Ohio, 2004 The Battleground State

“Bison - Clinton came to office as we were just recovering from the Bush I recession of 1990-91. He raised taxes on the upper 1.2%, grew the economy, balanced the budget (actually took us to surplus) and presided over eight years of job creation.

Seems to me his team faced some major challenges and came through brilliantly.”

“Mark Warner hasn't done anything to effect the economy of this state whatsoever. Gilmore chopped the car tax and we took off.”

“I still can't find those figures, a link would be helpful.”

“I haven't once denied its at 1.8% now - it was better before Bush - explain that.”

“Major challenges, what major challenge? the recovery was in full swing even before he was elected, and that recession was nothing, a statistical blip that was blown up for political spin. Clinton also had a new market, that he had nothing to do with creating (well maybe Al did bada bing), that exploded shortly after he took office, and imploded just before Bush took office.”

“Violin any comparison below 4% is meaningless. 1.8% is no better than 3.6%, full employment means everyone who is looking for a job has one. (4% is a statistical average taken across the entire country, so there can be pockets where that isn't quite full employment, but it is a conservative average, and there is nowhere where 1.8% isn't full employment)”

“NORTHERN VIRGINIA PDC

Yearunemployment rate
2000 1.2%
1999 1.6%
1998 1.7%”

“The only thing that imploded was the overinflated market that the greedy stock brokers cooked up. The creation of the internet can be compared to the economic boom that personal computers gave to Reagan and Bush, yet they still couldn't lead the nation with low unemployment figures, or keep the national debt at bay.”

“Year unemployment rate
2000 1.2%
1999 1.6%
1998 1.7%”

“"that the greedy stock brokers cooked up."

Buddha Bear
04:09:08 PM
07/19/04

Well they were cookin' it up when Clinton was in office, so I'm finding it difficult to place the blame on Bush.”

“The Mexican peso crisis and the East Asian monetary cisis both had the potential to derail the Clinton economy. Fortunately we had grown ups who could design policy to meet those challenges and not step up with a one size fits all tax cut policy.”

“I'm not really sure why I'm continuing to argue with someone who says that 1.8% is the same as 4% and can't admit that the unemployment numbers were better prior to Bush's tax cuts.”

“The corporatist ideology will not allow flexible policy design, its tax cuts or tantrums.”

“Being one who actually lives in this battleground state I do hope they don't leave the place a mess when it's over.”

“It could get worse?

”

“"Clinton never faced the economic challenges that Bush has....."

Well, I agree with what Vi said earlier. Remember, the reason Bush1 lost was teh economy, stupid (not you, bison. Just using a Bush era "bubble burst" if you will).

I will point out that Clinton also raised taxes, which was very unpopular at the time, but prove to sustain the economy and kept everything going. That was a pretty big risk. Bush 1 did it also, and it blew up in his face.”

“Screech! It's pelt head! He's from Cleveland V. He doesn't count for Ohio. Traff-i-can't-he, Ku-sin-ich, Jerry Springer...these are the faces of Ohio politics.

Someone remind me why Ohio is so valueable again?”

“I'm not really sure why I'm continuing to argue with someone who says that 1.8% is the same as 4% and can't admit that the unemployment numbers were better prior to Bush's tax cuts."

VioLiN
04:16:50 PM
07/19/04

I'm not really sure why I'd continue having an argument about economics with someone who doesn't understand the concept of full employment. Yes 1.2% is a lower number than 1.8% but it makes no difference to the man on the street once it's below 4%. At that point your only talking about a difference in the amount of excess jobs.”

“No dumbass. In the case of Northern Virginia, that equates to thousands more families with an income. Nationally that would be millions of people working.

People are not meaningless percentages.”

“On a positive note, now at least, there is a chance for an honest vote count in Ohio.

E-voting rejected in Ohio

The state is balking at using the technology, citing security concerns

JULY 19, 2004 (COMPUTERWORLD) - Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell on Friday barred officials in three counties from purchasing electronic voting machines after a second round of security testing showed that the systems still have an unacceptable level of security flaws.
The decision blocks the deployment of e-voting systems from Diebold Election Systems in Hardin, Lorain and Trumbull counties. Thirty-one counties in Ohio have now postponed using e-voting systems until after the November presidential election. Seven counties, however, have already purchased paperless e-voting systems.

