John Kasich's Part-Time Job At Ohio State U. Pays $1,388.88 Per Hour: Average Cincinnatian Earns $21.37 Hourly Holding Down A Full-Time Gig

Wage Data For Cincy Area

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Former Wall Street investment banker John Kasich, the Republican candidate for governor of Ohio, makes more in a year as a part-time lecturer at Ohio State University than most Cincinnatians earn in full-time jobs.  Kasich gets $50,000 for 36 hours of talking -- or $1,388.88 per hour.  He takes money for speaking to college classes, something many prominent Ohioans are glad to do for free.  Former U.S. Sen. John Glenn -- a Marine fighter pilot who became an astronaut and was the first American to orbit the Earth -- comes to OSU gratis.  Comparing paychecks to Kasich's, you will see that a cop in SW Ohio -- which includes the Cincinnati area -- makes $25.21 per hour.  A fast food worker makes $8.58.  A high school teacher earns $39.59 hourly -- that is an average for public, private, parochial and charter school wages (see accompanying chart).  Kasich's pay is 35 times as much per hour as dedicated teachers -- both union and non-union -- who spend their entire days in classrooms trying to prepare Ohio kids for college classes.  Kasich has had the OSU gig for the past seven years, so it is not like he is getting a fat one-time speaker's fee.  This is a part-time position on the state's biggest campus.  Kasich has not opened up his income tax records to public view.  He is the only candidate for Ohio governor since the mid-1980s who has refused to reveal his tax data.  The OSU payments are public record.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics tracks hourly earnings for hundreds of jobs, and 63 pages of data for the Cincinnati metropolitan area is available (pdf) by clicking here. The Cincy metro covers a wide swath of SW Ohio, including Hamilton, Clermont, Butler and Warren counties. Employers rely on the stats to make sure the salaries they are paying their workers are in line with area norms. Payroll data for the Columbus metro area is available in this labor statistics report (pdf).  The per hour earnings reports for Cincinnati and Columbus are from October 2009, and its is the most recent data available.  The Daily Bellwether looked over the Cincinnati numbers for full-time workers and found some examples to compare to Kasich's $1389 an hour part-time gig:

Accountants and auditors -- $27.55 per hour.
Engineers -- $36.79 per hour
High school teachers -- $39.59 per hour
Post secondary teachers -- 36.85 per hour (this post would equate to Kasich's OSU job)
Registered nurse -- $36.61 per hour
Fast food worker -- $8.58 per hour
Janitors -- $11.99 per hour
Plumbers -- $26.83 per hour  
Machinists -- $25.14 per hour
Factory foreperson (supervisor) -- $23.39
School bus driver -- $18.66
Tractor-trailer driver -- $26.30

Across the board, the mean salary for all workers was just over $20 an hour.  For a part-time job, the pay was $12.27 an hour.  The Cincinnati area data covers about 940,800 workers.

In Columbus, the hourly pay data shows that post-secondary (college level) teachers earn $59.64 an hour.  But if the wage rates are examined closely, they show $35.33 an hour for college level instructors in the arts, humanities and communications.  Kasich has a political science contract, which is a comparable position.  He made nearly 40 times the average in the Columbus wage market.

Ohio Daily is wondering today if Kasich got a sweetheart deal. Ohio Daily has gotten info from an e-mail circulating recently among faculty members on the Ohio State University campus:

"In an Oct. 19th email, Gunther said he and other faculty members were pressured to keep inviting Kasich back, and said he called Kasich’s salary 'obscene,' especially when compared to other part-time faculty. From the email:

"Let's look at this from another perspective. According to his own official report, Kasich was paid an average of $1,389 per hour for these occasional lectures. Instructors at OSU who are simply hired to teach a course (i.e., they are not regular faculty, but they often included Emeritus faculty) were paid between $2,500 and $5,000 for an entire 10-week course. That works out to something ranging from $63 to $125 per hour of lecture time, and that does not include the additional time required for grading and holding office hours with students. Even a full professor making $100,000 per year would be paid only about $200 for a 2-hour lecture (when research, grading and office hour requirements are factored in). Kasich’s pay, which averaged about  $2,778 per lecture, is simply obscene."

Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Research Scores Big Win: New Drug Quickly Approved, Shrinks Kids' Brain Tumors



Children's Hospital



CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis announced today in Europe the FDA granted accelerated approval for a new drug that shrinks brain tumors otherwise requiring surgery.  The drug was tested on 28 patients at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and nearly a third had a reduction in the size of their tumors.  Doctors say the drug should fill an unmet medical need.  All of the patients were being treated for subpendymal giant cell astrocytoma, known to physicians as SEGA, an inherited disease related to a genetic disorder called tuberous sclerosis.  Tuberous sclerosis can cause severe mental retardation and seizures.  Novartis credited the breakthrough to Cincinnati Children's Hospital in an announcement from Basel today. Early approval came because the results in Cincinnati were so dramatic. Still, Novartis said more studies are taking place:

 
"The accelerated approval of Afinator [generic name everolimus} is based on an open-label, single-arm 28-patient study conducted by Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. The effectiveness of Afinator is based on an analysis of change in SEGA volume. A Phase III study is under way that compares Afinator to placebo to explore the clinical benefits of Affinator for patients with treatment associated with TS. 

"Prior to this FDA approval, the only treatment option for growing SEGAs, which primarily affect children and adolescents, was brain surgery. Tuberous sclerosis is a genetic disorder affecting approximately 25,000 to 40,000 people in the U.S. that may cause tumors to form in vital organs. SEGAs, benign brain tumors, occur in up to 20% of patients with TS."

Cincinnati Children's opened its clinic for tuberous sclerosis in the early 1990s and it now has a team of researchers battling the genetic disorder. Dr. David Neal Franz is the clinic director and you can learn more about him by clicking here.  Franz did not start out to become a physician.  He went to Earlham College in Richmond, Ind., and majored in history and literature.  That small liberal arts school set Dr. Franz on the path, though, that should help make life a little bit easier for many people on this planet.

Cincinnati Bell Scores Win Over TimeWarner In Customer Service Survey: Beep! Beep! ZoomTown Blows Past RoadRunner

Survey: ZoomTown Beats RoadRunner

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- J.D. Power and Associates reports customers who use Cincinnati Bell's residential high-speed Internet service are more satisfied than those with RoadRunner, which is rated near the bottom in this region of the nation.  Of the 11 firms who provide high-speed service, TimeWarner, Comcast and Charter ranked worst.  Cincinnati Bell was rated second best after WOW!  J.D. Power said its annual study -- now in its 13th year -- measures customer satisfaction based on performance and reliability; cost, billing; offers and promotions, and customer service.  While the study offered good news for Cincinnati Bell -- the local company is beating all its major national competitors -- it contained bad news for Internet providers as a whole.  J.D. Powers said overall customer satisfaction "averages 634 on a 1,000 -point scale -- a decrease of five index points from 2009."

Here are the standings, by score, for this region:

1. WOW!               772
2. Cincinnati Bell   674
3. Cox                    671
4. AT&T                664
5. EarthLink          658
6. Insight                653
7. Verizon              642
8. CenturyLink      624
9. Time Warner Cable RoadRunner 620
10. Comcast         600
11. Charter            583

J.D. Power, which is best-known for car reviews and ratings, said its Internet service provider customer satisfaction study is based on responses from 29,847 customers nationwide.  It said they were surveyed between November 2009 and July 2010.  J.D. Power said ISP customers showed increasing dissatisfaction with the fairness of prices paid.  And there is difficulty in understanding pricing options.

