He should have been a Republican First Lady

That way, the entire story could be smoothed over and never mentioned. Read the rest of this post...

Open Thread

Beautiful day in D.C. What's new? Read the rest of this post...

Ohio GOP's "Coin-Gate" Scandal Grows and Grows

Last month, Americablog posted an article from the Toledo Blade detailing how the State's Workers Compensation Fund had invested $50 million in rare coins. That story raised serious issues about how the Ohio GOP was handling public dollars. Rare coins are a risky investment.

You may also recall how GOP Candidate for Governor/Secretary of State Ken Blackwell had no problem with this kind of risky investment:

Mr. Blackwell said his position hasn't changed, but he said he would not criticize the bureau's investment in rare coin funds.

"I would never have any reason to question Jim Conrad's integrity. When you run a fund size of $18 billion and you're looking at $50 million, 'Beyond what one's disposition might be, is that an irresponsible amount of risk?' Most people would say no," he said.

Most people wouldn't think investing $50 million in a risky scheme was irresponsible...or just most leaders of Ohio's Republican Party?

Thanks to Holly for pointing us to the latest from the Toledo Blade which has nicknamed the saga "Coin-gate." This thing is ugly and getting uglier. The latest news is that 121 of the coins are missing:

The number of missing rare coins purchased with state money controlled by local Republican fund-raiser Tom Noe now totals 121, documents obtained by The Blade show.

An accounting firm hired to check the inventory of rare coins purchased by Mr. Noe or his associates for the state found last year that not only were the coins missing, but 119 coins were possibly stolen by a Colorado coin dealer, according to a 2004 audit report released last week.

Mr. Noe hired the dealer to run a coin subsidiary funded with money from the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation, the agency charged with paying the medical bills and providing income to workers injured on the job.

The 119 missing coins are in addition to two coins worth $300,000 owned by the state that were lost in the mail in 2003, confirmed Jeremy Jackson, press secretary for the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation.

The state doesn't know what happened to any of the coins, Mr. Jackson said.

Now, if you have missed this scandal, you may be wondering why the hell Ohio is investing in rare coins. These passages from the Blade should answer that question:

The Blade first reported April 3 that since 1998 the bureau has invested $50 million in rare coin funds controlled by Mr. Noe, a local coin dealer and frequent contributor to local, state, and national Republican campaign committees.

He was President Bush's northwest Ohio campaign chairman in last year's presidential race and because of the contributions he raised for the President, he earned the coveted status of a Bush "pioneer."

and

Democrats in the legislature have claimed that the bureau gave Mr. Noe $50 million to invest because of his generous contributions to state GOP campaign committees and Republican candidates.

Records show that Mr. Noe has over the last decade contributed more than $11,000 to both Governor Taft and former Gov. George Voinovich, now a U.S. senator for Ohio.

He has contributed more than $70,000 to other Republican candidates over the last 11 years.

Bush's "Pioneer" Noe is a clearly a guy that the Ohio GOP feels comfortable with $50 million in public funds. That may change:

But his work raising cash for the President's re-election campaign has also made him the subject of a U.S. Justice Department and FBI investigation.

U.S. Attorney Gregory White, in Cleveland, disclosed last week that Mr. Noe is the subject of the federal probe into possible federal campaign contribution violations.

The Ohio Inspector General has also launched a separate investigation into Mr. Noe, his coin ventures, and into "alleged wrongful acts associated with the investment practices" of the bureau.

It slays me that people think the GOP can be trusted with public moneys, that somehow they are better managers of our economic future:

A spokesman for Gov. Bob Taft said yesterday the governor's office was unaware that a total of 121 coins are now missing. He referred questions to the bureau. "This is their management. This is news we'll have to talk to the bureau about," Mark Rickel, the spokesman, said.

Keep an eye on this one. It seems everyone in the Ohio Republican Party is connected to this scandal in one way or another. And they all have ties to this Noe character. The Ohio GOP has been in power for way too long. Few things symbolize how arrogant and out of touch they are than the $50 million investment in missing coins.

Youngtown's Democratic State Senator, Marc Dann, summed it up, "What's horrible is the Republicans are so addicted to the campaign contributions, they could not get out of this thing."

And what will be more horrible is if the GOP stays in control of Ohio. Read the rest of this post...

