McCain Already Opting for Public Funds

John McCain hit the dusty ground of Iraq running by conducting a "fact finding" mission Sunday. This trip didn't appear to have the exorbitant security trappings of his last junket but had the regular hoopla. On the fact finding agenda were meetings with St. Petreaus and Iraqi leaders including his honor president Nouri al Maliki. Just to blur any line between fact finder and campaign stop McCain had Senate colleagues and stalwart Iraq enthusiasts Joe Lieberman and Lindsey Graham in tow.

The punditry has been keen to point out McCain's advantage over his rival Dem challengers. While Obama and Clinton continue to drag out the nomination process McCain can start assuming a presidential aura and visit important people and kiss important general asses. It's a really smart strategy I'll admit. I'm guessing a sliver of voters have assumed that a transition already took place and he's the new president.

I hope someone at the Federal Elections Commission is paying attention. This trip was clearly a campaign stop at the expense of taxpayers. If the Straight Talk Express is going to opt in for a public campaign funds that's great, he has been a champion of campaign reform right?

McCain just started running a tab barkeep, don't forget to settle before the General Election is over.

Cheney was also in Iraq today. He snarled something about last throes or phenomenal progress. I don't know does anyone even care?

JP Morgan Takes Out the Trash

How bad is the outlook in the financial markets? If the fall of the great Wall St. powerhouse Bear Stearns is any indication then it's bad. More than Jim Kramer ranting bad.

JP Morgan Chase agreed to buy the beleaguered Bear Stearns today for the insane and even troubling low price of $2 per share. That blows my mind. Bear Stearns a mainstay financial giant was brought to its knees from the corrosive (explosive) impact of the credit woes stemming from the sub prime mess. The fact that JP Morgan was able to snatch them up for almost free ($236 million total price) is telling to how done Bear Stearns was. Even the unprecedented offer from the Fed to accept mortgage derivative securities as collateral for securing much needed liquidity couldn't save Bear from the Bear market.

Another gauge of the magnitude of this downturn is the type of victims it has claimed. The tech bust of the 2000 era killed off a lot of crazy IT and web concoctions that had no business plans and no way to make any money. I mean come on man Loudcloud was no Citigroup. The whirlwind we are reaping now is going right after the heart of the financial system and that's what makes this particular turmoil rather frightening.

Three Cheers For the Fourth Amendment

My persons, houses, papers and effects are rejoicing over the House passage of the correct FISA bill today. The Dems finally got it together and crammed a bill without telco immunity through a successful vote.

Thanks for taking all kinds of crap from presidential apologists and fear mongering cretins Speaker Pelosi. The secret session last night was the last antic in the b-s arsenal and when that revealed nothing new, the votes were still there. Thanks for pulling together a large enough coalition to get the needed votes in the face of faltering moderates. Enough of the Blue Dogs shed their yellow coats to do the right thing. Take a stand for the Constitution that the Bizarro World "strict constructionist" judge loving goofballs on the right have been trying to deconstruct one piece at a time.

Don't Blame It on Björk

As the protests and unrest continue on the streets of Lhasa, Tibet news watchers are preparing for the the inevitable crackdown from the Chinese government. It's hard to say whether or not the response from the Chinese will be more subdued due to the attention being lavished on the Olympic games host country. A bloody suppression of Buddhist monks may discourage McDonald's and Walmart from spending more on advertising during the Olympics telecast.

A China under the spotlight might be enough to give the Tibetan protesters reason to take on their Chinese overlords for the first time in two decades. Maybe that perceived heightened awareness that the world is watching China gives the Tibetans just enough motivation to take up the challenge again. Surely a government preparing to host people from all over the planet would not want to squander it's benevolent image over some street protests. I also think what we are seeing in Tibet is the leading edge of a movement that was triggered partially from the events in Kosovo where a long fought quest for independence was unilaterally declared by Kosovars and then recognized by the U.S and other Western democracies.

Maybe, just maybe the recent antics of Icelandic pop-star Björk during a performance in Shaghai were the final rallying cry needed for this latest movement in Tibet to coalesce. Let's hope there are democratic governments willing to take a stand for reforms in Tibet and remind the China of the 21st century this in not 1950.

Today's Paranoid Rant

The American public is easily swayed into following stories with broad sweeping themes especially when it involves high profile public officials caught up in sex stings. The news cycle has been completely consumed by the Eliot Spizter Hookergate drama and there is no sign that it's losing grip on viewers. The next phase of coverage has naturally turned to the details of the woman for hire in question. I think CNN had her MySpace page up earlier this evening, no kidding.

This leads me to today's paranoid rant. I think there have been multiple occasions of the Bush administration using the news cycle to control the release of good and bad news. The recent events demonstrate the latter. Maybe its the soon to be released report refuting (again) the Saddam Al Queda link or the Commander of Central Command resigning in a apparent protest. Here is an imagined phone call that I think took place last week.

A phone rings somewhere in the Department of Justice...

DOJ Official: Hello DOJ office of Vice and Virtue.

SecDef Gates: Hey this is Robert Gates, you know the guy who took over for Rummy at DOD.

DOJ Official: What can I do for you Mr. Secretary?

SecDef Gates: Well we need to work the news cycle next week. You know get people to look the other way so we can release another one of these darn Iraq reports.

DOJ Official: Oh yeah what's this one about?

SecDef Gates: Doesn't matter, none of them vindicate this crappy policy I've been shouldered with. I'll ask the questions here anyhow. Is there any high profile investigation that you could throw out there early next week? You know something juicy that will really catch the publics' eye?

DOJ Official: We have something really big but we were going to wait to go public with it. You know until the whole thing's a slam dunk so to speak.

SecDef Gates: Hey man your president needs you. Give it up.

DOJ Official: Alright it involves the Democratic governor of New York and a prostitution ring, a really high priced whore house.

SecDef Gates: Oh I see. That will have to do. Can you get it out by Monday?

DOJ Official: I think so. We were able harvest a great deal of evidence using that improved wiretapping capability. Lots of communications involving sex for hire and the like. Should catch fire in the media no problem.

SecDef Gates: Yeah Terrorist Surveillance Program, that's rich! Well thanks for your help.

DOJ Official: Your welcome.

End phone call.

Fed Takes Out the Trash

The guys who brought us the magic of the deregulated mortgage market are finding new and creative ways to make amends. The plan announced today by the Fed was ambitious enough to coax very a large gain out of the market and has the cutsey name Term Securities Lending Facility. The Fed is basically allowing large financial institutions to borrow liquidity (cash or safe Treasuries) and use the mortgage backed securities that have led to the liquidity woes as collateral. My favorite twist on the proposed credit line is this, any securities that hve a premium rating will be accepted as collateral.

This is of course is meaningless since many of the "premium" credit ratings were assigned with a wink from S&P and Moody's to the future detriment of investors. At this point in the game the mere act of accepting this garbage as collateral is soothing enough to the calm everyones' nerves for the time being.

