Earth Day

Just a friendly reminder that Earth Day is this Tuesday, April 22. We urge you to take five minutes out of your day and do something nice for the planet. It doesn't mean that you have to take the day off of work and pick up trash along I-75 all day (although it sure could use it)..........just maybe pick up trash along your street, change a few light bulbs to CFL's, open some windows instead of turning on the A/C, you get the point. Nature.org has some great ideas for you here:http://www.nature.org/earthday/?kw=google&gclid=CPq-t5306ZICFQijPAodcVOpdg

Although we would like to think that both candidates in this Congressional race will be participating in some form, given Steve Chabot's rating of 15% by the League of Conservation Voters (one of the worst in Congress), you would be more likely to see him throwing trash out of the window of his '93 Buick than helping out. Link to his entire environmental record here:http://www.govote.com/OH/Steve_Chabot_Environment.htm.

Happy Earth Day.

Driehaus Kicks Off Campaign With a Bang

The Front Porch Coffeehouse in West Price Hill was packed with supporters for the Denise Driehaus Campaign kickoff on Sunday night. Plenty of snacks and hors d'oeuvres were available as the candidate mingled and answered questions throughout the night.
Her brother, Steve introduced the candidate to the crowd and quickly stepped aside to give her the spotlight. During her speech she highlighted the four main issues of her campaign as Economic Development, Education, Housing and Recreation. She noted that the bar had been set high by her brother but she intended to keep the seat "blue" and work hard for Ohio for many years to come. Also, while talking about the current housing crisis, she gave a nod to Steve noting that "some had the foresight to see the foreclosure problem on the horizon seven years ago".
Judging by the amount of people who turned out for this event, it seems likely that this seat will indeed stay in the family.............
Stay tuned for updates from the Gehring campaign when and where it kicks off......though we are guessing it will not be held at Leslie Ghiz's office, or during a Blue Chip meeting.

Photo of the Day

What is Steve Chabot mad about???

Denise Driehaus Campaign Kickoff

The Denise Driehaus for State Representative Campaign will officially kickoff this weekend with an event in West Price Hill. You can link to her campaign website here: http://www.aryehalex.com/Denise_Driehaus/Denise_Driehaus.html.

She will face Scott Gehring who ran against Steve Driehaus last cycle but was defeated handily, garnering only 33% of the vote. Gehring is no stranger to local political controversy having been fired by Councilwoman Leslie Ghiz in the middle of his campaign in '06 when she caught him campaigning at City Hall on her dime. He then went to work on the losing campaign of Melanie Bates, and was forced to resign as President of the Blue Chip Young Republicans because of it. He hasn't had much going for him since. We would provide a link to the Gehring site but it, like the Chabot site, is still under construction.

We will keep you updated on this race as well as it unfolds............

Chabot Among "Rubber Stamp Elite"

According to The Washington Post, Steve Chabot is above average when it comes to towing the party line. The statistic shows that he has voted how President Bush and top Republicans want him to 90.6% of the time while the average for all other Republicans combined is just above 85%.

On another note, President Bush's approval ratings slipped to 28% this week. If Chabot wishes to continue billing himself as an "independent thinker", he will have to try and distance himself from these numbers.

Chabot Still Plagued by Scandal

It looks like Steve Chabot will have alot of explaining to do once this campaign heats up. Shown here with longtime friend and supporter Ken Blackwell, whose name has been synonymous with corruption since 2004, Chabot's office has been under fire over the last few weeks with charges of corruption and scandal. Many questions were raised several weeks ago when Chabot used his office in Washington to forward campaign e-mails in support of a Republican hopeful from Illinois, an abuse not allowed by Congressional rules. This incident reminded us of the 2006 election, when once again Chabot was caught abusing his Congressional privileges to send campaign materials to Republican households at taxpayers expense.

Now, it seems the company he keeps is coming under fire. Just over a week ago Chabot brought in for a fundraiser Newt Gingrich, who is known infamously not only for his infidelity but also his involvement in the "House Banking Scandal" where he personally wrote 22 bad checks.

Ken Mehlman, former chair of the Republican National Committee as well as Campaign Manager for George W. Bush, is shown at right speaking at Chabot's office last cycle during a rally. During his tenure as White House political director, he allegedly orchestrated the 2002 Phone Jamming Scandal for which co-conspirator James Tobin was later convicted for. Let's not get into his close relationship with President Bush and Dick Cheney, who said last week that he did not care what the American people thought about his policies regarding the war in Iraq.

We expect to see Steve Chabot and his team scrambling hard over the next few months to try and clear his name from the scandals that seem to follow him wherever he goes. Maybe they will find some time in there to get that website up and running!

Chabot schedules more "TownHall" events

The Chabot campaign sent out fliers last week to mostly Republican households around the district advertising the next series of "TownHall" events. Once again, the fliers were paid for and sent unethically at taxpayer expense.........saving him thousands of dollars in the process.

The first charade is scheduled for April 7 from 7-8pm at Harrison High School and the next is set for April 21 from 7-8pm at the Delhi Senior Center.

As we mentioned in an earlier post, it is extremely difficult to get an opportunity to ask Mr. Chabot a question during one of these events. He generally speaks for around 40-45 minutes, leaving 15-20 minutes for questions which are mostly asked by planted campaign staffers. However, in the slight chance (and we mean SLIGHT) that someone reading this may get called upon, we have come up with a list of questions that we feel like Mr. Chabot needs to answer.

1) What exactly does a Tribe of Indians from Mississippi have to do with the First Congressional District of Ohio, and why would they be giving you campaign money if not to buy your vote?
2) Why have you refused to keep your campaign promise from 1994 to limit yourself to six terms if elected?
3) How do you explain the $1.6 million dollars worth of pork you inserted into a 2007 appropriations bill to help companies ran by many of your large donors when you campaign against such earmarks and criticize others for doing far less?
4) Why the combover?
5) You have taken thousands of dollars over your career from anti-environment activist Bob Murray (profile:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_E._Murray), a mine owner who has been front and center during the mine tragedies of recent years. Is his constant flow of campaign cash the reason for your recent stance against mine safety regulations?
6) Why is it more important for you to give huge tax breaks and incentives to Big Oil companies like Exxon Mobil than to help provide health insurance for Ohio children?
7) Why doesn't everyone in the district receive an invitation to attend your "TownHall" meetings?
........................you get the point. There are alot of questions that have gone unanswered or have simply been ignored up to this point. If there is a question YOU have for either candidate, please let us know and we will try and get an answer for you!