Speaker/Senator Husted NOT Running for Governor

By Matt Hurley | 01/06/09

Ohio Republican Golden Boy Jon Husted is in the news again only this time it is for something that he's NOT doing...     I'm going to go ahead and disagree with our friends at the Republican State Leadership Committee and say that Ohio does NOT need more leaders like Jon Husted. In fact, we need the opposite. I will state that this is some of the best news I've heard in awhile: "I'm looking at lots of things, but running for... read more »

RNC Chair Update

By Matt Hurley | 01/05/09

Five items... The first is this press release from Ken Blackwell:A broad cross-section of American conservative economic, social and foreign policy leaders has endorsed the candidacy of former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell for chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC). The election will be at an RNC meeting in D.C. January 28-31. A meeting of conservative leaders, gathered by the Council for National Policy on November... read more »

Cardinal Points: An Update on Ohio Politics

By Matt Hurley | 01/01/09

Cardinal Points: An Update on Ohio Politics Cardinal: state bird of the Great State of Ohio Points: particular details Cardinal Points: the four chief directions of the compass; the north, south, east, and west points. OH-01 -- Rep. Steve Chabot (R) lost his race for re-election. His voice will be missed and Cardinal Points suspects that there will be a rematch in 2010. OH-02 -- Rep. Jean Schmidt (R) won her race... read more »

Cincinnati Public Schools Pays $36k to Keep From Fighting with Self

By Matt Hurley | 12/31/08

Cincinnati Public Schools (CPS), like most districts in the country, try to raise taxes with additional levies at every opportunity. There is very little regard for the taxpayer and concerns are rarely, if ever, addressed. So when I see that CPS spent $36,000.00 on a consultant to help fend off bickering and name-calling, I figure that this is a growing problem with students that needs to be addressed. What I don't expect is to discover... read more »

Twittering the Hiatus

By Matt Hurley | 12/26/08

During the hiatus, I've been spending a LOT of time with Twitter trying to figure out how best to use this "new" tool to best advantage. While I really am finding the promotional application of Twitter for drawing traffic to WMD and Red County to be useful, I've also started engaging a few of the "conservative" and "Republican" "communities" on Twitter. What have I learned? #dontgo #dontgo started with the House GOP protest over the failure... read more »

Tin Ear Congress Gives Themselves a Raise

By Matt Hurley | 12/20/08

Congress has an amazing knack for looking at a situation and doing the absolutely worst thing that they can think of just to say that they are doing something.   Rasmussen Reports has a survey of likely voters that found 9% of Americans give Congress good or excellent ratings, while 54% give the legislature poor marks. Only 2% think Congress is doing an excellent job.   What does Congress do? Naturally, they give themselves a $4,100... read more »

Ohio Senate Follow-Up

By Matt Hurley | 12/20/08

Yesterday, we covered a shocking failure on the part of Ohio Senate to pass a piece of legislation that sailed through the Ohio House which would have protected senior citizens living in assisted care facilities. At the conclusion of the piece, I indicated that I had contacted some of the key players via email and would report back on my findings...  I want to thank the office of State Senator Tim Grendell for responding to my inquiry. From... read more »

Ohio's Culture of Corruption and Carousing Update

By Matt Hurley | 12/19/08

Ohio's former Attorney General, Marc "The Man" Dann, is back in the news. Turns out, Dann spent tons of campaign cash on himself and then lied about it on his financial disclosures. I'm pretty sure that's a no-no...even for a Democrat. As Ohio's top cop, Dann was a bust. The Columbus Dispatch has the highlights: Payments to a supplier of a personal business operated by Dann's wife, Alyssa, that were "converted to the personal use of Alyssa... read more »

What Happened in the Ohio Senate?

By Matt Hurley | 12/19/08

This story was sent in by a reader and I have to admit that I am baffled as to how a bill gets through the Ohio House unanimously but fails to make it out of Sen. Tim Grendell's committee.   The bill, Rep. Courtney Combs' HB57, was designed to protect the elderly from sexual predators and is not controversial.   I have emails in to Rep. Combs, Sen. Grendell, and Ohio GOP Deputy Chairman Dewine in hopes of somebody being able to give... read more »

Voinovich on Energy

By Matt Hurley | 12/18/08

Yesterday, Ohio's senior senator, George Voinovich took some time to talk about OPEC's recent decision to cut their production rates and the solution he proposes is to increase American sources of oil. After that, we'll chat about an Ohio angle that Team Voinovich doesn't like to talk about very much. Click READ MORE... "Today's action by OPEC should serve as a reminder that we are still at the mercy of nations who don't have our best... read more »