CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Democratic congressional candidate Vic Wulsin's campaign is circulating a compilation of all her endorsers for the March 4 primary. The campaign also said opponent Steve Black hasn't nailed down as much support. Here's the complete list:
Labor
-American Federation of Teachers / Ohio
Federation of Teachers
-American Postal Workers Union
-Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers &
Trainmen
-Greater Cincinnati United Auto Workers
-International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
-International Union of Painters & Allied Trades
-National Association of Letter Carriers
-Services Employees International Union
-Shawnee Labor Council, AFL-CIO
Media
-Buckeye State Blog
-Cincinnati Enquirer
-Dayton Daily News
Medical Groups
-American Academy of Family Physicians
-American Medical Association Political Action
Committee / Ohio State Medical Association
Political Action Committee
-American Psychiatric Association Political
Action Committee
Organizations
-League of Conservation Voters
-Appalachian Political Action Committee
-Feminist Majority
-National Organization of Women
-National Women's Political Caucus
-Women’s Action for New Directions
-Women’s Campaign Forum
Public Officials
-Former Ohio Governor Jack Gilligan
-Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory
-Former Cincinnati Mayor Dwight Tillery
-Former Cincinnati Mayor Bobbie Sterne
-Silverton Mayor John Smith
-Cincinnati Vice Mayor David Crowley
-Cincinnati Council Members Cecil Thomas,
John Cranley and Y. Laketa Cole
-Hamilton County Commission President Todd
Portune
-Former State Representative Catherine Barrett
-Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones
(OH-11)
-Congresswoman Betty Sutton (OH-13)
-Congresswoman Vic Snyder (AK-02)
-Congressman Dennis Moore (KS-03)
-Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez (CA-47)
-Congresswoman Nancy Boyda (KS-02)
-Congressman John Murtha (PA-12)
Showing posts with label Steve Black. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Steve Black. Show all posts
Monday, March 03, 2008
Saturday, March 01, 2008
OH-02 Dem Steve Black: 'Nothing In Our Ad Is False' About Vic Wulsin And Medical Experiments
CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Dan Herkert, the campaign manager for OH-02 Democratic congressional candidate Steve Black, has sent an e-mail and press release to The Daily Bellwether about the TV ad sharply criticizing Victoria Wulsin's work for the Heimlich Institute. Rather than summarize, here's what Herkert and the Black campaign have to say:
Bill: Below you will find a press release we emailed out today with regard to our television ad. We fully stand by this ad and I would be happy to provide you with all copies of the documents upon which it is based. Nothing in our ad is false.
We have merely exposed the fact that Dr. Wulsin is in fact under investigation by the Ohio State Medical Board and the fact that she did not report these experiments to any government body. Also, she has claimed on different occasions that she merely wrote a "literature review" for the Heimlich Institute. This so-called literature review does not cite any of the numerous articles from the New York Times, LA Times, or New England Journal of Medicine that are critical of malariotherapy. Further, her report actually lists recommendations to the Heimlich Institute for ways to continue these experiments.
We have never gone "negative" in this campaign. The public record of a candidate is indicitive of how they will perform as a Member of Congress and that record should be compared to other candidates. The truth is often harsh, but every statement that has ever come from Steve's campaign is fully based on public documents.
Below is our press release from earlier today. If you have any questions or would like copies of the documents supporting our ad, don't hesitate to call me.
Dan Herkert
For Immediate Release
Date: February 29, 2008
Contact: Dan Herkert, Campaign Manager
(513)561-7232 office
Just The Facts
Today, the Steve Black for Congress campaign began airing a television ad that exposes the fact that Dr. Victoria Wulsin is currently under the cloud of an active ethics investigation by the Ohio State Medical Board. The information contained within that ad is entirely true, factual, and based on public documents. Click here to read all relevant documents and to watch the President of the National Council Against Health Fraud explain the issues surrounding their request for this ongoing investigation.
In an effort to distract voters from her own record and the ongoing ethics investigation that currently surrounds her medical license, Victoria Wulsin's campaign has spent the past two weeks knowingly running a television ad that completely distorts the truth with regard to Steve Black's family farm. Click here to view the documents that prove Wulsin's ad to be a complete distortion of the truth.
"The public record of a candidate is indicative of how they will perform as a Member of Congress," said Dan Herkert, Campaign Manager. "Voters should be well aware of the public record of a candidate when making a choice on Election Day. Congress has been plagued in recent years by ethics investigation after ethics investigation, from Republican Bob Ney in Ohio to Democrat William Jefferson in Louisiana. As a nation, we cannot restore public trust in our government and focus on the needs of the American people if we continue to elect public officials who are surrounded by ethical questions."
"As Democrats, we cannot beat Jean Schmidt with a candidate currently under the cloud of an active ethics investigation," continued Herkert, "and we certainly can't change Congress until we change the people we send there."
"All communications that emanate from the Steve Black for Congress campaign are true and supported by public documents," said Herkert. "As a campaign, we are happy to provide any member of the press or any voter with a copy of those documents."
Bill: Below you will find a press release we emailed out today with regard to our television ad. We fully stand by this ad and I would be happy to provide you with all copies of the documents upon which it is based. Nothing in our ad is false.
We have merely exposed the fact that Dr. Wulsin is in fact under investigation by the Ohio State Medical Board and the fact that she did not report these experiments to any government body. Also, she has claimed on different occasions that she merely wrote a "literature review" for the Heimlich Institute. This so-called literature review does not cite any of the numerous articles from the New York Times, LA Times, or New England Journal of Medicine that are critical of malariotherapy. Further, her report actually lists recommendations to the Heimlich Institute for ways to continue these experiments.
We have never gone "negative" in this campaign. The public record of a candidate is indicitive of how they will perform as a Member of Congress and that record should be compared to other candidates. The truth is often harsh, but every statement that has ever come from Steve's campaign is fully based on public documents.
Below is our press release from earlier today. If you have any questions or would like copies of the documents supporting our ad, don't hesitate to call me.
Dan Herkert
For Immediate Release
Date: February 29, 2008
Contact: Dan Herkert, Campaign Manager
(513)561-7232 office
Just The Facts
Today, the Steve Black for Congress campaign began airing a television ad that exposes the fact that Dr. Victoria Wulsin is currently under the cloud of an active ethics investigation by the Ohio State Medical Board. The information contained within that ad is entirely true, factual, and based on public documents. Click here to read all relevant documents and to watch the President of the National Council Against Health Fraud explain the issues surrounding their request for this ongoing investigation.
In an effort to distract voters from her own record and the ongoing ethics investigation that currently surrounds her medical license, Victoria Wulsin's campaign has spent the past two weeks knowingly running a television ad that completely distorts the truth with regard to Steve Black's family farm. Click here to view the documents that prove Wulsin's ad to be a complete distortion of the truth.
"The public record of a candidate is indicative of how they will perform as a Member of Congress," said Dan Herkert, Campaign Manager. "Voters should be well aware of the public record of a candidate when making a choice on Election Day. Congress has been plagued in recent years by ethics investigation after ethics investigation, from Republican Bob Ney in Ohio to Democrat William Jefferson in Louisiana. As a nation, we cannot restore public trust in our government and focus on the needs of the American people if we continue to elect public officials who are surrounded by ethical questions."
"As Democrats, we cannot beat Jean Schmidt with a candidate currently under the cloud of an active ethics investigation," continued Herkert, "and we certainly can't change Congress until we change the people we send there."
"All communications that emanate from the Steve Black for Congress campaign are true and supported by public documents," said Herkert. "As a campaign, we are happy to provide any member of the press or any voter with a copy of those documents."
Friday, February 29, 2008
OH-02 Dem Vic Wulsin: Steve Black's New TV Ad A 'Dying Gasp' Lie
CINCINNATI (TDB) -- A new OH-02 attack ad by Steve Black has drawn a sharp rebuttal from Vic Wulsin's campaign, which describes it as deceptive and a "dying gasp" falsehood. With the the March 4 Democratic primary less than a week away, Black has gone nuclear. He appears in the ad claiming she took part in unethical medical experiments led by Dr. Henry Heimlich, the inventor of the Heimlich maneuver. Wulsin, a medical doctor, said Black gave her a $1,000 campaign contribution in 2006. Black sent the money to help Wulsin finance her campaign that year against Republican U.S. Rep. Jean Schmidt -- which seems to take some wind out of his 2008 argument that Wulsin is an unethical physician. The campaign also notes she has received donations from doctors and medical organizations:
"With over 270 physicians donating to her campaign and support from the American Academy of Family Physicians, American Psychiatric Association, and the American Medical Association, Wulsin's reputation and character should not be in question."
The complete text of the Wulsin campaign's press release responding to the Black TV ad about "dangerous experiments" follows:
For Immediate Release Contact: Ann Herzner
February, 29, 2008 Phone: (513) 233-4180
Black Lies to Voters
Continues His Negative Campaign Of Smear And “Innuendo”
With one last dying gasp, Steve Black’s campaign, in a desperate effort to mislead the voters, is accusing Vic Wulsin of covering up experiments described in press accounts a full 10 years before her work occurred.
Steve Black’s inability to connect with voters on the issues that matter to the people of Ohio led him to run this baseless and negative ad.
The Cincinnati Enquirer described Black’s attacks as “based more on innuendo than fact,” and the Dayton Daily News said the attacks “don’t wash.” Both papers took Black to task for running a negative campaign against Wulsin. In his commercial, Steve Black supports his misleading claims with an LA Times article from October 30, 1994. Medical experiments: "Dangerous" "Scientifically unsound" Source: Los Angeles Times, 10/30/94
What Steve Black doesn’t tell voters is that Vic Wulsin’s work for the Heimlich Institute was in 2004, a decade after the article was written. How could Dr. Wulsin be responsible for “covering up” experiments described in a newspaper article ten years earlier? The answer, of course, is that she didn’t cover up anything. Dr. Wulsin, as she has maintained all along, did nothing wrong. She was hired by The Heimlich Institute to perform a literature review and was fired when the Institute realized her report opposed further research without proof of effectiveness and significantly upgraded standards of review.