The Fed is going to lend up to $200 billion as of his program. It would be nice to think the same helping hand may soon be extended to local government issuers who have been stung by the collapse of the auction rate securities market. A collapse brought on by the aforementioned players now on the receiving end of the Fed's generosity. For more information on that mess check out Mayor Bloomberg's little financial news site.

Here It Comes...

...there it goes.










It was bad enough for the Akron PD to break out the snow chains and




we canceled the family picnic.

Anyone Want To Buy A Sewer System?

I'm not keen on Plusquellic's plan to sell the Akron sewer system because of its apparent abdication of a main line government responsibility.

On the other hand as the City of Cleveland has discovered again, aging infrastructure leaves governments and taxpayers with a huge liability. I know sewer lines are not prone to bursting (thank god) but the required CSO compliance comes with a multi-billion dollar cost. That's a bill somebody is going to get stuck with.

Tom Ricks at CPL

Tom Ricks WaPo military affairs reporter and author of the book Fiasco will be giving a talk in Cleveland:

Cleveland Public Library Main Branch
Louis Stokes Wing
Sunday March 2nd at 2PM

See you there.

Quinny Comes Calling

We won the political polling lottery yesterday. Quinnipiac University called our randomly selected phone number looking for fresh meat. To keep things randomized they asked to speak a the voting age person who has the soonest birthday. That was my wife and I made her take the call although she didn't look too thrilled at first even though I was chanting " do the Quinny". They went through about five minutes of questions including who she intended to vote for on March 4th. I'm guessing there should be a new poll out soon.

Turkey and Timetables

The current military invasion of that sovereign nation known as Iraq has taken a surreal turn. I'm of course talking about theTurkish invasion not the U.S. invasion. As Turkey has moved into Kurdistan to turn up the heat on P.K.K. guerrillas they have carefully employed the same rhetoric as the administration when it comes to getting out of Iraq.

In an implausible ironic twist Turkey is arguing with the U.S. about timetables on troop withdrawal from Iraq. Secretary Gates met with Turkish officials in Ankara today and the best he could get from the Turkish government was "A short time is a relative term.", and something like if you can say screw timetables so can we. Is it considered chutzpah when the U.S. President says "The Turks need to move, move quickly, achieve their objective and get out," about military involvement in Iraq?

The blowback from the Iraq invasion continues to take on new form every day and will only get worse if the situation in Kurdistan doesn't cool off. Do you think the Kurds are watching what is going on in Kosovo and wondering if the same gambit would pay off for them?

Please Russ No More Mailers

We received what seems like the 500th mailer from the Keep Russ Pry campaign today.

Rusty I'm begging you no more mailers please. You already have my vote. I wouldn't think about voting for Joe Finley, a man who has been arguing with himself for the good part of a decade. Maybe think about greening up your act and cut back on the paper usage.

Post Debate, Message to Prospective Nominee

No live blogging of the debate here but it was cool to see a room full of local bloggers going at it in WKYC headquarters. Also great exposure for CSU, the City and Ron Paul supporters with big signs. The large chunk of time spent on health care was impressive but getting one last lok at the iteraction between Hilary and Barack was the real draw for me. I have nothing else to say about it that hasn't been floated in the MSM or blogosphere other than what follows.

Message to the Prospective Democratic Nominee - When Russert Attacks

I'll admit I wasn't overly impressed with both candidates responses to this question about Iraq from Tim Russert:

RUSSERT: I want to ask both of you this question, then. If this
scenario plays out and the Americans get out in totality, and Al Qaida
resurges and Iraq goes to hell, do you hold the right in your mind as
American president to reinvade, to go back into Iraq to stabilize it?

Barack and Hillary answered the question thoughtfully but they were not direct enough on the Al Queda threat posited by the Russert question. The question of Iraq will undoubtedly be a central issue in the general election campaign, it won't be the last time that question is asked of a Democratic candidate. In addition McCain will have to tout his support of the surge and will also be directing that same challenge to his opponent. What would you do pull out? You would let the terrorists win? The assertion that there is a possibility that Al Queda will take over Iraq has to addressed head on. Doing so will redirect the focus to the actual problem of the Iraq occupation and cut the terrorist hysteria off at the knees.

The Democratic nominee should never address questions of Iraq and redeployment (semantics are important) and Al Queda taking over without mentioning:

There was no Al Queda presence in Iraq before the invasion.

Al Queda in Iraq's (Mesopotamia) creation was a response to the U.S. occupation.

The security vacuum resulting from this policy failure provided fertile ground for AQI to take hold in western Iraq.

We have to begin withdrawing forces anyway because the surge is unsustainable in the long term.

What ever happened to when they stand up we'll stand down?

The actions of the current administration on Iraq have let us no good options.

No way in hell is a predominantly Shia nation going to allow a group of foreign Sunni Salafists to "take over" their country.

To address a semi-moronic question like the one posed at last night's debate without driving these points home would be well, the beginning of silly season.

Thanks to Ohio Daily Blog for posting the debate transcript.

Give McCain Some Credit

McCain faced another "how do we beat the bitch" moment and this time made the right choice. It started when righty talker Bill Cunningham was warming up the crowd at a McCain rally in Cincy today. The rant which targeted Obama, Clinton and even Madeline Albright sounded like a cry for attention in the style of Ann Coulter. Really just standard fare for this species of bloviator.

To his credit John McCain disavowed the whole incident and even went as far to apologize to the media that were present. Yes, apologize for what we have come to know as a common right wing psychopathy. Now I'm sure part of the reaction from McCain was inspired from the constant hits he's taken from the ghouls on right-wing radio but it still showed some altruistic purpose. With both Obama and McCain lobbing snippets of admiration at public gatherings they are at least giving the impression that this general election could be decided mostly on policy questions.

That idea of course minimizes the threat of political hatchet jobs from outside players. You just know lapel pins, patriotism and the pledge will eventually be thrown into the mix from somewhere out in 527 land.

The Ameritrust Tower is Like a Bad Penny

That seemingly too good to be true offer the Cuyahoga County Commissioners got to buy the asbestos ridden Ameritrust building was just that. The Plain Dealer's Joe “I can't find my notepad” Guillen has a story on the Cuyahoga BOCC's intent to the reject the bid from K&D Group. It's nice to see the PD is finally printing a story on the something that has been known for over a week now.

Apparently the private developer offered a bid that requested the purchase price be financed by the County. Kind of like a reverse mortgage but less palatable. Now the commissioners have to continue the next phase of the “I meant to do that” strategy and go out for another round of bids. Of course K&D was the only bid the first time around. Maybe old man Jacobs is interested in getting the building back? Looks like the County is going to polish this turd (euphemism for creatively manage the results of poor decision making) on their own.

