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!

Driehaus and Supporters to celebrate Cincinnati Tradition

Steve Driehaus and supporters are planning to march in the annual Cincinnati Reds Opening Day Parade downtown Monday morning. Cincinnati.com will cover a live stream of the parade beginning at 11am. Link here:http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=CINCI

Rep. Driehaus had quite a large following for the St.Patrick's Day parade a few weeks ago and, judging by the large amount of early support he has garnered around the district, we don't expect them to be dampered by the forecast which calls for rain all day (also, another Cincinnati tradition).

No word from the Chabot camp on wheter or not they plan on participating this year.

Questions Linger about Chabot's Pork Projects

Many questions still linger about the $1.6 million earmark Mr. Chabot inserted into the Fiscal 2007 Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill. Chabot has been a longtime public critic of pork-barrel projects but seems to have done an unexplainable "about face" while arranging for this taxpayer money to be used for a number of local projects which would benefit the companies of eleven men and women who serve as part of his inner circle. The staggering amount of the monies set aside perplexed even Republican legislators such as Tom Coburn (R-Oklahoma) who has the following excerpt on the Government page for the Senate subcommittee on Federal Financial Management:

Eleven men and women who were identified as hosts or co-hosts on an invitation to a March Chabot fundraiser featuring House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) serve in leadership roles with the organizations in Chabot’s district that would receive federal money. It is not clear what relationship, if any, exists between the campaign donations and the federal money lined up for the pet causes of the donors. Indeed, it can be difficult for the public to understand why federal dollars are apportioned the way they are. “The suspicion has been that the way money works in politics is that those who give get, and this example appears to confirm that,” said Ellen S. Miller, executive director of the Sunlight Foundation.

Link to the entire story here:http://coburn.senate.gov/ffm/index.cfm?FuseAction=LatestNews.NewsStories&ContentRecord_id=1f36d469-802a-23ad-4ac6-5bdd0bdd1413&Issue_id=&IsTextOnly=False

Chabot's change of heart seems to go hand in hand with his major policy flip-flops in recent years. When running for his first term in 1994, Chabot campaigned speaking out against huge tax breaks for major corporations or what he billed "Corporate Welfare". However, the Cheney Energy Bill of 2005 contained over $23 Billion in tax breaks and incentives for Major Oil companies already raking in record profits. Mr. Chabot gave his full support to the piece of legislation. Again in 2006, he lobbied hard against an increase in the Federal Minumum Wage saying it would destroy the economy, even though it had not been raised in over 9 years. However, when a provision was inserted into the bill which would essentially give many of his wealthy donors another tax break, he changed his mind and said now that an increase would be GOOD for the economy.

Mr. Chabot still has alot of questions to answer about these donors who seem to be able to write their own blank checks on behalf of Congressman Chabot and the taxpayers.

Chabot continues Campaign against Environment

110th Congress / Bills / H R 1495
Title
To provide for the conservation and development of water and related resources, to authorize the Secretary of the Army to construct various projects for improvements to rivers and harbors of the United States, and for other purposes.

The Water Resources Act of 2007 ultimately passed the House by a margin of 361-54. It then went to the Senate where it passed with numbers great enough to override the threat of veto by President Bush. Anti-environment ambassador Dennis Hastert even voted for it. So why, beyond all reason, would Steve Chabot not support this bill? The answer, to us, seems very clear................$$$$$$$$$$.

The six-term Congressman has taken thousands of dollars throughout his career from anti-environment groups such as the Independent Petroleum Association of America and the National Mining Association, an organization led by Right-Wing activist and mine owner Bob Murray (profile:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_E._Murray).

Mr. Chabot has been a long time enemy of environmental projects. His rating of 15% by the League of Conservation Voters is among the lowest and most embarrassing scores in the entire House. Link to his entire record here:http://www.govote.com/OH/Steve_Chabot_Environment.htm

Driehaus Open House

The Driehaus Campaign open house was held last night at their headquarters on Glenmore Ave. and was reportedly a huge success. The event was very well attended by supporters from all areas of the district.
There is alot of momentum with the Driehaus camp right now mainly due to the strong amount of support and respect Mr. Driehaus has earned from community residents during his tenure in the statehouse. The candidate mingled among the crowds and welcomed supporters who were "fired up" at the prospect of taking on Chabot in November.

While the Driehaus campaign is up and running strong at this point, the Chabotians seem to be still scrambling to recover from recent scandal and corruption allegations. Mr. Chabot was recently once again caught using his office and Congressional privileges for campaign purposes. A practice that is not only unethical and against Congressional rules, but also something Mr. Chabot has been involved with in the past.
It looks like all of these problems are keeping them from getting the Chabot website up and running. Link here:http://www.stevechabot.com/ or also at the bottom of this page.
We will keep you posted on any updates and changes.

It must be an election year........Chabot to hold "Town Hall"

Here is the Press Release:

Congressman Steve Chabot will be at the Grove Banquet Hall, 9158 Winton Road, from 7-8 p.m. Tuesday, March 25.
Chabot will give a local congressional update, touch on issues such as the economy and job market, give updates on the happenings in Washington, and have a question-and-answer session following his talk.
Light refreshments will be available.
Call 522-1154 for more information.

It seems we are now entering "Town Hall" season in the campaign. Since 2003, the year of Mr. Chabot's first "Town Hall" meeting, the number of these things has increased every election year. Although they are typically nothing more than staged stump speeches with planted questions, it seems Mr. Chabot may have learned a small lesson in the way his campaign advertises the actual events. During the 2006 season, fliers were sent out advertising the them, but only to Republican households in the district. By abusing his Congressional postage privileges, Chabot was able to use taxpayer money and avoid paying for postage, saving thousands of dollars in the process.

This time around, a small article in the local Community Press in Forest Park announced the campaign event. No fliers, no radio announcement, no robo-call.

If the Congressman is serious about listening to what his constituents have to say, then why not send fliers to every household and invite everyone.......not just Republicans?

You can be sure that we will have full coverage of this spectacle. Who knows, maybe we will get to ask him a question!