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EducateWorthington.org

The 912 Project - Glenn Beck

912 Group of Central Ohio

Please let me know if you'd like your link added

[We could say [Democrats] spend money like drunken sailors, but that would be unfair to drunken sailors. It would be unfair, because the sailors are spending their own money. --Ronald ReaganAl Gore didn't invent the internet, he invented global warmingThe welfare of humanity is always the alibi of tyrants - CamusThe person who advocates government planning of the economy always assumes that it is his plan that will be put into effect. --Hayek]

Try to find the word "Democrat" in this piece...

Texts, Lies and the Mayor of Detroit
By STEVEN GRAY

It's been an unusual season of political sex scandals, but Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's is particularly lurid: there are allegations of parties featuring strippers at the mayoral mansion and explicit text messages between Kilpatrick and his alleged mistress who was, until recently, his chief of staff. But Kilpatrick seems to be taking his cues more from Senators Larry Craig and David Vitter than from New York Governor Eliot Spitzer: he isn't going down without a big fight. Already, the Wayne County, Mich., prosecutor has suggested that Detroit city lawyers are rebuffing her efforts to obtain key evidence in the case, and that some documents may have been destroyed. Kilpatrick's lawyer, meanwhile, has suggested the prosecutors' case hinges on "vague, indefinite and ambiguous" questions that hardly resulted in enough evidence to warrant the charges.

In a Monday morning press conference, Wayne County's top prosecutor, Kym L. Worthy, charged Kilpatrick with eight felonies, including perjury, obstruction of justice and misconduct for the text messages he allegedly traded with his paramour, Christine Beatty. (Beatty was also charged with seven felonies, including perjury.) Worthy also said several other individuals may be charged in connection with the case. The charismatic Kilpatrick, 37, who was happy to be known as the nation's first "hip-hop mayor," today dismissed Worthy's investigation as "flawed" and indicated he has no plans to resign, even after Detroit's city council passed a resolution urging him to do so last week. Kilpatrick and Beatty surrendered to Wayne County authorities Monday afternoon for booking. If found guilty of the perjury charges, he could face a maximum of 15 years in prison.

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,...1725259,00.html

Try to find the word "Democrat" in this piece...

 

Try to find the word "Republican" in this piece. It won't be hard - it's the ninth word.

Auditor zaps Blackwell for $80,000 in improper bonuses
Tuesday,  March 25, 2008 11:04 AM
By Darrel Rowland and Mark Niquette

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Read the report
Click here to see state Auditor Mary Taylor's full report (PDF file).
State Auditor Mary Taylor this morning zapped fellow Republican J. Kenneth Blackwell for more than $80,000 in illegal bonuses to employees departing the secretary of state's office as Blackwell closed his tenure there in 2006
 

[We could say [Democrats] spend money like drunken sailors, but that would be unfair to drunken sailors. It would be unfair, because the sailors are spending their own money. --Ronald ReaganAl Gore didn't invent the internet, he invented global warmingThe welfare of humanity is always the alibi of tyrants - CamusThe person who advocates government planning of the economy always assumes that it is his plan that will be put into effect. --Hayek]

If the AP doesn't mention the party affiliation, does that guarantee that it's a Democrat?

Church Says Sailor Secretly Took Out $250K Mortgage  
 
Georgia Representative Ron Sailor resigned March 18, 2008 after pleading guilty to money laundering charges.
 
By: THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

ATLANTA (AP) -- A report out Friday says former legislator Ron Sailor Junior secretly took out a $250,000 mortgage on the church where he was pastor just days before pleading guilty to federal money laundering charges.

Leaders at Greater New Light Missionary Baptist Church in southwest Atlanta say they didn't know Sailor had done it and now don't know where the money is. Sailor had led the church for about a year and took over when its pastor, the Reverend Leland Jones Senior, was called up by the Army for service in Iraq.

Sailor resigned from the Legislature after pleading guilty March 18 in federal court in Atlanta. Governor Perdue called yesterday for a May 13th election to fill the seat, which represents sections of DeKalb and Rockdale counties.

