Ohio's John Boehner: DCCC Says GOP House Leader Is Quiet Now Over Republican Boodling Report

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- House Democrats have accused Rep. John Boehner -- the GOP Minority Leader from Butler County -- of a double standard when it comes to Republican members of Congress who are under a corruption cloud. Boehner wanted Louisiana Democrat U.S. Rep. William Jefferson booted off a committee, then expelled when he was targeted by the FBI. But Boehner hasn't said a word about Alaska's Don Young, a member of his party who may have taken gifts and bribes for political favors.

Jennifer Crider, communications director for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee took the shot at the Ohioan's purported hypocrisy:

"Apparently, Minority Leader John Boehner didn't mean it when he said that the 'clear likelihood of of serious transgressions will lead to suspension from important committees.' Don Young is being investigated for bribery -- one of the most 'serious transgressions' a Member of Congress faces -- but he still sits on the Committees overseeing the issues important to the company that allegedly bribed him. Clearly, Republicans haven't leared their lesson about holding their Members accountable for their wrong doing."

The DCCC's blast is HERE and followed news reports last week about Young's problems with an on-going corruptions investigation that has brushed up against several political figures in Alaska.

When Jefferson was in the headlines, Boehner was outspoken about ethics and cleaning the crooks out of Congress. Cynics and skeptics might suspect he only wants to clean out Democrats. Others say there is another double standard at work -- Jefferson is a black man, and the Republicans targeted him especially because of race.

Ohio's Hill Country: Gov. Strickland's Appalachian Team

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- A former county extension agent for 4-H Youth and Community Management active in local politics in Gallia County on the Ohio River has been named director of the Governor's Office of Appalachia for the Strickland administration. Fred J. Deel, 56, has been a Democratic county commissioner since 2004 and will resign to take the new post. He was an associate professor at Ohio State University and ran unsuccessfully for the Ohio House (D-87) in 2002.

The agency he was picked to lead is an arm of state government tasked with boosting tourism and development in a rural section of the state. Republican State Sen. Joy Padgett of Coshocton ran it for a time under Bob Taft, and the office helped her as a springboard to her current elected position.

Lou Gentile, 28, is the new assistant director. He was Strickland's congressional field representative in Belmont, Monroe, Jefferson and Noble counties. Strickland's 0H-06 congressional district covered a large chunk of Appalachian Ohio.

Of Ohio's 88 counties, 29 are in Appalachia, a region that lags the rest of the state in education, income, economic growth and jobs. Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher, the state's development director, announced the appointments last week and said Deel and Gentile "have a familiarity with the unique issues and opportunities that exist in Ohio's Appalachian region." The choice of Deel is solid because he comes with an education background . He served 16 years on the Gallia County Local Board of Education, which operated rural schools, and his wife is a language arts teacher. And as a county agent, he worked with youngsters. He retired after 31 years with OSU, which runs the county extension programs in Ohio.

There is information about the Governor's Office of Appalachia HERE , and more about Gallia County HERE.

Strickland, who grew up in an area of the state called the "little Smokies," is the first governor from Ohio's hill country since Republican James A. Rhodes, who did a lot to spur development in the region. Appalachia covers a fairly substantial swath of the state, and there is a map of the 29 counties HERE.