Ohio scandal heats up

You might direct your attention to The Cleveland Plain Dealer, The Toledo Blade, The Columbus Dispatch and The Cincinnati Inquirer, all of which have web sites easy of access.

Also, The Akron Beacon-Journal, although i've never tried to access their web site, and can't comment on it.

Gratzi!

Will report more as I study it today.

Cycloptichorn

Vast left wing conspiracy. bush is the vicar of Christ. The one who wears really nice suits, pinky rings, and whose hair looks like 'Charlie Richs'. That Christ.

Taft has been charged by a Franklin County Prosecutor with four misdemeanors, from The Columbus Dispatch:

Breaking News
Tom Dodge | Dispatch

Failure to report gifts brings four misdemeanor charges

Updated: 4:15 p.m., EDT

Gov. Bob Taft will face four criminal misdemeanors Thursday for failing to disclose golf outings and other favors in his financial disclosure statements since 2001.

Taft is the first Ohio governor to face criminal charges while in office. He faces a maximum fine of $1,000 and up to six months in jail on each count.



Franklin County prosecutor Ron O'Brien, left, and Columbus City Attorney Richard Pfeiffer explain the criminal charges against Taft at a news conference this afternoon.Taft becomes first Ohio governor to be charged with crimes in office

Could the Taft dynasty be drawing to a close? Now there's a family that's been in power for a really long time...

They've probably milked their money's worth over the past century to call the game now.

Maybe, maybe not . . . the Tafts have been a power in Ohio since long before William Howard Taft was elected President. That was ol' Bob's greatgranddaddy, and his granddaddy and paw were both Senators. They've had their political eulogies read over a putative dead career before, but keep coming back.

The power of name.

The fist article was written from a very inside perspective. Can someone give me the bumper sticker ADD version .? what role do the rare coins have in this?

Ron Obrien appears to be a very astute student of anatomical reeferences, see him pointing to his hair?

That certainly counts for a lot in Ohio. Oddly enough, the current Taft regnit would be considered a moderate Republican by standards which seem no longer to be in use. I say that is odd, as his greatgranddaddy, WH, was considered a radical Republican of the Theodore Roosevelt school. Both his granddaddy and daddy were as liberal as Republicans are ever likely to get. Taft has benefited from this, too, because along with the name recognition, he got a lot of votes from Democrats. I strongly suspect that Republican sour grapes is motivating the current witch hunt, because the rank and file in the State House have been very dissatisfied with him. By and large, he has been the epitome of bland in office--Secretary of State Blackwell has grabbed far more headlines, taken far more controversial positions, and drawn far more heat than Taft. I rather think the Republicans want him out more than Democrats do.

O'Brien was simply indicating that he's a Republican, and therefore doesn't have a thought in his head.

The State Bureau of Workers' Compensation was involved in a horrible scandal regarding fraud by its officers and attorneys who did business with BWC about fifteen years ago. Although he had no authority in the matter, the Democratic governor, Richard Celeste took the heat, and George Voinovich made a great deal of it in his 1990 campaign, which among other campaign ploys landed him in the governor's mansion.

The administration of BWC was cleaned up, ostensibly, Voinovich making it a priority and a subject of as much evening news as he could grab. The corruption had been so bad, that for ten years, BWC routinely reduced premiums by 75% for all companies and employers in the top risk categories after the shake-up. That was extremely good for business, and a telling measure of just how much grafting used to go on.

However, since the economic slup consequent to September 11th, the fund's investsment took a serious hit, and they were obliged to end the discount, which was as bad a blow to businesses struggling in the poor economy as the former discount had been a boon in the previous years. The Bureau began looking around for better investment opportunities, and means to bolster the disability and injured worker funds. The state of Ohio has a large and valuable rare coins collection, which was turned over to the Bureau for manage and/or use as security, and Mr. Noe, a former chairman of the Lucas county (Toledo) Republican committee and a donor to Republican candidates (along with his wife) to the tune of $200,000, was given the management of the fund. It has since been reported that the fund began heading south in 2001 (along with most investment funds), but that the BWC gave Noe another $25 mil to manage on top of the original $25 mil. Reporters smelled a rat, and then uncovered invoices from the former legal firm of Noe's wife to the fund for millions of dollars. It is now alleged that Noe and his wife bought house, cars, boats . . . geeze, must be nice.

The entire affair stinks of Republican grafting--and although it probably dates back to Voinovich's term, he is safely in the Senate, and Taft's administration, and the gov himself, by association, are smeared in the scandal.

so they were kiting rare coins in the name of a workmens comp fund? Did the coins get directly traded to cover the phony legal invoices? Should be a healthy paper trail for the sales. Imagine that these coins were covering invoices by sales at undervalued prices.

Well, the rare coins fund is similar to any commodities futures fund, and the coins don't actually have to change hands. Eventually, of course, the expectation is that they would, but bascially, people are betting upon an increasing value for the coins. Unlike most commodities funds, however, the theory is that rare coins continue to increase in value without regard to ordinary market pressures. But that just ain't so. According to The Toledo Blade, the fund depreciated 18% in 2001, and Noe could not have floated the fund on the stock echange as a safe investment for love nor money. Of course, that was all academic, because BWC just gave him more money without regard to the evaluation of the fund nor market contempt. The invoices in question were for "services" to the fund by the law firm in question--such as purchasing cars and boats. Never visit the car dealership without your attorney in tow, FM.

I should also note that if what reporters are saying is true (and they allege this has been testified to at the grand jury hearings), Noe made no purchases to enhance the funds portfolio, and made no sales to cover the expenditures. If what is being reported is true, he and his wife simply looted the fund as though there would be no tomorrow. Says a lot about what he thought he could get away with, and the climate among the Republicans at BWC who gave him the management of the fund in the first place.

I just read that Taft pled out, and the judge wants him to apologize all over the state. And Noe's name keeps coming up in the Taft case...

It ain't pretty for them boys in the Republican "Party." Must not seem like party time to them.

Isn't Mark Hanna Karl Rove's role model? I sense there's an irony buried in here somewhere...

You know, Mark Hanna was appalled that Theodore Roosevelt was chosen to run with McKinely in the second term. But old Tom Platt, then the Republican Boss of New York, was appalled at the thought of TR remaining in the Governor's manison, and rode down Hanna's opposition. A little over two years later, McKinley was shot, and TR became President. Although Platt remained in the Senate until 1909, his continued bickering with Hanna, combined with the antipathy of TR, ended his power and influence in Republican politics, and Hanna's as well. The Hannas are another big Ohio name, but not as well known outside the state. I like ol' Jack Hanna from the Columbus Zoo--you may have seen him on Johnny Carson in the old days.