achievable Control Technology, or Utility MACT. It would make the building of new coal plants an impossibility and cost existing plants tens of billions of dollars to retrofit their systems. Many will choose to just close down like six of FirstEnergy's plants. And, just like Obama predicted, and desires, MACT will cause electricity rates to necessarily skyrocket.

How the environmentalists lie about fracking

With all of the recent talk about shale gas in Ohio, I've seen a few signs popping up in people's yards that say "Stop fracking". Since they were all in one neighborhood, it was obvious that someone canvassed the neighborhood scaring people about the practice, and then asked for permission to put the signs in their yards. The problem is that most of the things that anti-fracking liberals use to scare people are lies.

I have embedded a video showing the fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, process at the bottom of this post for your review. A fellow named Josh Fox made a 2010 documentary that highlights the supposed "evils of fracking", and this movie really started the anti-fracking movement. One of Fox's main claims is that fracking contaminates ground water with gas, and he shows two homes where you can light a fire out of the faucet when the water is turned on. It's quite dramatic footage.

The problem is, that Fox doesn't tell the whole story. In that part of the country, people have known there was naturally occurring methane in the water for decades. In fact, Fox admitted to knowing this and having reports of it happening long before fracking came along, but he completely omitted that information from the movie. Watch his answer when he is asked why he omitted the information.

Liberal AstroTurf Hecklers

For over 3 years now, the Obama administration and its allies have attempted to boast about the number of "saved or created" jobs they are responsible for.  Today, some evidence of a Team Obama program that actually stimulates job growth came to light courtesy of BuzzFeed.  In this story, McKay Coppins highlights how Obama's campaign and their union boss allies are paying people to protest at Romney events.

Obama moving the goalposts

Earlier this week, the Columbus Dispatch criticized Barack Obama for his pathetic speech and the recent shift in his rhetoric. According to the newspaper, the standards by which he evaluates the economic recovery have evolved since even the beginning of his presidency:

In the earlier days of the administration, Obama and other Democratic leaders said more than once that Americans could expect to see an economic turnaround before the 2012 election; if they didn’t, they could justifiably vote for someone else. Now that the day of reckoning is less than five months away, Obama is moving the goalposts again: In Thursday’s speech, he said the United States is still digging out after a decade of “falling behind,” and that it’s widely recognized that it takes 10 years for economies to recover “from a recession like this.”

Indeed, the change of tune in his rhetoric is quite jarring. His words speak for themselves. In October 2011, President Obama admitted that he didn’t think Americans were “better off than they were four years ago.” But just a few weeks ago, he said that the private sector was “doing fine.” Those two statements, it’s worth noting, are a mere eight months apart.

Dems Attack Kasich, Fail Miserably

Not a huge shock, but Democrats have recently been trying to attack Governor Kasich on a number of fronts.

First they claim that Mitt Romney is trying to distance himself from Kasich. The proof?  Governor Kasich didn’t attend Romney’s event in Ohio this past Sunday, on Father’s Day. 

This barely even warrants a response, because how dare a father choose to spend time with his family on Fathers Day.  I know it’s crazy, but maybe the Governor wanted to spend time with his daughters privately instead of taking them to a full day of campaign events. 

Also, if Mitt is trying to distance himself from the Governor I doubt he would he have said this:

... Instead, it’s governors like Gov. (John) Kasich, who have put in place pro-                growth polices and balanced the state budget, that are doing the job that’s creating economic good news in places like Ohio, and the entire nation deserves the same kind of agenda.”

Romney gave this quote to the Dispatch last weekend which shows a new narrative coming from his campaign.  They realized that highlighting Kasich’s ability to outpace the nation is a good way to highlight the President’s failures.  

Ted Strickland disses northeast Ohio again.

In case you haven't heard, the Kent State baseball team is in the College World Series. It's a pretty big deal. When you think of big baseball programs, Kent State is never one that comes to mind.

Last night, they won a game and staved off elimination. Ted Strickland sent out a tweet to congratulate them.

"Great win for the Zips tonight against FL in the College World Series"

Ummm...Ted? Kent State is the Golden Flashes. Akron University is the Zips.