Cincinnati Councilman Chris Bortz Harassed By Mental Midgets: Ethics Panel Should Toss Complaint In Shredder

Lawyer Ties Bortz To Tracks

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Somebody should nickname the ethics complaint filed by lawyer Tim Mara a "streetcar named esquire." Because that's what it really is, a rail job by someone licensed to practice law.  Mara wants the Ohio Ethics Commission to remove a Cincinnati City Council member, a move akin to impeachment.  Chris Bortz's sin -- he has performed his public duties.  And it is all about street cars, and misguided allegations that Chris Bortz somehow is secretly taking a range of actions to build a $128 million streetcar project in Cincinnati.  Somehow the secret moves will enrich his relatives.  Bortz has recused himself from all decisions about the streetcars to avoid even the appearance of a conflict.  He has not facilitated a discussion, nor has he voted to build the system.  There is no evidence, not a scintilla, that he has the power or juice -- or to borrow a Chicago term "clout" -- to sway closed-door decisions about how the streetcar project proceeds.  Mara's attack seems designed only to debase an elected official, a mean-spirited swipe akin to the SLAP suits that corporations are notorious for filing against their critics.  Mara may not be abusing process, but the smell is there.

Members of the Bortz family are real estate developers with interests and holdings throughout SW Ohio.  A handful of the properties are near the proposed streetcar line that would run from downtown, through Over-the-Rhine to near the University of Cincinnati campus.  There are many people who believe the $128 million project -- funded by city bonds and federal transit grants -- will be an economic disaster.  Proponents believe it will stimulate commercial development in a largely depressed area.  Truth is, nobody knows for sure what will happen if the streetcars actually start to run.

And that is why the Ohio Ethics Commission should toss Mara's complaint into the nearest shredder.  If they do not have one, The Daily Bellwether will make a donation.  One wonders what is the motivation behind the complaint.  Anti-Semitism perhaps?  The Bortz's are Jewish.  They have a long record of public service in Cincinnati.  They are model citizens, role model citizens.  Nobody knows if the streetcar project will open up the door to commercial prosperity, or if it will be a catastrophe.  Logic is clear -- Bortz cannot be promoting his private financial interests even if he were taking official actions to back a project that might suck millions out of the city budget.  There is no commercial advantage to running an unused, heavily subsidized streetcar through neighborhoods that won't have cops or firemen or building inspectors to enforce the codes.  Mara seems to be on the side that believes the streetcars are doomed to failure, and he said in his formal ethics complaint (filed Oct. 25):

"I believe Mr. Bortz . . . not only has displayed an utter disregard for Ohio ethics laws . . . but a general disdain for the public he is supposed to serve."

Wrong, Mr. Mara.  You contend Bortz is supposed to adopt a policy of complete aloofness.  I say there is no sense of menace, no demonstrated self-dealing that rubs uncomfortably against the public interest.  His family does not have a commercial monopoly over the streetcars, nor does it have a commerical monopoly over real estate along the proposed streetcar route.  And there is absolutely no evidence that the streetcars will become a well-worn path of travel leading to the Bortz family holdings.  Mara's complaint is largely based on a pretension.  For Bortz to knowingly profit from his City Council office, he would have to know the future -- that the streetcar line would make nearly all garrets on the route rented, every chair in every restaurant packed, every garden party tour booked, every property coveted by hungry investors.

Ethics laws in Ohio were designed to eliminate conflicts of interest.  A city councilman, for example, should not vote to purchase goods or services from a company he owns, or has a stake in.  But they were never intended to stop elected officials from promoting the public good in a broader manner.  For example, a council member would be allowed to vote for schools even if he were a teacher, or if his family had someone on the school system payroll.  He could not vote to buy a school from himself or his family -- a bright line conflict.  That is not the case with Cincinnati's street cars.  There is only a chance that streetcars will benefit the city.  If they succeed, there is a chance that some of that benefit could spill over to the Bortz family interests.  But chance is not a guaranteed pay off.

