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Aug
31
Connie Schultz on Fantasy of Voter Fraud, Consequences of Acting on That Fantasy
Filed Under democracy, Elections, Government, Ohio, Politics, Transparency, Voting | 1 Comment
Since I’ve been following the Ohio Secretary of State ban on absentee ballot application mailings by county boards of elections and the response to that ban by Cuyahoga County Executive Ed Fitzgerald and County Council, I feel compelled to highlight Connie Schultz’s column in today’s Plain Dealer, “Voter fraud is just a dark GOP fantasy.” She makes many good points and arguments.
But also, a forest for the trees image came into view for me I read: since the November 2010 election and the start of the Kasich administration, we keep having these situations where someone says or does something, and then they have to or they decide that they want to undo it. Whether it’s the new Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel apologizing for campaign tactics after getting elected, or Kasich trying to sell his version of what coming to the table looks like in regard to SB5, or now Ohio SOS Jon Husted admitting that he was thinking out loud when he mentioned that one possible response to Fitzgerald’s plan would be to not process certain absentee ballot applications. From Connie’s column:
Husted told me Tuesday he made a mistake “thinking out loud.”
“I was exploring a list of options, which I should have kept to myself until I figured out what I was doing,” Husted said. “He [FitzGerald] took my comments out of context, and mischaracterized my intentions. What I want is uniformity in all 88 counties.”
I will say that Husted’s words, in conjunction with several acts over time, as Connie also points out, and about which I am aware as well, support the sincerity of his regret. The coming actions he takes will tell us for sure.
But going back to the Columbus trendline, set by the governor’s shoot from the hip personality: Recall also that even my state senator, Tom Patton, for whom I have a great deal of respect and with whom I’ve had at meaningful communications about important issues, had to account for voting against something he had meant to vote for, simply because he was swept up in the no-ness of it all in the all-GOP state government and voted “no” by “reflex.”
Governing cannot be about making decisions for Ohio by a gut reflex. Our guts do possess great wisdom when it comes to discerning and deciding about risk. But the way in which we’re seeing it being used as THE way in which to make decisions will cost us all.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 9:14 am August 31st, 2011 in democracy, Elections, Government, Ohio, Politics, Transparency, Voting | 1 Comment
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Aug
30
Vote By Mail Application Fracas Round-up
Filed Under Council, CuyahogaCounty, Elections, Executive, Government, Law, leadership, Ohio, Politics, Transparency, Voting | Leave a Comment
As prolific a blogger as I’ve been over the years, well-known for tenacity, this issue is one that I’m going to have to keep up with on the sly while taking care of other business. After a few random thoughts, I’ve provided a few must-read or must-listen links.
1. This is about the voters, as Republican County Council member Mike Gallagher has said.
2. Voting is a constitutional fundamental right.
3. Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted is not a lawyer, though State Auditor Dave Yost is.
4. Husted’s threat to not process vote by mail applications was petty, mean-spirited and a personal attack on County Executive Ed Fitzgerald’s plans for how to keep our county’s voting system from sinking back into the morass it was under Republican Secretary of State Ken Blackwell. It shows the gut level at which Jon Husted is viewing this issue, rather than at the independent level of securing all the rights of all the voters to the best of our abilities. And frankly empathizing with the way in which the large counties’ boards of elections have prioritized spending on making sure that vote by mail is utilized more and more so that the day-of voting problems for voters, as well as the costs and resources, can be reduced.
5. The state auditor’s suggestion that the public spending to be done by the County may in some way be contrary to law and therefore actionable is likewise petty, mean-spirited and a personal attack on the county executive.
6. Has it occurred to these fellas that maybe it’s Husted’s directive that bans county boards of elections from mailing out vote by mail applications that is the unconstitutional step because, despite how many time he uses the word “uniformity,” the reality is that his ban disparately affects voters’ rights which include access.
7. Finally, I will again point out that Husted knows exactly what it means to not abridge voters’ rights and we know he knows this because of his recently announced plans related to military voters. In other words, Husted, through his actions, has demonstrated an appreciation for the reality that uniformity of process is not the highest priority when it comes to voters rights. And in the case of military voters, he has decided to provide them with mechanisms that other voters will not get.