Yes, folks, this was the Governor of Ohio.

UPDATE: The buzz about this on Twitter had "Ted Strickland" trending, meaning that a LOT of people were talking about it. And then there's this.

While congratulation Tweets were rapidly being sent, the one that came from former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland's account used the wrong Ohio team name.

Instead of congratulating the Golden Flashes, it mentioned the Zips (University of Akron) which are one of Kent State's rivals in the Mid American Conference.

The Tweet was deleted and reposted with correct information, but not after many users pointed out the mistake.

One person Tweeted that it was like "calling Ohio State 'Michigan.'"

Ouch.

Ohio Succeeds Despite Washington’s Efforts

All Ohioans received great news on Friday when the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that Ohio, unlike the rest of the nation, gained jobs in May and had a slight drop in the unemployment rate. 

For those keeping track, the entire country added 69,000 jobs in the month of May.  19,600 of those came from Ohio.  This puts Ohio’s unemployment rate almost a full percent below the national average.  The last time our rate was this low compared to the national rate was in 1995.

Great news of course, but there is still work to be done and obstacles in the way.

Businesses in Ohio continue to struggle under the weight of the Obama Administration’s overbearing regulations.  The problem with our unemployment numbers is while they continue to move in the right direction, the headwinds created by the Obama’s over-regulation could easily stall our growth. 

Needless and unnecessary regulations increase costs to business owners who want to operate and hire Ohioans.  What’s the end result?  Businesses stop hiring because they are losing money faster than they can bring it in. 

Business owners like Kelley Moore and her husband Greg who own and operate four NAPA Auto Parts stores in Ohio have seen firsthand the effects of Obama’s over-regulation.  Her story was highlighted by Speaker Boehner on his website, where she discussed how they cannot afford to replace staff members when they leave due to the rising costs of the products that they sell. 

Kelley highlights, in two sentences, the problem with needless government regulations. “…And customers, they can't afford the products.  It's hard to stay profitable, keep your doors open and keep local people employed if customers aren't coming in.  Eventually, there only are so many costs you can absorb.”

RightOnline underway in Las Vegas

Checking in here from Blogger's row at RightOnline. We're actually in a separate room from the main session, with a live stream of the speakers piped into the room. Unfortunately, the stream frequently pauses to buffer. Hopefully in the future they can run the feed in directly, instead of via internet.

Last night we were treated to terrific speeches from Sarah Palin and Michelle Malkin. The entire theme last night was a tribute to Andrew Breitbart. He is sorely missed here, of course. Many of the people here knew him personally. We were treated to a sneak preview of the film "Hating Breitbart" and the first ever full screening of Citizen's United new movie "Occupy Unmasked", which exposes the supposedly "spontaneous" Occupy movement as a completely organized effort by big labor entities, specifically the SEIU.

Here is the video of Michelle Malkin's address.

Obama comes to Ohio, delivers same sad song

If you missed President Downgrade's speech in Cleveland yesterday, don't worry. You didn't miss anything new. Literally. It was nearly an hour long, and was a complete snoozer. The administration had touted this speech as a "major address". The press was anticipating something new from the president.

He didn't deliver. It was more of the same class warfare, more of the same finger pointing, and more of the same blaming of his predecessor, even though he has now been president for 3 and a half years.

It was so bad, that even his cheerleaders in the most left-wing of media agreed that it was a huge disappointment. Yes, even his fans at MSNBC.

Check out this video that the RNC put out. It shows how identical the speech was to ones he has made before. This is the President of the United States. For promoting this as a major address, and then trotting out the same tired, recycled tripe he has been peddling for years, he and his campaign should absolutely be hanging their heads in shame.

Amidst National Economic Downturn, Ohio's Fighting The Tide

President Obama visited Ohio yesterday and continued to tout the same policies he’s been preaching since he first ran for the Oval Office:

Contrary to predictions that Mr. Obama would reset the campaign, for nearly an hour he pitched the same philosophy and policy prescriptions he has been making since 2008 -- emphasis on government investments in research, education at all levels, highways and other kinds of infrastructure, and "responsible" deficit reduction -- paid for in part, by raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans, who he said have gained wealth while the middle class has stagnated. 

