Licking County Pro-Active Citizens

HEY BUDDY, CAN YOU SPARE A VOTE?

You hear it all the time about our Republican 12th District Congressman, Pat Tiberi: 

"He helped me out when I needed help."

Tiberi, let's admit, does well when a constituent wants tickets for the White House tour or needs to speed up action on a passport application or straighten out similar problems with a federal agency.  His official web site is encyclopedic in terms of suggestions on how to deal with federal issues and agencies.  For individual problems, he's your man.  In the trade, it's called being good at constituent services.

It's just when Representative Tiberi actually votes on something that affects thousands of his 12th District residents - and millions of Ohioans or Americans as a group - that he seems to forgot how to extend that helping hand.

Take the issue of extending unemployment benefits to millions of jobless workers hobbled by the current recession.

According to Congressman Pat's web site:

"With unemployment growing across the nation and in Central Ohio, rest assured I am working in Congress to make our futures a little brighter.  While I know it isn’t a permanent solution, I have supported multiple temporary extensions of unemployment compensation to help families pay their bills while workers are looking for a new job."

http://tiberi.house.gov/Issues/Issue/?IssueID=4688

But meanwhile, Congressman Pat's evil twin, Representative Tiberi, is listed in Today's Dispatch ("How Ohioans Voted Last Week") as voting "NO" on H.R. 4123, the extension on jobless benefits to some 2 million Americans whose benefits had run out.

So it must have been a bad bill, or maybe it was just a GOP tactic to keep the unemployed desperate and angry right up to the November elections.  Either way, all but about three dozen House Republicans joined Rep. Tiberi in voting "No" to help the jobless.

But wait!!  Since the Democratic Congress and President Obama eventually approved the extension, despite Republican opposition, Congressman Pat still is there to provide a handy link on his web site  --constituent service, remember? -- to the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services.  Where you find out:

"On July 22, 2010, President Obama signed legislation that extends the deadlines for the federally funded Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) program and federal funding for State Extended Benefits. As a result, claimants who recently exhausted their benefits may be able to restart their claims.

Claimants should continue to file for benefits, which will be retroactive to the former program deadlines of May/June, 2010 by calling 1-866-962-4064 toll-free between 7:00 AM. and 7:00 PM, Monday through Friday, and between 9:00 AM and 3:00 PM on Saturday. Because of the late passage of this extension, claimants may notice a delay in the posting of funds to their accounts.
On July 22, 2010,"  http://unemployment.ohio.gov/

So to sum up, Congressman Tiberi votes against extending unemployment benefits to 2 million Americans including thousands in his own 12th District  But he says on his web site that he's really in favor of such assistance, and even uses his official web site to directs constituents to state-provided information on how to qualify.

That Pat Tiberi, he's one Washington politician who really helps a guy out!

SO YOU THINK THE DEMOCRATS HAVE A BETTER PLAN?

HERE'S SOME UPCOMING EVENTS WHICH NEED YOUR SUPPORT:

Tuesday, July 27 - Vicky Christiansen Fund raiser, 4:30-7 p.m., 172 E. Hudson St., Newark

Tuesday, July 27 - Licking County Democrat Central Committee Meeting - 7pm - County Administration Bldg

Wednesday, July 28 - Licking County Campaign HQ Kickoff featuring Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern, 2:30-3:30 p.m. at county party headquarters,15 W. Church St., Newark (Will be preceded by a postcard party for Naomi Compton at 1 p.m.) 

August 6 - 6pm to 9pm, Licking County Democratic Club "house party" at the county Democratic Office on Church St., Newark.  Please contact Allen Schwartz at alschwartz1@aol.comor 937 515 6461 to volunteer to help. 

August 7 - Ohio Democratic Party State Dinner, Columbus Convention Center.

August 8-14, Hartford Fair.  Booth.

August 18-21 - Pataskala Street Fair booth. (Parade on Saturday)

August 28: Judge Branstool fund raiser.  Details TBA.

DCCC Discovers the 12th

After years of ignoring central Ohio's 12th Congressional District, it's nice to see that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) is finally willing to commit some muscle to helping Democrat Paula Brooks oust incumbent Republican Pat Tiberi. 