I have a hot tip for Joe Guillen and the PD. You may want prepare for a story on the Medical Mart project negotiations falling through.

Nader In, Race Just Got Greener

Ralph Nader has just announced he is running for president on Meet the Press. Russert is already playing up the 2000 election scare tactic as a response to Nader's announcement.

I just heard a collective scream from Dems everywhere. A mass panic is completely unnecessary. Let's face it the political landscape has changed a great deal since 2000. Nader's appeal to Democratic voters has reached a nadir in my view. If anything he may get the Democratic nominee to stay focused on issues like Iraq, corporatist influence, universal health care and a slew of other issues that we all value. He gets a little face time in return, so what.

I'm not concerned, really.

Dennis, Not Dead Yet

We've gotten a good dose this week of what the congressional race for the Ohio 10^th district is about. The challengers all tried in earnest to get their best shots at Dennis the Kucinich and make a case for a change in leadership.

After listening to the debate on Wednesday and the serious interview Q&A session with Dennis and Joe on 90.3 WCPN on Thursday I'm thinking Dennis will survive this one.

The real challenger, Joe Cimperman almost comes across as Dennis-lite and in fact sounded kind of over his head or naive at times. As for the other candidates (O'Grady, Ferris, and Palmer) I'm not sure what makes them particularly more qualified than Kucinich other than the fact they are not him. And that is certainly what the race for the Ohio 10th is about this year. Although it's probably going to take more than an endless supply Kucinich jokes to unseat him from his congressional perch.

For the voters the real test will be that if they are so turned off by the antics and ego of the boy mayor are they willing to take a chance on Cimperman? I don't see the other candidates peeling away enough votes to make a difference in the end. This one will come down to a one on one contest between an incumbent and the main challenger. I'm glad I don't live in that district anymore.

Howlin' At The Moon

Thought I'd try to take few pix of the lunar eclipse. I don't have what you would call professional grade equipment but it got the job done.


I gotta get me one of them there SLR cameras so when the next one comes around the moon will look bigger.



This was taken around 10 PM tonight. The red effect is caused by that spy satellite the U.S. Navy is trying to shoot down.


That cold air is no joke. Does a lunar eclipse mean spring is on the way?

Hynde and People for the Ethical Transport of Akronites

Chrissie Hynde a Rock Hall inductee, Restaurateur and friend to all animals was in town today to cross promote with Akron METRO. Ever the impresario Chrissie came back to Ohio to to ride a METRO bus and deliver a message on the vital nature of public transit and good vegan eats. The ABJ reports that Hynde is also “rail thin” and that she believes in the health benefits of public transit, “other countries have lower obesity rates because of their high quality public transportation systems.” says Hynde. It appears that the elimination of the free transfer is also a sticking point. Whatever happens with the tax increase I don't see that one coming back.

I admire Hynde and her stance on the importance of a well funded and well run transit system but something tells me she will forget our plight once she's back in London minding the gap . Next time she's back in town to check up on VegiTerranean she should float the idea of a state-wide gas tax to develop a truly regional approach to public transit.

One more thing. If you are going to charge $23 for gnocci you shouldn't make your patrons sit on cheap-ass patio furniture. Other than that the food was pretty good.

Is Obama Like Blu-Ray?

The writing is on the wall and it appears that Blu-ray is about to be declared the victor it the DVD format wars. With Best Buy and Walmart announcing they will only carry the Blu-ray format and Netflix phasing out HD DVD it looks as if this one is over. A cottage industry of reusing worthless HD DVD disks is already taking shape.

A caller to the February 12^th edition of CNET Buzz Out Loud (CNet's podcast of indeterminate length) had a great comparison of Hillary and Obama to the DVD format wars:

1. They've got the same initials! It's H. vs. B.
   
   
2. There are no significant differences in policy/features between H. and B.
   
   
3. H. appeals to people with less money, but B. has won the support of a broad constituency of high-profile names.
   
   
4. H. has name recognition and might seem like an extension of what we've had in the past, whereas B. is a "fresh face", a new (kinda funny sounding--but catchy!) name on the scene.
   
   
5. At this date and time, it looks pretty rough out there for H., as B. is riding a wave of momentum.

Next up, a comparison of the two GOP candidates with VHS and Beta Max.

Are The Blue Dogs Yellow?

If Al Queda is in your favorite five now would be a good time to call them. With House Dems holding their ground on FISA, the Protect America Act of 1984 expired at midnight. The Prez. Has told us we are now vulnerable to the “enemy” and our intelligence services don't have the "tools” to protect us. We're supposed to depend on that tool to protect us? This is all a load of crap since FISA itself has been and still is in effect.

I don't know what's worse, the hefty amount of false acrimony from the GOP or the pliable Blue Dog contingent of House Dems. The Republicans, well I can understand their hapless obstructionism in the FISA follies. Are there Democratic House members actually petrified by the lame threats from the President? Are they that afraid of a thirty second spot accusing them of being soft on terrorism? Is amnesty for telcos that important that it requires crossing party lines and refusing to debate the Senate version of the FISA update?

The EFF website has been doing a great job at covering the FISA stuff if you're interested.

The FISA Sell Out of 2008

My person, house, papers and effects don't feel so secure thanks to the 67 U.S. Senators who felt it was more important to protect telcos from legal prosecution than hold them accountable. Today the more deliberative of our legislative bodies approved a FISA bill that preserves legal immunity for AT&T and others that may have been complicit in the government's warrantless wiretapping plans.

Apparently only 31 Senators,all democrats save one (Bernie Sanders I-VT) were willing to risk being accused of comforting the enemy in order to take a stand for the 4^th amendment. Our own Sherrod Brown was part of the group that voted against amnesty while the other guy was okay with leaving it in the final bill.

With this legal roadblock out of the way giant telco's can get back to the business of devising a plan to create a tiered Internet. Or better yet maybe AT&T would be willing to drop those plans as a trade-off for this little favor.

Hollow Government Comes to Akron

Don't do it Mayor Don.

I am flummoxed over the Mayor's announced plan to privatize the City of Akron's sewer system.
The lure of easy money no matter how good it looks will come with a price. Calling it an" tuition plan" doesn't make it anything else other than a privatization plan.

Mayor Plusquellic is one of the last people I could imagine embracing a Friedmanite ponzi scheme like selling off a public asset. Slapping the education label on the the thing and avoiding the greater debate of what happens after the transfer is made is a worrisome sign. Is this more about the City bracing for future cash crunches than free college? What happens to the sewer rates when a foreign entity takes over? Is the water system next?

Much more on this later.

Where's My Stimulus Check?

As predicted by briefcase radical Senate Republicans resorted to filibustering the economic stimulus plan rather than allowing additional benefits to be incorporated into the final product. The proposed spending increase would have broadened the reach of the plan by getting dollars into the hands of people who would spend it. From the AP story,

The fate of $600-$1,200 rebate checks for more than 100 million Americans is in limbo after Senate Republicans blocked a bid by Democrats to add $44 billion in help for the elderly, disabled veterans, the unemployed and businesses to the House-passed economic aid package.