Evans says a church trustee began checking records Tuesday after it was reported that Sailor had accepted at least $80,000 from a lobbyist in a 2007 land transaction. He says the board soon learned Sailor had secretly changed church bylaws to make himself chief executive officer.  

http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/myfox/pages/Ne...TY&pageId=3.2.1

[We could say [Democrats] spend money like drunken sailors, but that would be unfair to drunken sailors. It would be unfair, because the sailors are spending their own money. --Ronald ReaganAl Gore didn't invent the internet, he invented global warmingThe welfare of humanity is always the alibi of tyrants - CamusThe person who advocates government planning of the economy always assumes that it is his plan that will be put into effect. --Hayek]

Clinton campaign head made $200,000 with subprime lender

BY GLENN THRUSH

WASHINGTON - Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign manager, Maggie Williams, earned about $200,000 on the board of a Long Island subprime lender that charged prepayment penalties -- a practice that Clinton, a critic of the subprime industry, now seeks to eliminate.

Williams, who took over the reins of Clinton's campaign in early February, served as a director on the board of the Woodbury-based Delta Financial Corp. from April 2000 until the firm declared bankruptcy in December, according to Securities and Exchange Commission records.

She was recruited by former New York City Deputy Mayor Bill Lynch, a Delta consultant. Her assignments were to create a new code of "best practices," and to improve the company's crisis management operation in the wake of state and federal predatory lending probes that resulted in a $12 million payout to borrowers.

Her hiring coincided with stepped-up Delta outreach efforts in minority communities, where the company made a large number of its loans, an iniTiative that included parties for homeless children and mortgage seminars in Brooklyn and Queens.

Williams, 53, isn't the only Clinton insider who made money from an industry the candidate has demonized. A month ago, The Wall Street Journal reported that Clinton ally and former HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros grossed more than $5 million in stock sales and board compensation from Countrywide Financial, one of the nation's largest subprime lenders.

http://www.newsday.com/news/elections/ny-u...0,1290059.story

[Democrat]

They even mention the party name!!!!! What is this world coming to???

Lawmaker Must Pay $1 Million in Legal Fees

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: April 2, 2008

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge has ordered Representative Jim McDermott to pay the House minority leader, John A. Boehner of Ohio, more than $1 million in legal fees in a dispute over a telephone call that was illegally taped in 1996.

Chief Judge Thomas Hogan of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia ordered Mr. McDermott to pay Mr. Boehner $1.05 million in lawyers’ fees and costs, plus about $40,000 in interest. Mr. McDermott, Democrat of Washington, also had to pay more than $60,000 in fines and damages, and about $600,000 in fees to his own lawyers.

Mr. McDermott said Tuesday he would not appeal the ruling.

In a statement, Mr. Boehner said, “Congressman McDermott broke the law, and as a result, he shattered the bonds of trust between our institution and the men and women we represent in the halls of Congress.”

The Supreme Court ruled last month that Mr. McDermott acted improperly in giving reporters access to an audio tape given to him by a Florida couple who recorded a telephone call involving Newt Gingrich, who was the House speaker, and other Republican leaders, including Mr. Boehner, about ethics accusations against Mr. Gingrich.

A senior member of the House Ethics Committee at the time, Mr. McDermott leaked the tape to The New York Times and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which published articles on the case in January 1997.

Mr. McDermott has created a fund to cover expenses related to the lawsuit. He said the fund now held about $400,000.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/02/washingt...5NcBws4u1LwPYRw

TB:

While McDermott has to pay a small fine, we never did get to the bottom of this incident. The notion that a Florida couple was driving around with a cell phone listening device and happened to intercept a call between Gingrich and Boehner and happened to recognize its significance and happened to pass it along to the Democrats is beyond credible. The only explanation that makes sense is that these folks were tailing Gringrich and/or Boehner.

What happened to the couple?  

Surprise, surprise.

The Judge was first appointed by Reagan and then elevated to chief justice by GWB.

