OH-02 Dem Vic Wulsin: Here's The List Of All Endorsers Including Elected Officials And Unions

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)

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."

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.

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

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:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. She has refused to disclose tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions.
4. 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?

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."

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

OH-02 Republican Phil Heimlich On Iran: Let's Get Ready To Rumble

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- President Bush spoke last month of the need for a global effort to block Iran from developing nuclear weapons and launching a conflaguration could quickly become World War III. Republican Phil Heimlich, who is seeking his party's nomination in Ohio's 2nd Congressional District, apparently thinks the U.S. should be getting ready for a future rumble with Iran that could include mushroom clouds. He contends everything, up to and including America's nuclear arsenal, should be on the table for a military showdown. Unlike the president, Heimlich doesn't mention World War III; he says the U.S. should "take whatever steps may be necessary" to end all threats from Iran if diplomacy fails.

In diplomatic-speak, the phrase "whatever steps may be necessary" is often translated as meaning armed conflict, or we'll go to war if you don't stop your aggressive behavior. Heimlich is running against U.S. Rep. Jean Schmidt in the March 2008 GOP primary.

At the moment, Iran does not have any nuclear weapons. But it appears to be developing them. Bush caused a worldwide stir in mid-October when he remarked during a White House news conference that a nuclear-armed Iran might attempt an attack on Israel. Said the president:

"We've got a leader in Iran who has announced that he wants to destroy Israel. So I've told people that if you are interested in avoiding World War III, it seems you ought to be interested in preventing them from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon."

Heimlich said he would be a staunch defender of Israel if elected to Congress, and made the comment about Iran near the end of an issues piece that is now posted on his campaign Web site. He said:

"The United States must join with Israel and the international community in achieving economic and diplomatic sanctions to stop Iran from further developing its nuclear weapons program. Most experts agree that Iran has the technology, and certainly the will, to develop a nuclear weapons capability. Iran exhibits an increasingly hostile attitude toward the U.S., Israel, and the West in general. In Congress, I will be a consistent and firm voice for the policy that the U.S. must continue to lead international pressure to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear threat, and take whatever steps may be necessary to protect the region and the world from Iran’s aggressive and hostile actions.

OH-02 Dem Vic Wulsin: Foreclosure Wave Hits Jean Schmidt's Home Town

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Democratic Congressional candidate Vic Wulsin says the foreclosure crisis is so serious that 75 homes are on the market over defaults in Loveland, an affluent Cincinnati suburb. Republican U.S. Rep. Jean Schmidt, who now holds the OH-02 seat, lives in that community.

Wulsin says Schmidt is out of touch and voted against the Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act that passed the House by a 291-127 margin last week. There were 64 Republicans who supported the bill, which establishes lending standards.

Overall, according to Wulsin, there are 2,103 foreclosures pending in Cincinnati. Ohio has the third highest foreclosure rate in the nation. Wulsin says she would have supported the bill, HR 2915. The Wulsin campaign pointed to this Yahoo link as its source about foreclosure activity in Loveland. Wulsin contends Schmidt has had support from builders and bankers over the years, and favors real estate lenders over borrowers now struggling to hang onto their homes.

"I support this bipartisan, common sense effort to rein in an industry that has spun out of control, and would have voted for it. I believe we must protect all Americans from unfair and predatory lending practices.

"We need to stand up for our hard working families, not the Wall Street insiders who made billions when times were good and are now looking for a government bailout. Maybe she's listening to the developers who have supported her political career. . . I have one question for Jean Schmidt: Isn't it Congress' job to protect families who save up and buy a home in good faith, and then lose it because the system was rigged from the start against them."

Mean Jean And Her Schmidt-Kickers: Heimlich Will Spin The Sour Notes

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Republican congressional candidate Phil Heimlich has been busy in the studio putting together a campaign album that he calls Jean Schmidt's Greatest Hits. The platter will come out the same week that tables are loaded with Thanksgiving turkeys. No coincidence there. Check out the album cover, and a list of some of the tunes coming our way. It is the start of his long and winding road to the March 2008 primary.