With no chance of surpassing the sixty vote limit Harry Reid and Company will have to compromise with the Republicans and get something approved soon. The flip side is that the GOP caucus takes some heat for yet another mean spirited power play, not a stretch.

The Chinese connection to the stimulus plan, also highlighted in these pages, was not lost on Sen. Byron Dorgan. According to an article on Politico the North Dakota Democrat wants to remind rebate recipients to divert the flow of stimulus dollars away from China and other U.S. Creditors,

In fact, Dorgan has offered an amendment to the Senate economic stimulus bill that would require millions of rebate checks to have the slogan "Support Our Economy - Buy American."

I plan to heed the good Senator's request. Although with that limitation I'm not sure what I will purchase with my stimulus dollars. So much for a new laptop or stylish clothes from the Gap. Is anyone up for a trip to Amish country?

It's Here:Super Tuesday Prelim's

Our primary election hydra sprouts new heads tonight as the returns come rushing in. The (insert superlative here) Tuesday primary bacchanal promises to deliver all sorts of surprises and open up the next phase in the presidential contest. Here are a few observations as we anxiously await for the carnage to begin.

Us and Them
The governing style of each party are characteristically ingrained their primary rules. Dems divide state delegates proportionally and the GOP use a winner take all method. Democratic primary voters living abroad can vote while their GOP counterparts do not have that right. A move I haven’t been able to answer is why the polls in the W.Virginia GOP-only primary close at 12:30 in the afternoon (according to a spread in the Wall Street Journal).

Don’t Bother Parsing Yet
With 24 States and a whole slew of polling data pouring in over the last few days it’s not worth trying to divine any certainty from the numbers. Yeah Barack Star has momentum but there’s way too much going on to be sure of the results. I’ll opt to wait for the dust to clear some time after midnight before I am willing to trust what I see.

Ron Paul Wins AK?
Can the this libertarian in GOP clothing pull off a lone primary win in Alaska? This seems to be his only even remote chance at wining a state.

Right Wing Radio Melts Down – Again.
When McCain wins big tonight I expect the sound of Republicans eating their own to fill the airwaves tomorrow. Rush, Hannity and company have been apoplectic over McCain’s appeal and if he puts Mitt down for the count tonight expect the shrieking to get louder.

Ohio Matters
They like me, they like me, they really like me.

If you believe the conventional wisdom (smart money?) then the democratic race will not be decided tonight. That means the good ol’ buckeye state will land a top spot on Tim Russert’s little white board when the March 4^th primary rolls around. It’s good to relevant.

Where to watch
Aside from the bountiful content available on the internets I plan to watch MSNBC. Chris Matthews can be hard to digest and Russert comes across as way too serious when paired with Keith O. but it works. CNN’s coverage is overly contrived and they still think Bill Bennet makes a good addition to their panel.

Record Setting Rudy

Rotten Rudy 2008 the presidential candidate may have dropped out of the race but not before accomplishing something of note.

As reported in the LA Times and carried by TPM Rudy spent an eye popping $48.8 million for his one prized delegate. Now that's sound fiscal management we could have used in the White House.

SCO: Hey This Home Rule Thing is Catchy

I was actually surprised when I heard about the Ohio Supreme Court's ruling in favor of traffic cameras. This case looked like it was going to be one the more contentious issues revolving around the rights of larger cities to implement the cameras. In the end the Court actually invoke the home rule provisions of the Ohio Constitution. Per the GONGWER report,

Justices said in a unanimous opinion that municipalities have the power under home rule to enact civil penalties for traffic signal light or speeding violations, provided the city does not alter statewide traffic regulations.

A ruling with some balance in it. The irony of course is that this centers around red light and speeding cameras. As important as the ruling was for cities like Akron and Cleveland it is likely to ruffle the feathers of citizens and state lawmakers alike.

Next up in the home rule show is the residency requirement. Are the rumors of residency requests untimely demise unfounded?

John Bows Out, Rudy Cracks Up

Even though I expected it I was bummed to see John Edwards drop out of the presidential race. His populist message and calls to address poverty were inspiring to some. His message of helping the poor in America was also about changing the economic landscape that has been tilted against the middle class for some time. There was of course wide spread opining as to why this message did not catch fire with primary voters. It makes you wonder if things would have played out differently if states like Ohio had been moved up in the primary schedule.

Just when I was feeling blue I got a slight pick-me-up seeing Rudy throwing in the towel today. His fall from the top of the national polls is one of the intriguing stories of the 2008 election. Apparently the more you learn about him the less you like him. He took the fifty state strategy and turned it into the one state strategy. Not a good idea. The other silver lining is Rudy's endorsement of McCain. That act alone should make right-wing radio nation jittery all over again.

SOTU 2008: The Drinking Game

Firstly let's all tip our glass to the last confounded State of the Union address from the master of grammatical disaster. There's no chance anything will top the “axis of evil” moment so this last foray into the SOTU for W. should go out with a whimper.

Grab a beer and drink every time you here the words tax cuts, terrorists, evil doers, Al Queda, Petraeus, nuclear, social security, stimulus and Iraqi people.

Don't forget about the September 11^th reference over and under which is at two minutes this year. Personally I'm taking the under.

More on The Economic Stimulus Plan That Isn't

Things are starting to shake out with the $150 billion economic package cobbled together by the President and members of Congress late last week. As is usually the case with compromised policy the devil is in the details. My previous post envisioned a potential flow of funds that would result from the economic plan. After reading some critiques of the plan on the web my analysis may need some revising. It looks like the plan may be less conducive to create immediate spending and more on pushing through tax cuts to upper wage earners.

According to Professor Krugman's latest column and his continuous blog updates the plan doesn't get enough in the hands of those who will spend it quickly. He faults the acquiescence of Pelosi and Company in allowing those benefits to be cast aside in the final compromise with President Bush. The resulting plan directs nearly 60% of the benefits to the upper two quintiles of income earners according to the Tax Policy Center. These upper wage earners are more apt to save the rebate dollars and not spend them immediately. With the low end stuff out of the plan the tax-cutter-in-chief can continue boasting about the cure all power of tax cuts that make up the rest of the package. No welfare queens getting rich off of this stimulus plan .

It's too bad the aid to State and local governments was weeded out in the negotiations. With Governor Strickland warning of looming budget deficits and local governments already feeling fiscal strain, an economic boost would be nice. This provision and some of the others may become a point of contention when the economic plan is debated in the U.S Senate. According to a story on Politico numerous Senators of both parties are already jockeying to get things put in the final version. How this will effect the outcome is hard to day. Could we see another GOP filibuster if attempts are made to include aid to local governments and increases in unemployment benefits?