In fact, Steve Black supported Vic Wulsin in her 2006 run against Jean Schmidt, and the families have known each other for decades. His $1000 donation to her campaign was the largest he's ever given to a Democrat.
With over 270 physicians donating to her campaign and support from the political arms of the American Academy of Family Physicians, American Psychiatric Association, and the American Medical Association, Wulsin’s reputation and character should not be in question.
"With over 270 physicians donating to her campaign and support from the American Academy of Family Physicians, American Psychiatric Association, and the American Medical Association, Wulsin's reputation and character should not be in question."
The complete text of the Wulsin campaign's press release responding to the Black TV ad about "dangerous experiments" follows:
For Immediate Release Contact: Ann Herzner
February, 29, 2008 Phone: (513) 233-4180
Black Lies to Voters
Continues His Negative Campaign Of Smear And “Innuendo”
With one last dying gasp, Steve Black’s campaign, in a desperate effort to mislead the voters, is accusing Vic Wulsin of covering up experiments described in press accounts a full 10 years before her work occurred.
Steve Black’s inability to connect with voters on the issues that matter to the people of Ohio led him to run this baseless and negative ad.
The Cincinnati Enquirer described Black’s attacks as “based more on innuendo than fact,” and the Dayton Daily News said the attacks “don’t wash.” Both papers took Black to task for running a negative campaign against Wulsin. In his commercial, Steve Black supports his misleading claims with an LA Times article from October 30, 1994. Medical experiments: "Dangerous" "Scientifically unsound" Source: Los Angeles Times, 10/30/94
What Steve Black doesn’t tell voters is that Vic Wulsin’s work for the Heimlich Institute was in 2004, a decade after the article was written. How could Dr. Wulsin be responsible for “covering up” experiments described in a newspaper article ten years earlier? The answer, of course, is that she didn’t cover up anything. Dr. Wulsin, as she has maintained all along, did nothing wrong. She was hired by The Heimlich Institute to perform a literature review and was fired when the Institute realized her report opposed further research without proof of effectiveness and significantly upgraded standards of review.
In fact, Steve Black supported Vic Wulsin in her 2006 run against Jean Schmidt, and the families have known each other for decades. His $1000 donation to her campaign was the largest he's ever given to a Democrat.
With over 270 physicians donating to her campaign and support from the political arms of the American Academy of Family Physicians, American Psychiatric Association, and the American Medical Association, Wulsin’s reputation and character should not be in question.
OH-02 Dem Vic Wulsin: The Malariatherapy Case That Won't Go Away
CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Dr. Victoria Wulsin, the Democrat seeking renomination in Ohio's 2nd Congressional District, has been hounded by critics who contend she abetted unethical medical experiments in Africa. The allegations swirled in the background of her 2006 campaign, and they have returned for this year's Dem primary against lawyer Steve Black. Wulsin supporters insist the allegations are baseless and a smear. Still, the allegations have not gone away. Below, uncensored, is the latest installment on malariatherapy, which landed in blog and media outlet e-mail boxes today [Ed. Note: The Bellwether neither endorses nor dismisses the information. But you might as well have an opportunity see it and give it the weight or weightlessness you feel it deserves. Make of it whatever you wish]:
Victoria Wulsin Linked to Unethical Experiments
Robert S. Baratz, MD, PhD, DDS
Victoria Wells Wulsin, MD, DrPH, who is running for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, has been linked to unethical human experiments in which malaria infection was used as a treatment for HIV infection. The experiments were conducted in Africa by Henry Heimlich, MD (popularizer of the "Heimlich Maneuver" for treating choking). These “experiments” were either conceived, coordinated, devised, supervised, funded, or otherwise managed by Heimlich and/or the Heimlich Institute in Cincinnati. State filings show that The Heimlich Institute has been part of the Deaconess Associations Inc. since 1998.
Dr. Heimlich speculates that the high fever would kill the AIDS virus. There is no rational basis for this notion. His experiments were despicable because the experimental subjects were not treated for their HIV and some were infected with malaria by either injecting them with human blood that contained malaria parasites (and perhaps other pathogens) or by allowing them to contract malaria from mosquitoes. Malaria is a dangerous disease that kills millions worldwide annually. It can produce recurring high fevers; liver, spleen and kidney damage; and a host of other complications.
People with malaria are very sick. Heimlich's experimental subjects were allowed to have at least ten cycles of recurrent fevers over several weeks before they were offered treatment for the malaria. Most had bed-shaking rigors.
HIV infection depletes the body of its ability to fight off parasites. Thus the experimental subjects became sicker than would occur without HIV and, predictably, their HIV infections also worsened. Some later died. These experiments were on a par with the worst Nazi medical crimes. There are also parallels between the 40-year failure to treat syphilis in poor black men in the infamous Tuskegee Study and Heimlich's failure to treat HIV in poor black people in Africa . In both cases, the lack of proper treatment also caused innocent family members to be infected.
In 2004, Heimlich engaged Dr. Wulsin to review his work on "malariotherapy" and write a business plan for promoting it. Wulsin concluded that "the preponderance of evidence indicates that neither malaria nor immunotherapy will cure HIV/AIDS" and that the Heimlich Institute had been too secretive about its work. Despite claims by Heimlich that no active work on malariotherapy was being done, Wulsin’s report shows that it was [1].
When it became clear that others would make the report public, she released it but added an executive summary in which she claimed that her involvement with the Heimlich Institute was "strictly limited" to a research review. However, the body of the report indicates that she had access to experimental data, knew that something was radically wrong, and was aware of ethical violations that she should have reported to Office of the Inspector General and the Office for Human Research Protection of the Department of Health and Human Services. The report also indicates that an "American sponsor" was collaborating with Heimlich, but Wulsin has refused to reveal the sponsor's name.
As early as 1993, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (an agency for whom Wulsin has worked) condemned the malaria experiments [2]. Instead of being stopped, the studies were shifted from Mexico to Panama and then to China . In 2000, after indicating that the China study was flawed [3], the FDA ordered that patient recruiting be stopped as it clamped down a rogue Institutional Review Board that supposedly oversaw that study. However, the work continued in East Africa .
Wulsin, per her own admission, evaluated the literature, reviewed data, and even euphemistically renamed the malaria treatments “immunotherapy.” She also knew who was funding this work and where it was being conducted. Instead of turning in the individuals involved to regulatory and other authorities, she kept the matter quiet, failed to condemn the work, suggested that the Heimlich Institute continue it in the future, and accepted payment as a consultant. I am stunned that a doctor trained in public health would try to cover and obfuscate any such activity.
Consider these points:
More than ten years before Wulsin wrote her report, the Los Angeles Times revealed that something was wrong [4]. Subsequent exposure in the New York Times [5] and many other media outlets made the information readily available. Yet she did not address the problems noted by the press.
Wulsin stated that her report was only a literature review. But the raw data she analyzed in her report showed that humans were used as guinea pigs. Wulsin claimed she was fired after she report failed to promote the malaria experiments. However, the report is not negative. A basic read shows it renames malariotherapy "immunotherapy" and outlines a program to make it a cornerstone of the future of the Heimlich Institute. It is hardly what one would call critical.
There are conflicting dates of when her consultancy allegedly occurred. The Cincinnati Business Courier reported on 1/21/05: "Dr. Victoria Wells is an epidemiologist who specializes in women's health issues, particularly the spread of AIDS in Africa . Last February, she was hired by the Heimlich Institute to do a four-month literature review of malariotherapy, a review that ended with her recommendation that the institute should not continue active research. "A group in Africa is doing research on this and is at the six- to nine-month state of follow-up," Wells said. "I recommended the institute wait to see what those results showed before pursuing it further." [5] This clashes with Wulsin’s report of December 2004 and her statements that she was fired just after generating her draft report. How could she have written the report after she was reportedly fired?
Despite a claim of 200 references, Wulsin's report lists only 54, and all are without volume and page numbers. The report is not rigorous and fails to mention the obvious fact that when people have both malaria and HIV, both illnesses are made significantly worse.
Some press reports claimed that the location of the studies and the identify of the “American sponsor” of the East African experiments were unknown. However, one report stated that the information was known but wouldn’t be disclosed to the reporter. A subsequent report did reveal where some of these experiments were being done.
I cannot believe that the East African data appeared at the doorstep of the Heimlich Institute or that the Institute had “nothing” to do with the experiments. Heimlich has said repeatedly in press reports that he had met with multiple doctors from East Africa to arrange such experiments. There are more inconsistencies in the statements of Heimlich Institute personnel about the East African experiments, as indeed there are with statements of Wulsin, who clearly knows more than she has revealed.
The public tax returns of the Heimlich Institute and the Deaconess Associations seem to show money moving back and forth, and line items for HIV and malaria-related work. Were any of these funds going to East Africa ? If not, where did they go?
In 2005, Radar Magazine reported an interview with a man described as an Ethiopian immigrant who makes his living renting out cars in the San Francisco area, but works for Heimlich in spare time, "doing everything from "recruiting the patients to working with the doctors here and there and everywhere." The man claimed that the patients were recruited by looking for people with HIV who reside in areas where HIV is epidemic. However, he confirmed that the researchers were asked to delay treatment and did so [7].
The Deaconess Associations, home of the Heimlich Institute, receives federal money and must comply with requirements for human research. A full investigation of the Heimlich Institute is also warranted.
