Some News Round Up Action

Today is gonna be quick and simple...in my news searchings, I came across four stories mentioning local politicians and I thought I should share.

The first three are from the Columbus Dispatch:

This story here discusses voting records of Ohio representatives, specifically how they did or did not vote with party leadership. It opens with an interesting anecdote about a defense spending bill that Pat Tiberi bucked the trend on.

Another from the politics page is about earmarks, and who in central Ohio is seeking them in Congress and who isn't. If nothing else, it does show GOP lawmakers from the area are willing to walk the walk on fiscal responsibility.

The final piece from the Dispatch goes into how the Democrats are unable to come up with a cohesive health care agenda, and the lawmakers from Ohio are prime examples of this. Some want a public option, some don't, compromise isn't a word anyone knows, etc etc.

The fourth piece today is actually from the Times-Standard from Eureka, CA. It's on a solar power bill co-sponsored by Pat Tiberi, giving tax credits to solar panel manufacturers in hopes of stimulating job growth.

That's all for this week...tune in next week, same bad time same bad channel.

Morse Road Special Improvement District

I've been working at a different location the past couple weeks, and as a result have had the chance to drive a commute I typically don't. My drive twice a day has been the vast stretch of Morse Road, from about 270 all the way till it dead ends into High St. I haven't been down Morse past about Cleveland Ave for the better part of two years, so all the construction threw me off.

Starting at Cleveland Ave, there's all sorts of stuff going on. Looks like they're tearing up sidewalks, putting in retaining walls, redoing turning lanes and medians. Drive a little further down, you see trees all wrapped in canvas sitting next to holes dug between the road and the sidewalks. Move East to West along Morse, it's easy to see to progression of the project and I'd say it's looking pretty good where they've finished.

I see a banner hanging from a (new looking) street light, near the junction with I-71, that stated simple "Morse Road Special Improvement District." Needless to say, I had to Google this to find out more.

I found out from Business First of Columbus that a group of property owners along more from Indianola Ave to Cleveland Ave grouped together to form a Special Improvement District. Under Ohio law, it's an area where the residents effectively form a non-profit organization to help maintain and improve on their common areas where the local government isn't willing or able to.

I also discovered a story from the Columbus Dispatch dated August of 2008 about the start of the 2nd phase of the Morse Rd improvement project...essentially, $18 million was spent on infrastructure including reworking sidewalks and laying utility pipes. I wasn't able to locate any stories more recent than this... apparently further judgement/interest is being withheld until the project wraps up (which it seems pretty close to doing).

Seems pretty nice...a pretty good effort, and a definite facelift for the area. The next question (and one that's been asked for the last 2-3 years apparently) is whether or not it will help fill the empty store fronts all along Morse Road. Hmmm...

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I'm personally thankful for a lot of things...really too numerous to mention...but I think it can all be summed up thusly: I'm thankful for living in this nation, at this point in history, born into a position to help be an element for change.

And just 'cause I don't like the woman, today reminds me of this great clip: Sarah Palin pardoning a turkey, and then giving an interview right in front of the continuing slaughter. I love the look of the guy behind her..."Um, should I wait? Does she realize how incredibly ironic this is? Well, they aren't paying me to stand around..."

What My Blog Is All About

Recently there's been some drama as an indirect result of what I do here...and in the course of said drama, it became clear to me my object might not be as clear to the readers as it is to me.

My goal with this blog is to provide information. I strive to keep things fairly balanced, in that I present both sides (as with my post on the casino amendment in recent weeks, for instance). I do this by reading what one side says, then summarizing it on this blog with links. Then, I do the same with the argument against the issue.

Do I put in editorial comments now and then with these summaries? Yes. Yes I do, especially when I feel passionately on a subject. I'm not claiming to be completely unbiased or that I'm presenting a white-washed, edited-by-my-boss product. However, I try to do my best to keep them from clouding the position summary.

After I've done the informational segment, I generally go into detail what I feel on the topic and why. That's just my opinion...I usually work in a line to the effect of "That's my take, now go read up on it yourself." I don't think I've ever presented my little soap box messages as the truth on a subject, nor have I posted ONLY my opinion and passed it off as information.

