And they wonder why people are suspicious of companies like Diebold.

Money from three Diebold executives began trickling into two Republican campaigns last August, just two months after the voting-machine maker banned political giving by a handful of its top brass.
Mike Jacobsen, a spokesman for the manufacturer based in Green, Ohio, expressed regret over the donations, which totaled $1,400 to U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine and state Sen. Kirk Schuring of Canton, according to campaign finance reports.
But he said the three officials who gave were not subject to the 2004 ethics policy changes, which applied only to the chief executive, Walden O’Dell; president; chief financial officer; and vice president in charge of Diebold Election Systems.

Well, that makes sense then.

Via George, there’s this odd thing at Buckey Politics.

I now know why Sherrod Brown hasn’t accepted our invitation to Meet The Bloggers. What he really wanted was to get slurped by out of state media on his own payroll.
This interview at MyDD is one of the most incredible pieces of chutzpah I’ve ever seen a candidate engage in. MyDD, an incorporated media property owned by Jerome Armstrong, who is on Sherrod Brown’s payroll, has a kid in California (who presumably is on Jerome’s payroll, who knows, that’s not transparent, although this seems to indicate a paid relationship) interview Sherrod on the phone with such hard hitting questions as “What other local issues will you be bringing to the table in this election cycle?”, which I guess the kid has to ask because he’s in California. It’s like George W. Bush hiring Bill O’Reilly to be his consultant, and then giving O’Reilly’s replacement an interview on Fox News, only worse, as O’Reilly doesn’t actually own Fox…Armstrong owns MyDD.

Until I see something from Brown on this matter, I’m taking down the link to his campaign website. Meet The Bloggers is a great local voice for candidates, and avoiding it doesn’t look good.

Voter intimidation is still a Buckeye Republican electoral tool.

Columbus – Every Ohio voter would have to present identification at the polls on Election Day under sweeping election-law revisions debuting in the Ohio Senate today.
The voter-ID requirement is among several significant changes Senate Republicans propose to H.B. 3, which has already cleared the GOP-led Ohio House. The legislature is responding to issues that arose in the 2004 presidential election.
Sen. Kevin Coughlin, the Cuyahoga Falls Republican sponsor, said the bill contains reasonable new rules that will assure accuracy and integrity in Ohio elections.
“I think that we’ve gotten into a world where those who would commit fraud have gotten a lot more sophisticated, and simply requiring that a signature sort of match is really an inadequate way to ensure ballot security,” he said.

I’m waiting for legislation that will magically train the senior citizens who help run the polls into expert ID checkers. What a friggin waste of time.

First Jim Petro unveils his religious fundie-friendly advertisments.

The ad features Mr. Petro, his wife, Nancy, and photos of their children, birth certificates, and a Bible.
“Nancy and I have been married for nearly 33 years,” Mr. Petro says during the ad.
“We are pro-life; we believe that we have to do all that we can to advocate the protection of all life.”
He continues, “We believe that marriage is a sacred bond between a man and a woman that allows for families to develop to become the basic foundation of our society.”

And Ken Blackwell wants to sink the entire education system in Ohio.

Columbus – A proposal that would force public schools to spend more money in the classroom could also push about 100,000 non-teaching jobs – many of them union positions – into the private sector, said a state official backing the idea.
Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell said the jobs would be shifted “from the public sector and off the tax-rolls and into the private sector and supporting the tax-rolls.” Critics, however, say the plan will bust labor unions and lead to reduced wages.
The “65-cent Solution” – a policy goal being considered in 16 states – is the latest brainstorm for fixing Ohio’s troubled school funding system. It would require districts to spend at least 65 percent of their operating funds in the classroom – for such costs as teachers and textbooks.
Ohio’s 612 school districts now spend an average of 55 percent of their funds in the classroom. Adopting the “65-cent Solution” would leave less money to pay for non-teaching personnel, such as cafeteria workers, counselors and some academic programs.
The proposal won’t bring the schools extra money.
Blackwell, a Republican candidate for governor next year, suggests districts do that by cutting the salaries and perks given to school administrators. But because that alone isn’t likely to leave enough cash to maintain non-teaching staff levels at most districts, Blackwell said schools should begin routinely contracting out non-teaching services to lowest bidders.
Opponents aren’t buying it, saying that if the proposal won’t eliminate jobs then it will certainly lead to reduced wages and benefits, including diluted health coverage, for non-teachers.

It’s amazing to me that people still want to vote for these yahoos.

Dennis Kucinich is worried.

A United Auto Workers leader said Monday that he is “extremely concerned” about the future of the Ford casting plant in Brook Park.
Tim Levandusky, the president of UAW Local 1250, which represents hourly workers at Ford’s huge Brook Park complex, made his comments after a meeting with other UAW officials and U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, who promised to explore ways to protect auto industry jobs in Ohio.
“We know we can’t lose another plant, and we are not going to let that happen,” Kucinich said during the meeting in Brook Park, which also included the city’s mayor, Mark Elliott.

This illustrates two things. First, industry is dead in America. First steel and now auto. I’ve been worried over the last few years that increased globalization would eventually kill off auto manufacturing jobs in this country. One thing that is glaringly apparent is increasing health care costs are going to lead to some sort of universal system or permanently kill off segments of the workforce.
The second illustration paints a picture of just how important it is for Cleveland to take the other diverged path in the proverbial woods. Industry helped build Cleveland, but continued reliance could be the cement shoes. It’s time to forge a new destiny. Good leadership is more important than ever.

I just noticed an email in my inbox announcing this event at Cleveland State.

