US House of Representatives Race, 12th District: Pat Tiberi

Sitting Congressman Pat Tiberi is standing for reelection this year.  A Republican from Columbus, Tiberi graduated from OSU in 1985.  He's been a realtor, a Congressional aid for John Kasich, a member of the Ohio House of Representatives from 1992-2000, and also the House Majority Leader while serving in that office.  He's been in the US Congress since 2001.  Tiberi is married, with four young daughters.  You can read more at Project Vote Smart and Tiberi's campaign site.

As with many career politicians, Tiberi refused to answer Project Vote Smart's issue survey, leaving the staff and volunteers to compile a list of inferred positions on hot-button issues such as abortion and gun control.  Tiberi's voting record can be found here, also courtesy of Vote Smart.  Browsing through, it appears Tiberi has opposed spending money, supported defense, been pro-life and anti-gay.

Tiberi hasn't posted his opinions on many issues, but emphasizes his work for older Americans and his lack of budget earmarks in the last three years in his biography.

Tiberi has acquired several endorsements, including Ohio and National Right to Life, the NRA, United Transportation Union, and the Ohio Society of CPAs.

Read more about Tiberi at his website and at Project Vote Smart.

Financial Regulation Reform

So now that the health care situation is more or less under control (?) legislators are looking to the financial industry. They're looking to put tighter controls on banks and other institutions that like to do crazy risky stuff and bring down the markets or abuse customers in a way that puts and keeps a helluva lot of us in debt.

This is complicated, because there's an awful lot of money tied up in convincing legislators they don't really want to do that. The banks and brokers and investment firms are spending millions upon millions of dollars on lobbyists and the like to keep the government from making any changes.

The House committee dealing with all this already passed a bill, and now the entire assembly must debate and vote on it, possibly by the end of this week. In response, Senator Dodd is deciding to push ahead with the Senate's version, so the momentum doesn't get lost...but in doing so is sacrificing bi-partisan support. Meh.

So if you have feelings on the subject, now is the time to let your representatives in the House and Senate know!

Loyal Opposition

Did you know the House of Representatives managed to pass a bi-partisan healtcare bill? No, serious! They did. They had members of both parties vote in favor of it, and managed to pass the damn thing!

Well, they had one Republican lawmaker vote in favor, and passed it by two votes.

If that's not seat-of-your-pants governance, I'm not sure what is. And it sure as hell isn't bi-partisan.

I'm not 100% sure who's fault it is this bill isn't more of a consensus. It's easy to blame one side (the Democrats are railroaded the minority party) or the other (the GOP is refusing to play ball on principle). Really, it doesn't matter who's fault it is. 'cause

The big contentious deal with this bill (as I saw it...correct me if you see it differently, please) was the public option. I understand that. I respect that.

It's totally legitimate for conservative lawmakers from both parties to say, "Nuh uh, no way. That's totally unacceptable for a whole bunch of reasons, and if you have it in the bill I'm not voting."

The next logical step is the introduction of a bill or two that are viable alternatives. And sorry: "viable alternative" doesn't mean "ideologically opposite" which is how it's been taken to mean in the last ten years or so. If you make your answering bill too far away from the original, negotiation is pointless...and I believe the GOP lawmakers know this when they introduce bills. The idea of loyal opposition is just lost on lawmakers these days.

Loyal opposition: "applied to the opposition parties in the legislature to indicate that the non-governing parties may oppose the actions of the sitting cabinet ... while maintaining loyalty to the source of the government's power."

While the idea was initially used to allow the minority parties in the British parliament to disagree with the majority party without being accused of treason, it can be applied in a slightly different manner now. While the Republicans cannot currently push their own agenda as effectively as they like (there are penalties for losing elections), they should be staying loyal to the concept of effective governance.

That's what both sides are forgetting about, that they have a job to do. It's all well and good to stand by principles...but we have problems to solve, people, and being pig headed isn't helping anyone.

Health Care Reform (the real post)

I've been sitting here for the better part of two hours now, trying to figure out how to approach this topic. I'm starting to have some serious sympathy for lawmakers, because the sheer scope is daunting as all get out.

I found the text for the actual bill passed by the House a few days ago. I knew the bill would be too big and unwieldy for me to really read. I didn't realize then my half formed thought would be the understatement of the week. Just digging through the table of contents to see the highlights (Public option, rescission abuse reform, exchanges, standards, etc etc) took me just about a half hour. That's without clicking any of those links to try and untangle the legalese.

Are you seriously suggesting those guys up on Capitol Hill actually read this thing (or any other bills) before voting on it?

