Blackwell had few concerns at first (Ohio coin scandal)

[deminks]

COLUMBUS - Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell was not initially concerned or even shocked that the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation had invested $50 million in rare coins.

In fact, Mr. Blackwell told The Blade on April 5 that "most people" wouldn't find it "unreasonable" that the state had invested in rare coins with Tom Noe, who has said through his attorneys that at least $10 million of the state's assets are missing.

Two months later, Mr. Blackwell told The Blade that the coin scheme carries the "potential smell of organized crime" and needs to be addressed in the federal government.

Opponents, though, say Mr. Blackwell and his Republican colleagues who were in a position to react and avert this problem did not do their jobs.

(snip)

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050605/NEWS24/506050376

[truthisfreedom]

1. the federal government will do a great job of covering up everything for

mr. blackwell. he'll be rewarded well for delivering Ohio to the thugs.

[babsbunny]

2. Thanks for this story!

I love the Toledo Blade! Don't worry, sooner or later Mr. Blackhole will get his. According to Bob Fitrakis, Mr. Blackwell is or was involved in orginized crime, and has a long history of wrong doing. It will catch up with him.

[Vitruvius]

3. In most scandals, you have the obvious bagman, plus his boss -- the "clout

" -- the mastermind -- who works thru the bagman, protects the bagman, and is "invisible". In this scandal, Blackwell would be the "clout".

I learned this from a lifetime in private industry -- where management-organized procurement scams to loot the company are as common as mud. And one well-recognized career path to promotion is to help the boss -- or the boss's boss -- by being the bagman on a scam; the promotion follows as a reward for this 'entrepreneurial' risk-taking. The result: a tight little band of crooks boosting each other up the ladder.

The Rethugs are the party of business -- and of organized crime (the two are by no means distinct & different entities). And they use normal business methods and normal criminal methods to feather their nests.

[benfranklin1776]

4. Great post. I couldn't agree more.

It has been remarked often that organized crime "went legit." Now we see where exactly they went, to the Rethuglican party and this administration. Skimming the public fisc and raiding the treasury is much more lucrative than penny ante loansharking and numbers rackets.

[mod mom]

5. Funny, Blackwell was fully aware of major problems at Lucas County BOE

since 2002 (where Tom Noe was a member of the BOE until 2003) yet he waited until April 5th of 2005 to issue a report on the investigation. Was it knowing that an investigation was going down and his interest in CYA behind his issuing the report right before the scandal exploded?

from The Toledo Blade article:

"Mr. Blackwell disputes that he had any interest in protecting Mr. Noe, or his wife, Bernadette. Mr. Blackwell accepted Ms. Noe's resignation from the Lucas County Board of Elections early last month amid problems at the county elections office unrelated to the coin scandal."

PS IT SHOULD WOULD BE NICE IF THE TOLEDO BLADE, WHO IS DOING SUCH AN EXCELLENT JOB, WORTHY OF A PULLITIZER, WOULD LOOK INTO THE POSSIBLE BOE/COINGATE CONNECTION INSTEAD OF SAYING "UNRELATED".

Here are a list of individuals connected both to the BOE problems and to Coingate investigation:
Tom Noe, Bernadette Noe, Kenneth Blackwell (Noes donated campaign contributions, Tom Noe was part of the Blackwell suits filed, Bernadette Noe reported to Blackwell as Chairperson of the Lucas County BOE), Sam Thurber, Joe Kidd,

[Robbien]

9. The Blade is being smart

For the past two months they have been attacked by the governor and by the RNC for pursuing the coin story. They have been swamped by the GOP brownshirt emailers/callers.

The Blade is covering the coin story and putting out in public record various aspects which could be investigated further but the Blade is staying focused on the coin story aspect. The GOP keeps saying the Blade is on a witchhunt but the fact that the Blade is only highlighting coin related stories belies the GOP's attack.

Someone else needs to go after the BOE angle. If the Blade did it, both the coin story and the BOE story will be discredited as biased reporting.

[LiberalFighter]

6. Questions should be answered.

How many other states invest in coins?
How many don't invest in anything?
What is the predominant investment portfolio of the other states?


Who makes the decisions for investing in each state for WC?

[mod mom]

7. Noe/Blackwell connections

As you know Bernadette Noe and Tom Noe both have links to the Lucas County BOE. Ms Noe was Chairperson of the Lucas County BOE during the past election. Read the SOS's Investigation of Lucas county following the election:

http://www.sos.state.oh.us/sos/elections/lucas.htm

This report includes the fact that republican volunteers were allowed unsupervised access to unsecured ballots prior to the election, as well as this list:

*failure to maintain ballot security
*Inability to implement and maintain a trackable system for voter ballot reconciliation .
*failure to prepare and develop a plan for the processing of the voluminous amount of voter registration forms received.
*issuance and acceptance of incorrect absentee ballot forms.
*manipulation of the process involving the 3% recount.
*disjointed implementation of the Directive regarding the removal of Nader and Camejo from the ballot .
*failure to properly issue hospital ballots in accordance with statutory requirements.
*failure to maintain the security of poll books during the official canvass
*failure to examine campaign finance reports in a timely manner.
*failure to guard and protect public documents.
*failure to guard and protect public documents ....etc.

Tom W. Noe served as the Chairman of the Lucas County Republican Party from 1992-1995 as well as on the board of the Lucas County Board of Election from 1993-2003. He was also appointed to the Ohio Board of regents in 1995.

http://www.regents.state.oh.us/people/noe.html

It was during his tenure on the BOE that Diebold machines were brought into Lucas County.

"TOLEDO, Ohio, May 10, 2002 ¯ Just about every county in the nation is rushing to update their voting technology, but no county to date has done it faster than Lucas County."
<snip>
"Lucas County Board of Elections Acting Chairman Tom Noe, who was present to observe the May 7th election, was pleased with the outcome. "I don't think there is another county in the nation that has implemented touch screen voting as quickly as Lucas County did for this trial run in a primary election," Noe said. "The people of Lucas County and of Ohio in general can be proud of this achievement.""
http://www.sequoiavote.com/mediadetail.php?id=57

http://www.diebold.com/news/newsdisp.asp?id=2997

Also Mr. Noe intervened with Blackwell in a court case:

Thomas W. Noe files to intervene in Democrat court Case v. BlackwellEdited on Fri May-27-05 05:57 PM by phoebe
http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/electionlaw/docs/sandusky/doc5...

Also, please be aware of this information on Democratic Underground, which includes many interesting links:

/www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=203&topic_id=371800&mesg_id=371800

[lovuian]

8. No One is watching the Workers funds they are stealing them

with the blessing of the Governors!!!

such as Perry Bush and now Blackwell!!!

Republicans get what they vote in Theives!!!