Let's take another angle.  What if there were a fire station at stake?  Would Bortz be wrong to vote to add fire protection in a neighborhood where his family has real estate?  And what if there were a medical disaster -- an outbreak of cholera near the Bortz family holdings?  Would Bortz violate the ethics laws to vote to send medical aid into disease-stricken neighborhoods where the family's commercial interests were located?  Of course not.  With fire halls and inoculations, the public good would outweigh any private interest.

Born In Cincinnati, Scripps Networks Heads For The Hills: Ohio Newspaper Chain Spinoff Is Moving To Knoxville, Tenn.



Scripps Says Bam! To Cincy



CINCINNATI (TDB) -- The spin-off is a publicly traded corporation (SNI: NYSE) that is a powerhouse in lifestyle television.  Its success in cable broadcasting made Emeril a celebrity chef.  The stable includes HGTV, Travel Channel, Great American Country and DIY Network.  Now Scripps Network Interactive Inc. is switching off its downtown Cincinnati office tower for new headquarters digs in Knoxville.  Scripps Interactive separated from the newspaper chain in 2008 -- that legacy business, the E.W. Scripps Co., stays behind.  Here's the full text of the press release from Scripps Interactive. Some pertinent paragraphs:

"The decision to designate Knoxville as the company's headquarters coincides with the completion of the new 150,000-square-foot Scripps Networks operating facility in West Knoxville. Final touches on the new facility, a large part of which has been occupied since March, were completed this month


'Knoxville is where it all began and where the company's future is being charted,' said Kenneth W. Lowe, chairman and chief executive officer of Scripps Networks Interactive. 'We've come a long way since launching HGTV and our Knoxville operations have become increasingly important. Making Knoxville and Tennessee the focal point of our global operations is a logical step in the company's ongoing evolution.'


"About 850 of the company's 1,950 employees worldwide work in Knoxville where HGTV and DIY Network were created and continue to be based. The company's technical center, including satellite uplink operations, a control center for all of its television networks and a wide range of other administrative, business and creative functions are also based in Knoxville."

Cincinnati Banker Buys The Most Famous Car In The World: $4.6 Million For James Bond's Goldfinger-era Aston-Martin

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Such a man with a Midas touch. Union Savings Bank exec Harry Yeaggy bid $4.6 million at a London auction yesterday to buy James Bond's 1964 Aston Martin DB5.  Sean Connery drove it in the Goldfinger and Thunderball movies.  Remember it racing though the Alps?  Yeaggy told British reporters that he plans to put the car in a museum he has back home in Greater Cincinnati. The car is iconic and is considered the most famous vehicle on Earth. The London Daily Mail said, "There won't be any Bond girls for Mr. Yeaggy, or any vodka martinis as he does not drink. But he will be taking his wife for a spin and he will certainly be able to impress her with an array of gadgets."

Those gizmos, of course, were designed by Q, the gadget master of Her Majesty's Secret Service in the Bond films. There's an oil-slick sprayer, a revolving license plate with French and Swiss tags, smoke screen dispenser and bullet-proof shield. The ejector seat apparently has been disabled and the pop out machine guns and tire-shredders were add ons for Connery's ride in the Bond films. Here's a YouTube clip from the movie Golfinger of the scene of Q giving Harry Yeaggy's Aston Martin to James Bond. Q explains it's an experimental model. And here's a chase scene from Goldfiner with Yeaggy's DB5 in the the Alps (dubbed in French). Now, the car has 30,000 miles on the odometer and can reach 145 mph tops. 0 to 60 takes about 7 seconds. Sotheby's and RM auctions in London held the sale, and the car went for less than the estimated pre-sale price.

It belonged to Jerry Lee, a Philadelphia broadcaster who bought it from the Aston Martin factory in 1969. Lee paid $12,000. Goldfinger himself would be impressed by the profit. Lee says he plans to use the money for a charity, the Jerry Lee Foundation, that fights poverty and crime. Author Dave Worrall christened the Bond's DB5 the most famous car in the world. Worrall writes books about James Bond movies and memorabilia.