Plan Announced to Stimulate China's Economy

The economy goes sour because of what Chairman Greenspan referred to as “froth in thehousing market”and things get surreal. Suddenly an administration that has embraced Friedmanite market principles has gotten all Keynesian on us. Today's compromise (someone caved) between the the Prez and Democratic leaders in Congress calls for pumping $150 billion of stimulus (that's hot) into the economy. The hope is that this action in the form of tax rebates for average Joes and tax incentives for business will prevent the economy from taking a recessionary nose dive this year.

The good news is that all operations in Iraq will be suspended for one year to pay for the economic bailout. Okay that's actually not the case. Per the Washington Post story the plan would require increased borrowing and will increase the deficit by that $150 billion amount proposed.

Here is the proposed flow of funds from the plan:

1. Government borrows $150 billion from creditors like China.
2. Government spends money on rebates and tax incentives.
3. Businesses use tax incentives to buy equipment to manufacture goods in their Chinese factories.
4. Citizens go to Walmart and spend money on crap made in Chinese factories.
5. Feds pay creditors like China increasing interest on borrowings as value of dollar declines
6. Policy makers in D.C declare important election year victory.

The Prez has already mentioned that often repeated theme of Bushonomics, the miracle of unending tax cuts in his speech today

Importantly, this package recognizes that lowering taxes is a powerful and efficient way to help consumers and businesses. I've always believed that allowing people to keep more of their own money and to use it as they see fit is the best way to help our economy grow.

I'm still waiting for Ron Paul's response to this stuff. For more coverage on the plan check out Paul Krugman's Blog.

Uncle Fred Gets the Job Done

It was no real surprise that Fred Thompson dropped out of the presidential race. He exited the race the same way he entered it, seemingly confused and lacking energy. Maybe he realized that many of us were not convinced he was an admiral on an aircraft carrier.

With McCain's trajectory locked in towards the GOP nomination it was time for Fred to pull the plug. It's no secret Uncle Fred is a friend and ally of McCain, he did endorse him in the 2000 presidential race. I subscribe to the theory that he was only in the race to peel away votes from Rudy to give McCain some breathing room. With McCain gaining momentum it was time for Fred to go. Maybe he'll be on the short list for VP.

If you don't think Team McCain has gained steam just read David Brooks' Column in today's NY Times. He points out that McCain is bucking the GOP establishment (what a maverick) and lassoing a wide range of support from conservative voters. BoBo even thinks the GOP has resurrected its chances of holding onto the White House.

MLK, Some Thoughts on the Dream

A co-worker sent an email to the office last week that asked if we are supporting "the Dream". This was a thought provoking question one that actually made me take pause. This question becomes even more prescient when taken in the context of a presidential election year where so much is perceived to be at stake. What are the candidates themselves doing to move this nation towards social justice, economic equality (in broad terms) and prosperity for everyone? Who (from either party) is misappropriating King's legacy by invoking his name for trivial political gain?

I have more thoughts on what we can do to take up the vision of MLK but for now I would suggest reading his Letter from Birmingham Jail.

Dennisless Debate Format Works Well

The glass top table at last night's Democratic Primary debate was short (get it) one candidate but I doubt he was missed. Despite the legal challenges and pleas from Willie Nelson, Dennis Kucinich was not permitted to participate in last night's debate hosted by MSNBC. I'm not part of the bash Dennis crowd but I have to say the format of this debate would not have suited having an odd man out (and I mean odd) included in the panel. Tim Russert has a hard enough time avoiding the appearance of being disingenuous without having to coddle also ran candidates.

The Democratic race has been distilled down to three serious contenders for now and this forum provided a glimpse of three separate candidates each working to portray an image of presidential preparedness to the viewing audience in cable television land. The debate was more of panel discussion with each candidate permitted to ask the other a question while sitting comfortably at the table. As Daily Kos offers,

Each of our three candidates brings tremendous strengths to the contest. Any of them would be a strong general election candidate, and they all appear to be sufficiently prepared to enter the White House in 370 days.

The Dems have a steady confluence of energy that looks like it will lead to an orderly synthesis of selecting a clear nominee. They need to continue moving in that direction being careful not to backslide towards the Hobbesian state of the GOP race. Sadly that means the end of the line for the bottom tier candidacies. No more standing at podiums and making jokes about the other candidates' political gaffes or debating about the nature of Jesus. As much as I think Dennis has to offer in the marketplace of ideas his presence would have been counter productive (and the chairs didn't go up high enough). Sorry.

Happy Belated Surgeiversary

If Islamo-Fascism is a word then I think surgeiversary deserves its place in the political lexicon. It means a kind of anniversary that makes you unsure about what exactly you are celebrating. Last Thursday marked a year since the announcement by W. of the surge strategy in Iraq. While the increased troop levels have led to security gains, the stated goal of the surge has largely not been achieved. Yes, force protection is nice but the troop increase was supposed to buy the Iraqis some breathing room to make nice and get their political game together. As of yet there has been some movement but the political landscape has not been radically altered like we were told it would once the additional troops arrived. Below that shiny exterior portrayed in nightly news clips of pretty snow flakes in Baghdad is an undisclosed reality that is unchanged since the surge. At this point the whole damn thing has been so obscured that the average person can't figure out what the real story is. It makes sense that Iraq is fading from the minds of Presidential primary voters and being replaced with pocketbook issues.

There are two points of view I present on the surge and its impact on the Iraq conundrum. One is the Op-ed written by the at dynamic bi-partisan duo McCain and Lieberman that appeared in the January 10^th Wall Street Journal. Their piece titled “The Surge Worked” (not working but worked) is a predictable recounting of the Petraeus good and Al Qaeda bad story of how the surge has pulled off a miracle in Iraq. It's worth reading but their argument fails to move much past the military side of the surge equation. The other exhibit is the Tom Rick's (author of Fiasco) appearance on Countdown with Keith Olberman from last week. I find Ricks' analysis of all things Iraq to be the most direct way to get a dependable and objective answer. Ricks' statement ”Judged on terms in which the President presented it the surge has not worked...” gets to the heart of my surgeiversary pondering. Was the trillion dollars really worth it?

Akron Residency Requirement, 9th District Court Delays the Inevitable

The City of Akron residency requirement was spared a premature death by The 9th District Court of Appeals. This is good news for Akron and Cleveland but the last move has not been made yet. The issue will eventually end up being decided by the Ohio Supreme Court. I think we know where this is headed. The last count of who was on the court didn't bode well for big city mayors trying to defend home rule.

The exodus of public safety employees from city limits will not be as bad in Akron as I expect it to be in Clevetown. If you know anyone in the CPD then you've probably heard first hand the complete disdain for residency requirements and the administrations that want to uphold them. Its unfortunate especially since the citizens of Akron have voted twice to reaffirm the desire to have those who police our city also be part of the community by living amongst us. It's funny you never hear of Ford plant employees driving Honda Accords to work.

