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Home > Blogs > Ohio politics > Archives > 2009 > March > 04
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Citing lobbyist ties, Coburn unsuccessfully seeks to strip Ohio earmark out of spending bill
Earmark hawk Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma Wednesday unsuccessfully sought to strip 14 earmarks affiliated with troubled lobbyist PMA out of a $410 billion omnibus appropriations bill. One of those earmarks was pushed by Sens. George Voinovich and Sherrod Brown, who are among the very long list of Capitol Hill lawmakers whose campaigns have received money from PMA.
Their earmark, pushed in the House by fellow PMA campaign contribution recipient Marcy Kaptur, D-Toledo, would provide more than $1 million million to Xunlight, a Toledo company that creates flexible solar glass panels. Voinovich, approached Wednesday on Capitol Hill, was very familiar with the earmark. But not so much with PMA.
“TMA?” he replied, when asked about the company, which has given his campaign $9,000 throughout his career. After a reporter described the lobbying firm, Voinovich seemed no less befuddled. “I don’t even know who PMA is,” he said.
But he was all too familiar with the earmark itself, describing at length the company’s plans to expand the program and create more jobs. He said the company aims to hire displaced automotive workers.
As for PMA: the FBI reportedly raided their offices in November. It was the second lobbying firm with ties to U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Pennsylvania, that the feds have raided in the last year. Murtha is the chairman of a House subcommittee that doles out Defense dollars.
In Ohioans, almost half of the state’s congressmen’s campaign committees have received PMA contributions. Among the leading recipients are Kaptur, D-Toledo, and Tim Ryan, D-Niles, another Appropriations committee member. Also on the list: U.S. Reps. Steve Austria, R-Beavercreek, Mike Turner, R-Centerville, John Boccieri, D-Alliance, Mary Jo Kilroy, D-Columbus John Boehner, R-West Chester and Charlie Wilson, D-Bridgeport.
U.S. Rep. David Hobson, who retired from Congress at the end of last year, meanwhile, received $88,000 from PMA throughout his career, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Brown, meanwhile, received $1,500, according to the Center.
PMA and its representatives have not been charged with any crime, and watchdogs as well as published reports say any federal investigation seems most likely focused on Murtha.
As for Voinovich, he said he opposed the idea of stripping federal dollars from the Toledo company, saying it’s doing the kind of work that will help create jobs in a struggling economy.
“The real issue is the quality of the project,” he said. “And that’s the whole thing about earmarks. Some earmarks are good and some earmarks are not good.”
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Elections Commission hearing on Dann cases delayed
The Ohio Elections Commission is delaying a hearing on two cases involving former Attorney General Marc Dann until March 19, Philip C. Richter, commission executive director said on Wednesday, March 4.
The hearing had been set for Thursday, March 5. The cases involve allegations that Dann illegally converted campaign cash for his own personal use.
The delay is to give commission members more time to consider Dann’s arguments and for new Attorney General Richard Cordray to respond to issues that Dann has raised, Richter said in a press release.
Columbus Bureau reporter Laura A. Bischoff has been following the case and provided this background:
Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner and state Inspector General Tom Charles both filed complaints against Dann, who resigned in May after a sexual harassment scandal involving his appointees and admitting his own affair with a junior staff member.
The General Assembly passed a law last year that granted temporary authority to Charles to investigate the attorney general’s office. The law sunset as soon as Charles submitted his report to the governor and General Assembly.
Dann and his attorney, Donald J. McTigue, raised three arguments with the Ohio Elections Commission:
*That the legislation didn’t give Charles the authority to file a complaint with any agency.
*The elections commission doesn’t have jurisdiction without receiving a sworn affidavit based on complainant’s personal knowledge — and Charles’ report wasn’t based on personal knowledge.
*The legislation is unconstitutional because it’s tailored for one person, rather than general application, and the provision was tacked onto an unrelated bill.
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Brown moves into Obama’s old office
Time was, Sen. Sherrod Brown’s greatest brush with senatorial fame was the fact that his desk on the floor of the Senate was once used by former attorney general Robert Kennedy.
Now, he’s got something else to trumpet: Brown, D-Ohio, last night moved into offices once occupied by President Barack Obama. Brown left his Russell Building offices (ornate, very formal) for the more modern-confines of the 7th floor of Hart. Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, also has offices in that building.
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It’s official: Obama coming to Columbus Friday
President Barack Obama will return to Ohio Friday for the first time since he was inaugurated, making remarks at the the Columbus Police Graduation Exercises. He’ll be accompanied by Attorney General Eric Holder.
The visit is being used to tout the economic stimulus bill that passed last month. Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman said last week he would use money from that stimulus bill to keep new policemen and women in their jobs.
What’s unclear is what will happen in 2010, when funds from that stimulus bill run out.
Friday’s events are not open to the public. Obama is set to arrive late Friday morning and leave Columbus early Friday afternoon.
This will mark Obama’s second visit to Ohio since the state helped win him the presidency. He visited Cleveland’s Cardinal Fastener Company in January four days before his inauguration.
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American voters: Neither Obama nor federal government can fix economy in two years
American voters don’t believe President Barack Obama or the federal government can fix the nation’s economic crisis in two years, but they like the job Obama is doing as president.
Those are key results from a new national Quinnipiac University poll released on Wednesday, March 4.
In the poll, half the voters were asked: “Do you believe the federal government will be able to fix the economic crisis in two years?” They said no, 68-26 percent.
The other half were asked: “Do you believe President Obama will be able to fix the economic crisis in two years?” They said no, 64-28 percent.
However, voters approved of the way Obama is handling the economy, 57-33 percent. Also, they trusted the president more than Republicans in Congress to handle the economy, 56-26 percent.
You can join the debate about economic crisis and Obama and the federal government.
[an error occurred while processing this directive]Also in the poll, most voters supported Obama’s $75 billion mortgage rescue plan - 57-35 percent - but also said it wasn’t fair to those who pay their mortgages on time, 64-29 percent.
Still, they believed the plan would stabilize home prices, 55-37 percent. Also, 72 percent of renters backed the plan, compared to just 53 percent of homeowners.
“Our dual question on whether Obama or the ‘government’ can fix the economic crisis in two years shows some Obama magic has faded, leaving him with only a little more credibility than ‘the government’,” Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac Polling Institute, said in a press release.
“But by an impressive 56-26 percent margin, voters trust the president over congressional Republicans to do a better job of handling the economy.”
The poll was taken from Wednesday, Feb. 25, to Monday, March 2, with 2,573 American voters and had a margin of error of plus or minus 1.9 percentage points.