“Helping America Vote” Congressman Bob Ney
Location: Moot Court Room
When: November 30, 2005, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
Wednesday
The Center for Election Integrity presents guest speaker Congressman Bob Ney (R-OH) – “Helping America Vote: Is Ohio Better Off Today Than it Was in 2004?” For information call (216) 523-7330.
As Chairman of the Committee on House Administration, Congressman Ney co-authored and was the primary sponsor of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), which former Presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter called the most meaningful improvement in election laws and voting safeguards in a generation. The Congressman will discuss the role of HAVA and how it promotes improvements to Ohio’s electoral administration. He will address the recent elections, electronic voting, and other changes that are transforming Ohio’s electoral system.

This is the best person to talk about the electoral process?

Identified in new court documents as “Representative No. 1,” Republican Rep. Bob Ney of Ohio has become the poster boy in the Jack Abramoff bribery probe, a beneficiary of trips, tickets and campaign donations, allegedly in exchange for official acts.

I must be dreaming.

Sherrod Brown is going on an announcement tour that commences his run for Mike DeWine’s Senate seat. If you’ve got time, stop by one of his events. You can find the listing here.

One of my biggest concerns regarding his election as mayor is the future of downtown development. In the past Jackson has been strongly pro-neighborhood. Looks like my unease may* be allayed.

In a rare move, Cleveland City Council president and mayor-elect Frank Jackson has approved shifting money away from neighborhood development and toward downtown projects.
On Monday, Jackson, who has a history of voting against large downtown projects, and members of City Council OK’d changing the rules for an economic development fund to spend more money on downtown projects.
The increase – from $2.3 million to $5.8 million – means a decrease for neighborhood projects such as shopping centers and other small businesses. Money for those projects will shrink by about a third, from approximately $11 million to $7.6 million.
The changes pave the way for millions of dollars from the Core City I economic development fund – created with money from land sales at city-owned Chagrin Highlands in the eastern suburbs – to go to two key downtown developments. Ari Maron’s proposed bowling alley-restaurant at East Fourth Street and Euclid Avenue will get $1.5 million, and Scott Wolstein’s massive Flats East Bank retail/housing project will get $3 million.
Originally, the $23 million fund was carved into several pieces, with 10 percent dedicated to non-housing projects downtown, 48 percent to neighborhood projects, 33 percent to housing and 9 percent to tech businesses.
To secure the money for the East Fourth Street and Flats projects, Campbell proposed combining the pots of money, to use on any project anywhere in the city.
Jackson opposed the idea because he wanted to keep money for neighborhood development intact. But he said Monday the city should not renege on its promises to Maron and Wolstein.

Granted, Jackson would be insane, as his first big development decision as Mayor, to screw big business. I think the bowling alley idea is cool but I have a rather large jones for the East Bank project. Jackson could reverse his new pro-big business position very quickly, but I’m crossing my fingers.
The neighborhoods of Cleveland are a very important part of this community. However, it all means jack shit if the center of the apple is rotting and full of worms. As I’ve said before, Cleveland is full of a few bright lights and a lot of dim bulbs. Time to turn up the wattage.
(* it’s early yet)

or is this photo very Orwellian?

A lot of you don’t know how bad a prolonged grocery strike can get. For the year before we moved out there, Southern California saw a particularly nasty strike. It was marked with some violence and long-lasting resentment. The after effects continue to this day. So read this with a sense of reality.

Union workers at five grocery store chains voted overwhelmingly Tuesday night to authorize a strike at more than 160 supermarkets in Northeast Ohio.
The grocery workers’ action gives immediate power to order a walkout to Thomas Robertson, president of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 880, but stops short of an actual strike.
More bargaining is scheduled.
Still, the vote after a 20-minute meeting at the International Exposition Center Tuesday gives Robertson the backing to move: 93.3 percent of just under 4,000 members who voted approved a strike authorization, Local 880 spokesman Mark Rock said. They were expected to be backed by the Teamsters, who would refuse to cross picket lines, a senior union official said.
It’s uncertain how an actual strike might unfold, but based on the last grocery strike — in November 1987 — all members of the bargaining group closed their stores even though only three chains were targeted.
This time, consumers would have more non-union alternatives, such as Wal-Mart Supercenters and Marc’s Deeper Discount Stores. In fact the added competition from such stores is squeezing profits at unionized stores.

In the San Diego area, Costco was the biggest beneficiary of the strike. They’re non-union, but management takes very good care of their employees. You will not see any store closures around these parts during a strike this time. The chains can’t afford to permanently lose customers to Walmart and Marc’s. I think Heinens will be the least affected, being that their customers tend to be more loyal. As for the chances of a strike being diverted, if these comments hold true it doesn’t look good.

Cliff Hoy, a 38-year member of Local 880 who is a grocery clerk at Heinen’s in Rocky River, said he understood the grocery chains were pushing to reduce vacation time, eliminate medical coverage for retirees, eliminate time-and-a-half pay rates on Sunday and require employees to work until age 57 instead of age 55 in order to collect a full pension. This could not be immediately confirmed.
“They’ve met 29 times now and nothing’s gone good for us,” said Hoy, 54, who intends to retire when he turns 55 in April. “They just don’t want to bend on anything.”

Increasing healthcare costs are driving the need for cuts. It is a situation that is spiraling out of control. Imagine if public transportation and other city employees chose to strike at the same time? It’s a nightmare scenario, but one that could quite possibly come to fruition if health care costs are not kept in check. Just keep this in mind when you vote next November. The current party in power has done nothing for over a decade to solve this problem. And don’t you dare blame Clinton, as we wanted to do something but was repeatedly blocked by Republicans. Universal healthcare will start to look more and more attractive to those who would rather die than walk into a Marc’s or a Walmart.
Just keep in in mind.