Cuyahoga Commissioners Get No Breathing Room in 2008

2008 is still in diapers and the Cuyahoga County Commissioners are already facing a slew of potential problems that will make the new year one full of turmoil and challenges for our strategically impaired threesome. Roldo will have plenty to write about this year.

Board of Elections Voting System Overhaul
This one really bites. The commissioners don't have authority to overturn the Brunner decision to scrap touch screen voting nor do they have any real purview on how the BOE proceeds on the primary election. They will however have to commit millions of County dollars (as required by ORC) to pay for a new system and the subsequent implementation. When the implementation is botched (which is an almost certainty) or the election results are not available until 2009 the Commission will take a good portion of the heat for that even though they re not directly responsible. If they try to challenge the Brunner decision in court they will be branded as obstructionists and will end up wasting valuable time on something they have little control stopping. The County also faces a possible legal challenge from the ACLU on the issue of second chance voting and the lack of in relation to the new system.

Medical Mart Delay
So much for super attorney to the stars Fred Nance on getting a site commitment from the Merchandise Mart Properties guys. It sounds like the sharks who run the firm want the Med Mart located near the Cleveland Clinic and the $43 plus million from the sales tax increase. The whole line about the County constructing the exhibition center portion of the project is not what they have in mind. It's more like MMPI will pick the site, take the public funds to build the whole damn thing and the County can scrounge up the dollars to maintain it. Not exactly what we had envisioned. Now commission president Tim Hagan has had to issue an ultimatum that a location must be picked (the one in downtown before Sam Miler dies) in 60 days or we take back the sales tax money. Who will blink here is hard to say. Don't forget the Board stated they would rescind the tax increase if the deal fell through. What happens to all the dollars that were generated before the tax is rescinded?

Administration Building Meltdown
There has been plenty of bad press for the three on this one. What started out as a way to consolidate County employees at one location in the interest of efficient government has turned into a real boondoggle. It goes from County buying a crappy building from a Cleveland godfather for way too much and sitting back and watching the price tag sore while the original goal of savings gets burned away by mission creep. A Hail Mary pass being thrown up is the hope that the building will be snatched up for the right price by a some unsuspecting private developer. All the more reason the Commissioners need the Med Mart sited in downtown.

Myers University Loan Guaranty Extension
The special secret master decider Judge Gaul will settle for nothing less than Myers University remaining open under new ownership. In order for the school's new plan to be viable the half million dollar County loan guaranty (contrary to how it is spelled in the press the word ending with 'tee' is for appliances) . had to be extended. Approving the thing for the first time last year seemed futile and was not a comfortable decision for these guys but it was originally only for one year. Now the promise for monetary aid may never go away and it's only a matter of time before Case comes a knocking for their loan guaranty.

General Economic Malaise
Stagnant General Fund revenue, mounting foreclosures in the County, a withering downtown, banking layoffs, a new Human Services Levy, 3% budget cuts, sinking employee morale...

Happy New Year.

Iowa, the Beginning of the End or Not?

A long holiday reprieve and a bathroom renovation (that's not a euphemism) has kept me away from the blogstead. I didn't feel that motivated to post about too many things anyway. The one thing that I should be weighing in on is the presidential primary race, namely that thing in Iowa tomorrow. Forgive me if I'm not overcome with mass amounts of punditry about the race. Now that it's actually 2008 I will try to pay close attention though. It's not easy when the bulk of the media coverage is more about the horse race and less on the candidates sans the patina of talking points (he got the memo). As the loony GOP reminded us in the onslaught of 2006 political spots, "the stakes are high" and the future of the free world depends on the outcome of this one.

My call for Thursday is Obama pulls off a close one with Johnny Edwards a few points behind. I am hoping and unabashedly admitting that I want Edwards to win the nomination in the end. I like Obama but as Paul Krugman has been pointing out the Barack Star has been borrowing from the right wing bag of talking points at different points of his campaign rhetoric. I'm uneasy about that choice.

Romney Refutes His Magic Underpants

The Mittster gave his JFK speech on religion yesterday to allay the fears of conservative evangelical voters that he wasn't Christian enough. Not once during the speech did he mention his magic underpants or temple garment as they are also known. The mere acknowledgment of their existence may have negated any potential gains in trust Romney was trying to win from potential fundamentalist voters that doubt his Christian bona fides.

There's been so much analysis and punditry on the speech that I'm not going to waste much space on it. I do believe Mitt was specifically targeting the zealot base of the GOP that places religiosity over everything else when it comes to elections. Don't believe for a second that it was an assurance that religion and the evangelical power brokers couldn't play a role in a Romney presidency. He was just trying to assuage their fears that his off brand of Christianity wouldn't prohibit him from pursuing the narrowly crafted social agenda that they so crave. As David Brooks rightly points out in today's NYT column a success for Romney would be to gain solidarity in the culture wars that his party has exploited for so long.

The Two Best Things About the Latest NIE

The first best thing about the new NIE on Iran is the gnashing of teeth from apoplectic neo-kooks everywhere. I include in this bunch John Bolton, Freedom's Watch gang and of course the folks at the Weekly Standard and the Wall Street Journal editorial page. This group also includes hardliners in the Israeli government (Ehud Barak for example) who are basically suggesting that the report is wrong.

The second best thing is the news from several sources including Salon and ThinkProgress that the Decider knew about the NIE's conclusions back in August but still continued to insert World War III references in his speeches. Maybe that explains the giggles from the Prez whenever he talks about Armageddon. No seriously, this serves as a check for all of us skeptics out here that know these guys are just using fear of a nuclear Iran for political means. It also weakens any chance of the end of days crowd getting an invasion of Iran as a Christmas gift.

For a great laugh on the “other NIE” read today's Tom Friedman column in the NYT.

METRO Spinning Its Wheels?

This past Sunday the Beacon editorial page framed the METRO sales tax proposal as a social service levy.

Summit County voters, facing a difficult economy, repeatedly have shown a generous spirit, recently supporting levies for children services and mental health, alcohol and drug addiction treatment. As Metro moves forward with its campaign for a sales tax increase, voters must consider carefully their responsibility to help the vulnerable move ahead, too.

The region is never going to get 21^st century transit that provides an alternative for all commuters unless we get past this notion that the buses are there only to help out poor folks. On top of that we are going to increase a regressive tax to help the “vulnerable”out? The odds of a sales tax increase getting approved by voters have to be low. METRO is going to waste too much time spinning its wheels (ha ha wheels) on the sales tax when they should be thinking about a different approach. I go back to my previous posting on this one. The State and this region need to consider a gasoline tax to fund a truly comprehensive approach to public transit. I'm sure the transit systems in New York and Washington D.C. are considered to be more than just a social program.

Akron METRO Doubles Down

Akron METRO the local transit authority is planning to stem it's fiscal woes by placing a sales tax increase on the ballot. According to the report in Tuesday's ABJ and the METRO rider email I subscribe to, the Board of Trustees agreed to place a .25% (that means ¼ percent) increase on the March ballot. The article in the Beacon spares much of the detail on what METRO will have to cut in the event the tax increase measure fails. The information from METRO's email goes into how cuts in State funding and triple digit increases in fuel mean tough times. It continues:

METRO has been fiscally responsible, raising bus fares by 60 percent, cutting more than 30 percent of service, eliminating 52 employees, and freezing wages for more than three years. METRO is facing a $1.8 million deficit in 2008 and $1 million in 2009. Without additional income, METRO and METRO SCAT will be facing some of the most critical service cuts of its history, including eliminating up to 50 additional positions in 2008...

The old ”METRO has had no new sales tax revenue since 1990” narrative is also thrown in for good measure. Never mind that sales taxes by design are indexed with inflation so while the rate has not increased the revenue collected has.

Times are tough for local governments and authorities like METRO and are probably not going to pick up in the near future. Unfortunately for them they don't have many options other than cutting staff or service. They already raised fares in the last go around so that is off the table (except for the North Coast Express). I had an informal conversation with the finance director this summer and he said that the last fare increases actually reduced ridership enough to cancel out the additional revenue that was generated. So here they are having to mess with the grand-daddy of all local taxes. I know property tax is a big fish but the sales tax is a broader and more pervasive tax, some (actually most) would even say regressive in nature. Let's face it the chances of that passing in March can't be that good. Throw in tougher economic conditions on the horizon for the average person and it seems almost impossible.

Long term all of the transit authorities will have to pool resources and think big picture. I am of course referring to a tapping into a new gasoline tax to fund operations and development of local transit systems. When and how this will happen is beyond the scope of what i can do here. I'll pick up this again in a month or so.

GOP and the YouTubes

Here's to hoping tomorrow's Republican Presidential debate is a entertaining as expected. I'll be honest I haven't cared to watch most of the debates for either party so far. For some reason I feel compelled to watch this one. Maybe seeing how Rotten Rudy will react to the snowman's question or the Mittster's propensity for bullshit colliding with the in your face forum provided by YouTube is drawing me.

I would love a monkey to ask the Huck about his views on evolution and whether he realizes that humans are actually primates. Oh, and someone could even ask McCain a question too.

Chum Bucket Gets His Revenge

Scottie "chum bucket" McClellan has decided to come clean and reveal that he was indeed pressured by persons including Bush, Rove, Cheney et al to pass bad information to the press on White House involvement in the Valerie Plame leak case. I'm not sure there is anyone left who is surprised by what the former Medicare & Medicaid Services Director's little brother has to say on this subject. Oh wait the Wall Street Journal Editorial page is surprised.

Whether he spills his guts on the Plame affair to vindicate himself or to sell some books it makes no difference to me. I just wish he would have spoken up sooner but, of course he can't comment on an ongoing investigation. I plan to get the book just to read the chapters on why he hates David Gregory and how Jeff Gannon Guckert landed a press pass.

Also curious how the story was not picked up by the American press with the same furor as foreign media outlets. BBC news had it as their lead story for much of the day.

FCC Creatively Destroying Local Media

The motive behind the proposed FCC rule changes for media ownership is no longer a secret. In an op-ed article in today's New York Times, FCC commissioner Kevin Martin makes a case for media consolidation as a means to bail out America's failing newspapers. He is suggesting that relaxing just one area of the cross- ownership rules, in which newspapers could buy local television or radio, would provide much needed breathing room for lagging print media.

It's hard to believe that this is where the proposals for rule changes would end. The ideology at the FCC since the Michael Powell days (or since the 1996 Telecomm. Act) is one that espouses letting a free market philosophy termed creative destruction work it's magic. It's kind of a social Darwinism of markets approach that relies on peeling back the regulatory limitations and seeing what happens when the winners take all of the resources. The winners are of course big media conglomerates and the losers in the end are the general public. The only thing more insidious than allowing the ownership rules to be relaxed is a tiered internet. Both of which screw the consumer in the race for the bottom line. It's no wonder that the FCC is fast tracking the rule change in hope of getting it approved by December.

Last week's Bill Moyers Journal featured a story on the push to further relax ownership rules and the effect on minority owned radio. The potential damage that could be done to an already bleak media landscape is alarming. No wonder I can't trust anyone in politics named Kevin.

It Always Rains on Election Day

My wife reminded me tonight that it wouldn't be election day with out crappy wet weather. Some scenes from the polls:

I voted tonight at around 6PM. The same crew was manning table 8Q. They were kind of quiet tonight. Looked like the Ensure and Centrum Silver was wearing off.

I knew Issue 1 was on the ballot but there were no signs or verbal heads up from the polling pals reminding us not to bother voting on it. Our General Assembly is looking to change the deadlines to avoid these hold out issues from sticking on the ballot.

I like to feed my ballot into the reader. I was number 182. One additional step this year, you have to push a button to acknowledge your vote once it's in the reader. Thanks for the sticker.

Now we sit back and wait for the results.

Islamofascistan?

The upheaval in Pakistan is now in its third day and the country doesn't look like a beacon of nascent democracy in the middle east. What to do if you are on the Bush foreign policy team and have spent so much time propping up the Musharraf regime as a bulwark against terrorism in the region. There hasn't been much tough talk coming from Dr. Rice or The Decider in the past few days. What can you say when that ally is emulating the very catch phrase we are supposedly trying to defeat in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq(n)? There hasn't even been a strong commitment to cut the billions of dollars of aid we provide.

Yes I mean Islamofascism. That phony-ass term created by neocon's to conflate Iraq with the terrorism of 9/11. The same evil following that is brewing trouble in Iran and leading us to the precipice of WWIII (The Decider would have me insert a LOL here but, I digress). If this ideology does exist then it looks like the makings of it are available in the current mix in Islamabad. Let's see there's an Islamic republic,let's not forget they have a nuclear capability, led by a General that took power by military coup. Now that general has suspended the constitution , jailed dissidents of all political stripes, closed down independent media outlets and declared martial law. All this in order to cling to power and claim it's necessary to fight Islamic extremism in the country.

Isn't the system blinking red? Where is Joe Lieberman and the Freedom's Watch gang? Is Pakistan today an eerie parallel of what could happen in the name of fighting terrorism here? Unfortunately most American's are probably watching the news to see when the screen writers strike will be over.