Title I is all about the immediate reforms Congress wants to address. Prohibiting rescission, getting the uninsured high risk citizens taken care of under a temporary program, pre-existing condition exclusions prohibition, extension of dependent coverage for uninsured young adults, eliminating domestic violence as a pre-existing condition, post retirement reduction of benefits, lifetime limit elimination are all included. All things that needed to be dealt with sooner than when the new law is fully up to speed.

Title II is a key element. It's protections and standards... the pre-existing condition exclusion is specifically outlawed, as is rescission for anything but non-payment of premiums. Rules for rates are laid out, parity in benefits for mental health and substance abuse problems are called for, and essential benefits are defined and required from insurers. An independent Health Choices Administration with a commissioner appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate is established. The rest of the section fits the new changes into the existing framework of government (where attorneys general fit in, the Federal Trade Commission, etc).

Title III covers health care exchanges, and the public option. It establishes both of them, and defines the rules and regs for them.

Title IV is all about responsibility, a split between personal and employer based. Looks like tax penalties if you don't have coverage.

Title V is where they work in the penalties/off sets into the tax code.

This is where the text gets funky...it starts over with Title I again, this time labelled "Improving Health Care Value." Looking down the bullets, it looks like Medicare reforms.

Now, I'd link you to the interactive document that Thomas provides...but the site deletes search results after so many hours, creating a broken link. So I'm gonna link you to their search option...

http://thomas.loc.gov/bss/111search.html

And tell you to punch in 3962. From those results, you want the third entry...the one that was passed on 11/07/09.

On the whole, I'm not sure what's wrong with the bill. I'm really pretty baffled and growing more and more angry when I consider how close this came to not passing. I think it's time to write some letters.

Bi-Partisan Support?

Not so much. The ginormous stimulous package passed the House...but without a single Republican vote in favor. Not exactly bi-partisan, if you use the standard definition.

The GOP blamed house Democrats for shutting them out of discussions, not being open to debating elements, etc etc. I think there's a lot to that. Pelosi and other Congressional leaders knew they had enough votes to pass the bill. That sort of kills the instinct to negotiate. Whatever efforts the President made to get everyone together, he ran into one of the checks and balances of our government...and this time, not for the best.

The Senate, however, is another story. The Dems can't just ride rough-shod over the GOP. (Although I seriously doubt Harry Reid's ability to ride rough-shod, period...that's neither here nor there.) In the Senate, we're already seeing debate, like the one on school funding as a part of the stimulus.

I'm not worried about bi-partisan support yet, because the House version will not be the final version. Because the Senate will have to debate the issue to get it passed the bill WILL change. Then, Senate leaders will have to sit down with House leaders and hammer out yet another version. That third version will very likely be more acceptable to House Republicans, giving us a bi-partisan bill at last.

If the House Dems decide to stonewall the Senate leaders, THEN I'll be concerned.

Mary Jo Kilroy Finally Wins Seat

So I'm a lil late to the game, but the 15th Ohio Congressional District has a Representative. Mary Jo Kilroy managed to win, by a margin of 2,311 votes. That's not much at all, when you consider the number of votes cast: 304,000.

It was enough to beat the automatic recount law, however. In a local, country, or district election the margin needs to be 1/2%. In any statewide race, the margin drops to 1/4%. I didn't know that! Thanks to the Moritz College of Law over at OSU for having such a clear post on the issue.

Stivers, in a truly classy move, conceded gracefully and without much comment. I'm quite pleased, because I see this as further indication of a new shift in politics. It seems like the partisan lines are blurring more and more. The electorate is coming together more, making it harder to get a clear winner. The voters in this past election are less interested in voting with their party, it seems. The concern is more about who will go to Washington and take care of their consituent.

Now THERE is a novel concept, hm?

I like liberal Republicans. I also like conservative Democrats. Because they aren't radicals...they're a lot closer to what I believe in. Hopefully this trend continues, eh?

Candidates in My District: Congress

Thanks to the recent Ohio court decision on the Libertarian Party, we now have three candidates on the ballot for Congress. I can't remember seeing three candidates for anything but a judge...and I feel good about seeing it now. Choices, options, dialogue. That's what democracy is all about...the more hats in the ring, the better (up to a point, I suppose...but that point is so far down the road I'm not thinking about it yet).

I hope this new level of choice isn't a flash in the pan.

Anyhow, the three people who want to go to Washington to represent us in the 12th Ohio district are:

• David Robinson (D)
• Pat Tiberi (R)
• Steven R. Linnabary (L)

Congress is an important job, since taxes originate from it. It's also where a lot of the actual business of government happens...if you look in the Constitution and read between the lines a little bit, the Senate is more of a vetting process to put the breaks on a boistorous lower house (and BOY have we seen that in the past two years!).