It's pretty simple. A lot of people do what I do...and really, the professional services do it better (which is why I link to them all the time). But what a lot of the professional news companies can't do so well is present issues with a local perspective, from a living room that probably isn't much different than yours.

That's what this blog is all about.

Senate Votes for Cloture on Health Care

On Saturday night, the US Senate voted on cloture for their version of the healthcare bill, allowing it to move onto a real debate without fear of filibuster.

The concern on a controversial bill like this is once it hits the Senate floor for debate, a Senator opposing the bill filibuster it. This would prevent the bill from even being debated, never mind voted on. All the opposing Senator has to do is speak on and on about whatever occurred to the Senator (once, a Senator filibustered by reading a phone book). No one wanted to bring it to the floor until they had achieved cloture, a procedure where 3/5 of the Senators had voted in the bill should be debated without being filibustered.

They pulled it off though, those crafty Democrats. 60-39. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats voted for cloture after threatening not to. Bernard Sanders of Vermont also sided with the Democrats.

Now onto Step 2: Debating, amending, and passing the bill. This is where you come in!

Write, call, or e-mail your Senators. In Ohio:

George Voinovich, Republican

Web Contact Form

Washington, DC Office 524 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510

(202) 224-3353 Central OH 37 West Broad Street Room 310 Columbus, OH 43215 Phone: (614) 469-6697 Fax: (614) 469-7733 Southeast OH 78 West Washington Street P.O. Box 57 Nelsonville, OH 45764 Phone: (740) 441-6410 Fax: (740) 753-3551 Southwest & Dayton Area 36 East 7th Street Room 2615 Cincinnati, OH 45202 Phone: (513) 684-3265 Northwest OH 420 Madison Avenue Room 1210 Toledo, OH 43604 Phone: (419) 259-3895 Fax: (419) 259-3899 Northeast OH 1240 East 9th Street Room 3061 Cleveland, OH 44199 Phone: (216) 522-7095 Fax: (216) 522-709 Fax: (513) 684-3269 Sherrod Brown, Democrat Web Contact Form Washington, DC Office 713 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 (202) 224-2315 Northeast OH 1301 East Ninth St., Suite 1710 Cleveland, Ohio 44114 p (216) 522-7272 f (216) 522-2239 Southwest OH 425 Walnut Street, Suite 2310 Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 p (513) 684-1021 f (513) 684-1029 Central OH 200 N High St. Room 614 Columbus, OH 43215 p (614) 469-2083 f (614) 469-2171 Northwest OH 205 West 20th St. Suite M280 Lorain, OH 44052 p (440) 242-4100 f (440) 242-4108 So have at it! Call up the office (in DC or closest to you), write a letter, or use the web form to be all electronic and speak your mind on the topic! Tell your representatives how to represent you!

United States Senate Race 2010

So Senator George Voinovich is retiring at the end of his current term, after two terms serving in the Senate. While I haven't always agreed with how he's represented my state, one cannot argue the Senator has dedicated his life to working for the people of Ohio with integrity...something of a rarity in today's day and age, or even any age.

That said, now we need to pick a new United States Senator from Ohio to join Sherrod Brown. Neither party has a clear candidate yet...and I haven't heard about any third party candidates throwing their hats in the ring yet. Here's what we have on the platter so far.

Democrats:

Lee Fisher, currently the Lieutenant Governor.

Jennifer Brunner, currently the Secretary of State.

Republicans:

Rob Portman, not currently holding a government position but well experienced at the federal level

Tom Ganley, President and CEO of the Ganley Automotive Group and has never held public office.

I'm not personally seeing any clear leaders...Rob Portman has more experience, but it was all with the Bush Adminstration...and that may very well hurt him if the party is trying to distance itself from those philosophies. Brunner has a higher profile than Fisher, but I'm not sure if that's a help or a hindrance just yet. The primary races should be quite interesting :-)

Rest assured, I'll be watching for developments and doing some looking around!