Diplomatic Mutiny at Foggy Bottom

Some news outlets including the NBC nightly news reported on a mutiny of U.S. diplomats over forced assignments in Iraq. Trawling the major news sites didn't provide too much in the way of detail although I was able to find this brief story on the BBC site (of course). Even though NBC news with Brian " My nose was once broken and it really shows up in HD" Williams did a segment with Andrea Mitchell, there is no video or text posted at NBC. Probably because right off the bat Mrs. Greenspan referred to one hundred diplomats refusing to accept assignments in "Vietnam". Oops, wrong country same inescapable foreign policy nightmare. She quickly corrected herself but it was a great Freudian slip.

Back to the protests by those in the diplomatic corp faced with being sent to Surgeland. State has forty-eight postings to fill and almost nobody willing to take them. One staffer describes assignment to Iraq as a potential death sentence. Another observation was that in any other country the embassy would have been closed by now. What is telling is how this is a reliable marker on the status of the surge. The reports on the decreased troop casualties and pockets of security have gained steam over the past month. In the end short term gains in force protection and limited security where we have a large presence are not materializing into the strategic goals set out by war backers. The force required to maintain this status quo is not going to be sustainable in the long run (try spring). The diplomats being sent away to the Emerald City know this and realize that as they start arriving the surge will be starting to wane in numbers and effectiveness out of necessity. There is a good chance the country could continue to decline into a Hobbesian state in the coming year. Will they have to grab the last helicopter ride out of Saigon, err Baghdad?

Update 11/1/2007: The Washington Post has a story on the revolt in today's edition. It goes into more detail than the BBC story. The surge success is looking like more of an illusion in the eyes of the diplomatic corp.

Kevy wants to Be Governor When He Grows Up

State Senator and Cuyahoga Falls resident Kevin Coughlin got a swell write up in today's ABJ. Dennis Willard fashioned the piece as story on a rising star in the Ohio GOP. The profile focuses in on Coughlin's prolific legislative tenure and his aspirations of running for State wide-office. Kevin like many of his colleagues is term limited in 2010 and will be in need of new career path, preferably in the public sector. So the guy who has proposed orange license plates for sex offenders (yellow is already taken), special education school vouchers and a potential ballot amendment on eminent domain is hinting that he may one day run for Governor.

I think we would be safer if guys like Coughlin were not term limited and could spend the better part of their working lives in the legislative bubble of the Statehouse. There they are free to dream up a panoply of laws that address the seemingly endless stream of issues that need remedied. I know that I sleep better at night knowing he is on the job thinking about the proper color of license plate for the cars of sex offenders . No instead they are forced out of office and look for other ways to infect our eyes with their presence. In this case Kevin says, “I have a lot of ideas about what Ohio should be doing...” in regards to a future run for State-wide office. This ambition to rule a la the style of Ken Blackwell using conservative polemics didn't move voters in 2006 (remember that trouncing). Why does stupid think that it will work for him considering that our current Governor, a moderate liberal, has had success governing from the center? The tide is not turning for conservative blow hards like him. Ohioans are getting used to the sensible and bipartisan approach to public policy that seems to be gaining a foothold in Columbus.

ABJ Endorses Cole, Highlights Falls Clerk Race

Akron Ward 8 Council - The World is Holding It's Breath
The Beacon Journal endorsed Randy Cole for Akron Ward 8 City Council citing his "valuable experience" and something about being capable of addressing complex matters or some crap like that . I'm pretty sure they just reprinted Cole's campaign flyer. The ABJ editorial mentions Bob Keith's accomplishments but indicates it's the end of the line for the five term councilman. It seems that ol' Bob has hit that barrier to reelection known as passive leadership. Don't all incumbent office holders have this quality? Any way the Beacon practically phoned this one in. They even appeared to borrow the passive rap on Keith from the interview of Randy that appeared in the West Side Leader. The Leader endorsed Bob Keith. I'm still not sure for whom I will cast my vote. Maybe the one who can guarantee me the jackass next door won't paint anymore cars in his garage will win me over in the end.

Term Limited State Rep. Needs a Job
The ABJ also reported Sunday that the Falls Clerk race is causing a stir. Haven't we seen this before? A well connected State Rep. is looking for a safe place to land once his term runs out. Why not help him out and get him into a career track in public management? In this case John Widowfield is bringing his history of legislating license plate colors and a myriad of other really important public policy to the table. His opponent Lisa Zeno Carano currently holds the office and has 12 prior years experience working in a court system. Widowfield meanwhile points to his his strong suit

"What's so important is to have somebody that understands money - understands dollars"

You see all things revolve around the understanding of money (or dollars in layman's terms) and the ability to master that is the secret to sound public management. What he means is that he has raised a lot of campaign money from a few large donors and is hoping to grab the office for his overlord Alex.

Oops She Did It Again

In case you haven't heard our favorite conservative shemale has been at it again. This time Ann Coulter has decided to go after the jewish faith. Donny Deutsch was on the Today show to talk about Ann's brazen attempt at explaining how Jews can be "perfected" and her subsequent attempt to rephrase her idiotic remarks. Donny made a great analogy to Ann and Brittany Spears. His point was that Brittany doesn't exist until she gets in another car accident (his example not mine, he probably confused her with Lindsay Lohan) just as Ann only pops back into existence by issuing one of her classic wing bat statements. The boy's quite astute if you ask me. I've always said that Coulter has perfected political shtick and nothing more. The real question is whether legitimate conservative pols and pundits will finally distance themselves from her, not whether she should be banned from television.

Speaking of television. If you have a chance to watch the clip of the exchange in HD you will notice Ann has flop sweat around her mouth and chin. I think even she was surprised by her crassness.

Swarm! Swarm!

The flies were just buying Hafner some time. The Tribe pulls off another upset tonight against the Yanks. Go ahead and give Carmona the Cy Young now.

Voinovich the Phony Deficit Hawk

Since it is fashionable to call out phony people these days I direct your attention to the senior senator from Ohio. As PD openers notes Voinovich was the lone deficit hawk in the senate to vote against a paltry $3 billion border security provision added to the overall funding measure. He stated his reasoning in the Congressional Record,

"If we decide we absolutely need to spend $3 billion on something - and I support adequately funding border security - then we need to either raise more revenue or cut other spending to pay for it."

Again, George was adhering to his fiscal conservative beliefs when he voted against the bipartisan crafted expansion to the SCHIP program earlier this week. He sited the unreliable revenue source and increase the cause for voting nay. He wouldn't dream of allowing unbridled expansion of federal spending on his watch, this according to the 9/28 Gongwer news report,

"I came to Washington to reduce the national debt, not to pass the buck and add to it for future generations to deal with,"

When it comes to the nearly$190 billion request to continue the war in Iraq and Afghanistan where will George stand? What about the fiscal mess the war is projected to leave behind for "future generations" to deal with? I'm sure he will stand up as the lone deficit hawk that he is and suggest the funding at least be pared back. He may even demand the Bush tax cuts be rescinded to pay for the wars. He may not utter a peep and vote for the whole request and then find some other token proposal to take a stand against. Sorry kids your health insurance money is being spent in Iraq.