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Jan

11

Hamas leadership split: Gaza-based wants cease fire, but not leader in Damascus

Filed Under Gaza, Israel | 1 Comment

I read about this several hours ago on Israeli blogger Jameel’s site (see his fantastic live-blogging w/photos and video and many other sources here) but at that time, it was only the Israeli news anchor/reporter who was saying it.

Now, here’s an article from the Washington Times to which I can link and excerpt:

The Hamas leadership in the Gaza Strip is ready to accept a cease-fire with Israel, but the organization’s spiritual leader in Damascus, Khalid Mashaal, refuses to make the necessary concessions, according to Israeli television reports last night.

The Arab affairs analyst on Channel Two, Ehud Ya’ari, said the dispute amounts to a split between the two Hamas centers of power.

The differences emerged at a meeting over the weekend in Cairo between two Hamas representatives from Gaza and a delegation sent by Mr. Mashaal in Damascus.

…

“The Gazans not only accepted it,” said Mr. Ya’ari, “they demanded it.” The delegation from Damascus, however, reiterated Mr. Mashaal’s rejection of the conditions set down in the Egyptian plan.

The Gazans traveled from Cairo to Damascus immediately after the meeting that ended early Monday to present their case to Mr. Mashaal and were to return to Cairo on Tuesday, according to the reports.

Here’s a Los Angeles Times analysis of Hamas’ options.

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By Jill Miller Zimon at 11:56 pm January 11th, 2009 in Gaza, Israel | 1 Comment 

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Jan

11

PD reports that Voinovich will announce retirement tomorrow

Filed Under Announcements, Congress, Government, leadership, Ohio, Politics, Republicans | Comments Off

Thank you to John Kroll of the Plain Dealer for leaving the link in a comment about Ohio’s senior U.S Senator George Voinovich (R).

Here’s Steve Koff’s article about the decision to not run for re-election. Koff also posted a blog entry about how Voinovich might support Obama’s stimulus plan and there’s a poll asking you to identify who you think the Dem and GOP nominees for replacing Voinovich will be in 2010.

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By Jill Miller Zimon at 11:46 pm January 11th, 2009 in Announcements, Congress, Government, leadership, Ohio, Politics, Republicans | Comments Off 

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Jan

11

Mary Taylor for Ohio GOP U.S. Senate candidate, 2010

Filed Under Congress, Elections, Gender, Government, leadership, Ohio, Politics, Primary, Republicans, Retirement, Ted Strickland, Women | 9 Comments

Now that the word is coming that U.S. Senator George Voinovich (R) is likely to announce his retirement tomorrow (the Plain Dealer won’t confirm it but Politico says it’s so), I want to revisit an issue I raised when John McCain selected Sarah Palin to be his running mate in his quest to become the 44st president of this country: how is the primarily male GOP leadership going to deal with female ambition in the wake of Sarah Palin?

Two weeks later, I asked, “Will Ohio’s male GOP gatekeepers step aside for Mary Taylor?”

Some commenters said, step aside ? What’s that about? Suggesting that Taylor is free to run in primary against any and all other comers.  And that post in response to the suggestion that Taylor would run against Ohio Governor Ted Strickland (D) though I don’t see that.

I discussed just how viable I believe Taylor would be in a GOP primary in comments at this post a few weeks ago.

But the real clincher that my suspicions about how’s it gonna be with the Ohio GOP leadership vis a vis Taylor’s strength as a candidate, versus some of the other bandied about names, comes from a column PD editorial page director Brent Larkin:

If Voinovich steps aside, three Republicans to watch would be, in order, former Bush administration official (reading those words probably makes him cringe) Rob Portman, former House Budget Committee Chairman John Kasich and State Auditor Mary Taylor.

Portman has a world-class political r sum and has been taking Voinovich’s pulse from afar for several years. Kasich is now making gubernatorial noises. But he’d begin a race against Ted Strickland a prohibitive underdog and might find the prospect of an open Senate seat more appealing. Taylor is one of the state GOP’s few stars of the future and might even be more electable than the far more experienced Portman or Kasich. But Republican leadership would exert enormous pressure on her to seek re-election as auditor instead.

Of course, if the Ohio Republican leadership was smart, they’d do exactly the opposite.  Women are fired up to have someone who looks like them get elected. And Mary Taylor is a very attractive GOP candidate for a lot of objective reasons, not the least of which is how well she’s performed her job and the lack of drama around that.

What kind of leadership is the Ohio GOP going to show for 2010? How they handle Mary Taylor’s existence, appeal and success will be a big tipoff.

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By Jill Miller Zimon at 5:52 pm January 11th, 2009 in Congress, Elections, Gender, Government, leadership, Ohio, Politics, Primary, Republicans, Retirement, Ted Strickland, Women | 9 Comments 

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Jan

11

[video] Coal ash victims can’t get straight answers

Filed Under Politics | Comments Off

Many thanks to Molly for sending this video to me this afternoon.  Who would you believe, how could you believe, if you lived there and saw it with your own eyes – and lungs – and skin?  I’ll embed later – I can’t quite figure out how to constrain the size and still keep a full frame.

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By Jill Miller Zimon at 4:06 pm January 11th, 2009 in Politics | Comments Off 

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Jan

11

Gaggle of gambling gab about Strickland’s own turnaround & turnabout on youth

Filed Under Business, Cleveland+, Debates, Economy, employment, Gambling, leadership, Ohio, Politics, Social Issues, Ted Strickland, Youth | 3 Comments

Take a look at what Google will get you this morning if you search on “gambling Strickland”:

Is this a coordinated PR effort to let Ohioans know where our governor is going on the subject of the economy? of gambling? of priorities?

Of selling out?

I guess I’m not really sure how a politician does manage a turnaround of this nature so maybe this rollout is the best way. But I can guarantee you, it’s not going to be turning around my mind. And anyone who thinks that legalizing gambling is going to solve anything related to Ohio’s economy, well – I’ve got a dirt cheap piece of Mediterranean Sea-side property to sell you – in the Holy Land.

From today’s Plain Dealer:

In the best scenario, the gambling interests hope that the governor works some form of their proposals into his state budget.

That’s not going to happen, a governor’s spokesman said.

One option is that the gambling industry could go through the legislature and start off by pushing electronic slot machines before moving toward table games and eventually pitching full gambling venues with attached restaurants and hotels.

In the legislature, they would meet Senate President Bill Harris, an Ashland Republican, who opposes gambling, and House Speaker Armond Budish, a Beachwood Democrat, who supports the idea. Or they could offer up a ballot proposal and hope the governor lends his support.

Harris, like the governor, said last week that while he remains opposed to gambling, he would consider it for the sake of helping Ohio’s economy. Budish took over the House speakership last week and declared that the state should consider expanding gambling to jump-start the economy.

While the governor is feeling down on his luck when it comes to the troubled state budget, gambling opponents still say that is not a legitimate excuse for him to consider slot machines and blackjack tables.

Bingo.

The last thing I have to write this morning on this topic is, click on that Google results image – see the last item on the list? It’s this:

The Marion Juvenile Correctional Facility and the Freedom Center in Delaware are the latest budget-crunch victims. The Department of Youth Services announced yesterday that they will be shut down by July, saving $24 million annually and allowing for expansion of community-based options.

Directly impacted will be 194 juvenile residents of the two centers and 331 employees who will have to look for jobs at six other state youth facilities, in adult state prisons or in the private sector.

…

The move to close the two facilities came quickly, Strickland said after attending Statehouse swearing-in ceremonies for Attorney General Richard Cordray and Treasurer Kevin Boyce. He said such decisions are inevitable because of the severity of the crisis.

In response to a question, Strickland said that while he remains opposed to bringing casino gambling to Ohio, he would be foolish to ignore any proposal that could help solve the state’s financial crunch.

…

“This just doesn’t add up, that you would close facilities at the same time you’re hiring staff,” said Andy Douglas, executive director of the Ohio Civil Service Employees Association, which represents 1,274 youth-services employees.

“We believed this past year, as did DYS, that the reduction of overcrowding was in the best interest of youth and staff. Now, they’re taking a step backward by closing facilities.”

Don’t you just love how that’s thrown in? Juxtapose the tossing out of youths in detention with the breaking down of Strickland’s resolve against gambling as an economic panacea. Lovely.  Not to mention taking actions that fly in the face of report after report about the overcrowding already in existence.

Talk about making deals with devils.  Include the prison construction industry and the new detention facilities that aren’t even built yet.

Obama wanted a New Deal-style infrastructure program to get people to work, but bricks and mortar gambling facilities and prisons isn’t what I think he meant.

For more on the economic mirage of gambling, read here.

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By Jill Miller Zimon at 9:29 am January 11th, 2009 in Business, Cleveland+, Debates, Economy, employment, Gambling, leadership, Ohio, Politics, Social Issues, Ted Strickland, Youth | 3 Comments 

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