This site has hammered Tiberi for years for his partisan flip-flopping, voting YES for every budget-busting spending spree put forth during the Bush administration only to suddenly claim to be a fiscal conservative after Obama moved into the White House. 

Yet the 12th district race has remained invisible while the DCCC lavished attention on Democrats Mary Jo Kilroy in the 15th and Zack Space in the 18th.

Indeed, Brooks, currently Franklin County commissioner, is so excited (surprised?) by this sudden interest from Washington that she's announced it twice in two months:

Jan. 14, 2010: "Congressman Chris Van Hollen, Chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, just called Paula to let her know that her campaign is on the list of "Top Races" nationwide!"

March 11: 2010: "Yesterday, our campaign was placed on the DCCC’s Red to Blue list.  This is a selective group of campaigns deemed by the national party to be winnable in 2010."

David Robinson, who ran an aggressive campaign against Tiberi in 2008 on a shoe-string budget, sure could have used some of this love from the DCCC.  And Robinson's election would have likely given Obama one more vote in the House for his programs instead of the steady drip of No, No, No, offered up by Tiberi and his party.

Robinson, by the way, is now running for state representative in Franklin County's 21st Ohio House District and has a good shot at winning.  At a Wednesday night political meeting in Columbus, he vowed to run "a robust and well-organized campaign" to claim the seat for the Democrats this November.  The 21st District sprawls across areas of Columbus and Worthington in northwest Franklin County.

Although this is a Franklin County race, some of us in Licking County will support Robinson just because he ran an aggressive campaign against Tiberi two years ago -- and spent a lot of time here getting to know us even though Licking is not friendly ground for Democrats. 

Over the past two years, he's gained a wife (Lorraine) and a ton of political experience, although he says he's still driving that same old pick-up truck. (Hey, it worked for Scott Brown!)

Although Robinson this year is auditioning for a smaller role on the political stage, state legislative races take on a new importance this year since, following the 2010 census, it's the Ohio House which will decide how voters are grouped into the new congressional districts.  Democrats have fought an uphill battle in congressional races for a decade just because a Republican-controlled legislature gerrymandered the Ohio map in favor of its party following the 2000 census.

 If you want to continue to support David and help keep the Ohio House in Democratic hands, check out his web site at: http://robinsonforohio.com/

-- David Lore

Change, For Better or Worse

You wanted change?

Okay, Tuesday, you got change.  Some good.  Some bad.

But when it came to vital services, local voters for the most part were wise enough to stay the course.

Good Change:

• Mark Johns 129-vote win over Republican Richard Waugh in the Heath mayoral race.  Mark surfaced in 2008 as a local grassroots leader for Obama and has not only stayed involved in local Democratic politics but taken on a tough race and won it.  Kudos to Mark, his family and his campaign manager, Garry Goldsmith.
• Bryan Lenzo's election to the Pataskala City Council.  Lenzo's prior experience on the city's planning and zoning commission should help the council deal with the suburb's financial problems, aggravated by voters' rejection (again) of a city income tax.
• Janine Shipley (Licking County School Board) and Merissa McKinstry (Pataskala council) were the top vote getters in their slates, a sign of the increasingly important role of women of both parties in Licking County politics.
• Despite hard times, county voters supported the $4.5 million senior citizens levy.  Hopefully seniors, who in most cases are spared the worst of the recession because of Social Security and Medicare, will reciprocate by being equally supportive of school levies, youth recreation programs, help for the unemployed and health care reform.

Bad Change:

• Voter rejection of school issues for the career center (C-TEC) and the Lakewood, Licking Heights and North Fork districts.  The North Fork loss is particularly painful since the income tax issue was a renewal and actually passed in Licking County, only to lose in Knox County.
• Statewide victories for Issues 1, 2 and 3, loading up the Ohio Constitution with mandates better left to the Legislature to handle by statute law.  Particularly onerous was approval of Issue 3, the casino licenses, which lost in Licking County 54-46 percent.  Happily, nobody's yet proposed a Casino-On-The-Square.
• While most library funding issues were approved across central Ohio, Pataskala voters turned down their $282,000 library operating levy.  Nothing much can be expected from any community which doesn't support its schools or libraries.