We [heart] Apple

Ok, doh. I knew Tiger was an operating system and not a machine, but brain isn't functioning. Nonetheless, new Apple with new OS would be very cool :)

Cool. Wouldn't it be neat if some smart marketing exec at Apple sent us one of these Tigers so we can review it and tell all you disaffected Microsoft users how good it really is... Read the rest of this post...

Lengthy Bolton Profiles Show 'Softer' Side Of Bush's Bitch

Two lengthy profiles of Bush UN nominee John Bolton provide a fuller picture of the guy. The New York Times gives us his life story, with one notable success including working at the UN to get foreign diplomats to agree they'd repeal the UN resolution equating Zionism with racism. The LA Times has a long profile too, with its angle being that much of the complaints against Bolton are payback from a far more moderate State Department where he butted heads with Powell and all the less-than-far-right career folk ensconced there. (The State Department was basically enemy territory to the far right.)

But here's the less-than-encouraging quote from Condi Rice about Bolton, per Senate aides.

"We think that we can control him," Rice told one senator, two Senate aides said. "If he strays from the reservation, he's out."

They THINK they can control him. Wow, what an endorsement for a diplomat. Read the rest of this post...

Little Ricky Santorum for President?

At least someone's thinking about it according to today's Washington Post:

Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) tells voters he is intent on being the best senator he can if they give him a third six-year term in 2006. Why then, some are asking, has his campaign organization registered several Web site names that would be handy if he runs for president two years later?

The domain names -- including ricksantorum2008.com, ricksantorum2008.net and santorum2008.org -- were purchased by New Media Communications of Ohio, which maintains the senator's 2006 reelection site, the Hill newspaper reported last week.

Santorum, the Senate's third-ranking GOP leader, is widely thought to be eyeing a presidential bid, although "he has never talked about it," said his spokesman, Robert L. Traynham II. "His Web firm went out" and registered the '08 sites of its own volition, Traynham said.

I am trying to decide if he will be the most homophobic Presidential candidate ever. He would sure vie for the title with Pat Buchanan, among others. I mean that whole "man on dog" thing really puts him at the front of the pack.

And this sure explains why destroying Social Security, injecting himself into the Schiavo case and forcing the nuclear option are so important to Little Ricky. His act isn't playing well in PA, but sure plays well with the radical wingnuts. Read the rest of this post...

Sunday Morning Open Thread

Chat away.... Read the rest of this post...

UN gives "go-ahead" for Khmer Rouge trials

Nothing gets by this clever bunch at the UN. Yes, 30 years after Pol Pot and his maniacs took control of Cambodia the UN is jumping right on to this and giving the go-ahead for the trials. Whew! Don't rush or anything because everyone just might be dead if you wait a few more years. Obviously the UN has been caught in a struggle between giants including China for some time over this obvious case of countless crimes against humanity. I wonder if those Reagan-lovers out there are still proud of ol' Ronnie and his preference for supporting Pol Pot in the UN. Oh yes, a proud moment for all lovers of democracy out there in wingnut land.

If a free press existed in China, one that did not continue to throw members of the press into prison, perhaps someone could ask Mr. Hu about why China has not contributed or pledged any money to this ridiculously expensive war crimes trial. Japan has pledged $21 Million for this but perhaps China already maxed out it's allotment for Cambodia after years of extensive support for Pol Pot and the murderers of the Khmer Rouge. Read the rest of this post...

Blair (and Bush) decided to invade Iraq 8 months prior to invasion

Not that it's a surprise, but at least the truth if finding its way out. What appeared to have tipped the balance was the fact that Bush also had firmly made up his mind to invade as well, despite public lies that said otherwise. The only thing keeping him in this election is that the Tories were just as supportive of the war so their own criticism means nothing.

This story also has a Cheney/Bolton aspect to it as it raises the critical problem with Bolton which is his insistence on massaging facts to match policy.

A damning minute leaked to a Sunday newspaper reveals that in July 2002, a few weeks after meeting George Bush at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, Mr Blair summoned his closest aides for what amounted to a council of war. The minute reveals the head of British intelligence reported that President Bush had firmly made up his mind to invade Iraq and overthrow Saddam Hussein, adding that "the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy".

Mr Blair was challenged on whether he had seen Foreign Office legal advice in a BBC interview with Jeremy Paxman on 20 April. He replied: "No, I had the Attorney General's advice to guide me." In fact, Mr Blair had seen the Foreign Office advice as early as 8 March 2002, in an annex to a secret Cabinet Office "options paper".

Read the rest of this post...