Voters in large counties, as law experts cited in today’s Plain Dealer confirm, likewise need mechanisms that other voters may or may not get in order to safeguard their voting rights.
The side on which Husted should be erring is on the side of the voters. This is a ridiculous fight for him to be picking – now or at any time. Read more
By Jill Miller Zimon at 10:16 am August 30th, 2011 in Council, CuyahogaCounty, Elections, Executive, Government, Law, leadership, Ohio, Politics, Transparency, Voting | Please comment
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Aug
30
CNN Poll: Female GOP Voters Abandon Bachmann & Palin for Perry
Filed Under conservatives, Elections, Gender, michele bachmann, Politics, Poll, Republicans, Rick Perry, Sarah Palin, Sexism, WH2012, White House 2012, Women | 8 Comments
That’s of course assuming that they ever were in the Michele Bachmann for president or Sarah Palin for president columns in the first place. From the CNN poll (click on the image to enlarge):
What’s most curious about this reality is how often those affiliated with the tea party have tried to suggest that women have a big place and a big role in that party. But if your women aren’t supporting the women candidates, what’s that all about? When asked directly to describe the difference between Bachmann and Perry, conservative media personality Dana Loesch suggests it’s an electability issue related to the odds of governors versus representatives in this clip. She implies that Perry is a better bet than Bachmann.
I’ll be interested to see how conservative female pundits break this down and organizations like The New Agenda review and analyze the data.
Hattip to today’s The Fix digest because it was the absence of this kind of look at the female conservative vote that made me wonder, what’s going on with the female conservative vote, and then compelled me to look deeper into the poll (which you can do for yourself here).
Paging American Princess, Emily Zanotti.
And FYI: When CNN asks the question without Palin in the mix? Bachmann gains just 4% in the women, but Perry gains 7% (taking his advantage from 13% ahead of Bachmann to 16% ahead of her with women voters). It’s on page 7 of the pdf. The CNN companion article makes slight reference to the gender vote issue.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 9:30 am August 30th, 2011 in conservatives, Elections, Gender, michele bachmann, Politics, Poll, Republicans, Rick Perry, Sarah Palin, Sexism, WH2012, White House 2012, Women | 8 Comments
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Aug
29
Ohio Auditor Says Issue May Exist Re: County’s Spending For Ballot Applications as Being “Contrary to Law”
Filed Under Council, CuyahogaCounty, Elections, Executive, Government, Ohio, Politics, Voting | Leave a Comment
Unbelievable. Cuyahoga County Executive Ed Fitzgerald referenced this development during the County Council meeting, about an hour ago. His question, which I and I’m sure many others share: if the public spending by the BOE has not been contrary to law for the last few elections, how did it all of a sudden become contrary to law now? Yost calls it an outcome for a “finding for recovery” if they (the auditor’s office) finds that the public spending is contrary to law.
Listen here.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 5:55 pm August 29th, 2011 in Council, CuyahogaCounty, Elections, Executive, Government, Ohio, Politics, Voting | Please comment
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Aug
29
UPDATED: Cuyahoga County Council Approves County Exec’s Plan, Expenditure re: Sending Out Vote By Mail Applications
Filed Under Cleveland+, Council, CuyahogaCounty, Elections, Executive, Government, Ohio, Politics, Transparency, Voting | 1 Comment
UPDATE: Read County Executive Ed Fitzgerald’s statement on the 10-0 bipartisan passage of the relevant resolution after the jump below.
You can read my live tweets of the meeting at twitter.com/jillmz
The Plain Dealer’s Laura J Johnston also tweeted it at twitter.com/lauraejjohnston
I used @cuyahogacounty a lot, and Laura used #cuyahogacounty – which now that I think of it, I should have probably done too. I also used @edfitzgeraldce when he was addressing Council.
District 6, Jack Schron (my rep), was not present at the meeting from what I could tell but it was not 100% clear whether he’d been there earlier – I wasn’t watching the whole time, just listening the whole time.