The Daily Mail piece has lots of photos of the car in London. Here's another story from the International Business Times. Cincinnati's Yeaggy may not have shaken up the world, but he's certainly stirred things. Remember the name, Yeaggy, Harry Yeaggy.

Fake Ohio Hunter Pictured In John Kasich Mailer: Buckeye Firearms Association Shoots Down Fraudulent Photo

Kasich Hunts For Votes With Fake Ohio Hunter

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- The pro-gun Buckeye Firearms Association says John Kasich, Republican candidate for Ohio governor, has stooped to using a photo of a fake Ohio hunter in his campaign literature. It calls him a gun-rights phony.  Or, as Ken Hanson, the group's legislative chair put it today, "Kasich is finding religion like a nervous whore in church on Sunday."  Hanson said the picture of a hunter in a recent mailer wasn't from Ohio -- the hunter depicted is aiming a scoped rifle.  But hunting with such weapons is illegal in Ohio.  Rifle slugs can travel too far from open fields and stray into populated areas.  So the scene was staged.  Or it was purloined from some other state.  Either way, it proves that Kasich knows nearly nothing about hunting or guns.  In other ads this year, Kasich has used a fake steelworker and a fake journalist. Here's Hanson on the latest Kasich scam:

"Fast-forward to late October, when the race is a statistical dead heat, and all of a sudden Kasich is finding religion like a whore in church on Sunday.  Exhibit A is a recent mailing targeting gun owners.   Note the picture on page 2 of the mailer.  A hunter in blaze orange in the middle of a field with a medium bore, scoped rifle.  Tell us, Sportsman Kasich, what is this sportsrman hunting in Ohio, since rifle hunting of that sort is not legal here?"

Kasich is firmly opposed by pro-gun groups from the NRA on down.  They frequently back Republicans, but this year are enthusiastic for Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland, who hails from rural Ohio (Scioto County) and has been a gun rights supporter all his life.  Strickland talks about the days when his family had to hunt for food when times were hard.  The Buckeye Firearms Association says Kasich's mailer has another distortion -- it claims Kasich has NRA support.  Hanson said the endorsement was moldy, from 20 years ago in a Congressional race, ancient and not pertinent to the 2010 race for governor of Ohio.  Does Hanson have cred on pro-gun issues?  Check out his bio:

"Ken Hanson is a gun rights attorney in Ohio. He serves as the Legislative Chair for Buckeye Firearms Association, and is the attorney of record for Buckeye Firearms Foundation, which filed friend-of-the-court briefs in the Heller and McDonald Supreme Court cases. The National Rifle Association's Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA) has awarded him with its 2008 Defender of Justice Award and 2009 Jay M. Littlefield Volunteer of the Year Award. He is the author of The Ohio Guide to Firearm Laws, a certified firearms instructor and holds a Type 01 Federal Firearms License."

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources hunting regulations (online here) are clear that rifles are not a among the types of firearms allowed for deer hunting. Shotguns and muzzleloaders and some handguns can be used -- but none of them would need a scope gunsight to put a deer in the crosshairs.

UPDATE: 2:10 pm -- At Ohio Daily Blog, which has linked to The Daily Bellwether, Kasich's hunter photo is being compared to a golfer teeing off with a putter.  Only idiots would try to play like that.  And only the Kasich campaign would try to fool sportsmen with an idiotic photo.  Says Ohio Daily:  "There are numerous reasons why Ohio sportsmen reject John Kasich. First, is his F rating from the NRA. That's right. I said it. F! F! F! The Ohio Elections Commission today dismissed Kasich's claim that somehow he didn't receive an F. He did. And we're repeating it in case you skimmed over it. F!  Second, Kasich forgets that many of Ohio's sportsmen and sportswomen are hard-working, blue collar, union-workers. And John Kasich just called those people 'thugs' earlier in the week.  Third, Kasich forgets that many of Ohio's sportsmen and sportswomen are residents of rural areas. They don't go hunting as part of some junket paid for by some lobbyist that starts with mimosas & eggs benedict and ends with strippers & cigars. They go hunting to provide for their families. And John Kasich's campaign mocked those same Ohioans, with humble, rural roots, in a statement a few months ago."