Of course, as anyone can see, Obama’s stale policies just are not working. In May, the nation created an abysmal 69,000 jobs as the national unemployment rate ticked up to 8.2%, causing the Obama campaign to go on the defensive:

“The private sector is doing fine.” – President Obama, June 8, 2012. 

Wait, what? Some come back.

Of course, for months, Obama has been trying to take credit for the incredibly slow recovery throughout the nation. And yes, the economy is sluggishly moving forward, but on increasingly shaky ground and only thanks to the work done by Republican governors in job creating states like Ohio and Texas.

Sherrod Brown caption contest!

This may be my new favorite picture of Sherrod Brown. It's from the recent Nutroots Nation conference, where he snapped at CNN's Dana Loesch for asking a question about Obamacare.

Looks like Sherrod was getting drunk on free beer, unbridled liberalism and adulation from his many socialist fans.

Please submit your caption suggestions in the comments below.



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Bill Clinton's advice in Ohio: Vote us out

Today, Barack Obama will speak at Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland, in yet another attempt to "pivot to jobs". How fitting is it then, that the Media Research Center has released a video of Bill Clinton speaking in the very same place in 2010.

Listen to what Clinton had to say to Ohioans two years ago:

Sherrod Brown: "Everybody knows that government creates jobs"

Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), who last year tied Socialist Bernie Sanders for the title of the Senate's most liberal, has always voted in a manner that suggests that more government is the answer to every problem. He recently spoke with Greg Sargent from the Washington Post's The Plum Line and had some advice for President Obama on how to turn around the economy.

“Everybody knows that government creates jobs,” Brown said, citing the highway bill that has passed the Senate but is bottled up in the GOP-controlled House, which Dems say would create hundreds of thousands of jobs.

“Government creates jobs in highways,” Brown said. “We hire private contractors. That creates other jobs. It builds an economic foundation for job creation.”

“During the fifties, the sixties, the seventies, the eighties, the United States had great infrastructure programs,” Brown continued. “We were the envy of the world. Those are clear formulaic job creating strategies that we know.”

Sherrod Brown: Jobs Guru

Framer-in-Chief returns to Ohio Thursday

In 2010, shortly before the midterm elections, Barack Obama came to Cuyahoga Community College and tried to frame the problems of the economy as a result of previous failures, not his own policies:

Millions of jobs were lost before our policies even had a chance to take effect. We lost 4 million in the sixmonths before I took office. It was a hole so deep that even though we’ve added jobs again, millions of Americans remain unemployed. Hundreds of thousands of families have lost their homes. Millions more can barely pay the bills or make the mortgage. The middle class is still treading water,and those aspiring to reach the middle class are doing everything they can to keep from drowning.

Now, two years later, the President is returning to Tri-C to deliver what the Washington Post calls “a major campaign speech.” Apparently, they're even calling it a "reframing" speech, and Obama is going to do another one of his "hard pivots" to jobs. He will try, according to the newspaper, “to frame the election as a choice between two economic visions —one that protects the middle class and another that takes the country back to the failed policies of the past.”

Unfortunately for President Downgrade, there are only so many ways you can “frame” the facts.

Cleveland Plan Passes; Plunder-Pals In Denial

After weeks of ironing out the details and incorporating ideas from both Republicans and Democrats, Mayor Frank Jackson's “Cleveland Plan” passed in the legislature yesterday, and in bipartisan fashion.

The House voted 77-16 Tuesday to approve the measure. The Ohio Senate voted 27-4 Tuesday on an identical measure, and is expected to adopt the House version Wednesday before it is sent to the governor.

And adopt the House version they did, as today the Senate once again voted 27-4 in favor of sending the Cleveland Plan to the Governor's desk.

This is beyond amazing news for every child in the Cleveland area, as the legislation is the first of its kind to truly put children first. And its reforms are badly needed in a district that's mired in a financial crisis, while seeing its graduation rates hover just above 50%.

But the best part was that it was all done with a true spirit of bipartisanship. The plan was written by Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson, a Democrat, promoted vigorously by Governor John Kasich, a Republican and the Senate bill was co-sponsored by Big Labor darling, Senator Nina Turner, also a Democrat.

Obama Proves He Does Not Understand the Economy

Guest Post By Congressman Jim Renacci

Last week, President Obama proved he is out-of-touch with the economic difficulties facing America. At a Friday conference he insisted, “The private sector is doing fine.” He must be the only person in America who thinks that.

Over 23 million Americans are struggling to find work. Last month, unemployment in the United States actually increased. Prices at the store are on the rise, but paychecks are shrinking. Many small businesses across the country are struggling just to keep their doors open. But President Obama thinks they are “doing fine.”

Obviously, the opposite is true. President Obama's big government agenda—his health care law, burdensome regulations, reckless spending, and demands for tax increases—have all made it harder for job creators to hire new workers due to added expenses, uncertainty, and red tape.

The private sector is doing fine, Mr. President? Really?

"The private sector's doing fine."
Last Friday, Barack Obama confirmed yet again just how out of touch he is with what’s happening in America when he remarked that the private sector is doing “fine.” Considering the country’s 8.2% unemployment rate and the fact that 23 million Americans are unemployed, underemployed, or have stopped looking for work, it is hard to imagine that anyone, let alone the President, could actually believe that.

Even arch-liberal economist Paul Krugman slammed President Obama’s remark about the private sector on CBS’s “This Morning” on Monday. Krugman admitted that it “was an unfortunate line.”

“The president bungled the line. The truth is, the private sector is doing better than the public sector, which is not well enough.”

Uhh, yeah. Sure, Paul. He bungled the line. More like he let slip how he really thinks. Obama's remarks only highlight his philosophy about the economy, which reflects a belief that true economic growth is driven by the government, not the private sector.

Van Treuren offers hope for Lorain County Republicans

Regular readers of the blog probably know that I am a resident of Lorain County. Situated on Lake Erie to the west of Cleveland's Cuyahoga County, this can be a tough place for Republicans. The northern part of the county is urban, industrial and heavily influenced by unions. No matter what happens statewide, Barack Obama will win Lorain County. He beat John McCain here 60-40 in 2008. Under Democratic control for decades, Lorain County has been in decline.

However, things are starting to turn around a bit for Republicans here. There has been a small population shift away from the urban centers like Lorain towards the suburban cities and rural townships in the southern half of the county. Two years ago, all three county commissioners were Democrats. In the 2010 wave election, Republican Tom Williams was elected. While any Republican running for commissioner here is an underdog, there is excitement that we have a real opportunity to place a Republican majority on the commission for the first time in over 60 years.

Meet Phil Van Treuren of Amherst. Phil is an Army National Guard veteran, where he says he learned a lot about leadership and leading by example. His officer candidate class started with nearly 50 people, and when it was done, only Phil and 5 others remained standing.

Lorain County Commissioner candidate Phil Van Treuren

That hard work ethic is evident when you see how hard he works to connect with voters. Since we both serve on the Lorain County GOP Central Committee, I have seen first hand how often Phil is planning a fundraiser or knocking on doors or coordinating volunteers. He reminds me a lot of Josh Mandel's story, and even has the combat boots he wore when he walked over 400 miles knocking on doors in his race for Amherst City Council. Phil says his goal is to introduce himself to every voter in the county before election day.

"I absolutely love being an underdog. I love fighting for what's right, no matter what the odds are." -Phil Van Treuren

Phil will face off against incumbent Ted Kalo in November. Kalo, in typical Lorain County Democrat fashion, has hardly even campaigned. Phil has been campaigning and introducing himself to voters for months. As of the latest financial report, Phil has twice as much money in the bank as Kalo, and raised more in the primary season than any other Lorain County Republican candidate in history. In the primary, Phil received about the same number of votes as Kalo did in his primary. That has never happened before.

Media Trackers Recap: June 11, 2012

Here's a review of some stories you may have missed at Media Trackers Ohio recently!

• May 24: Another Solyndra? Ohio Finally Plans to Investigate Deadbeat Taxpayer-Funded “Green Jobs” Company
• May 25: Ohio Voice Under the Magnifying Glass
• May 29: Ohio Media Let ProgressOhio Deception Slide
• May 29: Unions Seek Control of Ohio’s Redistricting Process
• May 30: Public Documents Show City Council Split Over Prayer Ban
• May 30: Pro-Life Splinter Group Hopes to Jumpstart Heartbeat Bill With Attack Ads
• May 31: Mount Vernon Prayer Dispute Ends With Compromise
• May 31: Ohio Auditor Says “Going Green” Is Costing Taxpayers Millions
• May 31: We Are Ohio Fights to Recall Wisconsin Governor
• June 1: Ohio Unions Dump Member Dues into Failing Wisconsin Recall Election
• June 4: ProgressOhio, Brought to You by Big Labor
• June 4: Months Later, Controversial “Death to Israel” Professor Still Hasn’t Been Disciplined By University
• June 5: Ohio Organizing Collaborative Wants Higher Taxes
• June 6: Toledo Blade Editorial Parrots Voters First Lie
• June 6: Attorney General Overpaid for Luxury SUV, Investigation Shows
• June 7: Why the Ohio Education Association Needs “We Are Ohio”
• June 7: National Taxpayers Union Joins Opposition to Kasich’s Energy Tax Hike
• June 8: Embattled Democrat Fundraiser Tied to Pay-to-Play, Blackmail Plots
• June 8: Kasich Grants Temporary Death Penalty Reprieve to Lakeside Courtroom Shooter

To keep up with everything we cover at Media Trackers Ohio, bookmark http://ohio.mediatrackers.org, "Like" us on Facebook, and follow @MediaTrackersOH on Twitter!

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Ohio picking up slack in energy policy

by Governor John Kasich

Ohio’s agriculture and manufacturing sectors are highly productive and among our state’s largest employers. They’re also big energy users and part of the reason why Ohio ranks seventh nationally in energy generation.

With energy being so important to major Ohio job creators, it’s critical that we do everything possible to make it inexpensive, plentiful and reliable.

Unfortunately, Ohio faces major headwinds on energy from Washington. The U.S. lacks the kind of comprehensive energy policy it takes to achieve energy independence and help job creators secure low prices and reliable supplies. Furthermore, coal — which supplies 86 percent of our electricity — irritates the current president, and his administration’s EPA repeatedly threatens more red tape on Ohio’s growing shale-oil-and-gas industry.

Romney HQ Opens in Columbus

Today, the first Ohio headquarters for Mitt Romney's campaign held its grand opening in Columbus.  The event was a part of today's "Buckeye Blitz", with volunteers in all 88 counties going door-to-door to speak with voters.  

Even before the official opening time of Noon, the building was packed with supporters as others waited to get inside.  Around 250 people sent an RSVP to attend, and the overflow crowd that filled the offices was even larger than anticipated.

People congregate outside of Romney HQ in Columbus, waiting to enter.

Obama's war on coal: Ted Strickland thinks Ohioans are morons, part 2.

In his zeal to support Barack Obama, former Ohio Governor Ted Strickland continues to embarrass himself, and insult Ohioans' intelligence. Previously, we told you about how Ted Strickland actually told gun owners and NRA members that Barack Obama is a champion of gun rights and the 2nd Amendment. This time, Ted actually is trying to tell Ohioans who work in coal that Obama is not trying to kill their industry.

Ohio's former governor insists the Obama administration is not conducting a war on the coal industry.

Although the former governor claims the administration is pursuing all forms of energy production, supporters of the coal industry claim the president is doing everything he can to push them out of business.

Strickland argued that's not true.

In addition, Ted Strickland actually said he's never heard Barack Obama talk negatively about coal.

Toledo Blade Attempts To Rewrite History On Issue 2

In recent years, the Toledo Blade has had its issues with balanced journalism, but yesterday's editorial regarding Scott Walker's victory in Wisconsin is something else entirely. At one point, the Blade attempts to draw comparisons between Walker's victory this past Tuesday and Ohio's loss on Issue 2:

The Walker-backed measure to limit collective bargaining by public unions in Wisconsin arguably went farther than Senate Bill 5, Gov. John Kasich's effort to do the same thing here. It may be that Ohio's governor failed where Wisconsin's governor succeeded because Mr. Kasich was afraid to stand up to the historic might of organized labor. 

Kasich was afraid of organized labor? That's just one of those statements that leave you wondering...

In truth, Governor Kasich was the leading proponent of Issue 2, even when its champions in the Senate failed to fervently and publicly support it. For the Blade to insinuate otherwise is nothing less than rewriting history.

Yes, Ohio lost that fight. But not for lack of dedication by our state’s Governor.

Cross-posted at GOHP Blog.

Walker Proves Unions Can't Win On The Facts

If you were watching the Wisconsin election results last night, you’ve no doubt heard that taxpayer rights won against union scare tactics. Governor Scott Walker beat back a union-funded attempt at a recall with 53% of the vote.

Of course, that brought liberals to wonder how this could happen, with one brainwashed union member proclaiming democracy was dead:

But even if you buy the argument that individuals supported Barrett and only the rich voted for Walker, census data shows you’re out of your mind. If the top 53% of Wisconsin residents were the only ones who voted for Walker, then those making a median family income of roughly $40,000 or more cast their ballots for the incumbent.

Not exactly a “rich” salary. Then again, with Walker defending taxpayer rights, that 53% looks like another number we’ve seen.

Barack Obama’s Magical Arithmetic

“Federal spending since I took office has risen at the slowest pace of any president in almost 60 years.”

The words are those of President Downgrade Obama, speaking at a campaign rally in Iowa in late May. False, deceptive, untrue, evasive, dishonest, misleading, or just plain wrong. Those are only some of the terms that the president’s statement brings to mind. The fact that his spending record has been destructive to our fiscal health doesn’t give him license to invent a new record.

The Columbus Dispatch has an editorial today calling the president’s claims “magical arithmetic.” That is more generous than we are inclined to be.

Another Unfortunate Similarity Between President Obama and Jimmy Carter

As the days go by, it's really hard to tell apart the presidencies of President Barack Obama and his liberal predecessor Jimmy Carter.

• Both saw gas prices double within their first term in office. 
• Both failed to address America's energy problems. 
• Both mismanaged the economy, overseeing high national unemployment rates. 

And now Obama is garnering the support of one of Jimmy Carter's admirers: the Castro family. That's right, the ruthless dictator of Cuba and his family are endorsing Barack Obama for a second term. 

“If I were a U.S. citizen I’d vote for Obama for president,” boasted Mariela Castro during her San Francisco conference last week. “I think he is sincere, I think he speaks from the heart.” To cheers and applause from the San Franciscan crowd Raul Castro’s daughter also proclaimed that “what we want is the power of emancipation through socialism.” 

John Kasich: RINO

At least, somebody seems to thinks so. There is a rumor going around that a few well known Ohio conservatives or organizations are grumbling about the governor, and saying that, get this, he isn't conservative enough.

I have reached out to a lot of sources, and have not been able to nail down who it is, although there is some indications that the people pushing for a Right-to-Work amendment on this years ballot are part of it. Nevertheless, what we're hearing is that there is a press release or interview coming out in the media soon.

Of course, the very idea that Governor Kasich is not conservative is preposterous. So, we thought we would review some facts to consider when judging Kasich's conservatism.

Biden Proves Transparency Means Nothing To The Obama Administration

President Barack Obama has long touted that he would have the most transparent administration in history, swearing on his website (and it’s still there) that he is “committed to making his administration the most open and transparent in history.”

Apparently that transparency doesn’t extend to the media.

Obama’s record on transparency certainly leaves a lot to be desired. In fact, one public records lawyer in Washington, D.C. rates his administration as the worst since the Freedom of Information Act became law.

But Obama’s lack of transparency hit a new low earlier this month when Vice President Joe Biden cut off reporters from asking questions, or as many would define it, doing their jobs.

While Joe Biden addressed supporters at a campaign stop in Ohio, his staff shooed away Columbus Dispatch reporter Joe Vardon who attempted to ask the vice-president about coal. 

Vardon took to Twitter to describe the ordeal: