Ohio House speaker took Fla. trip with 3 lobbyists

[Algorem]

/& protects pedophiles

http://www.cleveland.com/search/index.ssf?/base/isbud/1119610687171330.xml?isbud&coll=2

Friday, June 24, 2005
Ted Wendling
Plain Dealer Bureau
Columbus

-- With a $51.2 billion budget on the table and lobbyists and law enforcement agents circling the Statehouse like sharks, House Speaker Jon Husted left town with three Columbus lobbyists for a Memorial Day weekend fishing trip to Florida's Gulf Coast.

Husted confirmed that he and his son spent the nights of May 27 and May 28 as guests at the Pine Island home of Joseph Feidner, the father-in- law of Dan McCarthy, chief executive of the Success Group and one of the capital's most influential lobbyists.

Pine Island is a resort community off the coast of Fort Myers, Fla.

Husted said he paid Feidner $50 a night, which he claimed is fair market value for a vacation rental in St. James City, on the south end of the island. That was disputed by a Pine Island real estate agent, who said a comparable rental home would go for at least $2,500 a month. Husted said he paid all expenses for himself and his son including air fare, groceries and incidentals...

Family Values . . .
Means pedophile priests never have to say they're sorry.

http://www.clevescene.com/Issues/2005-06-22/news/firstpunch.html

Published: Wednesday, June 22, 2005

Back in March, after a wrenching day of testimony by victims of priest sex abuse, the Ohio Senate unanimously passed a bill that would allow anyone who was victimized after 1970 the right to sue ("The Sin That Keeps on Giving," April 27). Current law bars people over age 20 from suing.

But apparently Mr. Family Values, House Speaker Jim Husted, thinks it's okay to abuse kids -- as long as it's committed by God-fearing pedophiles. He's doing his best to give pervert priests a Get Out of Jail Free card.

Husted waited months to assign the bill to a committee. Now, after intense lobbying from the Catholic Church, he's promising legislators that he'll keep it bottled up in the House to kill it through neglect...

But that's not what Husted says when he's on the horn to colleagues. "He called me up and said he has no intention of voting the bill out of the House anytime soon," says Chris Redfern, the House Democratic leader.

[Moderator]

1. Please change the subject line

to read: Ohio House speaker took Fla. trip with 3 lobbyists

[salin]

2. "Good Morning, Ohio!"

Each day more news of political corruption - and at different levels of govt - the governor... elected congressman... and the top of the statehouse.

I would imagine this is quite painful to some folks who are gop voters, and trusted that the gop candidates meant what they said about that moral stuff... about being for good govt... about wanting to protect/oversee taxpayers money with integrity... it has to be painful to realize that this crap is going on all over the place at the hands of the GOP. For all but the true diehards - these revelations - just the mere scope of the range of acts of corruption - and the range of places (levels of govt) where this is happening - has got to be very disturbing to some. Sorta like waking up and realizing all that one believed was a shell game and you have been taken for a big, big con...

Reads even worse than the period of time with burgeoning scandals unfolding under Gov Ryan in Illinois - but most of those stories, if I recall, were lumped together (from the Atty general?). This is so pervasive its hard not to see it as a generalized GOP thing.

[liberalnurse]

3. If the Ohio Democrats rise to the occasion

and reap the benefits of the republican failures, crimes and misdemeanors.... THI GUY WILL BE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE.....

Minority Leader.....Chris Redfern, (D).