My senses tell me that Kasich's problems with accuracy in his campaign literature date back to his stint on Wall Street as managing director of Lehman Brothers, the bankrupt investment house.  Truth is, the Wall Streeters bent information to meet their purposes.  Lehman said it was solid.  Fact is, it was hollow.  The Wall Steeters would pump stocks, pump bonds, pump mortgage markets and derivatives.  Numbers would be strung together.  In that culture, two minus  two could come out equaling 4,000,000,000 plus.  Carnival barkers and Bigfoot hunters had as much credibility as Lehman's balance sheet. Kasich lapped it up like mimosas and eggs benedict.  Hand 'em a putter so he can tee off.  Fore.  

Surprise!!! Lawyer Who Pushed 'Major Expansion' Of Colerain Township Garbage Dump Wants To Put Law Partner Pat Fischer In Judgeship

Landill Expansion Among Career Highlights

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- The Cincinnati Enquirer ran lawyer Joseph Trauth's letter-to-the-editor today without mentioning that the judicial candidate he backs is his partner at Keating Muething & Klekamp, a downtown Cincinnati law firm.  It's a significant omission.  Trauth has a reputation as a hired gun for major corporations.  Trauth favors his partner, Pat Fischer, over Democratic Judge William L. Mallory in the race for a seat on Ohio's 1st District Court of Appeals.  Cincinnati Magazine in October 2008 reported that, "Trauth specializes in land use battles, generally squaring off against citizens and local governments."  Here are a couple of Trauth's legal accomplishments as taken from the official bio posted on the law firm's website:

"Obtained regulatory approval for the Star 64 1,000 foot TV/radio tower in the City of Cincinnati at the top of Winton Road near North Bend Road."

"Handled cases for Rumpke Landfill, Inc. involving the rezoning for a major expansion of the Colerain Township, Hamilton County, Ohio Rumpke landfill, expanding their landfill area by 65 acres and creating a planned light industrial district of 73 acres."

The Enquirer has been criticized before for wearing blinders about Trauth. NewsAche, a defunct blog that was authored by an Enquirer insider had this to say in Feb. 2008:

"Read Cliff Radel's near-blow job today about Joe Trauth, a lawyer who specializes in representing big corporations in real estate and zoning fights. He's represented home builders, shopping center developers, Wal-Mart and Rumpke. Radel did manage to quote one attorney who's faced Trauth in some of these cases, but this story is a largely uncritical, unskeptical look at a corporate hired gun. No attempt is made to look at the outcomes of the cases Trauth has won. Have they been good for the community? Trauth is never asked if he feels like a corporate bully, overwhelming lesser-funded groups of homeowners who oppose many of these projects. That would be disrespectful. Radel didn't say what Trauth's hourly rate is, or how Trauth has spent the money he's made representing big companies. (Radel does write that Trauth represents small clients, but names only one and doesn't talk to any. I'll guess that Trauth has many more large clients than small ones.)


"Radel is capable of this kind of reporting, but was he given the time and the direction to pursue something other than what was published? Doubtful. The Enquirer doesn't have the resources or the will to hold someone like Trauth accountable, because that type of journalism takes time and costs money, and Radel probably has other work that needs to be done. Overall, I'm not sure why this story was assigned, why it was published, or why it was on the front page. But this is the kind of uncritical journalism produced by stingy, dying newspapers."