Staying the Course:

• Township road and fire levies passed without exception, demonstrating that voters support those services which directly effect them.  Who would be crazy enough to thumb their nose at the local fire and ambulance crews?  (Although some of us suspect that potholes would be a better way to slow down traffic than camera surveillance of the kind just rejected by voters in Heath).
• Democrat Ed Houdeschell won his race to remain on Newark City Council and Democrat Doug Heffley won a spot on the Heath Council.  Newark Council members unopposed for re-election were Bruce Bain, Shirley Stare and Carol Floyd.
• Thanks to Newark Council Candidates Julie Barrett and Bob Ziegler as well as Newark Treasurer Candidate Cary Rader for stepping up for the team, even if they didn't win.  These local races, particularly in a red-leaning, Right-leaning county, require extraordinary commitment on the part of Democratic candidates.

Looking Ahead:

• Both Congressmen representing Licking County have cause for concern in 2010 based on Tuesday's national results.  Rep. Zack Space, D-Dover, and Rep. Pat Tiberi, R-Delaware County, are both incumbents and thus face the wrath of fed-up taxpayers in their re-election bids next year.

Tiberi is running in a swing district (the 12th) centered on Franklin County, which is trending increasingly Democratic.  The question is whether his loyalty to the "Party of No" which has resulted in his consistent rejection of all planks in the Obama program, including health insurance reform, will play well or just smell with Independents a year from now.

Meanwhile, Space has the opposite problem of justifying his mostly pro-Obama voting record to Independents and independent-minded Republicans in the 18th District.  Working in Space's favor is his impressive campaign war chest and the lack of a well-known challenger among the four Republicans announced so far.  With a little bit of luck, the GOP hopefuls will engage in the same sort of intra-party blood-letting which led to the election of a liberal Democrat in a similarly conservative Republican congressional district in upstate New York on Tuesday. 

 --- David Lore

 

Tiberi Votes No on Great Lakes Clean-up

Congressman Pat Tiberi's opposition to health care legislation evidently applies as well to legislation to protect the health of the Great Lakes.

Tiberi, according to the Nov. 1 Dispatch report, How Ohioans voted last week, joined most of his Republican colleagues in casting a "No" vote on H.R. 2996, a $32.2 billion spending bill for the U.S. Departments of Interior and Environmental Protection. "It includes $475 million to help clean up the Great Lakes," said the chart. 

Ohio Democrats, except for Rep. Dennis Kucinich, supported the measure.  But among Ohio Republicans, only Sen. George Voinovich and Rep. Steven LaTourette voted "Yes."

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/national_world/stories/2009/11/01/Vote_1101.ART_ART_11-01-09_A8_3GFHLLI.html

More details were provided by the Cleveland Plain Dealer in an article published today in the Dispatch.

WASHINGTON -- Without fanfare, President Barack Obama has approved a large cash infusion to help clean up the Great Lakes, quietly signing a bill that was years in the making and marks a rare bipartisan milestone......

---

....the news brought cheers yesterday. It will mean about $146 million can be spent in the next year to clean toxic sediment and areas of concern, including the lower Cuyahoga River, while $60 million more can go toward removing zebra mussels, keeping out Asian carp and dealing with other invasive species that threaten marine life, shipping and recreation, according to figures in Obama's budget.

Another $97 million will go to reduce runoff and contamination from entering streams and rivers from farms and industry, while $105 million will help restore habitat and wildlife, including building the populations of lake trout, brook trout, lake sturgeon and piping plover. Finally, the budget has $65 million for accountability and monitoring.

This was a bipartisan accomplishment, set in motion during President George W. Bush's administration when Great Lakes shippers, environmentalists, fishermen and recreational boaters created an ambitious restoration blueprint calling for investments from U.S. and Canadian governments, states and provinces and the private and nonprofit sectors........

----

The spending bill also contains $3.4 billion for drinking water and sewer improvements across the nation. It has an additional $4 million to add 635 acres to the Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Summit County.

http://www.dispatchpolitics.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2009/11/03/copy/on_lakes_pd_1103.ART_ART_11-03-09_B8_4PFIBNI.html?adsec=politics&sid=101

Although Tiberi likes to portray himself as a moderate Republican who supports bipartisanship in Congress, he regularly votes against any spending bill for EPA or the Department of Interior.  Once Barack Obama replaced George Bush in the Oval Office, Tiberi became a sudden convert to fiscal responsibility, voting against every Democrat-sponsored appropriation bill unless it was for the military, for veterans or for homeland security.