What will the repartees bring? Read more
By Jill Miller Zimon at 5:44 pm August 29th, 2011 in Cleveland+, Council, CuyahogaCounty, Elections, Executive, Government, Ohio, Politics, Transparency, Voting | 1 Comment
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Aug
29
Husted Wants Disenfranchisement to be the New Black
Filed Under Civil Rights, democracy, Elections, Ohio, Politics, Voting | Leave a Comment
If the Ohio Secretary of State, Republican Jon Husted, really wants to make availability of vote by mail applications uniform across the 88 counties, he’s got an awful lot of confiscating to do:
1. Remove that link on the SOS page that lets people download it for themselves. Because let’s talk digital divide – who has access to a computer? To the Internet? Who makes it to a library to download? Very not uniform, SOS Husted.
2. What about people who call for one by smartphone? Not everyone has a smartphone. Don’t give a vote by mail application to people with smartphones – that would not be uniform.
3. As I wrote yesterday, senior centers and libraries very often offer vote by mail applications. But certainly not every single one in every county. Better go snatch those applications from our senior citizens’ gathering places and libraries – where eager 18 year olds hanging out after school or those pesky folks without computers might decide to vote! We can’t have that.
4. Veterans halls – don’t you bet they have them there? But not every single one – go get them!
5. Political parties – I know I have heard that local political parties will send out vote by mail applications. Snatch snatch SNATCH those away, now.
6. Again, I mentioned yesterday – political candidates. Yup, we walk around, door to door, encouraging people to register to vote and give them vote by mail applications. But SOS Husted needs to find a way to keep us from enabling those folks to exercise their right to vote! He has got to make sure not a single, solitary candidate for office is handing out a vote by mail application – because you can bet that not EVERY single solitary candidate for office is handing out a vote by mail application to every single voter in their district – they would only give them to the people they expect to vote for them!! TOTALLY Wouldn’t be uniform. Go get ‘em, Jon.
Of course, I cannot find anything in the Ohio law that specifies who can and who cannot give a vote by mail application to an Ohioan, which would lead me (and anyone grounded on this Earth) to the conclusion that it is not illegal for anyone to actually give someone a vote by mail application. But the way Husted is trying to restrict voter rights, he wants to say that Cuyahoga County can’t send out vote by mail applications because it isn’t uniform (since not all 88 counties can afford to send out vote by mail applications to all its voters).
There are, obviously, many problems with his logic, but the most disturbing one is this: who ELSE will he then have to force to stop giving out vote by mail applications so that there is uniformity? And then what does that uniformity stand for? Only uniformity of denying access to voting.
This is why, as the ACLU and even the Plain Dealer state, the Ohio Secretary of State should be enforcing uniformity of access by having all counties send vote by mail applications to Ohio’s registered voters. If the state’s largest counties have been paying for it for the last five years, it’s clear that Husted is copping out by calling it an unfunded mandate. And frankly, when we’re talking voter access, in the state our democracy is in right now, we should absolutely be erring on the side of greater, not lesser voter access.
Ohio Daily Blog has been covering this as well (this morning too). The Cuyahoga County Council will vote today on the County Executive’s plan for getting vote by mail applications to all of the county’s voters. You can read the info on the vote (4pm County Council meeting in their chambers) here.
And note Husted’s threat stated yesterday: Husted said that he is considering ordering the board of elections to not send the actual ballot to voters for whom they have received vote by mail applications that he deems are “illegal” – which applications, exactly, would those be, Jon? See here for the exact quote.
Hmm – this all sounds an awful lot like obstruction of voters’ rights but hey – uniformity aka disenfranchisement. It’s the new black.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 8:18 am August 29th, 2011 in Civil Rights, democracy, Elections, Ohio, Politics, Voting | Please comment
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Aug
28
UPDATE on Cuyahoga County Absentee Ballot Application Battle aka Fitzgerald v. Husted
Filed Under Cleveland+, Council, CuyahogaCounty, democracy, Elections, Executive, Government, Ohio, Politics, Transparency, Voting | 1 Comment
You can read the press release from Cuyahoga County Executive Ed Fitzgerald after the jump but you can read an account of his press conference and Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted’s reaction to that press conference here and here.
The best part? Husted calls Fitzgerald a “rogue actor” because Fitzgerald wants to give our voters better service than other counties and send out the absentee ballot applications. From both links:
In response [to Fitzgerald's plan for the county to send out the vote by mail applications], Husted released a statement that said, “Mr. FitzGerald’s accusations are laughable. It is important that voters in all 88 counties be given equal access to a ballot and I will work to uphold that standard, even in the face of rogue actors like Mr. FitzGerald. Let me provide reassurance and be perfectly clear, every legal absentee ballot application received by boards of elections will be processed and a ballot will be sent.”
Yuh huh – and how exactly will Husted define a “legal” absentee ballot application? Would he really deny voters their requested absentee ballots because they used an application that they received from Cuyahoga County, and not from the BOE?
What’s very interesting about this is that many entities possess absentee ballot applications – including senior centers, libraries and, er, um, candidates for office. Since not EVERY senior center in Ohio, or EVERY library in Ohio, or EVERY candidate for office in November 2011 will be giving out vote by mail applications, will Husted police each library, senior centers and candidate for office to make SURE that they are not giving out applications for vote by mail ballots?
How unbelievably absurd is this interpretation of “equal access” and yet exactly what he’s saying as he twists that phrase to disenfranchise large counties from being able to serve Ohio’s electorate.
UGH.
From Fitgerald’s office this afternoon: Read more
By Jill Miller Zimon at 10:20 pm August 28th, 2011 in Cleveland+, Council, CuyahogaCounty, democracy, Elections, Executive, Government, Ohio, Politics, Transparency, Voting | 1 Comment
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Aug
28
County Exec Fitzgerald to Hold SUNDAY Presser re: Husted Suggesting He Won’t Allow BOE to Send Ballots
Filed Under Cleveland+, Council, CuyahogaCounty, Elections, Executive, Government, Ohio, Politics, Transparency, Voting | Leave a Comment
From the inbox this morning-can’t find it anywhere else though:
MEDIA ADVISORY
Media Contacts: John Kohlstrand: (216) 698-2099 or jkohlstrand@cuyahogacounty.us
Nicole Dailey Jones: (216) 263-4602, (216)338-0863 or ndjones@cuyahogacounty.us
FITZGERALD TO RESPOND TO THREAT TO BLOCK REQUESTS FOR BALLOTS
CLEVELAND — Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald will host a news conference at 4 p.m. today (Sunday, Aug. 28) to outline his response to a threat from Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted to prevent Cuyahoga County voters who request an absentee ballot from getting one.
Late last week, Husted told Ohio Public Radio that he is considering prohibiting the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections from processing applications for absentee ballots if county government goes forward with a plan to mail an absentee voter application to all active registered voters in the county. The Cuyahoga County Council is scheduled to vote on that plan at 4 p.m. Monday.
FitzGerald will be seeking a U.S. Department of Justice review of Husted’s comments.
Today’s news conference will be in front of the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, 2925 Euclid Ave., in Cleveland.
# # #
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By Jill Miller Zimon at 1:22 pm August 28th, 2011 in Cleveland+, Council, CuyahogaCounty, Elections, Executive, Government, Ohio, Politics, Transparency, Voting | Please comment
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Aug
26
Women’s Equality Day, 2011
Filed Under Gender, Government, Law, leadership, Politics, Voting, Women | Leave a Comment
This is really all you need to get started on thinking about our mission as women and voters (major hattip to Kathy Groob of ElectWomen.com):
But for additional, worthy reflections on today:
A great post about what it is.
Two takes, here and here, on what to tell our daughters about it.
Three ways not to celebrate it.
A forward perspective that looks back at several key women.
A call to action from a sitting U.S. Senator who embodies what it means to bring other women along and be pro-woman (do not settle for any substitutes).
The launch of a campaign to make the vote we have count.
And last the lyrics:
We’re clearly soldiers in petticoats
And dauntless crusaders for woman’s votes
Though we adore men individually
We agree that as a group they’re rather stupid!
Cast off the shackles of yesterday!
Shoulder to shoulder into the fray!
Our daughters’ daughters will adore us
And they’ll sign in grateful chorus
“Well done, Sister Suffragette!”
From Kensington to Billingsgate
One hears the restless cries!
From ev’ry corner of the land:
“Womankind, arise!”
Political equality and equal rights with men!
Take heart! For Missus Pankhurst has been clapped in irons again!
No more the meek and mild subservients we!
We’re fighting for our rights, militantly!
Never you fear!
So, cast off the shackles of yesterday!
Shoulder to shoulder into the fray!
Our daughters’ daughters will adore us
And they’ll sign in grateful chorus
“Well done! Well done!
Well done Sister Suffragette!”
By Jill Miller Zimon at 10:43 pm August 26th, 2011 in Gender, Government, Law, leadership, Politics, Voting, Women | Please comment
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Aug
25
Announcing 2011 Ohio Women’s Hall of Fame Inductees
Filed Under Gender, Government, John Kasich, leadership, Ohio, Transparency, Women | Leave a Comment
In response to a request I made today of the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services’ communications department, I received the following information regarding the nine Ohio women who are, as I type this, about to be inducted into the Ohio Women’s Hall of Fame. I want to be clear: the people who helped me to get this information (three individuals in different offices) were lovely and very congenial and helpful. However, the fact that I had to take the steps I did to even get this information and the complete and total failure on the part of the Kasich administration to more widely acknowledge the individuals being honored today is shameful, embarrassing and should be reversed 100% in the future. This honor is now in its fifth decade of existence. It is nonpartisan. The diversity fail pattern of the current administration – intentional or unintentional – continues unabated. You can watch the induction here at The Ohio Channel.
Nine women will be inducted into the Ohio Women’s Hall of Fame at 2 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 25, in the Ohio Statehouse Atrium. The event is free and open to the public.
The nine women inducted will join more than 400 members of the Ohio Women’s Hall of Fame. The 2011 inductees are:
Cheryl A. Boyce of Franklin County for her contributions to health services. Boyce was born in East St. Louis, Ill. Her interest in public health was the result of the premature death of her father. She earned a bachelor’s degree in health education from Southern Illinois University and a master’s degree in health planning and administration for the University of Cincinnati. She has made Columbus her home for more than 40 years and recently retired as the executive director of the Ohio Commission on Minority Health.
Elizabeth H. Flick of Franklin County for her contributions to community and military service. Flick was born and raised in England but has made her home in Columbus for more than 50 years. In 1972, she put on the POW/MIA bracelet of an American veteran missing in Vietnam, but she decided that was not enough. Thus began a lifelong dedication to the veteran community.
Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (1825-1911) for her contributions to cultural activism and the arts. Watkins was born a free African American in Baltimore, Md., in 1825. The 1982 Smithsonian exhibit of 20 panels celebrating African-American women highlighted her as a pioneer for civil rights. She taught at Union Seminary in western Ohio, which later merged with Wilberforce University. She was also married and gave birth to her only child while living on a farm in central Ohio.
Brenda J. Hollis of Henry County for contributions in the military service and law. Hollis is an international criminal prosecutor based at The Hague in the Netherlands. She served on the first international criminal tribunals related to crimes against humanity since World War II. She attended elementary and high school in Henry County and earned her bachelor’s degree in liberal arts from Bowling Green State University (BGSU). While at BGSU she was also an outstanding athlete in several sports. Read more
By Jill Miller Zimon at 2:06 pm August 25th, 2011 in Gender, Government, John Kasich, leadership, Ohio, Transparency, Women | Please comment
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Aug
23
Video of Feagler Appearance re: Kasich, TSA xray & Buffet’s Tax Plan
Filed Under Government, Jill Miller Zimon, John Kasich, Ohio, Politics, Taxes | 1 Comment
My take-down of the “50% of Americans don’t pay taxes” rhetoric should have sounded more like this. Frankly, I was surprised that either of my co-panelists would use that talking point, given how easy it is to pull apart. It’s simply not the best defense against Warren Buffett’s tax the wealthy suggestion, but maybe that’s the point – there are not any great defenses against his plan.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 10:32 pm August 23rd, 2011 in Government, Jill Miller Zimon, John Kasich, Ohio, Politics, Taxes | 1 Comment
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Aug
20
Can’t You Smell That Smell?
Filed Under Cleveland+, Environment, Moms Clean Air Force, Politics | Leave a Comment
From Mike McIntyre’s Plain Dealer Tipoff column today:
…the University of Colorado researchers report that their study of four Midwest towns found that Detroit and Cleveland both had winter air as fresh as a pick-up bag.
That is, a doggy-do pick-up bag. The Denver Post article about the research is titled, “CU researchers: Bacteria found in dog poop dominates in air over Cleveland and Detroit.”
As Mike goes on to note, the researchers insist that their findings are far from conclusive and primarily indicate the need to research bacteria in the air we breath. They explain the finding this way:
Robert Bowers, lead author of the study, says the data “suggests that dog poop may be a potential source of bacteria to the atmosphere at these locations.”
…
Only one location in each of the four cities was tested, Fierer said. (Let’s hope the Cleveland sample was at the Clark Avenue Dog Park.) Leaves and soil were the primary sources of airborne bacteria in samples taken during the summer, he said, but they dropped off in winter, and dog poop bacteria became more prevalent.
You can read an abstract of the published study here. The title is, “Sources of bacteria in outdoor air across cities in the midwestern United States.”
Given the already horrific standing of air quality in NE Ohio (recall this post about the American Lung Association’s review), this is not the kind of even preliminary finding that is particularly welcoming, even if kind of, sort of, amusing.
All I need is the air that I breathe? A refrain from the 1970s that’s hard to consider while considering what the heck is in our air these days. Please check out the MCAF and help spread the word about the need to know and better manage what’s in our air.
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By Jill Miller Zimon at 11:08 am August 20th, 2011 in Cleveland+, Environment, Moms Clean Air Force, Politics | Please comment
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Aug
20
Will Media Report On Mandel’s Official Announcement?
Filed Under Campaigning, Elections, Josh Mandel, Media, Politics, senate | Leave a Comment
I ask this question because when you continue to receive invitations that state someone is a candidate for U.S. Senate, and you read quotes by the candidate himself like this:
In the last fundraising quarter, Mandel raised 40 percent more than Brown and spent hundreds of thousands less to do it. “Forget fundraising,” Mandel says to the crowd. “What’s important to me is that we’re going to go next year and beat Sherrod Brown. And by beating Sherrod Brown and running strong, we’re also going to help the eventual nominee at the top of the ticket beat Barack Obama.”
you really have to hope that the candidate’s perpetuated charade of not yet being announced will not lead the media to give earned media when the candidate finally does whatever he thinks it is he is supposed to do to make it official.
The quote is from this Weekly Standard article written by a college senior who is serving a journalism internship through this program.
Frankly, the longer Mandel keeps up the manipulative approach he is using now to string along the wonky curious, the more likely it is that the media coverage of whatever it is that he does to make his run official is likely to be anticlimactic and less than flattering.
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By Jill Miller Zimon at 9:24 am August 20th, 2011 in Campaigning, Elections, Josh Mandel, Media, Politics, senate | Please comment
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Aug
19
Appearing On Feagler Tonight & Discussing SB5, Turnpike, TSA Xrays & Buffet’s Tax Op-Ed
Filed Under Announcements, Jill Miller Zimon, Media, Politics | Leave a Comment
You can find the video here later next week but can also see viewing info for tonight, Sunday and on the Ohio Channel. Here’s the blurb:
Kasich: Let’s Deal on SB 5
Posted Friday, August 19, 2011
Newsmaker: Mark Moran, President and Chief Executive Officer, MetroHealth System—the hospital has drawn criticism recently for severance packages offered to high ranking employees who’ve left the hospital since 2008. Most lost their jobs as the hospital restructured its management. Moran has said the severance packages were necessary to avoid potential litigation and that executive pay at MetroHealth matches the industry standard. The hospital system recently reversed a trend of annual losses and is now running in the black.
Roundtable: Kevin O’Brien, editorial writer, The Plain Dealer; Jill Miller Zimon, blogger, Writes Like She Talks; Ned Whelan, Whelan Communications.
Kasich: Let’s Make a Deal—Governor Kasich and Republican leaders say they want to negotiate a compromise with labor leaders that would end the referendum drive to repeal Senate Bill 5. Kasich says what’s sure to be a noisy campaign would do more harm than good. A representative of We Are Ohio, the referendum backers, said compromise is only possible after SB 5 is repealed.
Turnpike Lease—the Governor wants to find out if the Ohio Turnpike could be the road to riches for state government. He’s moving ahead with plans to hire a consultant to assess the value of leasing the Turnpike and then soliciting bids by 2013. Some estimates have said the deal could be worth billions.
Not-So-Naked Truth at the Airport—Cleveland’s Hopkins airport is among dozens of airports in the nation employing the next generation of body scanning passenger screening devices. Instead of an image that some passengers condemned as too revealing, the new device displays what resembles a crime scene chalk drawing with trouble spots showing up as a patch of yellow.
Buffett: Stop Coddling the Super-rich—billionaire financier Warren Buffett says it’s time the government raised taxes on people like himself. Buffett complained in a New York Times op-ed that he and his mega-rich friends are protected like spotted owls while the poor and middle class struggle to make ends meet. Said Buffett, he and his rich friends are prepared to pay higher taxes and it’s time Congress got serious about the concept of shared sacrifice.
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By Jill Miller Zimon at 2:01 pm August 19th, 2011 in Announcements, Jill Miller Zimon, Media, Politics | Please comment
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Aug
15
Whatever Happened To…TVA Kingston Coal Ash Disaster
Filed Under coal, Energy, Environment, Moms Clean Air Force | 1 Comment
I will never forget when this man-made catastrophe occurred. I was a newcomer to Twitter but had several trusted journalist friends who were already tweeting. One such friend, the highly regarded Amy Gahran, along with me and a few others, noticed tweets coming out about an enormous failure at a coal or fly ash repository in Kingston, Tennessee.
The big issue? No one was covering it. This was December 2008 and the organized tweeting of terrorist attacks and natural disaster was still somewhat unusual and rare. But Amy and I and others were transfixed by the human tragedy unfolding in what many would say are truly unforgotten areas with somewhat in invisible populations of people living on the edge and living off of an industry anchored by coal and energy consumption. Amy wrote this excellent post about the situation.
Although the spill eventually got the attention it deserved, like many disasters, the coverage is short-lived and the memories of it in most Americans minds fade even more quickly. I actually continue to follow it through my Google alerts specifically to avoid that but even so, I don’t blog about it nearly often enough.
One of the most recent news items I received via the alerts revealed the alarming amount of money being spent (let alone yet to be spent) to clean up the disaster’s effects. According to this article, “TVA at crossroads as it decides future of Bellefonte nuclear plant”:
Cleanup from a December 2008 calamity at TVA’s Kingston coal-fired plant, which sent a mountain of damp ash cascading across fields and yards and into the Emory River, is costing about $1 billion.
Consider, however, that this tragedy was only three years ago. How much more will it cost, and what would it have cost to prevent that disaster – by either reducing the reliance on coal or regulating coal ash or enforcing better retaining mechanisms for the sludge?
Blogging about the Moms Clean Air Force, has convinced me that there is no question that the debate about which energies we should be using, developing and investing in – all of which should be done with an eye toward supporting our environment – is only going to intensify as time goes on.
Likewise, the focus on costs, including the cost of preventing exceedingly expensive consequences of our energy choices, must continue. This is exactly what supporting stricter clean air standards is about. Rather than spend the billions we are spending on treating people with asthma, neurological problems, lung disease and heart disease, let’s clean up the polluting coal plants–do the best we can with coal, until we can stop relying on it entirely. As New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has said, “Coal kills people everyday.”
Given those realities, I hope you will please join the MCAF and help keep people apprised of these critical issues that affect all of us. We must not allow any rhetoric or special interest-driven argument obscure facts like those from the Harriman spill: one billion dollars – just spent on clean-up.
No way, no how is that cost-efficient. We have got to be able to do better. And making sure we continue to keep this information in the public dialogue is a huge part of the doing better.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 10:55 am August 15th, 2011 in coal, Energy, Environment, Moms Clean Air Force | 1 Comment
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Aug
12
Iowa Republican Debate Review
Filed Under Campaigning, Debates, Elections, Politics, Republicans, WH2012, White House 2012 | 2 Comments
When I wrote about June’s New Hampshire debate, I wrote that answering the question of what I want in a candidate has two parts: first, the policy part, and second, the competency part. Neither takes precedence over the other in any absolute way, but I defined the competency piece as going “…to overall experience, dedication, integrity, sincerity, thoughtfulness, consistency and respect for all voters, not just the ones that will vote you in, once you are in office.”
Last night? During the Iowa debate with eight Repubican candidates? (Review the live-blog of the Iowa GOP debate here, the entire debate video here or the debate’s transcript here.) I can honestly say that listening to what they had to say made me feel as though former Utah governor and ambassador to China, Jon Huntsman, was the only one who had a clue that being president means making decisions for hundreds of millions of people who didn’t pick you.
But wait there’s more – here at my full post on BlogHer.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 8:36 pm August 12th, 2011 in Campaigning, Debates, Elections, Politics, Republicans, WH2012, White House 2012 | 2 Comments
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Aug
12
Some People Pay Me Dept: Naughty Number Nine
Filed Under Jill Miller Zimon, Parenting, Writing | 4 Comments
Yeah yeah – today is my birthday – and here’s how I feel about it – see if you figure it out from this great illustration by the always perceptive Diana Hadley:
By Jill Miller Zimon at 11:29 am August 12th, 2011 in Jill Miller Zimon, Parenting, Writing | 4 Comments
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Aug
11
Live-blog Alert: Third Republican Presidential Primary Debate, Tonight @ 9pm
Filed Under Campaigning, conservatives, Debates, Elections, live-blog, Media, Republicans, WH2012, White House 2012 | Leave a Comment
Follow the action with me and Emily Zanotti (aka American Princess and avowed conservative) here starting at 9pm!
By Jill Miller Zimon at 2:35 pm August 11th, 2011 in Campaigning, conservatives, Debates, Elections, live-blog, Media, Republicans, WH2012, White House 2012 | Please comment
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Aug
10
Will Mandel Attack His Most Recent Endorser & Super Committee Member, Rob Portman?
Filed Under Campaigning, Josh Mandel, Politics, rob portman, senate | Leave a Comment
Today, U.S. Senator and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell named Ohio’s junior senator, Rob Portman, to the “super committee.” Earlier this week, Portman endorsed U.S. Senate Republican primary candidate and newby Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel. So what?
Yesterday, the Plain Dealer published Mandel’s direct attack on votes in favor of raising the debt ceiling but he has yet to rebuke Portman. Worse for Mandel now, though, is not that Portman voted for raising the debt ceiling but rather, as reported by the Columbus Dispatch yesterday, and by news outlets such as MSNBC this afternoon, Portman is absolutely being looked to and has indicated that, as a member of the super committee, he “…would not rule out additional revenue as a way to reduce the federal deficit.”
Opportunism can be really problematic for politicians, and not just when they’re being 100% transparent about just how opportunistic their ambitions and decisions are.
BONUS: Mainstream America wants taxes raised. They’ve indicated this over and over and over again – Americans who self-ID as Republicans included. As Stephen Benen writes,
This clearly isn’t what the congressional GOP had in mind. As debt-reduction talks got underway months ago, Republicans assumed they had the better hand — all they had to do, the party assumed, was say those rascally Democrats want to “raise taxes.” The public would recoil, Dems would back down, and all would be right with the world.
But it’s Democrats who are in sync with the public. Lately, it’s tough to get two-thirds of the country to agree on much, but they agree on raising taxes on the wealthy.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 3:39 pm August 10th, 2011 in Campaigning, Josh Mandel, Politics, rob portman, senate | Please comment
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Aug
10
Two WI Dems to Unseat WI Repubs Are Women
Filed Under Democrats, Elections, Gender, Politics | Leave a Comment
I don’t know that I’d say it was all about the women in the Wisconsin recall elections, but as Care 2 pointed out three weeks ago, five of the six Dems challenging the Republicans were women. Two of those women unseated two male incumbent Republicans yesterday, so a sliver of sun comes through on a couple of accounts.
Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post’s The Fix dedicated an entire post to the question, “Are the Wisconsin recalls about women?,” on Monday.
And note the photo used with the article – another crazy-eyed woman. For goodness sakes, editors. Yeesh – yuppers, all women are crazy-eyed, especially the ones who care about or are in politics.
O.M.G.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 8:32 am August 10th, 2011 in Democrats, Elections, Gender, Politics | Please comment
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