Judge Bill Mallory is my friend and I know first hand that he is fair, hardworking and has a first-rate legal mind. His docket was always up-to-date, cases did not lag and justice did not drag. He is endorsed by the Fraternal Order of Police. Mallory has served as a judge in Hamilton County since the mid 1990s.  He is the first African American ever to serve on the Court of Appeals in Hamilton County.  Here's what I had to say back in January: "When I retired from the Cleveland Plain Dealer, he invited me to be his law clerk (a job with the archaic title 'constable') for a time while he served on the Common Pleas bench. He thought it would be enlightening for a journalist to see how things worked from the inside. He was right. But I also got to see him at work -- how he was consistently conscientious and conscious of his responsibility to society, all levels or society. He knew the world wasn't perfect. But he was adamant in his pursuit of justice."

Cincinnati Ad Guru Michel Keidel: This Year's Crop of Political Ads Deserve Your Contemp

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- He calls himself the admojo on his new blog. And he was a creative force who worked on some of Cincinnati's best-known spots -- those touting pizza from LaRosa's and chili from Skyline. He helped start Bockfest.  With 30 years in the business, Michel Keidel describes himself as sickened by the material politicians are putting on TV these days -- lies, distortions and endless attacks. The grime comes from all parties and all corners of the political spectrum, right and left, Dem and Repub.  The ads are uninspired downers.  They waste money and time and really don't add squat to civic discourse. Here's Keidel:

"There’s only one word for this season’s political advertising…despicable.  I consider my self an expert in the field because of my thirty years of experience building and supporting Cincinnati’s iconic brands. I have created award winning advertising for LaRosa’s Pizzerias, Gold Star Chili, Skyline, Hudepohl Schoenling, it’s a long list. Not one negative ad.

"When running a TV spot, I consider that I have been invited into my customer’s living rooms or with radio into their cars. I consider it an honor and not a place to shout or insult.  There’s nothing honorable about political advertising these days. What’s being played out in my living room is deplorable. The back biting, disclaimer riddled, lies and distortions are fatiguing and down right disgusting. Instead of running for an office and outlining their agenda, offering coherent solutions to the problems we all face, todays politicians use negative comparison approaches that literally turn off their constituents."

That's an expert opinion, and one from someone who says he's a Tea Party supporter.  I've heard a lot of the same from folks who see the same ads on TV.  They are turned off, and tuning out.  Americans have saved whales and rainforests.  They've fought to clean up the environment.  Maybe it's time to roll up our sleeves and save the political ad.    

Republican John Kasich Didn't Bother Signing Letter Pledging To Support Law Enforcement: No Time For Ohio's Cops





CINCINNATI (TDB) -- GOP candidate for Ohio governor John Kasich snubbed Ohio's Fraternal Order of Police earlier this year.  He didn't send a personal letter expressing support of law enforcement -- a form letter from a campaign worker was all Kasich mustered.  That's an odd lapse at best, an insult at worse.  Meanwhile, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Rob Portman says he enthusiastically supports law enforcement.  Portman is playing up his endorsement from the Ohio FOP, which represents 26,000 cops (active and retired) around the state, including Cincinnati. Another Republican at the top of the GOP's statewide ticket this year, Maureen O'Connor, also is reveling in FOP support as she runs for Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court. Jay McDonald, president of the Ohio Fraternal Order of Police, has written letters to Ohio newspapers praising her as a top-notch administrator and judge.  But the cops are backing Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland, in part because Kasich wouldn't give them the time of day.  Usually, the FOP's support is coveted.  The FOP's newsletter had this to say about Kasich's snub:

"Mr. Kasich did not interview with the political screening committee, he did not attend the conference to make himself available to our members and answer their questions in person, as Governor Strickland and every other candidate for statewide political office did.  A letter was sent expressing Mr. Kasich's support of law enforcement, but that was not even signed by Mr. Kasich, it was signed by a campaign worker.

