Blue Buckeye Blog

Down and out in the Ohio River Valley

Used boots fetch $3 and old salt-and-pepper shakers bring in a buck at a makeshift flea market along Highway 27, presumably not what President Bush and Republicans have in mind when they herald a vibrant economy.

Times are "very good for the rich and very, very bad for the poor" who "can't afford to live," laments Larry Mitchell, 43, a now-and-then merchant peddling his wares recently in a submarine sandwich shop parking lot. He says the middle class is "having a hard time."

In the Ohio River Valley, where people decry high gas prices, stagnant wages, lost jobs and factory closures, many don't buy the claim that the economy is humming along.

Read the rest of the Associated Press article here.

From the comments: Edwards addresses ACORN convention

Thank you to Michele Blair for recording the Edwards speech and putting it up on YouTube.

From Michele:

ACORN: Edwards urges Ohio to increase minimum wage:
http://www.acorn.org/index.php?id=4174&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=18711&tx_ttnews[backPid]=2716&cHash=c5aa7a9114

or directly through these YouTube links:
ACORN hosts JRE - Part 1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8vkJj4uh5k
ACORN hosts JRE - Part 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SAdD-e0c9I
ACORN hosts JRE - Part 3:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3phks6BcQ4

Edwards charts a new course in possible '08 bid

Former North Carolina Senator John Edwards is in Columbus, and in a few hours he'll address the ACORN National Convention at OSU's Mershon Auditorium.  His message will be similar to his previous Columbus address to ACORN members - Ohio needs to raise its minimum wage to help working families rise out of poverty.

The fight against poverty has been Edward's central focus for the last year and a half - and some say it's a risky, soundbite and headline-grabbing-free strategy if Edwards wants to run for the White House in 2008.  But Edwards doesn't care....

Newsweek profiled Edwards' poverty-fighting mission - click here to read the full article.

Ohio Republicans say no to timetable, 72% of troops in Iraq disagree, want forces out by end of 2006

Ohio Republicans, including Deboarah Pryce, Pat Tiberi, Steve Chabot and Bob Ney voted today to affirm President Bush's failed policy in Iraq. 

The vote flies in the face of a recent Zogby poll of 944 military members currently surving in Iraq.  Unlike the Republicans, who voted today to stay in Iraq as long as President Bush sees fit, 72% of those serving in Iraq polled said the Iraq War should end and troops should be pulled out according to a timeline - the end of the year 2006.

The Blue Buckeye Blog is proud to note that Ohio Reps. Sherrod Brown, Stephanie Tubbs Jones, Marcy Kaptur, Dennis Kucinich, Tim Ryan and Ted Strickland voted with the troops and against Bush's failed policy.

Why does the far-right hate the families of 9-11 victims?

Take a good look at the image to the left.  Think about where you where, what you were doing, and what you felt on the morning of September 11th, 2001.  Think about the impact that morning had on your life.  Think about the compassion you felt for victims - for their families.

Now listen to what top Republican commentator Ann Coulter said on the Today Show about the victims of 9-11:  " I have never seen people enjoying their husband’s death so much."

It gets worse.

Glenn Beck, the right-wing radio (and now tv show) host recently said: "you know it took me about a year to start hating the 9-11 victims' families.  Took me about a year."  Beck goes on to say, "when I see a 9-11 victim family on television, or whatever, I'm just like, 'Oh shut up!'  I'm so sick of them because they're always complaining."

Sickening.

Priorities

A war in Iraq drags on, rising gas prices, rising unemployment, a continued health care crisis - it's no wonder George W. Bush is talking about gay marriage.  Today we present you, readers of the Blue Buckeye Blog, a post on Priorities.

Bush Republicans are ignoring the problems that matter most to the American people in order to play politics for their right wing base.  Instead of dividing America, Democrats have a comprehensive plan to take this country in a new direction.

America faces serious challenges, from skyrocketing gas prices to plummeting support for the war in Iraq.  Unfortunately, they're problems Bush Republicans seem determined to ignore. 

Bush Republicans in the Senate are out of touch with the needs of American people.  They're more interested in Terri Schaivo than in health care costs, in gay marriage than in gas prices, and in repealing the estate tax for Paris Hilton than making American life more affordable for everyone else.

Democrats believe American can do better, and that Congress should tackle the issues that matter most.  It's time for a new direction, with Real Security, affordable health care, and energy independence.

No laughing matter - science becomes the butt of GOP jokes

In an effort to counter Al Gore's new movie on climate change, An Inconvenient Truth, the College Republican National Committee is encouraging its members to make science the butt of a bad joke by holding "beach parties" or "global cooling snow cone stands" on college campuses.

Yes, ladies and gentleman, the party of Teddy Roosevelt no longer believes in science.

The CRNC derives its dismissive view of global warming from a small clique of increasingly discredited scientists who claim the climate change threat is an exercise in scaremongering. It is a claim that is refuted by the weight of evidence, and subsequently by a consensus of scientists throughout the world.

The CRNC even makes one of those discredited scientists available for anti-science events - Dr. Jay Lehr, a groundwater hydrologist.  Dr. Lehr, who is a senior fellow at the far-right wing Heartland Institute, is a complete wack-job.  He professes the belief that recycling and anti-smoking programs are examples of controls that do more harm than good.

The disdain Dr. Lehr and college Republicans show for science is disheartening - but with today's Republican Party chock full of cronyism, corruption, scandal and misdeeds - who has room for science?

An Inconvenient Truth

Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth - have you seen it?  Is this Gore's vehicle to get back into the national spotlight for a Presidential run in '08?

'08 Open Thread

A steady stream of national Democratic figures, some with obvious presidential aspirations, have visited Ohio in the past few months - Sen. John Kerry,  Sen. John Edwards, Sen. Hilary Clinton and Gov. Tom Vilsack.  Sen. Joe Biden will speak at our 2006 State Dinner.

So the question is...do you have a favorite?  Are you supporting a candidate listed above, or are you considering someone else?  Lets hear it!

SurveyUSA poll finds Cinci voters blame Bush, oil companies for high gas prices

82% of regular drivers surveyed in a new poll by SurveyUSA say they have suffered a moderate to serious hardship as a result of the recent spike in gas prices.

If you remember a few weeks back, Cincinnati City Councilman John Cranley, who is running for Congress in the 1st Congressional District, was featured on The Today Show, stumping for votes at local gas stations.

Cranley is on to something -the poll confirms that a whopping 68% said the Bush administration or oil companies are responsible for the high gas prices.