Pat Tiberi is the incumbant this year, has been since 2001. We'll use these years in office to evaluate him, via the voting record listing over at Project Vote Smart. I was actually quite surprized to see there wasn't much in the voting record I disagreed with. Yes, he leans right...but he IS a Republican, and that's to be expected. Three things that jumped out at me as being good: He's been consistently against oil exploration in the US; for alternative energy incentives (as long as they don't come with a stick against big business); and voted against this most recent farm bill. A three things I didn't like so much? A series of pro-life votes; against foreign aid to fight AIDS, malaria, and TB; has voted against every measure so far to alleviate home owner angst.

David Robinson is the Democratic challenger. He's a well-educated man from the Columbus area, with a seminary MA and a PhD in theology and philosophy. His most recent claim to fame, and the reason he got interested in politics, is his work with the Climate Project with Al Gore. I find it facinating a man with a seminary degree represents the Democratic Party...it's not the typical MO for the day and age. No prior government experience, just a passion to get involved and help bring a breath of fresh air to Congress.

I'd love to tell you more about the Libertarian candidate, Steve Linnabary. However, I can't seem to find anything about him. He's a Columbus area native who went to college in Lexington, KY. The website from his Clerk of Courts run (I'm not sure when that was) is up, and is far more functioning than the site for his current Congressional run (which I had to find in a roundabout fashion). I don't know about you, but I don't like the idea of someone representing me who can't get any of his links to work. I appreciate the "I'm not a part of this madness" sentiment, but this doesn't excuse one from the basics of campaigning...namely making it easy for the voters to access information about you.

As for my personal choice? I'm not sure yet. I was pleasantly surprized by Tiberi's voting record...even though he's been along for the entire Bush ride. One could argue the fact he survived the GOP slaughter of '06 means something as well. Though...if I'm serious about change...Robinson certainly represents that. I'll need to deliberate longer.

Candidates This Fall

As you may know, I'm a big fan of Smart Voter.org. It's the League of Women Voters who organize volunteers in several states to contact Boards of Election and compile sample ballots and candidate info in simple, easy to read formats. Go check it out.

It's still early in the season for the full, official sample ballots. Those should be ready after 9/30/08 Issues are still being fought about in court, petitions still being signed, etc etc. But most of the national and state contests are listed, and here's the ones for the 12th Congressional/3rd State Senate/20th State Rep district in Ohio.

If you want the full Franklin County, Ohio list of national and state contests, go here.

Congress:

• Pat Tiberi (R)
• David Robinson (D)

State Representative:

• Nancy Garland (D)
• Jim McGregor (R)

Ohio Supreme Court:

6 Year Term Starting 1/1/09

• Joseph D. Russo (D)
• Maureen O'Connor (R)

6 Year Term Starting 1/2/09

• Evelyn L. Stratton (R)
• Peter M. Sikora (D)

Ohio Court of Appeals:

6 Year Term Starting 2/9/09

• David Goodman (R)
• John A. Connor (D)

6 Year Term Starting 7/1/09

• Richard D. Brown (D)
• Lisa L. Sadler (R)

Note, there are no US or State Senators being elected in this district in 2008. Gotta love those longer terms.

I couldn't find a damn thing about Richard D. Brown or Lisa L. Sadler, except Lisa L Sadler's entry in the Yellow Book. I also want to point out the majority of hits on John Connor were about his suspension and various misconducts...but you can look at the search results here.

Check it out, kids. Have fun.

Voting Strategy This Fall

My voting strategy, without specific endorsements (because A: I haven't researched and B: What's my endorsement matter, anyhew?) boils down to Change.

I'm not happy with anyone in Congress, with a handful of the usual exceptions (Ted Kennedy's kept his eye on the ball, for instance. Russ Feingold. John Conyers. Patrick Leahy.) I'd like to name some Republicans on that parenthetical list, but...I'm having trouble thinking of any. Which is sad, because I know there are some. They just don't get the attention.

I'm truly disgusted with Harry Reid. As the Senate Majority Leader, he's been directly responsible for some of the worst legislative compromises of the 110th Congress. He's allowed the Republican party to make a mockery of the process, to stonewall process...and he's done it without so much as a whimper.

GOP: "We are SOOOO gonna filibuster that bill if you try and vote it."

Reid: "Fine, fine...we'll do it the way you want."

I'm paraphrasing and exaggerating...but not by much, sadly.

The long and short? If there's an encumbant, I'm half-tempted to just vote for the opponent out of principle, regardless of party lines.

...I won't do that, however. There are too many issues I worry about--mostly the creep of conservative Christian values into government--to let some guy in to write laws because "They're New." That's not responsible citizenship.

