Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Friday, November 26, 2010
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Race For Judge Still Not Decided - :: Cincinnati news story :: LOCAL 12 WKRC-TV in Cincinnati
Race For Judge Still Not Decided - :: Cincinnati news story :: LOCAL 12 WKRC-TV in Cincinnati: "'Now, imagine I'm in a polling place. About a third of the disqualified votes were cast in places with more than one precinct. Maybe a church or social hall ... One precinct over here, another over there. The lawsuit claims that instead of having people vote at the correct precinct, poll workers sent the voters to the wrong precinct in the same building ... The lawsuit claims poll worker error. The voters went where they were told.'
Judge Susan Dlott said where poll worker error is to blame, those particular votes should be counted."
Judge Susan Dlott said where poll worker error is to blame, those particular votes should be counted."
Whose Doing the Parenting Right?
U.S.G. and P.T.A. - NYTimes.com: "If you want to know who’s doing the parenting part right, start with immigrants, who know that learning is the way up. Last week, the 32 winners of Rhodes Scholarships for 2011 were announced — America’s top college grads. Here are half the names on that list: Mark Jia, Aakash Shah, Zujaja Tauqeer, Tracy Yang, William Zeng, Daniel Lage, Ye Jin Kang, Baltazar Zavala, Esther Uduehi, Prerna Nadathur, Priya Sury, Anna Alekeyeva, Fatima Sabar, Renugan Raidoo, Jennifer Lai, Varun Sivaram."
U.S.G. and P.T.A. - NYTimes.com
U.S.G. and P.T.A. - NYTimes.com: "As Education Secretary Arne Duncan put it to me in an interview, 50 years ago if you dropped out, you could get a job in the stockyards or steel mill and still “own your own home and support your family.” Today, there are no such good jobs for high school dropouts. “They’re gone,” said Duncan. “That’s what we haven’t adjusted to.” When kids drop out today, “they’re condemned to poverty and social failure.” There are barely any jobs left for someone with only a high school diploma, and that’s only valuable today if it has truly prepared you to go on to higher education without remediation — the only ticket to a decent job."
Afghanistan and Vietnam - NYTimes.com
Afghanistan and Vietnam - NYTimes.com: "For starters, though Vietnam was hugely destructive in human terms, strategically it was just a medium-sized blunder. It was a waste of resources, yes, but the war didn’t make America more vulnerable to enemy attack."
The Great Game Imposter - NYTimes.com
The Great Game Imposter - NYTimes.com: "We’ve heard a lot about the shadow world of Afghanistan, but this is ridiculous. We’re bargaining with the shadow of a shadow. Even President Karzai may have been fooled. The man taking us for a ride may have been taken for a ride."
Monday, November 22, 2010
How Are the Kids?
The Baseline Scenario
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
How Are the Kids? Unemployed, Underwater, and Sinking
Posted: 20 Nov 2010 07:34 PM PST
This guest post is contributed by Mark Paul and Anastasia Wilson. Both are members of the class of 2011 at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.
In some cultures asking how the kids are doing is a colloquial way of asking how the individual is faring, acknowledging that the vitality of the younger generation is a good metric for the well-being of society as a whole. In the United States, the state of the kids should be an important indicator. Young workers bear the significant burden of funding intergenerational transfer programs and maintaining the structure of payments that flow in the economy. Today, the kids’ outlook is almost as bleak as the housing market; they are unemployed, underwater on student debt, and out of luck from a reluctant political system.
Currently, even after a slight boost in jobs growth, unemployment for 18-24 year olds stands at 24.7%. For 20-24 year olds, it hovers at 15.2%. These conservative estimates, using the Bureau of Labor Statistics U3 measure, do not reflect the number of marginally attached or discouraged young workers feeling the lag from a nearly moribund job market.
The U3 measure also does not count underemployment, yet with only 50% of B.A. holders able to find jobs requiring such a degree, underemployment rates are a telling index of the squeezing of the 18-30 year old Millennial generation. While it appears everyone is hurting since the financial collapse, young adults bear a disproportionate burden, constituting just 13.5% of the workforce while accounting for 26.4% of those unemployed. Even with good credentials, it is difficult for young people to find work and keep themselves afloat.
If companies are unwilling to hire bright young college graduates even at a relatively low salary and minimal benefits, will they ever be willing to hire anybody at all?
Jobs aren’t the whole story. Recent college graduates, those in the labor force with the freshest batch of knowledge and skills, are currently underwater and sinking fast with unprecedented student loan and personal debt. Average student debt for the class of 2008 was $23,200, an increase over four years of about 25%, meaning that students are knee deep in negative equity between their educational investment and actual earnings.
Between inflated student debt and the lack of available jobs for qualified graduates, students are defaulting at an all time high level of 7.2%. From 2008 to 2009, student debt defaults jumped about 30% to $50.8 billion. This earning-to-debt gap not only hurts lending institutions, but also may affect students’ future abilities to borrow – a significant hurdle in our credit driven economy.
If student debt and job stagnation continue, younger workers will face real structural unemployment (as opposed to the fake kind that had been suspected by some economists, but was recently debunked by the San Francisco Fed). The more time these young workers spend unemployed and underemployed, the greater chance for future structural unemployment due to deteriorating human capital.
High debt, high defaults, and low family earnings will prevent many students from finishing college at all. High unemployment for those who do manage to graduate with a degree will create barriers for those unable to start their careers. As economists have shown, most current deficits can actually be attributed to the decrease in tax revenues - a debilitating trend that will continue without well-targeted action.