Was Wulsin unaware of the wealth of stories detailing the sordid facts about the malaria therapy experiments in major, respected, media? Somehow these are missing from her report. In 2006, I asked the Ohio Medical Board to investigate all of this. Their investigation is still active. On February 27, 2008, I held a videotaped press conference in Cincinnati to call further attention to Wulsin's conduct.
Additional Information
Bioethics Watch
CIRCARE
Medfraud.info
References
Wulsin VW. Immunotherapy and Beyond: Heimlich Institute. Dec 2004.
Induced malaria infection for the treatment of HIV/AIDS. CDC memo, April 29, 1993.
Marciello SA. Warning letter to L. Terry Chappell, M. D., Secretary, Great Lakes College of Clinical Medicine IRB, March 9, 2000.
Warrick P. Heimlich's audacious maneuver. Los Angeles Times, Oct 30, 1994.
McNeil DG Jr. Malarial treatment for Chinese AIDS patients prompts inquiry in U.S. New York Times, March 4, 2003.
Monk D, Tortora A. Family ties unraveling: Henry Heimlich faces firing squad of criticism from surprising source. Cincinnati Business Courier, Jan 21, 2005.
Francis T. Outmaneuvered. Radar Magazine, November 10-11, 2005.
This article was posted on February 29, 2008.
A list of additional document repositories on these matters appears below.
Robert S. Baratz, MD, PhD, DDS
President, National Council Against Health Fraud, Inc.
Department of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine
Medical Director, South Shore Health Center
617-594-7776
imcsi@rcn.com; permanent email baratz@alum.bu.edu; baratz@ncahf.org
The views herein are those of Dr. Baratz and do not necessarily represent those of Boston University School of Medicine
Victoria Wulsin Linked to Unethical Experiments
Robert S. Baratz, MD, PhD, DDS
Victoria Wells Wulsin, MD, DrPH, who is running for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, has been linked to unethical human experiments in which malaria infection was used as a treatment for HIV infection. The experiments were conducted in Africa by Henry Heimlich, MD (popularizer of the "Heimlich Maneuver" for treating choking). These “experiments” were either conceived, coordinated, devised, supervised, funded, or otherwise managed by Heimlich and/or the Heimlich Institute in Cincinnati. State filings show that The Heimlich Institute has been part of the Deaconess Associations Inc. since 1998.
Dr. Heimlich speculates that the high fever would kill the AIDS virus. There is no rational basis for this notion. His experiments were despicable because the experimental subjects were not treated for their HIV and some were infected with malaria by either injecting them with human blood that contained malaria parasites (and perhaps other pathogens) or by allowing them to contract malaria from mosquitoes. Malaria is a dangerous disease that kills millions worldwide annually. It can produce recurring high fevers; liver, spleen and kidney damage; and a host of other complications.
People with malaria are very sick. Heimlich's experimental subjects were allowed to have at least ten cycles of recurrent fevers over several weeks before they were offered treatment for the malaria. Most had bed-shaking rigors.
HIV infection depletes the body of its ability to fight off parasites. Thus the experimental subjects became sicker than would occur without HIV and, predictably, their HIV infections also worsened. Some later died. These experiments were on a par with the worst Nazi medical crimes. There are also parallels between the 40-year failure to treat syphilis in poor black men in the infamous Tuskegee Study and Heimlich's failure to treat HIV in poor black people in Africa . In both cases, the lack of proper treatment also caused innocent family members to be infected.
In 2004, Heimlich engaged Dr. Wulsin to review his work on "malariotherapy" and write a business plan for promoting it. Wulsin concluded that "the preponderance of evidence indicates that neither malaria nor immunotherapy will cure HIV/AIDS" and that the Heimlich Institute had been too secretive about its work. Despite claims by Heimlich that no active work on malariotherapy was being done, Wulsin’s report shows that it was [1].
When it became clear that others would make the report public, she released it but added an executive summary in which she claimed that her involvement with the Heimlich Institute was "strictly limited" to a research review. However, the body of the report indicates that she had access to experimental data, knew that something was radically wrong, and was aware of ethical violations that she should have reported to Office of the Inspector General and the Office for Human Research Protection of the Department of Health and Human Services. The report also indicates that an "American sponsor" was collaborating with Heimlich, but Wulsin has refused to reveal the sponsor's name.
As early as 1993, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (an agency for whom Wulsin has worked) condemned the malaria experiments [2]. Instead of being stopped, the studies were shifted from Mexico to Panama and then to China . In 2000, after indicating that the China study was flawed [3], the FDA ordered that patient recruiting be stopped as it clamped down a rogue Institutional Review Board that supposedly oversaw that study. However, the work continued in East Africa .
Wulsin, per her own admission, evaluated the literature, reviewed data, and even euphemistically renamed the malaria treatments “immunotherapy.” She also knew who was funding this work and where it was being conducted. Instead of turning in the individuals involved to regulatory and other authorities, she kept the matter quiet, failed to condemn the work, suggested that the Heimlich Institute continue it in the future, and accepted payment as a consultant. I am stunned that a doctor trained in public health would try to cover and obfuscate any such activity.
Consider these points:
More than ten years before Wulsin wrote her report, the Los Angeles Times revealed that something was wrong [4]. Subsequent exposure in the New York Times [5] and many other media outlets made the information readily available. Yet she did not address the problems noted by the press.
Wulsin stated that her report was only a literature review. But the raw data she analyzed in her report showed that humans were used as guinea pigs. Wulsin claimed she was fired after she report failed to promote the malaria experiments. However, the report is not negative. A basic read shows it renames malariotherapy "immunotherapy" and outlines a program to make it a cornerstone of the future of the Heimlich Institute. It is hardly what one would call critical.
There are conflicting dates of when her consultancy allegedly occurred. The Cincinnati Business Courier reported on 1/21/05: "Dr. Victoria Wells is an epidemiologist who specializes in women's health issues, particularly the spread of AIDS in Africa . Last February, she was hired by the Heimlich Institute to do a four-month literature review of malariotherapy, a review that ended with her recommendation that the institute should not continue active research. "A group in Africa is doing research on this and is at the six- to nine-month state of follow-up," Wells said. "I recommended the institute wait to see what those results showed before pursuing it further." [5] This clashes with Wulsin’s report of December 2004 and her statements that she was fired just after generating her draft report. How could she have written the report after she was reportedly fired?
Despite a claim of 200 references, Wulsin's report lists only 54, and all are without volume and page numbers. The report is not rigorous and fails to mention the obvious fact that when people have both malaria and HIV, both illnesses are made significantly worse.
Some press reports claimed that the location of the studies and the identify of the “American sponsor” of the East African experiments were unknown. However, one report stated that the information was known but wouldn’t be disclosed to the reporter. A subsequent report did reveal where some of these experiments were being done.
I cannot believe that the East African data appeared at the doorstep of the Heimlich Institute or that the Institute had “nothing” to do with the experiments. Heimlich has said repeatedly in press reports that he had met with multiple doctors from East Africa to arrange such experiments. There are more inconsistencies in the statements of Heimlich Institute personnel about the East African experiments, as indeed there are with statements of Wulsin, who clearly knows more than she has revealed.
The public tax returns of the Heimlich Institute and the Deaconess Associations seem to show money moving back and forth, and line items for HIV and malaria-related work. Were any of these funds going to East Africa ? If not, where did they go?
In 2005, Radar Magazine reported an interview with a man described as an Ethiopian immigrant who makes his living renting out cars in the San Francisco area, but works for Heimlich in spare time, "doing everything from "recruiting the patients to working with the doctors here and there and everywhere." The man claimed that the patients were recruited by looking for people with HIV who reside in areas where HIV is epidemic. However, he confirmed that the researchers were asked to delay treatment and did so [7].
The Deaconess Associations, home of the Heimlich Institute, receives federal money and must comply with requirements for human research. A full investigation of the Heimlich Institute is also warranted.
Was Wulsin unaware of the wealth of stories detailing the sordid facts about the malaria therapy experiments in major, respected, media? Somehow these are missing from her report. In 2006, I asked the Ohio Medical Board to investigate all of this. Their investigation is still active. On February 27, 2008, I held a videotaped press conference in Cincinnati to call further attention to Wulsin's conduct.
Additional Information
Bioethics Watch
CIRCARE
Medfraud.info
References
Wulsin VW. Immunotherapy and Beyond: Heimlich Institute. Dec 2004.
Induced malaria infection for the treatment of HIV/AIDS. CDC memo, April 29, 1993.
Marciello SA. Warning letter to L. Terry Chappell, M. D., Secretary, Great Lakes College of Clinical Medicine IRB, March 9, 2000.
Warrick P. Heimlich's audacious maneuver. Los Angeles Times, Oct 30, 1994.
McNeil DG Jr. Malarial treatment for Chinese AIDS patients prompts inquiry in U.S. New York Times, March 4, 2003.
Monk D, Tortora A. Family ties unraveling: Henry Heimlich faces firing squad of criticism from surprising source. Cincinnati Business Courier, Jan 21, 2005.
Francis T. Outmaneuvered. Radar Magazine, November 10-11, 2005.
This article was posted on February 29, 2008.
A list of additional document repositories on these matters appears below.
Robert S. Baratz, MD, PhD, DDS
President, National Council Against Health Fraud, Inc.
Department of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine
Medical Director, South Shore Health Center
617-594-7776
imcsi@rcn.com; permanent email baratz@alum.bu.edu; baratz@ncahf.org
The views herein are those of Dr. Baratz and do not necessarily represent those of Boston University School of Medicine
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
OH-02 GOP Jean Schmidt: Dayton Daily News Says Dump Her For Brinkman (R) Or Wulsin (D)
DAYTON (TDB) -- Republican U.S. Rep. Jean Schmidt's reelection bid was sneered at today by the Dayton Daily News, which endorsed her GOP primary opponent, State Rep. Tom Brinkman. In rejecting Schmidt, the newspaper said she has a history of "bush league mistakes" in Washington. The newspaper contends Schmidt's antics have turned the once solidly Republican 2nd Congressional District into a battleground that can be taken by a Democrat this November. The Dayton Daily News editorial said:
"Rep. Brinkman could represent the district better than the incumbent and probably be a better candidate in November."