"As I made clear last year, I will not place these voting devices before Ohio's voters until identified risks are corrected," Blackwell said. "Diebold Election Systems has successfully addressed many, but not all, of the problems that were identified in our first security review. The lack of comprehensive resolution prevents me from giving county boards of elections a green light for this November."

Will Doherty, executive director of VerifiedVoting.org, a grass-roots organization calling for voter-verifiable paper audit trails for all e-voting systems, applauded Blackwell's decision and said voter-verified paper ballots should be the ballots of record for all voting systems.

"Precinct-based optical scan or other new technologies will likely outstrip the current generation of e-voting machines as the best technology for secure, reliable and transparent elections," he said.

In December, Blackwell released results from two comprehensive examinations that identified 57 potential security risks within the software and hardware of the voting devices manufactured by Diebold, Election Systems & Software Inc., Hart InterCivic Inc. and Sequoia Voting Systems. As a result of that testing, Blackwell ordered the vendors to correct the problems or face a halt in deployment.

Diebold Election Systems was the only vendor to submit revised voting software and hardware for retesting.

Blackwell's decision follows the lead of California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley, who on April 30 issued a directive decertifying e-voting systems in 10 counties, pending security improvements. The directive also banned the use of touch-screen systems from Diebold.”

“And they would be working if people weren't standing in the way of moving other areas into new areas of economic opportunity. The people here sure as hell wouldn't be working if the owners of the business hadn't had the personal capitol to spend on expansion. So don't talk about how you're against tax cuts and then play it off like you're some kind of great fighter for the common man because of it. If it wasn't for those tax cuts we wouldn't be talking about full employment here. We'd be talking about me trying to find my next meal. Don't give me your liberal common man bull#&%!$.”

“The 'dumbass' comment might have been a little over the top but a lot of my colleagues felt that what I said badly needed to be said and was long overdue. I expressed myself rather forcefully and feel better now.”

“Then explain this:

Year unemployment rate
2000    1.2%
1999    1.6%
1998    1.7%”

“What is there to explain? There was a surplus of jobs then. There is a surplus of jobs now.”

“There is no surplus of jobs for Ohio. We have had republican leadership here for the past 12 years, and even with your precious tax cuts, school funding is being cut, businesses are closing, and we have gone to #3 in the nation in tax burden (from #15 pre-GWB). So, the moral of the story is, when you are have total republican leadership on both the state and federal level, your state gets screwed very very very badly.”

“I'll give you another explanation, what would the rate be without the tax cuts 5%, 5.5, 6, 7? who knows? Bush doesn't have an internet boom to carry him, Oh did you forget that? Clinton's economic environment was an anamoly, he did a good job within that no doubt. But Bush is operating in an entirely different economic climate, and we have a 1.8% unemployment rate. How many people did those internet companys employ? Take those jobs out of the equation and do I believe the unemployment rate here in 2000 would have been 1.2%? Hell No!”

“Not only did the Deibold thing get shot down, we are anticipating many voters being screwed out of thier vote. So, instead of being Florida II, the AFL-CIO in conjunction with the DNC have forged a massive volunteer legal team to be on call for those people that are told they can't vote. If a voter is turned away, a call goes into the legal team, and we'll have an attourney with a lawsuit quicker than you can say "Fhuck Off!"1









1 - Dick Cheney, June 2004”

“Go get 'em Buddha Bear.


Bison - Bush doesn’t have the internet anymore? What happened to it? Why weren’t we told?

The fact of the matter is that unemployment is now higher in all parts of the country (Northern VA included) than it was when the adults were in charge. The tax cuts haven’t done diddly except bust the budget. Supply side economics is a cruel joke. There is no shortage of capital. If real wages weren’t falling, consumers would create demand and producers would have to hire to meet that demand. Switch off your radio and read a textbook.”

“Link for BB - http://www.legitgov.org/essay_monroe_ohio_voter_purge_071904.html”

“"Bush doesn’t have the internet anymore? What happened to it?"

apparently Violin was too busy reading the communist manifesto while the internet economy was folding at the end of the Clinton administration.