-- David Lore

 

TIBERI'S EXTENDED HAND

It's good to see the usually-invisible Pat Tiberi getting some attention this week in the local media.  Since 2001, this 12th District Republican congressman has stayed in office by being the stealth candidate as far as the general public is concerned, attending efficiently to individual constituent requests while building up his re-election war chest by voting consistently to please his party bosses and campaign contributors.

With the media (and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee) focused on Tiberi's more newsworthy congressional neighbors -- Democrats Mary Jo Kilroy in the 15th and Zack Space in the 18th -- this hide-and-seek tactic has worked like a charm.  All Congressman Pat has had to do every two years to punch his ticket back to Washington is lay down a few thousand yard signs and take advantage of the Democrats habit of putting forth a weak and even more obscure opponent.

But the 2010 election may be different.

Tiberi is now opposed by Democrat Paula Brooks, a popular Franklin County commissioner, and the 12th district race is now attracting more out-of-town attention.

The Dispatch today informs that MoveOn.org has targeted Tiberi this week with one of its "caught red-handed" commercials, linking the congressman's opposition to Democrat-sponsored health care reform bills to his record of hefty contributions from the health care and insurance industries.

"The 30-second spots began airing in the Columbus area last night (Thursday) and will continue for 10 days, said Alex Howe, a spokesman for Moveon.org," said the newspaper.

Moveon.org has posted the ad at: http://pol.moveon.org/redhanded_ads.html

Included is this documentation:

"Congressman Patrick Tiberi has received $682,394 throughout his career from health and insurance interests, including:

Insurance	$601,594
HMOs	$80,800
TOTAL	$682,394

And Wednesday, in the Newark Advocate, Tiberi in a guest editorial repeated his claim that he's all for health care reform - but just doesn't like any of the ideas brought forth by President Obama or majority congressional Democrats.

Tiberi casts himself in the column once again as a hopeful but all-too-often disappointed warrior for reform, a politician who wonders why we all can't just get along.  Consider this whopper:

"I had high hopes when President Barack Obama was sworn in," he writes.  "We had just completed one of the most partisan periods I'd seen in Washington.  Obama talked about common ground, working together regardless of party and finding good solutions for all Americans....then came the stimulus package."

Now while it's true that Tiberi didn't start complaining about Obama in public until March, a month after Obama took office, it's hard to envision this loyal Republican harboring "high hopes" for the new Democratic President last February

Tiberi, it should be noted, was one of ten legislators who signed on during the 110th Congress to one of the most simplistic rants against the Democratic Party ever published by the GOP.

In a 6-page broadside entitled, The Architects of Chaos, Decline and Defeat vs. The Champions of American Freedom produced by the Republican House Policy Committee, the group said the goal of Democrats was "to reduce sovereign Americans from the masters of their destiny into the serfs of governmental dependency."

It then went on to describe the party of FDR and Truman and Kennedy as "the architects of chaos, decline and defeat."

And yet, in February 2009, after supporting this vile slander, Tiberi claims he looked forward to Obama's presidency with "high hopes."   This, after a campaign during which his party's leadership had castigating Obama for being the most liberal Democrat in the Senate.

Right.

In fact, in supporting such a document, Tiberi proved himself a partisan "tea-bagger" long before the movement erupted on the Republican Right.  Remember this every time the congressman now wrings his hands over the lack of bipartisan cooperation in Washington.

And which party today would you describe as "the architects of chaos, decline and defeat.?"

-- David Lore

Blue Dog Tiberi?

Our 12th District congressman, Republican Pat Tiberi, is all for health care reform, he says.

Just not the sort of reform now moving towards decision in the Democrat-controlled Congress.  Consider these excerpts from his posting at his website (http://tiberi.house.gov ):

“I am for healthcare reform.  Doing nothing has never been an option.

“Americans should be able to keep what they have if they like their current healthcare plan.Americans should not need to worry about coverage for pre-existing conditions, and they should not need to worry about loss of coverage because they get sick, because they lose their job, or because they move.  We need to move quickly to address the sky-rocketing cost of medical care; ensuring the next generation of Americans won’t be buried in debt to pay for these reforms.

 “I am for pursuing healthcare reform in the right way –together, taking the best ideas we all have to offer and moving forward.  Healthcare reform is not a Democratic issue, it’s not a Republican issue; it’s an American issue and deserves an American solution.”

Tiberi, you may recall,drew heavy criticism in his district when he first voted  in August 2007 AGAINST extending the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) to cover some 5 million lower-and-working class children.  Within a matter of weeks, he reversed himself and voted FOR the bill.

Despite all his usual outrage about Democratic mishandling of the current health care reform bill, might Tiberi go along this fall with the Democratic majority in hopes of securing his re-election next year in an increasingly swing district? Is Democrat Zack Space the only local congressman who's on the griddle on this?

Whatever we on the Left might think of his choices, Tiberi is a survivor and a pretty smart politician.  In 2007 and 2008, he backed off from some of the more unpopular measures backed by the Bush administration. 

Dare he desert the Republican Right on health care reform?

Next year he faces a potentially tough race against Democratic Franklin County Commissioner Paula Brooks, although Brooks in her health-care statement this week isn't telling us much yet about where she stands on the details.  To quote her "Dear Friends" posting on Sept. 10: 

"While it would be easy to sit idly by and ignore this call for action, it is the current unwillingness to tackle the big issues that has left our nation with a system that watches from the sidelines as 14,000 Americans lose their coverage each day......

"There are many sides to this debate and many details yet to be worked out.  In order to move forward, we need a representative in Congress who will listen to all sides, who will keep an open view, and who will work hard to make sure that fresh ideas do not go stale due to inaction."

One would hope that Brooks would get tough - and specific - about her disagreements with Tiberi on health care reform, now that people are paying attention.  "Many sides to this debate" and "many details yet to be worked out" sounds like what a politician would say who's not up to speed on the subject.

We don't get to vote on these two for another 14 months but this fall will be a good time to watch what they say - and do - not only health care reform but the big energy-and-environment bill waiting in the wings.

-- David Lore 

BROOKS PICKING UP SPEED

Franklin County Commissioner Paula Brooks was a surprise visitor yesterday at the Licking County Democratic Party picnic in Newark.

Brooks, currently president of the commission, has announced her candidacy to oppose Republican incumbent 12th District Congressman Pat Tiberi in next year's election.  Since a successful race depends on holding down Tiberi's margins in Republican-leaning Licking and Delaware counties -- while running strong in Democratic-leaning Franklin -- Brooks vowed to be a road warrior over the next 14 months.

"We're going to make this happen," she said.  "I will be back again and again and again."

Tiberi has served in Congress since 2001, aided by the favorable political architecture of his district and relatively unknown opponents in recent years.  Brooks, a popular commissioner who won her second term with 63 percent of the vote, is considered the strongest Democrat in the 12th District race since then-Columbus city councilwoman Maryellen O'Shaughnessy in 2000.

"I'm hearing from people that they're disappointed in the current member, and fatigue has set in as to what he's been able to deliver," she said yesterday.

Brooks said she'll stress her record in both public and private service bringing jobs to Columbus and Franklin County.

"“Central Ohio families of the 12^th District deserve a representative who will energetically stand up for their most important concerns – their pocketbooks, their jobs, and their health care – not sit back and block progress in Washington,” she said in announcing her candidacy on Aug. 6. 

Although Republicans are already attacking Brooks as yet another "tax-and-spend liberal," the Dispatch in its lead editorial last Thursday commended the Democrat-controlled commission for keeping its budget $183 million in the black.

"By the end of the year, county officials estimate that total spending will be $306.9 million, a reduction of $1.1 million from 2008," the newspaper said.  "Last week, commissioners eliminated seven vacant positions and reduced the budget for supplies and services to save an additional $4.8 million."

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/editorials/stories/2009/08/20/komish.ART_ART_08-20-09_A12_1IEQCKM.html?sid=101

Progressives and Democrats wanting to learn more about Paula Brooks should check out her campaign web site: www.paulabrooks.com

-- Gray Hunter

TIBERI'S THUMBS-DOWN VOTING RECORD

The following is a  reprint of a guest column by David Lore in today's Newark Advocate.

......................................................................................................................

 

Congressman Pat Tiberi gave it the old Buckeye cheer when he spoke last April 22 at a Capitol Hill breakfast hosted by the OSU Alumni Association.

“Do something great,” Tiberi said, echoing the university slogan according to an article in the association newsletter.

“In Congress, you have the impact of making someone’s life better,” Tiberi said. “That’s what Ohio State prepared me to do.”

Tiberi, R- District 12, represents all or part of three central Ohio counties, including western Licking County.

So just what in Tiberi’s voting record this year would qualify as doing “something great?”

And how has he made “someone’s life better?”

Although a Republican, Tiberi says frequently that he’s all for change – just not the change being offered by President Barack Obama and Congressional Democrats.

That’s why he’s responded to Obama’s “Yes We Can” with his own battle cry: “No, You Won’t!”

After eight years of voting for nearly every plank in the Bush-Cheney platform, Tiberi since December has voted “no” on dozens of major pieces of legislation, including:

·     The budgets of every government department – including education – with the exception of the military and homeland security.

·     The cap-and-trade energy and environmental bill to reduce dependence on foreign oil and reduce use of polluting carbon fuels.

·     A bill to modernize crumbling public schools

·     A bill to allow local prosecution of hate crimes.

·     The Volunteerism and Education Act to promote university efforts to improve their local communities.

·     The Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2008, Obama’s stimulus package to avoid something not-so-great (another Great Depression).

·     A Democratic-initiated bill to prevent mortgage foreclosures.

·     Obama’s initiative to extend $15 billion in loans to U.S. automakers.

 

Tiberi has justified most of these votes by saying he’s just trying to protect us from the excesses of Democratic rule.

But how did his vote last January against the so-called “Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act” make anybody’s life better?  Ledbetter, you may recall, sought relief from the courts – and Congress – after her employer for 19 years paid her less than males in the same job but kept it secret.

And last March, how did Tiberi’s vote(s) against the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act qualify as doing “something great?” 

The measure, approved in the House with only one vote to spare, protects two million wilderness acres and tightens security at national parks and monuments.

According to news reports, the wilderness bill drew near-solid Republican opposition after the GOP failed to amend it to allow loaded firearms in national parks.

During the Bush years, Tiberi was a cheerleader for the $1 trillion Iraq war as well as hundreds of billions of dollars worth of tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.  But now this reformed “spend-oholic” has joined the noisy right-wing shout out again Democratic health care reform.

“There's no doubt that health care reform is long overdue,” wrote Tiberi for The Advocate on Aug. 9. “However, the Democrats' plan continues the national spending spree.”

Want to “do something great,” Rep. Tiberi?

How about retiring. 

JUST SAY "NO" TO REP. TIBERI

Our 12th District congressman, Republican Pat Tiberi, tells us that his newly announced challenger, Democrat Paula Brooks, "is miles away from the values that the district cares about," according to the Dispatch. 

Brooks, a popular Franklin County commissioner, revealed her candidacy yesterday for the House seat on the ballot in November, 2010.

"Folks from Delaware to Westerville to Newark know I represent them and the priorities of our community," said Tiberi, the four-term incumbent, selectively embracing the GOP-leaning suburbs at the perimeter of his district while ignoring the core (and increasingly Democratic) vote in Columbus and Franklin County.

Here at LICOPAC, we make it a habit to track the voting records of Licking County's two congressmen, Tiberi and Democrat Zack Space (D-18).

That's how we know that Tiberi's core values - which may or may not match that of his constituents these days - can be summed up as "Just Say No" in accordance with Republican Party discipline to oppose all things Obama (or Democrat), regardless of their merit.

Okay, that's not exactly fair.

Tiberi since Inauguration Day has voted to support some spending, as long as it's earmarked for the military or for homeland security.

But since last December, Tiberi has voted against:

• Appropriations to maintain the departments of agriculture, transportation, urban development, education, health, labor and Interior as well as funds for the Food and Drug administration, the Treasury, the judiciary, the Federal Aviation Administration and even the national parks.
• The cap-and-trade energy and environmental bill.  On the other major Obama priority, the health care reform act, Tiberi has expressed opposition to all versions of the measure now approved by House committees.  .
• A bill to modernize, renovate and repair public school buildings nationwide.
• A bill to enable local law enforcement to prosecute hate crimes.
• A national service bill to promote volunteerism.
• Curbs on excessive executive pay at bailed-out banks and financial institutions.
• (See Comment / Correction) 
• A bill to prevent mortgage foreclosures.
• The Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009,(i.e. the economic stimulus package).
• Authorization for $15 billion in loans to U.S. automakers

And finally, Tiberi said "No" to the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to tighten laws on wage discrimination.  (Actually, he voted NO on this measure in January, then abstained when the bill came back for final approval several weeks later). 

Also in January, Tiberi voted NO on the Paycheck Fairness Act to raise dollar limits on gender-based lawsuits and set in place new standards to discourage such discrimination.

All that in just eight months -- and the congressman is only one-third way through his current term.

But in fact Tiberi and his Republican colleagues are just flexing their "thumbs-down" reflexes after jerking thumbs-up since 2001 for the Bush administration agenda of war, more war, curbs on civil liberties and tax cuts for business and the rich (i.e., the GOP base).

"Frankly, people in the district say they are disappointed in the current member and they want a fresh approach...," Brooks told the Dispatch.

It can't come soon enough.

(Gray Hunter)

Dispatch flip-flop on Robinson ethics complaint

The Dispatch continues to -- how do I say this nicely? -- screw up its coverage of the 12th District Congressional race, mostly by neglect but now also by printing false information about the Democratic candidate, David Robinson.

Which is something you wouldn't know unless you're in the habit of reading the daily corrections, well buried inside the newspaper.

To be specific, yesterday, in a prominent article on the back display page of the Metro section, it was reported that the Ohio Elections Commission panel "found probable cause to forward a complaint (to the full commission) against David Robinson who is running against incumbent Republican Pat Tiberi, for the 12th Congressional District."

"In the Robinson case, complainant Mike Stable of Dublin, who did not attend yesterday, identified himself in the complaint as a Marine veteran who served in Lima Company.  He took issue with Robinson's campaign web site.

"The site said Disabled American Veterans gave Tiberi an F rating for 2007, though that group had not issued a 2007 grade and gave Tiberi a 100 percent rating on two 2008 votes, Stable's complaint said."

Pretty serious stuff, with the election only a little more than two weeks away and veterans a key voting bloc.

Except that in today's edition, deep at the bottom of page A-4, there's this correction:

"The Ohio Election Commission dismissed a complaint against Democrat David Robinson's campaign in the 12th Congressional District on Thursday.  Because of a reporter's error, the commission's decision was incorrect in a story on page B8 of yesterday's Metro & State section."

Care to guess how many readers read the original incorrect article, and how many read the correction?

These things happen at a newspaper, but the Dispatch seems to have a special problem with Robinson.

We've noted earlier how the newspaper editorial page, on Sept. 21, heartily endorsed Tiberi without ever even mentioning Robinson, a highly unusual slip at the Dispatch where endorsements usually recognize all candidates in a race.

http://www.licopac.org/licking_county_issue_pac/2008/10/media-blind-spo.html

Since the March primary, the number of articles the newspaper has published on the 12th District race can be counted on the fingers of one hand, as compared to the heavy coverage of the neighboring 15th District Race.  This despite the fact that the 12th District encompasses the heart of the Dispatch's circulation area: eastern Franklin County as well as part of Licking and Delaware counties.

Presumably, the newspaper considered the race uncompetitive because of Tiberi's huge advantage in terms of campaign contributions and name recognition.  So by not covering the race, and Tiberi's lackluster record in Congress, the Dispatch makes sure it stays uncompetitive.

We look forward to a better performance from the newspaper when (and if) it reports on the WOSU-TV debate between Tiberi and Robinson this coming Thursday evening, and in the Voters Guide just prior to the election. As Barack says, we need to hope beyond all expectations.

(Gray Hunter)