Senator Voinovich begs Ohioans to re-elect colleague DeWine

[Algorem]

http://www.cleveland.com/newsflash/cleveland/index.ssf?/base/politics-1/1162490985207500.xml&storylist=cleveland

11/2/2006, 12:56 p.m. ET
By THOMAS J. SHEERAN
The Associated Press

MAYFIELD HEIGHTS, Ohio (AP) — ...

Voinovich, who was governor while DeWine served as lieutenant governor, repeatedly turned to DeWine with a one-armed hug while speaking to supporters at a banquet hall in a Cleveland suburb.

"I'm begging the people here in northeastern Ohio, the people of the state of Ohio — please, please return my partner to the Unites States Senate," Voinovich, his voice rising...

"The Democrats in Ohio want to see a different direction, want to stand up for the middle class and believe that state government is a piggy bank for the Republican leaders in this state, that they've used it as a piggy bank for their friends and their contributors," he(Sherrod Brown) said.

Fellow GOP Sen. Norm Coleman of Minnesota also attended DeWine's campaign event. After a private breakfast meeting with supporters, Coleman said DeWine's political fortunes suffered from voter frustration over the Iraq war, low ratings for President Bush and GOP scandals in Ohio...



George Voinovich is a liar

http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/18/2006/2206

by Dave Lewis
October 31, 2006

The following document was refused publication by the Columbus Dispatch.

COLUMBUS, OH George Voinovich crossed the line of integrity with his false allegations against Issue 3 in his Saturday Dispatch editorial. I will address a few of his outright lies:

Voinovich claimed that only casino owners will benefit from the program and told us that 61% of the slot machine revenues will go directly to casino owners. This is untrue: although 55% of the revenues will go to the casinos, this money includes the salaries, benefits, unemployment and workman’s compensation-all money that goes directly back to the people. If passed, this bill will directly create over 56,000 permanent, benefits-paid new jobs, not to mention all of the construction costs to build new facilities, new hotels and restaurants and all the jobs that will come along with those. Voinovich also allocates “6% to owner’s track purses”; this is deliberately misleading. The bill ensures that 6% of the revenues are going to be used to increase winner’s purses, money that goes directly back to the people. This clause is included to protect Ohio’s proud horseracing legacy, an industry in severe decline due to Ohio’s troubled economy, which may have something to do with the Ohio governing administration’s failed economic policies. The track owners do not get that money.

Mr. Voinovich also claims that “Cleveland and Cuyahoga County will get the lion’s share of the funding…” Lie. The casinos will not receive any state funding, contrary to his implication. Rather, the casinos are the folks providing significant amounts of funding to our students through the Ohio Board of Regents. (Issue 3 was originally conceptualized by them, but they have clammed up on the issue due to pressure applied by strong-arm politicians like Voinovich.) Perhaps Cleveland, with two venues and a total of 7,000 slot machines, will provide a “lion’s share of funding”.

No one but Voinovich and his cronies disagree with the revenue projections; the strongest opponents of the amendment agree that the projections are likely accurate. As you may have read in the Dispatch last week, Iowa created 350, 000 jobs and raised 3.1 billion dollars through slot machines the first year they allowed them. All of our neighboring states have legalized limited slot machine gaming, and none of them have experienced dramatic increases in increased crime, suicide, divorce, bankruptcy, or any of the other “social costs” Senator Voinovich mentions. And as far as gambling addiction is concerned, we are currently a state that permits many kinds of gambling (i.e. the lottery, bingo, and racetrack gaming) but the State of Ohio only spends $300,000 annually on gambling addiction services. If Issue 3 passes in November, 1% of the slot machines intake is going to be constitutionally dedicated to gambling addiction services, to the tune of $28.4 million dollars a year, making us #1 in the country, ahead of both Nevada and New Jersey...



Audit: BWC officials lowered employers' rates without explanation

http://www.cleveland.com/newsflash/cleveland/index.ssf?/base/news-27/1162493350297120.xml&storylist=cleveland

11/2/2006, 1:44 p.m. ET
The Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Amid political pressure, administrators at the embattled state fund for injured workers have released information showing that rates were inexplicably lowered for 27 Ohio employers.

A draft audit released Wednesday did not include the names of companies that received the lower rates, or how much they saved. The review followed accusations that some lawmakers intervened on behalf of constituents who complained of high premiums and got the rates reduced.

The auditors found there were no written policies or procedures to determine when administrators with the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation would override the computer system to lower rates. The audit covered January 2003 through September 2005.

In 75 percent of the 153 largest rate-change cases, the audit found that agency rules were either violated or it was impossible to know because no written explanation was kept...

[AndyA]

1. Ah, I recognize that smell.

It's the smell of DESPERATION.

[Eurobabe]

2. Too late George, I already voted for SHERROD!!!

WOOHOO!!! Overseas absentee!!

Go Ted, Go Sherrod, Go Victoria, etc.

[Demeter]

3. It's The Smell of Festering Scandal--Anything on Voinovich?

[0rganism]

4. he could save himself some time & trouble by just asking Blackwell

there's really no need to pretend anymore.