Politics Extra: Another Cranley pledge coming up

Thursday, July 06, 2006

Another Cranley pledge coming up

Voters might need a binder to keep track of all of the pledges Democrat John Cranley is making in his battle to oust six-term Republican Rep. Steve Chabot in Ohio's 1st Congressional District.

First, Cranley signed a pledge not to accept a pay raise until the federal budget is balanced.

Then, today, he signed a pledge not to vote to privatize Social Security.

Tomorrow, he's planning an event at Integrity Hall on Seymour Ave. with Rep. Artur Davis, D-Ala., in which he'll sign another pledge!

This one is on the Voting Rights Act, which expires this year. A bill to continue and update this act is pending in Congress. Oh, it's also co-sponsored and partly written by Chabot.

24 Comments:

at 8:17 PM, July 06, 2006

Anonymous said...

Where does the arrogant Chabothead get the idea that there should be a 25 year extention ??

If the niga-- doesn't behave we take it back ??

Why aren't the wRong wing nuts fighting for a constitutional admendment ??

Oh, they would rather create an afirmative action, token right to vote !!

at 8:23 PM, July 06, 2006

Anonymous said...

Why doesn't John Cranley stop running for Congress and remember his day job?
The city is going downhill fast with crime, bad schools, people and jobs moving to the suburbs.
As a member of city council shouldn't John Cranley pledge to fix the city's problems first?
I guess he just doesn't care about us city residents anymore.

at 8:56 PM, July 06, 2006

Matthew Bamberg said...

We have Mary Bono (R) and she's always a shoe-in cause she's a celebrity, but this time's she's got a rough-go at it. Republicans can't just run against Bush
on one issue (immigration).

You'd think they'd wake up and move on to global warming and a Manhattan Project to make seriously energy efficient vehicles.

at 9:31 AM, July 07, 2006

Anonymous said...

What's your hourly rate, Ms. Rulon? It seems your journalistic ethics are for sale.

at 9:57 AM, July 07, 2006

Anonymous said...

Voters should keep a binder of the number of pledges Steve Chabot has broken.

Chabot pledged not to serve more than six terms.

Chabot pledged not to abuse the franking privilege, yet sends out full-color mailings that look suspiciously like campaign material at tax-payer expense.

Chabot pledged to be a fiscal conservative, but has never met a Bush pork budget he hasn't loved.

All these lies from Chabot sure are getting old. Maybe it's time to throw that binder out.

at 11:31 AM, July 07, 2006

Anonymous said...

at 7/07/2006 9:31 AM Anonymous said...
What's your hourly rate, Ms. Rulon? It seems your journalistic ethics are for sale.

You know I thought the same thing. She just can't help injecting her political bias.

Mulon Rulon will do everything she can to slice the way clear for the wRong wing nuts !!

Just what we have come to expect from the fishwrap rag !!

Stenographers ONLY, journalist need not apply !!

Pathetic !!

at 11:53 AM, July 07, 2006

Anonymous said...

I'm going to go ahead and keep a binder of all the dumb ways the Enquirer tries to discredit the Cranley campaign without awknowledging the ignorance of the Chabot campaign.

Democrats around the country have united behind Cranley. The DCCC chair called the race ground zero. The U.S. House Minority Whip called it one of the top ten Congressional races in the country.

Cranley so far is surpassing all expectations. Therefore I understand why the Enquirer is bashing him: the Enquirer political staff are all loyal Republicans.

Well the wave of ultra-conservatism in our District is coming to an end. We are no longer going to be represented by a nut that doesn't bring anything back to Cincinnati.

Cranley is a moderate that identifies with the values of Cincinnatians. Chabot is a radical that identifies with the very rich of Cincinnati.

Cranley is man of the people, Chabot is a man of the special interests.

Enough said.

at 1:31 PM, July 07, 2006

Anonymous said...

Yep, these "journalists" have no integrity whatsoever. Rulon, Wilkinson, Weasel, they are all the same. They regurgitate Republican talking points and don't even pretend to be objective.

We need to continue to point out their complete subordination to the Republicans.

at 1:54 PM, July 07, 2006

Anonymous said...

