Is Ohio the Nexus of GOP Corruption?

[marmar]

from AlterNet's PEEK:



Is Ohio the Nexus of GOP Corruption?

Posted by Steven Reynolds, The All Spin Zone at 4:18 PM on February 11, 2008.

Oh, this is sweet. Another scandal with another Ohio Republican politician. Another intrenched Republican politician.




We've got another political scandal in the land of Tom Noe and Bob Ney. Alas, Mike Turner, US Representaive from Dayton, OH, appears to have steered some work to his wife's company. Tsk, tsk! Will the Republicans ever learn about ethics? Not a chance.

Abramoff gave us Bob Ney, and that was a sweet thing for Ohio electoral politics, as it led to several Democratic wins in 2006. Then there was coingate and that corrupt guy in Toledo, Thomas Noe. Heck, they had a controversy about the election in 2004, and the governor had severe ethics problems, too. Now we've got another ethical problem in Ohio with Representative Mike Turner. Turner's wifge is now being accused of getting sweetheart deals for her consulting firm. Oh, this is delicious! From the Dayton Daily News:

The Dayton Development Coalition, which lobbies the Miami Valley congressional delegation for federal funds for local projects, has paid a marketing firm owned by the wife of U.S. Rep. Mike Turner more than $300,000 so far for its work on a $1.5 million regional branding campaign that resulted in the slogan, "Get Midwest."

The coalition expects to pay an as-yet-undetermined additional sum to Lori Turner's company, the Turner Effect, as the campaign enters its second half.

Past and present coalition officials say the Turner Effect was hired in 2006 without competitive bidding simply because it was the best choice among local companies. But two congressional watchdog groups in Washington said the situation creates, at best, an appearance of conflict of interest. "There is an appearance of impropriety," said Naomi Seligman-Steiner, spokeswoman for the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. "It's not illegal, but it is problematic."

Craig Holman, legislative representative for Public Citizen's Congress Watch, said, "That's something we've seen over and over again. If a lobbyist can find a way to funnel money to a member of Congress, they'll do it -- even if it means hiring the congressman's spouse."

Oh, this is sweet. Another scandal with another Ohio Republican politician. Another intrenched Republican politician. And that's got to turn the voters towards change, both in the Democratic direction, and probably among Democrats it will turn a little bit in the Obama direction.

Of course, this needs nore publicity for all that to happen. So far it looks like the Dayton Daily News has the story, and nearly no other news outlet is covering this one. But we can hope, especially if you folks decide to spread the story to other blogs.

http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/76705 /

[OzarkDem]

1. Yes, it is

The Coingate scandal only began to scratch the surface of a national GOP money laundering machine, there's much more going on.

[iamthebandfanman]

2. my friend

worked for the president of the senate a few years back. he was a registered republican at the time, even tho most of his views were democratic(and i made fun of him all the time, trust me..lol)....

needless to say, hes not voting republican anymore.

he said he saw crazy things, but wouldnt tell me what. but he did say it was very corrupt and self serving to the people in office.

[SpiralHawk]

3. Repulicons = Corruption, lies, deviancy.

[mod mom]

4. Fitrakis wrote a book on the corruption surrounding Voinovich, I just told him this weekend

that he needs to recycle a lot of that material since ole George has decided to run again. I'll start posting it after the primary.

[KharmaTrain]

5. C-SPIN Just Reported Ney Is About To Be Paroled...

Remember...all politics is local. The more locals who learn about the corruption the better. Many times its the local paper that is instrumental in getting this word out over blogs or national media. It's what gets the tongues wagging in the beauty parlor or the water cooler.

The corruption in '06 helped Strickland and Sherrod Brown as well as winning several House seats...and this revelation isn't gonna be good news for those attempting to replace the various retirements going on. Too bad there's not a Senate election in the state this year...I suspect Ohio has seen the light and will join the rest of us as solid blue states this November.

[tanyev]

6. Does there have to be only one?