"There is no shortage of capital"

Not now that we've put billions of dollars back into the economy there isn't. What textbook told you that you can get by in a stagnant economy without putting money into it? Bush had a choice, put money out into the economy or don't. Yeah he could have kept the budget balanced, for what? There almost no where left for interest rates to go (and they pretty much hit bottom deficit notwithstanding). Those low rates had lost their ability to affect growth. Bush put money in by cutting taxes and raising spending. The only other thing he could have done was sit around with a balanced budget while the economy sank, something that maybe you're "grown-ups" would have done.”

“Give it a rest Bison. Every postwar recession was cured by monetary policy. President Greenspan himself called fiscal policy too blunt an instrument to soften a recession. The reason the interest rate cuts didn't work this time is George insisted on bloating the deficit which acts as a drag on the money supply, thereby working at cross purposes with Fed policy.

You still haven’t explained how you can maintain that Bush’s tax cuts are responsible for your low unemployment rate when it was even lower for three years running prior to Bush taking office.”

“Violin for the four hundred and forty eighth time, there were a ton of new companies in an emerging market during Clinton's term. Those companies employed people. Many of those companies are now gone. So they are not now employing people. Those companies began going away at the end of Clinton's term. Those job losses have nothing to do with Bush's economic policies.”

“"Those companies began going away at the end of Clinton's term."


Wrong again. Employment peaked in March 2001.”

“And when did Bush's economic policies start to take effect Violin? That's some rather weak spin you got there.”

“Bush's first tax cut was enacted in June 2001.

Employment fell from 1,320,870 in June 2001 and bottomed out at 1,297,890 in August 2003.

What a great success! He has my vote.”

“Yes it was a tremendous success, I shudder to think of how bad it would have been with the money sitting around in govt. funds.”

“Employment fell from 132,087,000 in June 2001 and bottomed out at 129,789,000 in August 2003.”

“Sadly, Ohio republicans are trying to stifle the free market in yet another industry in Ohio.

With the help of my wondertwin, Chili66, we can fight and defeat this threat!”

“

Somebody, and I'm not naming names here, needs to get LAID!”

“The lady pictured is the anti-stripper bill sponsor and author.”

“She's got I RAQ !!”

“Q - Oh my!”

“oh, c'mon!

She's got that "come hither" look about her.

Plus, ya can't miss the bullet tits!

My God man, where are your eyes!?!

Doose be some Dubley D's if I ever seen dem!”

“Hey BB - Looks like Ken Blackwell is trying to screw all those new voters you keep talking about. Perhaps a few hundred very loud union members demonstrating outside of his office in front of TV cameras would help him change his mind.


Blackwell rulings rile voting advocates

Boards of elections told to strictly follow two provisions

Jim Bebbington and Laura Bischoff - Dayton Daily News

DAYTON | Voters-rights advocates are criticizing two recent decisions by Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell that they say will unfairly limit some people's ability to vote Nov. 2.

Blackwell's office has told county boards of elections to follow strictly two provisions in Ohio election law:

• One requires Ohio voter registration cards be printed on thick, 80-pound stock paper.

• The other ordered boards to strictly interpret the rules regarding provisional ballots, the ones cast by voters who move before the election but are still registered in Ohio.

The paper-stock issue is frustrating Montgomery County Board of Elections officials, who have a backlog of registrations to complete. If they get an Ohio voter registration card on paper thinner than required, they are mailing a new card out to the voter. But if they still have the backlog by the registration deadline, Oct. 4, voters will not have another chance to get their correct paperwork in, said Steve Harsman, deputy director of the Montgomery County board.

"There is just no reason to use 80-pound paper," Harsman said.

In Montgomery County there is a backlog of around 4,000 registrations, Harsman said. A few hundred could be affected by this provision, he said.

Cuyahoga County board of elections officials are ignoring the edict because they have already had an avalanche of new registrations submitted on forms printed on newsprint in The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer.

"We don't have a micrometer at each desk to check the weight of the paper," said Michael Vu, director of the Cuyahoga County Board.

Blackwell's office has given the Cuyahoga board a special dispensation to accept the newsprint registration forms. The requirement is because the forms are designed to be mailed like post-cards and must be thick enough to survive mechanical sorters at the U.S. Post Office, according to Blackwell's spokesman Carlo LoParo.

"Our directive stands and it is specifically in place to protect new registrants to make sure the forms are not destroyed," LoParo said.

Confusing the matter further is a national registration form available off the Internet at the federal Elections Assistance Agency. That form must be accepted by Ohio boards regardless of what it is printed on, Blackwell has said.

The heavy-weight paper was a requirement when the cards were kept for years, were used to keep track of when a person voted, and were the main way to check signatures to combat voter fraud and verify petitions. But many boards, including both Montgomery and Cuyahoga, scan the signatures into a computer database and no longer record voting history on the cards.

The League of Women Voters of Ohio on Thursday called on Blackwell to clarify his position. League national president Kay Maxwell said she knows of no other states that are requiring the 80-pound paper stock for voter registration cards. "This is the first I've heard of it," she said on Thursday in Columbus.

The other directive forbids poll workers from giving a provisional ballot unless the person can prove they live in that precinct. Peg Rosenfield, spokeswoman for the league, said she interprets federal to be less restrictive. Rosenfield says people who show up at the wrong precinct should be given a ballot and allowed to vote on the non-local races.

”

“EMAIL I recieved today.

Sent: Wed 9/29/2004 11:30 AM
To: CENSORED

Subject: [GCVRC Update] Blackwell Ruling Needs Emergency Actionl


Hello Everyone,

Urgent action is needed today to reverse a ruling by Secretary of
State Blackwell that voter registration cards must be printed on 80
pound paper stock. Blackwell is demanding that anyone who registered
on other than 80 pound stock should re-register! Please call the
Secretary of State's office right now and demand that he reverse this
ruling!!! The number is: 1-877-767-6446. Or, 614-466-2585.

Background: Secretary of State Blackwell is using an old requirement
that is no longer necessary. The 80 pound stock rule was established
because many boards of elections kept a person's voting record on
those cards for years. It was one way to check signatures to combat
voter fraud and to verify petitions. Now, however, most boards use
computers to scan a person's signature and no longer record a
person's voting history on the cards. Even Board of Elections
officials in Montgomery and other counties are protesting this latest
ruling.

Furthermore, anyone can print out a registration form using the
internet at the federal Elections Assistance Agency site. According
to the Dayton Daily News, Secretary of State Blackwell has said that
form must be accepted by Ohio boards regardless of what it is printed
on. So what is the point of Blackwell now demanding that all other
registrations be on 80 pound stock?

There is no practical way that this ruling can be carried out. There
is not enough time left before the close of registration on Oct. 5
for everyone who reegistered on less than 80 pound stock to
re-register. If Secretary of State Blackwell's ruling stands and is
somehow implemented, thousands of Ohio voters will be
disenfranchised! For the Secretary of State to issue such a ruling
at this 11th hour is an outrage!

Please act now to pressure the Secretary of State to reverse this
ruling and to protect the voting rights of all Ohio citizens!

If you can't get your call through because the lines are jammed with
calls, you can e-mail the SOS at election@sos.state.oh.us
But please keep trying to get through by phone!

Thank you.
The Greater Cleveland Voter Registration Coalition


Anybody can feel free to call Mr. Blackwell. Mr. Blackwell plans on running for Gov., in 2006, go figure!”

“I left a message for Mr. Blackwell, and will post here if he bothers to call me back.”

“How unreasonable that the Sec. of State insist that people follow the law. I can see why you're pissed.”

“Glad you're on top of it.

I'm not sure how to word my post without possibly being charged with inciting a riot.”

“I just got word that he's backed-off his ridiculous ruling.

NoProb, he was accepting registration from the Cleveland Plain Dealer (not 80 lbs stock paper), forms downloaded from the federal government (not 80 lbs stock paper), and not others. So he was picking and choosing, which, technically, is a violation of the outdated provision in the law. AFter he backed himself into a corner, he finally relented and is allowing all voter registration to be processed.

Basically, all this is, is some republican underling in Blackwell's office looking for ANYTHING, any little thing that could possibly keep someone from registering to vote (especially when voter registration is up 250% in democratic counties, and 30% in republican counties). These non-80 lbs paper registrations have been coming in for months and months, yet Blackwell decides to #&%!$can the registrations 5 days prior to the registration cut-off? Typical republican,voter disenfrachisement tactic, nothing more, nothing less.”

“Sound to me like, if the law says 80 lbs. he should have rejected them all. Make the legislature change the law. I agree that the paper stock sounds silly but, what's wrong with fixing the law instead of violating it?”