On the Dem side, the newpaper picked Dr. Victoria Wulsin, a physician who was the party's 2006 nominee. Wulsin was barely beaten by Schmidt. It said Wulsin's opponent, Steve Black, is a lawyer and his candidacy "devolves" into a single issue; that Congress needs another lawyer. It prefers Wulsin because she is fresh and from another profession.
"Dr. Wulsin has a remarkable resume of medical work, both here and abroad. She had devoted years to humanitarian causes. She had not been a politician . . . Dr. Wulsin would bring unusual experiences, sensibilities and ability to Washington. In a primary race in which the Democrats do not differ profoundly on the issues, she is the right choice."
Brinkman, a hardcore conservative, seems to be finding traction in an uphill contest against Schmidt by citing her House vote last year against President Bush's push to increase access for college loans. Bush said the federal grants and loans would increase U.S. competiveness in the global economy and help better schooled workers land jobs. Brinkman agrees. The Dayton Daily News noted: "He says when he ran for the legislature eight years ago, the main thing he wanted to do was cut taxes. He says he has since learned that there's a more important consideration in building an economy: Improving the quality of education."
"Rep. Brinkman could represent the district better than the incumbent and probably be a better candidate in November."
On the Dem side, the newpaper picked Dr. Victoria Wulsin, a physician who was the party's 2006 nominee. Wulsin was barely beaten by Schmidt. It said Wulsin's opponent, Steve Black, is a lawyer and his candidacy "devolves" into a single issue; that Congress needs another lawyer. It prefers Wulsin because she is fresh and from another profession.
"Dr. Wulsin has a remarkable resume of medical work, both here and abroad. She had devoted years to humanitarian causes. She had not been a politician . . . Dr. Wulsin would bring unusual experiences, sensibilities and ability to Washington. In a primary race in which the Democrats do not differ profoundly on the issues, she is the right choice."
Brinkman, a hardcore conservative, seems to be finding traction in an uphill contest against Schmidt by citing her House vote last year against President Bush's push to increase access for college loans. Bush said the federal grants and loans would increase U.S. competiveness in the global economy and help better schooled workers land jobs. Brinkman agrees. The Dayton Daily News noted: "He says when he ran for the legislature eight years ago, the main thing he wanted to do was cut taxes. He says he has since learned that there's a more important consideration in building an economy: Improving the quality of education."
Monday, February 18, 2008
OH-02 Dem Primary: Steve Black Posts Video Of 80-Minute Debate With Vic Wulsin
CINCINNATI (TDB) -- The four-part video of a Feb. 6 debate in Warren County is available online here. The complete program is about 80 minutes long and appears to be unedited. It was posted on Steve Black's campaign Web site today. Now you have an opportunity to see the candidates for Ohio's 2nd Congressional District side-by-side taking questions from a Democratic audience.
Saturday, February 09, 2008
OH-02 Dem Vic Wulsin: Asks That Today's Clermont County Straw Poll Be Cancelled
BATAVIA (TDB) -- Clermont County Democratic Chairman Dave Lane says today's OH-02 straw poll has been cancelled. It would have offered a glimpse into the pre-primary popularity of candidates Steve Black and Vic Wulsin in a key SW Ohio county. Lane said the poll was cancelled at Wulsin's request because Black has temporarily suspended campaigning while mourning the death of his father, retired Judge Robert L. Black. Lane led a gathering of Clermont County Democrats in a moment of silence for the judge, whom he described as a respected jurist and civic leader.
Josh Levin, Wulsin's campaign manager, was at the session. He said she continues to campaign, but did not think the straw poll would be appropriate. Lane, the county chair, told The Daily Bellwether the county party in suburban Cincinnati is officially neutral in the Black-Wulsin contest. It had considered convening an endorsement meeting in mid-January, but scrapped the plan. He said Wulsin -- who was the candidate in 2006 and narrowly lost to Clermont County Republican U.S. Rep. Jean Schmidt -- asked that the endorsement session be dropped. He said he did not know which way the party leaders would have voted -- Black or Wulsin. He said both candidates are running aggressive bids for the nomination.
"I can tell you, in Clermont County among the Democrats, Victoria of course has the most name recognition. She has it from her past campaigns, and she came close to beating Schmidt, so people know who she is."
He said Black, a Republican who switched party to seek the Dem nomination, faces some opposition because of his GOP past. Lane said it should be a non-issue.
"My personal view is that any time that a Republican chooses to see the light and join us, well, he is welcome. We should take all the Republicans we can get. I don't hold that against Steve Black. A person who switches parties from Republican to Democrat to run for office, I don't question that at all."
Lane said Paul Hackett -- the party's 2005 nominee who lost a special election against Schmidt -- had spent time in the GOP before leaving it permanently.
"Hackett, he had shadows of Republicanism in his history. There was some history of him switching back and forth."
Lane, in the interview, declined to say who would come out on top March 4. He said either Wulsin or Black would be strong in the November general election.
"I could see a scenario where Steven Black could sway more of the conservative swing voters in the general election. But look at the last general election. Victoria came very close."
Josh Levin, Wulsin's campaign manager, was at the session. He said she continues to campaign, but did not think the straw poll would be appropriate. Lane, the county chair, told The Daily Bellwether the county party in suburban Cincinnati is officially neutral in the Black-Wulsin contest. It had considered convening an endorsement meeting in mid-January, but scrapped the plan. He said Wulsin -- who was the candidate in 2006 and narrowly lost to Clermont County Republican U.S. Rep. Jean Schmidt -- asked that the endorsement session be dropped. He said he did not know which way the party leaders would have voted -- Black or Wulsin. He said both candidates are running aggressive bids for the nomination.
"I can tell you, in Clermont County among the Democrats, Victoria of course has the most name recognition. She has it from her past campaigns, and she came close to beating Schmidt, so people know who she is."
He said Black, a Republican who switched party to seek the Dem nomination, faces some opposition because of his GOP past. Lane said it should be a non-issue.
"My personal view is that any time that a Republican chooses to see the light and join us, well, he is welcome. We should take all the Republicans we can get. I don't hold that against Steve Black. A person who switches parties from Republican to Democrat to run for office, I don't question that at all."
Lane said Paul Hackett -- the party's 2005 nominee who lost a special election against Schmidt -- had spent time in the GOP before leaving it permanently.
"Hackett, he had shadows of Republicanism in his history. There was some history of him switching back and forth."
Lane, in the interview, declined to say who would come out on top March 4. He said either Wulsin or Black would be strong in the November general election.
"I could see a scenario where Steven Black could sway more of the conservative swing voters in the general election. But look at the last general election. Victoria came very close."
Friday, February 08, 2008
OH-02 Dem Steve Black: Is This Why He Quit The GOP?
CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Democratic congressional candidate Steve Black has suspended OH-02 campaigning for a few days to bury his father, a former Hamilton County judge and World War II veteran who died Thurdsay. Judge Robert L. Black was a lifelong Republican, he called himself a "born Republican," whose loathing of President George W. Bush boiled over just ahead of the 2004 presidential election. He abandoned his party for the Democrats -- as has his son -- and published a lengthy explanation for the change. The manifesto says a lot about the late Judge Black, whose memorial service is Monday:
"When in the course of a lifetime, it becomes necessary for a born Republican to refuse to support the re-election of the party's incumbent president, to exercise his discretion, and in all good conscience, to vote for an opponent (even a Democrat), a decent respect to the opinions of his fellows requires that he declare the causes that impel him to switch.
I am grateful to the Republican Party for the support it gave me on each of three elections as judge. I respect many of the party leaders in Ohio. Nevertheless, my loyalty to the party must give way to my love of this country. I consider it a patriotic duty to speak up when the future of our democracy is at stake.
"It is self-evident that everyone has certain unalienable rights endowed by the Creator, and that among these are the right to his/her own conscience and the right to pursue his/her sense of justice. Whenever in the field of politics the party to which he has belonged, and that party's president, become destructive of his vision of what is not only right and fair but also good for our future, it is his duty to call the tune as he hears it. When that future is endangered by the present policies of the administration, it is time to act. The record of this incumbent president is a history not only of repeated violations of the key principles underlying our democracy, but of the core values of the Christian faith to which he claims commitment. Let his actions be stated candidly.
"He has taken us into a pre-emptive war, misleading the country by alleging without qualification that there was an immediate threat to our safety. No weapons of mass destruction have been found despite the president's unconditional declarations that he had to pre-empt Saddam Hussein's use of weapons of mass destruction.
"He engaged in this war without any workable plan to win the peace. While the ultimate outcome of this adventure is unknown, the loss of human life and the imposition of human suffering weigh heavily against us.
"The effect of this adventure is to solidify the deadly opposition of radical Muslim extremists, who are currently leading of the Muslim world. He has exacerbated a dangerous confrontation, a conflict of religious dimensions. The result of the arrogant way the war was handled is that the president has alienated our long-established allies: and it will take decades to re-establish friendly working relations with these other powers.
"He acted unilaterally in pulling the nation from international treaties designed to move toward a more livable and a more just world, such as the Kyoto Treaty and the treaty creating the World Court of Law.
At the same time, he has cut the taxes owed by the richest 1 percent or 2 percent of the population, giving meaningless decreases for all the rest, and with no resulting benefit to the job market or the economy. He has presided over the largest loss of jobs since the Great Depression.
He has appointed or sought to appoint to the federal judiciary persons who hold extreme right-wing views, views that are driven by political bias and that ignore established legal precedent. (He threatens to appoint such a person to the Supreme Court.)