"Without the participation of Mr. Kasich, we were left to press reports to get his political platform, which includes the abolition of the Ohio Income Tax and the privatization of public employees, both issues opposed by the FOP.  Also, Mr. Kasich's running mate has suggested to municipalities that they consider contracting out their law enforcement work to the Sheriff in her current role as Auditor of State."

FOP state president McDonald -- a Marion, Oh., police officer -- points out that the organization is non-partisan -- four Dems and four Republicans got its support this year.  McDonald has been on the road, where he notes that Kasich is pushing policies that would devastate public safety.  And McDonald said Kasich wants to privatize police and fire jobs.  In Lima last week, McDonald said about Kasich:

"He has repeatedly said if you can find it in the phone book, you can privatize it.  For-profit companies should not decide who goes to jail, who stays in jail, or be guarding the people in jail.  For-profit prisons are a detriment to public safety."

Whites Banned From Share In Ken Blackwell's Cincinnati Bengals Luxury Suite? Lawsuit Claims Wealthy Blacks Set Racial Barrier

Racial Preferences Alleged

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- The allegation that whites can't buy a share in the Cincinnati Bengals luxury suite that comes with 16 season tickets appears in a Hamilton County Common Pleas Court lawsuit.  It's a dispute filed by Ken Blackwell -- the GOP candidate for Ohio governor in 2006 -- and several African American partners who claim they have been stiffed out of more than $60,000 in fees owed on the box at Paul Brown Stadium.  The couple who allegedly owe the money, James and Deborah Davis, contend the Blackwell group instructed them not to try to sell their interest in the luxury box to whites.  Here's what the Davis's lawyer, Ashley Meier Barlow, wrote in a recent court filing:

"In this case, Plaintiffs [the Blackwell group] failed to take any action to mitigate the damages from the alleged breach of contract by Defendants.  In fact, when Defendants informed Plaintiffs that they were not going to adhere to the obligations of the Suiteholder Agreement, Plaintiffs suggested that Defendants should attempt to find individuals to assume Defendants' obligations.  Worse, Plaintiffs instructed Defendants that they should try to find substitute African American individuals of influence interested in assuming Defendants alleged contractual obligations.

"Clearly, Plaintiffs should have made a reasonable effort to avoid the damages that resulted from the alleged breach of the Suiteholder Agreement.  Instead, Plaintiffs made no effort whatsoever to mitigate their damages and in fact made it more difficult for Defendants to assign their tickets as Plaintiffs placed limitations on what individuals would be acceptable."

The language in the filing uses the word plaintiffs -- plural -- and does not get specific about who actually suggested the suite share should be sold to some other African Americans.  Still, it clearly does allege some racial preference was at work.  Blackwell is a political conservative and is a senior fellow at the Family Research Council. He's also been involved with the Club for Growth and the National Taxpayers Union. He was the first African American elected to statewide office in Ohio when he won the state treasurer's job in 1994. He ran for chairman of the Republican National Committee last year but lost to Michael Steele.  Blackwell does not have a reputation as a black racist or black nationalist, and the allegations in the lawsuit seems at odds with the way he has publicly conducted his life.

The lawsuit is Case No. A 0910309, d.e. Foxx & Associates Inc et al v. James Davis et al.  It is assigned to Judge Bob Winkler, who has sent the dispute to mediation.  A mediation session is set for Dec. 8.  Besides Ken Blackwell and d.e. Foxx Inc., the five other plaintiffs include Blue Chip Enterprises, Dr. Joseph Hackworth, Dr. Charles Johnson and Progressive Marketing & Management, which is based in Columbus.  That group contends the Davis's purchased two shares in the suite package in September 2007.  It says they have failed and refused to pay their pro-rata share due in March 2009.  The group has not filed an answer to the motion to dismiss that raised the allegation that the luxury suite and season tickets should preferably be in the hands of African American shareholders.  Judge Winkler has stayed the date for the answer pending mediation.