In order to combat such structural problems, the need for investment in education and jobs is clear. This investment will act as an insurance policy against persisting future structural unemployment and subsequent government revenue declines. This investment can take the form of direct funding for public higher education, increased financial aid to students, and expanded federally guaranteed loan and grant programs. As many states have slashed and burned public higher education budgets, as in Massachusetts, federal attention should be directed towards this crisis. The 2009 stimulus funding provided only two years’ worth of support to sustain public higher education in the Commonwealth, where universities have historically been a top priority. The need for a long-term restructured investment plan in public higher education is obvious, not just in Massachusetts, but the other forty-nine states as well.
At the same time, insurance against the impending doom of climate change could be taken out in the form of a green jobs bill, providing work and an outlet for innovation for recent college graduates. As Robert Pollin and Dean Baker have suggested, long-term investments in rebuilding a green energy industrial base, complete with manufacturing and R&D, could revitalize the entire economy if funded as part of a 10-year plan to the tune of $50-100 billion. Such investment could create 660,000-1.3 million jobs per year – the kind of growth that seems to have escaped our collective memory.
Green collar industry would naturally target the young workers who are up to date on the high-tech nature of green jobs, and much research and development would, as with most budding industries, take place at academic research institutions like public universities – a two-for-one stimulus in both jobs and education.
In order to solve future structural problems in the United States and ensure a future for the sandwich generation, fiscal policy focused on educational and job growth is crucial. While deficit hawks may squawk about the costs, the burden of repayment is on younger people Without adequate education and careers for students, we will never be able to balance the budget. In the long run, it makes more fiscal sense to create jobs and collect tax revenue than to rely on a model that merely waits for the private sector to invest.
While the political feasibility of such a measure is questionable, the incentives are there no matter on what side of the aisle you may sit. Jobs investment will improve employment. Education will increase productivity (and profits too), increasing tax revenues from businesses and personal incomes and helping balance the budget. Crisis is not the time for austerity, and these types of investments in the viability of the U.S. economy should be done when money is at its cheapest.
In a dire job market, facing imminent climate change, and lagging aggregate demand, keeping the younger generation afloat will inevitably be a decision to sink, swim, or at least throw out some life jackets.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
How Are the Kids? Unemployed, Underwater, and Sinking
Posted: 20 Nov 2010 07:34 PM PST
This guest post is contributed by Mark Paul and Anastasia Wilson. Both are members of the class of 2011 at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.
In some cultures asking how the kids are doing is a colloquial way of asking how the individual is faring, acknowledging that the vitality of the younger generation is a good metric for the well-being of society as a whole. In the United States, the state of the kids should be an important indicator. Young workers bear the significant burden of funding intergenerational transfer programs and maintaining the structure of payments that flow in the economy. Today, the kids’ outlook is almost as bleak as the housing market; they are unemployed, underwater on student debt, and out of luck from a reluctant political system.
Currently, even after a slight boost in jobs growth, unemployment for 18-24 year olds stands at 24.7%. For 20-24 year olds, it hovers at 15.2%. These conservative estimates, using the Bureau of Labor Statistics U3 measure, do not reflect the number of marginally attached or discouraged young workers feeling the lag from a nearly moribund job market.
The U3 measure also does not count underemployment, yet with only 50% of B.A. holders able to find jobs requiring such a degree, underemployment rates are a telling index of the squeezing of the 18-30 year old Millennial generation. While it appears everyone is hurting since the financial collapse, young adults bear a disproportionate burden, constituting just 13.5% of the workforce while accounting for 26.4% of those unemployed. Even with good credentials, it is difficult for young people to find work and keep themselves afloat.
If companies are unwilling to hire bright young college graduates even at a relatively low salary and minimal benefits, will they ever be willing to hire anybody at all?
Jobs aren’t the whole story. Recent college graduates, those in the labor force with the freshest batch of knowledge and skills, are currently underwater and sinking fast with unprecedented student loan and personal debt. Average student debt for the class of 2008 was $23,200, an increase over four years of about 25%, meaning that students are knee deep in negative equity between their educational investment and actual earnings.
Between inflated student debt and the lack of available jobs for qualified graduates, students are defaulting at an all time high level of 7.2%. From 2008 to 2009, student debt defaults jumped about 30% to $50.8 billion. This earning-to-debt gap not only hurts lending institutions, but also may affect students’ future abilities to borrow – a significant hurdle in our credit driven economy.
If student debt and job stagnation continue, younger workers will face real structural unemployment (as opposed to the fake kind that had been suspected by some economists, but was recently debunked by the San Francisco Fed). The more time these young workers spend unemployed and underemployed, the greater chance for future structural unemployment due to deteriorating human capital.
High debt, high defaults, and low family earnings will prevent many students from finishing college at all. High unemployment for those who do manage to graduate with a degree will create barriers for those unable to start their careers. As economists have shown, most current deficits can actually be attributed to the decrease in tax revenues - a debilitating trend that will continue without well-targeted action.
In order to combat such structural problems, the need for investment in education and jobs is clear. This investment will act as an insurance policy against persisting future structural unemployment and subsequent government revenue declines. This investment can take the form of direct funding for public higher education, increased financial aid to students, and expanded federally guaranteed loan and grant programs. As many states have slashed and burned public higher education budgets, as in Massachusetts, federal attention should be directed towards this crisis. The 2009 stimulus funding provided only two years’ worth of support to sustain public higher education in the Commonwealth, where universities have historically been a top priority. The need for a long-term restructured investment plan in public higher education is obvious, not just in Massachusetts, but the other forty-nine states as well.