"He has ignored or denied widely accepted scientific findings. For example, with respect to stem cell research, captured by a religious minority, he limited this research to a degree that radically restricts research leading to benefits for hundreds of thousands of persons subject to major disabilities and early death.
"He has re-emphasized abortion as a political issue, when it is a purely personal decision for the woman.
"He has allowed an increase in the number and type of media organizations any one company can acquire, thus permitting a further concentration of power over the news.
"He has again and again reversed the regulations and policies designed to protect the environment, always adopting a policy that favors those manufacturers and industrialists whose actions have clearly fouled the air and water. He pushes for drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and throughout northern Alaska. He is allowing the logging of our national parks. He ignores scientific findings that the world is being subjected to a warming climate change that is man-made and that could otherwise be forestalled or radically slowed down. He has adopted or proposed regulations that endanger the safety of persons, when a Republican two-house legislature will not act in his favor. His regulations would prevent the release to the public of car safety information, such as warranty claims, consumer complaints and individual rights on safety issues; he would relax the rule on allowable coal dust in mines; he would eliminate the rule requiring employers to keep records of employees' ergonomics injuries; he has cut 77 personnel from the staff of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration; he has raised the allowable mercury content in the air.
"I am, as American citizens ought to be, free to express my deeply held convictions, derived from my conscience and sense of justice, and to vote for candidates who in my opinion will act in the best interests of the country. In this, as in other life actions, my prayer is I am in line with the will of God."
"When in the course of a lifetime, it becomes necessary for a born Republican to refuse to support the re-election of the party's incumbent president, to exercise his discretion, and in all good conscience, to vote for an opponent (even a Democrat), a decent respect to the opinions of his fellows requires that he declare the causes that impel him to switch.
I am grateful to the Republican Party for the support it gave me on each of three elections as judge. I respect many of the party leaders in Ohio. Nevertheless, my loyalty to the party must give way to my love of this country. I consider it a patriotic duty to speak up when the future of our democracy is at stake.
"It is self-evident that everyone has certain unalienable rights endowed by the Creator, and that among these are the right to his/her own conscience and the right to pursue his/her sense of justice. Whenever in the field of politics the party to which he has belonged, and that party's president, become destructive of his vision of what is not only right and fair but also good for our future, it is his duty to call the tune as he hears it. When that future is endangered by the present policies of the administration, it is time to act. The record of this incumbent president is a history not only of repeated violations of the key principles underlying our democracy, but of the core values of the Christian faith to which he claims commitment. Let his actions be stated candidly.
"He has taken us into a pre-emptive war, misleading the country by alleging without qualification that there was an immediate threat to our safety. No weapons of mass destruction have been found despite the president's unconditional declarations that he had to pre-empt Saddam Hussein's use of weapons of mass destruction.
"He engaged in this war without any workable plan to win the peace. While the ultimate outcome of this adventure is unknown, the loss of human life and the imposition of human suffering weigh heavily against us.
"The effect of this adventure is to solidify the deadly opposition of radical Muslim extremists, who are currently leading of the Muslim world. He has exacerbated a dangerous confrontation, a conflict of religious dimensions. The result of the arrogant way the war was handled is that the president has alienated our long-established allies: and it will take decades to re-establish friendly working relations with these other powers.
"He acted unilaterally in pulling the nation from international treaties designed to move toward a more livable and a more just world, such as the Kyoto Treaty and the treaty creating the World Court of Law.
At the same time, he has cut the taxes owed by the richest 1 percent or 2 percent of the population, giving meaningless decreases for all the rest, and with no resulting benefit to the job market or the economy. He has presided over the largest loss of jobs since the Great Depression.
He has appointed or sought to appoint to the federal judiciary persons who hold extreme right-wing views, views that are driven by political bias and that ignore established legal precedent. (He threatens to appoint such a person to the Supreme Court.)
"He has ignored or denied widely accepted scientific findings. For example, with respect to stem cell research, captured by a religious minority, he limited this research to a degree that radically restricts research leading to benefits for hundreds of thousands of persons subject to major disabilities and early death.
"He has re-emphasized abortion as a political issue, when it is a purely personal decision for the woman.
"He has allowed an increase in the number and type of media organizations any one company can acquire, thus permitting a further concentration of power over the news.
"He has again and again reversed the regulations and policies designed to protect the environment, always adopting a policy that favors those manufacturers and industrialists whose actions have clearly fouled the air and water. He pushes for drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and throughout northern Alaska. He is allowing the logging of our national parks. He ignores scientific findings that the world is being subjected to a warming climate change that is man-made and that could otherwise be forestalled or radically slowed down. He has adopted or proposed regulations that endanger the safety of persons, when a Republican two-house legislature will not act in his favor. His regulations would prevent the release to the public of car safety information, such as warranty claims, consumer complaints and individual rights on safety issues; he would relax the rule on allowable coal dust in mines; he would eliminate the rule requiring employers to keep records of employees' ergonomics injuries; he has cut 77 personnel from the staff of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration; he has raised the allowable mercury content in the air.
"I am, as American citizens ought to be, free to express my deeply held convictions, derived from my conscience and sense of justice, and to vote for candidates who in my opinion will act in the best interests of the country. In this, as in other life actions, my prayer is I am in line with the will of God."
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
OH-02 Dem Steve Black: In Attack, Slams Wulsin Over '06 Gas Tax Remark
CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Democratic congressional candidate Steve Black, whose mailed-out campaign literature declares he's "tough enough" to beat Jean Schmidt, is now in attack mode against Vic Wulsin in the OH-02 Dem primary. Black accuses Wulsin -- the '06 nominee who came within a whisker of defeating Schmidt -- of "betraying our trust" and contends she wants higher gasoline taxes. He also says she is under investigation by the Ohio State Medical Board. Wulsin is a physician.
The attack comes about a month before the March 4 primary and demonstrates Black will play rough. Here, quoted verbatim, are the four charges he delivered to Democrats who received the mailer:
The attack comes about a month before the March 4 primary and demonstrates Black will play rough. Here, quoted verbatim, are the four charges he delivered to Democrats who received the mailer:
- The President of the National Council Against Health fraud has requested an investigation of Wulsin by the Ohio State Medical Board on charges that she covered up unethical medical experiments.
- Ohio has lost over 200,00 jobs to places like Mexico and China. Unbelievably, Wulsin supports the Bush free trade expansion plan to places like Armenia.
- She has refused to disclose tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions.
- Wulsin even called for higher taxes on gasoline as a way to solve America's energy crisis. Aren't middle-class families struggling enough?
Wulsin's staff, no doubt, will truth-squad those Black slams. And it may strike back at him for going negative. Already, Wulsin campaign chief Josh Levin has noted the photo of his candidate in Black's hit piece appears lifted from Schmidt. Levin says Schmidt used the same unflattering head shot against the Democrat in the '06 showdown. The Wulsin camp may soon argue that Black -- a former Republican -- is recycling the tactics of the Schmidt campaign. Levin said in an e-mail: "The attacks are right out of the GOP playbook did you notice he used the same photo Schmidt did in '06. The donations thing is funny, given that he's refused to disclose over 10K in small donations himself."
Clearly, the Democratic contest seems to be moving in a new direction -- a turn to the low road.
Black's charge Wulsin wants to raise the gasoline tax originally cropped up in April 2006 -- when Wulsin was campaigning in that year's Democratic primary. Black cites the Cincinnati Enquirer as his source. Although the newspaper story is no longer freely available on its Web site, there is a version still online in the archives of the Buckeye State Blog. It shows she had mused publicly about raising gas taxes. She wanted gas taxes to be progressive, which is how the federal income tax is levied -- the higher your income the more you pay:
"One more thing about gas prices . . . I believe we need some sort of progressive tax on gas prices. The way they work now, again the working class, the middle class, pays more than their fair share than the very wealthy. And I believe that we as a country believe in equality for all, and that means that we who benefit from our society need to contribute."
Inquiring minds are wondering: Does Black's gas tax attack gain him any ground? It appears timely, considering that pump prices have soared over $3 and high fuel costs are blamed as a major factor behind the current economic slowdown. But what about Armenia -- are Ohioans concerned about trade policies with the former Soviet Republic?
Sunday, January 27, 2008
OH-02 Dem Steve Black: Campaign Jingle Ready For Rural Radio
CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Democratic congressional candidate Steve Black has a minute-long campaign jingle that you can hear by clicking this link. It's called "Backin' Black" and begins airing this week on rural radio stations in Ohio's 2nd Congressional District. The lyrics knock lightweight politicians who "vote just like a buttlerfly and sting like a daisy." No names are mentioned. It also ties into 2008's top campaign themes: The jingle says he'll keep jobs at home and bring the soldiers back from Iraq.
Black is competing against Vic Wulsin for the OH-02 Dem nomination. Last week, she released Wulsin Girl, which delivered a splash on YouTUBE. The music video was written and performed by Ann Driscoll, a former Wulsin volunteer. Black's campaign manager, Dan Herkert, said the radio jingle was created by the campaign's advertising operation and was paid for by the campaign.
Black is competing against Vic Wulsin for the OH-02 Dem nomination. Last week, she released Wulsin Girl, which delivered a splash on YouTUBE. The music video was written and performed by Ann Driscoll, a former Wulsin volunteer. Black's campaign manager, Dan Herkert, said the radio jingle was created by the campaign's advertising operation and was paid for by the campaign.
Monday, January 21, 2008
OH-02 Dem Steve Black: New Campaign Chief Is Union President's Son
CINCINNATI (TDB) -- As things stand now, voters can expect at least two televised joint appearances/debates next month by OH-02 Democratic candidates Steve Black and Vic Wulsin. Final details have not yet been ironed out, but the candidates are expected to appear on WKRC-TV, Channel 12 and WCET, the public broadcasting outlet in Cincinnati. Dan Herkert, Black's campaign manager, told The Daily Bellwether today that details are being set. (Prediction: Expect to see this in the Cincinnati Enquirer after you read it here first.)
Herkert, 26, is an Illinois native who became Black's manager in mid-December. His father is the president of a Painter's Union local in Alton, Ill., and is chairman of the Democratic Party in Calhoun County, which is where the Illinois and Mississippi rivers converge. Herkert said he was a consultant to U.S. Rep. Phil Hare, a Democrat elected in 2006. He has also worked on local races in southern Illinois.
"My dad has been involved in politics since he got out of the service. I actually walked door-to-door for the first time (1988) for Dukakis and Bentsen. I'm as diehard Democrat as you can be. If my right hand tried to vote for a Republican, my left hand would cut it off. I'm a very strong partisan. The joke in my family is that if I had a death wish it would be to become a Republican and join the Navy. My dad was a Marine."
Herkert, a graduate of the University of Illinois/Springfield, said he knows that Black was a Republican who changed parties to seek the OH-02 nomination against Wulsin. He said Black's conversion is genuine. He also said OH-02 -- which borders the Ohio River between Cincinnati and Portsmouth -- is quite alike to the area of Illinois where he cut his political teeth.
"The thing is, the district is very similar to the St. Louis metro area. The issues are very close to being the same."
And what are the big issues? Economy and jobs; health care, the Iraq War. Mostly, says Herkert, "kitchen table issues." Also, pushing Republican Rep. Jean Schmidt aside. "Jean Schmidt can be beat. I think Steve Black is the guy to do it."
Herkert predicts Feb. 9 could give a hint how strongly Black -- who has a well-financed campaign -- is competing against Wulsin for the Dem nomination. The Clermont County Democratic Party holds a forum that night followed by a straw poll. If Black comes close, Southwest and Southern Ohio Dems can expect a real showdown.
Friday, January 18, 2008
OH-02 Dem Vic Wulsin: Amends Financial Disclosure Report
CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Democratic congressional candidate Vic Wulsin has amended her personal financial disclosure report to show she did not receive $114,240 in payments from Soteni. Wulsin, a physician, leads the non-profit organization Soteni, which assists Kenyans in public health, AIDs eradication and economic issues. The OH-02 Democrat's campaign was preparing for attacks, and said it could head them off with revised financial disclosure reports that show Wulsin contributed services to the charity worth at least $114,240. She changed the financial report late last year. According to a Wulsin insider:
"She (originally) reported it as salary. She was told erroneously that she had to report the value of what she had done. She calculated it as the value of the time put in to the organization in '06."
Wulsin faces Steve Black in the March Democratic primary for Ohio's 2nd Congressional District. Republican U.S. Rep. Jean Schmidt now holds the seat.
"She (originally) reported it as salary. She was told erroneously that she had to report the value of what she had done. She calculated it as the value of the time put in to the organization in '06."
Wulsin faces Steve Black in the March Democratic primary for Ohio's 2nd Congressional District. Republican U.S. Rep. Jean Schmidt now holds the seat.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
OH-02 Dem Steve Black: Dumped Halliburton Shares At $1,700 Loss
CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Democratic congressional candidate Steve Black -- whose campaign literature denounces Halliburton as a "war profiteer" -- says he briefly owned some of the company's stock in his Fifth Third Bank IRA. As word of Black's investment began to circulate widely in Ohio today, the campaign told The Daily Bellwether he had dumped the stake early last year at a loss. Black said he got out of Halliburton after discovering the bank's portfolio manager made the purchase.
Dan Herkert, Black's campaign manager, sent the following e-mail in response to an inquiry from TDB:
"Steve owns an IRA that is managed by Fifth Third Bank. On average, there are over 60 stock holdings, but this fluctuates monthly because of trading. Beginning on May 26, 2006, the Fifth Third IRA manager purchased shares of Halliburton stock, which was then worth $10,029.06. When Steve was reviewing his year-end statement (received in early 2007) he discovered that Halliburton stock was held in his IRA. He called the Fifth Third Bank IRA manager and requested that the stock be sold from his account. In the January 31, 2007 statement (the next statement available after the end of 2006) the Halliburton stock is shown to have sold for $8,326.30. The amount represents 1.1% of Steve's IRA. Steve took action as soon as he discovered the presence of this stock in his IRA. As is shown above, he in no way profited from owning Halliburton stock. Further, he in no way intentionally bought the company's stock."
Black, a lawyer, is challenging physician Vic Wulsin for the OH-02 Democratic nomination in the March primary. Wulsin's camp seemed prepared to make an issue of Black's Halliburton investment, but may back off. Or, it may contend that Black was not a socially conscious investor. The House seat now is held by Republican Jean Schmidt, who barely defeated Wulsin in 2006.
By the way, here's what Black had to say about Halliburton, a company once headed by Vice President Dick Cheney, in campaign literature mailed to Democrats across the seven-counties of the 2nd Congressional District in southern Ohio:
"War profiteers like Halliburton must be held accountable for their fraud and abuse -- as should the leaders who caused the mess in Iraq that has killed our brave soldiers and cost taxpayers billions."
Dan Herkert, Black's campaign manager, sent the following e-mail in response to an inquiry from TDB:
"Steve owns an IRA that is managed by Fifth Third Bank. On average, there are over 60 stock holdings, but this fluctuates monthly because of trading. Beginning on May 26, 2006, the Fifth Third IRA manager purchased shares of Halliburton stock, which was then worth $10,029.06. When Steve was reviewing his year-end statement (received in early 2007) he discovered that Halliburton stock was held in his IRA. He called the Fifth Third Bank IRA manager and requested that the stock be sold from his account. In the January 31, 2007 statement (the next statement available after the end of 2006) the Halliburton stock is shown to have sold for $8,326.30. The amount represents 1.1% of Steve's IRA. Steve took action as soon as he discovered the presence of this stock in his IRA. As is shown above, he in no way profited from owning Halliburton stock. Further, he in no way intentionally bought the company's stock."
Black, a lawyer, is challenging physician Vic Wulsin for the OH-02 Democratic nomination in the March primary. Wulsin's camp seemed prepared to make an issue of Black's Halliburton investment, but may back off. Or, it may contend that Black was not a socially conscious investor. The House seat now is held by Republican Jean Schmidt, who barely defeated Wulsin in 2006.
By the way, here's what Black had to say about Halliburton, a company once headed by Vice President Dick Cheney, in campaign literature mailed to Democrats across the seven-counties of the 2nd Congressional District in southern Ohio:
"War profiteers like Halliburton must be held accountable for their fraud and abuse -- as should the leaders who caused the mess in Iraq that has killed our brave soldiers and cost taxpayers billions."
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
OH-02 Dem Vic Wulsin: 6 Unions Now Backing Her Quest For Renomination
CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Democratic congressional candidate Vic Wulsin has received a major boost from six unions -- including the American Federation of Teachers, which represents Cincinnati's classroom teachers. The unions Wednesday publicly endorsed her bid to recapture the OH-02 Democratic nomination, and the big bloc of labor support means money and volunteer workers are on their way to Wulsin. She is a public health physician who faces a March primary against Steve Black, a lawyer who switched parties and is running a well-financed effort seeking the Democratic nomination. OH-02 covers seven southern Ohio counties. The seat is currently held by conservative Republican U.S. Rep. Jean Schmidt, who barely defeated Wulsin in 2006.
Black was endorsed last year by the United Food and Commercial Workers. Besides the teachers, Wulsin now has support from the United Auto Workers, the Service Employees International Union, the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, the National Association of Letter Carriers and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, whose national headquarters is in Cleveland. Wulsin has more about the endorsements on her on her website.
Cincinnati Federation of Teachers President Tim Kraus pointed out that Wulsin's four sons all attended public schools. Democratic insiders know that was a shot at Wulsin's opponent. Black has been involved with The Seven Hills School, a pricey, private prep school where he served as board chairman. Said Kraus:
"Vic Wulsin knows the issues that Southern Ohio families face. Her four sons went to public school, and she's been on the front lines providing health care to people with no other options right here in Cincinnati."
All in all, a good day for Wulsin.
Black countered by accusing Wulsin of rejecting his call for seven debates across the district. He also said he would join Wulsin in refusing to accept Congressional health care benefits if elected. But at the same time, he described the pledges as hollow acts.
"These pledges do nothing to fix our broken health care system or help the hardworking people of this district who can't afford health care. If we're going to solve the problems facing Ohio families, we need an honest leader who will stand up for what is right and get results, not an individual who thinks feel-good pledges will solve the health care crisis or fix our broken system."
Inquiring minds are wondering: If the health care pledge is merely "feel good," rhetoric then why did Black opt to make it? Did Wulsin just maneuver Black into following her lead?
Black was endorsed last year by the United Food and Commercial Workers. Besides the teachers, Wulsin now has support from the United Auto Workers, the Service Employees International Union, the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, the National Association of Letter Carriers and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, whose national headquarters is in Cleveland. Wulsin has more about the endorsements on her on her website.
Cincinnati Federation of Teachers President Tim Kraus pointed out that Wulsin's four sons all attended public schools. Democratic insiders know that was a shot at Wulsin's opponent. Black has been involved with The Seven Hills School, a pricey, private prep school where he served as board chairman. Said Kraus:
"Vic Wulsin knows the issues that Southern Ohio families face. Her four sons went to public school, and she's been on the front lines providing health care to people with no other options right here in Cincinnati."
All in all, a good day for Wulsin.
Black countered by accusing Wulsin of rejecting his call for seven debates across the district. He also said he would join Wulsin in refusing to accept Congressional health care benefits if elected. But at the same time, he described the pledges as hollow acts.
"These pledges do nothing to fix our broken health care system or help the hardworking people of this district who can't afford health care. If we're going to solve the problems facing Ohio families, we need an honest leader who will stand up for what is right and get results, not an individual who thinks feel-good pledges will solve the health care crisis or fix our broken system."
Inquiring minds are wondering: If the health care pledge is merely "feel good," rhetoric then why did Black opt to make it? Did Wulsin just maneuver Black into following her lead?
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Ohio Blog Sued By School Principal: Toledo Lawsuit Tackles Anonymous Comments
TOLEDO (TDB) -- SwampBubbles is now caught up in a legal fray that could test whether anonymous commenters on Ohio's blogs can hide their identities. And the lawsuit is likely to give consolation to targets who think they have been defamed and victimized by false statements. The blogosphere can be -- and often is -- a no-holds-barred environment. It is common practice for people to leave anonymous comments. They might suspect there is no trail back to the source. But there is a trail, and it can lead to trouble. Reconstructing the trail might be difficult, -- it can wind through out-of-state Internet service providers and other pit stops on the digital highway -- but it can be traced.
That trail and where it leads seems at the heart of a legal action over anonymous website comments that Leverette Junior High School Principal Steven Riddle considers defamatory. Riddle went to court over postings related to a sexual battery incident involving the arrest of a school employee last November. SwampBubbles is a community blog that covers news, politics and public affairs in NW Ohio. LisaRenee Ward at GlassCityJungle in Toledo has more about the legal fray in Lucas County.
This is the latest flap. Last September, a Republican Wood County Commissioner in Bowling Green was outed as a gay man by an anonymous comment left on Jeff Coryell's Ohio Daily Blog. It was a strategic leak designed to foreclose a bid for Congress in OH-05; there was no court action.
Now, the school principal's lawsuit before Lucas County Common Pleas Judge Gary Cook has LisaRenee musing about anonymous comments. She has concerns. Indeed, the lawsuit probably brings up an issue that needs to be aired: What is fair, and fair game for comment?
At The Daily Bellwether, I kept the comment moderation switch on for months, and limited comments because "anonymous" just made me feel uncomfortable. Then I switched to unmoderated last September and have allowed anybody say anything they wanted -- anonymous or not. In the past few days, I've been growing uneasy about some of the back-and-forth over the OH-02 Democratic primary. There have been some harsh attacks against Steve Black and Vic Wulsin written by "anonymous" people. Now, with lawsuits in the air -- and the courts unlikely to protect anonymous character assassination and assassins who use the Ohiosphere for their attacks -- the time may have come to flip the comment moderation switch on again.
Or, The Bellwether could say that it would vow never to reveal any information ever. That vow clearly would be impossible to keep. A court could order computers seized; it could order Blogger to give up data; it could pry open the browsers. There may be free speech on the Internet, but there may not be any cloak of anonymity for those doing the speaking. The Toledo lawsuit is probably going to make that a lot more clear in the months ahead.
That trail and where it leads seems at the heart of a legal action over anonymous website comments that Leverette Junior High School Principal Steven Riddle considers defamatory. Riddle went to court over postings related to a sexual battery incident involving the arrest of a school employee last November. SwampBubbles is a community blog that covers news, politics and public affairs in NW Ohio. LisaRenee Ward at GlassCityJungle in Toledo has more about the legal fray in Lucas County.
This is the latest flap. Last September, a Republican Wood County Commissioner in Bowling Green was outed as a gay man by an anonymous comment left on Jeff Coryell's Ohio Daily Blog. It was a strategic leak designed to foreclose a bid for Congress in OH-05; there was no court action.
Now, the school principal's lawsuit before Lucas County Common Pleas Judge Gary Cook has LisaRenee musing about anonymous comments. She has concerns. Indeed, the lawsuit probably brings up an issue that needs to be aired: What is fair, and fair game for comment?
At The Daily Bellwether, I kept the comment moderation switch on for months, and limited comments because "anonymous" just made me feel uncomfortable. Then I switched to unmoderated last September and have allowed anybody say anything they wanted -- anonymous or not. In the past few days, I've been growing uneasy about some of the back-and-forth over the OH-02 Democratic primary. There have been some harsh attacks against Steve Black and Vic Wulsin written by "anonymous" people. Now, with lawsuits in the air -- and the courts unlikely to protect anonymous character assassination and assassins who use the Ohiosphere for their attacks -- the time may have come to flip the comment moderation switch on again.
Or, The Bellwether could say that it would vow never to reveal any information ever. That vow clearly would be impossible to keep. A court could order computers seized; it could order Blogger to give up data; it could pry open the browsers. There may be free speech on the Internet, but there may not be any cloak of anonymity for those doing the speaking. The Toledo lawsuit is probably going to make that a lot more clear in the months ahead.
Monday, January 07, 2008
UPDATED OH-02 Dem Steve Black: Asks Wulsin For Debates; Topics Include Economy, Nat'l Security
CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Steve Black wants at least seven debates held across Ohio's 2nd Congressional District with Vic Wulsin ahead of the March Democratic nominating primary.
[UPDATE 1: 5:00 PM -- Wulsin seems to have thrown cold water on Black's call for a series of debates. She said they have already made at least 24 joint appearances across the southern Ohio district. She also challenged Black to join her in refusing Congressional health care benefits "until Congress does its job and passes affordable health care for all."]
[UPDATE 2: 5:05 PM -- On the Republican side of OH-02, Weapons of Mass Discussion reports that U.S. Rep. Jean Schmidt has picked up an important endorsement from the founder of the national right-to-life movement. Dr. John C. Willke, a Cincinnati physician, lined up with Schmidt last month. That gives her a boost in the GOP primary against Phil Heimlich and State Rep. Tom Brinkman, both stalwarts in the right-to-life movement, as is Schmidt.]
The text of the letter that Black sent Wulsin today seeking the Democratic debates reads as follows:
January 7, 2008
Dr. Victoria Wulsin
Cincinnati, Ohio
Dear Vic,
Unfortunately, we now live in a world where politicians rely on 30 second sound-bites and slick slogans to communicate with voters. Voters deserve better. The time has come for a substantive discussion about the issues that affect people’s daily lives.
With that in mind, I challenge you to join me in a minimum of seven (7) forums/debates throughout the 2nd Congressional District. Democratic voters must be able to make an informed decision on March 4th. They deserve to know exactly where we stand on issues ranging from the economy to national security, and who will be the strongest Democratic candidate to win in November.
It is time for a change of direction in this country. It is time for voters to hear where we really stand – beyond slogans and sound-bites. It is time for substantive discussion. I hope you will join me in standing before Democratic voters across the 2nd Congressional District and allowing them the opportunity to assess our respective candidacies.
Sincerely,
Steve Black
[UPDATE 1: 5:00 PM -- Wulsin seems to have thrown cold water on Black's call for a series of debates. She said they have already made at least 24 joint appearances across the southern Ohio district. She also challenged Black to join her in refusing Congressional health care benefits "until Congress does its job and passes affordable health care for all."]
[UPDATE 2: 5:05 PM -- On the Republican side of OH-02, Weapons of Mass Discussion reports that U.S. Rep. Jean Schmidt has picked up an important endorsement from the founder of the national right-to-life movement. Dr. John C. Willke, a Cincinnati physician, lined up with Schmidt last month. That gives her a boost in the GOP primary against Phil Heimlich and State Rep. Tom Brinkman, both stalwarts in the right-to-life movement, as is Schmidt.]
The text of the letter that Black sent Wulsin today seeking the Democratic debates reads as follows:
January 7, 2008
Dr. Victoria Wulsin
Cincinnati, Ohio
Dear Vic,
Unfortunately, we now live in a world where politicians rely on 30 second sound-bites and slick slogans to communicate with voters. Voters deserve better. The time has come for a substantive discussion about the issues that affect people’s daily lives.
With that in mind, I challenge you to join me in a minimum of seven (7) forums/debates throughout the 2nd Congressional District. Democratic voters must be able to make an informed decision on March 4th. They deserve to know exactly where we stand on issues ranging from the economy to national security, and who will be the strongest Democratic candidate to win in November.
It is time for a change of direction in this country. It is time for voters to hear where we really stand – beyond slogans and sound-bites. It is time for substantive discussion. I hope you will join me in standing before Democratic voters across the 2nd Congressional District and allowing them the opportunity to assess our respective candidacies.
Sincerely,
Steve Black
Sunday, January 06, 2008
OH-02 Dem Steve Black Gets Whacked: Viral Website Questions Farming Tax Break
CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Democratic congressional candidate Steve Black is the target of an attack Website. It says that he is taking advantage of property tax breaks on his home that are intended to aid Ohio's farmers. The site links to Hamilton County records. It's a hardhitting slam that portrays Black -- a wealthy lawyer -- as someone who uses legal loopholes to dodge taxes that would support public schools and other local government entities. The site does not say who is responsible for the attack on Black. State law does allow agricultural exemptions, and there is no allegation that Black has done anything illegal.
Black is campaigning in the March primary against Vic Wulsin for the Democratic nomination in Ohio's 2nd Congression district, which covers seven counties in Southern Ohio. Here's a sample from the website, which labels Black a hypocrite:
"Well, it seems that the former Republican Mayor (sic), heir to a significant family fortune, and running for congress as a pillar of the community may have taken lessons from the 'culture of corruption' regarding rural issues and agribusiness. It appears the wealthy Mr. Black has been getting a big (CAUV) tax break on his Indian Hill estate."
Black is campaigning in the March primary against Vic Wulsin for the Democratic nomination in Ohio's 2nd Congression district, which covers seven counties in Southern Ohio. Here's a sample from the website, which labels Black a hypocrite:
"Well, it seems that the former Republican Mayor (sic), heir to a significant family fortune, and running for congress as a pillar of the community may have taken lessons from the 'culture of corruption' regarding rural issues and agribusiness. It appears the wealthy Mr. Black has been getting a big (CAUV) tax break on his Indian Hill estate."
Thursday, January 03, 2008
OH-02 Dem Vic Wulsin: If Elected, Won't Take U.S. House Health Care Benefits
CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Democratic congressional candidate Vic Wulsin says she will refuse to accept employer-paid benefits from the House health insurance program "until Congress does its job and passes affordable health care for all." Wulsin is seeking her party's nomination in Ohio's 2nd Congressional district and says she plans to follow the example of Gov. Ted Strickland, who reimbursed the government for health care benefits during 12 years as a House member from Appalachian Ohio. Strickland has continued the practice in Columbus, and pays the state for his coverage.
Wulsin, the OH-02 nominee in 2006, faces a challenge from Steve Black, a lawyer who was a Republican until he turned against the policies of the Bush administration. She polled 49.4% of the vote in 2006 against U.S. Rep. Jean Schmidt, who is seeking reelection. Although Wulsin lost, she ran better than Strickland and U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown in OH-02.
Wulsin is a public health physician. Her first political ad of the 2008 campaign is now on YouTUBE and was shown on TV during some broadcast news reports about the Iowa presidential caucuses. The ad trumpets the health care issue. She also used the familiar I-approved-this-message-tagline, but added a kicker:"it's time to make your family a priority." She also tried to tie herself to Strickland, who is popular statewide, is a native of what is now OH-02, and represented counties on the eastern edge of the congressional district during the 1990s before population shifts altered the boundaries. Wulsin said she will mail a check to the U.S. Treasury every month to reimburse the House for any medical care coverage she would receive as a member of Congress. Strickland did the same. Said Wulsin:
Gov. Strickland took a bold stand for hard-working Americans without health care coverage. Spiraling medical expenses are hurting businesses and families. The time to ensure affordable, quality health care is long overdue."
Wulsin, the OH-02 nominee in 2006, faces a challenge from Steve Black, a lawyer who was a Republican until he turned against the policies of the Bush administration. She polled 49.4% of the vote in 2006 against U.S. Rep. Jean Schmidt, who is seeking reelection. Although Wulsin lost, she ran better than Strickland and U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown in OH-02.
Wulsin is a public health physician. Her first political ad of the 2008 campaign is now on YouTUBE and was shown on TV during some broadcast news reports about the Iowa presidential caucuses. The ad trumpets the health care issue. She also used the familiar I-approved-this-message-tagline, but added a kicker:"it's time to make your family a priority." She also tried to tie herself to Strickland, who is popular statewide, is a native of what is now OH-02, and represented counties on the eastern edge of the congressional district during the 1990s before population shifts altered the boundaries. Wulsin said she will mail a check to the U.S. Treasury every month to reimburse the House for any medical care coverage she would receive as a member of Congress. Strickland did the same. Said Wulsin:
Gov. Strickland took a bold stand for hard-working Americans without health care coverage. Spiraling medical expenses are hurting businesses and families. The time to ensure affordable, quality health care is long overdue."
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
OH-02 Dem Steve Black: Another Campaign Manager Departs
CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Just two months ago, Democrat Steve Black was touting the arrival of a new campaign manager who had a wealth of experience. But Joel Coon is now gone, The Daily Bellwether has learned. Black is a Cincinnati lawyer who switched from Republican to Democrat and is challenging physician Victoria Wulsin in the OH-02 primary next March.
Coon was brought in to replace Mary Huttinger, who for a time was signed on with Black. If that sound like musical chairs hang on to your seat: Huttinger was Wulsin's campaign manager in 2006 when she won the Dem nomination. The Black-Wulsin winner gets to run for the southern Ohio U.S. House seat that currently is held by Jean Schmidt, who beat Wulsin but now has a challenger in the GOP primary.
Black's campaign has not publicly announced Coon's leave taking after about three months on the job. Coon was reached by phone today and confirmed he has moved on.
"I would rather not get into the reasons why I left. I have absolutely nothing bad to say about Steve Black. He's a good candidate. He has the highest integrity. Leaving -- it was something I had to do. Steve can beat Jean Schmidt. He's a very good candidate."
Coon was a former John Edwards campaign aid involved in rural issues.
While Coon is out, The Bellwether hears that former Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee executive director John Lapp is in as the ad man for Black campaign. Lapp joined the political consulting firm McMahon Squier Lapp and Associates after 2006 elections and is considered an architect of the Dems' victory that ended GOP control of the House. At the DCCC, Lapp was in charge of a $60 million budget. He knows Ohio River politics -- he worked for former U.S. Rep. Ken Lucas who held a Kentucky House seat on the opposite side of the river from OH-02. He was Lucas' campaign manager, then his chief of staff. Lucas retired to keep a promise about term limits.
Coon was brought in to replace Mary Huttinger, who for a time was signed on with Black. If that sound like musical chairs hang on to your seat: Huttinger was Wulsin's campaign manager in 2006 when she won the Dem nomination. The Black-Wulsin winner gets to run for the southern Ohio U.S. House seat that currently is held by Jean Schmidt, who beat Wulsin but now has a challenger in the GOP primary.
Black's campaign has not publicly announced Coon's leave taking after about three months on the job. Coon was reached by phone today and confirmed he has moved on.
"I would rather not get into the reasons why I left. I have absolutely nothing bad to say about Steve Black. He's a good candidate. He has the highest integrity. Leaving -- it was something I had to do. Steve can beat Jean Schmidt. He's a very good candidate."
Coon was a former John Edwards campaign aid involved in rural issues.
While Coon is out, The Bellwether hears that former Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee executive director John Lapp is in as the ad man for Black campaign. Lapp joined the political consulting firm McMahon Squier Lapp and Associates after 2006 elections and is considered an architect of the Dems' victory that ended GOP control of the House. At the DCCC, Lapp was in charge of a $60 million budget. He knows Ohio River politics -- he worked for former U.S. Rep. Ken Lucas who held a Kentucky House seat on the opposite side of the river from OH-02. He was Lucas' campaign manager, then his chief of staff. Lucas retired to keep a promise about term limits.
Thursday, November 01, 2007
OH-02 Steve Black: Newly Minted Dem Receives Labor Support
CINCINNATI (TDB) -- A labor union that represents thousands of retail workers across southern Ohio's 2nd Congressional District is backing Steve Black in the March 2008 Democratic primary. It's a bit of a stunner because Black had been a Republican until he switched parties to make the race. Black's campaign received a $5,000 check from the United Food and Commercial Workers, along with a letter that wishes him good luck and promises future assistance. Federal Election Commission records show the check was deposited in the Black campaign account two months ago.
Black's camp is now portraying the union's support as an "endorsement." He was with UFCW Local 1099 at a rally earlier this week in downtown Cincinnati. About 11,000 members of the union are employed by Cincinnati-based Kroger Co. in SW Ohio, Northern Kentucky and Southeastern Indiana, and they have a midnight strike deadline. Kroger is threatening to hire replacement workers. The union has about 1.3 million members across the U.S.
Black is challenging 2006 OH-02 Democratic nominee Victoria Wulsin, who is running again. By backing Black financially in a contested primary, the UFCW seems to have signaled it has accepted him into the Democratic fold and believes he has stronger chance of ending GOP control over OH-02 than Wulsin.
The seat is now held by U.S. Rep. Jean Schmidt, R-Clermont County, who has an opponent in her own party, Phil Heimlich, R-Cincinnati. The UFCW's Local 1099s letter told Black it has "trust" he would be a voice for working families. It arrived a week before he got the $5,000 donation from the national union. The letter says:
"Your active support of the right to bargain collectively, the fight against Wal-Mart, and the quest for better lives for working families will surely be an asset to our members. Best of luck in the coming months, we look forward to helping you take back this seat."
Joel Coon, Black's campaign manager, said the candidate met with the union and filled out a questionnaire before nailing down the union's support. Coon said it should allay concerns among Ohio Democrats that Black -- a partner in a downtown law firm with a corporate clientele -- is still tied to his Republican roots.
"I think it does. We're not free traders here. We need fair trade. They've been giving away the bank," Coon said, adding that Black has made economic justice a central theme of his campaign.
Black's camp is now portraying the union's support as an "endorsement." He was with UFCW Local 1099 at a rally earlier this week in downtown Cincinnati. About 11,000 members of the union are employed by Cincinnati-based Kroger Co. in SW Ohio, Northern Kentucky and Southeastern Indiana, and they have a midnight strike deadline. Kroger is threatening to hire replacement workers. The union has about 1.3 million members across the U.S.
Black is challenging 2006 OH-02 Democratic nominee Victoria Wulsin, who is running again. By backing Black financially in a contested primary, the UFCW seems to have signaled it has accepted him into the Democratic fold and believes he has stronger chance of ending GOP control over OH-02 than Wulsin.
The seat is now held by U.S. Rep. Jean Schmidt, R-Clermont County, who has an opponent in her own party, Phil Heimlich, R-Cincinnati. The UFCW's Local 1099s letter told Black it has "trust" he would be a voice for working families. It arrived a week before he got the $5,000 donation from the national union. The letter says:
"Your active support of the right to bargain collectively, the fight against Wal-Mart, and the quest for better lives for working families will surely be an asset to our members. Best of luck in the coming months, we look forward to helping you take back this seat."
Joel Coon, Black's campaign manager, said the candidate met with the union and filled out a questionnaire before nailing down the union's support. Coon said it should allay concerns among Ohio Democrats that Black -- a partner in a downtown law firm with a corporate clientele -- is still tied to his Republican roots.
"I think it does. We're not free traders here. We need fair trade. They've been giving away the bank," Coon said, adding that Black has made economic justice a central theme of his campaign.
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