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Thursday, June 18, 2009
Senate Dem faceoff on health care
Both Democrats hoping to replace retiring Sen. George Voinovich in 2010 weighed in on the health care debate Thursday, June 18.
Ohio Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher fired off a letter to Sen. Max Baucus, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee; Sen. Ted Kennedy, chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee; Sen. Chuck Grassley, ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee and Sen. Mike Enzi, ranking member of Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee urging them to quickly move to pass health care legislation aimed at lowering cost and providing universal affordable coverage to all Americans.
And Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, meanwhile, also sent out a statement calling for bipartisan health care reform. She called for a public option for health insurance. “Having no public option should not be an option,’’ Brunner said.
Fisher, meanwhile, said any reform has to lower costs, allow patients their choice of doctors and health plan, expand affordable coverage to every American, improve quality of care, and offer voluntary long term care coverage. He also said any solution cannot increase taxes on the middle class, instead suggesting allowing tax cuts to expire for Americans making more than $250,000 and implementing electronic medical records to save costs.
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Maurice Clarett seeks clemency
Former Ohio State University football star Maurice Clarett is asking Gov. Ted Strickland for clemency so he can get out of prison early and take a shot at being a motivational speaker or return to football on either an arena or Canadian professional team.
Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien opposed Clarett’s request in a two-page letter sent to Strickland and Ohio Parole Board Chairwoman Cynthia Mausser on Thursday, June 18.
Clarett, 25, is serving a 7 1/2 year sentence for aggravated robbery at Toledo Correctional Institution. Sentenced in September 2006, Clarett has yet to serve the mandatory three years of the sentence, O’Brien said.
The prosecutor noted that while out on bond awaiting trial in the armed robbery case, Clarett was arrested after a police chase.
“He had an AK-47 with 30 live rounds in the magazine and three pistols in his vehicle, and was wearing a Kevlar bullet-proof vest…an open bottle of Grey Goose vodka and a hatchet,” O’Brien told Strickland. “Those facts do not suggest the kind of conduct that warrants the intervention of executive clemency.”
Clarett’s application for clemency is under review by the Parole Board, according to prisons spokeswoman JoEllen Culp.
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Sheriff Jones twitters decision not to run for Congress
Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones, who has been hinting for months that he might challenge House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-West Chester, has apparently decided not to run.
This from his twitter feed:
“I have decided not to turn in my petitions for congress. This is not the time.Congressmans office has been notified this date. Sheriff Jones”
We’ve got calls into Boehner’s office and Jones’ office for additional detail.
Jones has gained fame for his hard-charging push to crack down on U.S. immigration violations in Butler County.