Some of the Cranley fans on here are making the argument that liberals are not fit for public office better than all the conservative media outlets and pundits combined.

They accuse the Enquirer of regurgitating Republican talking points when the two most recent blog entries were essentially regurgitations of Democrat press releases. Amazing.

The public may be tired of conservative Republicans, but until liberal Democrats show that they have the first semblance of a clue of what they are talking about, they'll never turn the country over to them.

at 2:21 PM, July 07, 2006

Anonymous said...

Cranley a man of the people???!!! Surely, you can't be serious.
Cranley comes from a family of doctors. He wouldn't know the kind of hard work that the average resident of the west side puts in on a daily basis if it walked pinched his chubby little cheek. In fact, Cranley was so adverse to actually working that he delayed his entry to the real world an extra year and attended divinity school. (At Harvard, no less -- that mecca of blue collar values.) Apparently, his delay was well planned, since he couldn't hack it at an actual law firm. Little Johnny Drinksalot knows nothing about the difficulties that face working families. Any suggestion to the contrary is laughable.

Chabot, on the other hand, has held actual jobs. He worked in a factory and at a gas station. He taught at a school on the West End while he worked his way through law school at Chase. And he actually operated a law practice.

Of course, there is one other thing Chabot understands that Cranley can't begin to comprehend: the joys and trials of raising a family. How can Little Johnny Drinksalot represent families when he has no idea the challenges they face every day???

at 3:52 PM, July 07, 2006

Anonymous said...

Hey John Cranley, the West Side would like to thank you for killing off your old neighborhood. Great job in abandoning your friends and neighbors. Can't wait for the new Section 8!

at 4:11 PM, July 07, 2006

Anonymous said...

Hey John Cranley, the West Side would like to thank you for killing off your old neighborhood. Great job in abandoning your friends and neighbors. Can't wait for the new Section 8!

Please tell us one thing Chabothead has done for you !!

Cranly is a city councilman, not devoted only the west side !!

The west side is wRong wing nut controlled !!

What has Monzealot done for you ??

Get a life and clean up your own wRong wing nut mess !!

at 4:12 PM, July 07, 2006

Anonymous said...

Right, and we're reminded of Chabot living in a trailer park every time he sends out a campaign piece on the taxpayers' dime...well, 39 cents.

at 4:17 PM, July 07, 2006

Anonymous said...

The west side is exactly where section 8 should be !!

The territory is controlled by wRong wing nuts !!

Surely, the wRong wing nuts are great advocates of diversity ??

Keep up your gerrymandering and you will enjoy equal rights !!

lol, lol, lol

at 4:54 PM, July 07, 2006

Anonymous said...

Anon@1:54 said They accuse the Enquirer of regurgitating Republican talking points when the two most recent blog entries were essentially regurgitations of Democrat press releases.

Are you kidding? Or, are you smoking something?

at 5:40 PM, July 07, 2006

Anonymous said...

at 7/07/2006 4:54 PM Anonymous said...
Anon@1:54 said They accuse the Enquirer of regurgitating Republican talking points when the two most recent blog entries were essentially regurgitations of Democrat press releases.

Are you kidding? Or, are you smoking something?

What a wRong wing nut know nothing !!

Where are these press release ??

Were did the Enquire publish these press release ??

You must be harvesting the misleaders favorite crop, coca cane !!

You obviously don't know schmidt !!

at 7:32 PM, July 07, 2006

Anonymous said...

2:21 Chabothead --

Yeah, The Whistleblower exposed Chabot's origins with Big Oil too:

http://www.cincynation.com/Blower_07052006.html

"Has Steve Chabothead begun paying attention to the Blower for calling him out for ILLEGALLY campaigning on over-taxed payers' dollars for seven straight months?

The wayward Congressman finally put up a website paid for with his campaign contributors. For the most part, it talks about what Chabothead tried to do, with pictures of Chabothead looking like he’s been ridden hard and put up wet in Washington.