But...it will factor. I'll be giving the candidates a harder look this year, and not necessarily stopping at party affiliation or a single issue. I want people who will govern in Washington, and keep politics to a minimum.

110th Congress? Useless

I know that's a strong statement. But...it's pretty true. I mean, how many major issues are there facing this country today?

There's an energy crisis. An environmental crisis. We have several major diplomatic crises. Two wars we're losing. A credit crisis. A housing crisis. An economy driving itself off the cliff. And others of greater or lesser stature, such as how college is getting increasingly out of reach for the average American kid.

What has Congress done in the past year? Let us consult Google.

(Several Days Later...)

I've been stuck on this for the past few days because I WANT to dig through the list of bills. But even tho a tiny portion of Congressional bills became useful laws (a large portion were things like renaming post offices) there's still thousands of them.

I don't have that kinda time. I encourage you to peruse...just fifteen minutes spent checking out the written record of what Congress does is very enlightening...but I can't do a comprehensive search.

So here's a list the Washington Post has put together on key votes. It covers the meat and potatoes of what was accomplished, and the added bonus of seeing how various reps and senators voted.

Time to put my perfectionism back in the box for another day...

Batman: The Dark Knight

I realize I'm behind the times here...but I just saw "The Dark Knight" last weekend. Since I work about a week ahead, that means we're looking at a lag time. Apologies if that bends things out of shape for you.

This blog isn't about movies, so I won't bore you with a review. Heath Ledger...it's a shame. One of the best Jokers I've seen. That's all I have to say in reaction to the movie itself, aside from "GO SEE IT" if you haven't.

This one was a little darker, and I think it raised some interesting issues. The way human nature's darkest elements is brought out by the Joker's terrorist actions...seems to be a good metaphor for today's issues.

Terrorists elements we hunt for around the world are the Joker. They have managed to scare the country enough that our better natures have been abandoned in the name of "Staying Safe." We, as a society, have reverted to torture and crime in the name of protection and order.

Batman did that too. He became some just shy of a monster. Batman broke the Mob don's legs by throwing him out a window to get information. He beat the living daylights out of a helpless prisoner. He rigged the city's cell phone system into an incredible spy tool.

And he won in the end, keeping Gotham safe.

And then he blew up the giant spy machine. THAT is the pivitol difference between Batman and the protectors employed by the federal government.

Governments do not destroy their weapons when danger passes, no matter how awful, unethical, immoral, or just plain wrong they are. That's because the danger never passes for the government. A government needs to stay in power, and when they find a tool that helps keep them in power they will make sure they have a reason to use it.

Even if it means manufacturing a new danger. And then another. And another.

Because George W. Bush is not Batman. A very simple, almost too-basic thought. One that the House of Representatives and the Senate should have remembered before passing the new FISA bill, with the abortion of justice "Immunity" clause intact.

You'd like to think those men and women are smart enough to remember that Batman, with all his morals and rules and strength to follow them, is fiction. They may have acknowledged that fact, but they put their hopes on George W. Bush anyway, hoping for some Batman honor from the Administration.

And I hope it will cost them their jobs in another four months. Every last one of them who felt issuing blanket immunity for crimes against civil rights BEFORE the investigation was an acceptable course of action. Because they let the Joker win that time, just like every other time since 9/11.

Get to Know Your Elected Folks!

Or mine, anyway.


And a side note for anyone who may have been looking for post action this weekend...I don't do that. I've spent just about all my working life to date working weekends, and...I don't anymore. Sorry.

So this week, we're gonna track down and add to the sidebar my elected officials. Because...I'm curious, for one. And it'll make it easier to find and decide on news. Since we've already found the United States Senators from Ohio, now we'll find my Congressman.

1. Go to http://www.house.gov/. That's the House of Representatives home page. It's got cool stuf, which we'll check out later.


2. This one is so easy. Look at the upper left hand corner...there's a place that advises you to find your rep by punching in your zip code.


3. In my case, this brings me to a page where Jean Schmidt (did not get my vote in '06) is shown, as well as the Ohio 2nd District. Jean's name is linked...let's click it!


4. Now we see her official webpage, with all kindsa neat goodies on it. Including possibly the most important, her contact info. This is important because we'll be discussing how to inform your elected reps when their views are either (a) appropriately reflecting your own or (b) decidedly offensive.

So to my neat lil side bar of knowledge, I'll add a neat lil section for Jean Schmidt.

Tune in tomorrow, when we tackle possibly the most obvious of all, the White House!

Now Some News...

• Bhutto Vows to Defy Protest Ban, from NPR.
• Iraq Vet Can't Find Work, from NPR.
• Hamas Kills 5 at Arafat Rally, from BBC.
• Cincinnati Library Celebrates Childrens Book Week, from WVXU.