At the same time, insurance against the impending doom of climate change could be taken out in the form of a green jobs bill, providing work and an outlet for innovation for recent college graduates. As Robert Pollin and Dean Baker have suggested, long-term investments in rebuilding a green energy industrial base, complete with manufacturing and R&D, could revitalize the entire economy if funded as part of a 10-year plan to the tune of $50-100 billion. Such investment could create 660,000-1.3 million jobs per year – the kind of growth that seems to have escaped our collective memory.
Green collar industry would naturally target the young workers who are up to date on the high-tech nature of green jobs, and much research and development would, as with most budding industries, take place at academic research institutions like public universities – a two-for-one stimulus in both jobs and education.
In order to solve future structural problems in the United States and ensure a future for the sandwich generation, fiscal policy focused on educational and job growth is crucial. While deficit hawks may squawk about the costs, the burden of repayment is on younger people Without adequate education and careers for students, we will never be able to balance the budget. In the long run, it makes more fiscal sense to create jobs and collect tax revenue than to rely on a model that merely waits for the private sector to invest.
While the political feasibility of such a measure is questionable, the incentives are there no matter on what side of the aisle you may sit. Jobs investment will improve employment. Education will increase productivity (and profits too), increasing tax revenues from businesses and personal incomes and helping balance the budget. Crisis is not the time for austerity, and these types of investments in the viability of the U.S. economy should be done when money is at its cheapest.
In a dire job market, facing imminent climate change, and lagging aggregate demand, keeping the younger generation afloat will inevitably be a decision to sink, swim, or at least throw out some life jackets.
Rescue was easy - Ireland's future the real worry - The Globe and Mail
Rescue was easy - Ireland's future the real worry - The Globe and Mail: "And if there is a default, does the EU take a haircut? At what point will German, French and British taxpayers be told that their loans are almost certain to be converted in part and in due course into some sort of Irish equity, without dividends or voting rights. Already, revolt is brewing in sections of the right-wing British media over £300 per head for Ireland. Small wonder that people are talking of the end of Ireland as an indepedent nation. Its future can only be as a ward of the EU, its stunted economy micro-managed from Berlin. The alternative, which looks more palatable by the day, is the door marked exit. That will be hugely painful and costly but we are not there just yet."
Ireland’s Paradise Lost - NYTimes.com
Ireland’s Paradise Lost - NYTimes.com: "There was a time, not so very long ago, when everyone wanted to take credit for this transformation. Free-market conservatives hailed Ireland’s rapid growth as an example of the miracles that free trade, tax cuts and deregulation can accomplish. (In 1990, Ireland ranked near the bottom of European Union nations in G.D.P. per capita. In 2005, it ranked second.)"
There Will Be Blood - NYTimes.com
There Will Be Blood - NYTimes.com: "The fact is that one of our two great political parties has made it clear that it has no interest in making America governable, unless it’s doing the governing. And that party now controls one house of Congress, which means that the country will not, in fact, be governable without that party’s cooperation — cooperation that won’t be forthcoming."
Sunday, November 21, 2010
The Hunt for Jobs Sends the Irish Abroad, Again - NYTimes.com
The Hunt for Jobs Sends the Irish Abroad, Again - NYTimes.com: "The latest moves to shore up Ireland’s economy follow more than two years of harsh austerity measures by the government. Taxes have been raised and salaries cut for nurses, professors and other public workers by up to 20 percent. This month, the government announced that an additional $6 billion would need to be cut from the budget next year."
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Pillich Wins by 602, Not 5!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
Congratulations to Connie for a campaign well-run. Congratulations to Uriah Anderson. Congratulations to Richard Schwab and the rest of GOFACT and the other 28th District supporters, including me. This is uplifting!
Opt-Out Illusion on Medicaid - NYTimes.com
Opt-Out Illusion on Medicaid - NYTimes.com: "There is no question that Medicaid is badly straining many state budgets. And state leaders need to do a lot more to make their systems more efficient and reduce waste and abuse. The burden, and the need for reform, will undeniably grow under health care reform because the states will have to enroll many adults not previously covered and allow people with somewhat higher incomes to enroll."
The Zombie Jamboree - NYTimes.com
The Zombie Jamboree - NYTimes.com: "On the other side, the Democrats are waking from an election night coma to find that the country is overrun with zombie Republicans who are demanding to be allowed to shut down the government even before their swearing-in. And when President Obama invited their leadership to break bread and talk about working together, John Boehner and Mitch McConnell said a pre-Thanksgiving sit-down didn’t fit into their schedules."
Hiding From Reality - NYTimes.com
Hiding From Reality - NYTimes.com: "The human suffering in the years required to recover from the recession will continue to be immense. And that suffering will only be made worse if the nation embarks on a misguided crash program of deficit reduction that in the short term will undermine any recovery, and in the long term will make true deficit reduction that much harder to achieve."
Friday, November 19, 2010
Turnout was key in Chabot/Driehaus race | Politics Extra
Turnout was key in Chabot/Driehaus race Politics Extra: "The drop in Driehaus’ most loyal communities, such as Forest Park, Lincoln Heights, and Woodlawn, all either matched the county’s overall decline or were steeper.
These communities have high African-American populations – a group that came out in droves for President Barack Obama in 2008, a main reason why political analysts have suggested that Driehaus’ victory would depend on their enthusiasm.
In Lincoln Heights, voter turnout plunged by 30 percentage points, from 69 to 39 percent. Forest Park’s fell 23 points, from 72 to 49 percent. Woodlawn’s? About 22 points from 66 to 44 percent.
In comparison, Chabot’s communities of similar size dropped by much less, such as Evendale, which fell 14 points from 81 to 67 percent. Glendale dropped by about the same, from 78 to 65.6 percent."
These communities have high African-American populations – a group that came out in droves for President Barack Obama in 2008, a main reason why political analysts have suggested that Driehaus’ victory would depend on their enthusiasm.
In Lincoln Heights, voter turnout plunged by 30 percentage points, from 69 to 39 percent. Forest Park’s fell 23 points, from 72 to 49 percent. Woodlawn’s? About 22 points from 66 to 44 percent.
In comparison, Chabot’s communities of similar size dropped by much less, such as Evendale, which fell 14 points from 81 to 67 percent. Glendale dropped by about the same, from 78 to 65.6 percent."
Mike Wilson/Connie Pillich battle makes Time | Politics Extra
Old "news" but still...
Mike Wilson/Connie Pillich battle makes Time Politics Extra: "Time magazine uses the race between Democratic Rep. Connie Pillich and GOP challenger Mike Wilson to illustrate how hard the parties are fighting for control of state legislatures this year. The reason: Legislatures in many states, including Ohio, will control redistricting – a process that could cement a party’s control over a state for a decade."
Mike Wilson/Connie Pillich battle makes Time Politics Extra: "Time magazine uses the race between Democratic Rep. Connie Pillich and GOP challenger Mike Wilson to illustrate how hard the parties are fighting for control of state legislatures this year. The reason: Legislatures in many states, including Ohio, will control redistricting – a process that could cement a party’s control over a state for a decade."
Axis of Depression - Readers' Comments - NYTimes.com
Axis of Depression - Readers' Comments - NYTimes.com: "In this Congress, Republicans -- again with a few exceptions in the Senate -- continued to vote en masse against any bills that would help the economy or increase jobs. They also voted against extending unemployment benefits to all those Americans whose jobs Republicans arranged to end. Just yesterday, Republicans in the House killed a bill that would have extended unemployment benefits (a two-thirds majority was required)."
Axis of Depression - NYTimes.com
Axis of Depression - NYTimes.com: "So what’s really motivating the G.O.P. attack on the Fed? Mr. Bernanke and his colleagues were clearly caught by surprise, but the budget expert Stan Collender predicted it all. Back in August, he warned Mr. Bernanke that “with Republican policy makers seeing economic hardship as the path to election glory,” they would be “opposed to any actions taken by the Federal Reserve that would make the economy better.” In short, their real fear is not that Fed actions will be harmful, it is that they might succeed."
Thursday, November 18, 2010
A Hedge Fund Republic? - NYTimes.com
A Hedge Fund Republic? - NYTimes.com: "Since then, we’ve reversed places. The share controlled by the top 1 percent in Argentina has fallen to a bit more than 15 percent. Meanwhile, inequality in the United States has soared to levels comparable to those in Argentina six decades ago — with 1 percent controlling 24 percent of American income in 2007."
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
A future princess yet to fully define herself - The Globe and Mail
Meanwhile, away from politics:
A future princess yet to fully define herself - The Globe and Mail: "The raciest moment? Apparently she used to regularly moon the boys' residence from her dorm window."
A future princess yet to fully define herself - The Globe and Mail: "The raciest moment? Apparently she used to regularly moon the boys' residence from her dorm window."
Pretty Good for Government Work - NYTimes.com
Pretty Good for Government Work - NYTimes.com: "I don’t know precisely how you orchestrated these. But I did have a pretty good seat as events unfolded, and I would like to commend a few of your troops. In the darkest of days, Ben Bernanke, Hank Paulson, Tim Geithner and Sheila Bair grasped the gravity of the situation and acted with courage and dispatch. And though I never voted for George W. Bush, I give him great credit for leading, even as Congress postured and squabbled."
The Way They Were - NYTimes.com
The Way They Were - NYTimes.com: "Together again were the president and vice president who invaded, deregulated, overspent, created a climate of fear and intensified the class divide with tax cuts — all so recklessly that our resources are sapped just as we need to step up and compete with our banker, China."
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Judge denies Wilson's vote request | cincinnati.com | Cincinnati.Com
Judge denies Wilson's vote request cincinnati.com Cincinnati.Com: "Common Pleas Court Judge Robert Winkler denied a request today by attorneys for Mike Wilson, a Republican candidate for a state house seat, and his campaign manager to keep separate 589 provisional ballots casts in Lincoln Heights, Woodlawn and Forest Park."
On Nov 16, 2010, at 1:29 PM, richardoschwab@gmail.com wrote:
The following reveals "Wilson's true colors are dangerously murky." See this update from Uriah Anderson, Connie Pillich's Campaign Manager. The good news is the judge tossed Wilson's case.
Richard
www.gofact.blogspot.com
Richard O. Schwab
830 Congress Ave.
Glendale, Ohio 45246
H.513-771-4397
M.513-470-4599
From: Uriah Anderson
Date: Tue, 16 Nov 2010 11:02:37 -0500
To: Richard Schwab; Bruce Abel
Subject: Fwd: Google Alert - "mike wilson" "tea party"
Thought you guys would like this story. Might be a good one for the gofact blog.
As an update, the judge just denied Mike Wilson's case.
Begin forwarded message:
From: Google Alerts
Date: November 16, 2010 8:28:44 AM EST
To: UriahKAnderson@gmail.com
Subject: Google Alert - "mike wilson" "tea party"
Web 1 new result for "mike wilson" "tea party"
Tea Partier Mike Wilson Sues to Disenfranchise Blacks Cincinnati ...
So the election results are not even official and a government paid recount is in the works but Tea Party Republican Mike Wilson is suing for the right to ...
www.upi.com/Top_News/Local/...to.../25-8d36f065be
On Nov 16, 2010, at 1:29 PM, richardoschwab@gmail.com wrote:
The following reveals "Wilson's true colors are dangerously murky." See this update from Uriah Anderson, Connie Pillich's Campaign Manager. The good news is the judge tossed Wilson's case.
Richard
www.gofact.blogspot.com
Richard O. Schwab
830 Congress Ave.
Glendale, Ohio 45246
H.513-771-4397
M.513-470-4599
From: Uriah Anderson
Date: Tue, 16 Nov 2010 11:02:37 -0500
To: Richard Schwab
Subject: Fwd: Google Alert - "mike wilson" "tea party"
Thought you guys would like this story. Might be a good one for the gofact blog.
As an update, the judge just denied Mike Wilson's case.
Begin forwarded message:
From: Google Alerts
Date: November 16, 2010 8:28:44 AM EST
To: UriahKAnderson@gmail.com
Subject: Google Alert - "mike wilson" "tea party"
Web 1 new result for "mike wilson" "tea party"
Tea Partier Mike Wilson Sues to Disenfranchise Blacks Cincinnati ...
So the election results are not even official and a government paid recount is in the works but Tea Party Republican Mike Wilson is suing for the right to ...
www.upi.com/Top_News/Local/...to.../25-8d36f065be
The Challenge and the Recount -- Round I
CincyMobile.com Article page Suit: Lincoln Heights votes 'suspect' Cincinnati Enquirer: "By Steve Kemme • skemme@enquirer.com
November 15, 2010
Mike Wilson, the Republican candidate for a still-contested state house seat, wants the provisional ballots in the three Lincoln Heights precincts to receive special scrutiny before they're counted because he believes them to be 'suspect.'"
Suit: Lincoln Heights votes 'suspect'
By Steve Kemme • skemme@enquirer.com
November 15, 2010
Mike Wilson, the Republican candidate for a still-contested state house seat, wants the provisional ballots in the three Lincoln Heights precincts to receive special scrutiny before they're counted because he believes them to be "suspect."
The lawsuit was filed Monday in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court by attorney Christopher R. McDowell on behalf of Wilson and Cook.
Provisional ballots are cast when election poll workers cannot determine whether a voter is entitled to cast a valid ballot. Often, provisional voters are people who changed their address or name after the voter registration deadline.
In the Nov. 2 election, incumbent Democrat Connie Pillich received five more votes than Wilson in the race for 28th House District, which covers northern and northeastern Hamilton County. The provisional ballots could determine the winner of the race.
The lawsuit says the number of provisional ballots is disproportionately high in the three Lincoln Heights districts and that the number of Lincoln Heights voters in the race seems higher than it should be for a village with a shrinking population.
Of the 1,456 provisional ballots cast in Ohio 28 House District race, 136 or 9 percent, were from Lincoln Heights Precincts A, B and C. The 984 Lincoln Heights votes cast in the race was only 2.3 percent of the race's total number of votes.
This issue will be presented before Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Robert Winkler at 9 a.m. Tuesday. The Hamilton County Board of Elections has scheduled a meeting 11:30 a.m., Tuesday to review the provisional ballots and the remaining absentee ballots. But Tim Burke, an elections board member and chairman of the Hamilton County Democratic Party, said the board will have to wait to see what Winkler rules.
"We'll comply with whatever he orders," he said.
Pillich said the lawsuit's arguments for taking special steps to screen Lincoln Heights provisional ballots seem weak. She said it's not valid to compare the number of provisional ballots in Lincoln Heights with those in the rest of the district.
"There is an unusually high number of poor people in Lincoln Heights," Pillich said. "There's been a lot of rebuilding there and a lot of address changes. Most of the other communities in my district are better off financially than Lincoln Heights. It's like comparing apples and oranges."
The board of elections will count the ballots on Nov. 22 and will approve them on Nov. 23. If the vote totals for Pillich and for Wilson are close enough, there will be a recount of all ballots cast in the race.
November 15, 2010
Mike Wilson, the Republican candidate for a still-contested state house seat, wants the provisional ballots in the three Lincoln Heights precincts to receive special scrutiny before they're counted because he believes them to be 'suspect.'"
Suit: Lincoln Heights votes 'suspect'
By Steve Kemme • skemme@enquirer.com
November 15, 2010
Mike Wilson, the Republican candidate for a still-contested state house seat, wants the provisional ballots in the three Lincoln Heights precincts to receive special scrutiny before they're counted because he believes them to be "suspect."
The lawsuit was filed Monday in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court by attorney Christopher R. McDowell on behalf of Wilson and Cook.
Provisional ballots are cast when election poll workers cannot determine whether a voter is entitled to cast a valid ballot. Often, provisional voters are people who changed their address or name after the voter registration deadline.
In the Nov. 2 election, incumbent Democrat Connie Pillich received five more votes than Wilson in the race for 28th House District, which covers northern and northeastern Hamilton County. The provisional ballots could determine the winner of the race.
The lawsuit says the number of provisional ballots is disproportionately high in the three Lincoln Heights districts and that the number of Lincoln Heights voters in the race seems higher than it should be for a village with a shrinking population.
Of the 1,456 provisional ballots cast in Ohio 28 House District race, 136 or 9 percent, were from Lincoln Heights Precincts A, B and C. The 984 Lincoln Heights votes cast in the race was only 2.3 percent of the race's total number of votes.
This issue will be presented before Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Robert Winkler at 9 a.m. Tuesday. The Hamilton County Board of Elections has scheduled a meeting 11:30 a.m., Tuesday to review the provisional ballots and the remaining absentee ballots. But Tim Burke, an elections board member and chairman of the Hamilton County Democratic Party, said the board will have to wait to see what Winkler rules.
"We'll comply with whatever he orders," he said.
Pillich said the lawsuit's arguments for taking special steps to screen Lincoln Heights provisional ballots seem weak. She said it's not valid to compare the number of provisional ballots in Lincoln Heights with those in the rest of the district.
"There is an unusually high number of poor people in Lincoln Heights," Pillich said. "There's been a lot of rebuilding there and a lot of address changes. Most of the other communities in my district are better off financially than Lincoln Heights. It's like comparing apples and oranges."
The board of elections will count the ballots on Nov. 22 and will approve them on Nov. 23. If the vote totals for Pillich and for Wilson are close enough, there will be a recount of all ballots cast in the race.
This Raging Fire - NYTimes.com
This Raging Fire - NYTimes.com: "The terrible economic downturn has made it more difficult than ever to douse this raging fire that is consuming the life prospects of so many young blacks, and the growing sentiment in Washington is to do even less to help any Americans in need. It is inconceivable in this atmosphere that blacks themselves will not mobilize in a major way to save these young people. I see no other alternative."
The Two Cultures - NYTimes.com
The Two Cultures - NYTimes.com: "One could go on. It’s become harder to have confidence that legislators can successfully enact the brilliant policies that liberal technicians come up with. Far from entering the age of macroeconomic mastery and social science triumph, we seem to be entering an age in which statecraft is, once again, an art, not a science. When you look around the world at the countries that have come through the recession best, it’s not the countries with the brilliant and aggressive stimulus models. It’s the ones like Germany that had the best economic fundamentals beforehand."
Monday, November 15, 2010
The World as Obama Finds It - NYTimes.com
The World as Obama Finds It - NYTimes.com: "Even given the economy’s troubles, however, the administration’s efforts to limit the political damage were amazingly weak. There were no catchy slogans, no clear statements of principle; the administration’s political messaging was not so much ineffective as invisible. How many voters even noticed the ever-changing campaign themes — does anyone remember the “Summer of Recovery” — that were rolled out as catastrophe loomed?"
Democrats - The Party of No on Deficit Reduction - NYTimes.com
Democrats - The Party of No on Deficit Reduction - NYTimes.com: "But pondering what Nancy Pelosi and her compatriots are rejecting gives us a pretty good sense of what they’re for. It’s a world where the government perpetually warps the real estate and health care marketplaces, subsidizing McMansions and gold-plated insurance plans to the tune of billions every year. It’s a world where federal jobs are sacrosanct, but the private sector has to labor under one of the higher corporate tax rates in the developed West. It’s a world where the Social Security retirement age never budges, no matter how high average life expectancy climbs. And it’s a world where federal spending rises inexorably to 25 percent of G.D.P. and beyond, and taxes rise with it."
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Who Will Stand Up to the Superrich? - NYTimes.com
Who Will Stand Up to the Superrich? - NYTimes.com: "The Americans I’m talking about are not just those shadowy anonymous corporate campaign contributors who flooded this campaign. No less triumphant were those individuals at the apex of the economic pyramid — the superrich who have gotten spectacularly richer over the last four decades while their fellow citizens either treaded water or lost ground. The top 1 percent of American earners took in 23.5 percent of the nation’s pretax income in 2007 — up from less than 9 percent in 1976. During the boom years of 2002 to 2007, that top 1 percent’s pretax income increased an extraordinary 10 percent every year."
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Have You "Opted Out" Yet?
For those in Glendale, you got your notice yesterday in the mail from IGS for natural gas aggregation. Opt Out!!! Duke Energy has already lowered its natural gas rates and they will be lower still as the winter goes on. IGS is a fixed rate and starts out high. November and December will be over, or somewhat, before the switch. And if you do not opt out you will be on IGS through next fall and there is a renewal which will take place at the end of the IGS period, which most people will forget about.
It is a slight pain to opt out. You have to get your bill to get your customer account number; then the form calls for unnecessary information such as email; then you have to supply your own envelope and put on a complicated address; and your own stamp.
For more, see my website, http://www.natgagu.blogspot.com/ and check the label "aggregation" or "Duke Energy."
Pass this on.
Bruce
It is a slight pain to opt out. You have to get your bill to get your customer account number; then the form calls for unnecessary information such as email; then you have to supply your own envelope and put on a complicated address; and your own stamp.
For more, see my website, http://www.natgagu.blogspot.com/ and check the label "aggregation" or "Duke Energy."
Pass this on.
Bruce
Opt Out of IGS Glendale Aggregation Today!!!!!
It's simple: Opt Out of the IGS Glendale Aggregation today!!! Duke Energy natural gas rates are declining through the winter, and are already below the IGS fixed-price offer. See my discussion of this at http://www.natgagu.blogspot.com/, including the futures prices through the coming winter.
t r u t h o u t | Ezra Klein | The Do-Lots Congress: Guess What - It Accomplished Big Things
Thank you Richard!
t r u t h o u t Ezra Klein The Do-Lots Congress: Guess What - It Accomplished Big Things: "Polls have found that the public doesn't realize how extraordinary this was. Most voters -- and that holds for Democrats, too -- don't think the 111th got more accomplished than most Congresses. But they're wrong. The 111th came to Washington promising to get things done on behalf of the American people. More than any other Congress in decades, it did."
t r u t h o u t Ezra Klein The Do-Lots Congress: Guess What - It Accomplished Big Things: "Polls have found that the public doesn't realize how extraordinary this was. Most voters -- and that holds for Democrats, too -- don't think the 111th got more accomplished than most Congresses. But they're wrong. The 111th came to Washington promising to get things done on behalf of the American people. More than any other Congress in decades, it did."
Glenn Beck Sees George Soros as Iran Does - NYTimes.com
Glenn Beck Sees George Soros as Iran Does - NYTimes.com: "Beck should be one of the most despised people in the U.S., yet he continues to draw huge audiences, and to make millions, while positioning himself as at least a political savior, if not more.
He is historically illiterate, but also doesn't at all mind using his own fabrications to replace the actual histories of people, events and countries.
The only cure for his kind of big lie is education in recent history, and not in high schools, but for adults. How we do that, I have no idea."
He is historically illiterate, but also doesn't at all mind using his own fabrications to replace the actual histories of people, events and countries.
The only cure for his kind of big lie is education in recent history, and not in high schools, but for adults. How we do that, I have no idea."
91.7 WVXU Cincinnati | WVXU News | Will there be a recount in this race?
91.7 WVXU Cincinnati WVXU News Will there be a recount in this race?: "Connie Pillich says, 'What we're doing is we're working to make sure that people are aware that if they cast an absentee vote and the Board of Elections contacted them and told them there was a problem with their vote that they have the ability and the duty to correct it.'"
Friday, November 12, 2010
Obama Takes Asia by Sea - NYTimes.com
Obama Takes Asia by Sea - NYTimes.com: "Indonesia’s Muslim democracy, a dozen years after the fall of Suharto, boasts vigor and moderation. And combined with Indonesia’s immense population, it augurs the emergence of a sort of “second India” in the Eurasian rimland, strategically located on the Strait of Malacca, the shipping superhighway between the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Since the art of preparing for a multipolar world in military as well as economic terms is to gain the support of like-minded others, the Obama administration needs to use the energy generated by the president’s visit in order to adopt Indonesia as its new favorite country, just as India was adopted by the George W. Bush administration to substantial effect."
National Greatness Agenda - NYTimes.com
National Greatness Agenda - NYTimes.com: "It will take a revived patriotism to get people to look beyond their short-term financial interest to see the long-term national threat. Do you really love your tax deduction more than America’s future greatness? Are you really unwilling to sacrifice your Social Security cost-of-living adjustment at a time when soldiers and Marines are sacrificing their lives for their country in Afghanistan?"
National Greatness Agenda - NYTimes.com
National Greatness Agenda - NYTimes.com: "Nothing in this past election has averted this disaster. The Republicans talk about cutting deficits, but a party that campaigns to restore the $400 million in Medicare cuts included in the health care law is not serious about averting a fiscal meltdown. Some Democrats, meanwhile, don’t even bother to pretend."
The Hijacked Commission - NYTimes.com
The Hijacked Commission - NYTimes.com: "It’s true that the PowerPoint contains nice-looking charts showing deficits falling and debt levels stabilizing. But it becomes clear, once you spend a little time trying to figure out what’s going on, that the main driver of those pretty charts is the assumption that the rate of growth in health-care costs will slow dramatically. And how is this to be achieved? By “establishing a process to regularly evaluate cost growth” and taking “additional steps as needed.” What does that mean? I have no idea."
Thursday, November 11, 2010
James T. Kloppenberg Discusses His ‘Reading Obama’ - NYTimes.com
James T. Kloppenberg Discusses His ‘Reading Obama’ - NYTimes.com: "In New York City last week to give a standing-room-only lecture about his forthcoming intellectual biography, “Reading Obama: Dreams, Hopes, and the American Political Tradition,” Mr. Kloppenberg explained that he sees Mr. Obama as a kind of philosopher president, a rare breed that can be found only a handful of times in American history.
And he was on Charlie Rose last night, Richard reports.
And he was on Charlie Rose last night, Richard reports.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Barack Obama, Phone Home - NYTimes.com
Barack Obama, Phone Home - NYTimes.com: "They couldn’t talk about their other feat — the stimulus, also poorly explained by the White House from the start — because the 3.3 million jobs it saved are dwarfed by the intractable unemployment rate. Nor could they brag stirringly about a financial regulatory reform effort that left too many devilish details unresolved, too many too-big-to-fail banks standing and nearly all the crash culprits unaccountable."
Saturday, November 6, 2010
The Great American Cleaving - NYTimes.com
The Great American Cleaving - NYTimes.com: "At a Wednesday press conference, the president seemed not to want to acknowledge as much, saying, “I suspect that if you talk to any individual voter yesterday, they’d say, there are some things I agree with Democrats on, there are some things I agree with Republicans on. I don’t think people carry around with them a fixed ideology.” Well maybe not in the Obama land of open minds and collegial cooperation, but in the real world that’s exactly what most do."
Tone-Deaf in D.C. - NYTimes.com
Tone-Deaf in D.C. - NYTimes.com: "What this election tells me is that real leadership will have to come from elsewhere, from outside of Washington, perhaps from elected officials in statehouses or municipal buildings that are closer to the people, from foundations and grass-roots organizations, from the labor movement and houses of worship and community centers."
Friday, November 5, 2010
Bernanke Defends Fed’s Buying Plan in Face of Criticism Abroad, - NYTimes.com
Bernanke Defends Fed’s Buying Plan in Face of Criticism Abroad, - NYTimes.com: "The public comments of Fed officials suggested an acute awareness of the potential drawbacks of the decision. “We are still rewriting the narrative, and gaining an understanding, of what happened in the Great Depression and why,” said Charles I. Plosser, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. “No doubt it will be at least 50 years before we understand very well what happened in 2008 and 2009 and whether the Federal Reserve undertook the right policies or the wrong policies.”"
Responding to Bayh: The Focus Hocus-Pocus - NYTimes.com
The Focus Hocus-Pocus - NYTimes.com: "But I have no idea what, if anything, people mean when they say that. The whole focus on “focus” is, as I see it, an act of intellectual cowardice — a way to criticize President Obama’s record without explaining what you would have done differently."
The Focus Hocus-Pocus - NYTimes.com
The Focus Hocus-Pocus - NYTimes.com: "Of course, there’s a subtext to the whole line that health reform was a mistake: namely, that Democrats should stop acting like Democrats and go back to being Republicans-lite. Parse what people like Mr. Bayh are saying, and it amounts to demanding that Mr. Obama spend the next two years cringing and admitting that conservatives were right."
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Where Do Democrats Go Next? - NYTimes.com
Where Do Democrats Go Next? - NYTimes.com: "Second, don’t blame the voters. They aren’t stupid or addled by fear. They are skeptical about government efficacy, worried about the deficit and angry that Democrats placed other priorities above their main concern: economic growth."
How Obama Saved Capitalism and Lost the Midterms - NYTimes.com
How Obama Saved Capitalism and Lost the Midterms - NYTimes.com: "As of election day, Nov. 2, 2010, your $100,000 was worth about $177,000 if invested strictly in the NASDAQ average for the entirety of the Obama administration, and $148,000 if bet on the Standard & Poors 500 major companies. This works out to returns of 77 percent and 48 percent."
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Glendale Results -- Back to the Future; Pillich Wins Overall So Far But Not in Glendale
Glendale A Glendale B Total
Kasich 269 292 561
Strickland 170 182 352
Yost 229 246 475
Pepper 193 223 416
Portman 299 326 625
Fisher 132 163 295
Chabot 276 299 575
Driehaus 163 178 341
Pillich 165 203 368
Wilson 267 286 553
From the official tally posted outside the precinct November 2, 2010
Not counting absentee, foreign voting or provisional votes
Now here is the Enquirer tabulations as of this morning, which do not count foreign votes or provisional votes, the latter of which tend to be Democratic.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
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Monday, November 1, 2010
Tomorrow Night
Please join
Congressman Steve Driehaus
along with his family friends, staff, and campaign volunteers for an
-- Nate asked me to pass this along to you for circulation to our GOFACT group. I haven't had time to scan the actual invitation and may not have time tomorrow either--:
Election Night Party
Tuesday November 2, 2010
8:00 p.m.
Taqueria Mercado
100 East 8th Street
Cincinnati, OH 45202
For more information or to RSVP contct Jay Kincaid at 513-505-4047 or email
jaykincaid@driehausforohio.com
Bruce
P.S. Pepper's party is also downtown, I forget the named restaurant, but I think it's the restaurant in the Weston, 2nd floor. I have RSVP'd to it also. I will be working as a judge at the Springdale Precinct D tomorrow from 6 a.m. until 9 p.m. or so.
Congressman Steve Driehaus
along with his family friends, staff, and campaign volunteers for an
-- Nate asked me to pass this along to you for circulation to our GOFACT group. I haven't had time to scan the actual invitation and may not have time tomorrow either--:
Election Night Party
Tuesday November 2, 2010
8:00 p.m.
Taqueria Mercado
100 East 8th Street
Cincinnati, OH 45202
For more information or to RSVP contct Jay Kincaid at 513-505-4047 or email
jaykincaid@driehausforohio.com
Bruce
P.S. Pepper's party is also downtown, I forget the named restaurant, but I think it's the restaurant in the Weston, 2nd floor. I have RSVP'd to it also. I will be working as a judge at the Springdale Precinct D tomorrow from 6 a.m. until 9 p.m. or so.
How We Got Here - NYTimes.com
How We Got Here - NYTimes.com: "Thus his sagging poll numbers; thus the debacle that probably awaits his party on Tuesday. It will not be as grave a defeat as many conservatives would like to think: the health care bill may yet be remembered by liberals as a victory worth the price, the demographic trends are still with the Democrats, and the Republicans will return to power unprepared to wield it. But nonetheless, an opportunity has opened for the Right that would have been unimaginable just two years ago — a chance to pre-empt a seemingly inevitable liberal epoch with an unexpected conservative revival."
Mugged by the Debt Moralizers - NYTimes.com
Mugged by the Debt Moralizers - NYTimes.com: "And if you point out that their arguments don’t add up, they fly into a rage. Try to explain that when debtors spend less, the economy will be depressed unless somebody else spends more, and they call you a socialist. Try to explain why mortgage relief is better for America than foreclosing on homes that must be sold at a huge loss, and they start ranting like Mr. Santelli. No question about it: the moralizers are filled with a passionate intensity."
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