The best part of the site features a commercial on how Chabothead began his dance with Big Oil -- at the pump as a gas station attendant. Of course, Chabothead's half-ass site conveniently forgets to mention how Chabothead went to Congress claiming that giving tax breaks to big oil companies amounts to corporate welfare and how he now votes to give big oil billions in tax breaks. The Chabothead website also fails to list all the oil companies that give his campaign money. And, yes, his website fails to account for how much oil it takes to keep that comb-over attached to his bald scalp. But, the Blower enjoyed finding out the origins of The Oily Chabothead."

at 7:37 PM, July 07, 2006

Anonymous said...

3:52 & 4:11 Chabotheads:

If you have problems with Section 8 take it up with THE OILY CHABOTHEAD.

Section 8 is a FEDERAL program overseen by wayward Congressmen like THE OILY CHABOTHEAD.

Maybe if Chabot wasn't so busy taking junkets around the world and giving billions in corporate welfare to Big Oil he might address your concerns.

Chabot has turned his back on you.

at 12:10 AM, July 08, 2006

Anonymous said...

Cranley's resume used to be available on his old campaign website. I remember it saying he was a janitor for 6 years or so.

He went to the finest school in the nation to get a law and divinity degree.

He came home to Cincinnati, joined the most prestigous law firm in the city, and ran for Congress.

In his mid-twenties, he also unseated Chabothead.

He then was appointed to City Council by the Mayor.

He was then elected three consecutive times and in 2006 he got the most votes out of any City Council candidate.

Now he's running for Congress again, and he has 100% support from the national Democrats and all local ones.

I want everyone to pay attention to the attacks the GOP, Chabot campaign, and Enquirer Blog throw at Cranley. No attacks will be focused on his qualifications or voting record. Instead, they will be focused on the dumbest, stupidest, and simply fake issues.

If you all recall, the Enquirer Blog recently ran a story about whether or not Cranley was waving or motioning to some dude. Now they claim that he is stomping on dead people's graves over an issue that is still quite relevant (SS): President Bush said so last month.

The Enquirer Blog either should go off-line or get some new staff members. I expect more out of a historic newspaper.

Shame on the Enquirer.

at 8:44 AM, July 09, 2006

Anonymous said...

poster 7:20pm -- please investigate:

Heimlich’s Conflict of Interest in Fundraising?
Thursday, February 09, 2006

UPDATED, 2/9, 5:45pm!

Next Monday, February 13th, Citizens Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes (COAST) is holding a fundraiser for Phil Heimlich at the Watson Bros. Brewhouse in Blue Ash (6:30pm, cost $75, guest speaker Steve Chabot, open to the public). Christopher Finney (on the left, swearing in his friend Phil Heimlich) is listed as a leader of COAST (along with Tom Brinkman and James Urling)—which should raise some eyebrows due to Finney’s longstanding real estate associations with Phil Heimlich. This sounds like a conflict of interest at worst, or backroom cronyism and influence peddling at best.

Phil Heimlich, Chris Finney, and Jeff Eichorn (who works for Attorney General and Gubernatorial hopeful Jim Petro’s office) have been listed as principal partners in a Limited Liability Corporation known as “The Three Centurions.” That is, until they recently transferred ownership to each of their wives.

The Three Centurions seems to be a real estate investment business of some sort—the company holds several properties in the region. This business relationship should put a new spin on Finney’s relationship with an outfit like COAST. Is Finney really interested in saving the taxpayers of Hamilton County a few bucks, or does his own personal business ventures stand to make an exponentially larger profit due to the types of policy he pushes through people like Phil Heimlich?

This puts a radically different spin on stories like this recent column by Kimball Perry. Perry keeps circling the issue of these behind-the-scenes relationships, writing passages like this:

Even though he has never been elected, Chris Finney could have a big say over what Hamilton County residents pay in taxes.

Firing the Tax Levy Review Committee members (where only Chris Finney remained on the board), Portune said, proves the committees aren’t being used to further government. Instead, he said, they are being used to advance the political doctrines Heimlich and DeWine share.

“Now, (the committee) is populated with one point of view, to follow the dictates of the chair whose only agenda is to eliminate the levies. That mirrors the philosophy of Phil and Pat,” Portune said. (my italicized insertion)

Perry just never swoops down for the kill, choosing to dance around the issue of the back-scratching just beneath the surface here—clearly manifest when one examines an LLC like The Three Centurions.

Why does Cincinnati corporate news keep giving Heimlich a free pass?