 Threatened to jail newspaper reporter in the Plame's case.  Dismissed a case against Rumsfeld accused of ignoring torture allegations and is the target of a veteran's group.

http://www.vetsforjustice.com/JudgeHogan.htm

read the following and see if there is no foul smell of partisanship.  Despite having lost in the Supreme Court the Republican machine pressed on including intervention by Delay.

 http://www.mcdermottlegaltrust.org/docs/CaseHistory.pdf

The Shadow looks at the other side :ph34r:  

Billy Kidwell

This is the "Veteran's Group" you speak of Shadow.  It's owned by Mr. Kidwell.

Billy Ray Kidwell entered active duty with the Army in January, 1968. In August of that year, he was disciplined for being AWOL from his unit for four days. In January of 1969, he was detailed to Vietnam as an automotive repairman. While in Vietnam, he was disciplined for being AWOL for a day. He was also reduced in rank from private first class to private for carrying a pistol without authorization. Kidwell left Vietnam and returned to the United States in December of 1969, where his disciplinary problems continued. He was disciplined for speeding, and then for failing to report to duty. In September 1970, he was charged with being AWOL for several weeks during the summer, at which point he requested a discharge in lieu of a court-martial. The Army agreed, discharging him in October on "undesirable" grounds.

In 1977, Kidwell asked the Army Board for Correction of Military Records to upgrade his discharge to a "general discharge"-a step, but still a significant one, below "honorable." The Board, a civilian body authorized to "correct any military record ... when [it] considers it necessary to correct an error or remove an injustice," 10 U.S.C. § 1552(a)(1) (Supp. V 1993), granted Kidwell's request.

Kidwell argues that the Board improperly treated the SSA's factual findings as "implications" rather than conclusive facts. But given the question put to the Board-whether Kidwell was medically fit at the time of his discharge-we do not see how any facts found by the SSA regarding Kidwell's disabilities after the date of his discharge could provide anything other than "implications" regarding his fitness for military duty before that date. Given the other evidence available to the Board, it reasonably rejected those implications. Because the Board found no evidence, express or implied, demonstrating that Kidwell was unfit for service at the time of his discharge, the Board reasonably rejected Kidwell's request.

We reverse the district court's decision dismissing this case for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, but affirm its alternative grant of summary judgment in favor of the government.

 

Good old Billy Ray needs to remember one thing; within the Dimocrat party veterans are as disposable as a tampon and not to mention AWOL seems to have been his best friend.

So what if Mr. Boehner didn't offer a settlement option to Mr. McDermott, wait a minute how silly of me to forget Dimocrats are entitled to every constitutional legal right which they would never offer to a Republican even if they where on fire.

Don't forget this is the same Mr. McDermott whom made that famous pre-war trip to Iraq even if he did look like a fool for Saddam. The word traitor comes to mind.

Pay up Jimbo!

There is another rule every American needs to remember only union vampires are allowed to circulate recall petitions.

Mich. Speaker of House Employs State Paid Thugs to Stop Recall Effort

By Warner Todd Huston
Sunday, March 30, 2008

Here is a story that details how far Democrats will go to destroy the people’s ability to be heard in government. It also shows Democrat’s penchant to abuse their power, their blatant waste of government funds, and the incestuous relationship that the anti-democratic process unions have with Democrats.

Up in Michigan, the thieves in the Democrat Party voted in a gigantic tax increase. Michigan has been mired in a one-state recession for quite a while and Governor Jennifer Granholm’s only solution has been to raise taxes to pay for government “shortfalls”—and by “shortfall” you can read government waste. Well, after years of this localized recession in Michigan, the state legislature finally okayed this massive tax increase meant to “save” the state from its financial ills.

Now, remember, this increase was supposed to make up for deficits in current commitments. Of course, as soon as the tax increase was passed, Governor Granholm and the state Democrats passed a new budget that raised spending by $760 million dollars. And the state GOP has reckoned that the Granholm tax increases have taken more than $602 million dollars from the pockets of Michigan families just since October of last year.

It is a typical Democrat Party mess of overspending, high, punitive taxes, lost business and a big hurt put on the average citizen.

So, what is the recourse that the people of Michigan have to address these wasteful politicians? The recall. Michigan has a recall law whereby citizens can petition 8,000 citizens to recall any politician under the Governor that they have decided no longer serves them. And a recall effort has been launched against Democrat Speaker of the Michigan House, Andy Dillon.

So, as these citizen activists who are sick of being bled to death by the uncaring masters in the state capitol of Lansing fanned out into Redford Township to ask the folks to sign their recall petition, they were met with harassment from state workers and union members imported for the purpose. The recall effort is all perfectly legal and serves as a fine example of the people acting in the democratic way to try and change the bad habits of their representatives in government, but the unions and the Democrats headed by Speaker Dillon are wholly against this expression of freedom and liberty.

What could be more democratic, more quintessentially American than a recall effort?

Apparently the Democratic Party and Speaker Andy Dillon are not so interested in the democratic process.

Dillon has begun an illegal practice sending state workers and related supporters in unions all across the country to gang up on these citizen petition carriers and try to block people from being able to get to the petitions to sign them. These “petition blockers” often outnumber the petition carriers four, sometimes seven to one.

These petition blockers scream at citizen petition signers, calling them names, and hover menacingly over them making them feel threatened and uncomfortable. They also are assigned to follow the petition carriers to their homes and harass them there.

Remember, these petition blockers are paid state workers. One wonders why the people of Michigan are paying their taxes to have state workers loll about these citizen petition carriers on the state’s payroll? Don’t these state workers have jobs they are supposed to be doing for the state? After all, state workers are not paid to act as thugs for the Speaker of the House… or any other politician for that matter.

Speaker Dillon’s office was queried by a Michigan TV station why state workers were acting as political operatives on the job. Greg Bird, Speaker Dillon’s Press Secretary told WDIV that any state worker that was acting as petition blockers “was using vacation time.” But when the TV station asked for records to prove the claim, the Speaker’s office never supplied the proof.

And when the TV reporters asked why it was fair to have four to seven state workers deployed to harass a single citizen petition carrier, Dillon’s Press Secretary said that “they were exercising their Constitutional right to inform the voters.”

Even more ridiculously, Dillon’s shill complained that the thuggish state workers were themselves “feeling harassed” because the citizen activists trying to push the recall petition efforts had hired people to photograph them as they tried to harass the petition signers. This is like the bully complaining that his hand is bruised because the nerd he was beating up kept slamming his face into the bully’s knuckles!

complete article

[We could say [Democrats] spend money like drunken sailors, but that would be unfair to drunken sailors. It would be unfair, because the sailors are spending their own money. --Ronald ReaganAl Gore didn't invent the internet, he invented global warmingThe welfare of humanity is always the alibi of tyrants - CamusThe person who advocates government planning of the economy always assumes that it is his plan that will be put into effect. --Hayek]

After an investigation by the Department of Justice, the Florida couple pled
guilty to violating the ECPA and paid a fine. Boehner subsequently sued
McDermott under the ECPA’s civil liability provision, contending that
McDermott disclosed the contents of a taped telephone communication that he
knew to be illegal.

[No fewer than 3 of the last 7 governors of Illinois have gone to jail for corruption.]

Rezko Sleaze Engulfs Governor of Illinois

By Rick Moran

Maybe it's something in the water. Or perhaps it's a virus that only infects politicians and their cronies in the state in which Barack Obama chose to build his political base.

Personally, I prefer the "politicians being inhabited by aliens" scenario where the outrageously corrupt behavior of our political leaders in the state is the result of an invasion of extraterrestrials who have taken over their bodies and minds.

If so, they certainly have moved in and made themselves right at home. The recent political history of the state is replete with some of the most jaw dropping examples of illegal shenanigans one can imagine.

No fewer than 3 of the last 7 governors of Illinois have gone to jail for corruption. The most recent inmate being previous governor George Ryan who pressured state workers to raise money for his campaigns when Secretary of State, while overseeing a "pay for play" scheme at drivers license bureaus where unqualified truck drivers bribed state employees to get licenses. One such driver was involved in a horrific accident that killed 6 children. The resulting investigation into that crash unmasked the conspiracy. More than 70 lobbyists, state employees, and government officials have been convicted in connection with the scheme.

http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/04/rez...s_governor.html

[We could say [Democrats] spend money like drunken sailors, but that would be unfair to drunken sailors. It would be unfair, because the sailors are spending their own money. --Ronald ReaganAl Gore didn't invent the internet, he invented global warmingThe welfare of humanity is always the alibi of tyrants - CamusThe person who advocates government planning of the economy always assumes that it is his plan that will be put into effect. --Hayek]

Wolverine State Wolves
By Mark G. Michaelsen

...Michigan Democrats were reeling from the charges against Kilpatrick when another sex scandal unfolded. Tom Athans, husband of U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), was questioned by police in Troy, a Detroit suburb, after leaving a motel where he gave $150 to a prostitute for a sex act. Troy police were trying to break up a prostitution ring and do not prosecute customers who cooperate, as Athans did when police stopped his Cadillac DeVille. In the motel room, police found sex toys, condoms, a laptop and $431 in cash.

If Athans were only the husband of a U.S Senator, it would be embarrassing to the couple. However, Athans is also a key figure in liberal talk radio. He was formerly vice president of pre-bankruptcy Air America and CEO of Democracy Radio. He now heads Talk USA Radio, based in Washington.

http://spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=13016

This sounded good from the start.

Proposed legislation: Payday lenders may face stiff rules

Lawmakers looking to cap interest rates

Sunday,  September 30, 2007 3:58 AM
By Jim Siegel
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Payday proposals
Three payday lending plans likely will be introduced in the House soon:

    * Sponsors: Rep. William G. Batchelder, R-Medina/Rep. Robert F. Hagan, D-Youngstown. Caps interest rates for short-term loans at an annualized 36 percent; caps maximum number of loans at six per year per person; encourages other financial institutions to offer small loans. Backed by the Ohio Coalition for Responsible Lending.
    * Sponsors: Rep. Ross McGregor, R-Springfield/Rep. Matt Lundy, D-Elyria. Allows some borrowers who are unable to repay a loan the chance to enter an extended payment plan; limits bounced check fees to one per loan; increases financial education. Backed by the payday lending industry.
    * Sponsor: Rep. Tyrone K. Yates, D-Cincinnati. Caps interest rates for short-term loans at an annualized 25 percent; prohibits lenders from using uncashed checks as collateral.

What they're saying
A quick look at what Franklin County's lawmakers say about the payday lending issue: Rep. Kevin Bacon, R-Minerva Park -- Has signed on to co-sponsor the McGregor-Lundy plan. "It's a good step in the right direction."

Minority Leader Joyce Beatty, D-Columbus -- Supports lowering payday interest rates and finding alternative loan options. Not yet backing a specific plan. "It boils down to protecting the citizens of Ohio. We are against anything that is distasteful to the consumer."

Rep. Ted Celeste, D-Grandview Heights -- Has signed on to co-sponsor to the Batchelder-Hagan plan. "We have to find a way to deal with interest rates and the debt trap."

Rep. Larry Flowers, R-Canal Winchester -- "The 300-plus percent interest rate is certainly troubling to me." However, "I don't want to jeopardize the folks that feel they need to have that kind of credit available to them. It's a very small percentage of people, I think, that are getting trapped in these things. Most folks realize what they're doing."

Rep. Tracy Heard, D-Columbus -- Wants to fill the void between banking and payday lending. "It is a very contentious subject in my district, because some constituents have no choice but to use this. Those are the people that have to be protected."

Rep. Jim Hughes, R-Columbus -- "There has to be a balance between personal responsibility and fiscal discipline. I do think the 300 percent some of these places charge is unconscionable."

Rep. Jim McGregor, R-Gahanna -- Has signed on to co-sponsor both the Batchelder-Hagan and the McGregor-Lundy plans. Is leaning toward the Batchelder plan. "It's worked well for us in the development of the United States to have reasonable rate caps."

Rep. Dan Stewart, D-Columbus -- Has signed on to co-sponsor to the Batchelder-Hagan plan. "It's one thing to need something for a short period of time. Unfortunately a lot of people get into it, I think, 13 times a year." Rep. Larry Wolpert, R-Hilliard -- Has signed on to co-sponsor to the Batchelder-Hagan plan, calling it the "most comprehensive."

Sen. David Goodman, R-New Albany -- "It's important we don't rush to judgment on this and be pushed to do something that may politically sound good but might harm a delicate balance that's out there. We need to make sure we're not doing any harm to a service that, for the most part, is needed."

Sen. Ray Miller, D-Columbus -- Has sponsored bills this year and in the past to clamp down on payday lenders, including reduced interest rates. Also supports the Batchelder-Hagan plan.

Sen. Steve Stivers, R-Columbus -- Doesn't favor a 36-percent rate cap. "You can't take away people's ability to screw up their own financial situation by taking away the legal loan products, because they'll move to the illegal loans." Wants to encourage competition and avoid having people caught in a debt spiral.
For Ohio's payday lenders, it's no longer a question of if, but when.

Republican and Democratic legislative leaders all say they are now ready to crack down on an industry that has grown from 107 Ohio stores in 1996 to about 1,600.

After some initial reluctance, Minority Leader Joyce Beatty said she and her fellow Ohio House Democrats will push aggressively for a variety of measures, including putting a cap on interest rates -- the one issue more than any other that lenders have said could put them out of business.

And Senate President Bill M. Harris is now saying "there needs to be a comprehensive approach to making sure this is not something that ties people down and they pay unbelievable interest rates."

The Ashland Republican said that what started out as a way for people with bad credit to get small loans has transformed "similar to the way the predatory (mortgage) lending issue blossomed, where people were taken advantage of in a number of ways."

House members from both sides of the aisle will introduce a trio of payday lending regulatory bills in the next 10 days, each with a different approach.

complete article

Now Joyce Beatty doesn't support legislation that would work against payday lenders? Now what could've caused this flip-flop?



Lawmaker's spouse toils for payday lender 'Well, it's not going anywhere,'

Tuesday,  April 8, 2008 3:12 AM
By Aaron Marshall
THE (CLEVELAND) PLAIN DEALER

The husband of Ohio House Minority Leader Joyce Beatty is a registered lobbyist for CheckSmart, an Ohio-based payday lender with 106 outlets in the Buckeye State.

Otto Beatty Jr., a former state representative whose wife was appointed to his seat in 1999, registered in mid-January as a lobbyist in Virginia with CheckSmart, based in Dublin.

Ohio lawmakers are considering a number of bills that would regulate Ohio's payday-lending industry.

"There is no impropriety here, nor am I trying to influence anyone about payday lending," said Otto Beatty, who described his work on behalf of CheckSmart as legal consulting. "I don't do that in Ohio."

In 2007, Rep. Joyce Beatty, a Columbus Democrat, urged members of the Democratic caucus she leads to not support a payday-lending bill sponsored by state Rep. Bill Batchelder, R-Medina, that would cap the rates charged by payday lenders at 36 percent.

At the time, Beatty said she thought Batchelder was using the issue to further his bid to become House speaker.

Beatty said yesterday that she now supports the Batchelder proposal.

"I'm not supportive of the payday-lending industry," she said.

However, state Rep. Bob Hagan, a Youngstown Democrat, said he approached Beatty on the House floor last Tuesday seeking her help in lining up Democratic votes to get the bill out of committee.

"She said, 'Well, it's not going anywhere,'  " he said. "And then she said, 'I talked to (House Speaker Jon Husted), and he said it's not going anywhere.'  "

Continued Hagan: "So I'm running into a roadblock -- and it's not a very comfortable roadblock because I have been around too long to not realize something else is behind it. It's disappointing that this is what has been happening. I don't know whether this legal work is influencing her or not, but I do find it disappointing."

Beatty said she knew her husband started doing work for CheckSmart in January, but she said he has never influenced her on the issue.

"His involvement would have started in 2008," she said. "In 2007, when all of this (controversy) was going on, I can say for certain he was not involved."

Otto Beatty declined to specify what kind of consulting work he does for CheckSmart and said he didn't recall how he came to be working for it.

Under Ohio law, spouses of lawmakers are permitted to register as lobbyists in Ohio or other states.