Heimlich, a former Hamilton County Commissioner and Cincinnati City Council member, wants to get back into political office. He is challenging U.S. Rep. Schmidt in a contest for the GOP nomination in Ohio's 2nd Congressional District. Some Republicans have spread rumors he plans to drop out of the contest. But the upcoming attack on Schmidt seems to belie those rumors as coming from a bunch of day trippers. Heimlich says he's got an "amazing Internet offer" that won't be available in any stores.

"Over the next several weeks we'll be unveiling Jean Schmidt's Greatest Hits. a compilation of outrageous statements, misleading rhetoric, backpedaling positions, and is some cases outright falsehoods. The accomplishments have earned Jean notoriety, not just locally but all across the nation. From labeling people cowards to eating crow, Jean Schmidt has squeezed so many embarrassing moments into such a short amount of time, it's hard to imagine what she could accomplish in yet another term in Congress."

Heimlich's spin, of course, is that Schmidt is an inept and boorish political figure, an impetuous diva, who is out of tune with her district, which covers seven counties in southern Ohio.

OH-02 Dem Steve Black: New Campaign Chief Is A Southern Man

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- A substantial chunk of Ohio's 2nd Congressional District is in Appalachia and has a distinctly southern feel that includes tobacco farms. Democratic hopeful Steve Black has a new campaign manager who seems to be in sync with that culture. Joel Coon grew up in Mississippi, worked for presidential candidate John Edwards as deputy national rural liaison at the North Carolina headquarters this year, and was signed up when Virginia's Tim Kaine held on to the governor's mansion in that state. In 2006, Coon was in Texas' 14th District, where he ran 30-year-old cattleman Shane Sklar's failed bid to knock off Ron Paul.

Sklar was a conservative Democrat who opposed abortion and received the NRA's endorsement (Coon has since commented that the NRA did not endorse in TX-14.) That still wasn't enough to upend Republican maverick Paul, who now is a libertarian-leaning GOP presidential candidate.

OH-02 is now held by U.S. Rep. Jean Schmidt, a conservative Republican who has a primary challenger in Phil Heimlich, a former Hamilton County commissioner who is running to the right to Schmidt. The district touches seven counties along the Ohio River. It starts east of downtown Cincinnati and is a melange of suburban and rural Ohio. It has always been considered an extremely conservative region. Coon told The Daily Bellwether he knows how to operate in that kind of environment.

"One thing is, you have to have a certain kind of Democrat, you have to find a Democrat that doesn't scare independent voters. You have got to have a moderate, but a moderate who is progressive on the right issues, like the war, like S-CHIP."

Coon said that he and Black both plan to emphasize trade as an issue in the months leading up to the March Democratic primary against Victoria Wulsin, a physician who was the OH-02 Demo nominee in 2006. He said he and Black have been closely studying Sherrod Brown's U.S. Senate campaign, which was largely a crusade against the loss of Ohio jobs to flawed foreign trade deals and offshoring.

"I think trade has to be a huge issue in general. Steve's going to push it. A lot of the eastern part of the district has been decimated. NAFTA is a disaster. We're looking at it. We're not trying to run a duplicate Sherrod Brown campaign. But he won 30 rural counties statewide that John Kerry didn't win, so our rhetoric is going to be very, very similar. Clearly people were listening to what Sen. Brown had to say last year. Sherrod Brown definitely was on to something, and Steve feels the same way that he does about good jobs going away with nothing to replace them."

Coon also said he isn't concerned that Black, a wealthy Cincinnati lawyer, was a Republican until just before he decided to run for Congress this year as a Democrat.

"I don't work for Republicans. Period. I vetted him pretty hard. He hadn't been comfortable in the Republican Party since the Reagan years. When the Republican Party started to be taken over by social conservatives, it made him extremely uncomfortable. Steve's conversion is real. He's a Democrat, and I think we can make our case that he's the correct person for the 2nd District."

Ohio Anti-War Protesters Appeal Closed Trial: Contend Public Was Illegally Barred

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Four anti-war protesters convicted of trespassing after a peaceful sit-in at Republican U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot's Cincinnati office say a judge deliberately violated their right to a public trial. Defense lawyers filed a legal brief with Ohio's 1st District Court of Appeals that contends Hamilton County Municipal Court Judge David Stockdale refused to let spectators into his courtroom during jury selection.

The Daily Bellwether has some first hand knowledge about the closed courtroom earlier this year. It tried to enter and watch some of the proceedings, but was turned away by a courthouse employee who said there were no seats for the public. The worker stood and physically blocked the courtroom entrance, politely waved The Bellwether away, then closed the door tight. The appeals brief filed by the defense lawyers said they were aware of such events, and noted that they suggested to Judge Stockdale he take steps to accomodate the public.

"Members of the public attempted to enter the courtroom during voir dire. The trial court refused them entry. Appellants objected to the exclusion of the public under the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article 1, Section 10 of the Ohio Constitution and suggested the trial be moved to an available and larger courtroom.

"The trial court explained its decision to exclude all members of the public from the trial 'because the State Fire Marshal has put a limit on the number of people that can be in this room, and with all of the prospective jurors, we are already over that number, and I am not going to stretch it any further.' Appellants again requested the trial be moved to the available spaces in the courthouse which could accommodate a larger audience. The trial court refused.

"On this record it cannot be said that even if the exclusion of the public was necessary to protect an overriding interest such as occupancy limits, that there were no viable alternatives to the exclusion or the order was narrow enough to protect an overriding interest. There were a number of larger courtrooms available for the trial court's use. The trial court failed to consider available alternatives [or] narrowly tailor the closure order to make the requisite findings. Appellants were denied their constitutional right to a public trial."

The four protesters appealing are Gregory Flannery, Sister Mary Jegen, Barabara Wolf and Ellen Dienger. The went to Chabot's office in September 2006 asking him to sign the "Declaration of Peace," which called for an end of the Iraq War. The legal brief, which was drafted by a team of volunteer defense lawyers comprised of Bill Gallagher, Sarah E. Moorhouse and Scott Ryan Nazzarine, said the protesters merely hoped to meet with the Cincinnati congressman who supports the war:

"They had tried for months to garner a response from Chabot. They voted, wrote letters, made phone calls, e-mailed, held prayer vigils, hung banners, fasted and attended peace rallies. But it was never enough. Every day their efforts failed and the casualties of war mounted."

The appeals court has not scheduled a hearing on the case. City prosecutors still must file their own brief in support of the convictions. The protesters were found guilty by a jury on March 13, 2007. They were sentenced to a day in jail, six months of probation and 20 hours of community service. Before the trial took place, Judge Stockdale rejected their efforts to subpoena Chabot and former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld as witnesses.

NFL Hall Of Famer Anthony Munoz: Signs Up To Play Offense For Phil Heimlich

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Former Bengal Anthony Munoz owns three NFL offensive lineman of the year awards, and now he's going to try to open holes in the OH-02 GOP primary that will give Phil Heimlich some running room. Heimlich landed the Latino sports star's support despite Heimlich's firm opposition to any easing of immigration laws for Hispanics who settled in the United States illegally. Munoz was born in Ontario, Cal., in 1958.

Heimlich is seeking to wrest the party's nomination from U.S. Rep. Jean Schmidt next March. Munoz, who is an extremely popular figure in the Cincinnati area where he lives, has signed on to back Heimlich and will headline a fundraiser next month.

Munoz is in the NFL Hall of Fame and played for the Bengals from 1980 until his retirement in 1992. He made the Pro-Bowl 11 times during his 12-year career. After football, he started a charitable foundation that has become one of the most important organizations working with young people in Southwest Ohio. He has also dabbled in Republican politics, and served as a local leader in the 2004 Bush-Cheney reelection campaign. His alignment with Heimlich -- who is challenging a sitting member of Congress -- is a blow to Schmidt and a sign that she may have difficulty holding the allegiance of the area's top Republicans.

Munoz is Hispanic and played college ball at the University of Southern California in his native state. Heimlich got the NFL great's support even though he's no fan of legislation that would transition some of the Latino residents who immigrated illegally to U.S citizenship. Heimlich says:

"Illegal immigration is an issue of national security. Certainly, most immigrants moving illegally into the U.S. are not terrorists and are not consciously seeking to harm our nation. But our current policies allow those who seek to harm our nation to simply walk onto our soil, undetected and unaccounted for.

"I oppose granting amnesty, or creating an easy 'pathway to citizenship' for those who have come here illegally. To do so makes a mockery of our laws, and disrespects every immigrant who has come to America legally."

OH-02 Phil Heimlich: His 2nd Amendment Shot May Aid Jean Schmidt

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Former Hamilton County Commissioner Phil Heimlich, a Republican who hopes to topple U.S. Rep. Jean Schmidt in the OH-02 GOP primary next March, is out with a statement saying he's a big supporter of gun rights. Heimlich pledged to support a House bill intended to make all 50 states recognize each other's concealed carry laws. But he drew attention to Schmidt: The Daily Bellwether found the Clermont County congresswoman has been working to get the same measure through Congress.

Here's Heimlich:

"Our nation is in need of a uniform policy regarding the recognition of state concealed carry laws. The Stearns/Boucher Right-To-Carry Reciprocity Bill would help solve the problem. Introduced n the U.S. House by Representatives Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) and Rich Boucher (D-Va.) . . . the bill would allow any person with a valid carrying permit issued by a state to carry a concealed firearm in any state."

But Schmidt was much faster on the draw. She is one of the two Ohioans among the 77 co-sponsors of the bill. The other Ohio co-sponsor is U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Oh-01. Schmidt signed up to back the NRA-supported measure on March 15.

Schmidt holds a concealed carry permit in Ohio, as does Heimlich. So he does not trump her as a Second Amendment supporter, and at most is playing catch up. In other words, Heimlich says he publicly holds the same position as Schmidt about reciprocity among the states. And she can respond: I have been trying to get that through the House for much of this year. Indeed, Heimlich almost seems to give Schmidt a kudo in his statement supporting Stearns/Boucher.

"Those of us who support the Second Amendment understand the need for the Stearns/Boucher bill to become law. In Congress, I will fight for the rights of gun owners, and work to make our Second Amendment rights stronger through common sense legislation like Stearns/Boucher."

The full-text of Heimlich's statement is here. At most, his remarks demonstrate to 2nd Congressional District Republicans that he's a gun rights supporter. That is important in a semi-rural district where NRA support is critical, even for Democrats such as Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, whose native county, Scioto, is within OH-02.

OH-02's Republican Jean Schmidt: Tells Brown County GOP She'll Bake Cookies For War Protesters

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- U.S. Rep. Jean Schmidt was out campaigning two counties away while her district office in suburban Cincinnati was being picketed by Iraq War protesters. And Mean Jean seems to have morphed into Betty Crocker, who remains chips ahoy on the war.

Weapons of Mass Discussion got a really detailed report out of the Brown County Republican Party, and it noted both Schmidt and her 2008 primary opponent Phil Heimlich attended the meeting. Schmidt said she is convinced the war was going better and dissed the protesters back in Cincy:

"Finally, she discussed foreign policy, and how Iraq is getting better militarily. She discussed how Petraeus is on the right track. . .

"In a lighter note, she discussed how there are protesters at her office trying to make her join the surrender caucus. She said she might bake cookies for them. That despite their meanness, she would not bend."

Other news via Weapons of Mass Destruction: Brown County Republicans will make their endorsements in late December. Heimlich and Schmidt have made their pitches.