And what, if anything, does Steve Chabot (the guest speaker for the COAST fundraiser) know about all of this?

I just sent him the following email:

Dear Congressman Steve Chabot:

I am writing about the upcoming COAST fundraiser where you will be a guest speaker for Phil Heimlich.

Are you aware of some strange, behind-the-scenes relationships between Phil Heimlich and Chris Finney—one of the leaders of COAST?

They have been involved in a joint real estate venture known as The Three Centurions (along with Jeff Eichorn, from Jim Petro’s office). This LLC owns several properties throughout the region. Recently, they transferred ownership of this LLC to their wives.

Saving taxes is one thing, but it is something else when it looks like COAST is working to line the pockets of real estate investors like like Heimlich and Finney.

This smacks of a conflict of interest at worst, or backroom influence peddling at best.

Respectfully,

The Dean of Cincinnati

UPDATES:

So why the name Three Centurions? A clue may be found in the recent In These Times cover story “The Cult of Character” ( http://www.inthesetimes.com/site/main/print/2450/ ) which describes Phil Heimlich’s connections to cult evangelist Bill Gothard:

According to Gothard’s interpretation, first century Roman Centurions were admirable figures of authority who followed their orders without question....

Coincidence? Or are Chris Finney and Jeff Eichorn - a former Heimlich aide who now works as Jim Petro’s Public Affairs Director ( http://das.ohio.gov/phone/agency/ago.asp ) - also Gothardite “Centurions”?

Additionally, I have written to all of those involved in The Three Centurions, and I even called Rebecca Heimlich. None were willing to talk. The fact that they all refuse to talk about this real estate partnership speaks volumes. Are they trying to hide something?

COAST has its own agenda and its issues come before the County Commission. How can Phil act as anything but a Finney puppet when he has so much money invested in a partnership w/Finney? Don’t they have a duty to disclose their business relationship? They didn’t. This is a charade.

They also failed to disclose their relationship during the Drake negotiations during which Finney sat on the Drake Levy board.

DOCS

Three Centurions LLC and Three Centurions Two LLC property records:
http://research.batcave.net/3cents_1-7-06.pdf

June 1, 2005 Hamilton County Recorder mortgage record naming Phil & Rebecca Heimlich, Chris & Diane Finney, Jeff & Jill Eichorn:
http://recordersoffice.hamilton-co.org/hcro-pdi/doGetDocumentDisplay.do?ctrlNumOne=4515999

Phil Heimlich’s Ethics Disclosure forms listing property addresses for Three Centurions LLC and Three Centurions Two LLC:
2002: http://research.batcave.net/2002-EthicsDiscl_PH.pdf
2003: http://research.batcave.net/2003-EthicsDiscl_PH.pdf
2004: http://research.batcave.net/2004-EthicsDiscl_PH.pdf

Thank you for reading (and printing from) The Cincinnati Beacon.

at 7:54 PM, July 09, 2006

Anonymous said...

jason happ needs a life

"Is Finney really interested in saving the taxpayers of Hamilton County a few bucks, or does his own personal business ventures stand to make an exponentially larger profit due to the types of policy he pushes through people like Phil Heimlich?"

Look at the properties owned by the group. A small collection of mostly single family homes valued at less than 100,000 a piece. YOu whine all the time about how the drake levy would only save 15 bucks for a 100,000 home. DO you really think that finney is motivated to work hard to save 150 bucks a year on these investments. Use a little logic but hey maybe if the tax cut had passed you wouldnt be getitng foreclosed on

at 10:12 PM, July 09, 2006

Anonymous said...

7/09/2006 7:54 PM
Anonymous said...

"Is Finney really interested in saving the taxpayers of Hamilton County a few bucks, or does his own personal business ventures stand to make an exponentially larger profit due to the types of policy he pushes through people like Phil Heimlich?"

Answer:

"hindlicks personal business ventures stand to make an exponentially larger profit due to the types of policy he pushes through people like Phil Heimlich?"

at 9:50 AM, July 10, 2006

Anonymous said...

at 9:48 PM, July 10, 2006

Anonymous said...

Previous Posts

Thursday, July 06, 2006

Another Cranley pledge coming up

24 Comments: