Politics
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By Joseph Mismas Managing Editor at Plunderbund.com
The State Auditor’s Office released much-anticipated audit reports for JobsOhio and for Ohio’s Development Services Agency late last month that reveal some extremely disturbing shortcomings at both organizations, including a lack of procedures for identifying potential conflicts of interest and over one million dollars in undocumented payments.
WHAT IS JOBSOHIO?
Shortly after taking office, John Kasich, with the help of Ohio’s GOP-controlled legislature, created JobsOhio as a semi-private organization tasked with leading Ohio’s business development efforts. Much of the power and responsibility (and a lot of staff) from Ohio’s Department of Development (DOD) was transferred to JobsOhio, and the state agency was renamed the Ohio Development Services Agency (DSA).
Unlike the state’s development departments, JobsOhio was made exempt from Ohio’s public records and ethics laws. The group was then given control of Ohio’s future state liquor profits to help fund its development efforts and pay its staff, some making over $200,000 per year.
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Columbus City Council President Andy Ginther's recent re-election may appear to have been a shoe-in under the current electoral rules and political landscape, but after an examination of his campaign finances, it appears to be more of a buy-in.
There is big money in politics, and in Ginther's case, that money came from all over. Ginther's friends gave to Ginther, and Ginther gave back.
The Free Press examined Ginther's campaign filings with both the Franklin County Board of Elections and the Ohio Secretary of State's office. The figures in the two sets of documents do not appear to match each other. The Secretary of State's office lists only contributions to and from PACs on it's website, in spreadsheet format, while the Franklin County Board of Elections provides only facsimiles of the actual filed documents.
Ginther began his political career as a consultant and executive at Triumph Communications and worked there during part of his council tenure until 2011. He has not failed to remember the friends that gave him his first leg up.
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We live in a city that is infamous for knocking down interesting historical structures. They seem to treat the official Historic Registry of buildings in Columbus like a “hit list” for demolition.
Whenever I see the “Arch Army” on the Jumbotron at a Blue Jackets game, I scream “Go attack the bastards that knocked down the old Union Station.” Or when I see I see the Army on the march, I want to point them not towards the Red Wings or the Lightning, but towards the Columbus Titans who destroyed the historically significant Ohio Pen.
It took battles by conservationists to prevent the City’s elites from destroying the magnificent Ohio Theater and Great Southern Theater to turn them into parking lots. Out of these struggles came the creation of the Historical Resource Commission in 1980.
Should Mayor Michael Coleman run for re-election and win in 2015, he will be the longest serving mayor in Columbus history. He has not announced his intentions for the 2015 general election at this time and it is far too early for a candidate to file. These tiny details have not stopped Coleman from raising bundles of cash through his campaign committee, Coleman for Columbus. It appears to be a standing committee for a candidate permanently on trail, with records of contributions stretching back nearly as far as the Ohio Secretary of State's website records go.
The contributions continued to roll in after Coleman's re-election in 2011. So far in 2013 he's received over $75,000 in contributions, topping his previous year's fund-raising for his unannounced campaign. During three days in late June this year, immediately following his junket to Las Vegas for the annual meeting of the US Conference of Mayors, Coleman's treasurer made many trips to the bank. Those three days of handshakes and backslapping seemed to have garnered the mayor over $11,000. A significant portion of these contributions came from firms in the construction industry.
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History has been made in our lifetime. When President Obama came to office in 2009, he had a progressive agenda that included implementing a national high speed rail plan. Many of his platforms became unsuccessful bargaining chips and the high speed rail plan was hardly popular on both sides of the isle. Three Republican governors effectively halted the plan by rescinding astronomical amounts of money that would have improved high speed travel in their respective states. People from Wisconsin, Florida and, of course, Ohio have lost opportunities to move around their states without disrupting the climate on the road or frequently paying more for airfare. Ohio is vying for high-speed rail yet again though.
Columbus is situated in a central position relative to cities in Ohio and across state lines. The third largest city in the country, Chicago, is only 350 miles away. While in the air, these cities seem worlds away, and their communities become completely disconnected. And although the road can be exhilarating- and other times exhausting- an identified high speed rail line could get passengers to their destination in only three and a half hours.
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For several years now the United Food and Commercial Union (UFCW) has financially backed a drive to organize Walmart’s low-wage workers and target Black Friday for a day of protests and strikes. The UFCW has quietly convinced a small number of Walmart associates across the nation to form a non-union organization called OUR Walmart, or Organization United for Respect at Walmart.
OUR Walmart members feel their cause to be historic as they speak out for a living wage and greater benefits. But they seek an even bigger concession, and it won’t cost the Waltons, the family that owns Walmart, or their stockholders a cent – greater respect.
Two Black Friday protests are planned for Columbus and its suburbs beginning at 9 am at the Walmart at 3657 E. Main in Whitehall and the Walmart at 6674 Canal Winchester Blvd.
As news seeped out that American troops could be stationed in Afghanistan through the year 2024 “and beyond,” questions began to proliferate toward the Obama administration. Over the course of a couple years the mantra has been that America’s presence in Iraq is over and the U.S. footprint in Afghanistan is fading away. With these recent revelations stemming from Afghanistan that speak directly to the contrary, this narrative is now on trial. Further, if the reaction from the State Department is any indication, then we are in store for a very confusing trial.
Indeed, the amount of confusion has become so great between the U.S. and Afghanistan that the words of Afghan President Karzai are now apparently unreliable. Karzai reportedly said in a recent private meeting that he wishes to have the next president of Afghanistan sign the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA), as opposed to himself. The position of the U.S., in the meantime, has always been to have the BSA signed and completed by the year’s end. Since the Afghan election would make such an American aim impossible, this puts the Obama administration in a bind to say the least.
Indeed, the amount of confusion has become so great between the U.S. and Afghanistan that the words of Afghan President Karzai are now apparently unreliable. Karzai reportedly said in a recent private meeting that he wishes to have the next president of Afghanistan sign the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA), as opposed to himself. The position of the U.S., in the meantime, has always been to have the BSA signed and completed by the year’s end. Since the Afghan election would make such an American aim impossible, this puts the Obama administration in a bind to say the least.
With a stroke of his pen on November 6, 2013, Ohio Governor John Kasich demonstrated his utter contempt for democracy. Fearing that Ohio Libertarian Party nominee Charlie Earlwho has strong Tea Party support would cut into his conservative base, Kasich outlawed all third parties in Ohio for the 2014 election.
The offending law is Senate Bill 193, which passed last week amidst controversy and turmoil at the Statehouse. It has been dubbed the “John Kasich Re-election Protection Act” for obvious reasons. The ever-arrogant Ohio Senator Bill Seiz (R-Cincinnati) introduced the draconian law the same day the Libertarians publicly announced Earl’s nomination.
Kasich has always been a bit contemptuous of competitive elections. Other than his first campaign, most of his electoral victories were landslides aided by gerrymandered districts and an incredibly safe noncompetitive seat in the 1990’s. When Kasich ran for president in 2000, he often polled 0% of the vote in the early caucus and primary states.
The offending law is Senate Bill 193, which passed last week amidst controversy and turmoil at the Statehouse. It has been dubbed the “John Kasich Re-election Protection Act” for obvious reasons. The ever-arrogant Ohio Senator Bill Seiz (R-Cincinnati) introduced the draconian law the same day the Libertarians publicly announced Earl’s nomination.
Kasich has always been a bit contemptuous of competitive elections. Other than his first campaign, most of his electoral victories were landslides aided by gerrymandered districts and an incredibly safe noncompetitive seat in the 1990’s. When Kasich ran for president in 2000, he often polled 0% of the vote in the early caucus and primary states.
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Protestors descended upon the Wendy’s at 9th Ave. and High St. on the Ohio State University campus on Saturday, November 16 to demand that the Dublin-based corporation join the Fair Food Program. Of the five largest fast food companies in the country, Wendy’s is the only holdout against the Program.
The Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) has built an historic partnership between farmworkers, tomato growers and eleven leading food corporations based on human rights, dignity and developing a sustainable tomato industry.
A boisterous, chanting crowd with drums and megaphones demanded the end to substandard poverty wages. Signs called for Wendy’s to pay one penny more a pound to benefit the workers. The prevailing piece rate today for tomato workers is 50 cents for every 32 pounds of tomatoes harvested.
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This past Wednesday in the wake of Wikileaks publishing a draft of the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the Ohio State chapter of United Students for Fair Trade (USFT) paid a visit to Pat Tiberi’s (R-Ohio) office in Westerville.
"We're delivering a letter to Pat Tiberi asking him to not support fast track for the Trans-Pacific Parntership," said Taylor Picorelli, 3rd year in Business/ Environment, Economy, Development, & Sustainability (EEDS).
Though Congress has the ultimate authority to negotiate international trade, the TPP is currently on the “fast track,” meaning that President Barack Obama could have the power to sign the agreement into law before Congress approves it. The delegation of Ohio State students visited the district office of U.S. Rep. Tiberi to deliver a letter urging the congressman to join the over 150 members of Congress demanding transparency in the TPP negotiations.
"The Trans-Pacific Partnership is a huge threat to democracy and human rights," said Sara Stanger, 3rd year International Studies major and President of the OSU chapter of USFT.