Free Republic

U.S. Rep. Glenn Nye announced Saturday that he will vote no on the House health care reform bill. He cited costs to small businesses and cuts to hospitals as primary reasons the bill will not get his support. Though he says the latest version of the bill does achieve many health care reform goals, he believes it will not reduce the cost of health care for families, taxpayers and small businesses. A provision in the bill that Nye believes could lead to nearly $20 million in cuts for the Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters (CHKD) was also grounds for...

Rep. Lee Terry hardly had time to return to his Washington office after winning his sixth term in November before being confronted with challengers for 2010. With that election a year and a half out, the Nebraska Republican is already finding himself a target of Democrats hoping to gain control of his 2nd Congressional District seat. Democratic state Sen. Tom White of Omaha announced earlier this month that he is forming an exploratory committee to consider a run against Terry. Also this summer, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee aired a radio ad critical of Terry's vote against a $106 billion...

One of the major suprises of this past election was the strength of Paul Hackett in the eastern rural counties of Scioto, Adams, Pike and Brown. Conveniently, Brown has a website with numbers and past election results. Some interesting factoids about Brown County Ohio: Registered Democrats 4,612 Registered Republicans 3,763 Bet you didn’t know that. November 2004 Bush: 12,647 votes, about 65% Kerry: 7,140 votes, or about 35% June 14th 2nd district primary: Republicans received 2,287 votes, of which Jean only received 392 specifically Democrats received 1,217 of which Hackett received 762. August 2nd general election turnout doubled to about...

Links to both Parts (text of both parts is in this thread): Part 1: http://www.bizzyblog.com/?p=227 Part 2: http://www.bizzyblog.com/?p=228 _________________________ Digesting the meaning of the 2nd District Primary Results, who gained, and who lost: Winners: Every single resident of The 2nd District. No matter who wins on August 2, we will be represented by someone who lives with us, works with us, has integrity, and will effectively represent us (yes, even a Democrat can do that). Winners (again): Every single resident of The 2nd District. A McEwen victory would have forced BizzyBlog to fully research and verify a great deal of...

I tuned in as local radio talker Bill (Willie) Cunningham, who supported Schmidt in the GOP primary interviewed Schmidt and Hackett separately for 9 minutes each in the 1PM hour Wednesday afternoon. Comments (in italics) only relate to how the interview was conducted. Schmidt - Won’t raise taxes. - Waffled on Social Security a bit. (but Cunningham IMO wasn’t fair on the SocSec questions and was interrupting) - Schmidt doesn’t know if it’s a good idea to raise retirement age to 69 or raise earnings cap to $150,000. (Club for Growth pulling hair out) - Says that whatever she ends...

Just wondering if there was any news so far this week. It seems as though things are very tight and getting nasty. DeWine seems to be attacking McEwen. Like I asked before, are the polls showing something? DeWine is attacking the check bouncing stuff. Brinkman's folks are attacking on the carpetbagging stuff and deservedly so. The Club for Growth is on the attack against Jean Schmidt for raising taxes during his stint in the Ohio House. I have said this before, but these Ohio state legislators crack me up. They ran promising not to raise taxes (remember all the Taxin...

The Values Voters Candidates Forum took place at the Montgomery Assembly of God Church in that Northeast Cincinnat suburb from 7-9 PM last night. There was a meet and greet with the candidates afterwards, which I did not attend. The Forum came together as the result of invitations to every candidate from Citizens for Community Values Action. The small PDF flyer for the event is here. Overview Outside campaign signage was heavily McEwen, with relatively modest signage from most of the others who attended. Prerecorded, mellow, crisp, and almost surreal religious piano music filled the room in the 20 or...

Shattering the decorum that has governed their campaign to date, several top Republicans in the 2nd Congressional District race Wednesday night caustically attacked each other, trading bitter exchanges over issues as traditional as voting records and as personal as divorce and individual finances. In the most combustible debate yet in the battle for the GOP nomination in the special June 14 primary for the U.S. House seated vacated by former Rep. Rob Portman, an Anderson Township forum saw Hamilton County Commissioner Pat DeWine harshly lash out at several opponents in defending himself against what he sees as their attacks on...

Former Congressman's Political Ad Stirs Up Controversy Title Precedes Candidate's Name 7 Times In Flier POSTED: 5:42 pm EDT June 1, 2005 UPDATED: 7:01 pm EDT June 1, 2005 CINCINNATI -- Now that Rep. Rob Portman of Cincinnati has assumed the Cabinet post of U.S. trade representative, the list of candidates for his Second District congressional seat is growing. But there is concern that one of the better-known contenders may have gone too far in reminding voters of his accomplishments. The problem isn't just with TV and radio advertisements. In a flier, Bob McEwen calls himself "congressman" seven times. McEwen...

Previously, I have criticized Paul Weyrich's endorsement of Bob McEwen here in detail and here for his (Weyrich's) inconsistency on term limits. There is a larger topic here, and that is the propriety of such endorsements in a race of this nature. There is a place for outsider endorsements in politics, but this race isn't it, and I'll explain why.Outsider endorsements can pass the smell test in two situations: The first is if there are only a few candidates involved, and there is a clear philosophical divide between those few candidates. The outsider can claim that they know the person...

Bob McEwen is touting his list of high-profile “moral” leader and celebrity endorsements. One of his most prominent endorsers is Paul Weyrich, to whom conservatives, and really the entire country, owe a debt that can never be repaid (”progressives” will disagree, but in vain). Weyrich founded The Heritage Foundation in 1973 and began forming the intellectual foundation that ultimately led to Ronald Reagan’s election, the unprecedented prosperity of the 1980s, and the proactive overthrow of Soviet communism. He also was, and continues to be, a pioneer in tapping the social and cultural conservatism of grassroots citizens and giving it a...