Ohio Valley Politics

Congressman Zack Space’s re-election chances are looking pretty good. I know we’ve heard this story before, but Space is really good at fundraising. His campaign has pulled in $360,088, giving them almost a million dollars on hand.

“I’m extraordinarily thankful for the support I’ve received. Our effort to listen and respond to the needs of the people of 18th’s Congressional District continues to resonate.

“We have a long way to go in what is going to be a very tough race, but having nearly one million in the bank puts our campaign in a good position.”

– Rep. Zack Space

I haven’t heard anything about the Republican’s finances, but that pretty much says it all right there.

The House minority leader’s ironically named “Freedom Project” has some pretty strong words up against Democrats for fighting against

American workers, farmers, and business owners are currently being denied fair access to the growing South American market. Republicans want to “eliminate dozens of high tariffs” that “restrict the flow of U.S. goods and services” into Colombia. But in an unprecedented move, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats have unilaterally voted to keep those tariffs in place, harming America’s economy at a time when families are already struggling with the rising costs of fuel and food.

And before you argue that Boehner doesn’t know about the post, note that right now Boehner’s official Twitter account is highlighting the post with the following short message:

johnboehner House Democrats endanger American jobs, vote to keep tariffs on American goods in place: http://twurl.nl/se0ijl

Yes, you read that right. Boehner is accusing Democrats of costing America jobs.

I’m a little perplexed by Boehner’s accusation and I imagine many other Southeastern Ohioans might also be a little be confused by them. Therefore I’m asking Boehner to come down here to the Ohio Valley and explain himself.

I’m dead serious.

If he’s going to make these accusations with any credibility at all he needs to come down here and see the state the economy is in. He can take as long as he wants, but when he’s done I demand he hold a public townhall to explain how exactly we benefit from free trade.

So what do you say Mr. Boehner, do you have it in you to face the downsides of your actions or will you cower behind more partisan rhetoric?

Congressman Charlie Wilson had some pretty strong words to say in reaction to the testimony being given by General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker.

“The message from General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker is that there’s no end in sight for the war in Iraq.  That’s not good enough. The troops have done their job and done it well. But, there’s been almost no political progress in Iraq and we just keep pouring our troops and money into it.

“Bear in mind, Iraq is running a budget surplus while our economy is suffering. We’re spending $339 million a day in Iraq and the government in Iraq isn’t even helping itself. It’s difficult to spend that and not have success. With $339 million we could put more than 2,000 agents on our borders for a year. We could vaccinate 317,000 children. We could provide more than 2.5 million Americans access to medical and dental care at community health centers.

“The American people want a new direction in Iraq, not 100 more years of war. We need a plan for withdrawal.”

– Rep. Charlie Wilson

Wilson has voted for a troop pullout before,  but his anti-war feelings seem to have strenghtened since last year.

No big surprises here, it would be political suicide for him to come out in support of more free trade. Still, it’s good to know where he stands and I have no doubts about his sincerity.

“On my recent economic listening tour throughout the Ohio River Valley, I heard loud and clear from working families that free trade may work on Wall Street, but it isn’t working on Main Street. Rest assured that I’m not for NAFTA, CAFTA or any other AFTA. This particular agreement is bad for many reasons. It fails to meet enforceable labor standards and does little to reduce violence against union leaders. Last year alone, 72 union members in Colombia were murdered. For the Columbian workers and for the workers back home in Ohio who are watching their jobs disappear overseas, I oppose the Columbia Free Trade Agreement.”

– Rep. Charlie Wilson

The Ohio Valley was recently dealt a severe economic blow from the loss of even more steel jobs. The talk of another free trade agreement isn’t what local residents want to hear right now.

While cleaning out my inbox I came across this press release from Congressman Charlie Wilson’s office. I don’t really have anything to add to it, but it’s still interesting.

You can read it after the break.

Continue Reading »

A big issue for Rep. Zack Space over the last few months has been an apparent discrepancy in the amount of money local veterans  receive in disability pay compared to other areas. The issue initially came to light last year, when a report ranked showed that Ohio’s average veteran disability pay was the lowest of all 50 states.

Now Space is done fact finding and ready to act. He’s introduced the Veterans Disability Fairness Act to insure proper oversight is in place at the VA.

“This shortchanging is insulting to our heroes’ service.  The veterans living in Ohio sacrificed just as much as veterans living elsewhere. There is no reason that a veteran here should receive less than veterans in other states.

“This legislation is an important step in forcing the VA to address these issues and in providing obviously needed oversight.  We can and must bring those states at the bottom of the list closer to parity with those at the top.  Our veterans deserve no less.”

– Rep. Zack Space

According to a press release, Space’s legislation would:

• Require the VA to collect and monitor regional data on disability ratings.
• Require the VA Secretary to conduct reviews and audits of the rating system.
• Require the VA to submit an exhaustive report yearly to Congress to track the progress of the program.
• Require VA raters to take ownership of their ratings by assigning identification codes to all adjudications.  The performance of specific raters will then be evaluated periodically for consistency and accuracy.

Congressman Zack Space will be attending a ceremony at ABC Manufacturing in Malta, Ohio on Monday. This is a perfect chance for 18th district residents to see both their congressman and the effect he’s having on the area. You may remember that Space worked with local officials to bring these jobs into the district a while back.

The event is open to the public. If you’re interested in going, you can find details below.

WHO: Congressman Zack Space along with various local and state officials

WHAT: Ceremony

WHERE: ABC Manufacturing, 210 13th St., Malta OH 43758

WHEN: Monday, April 7, 2008 1:00 pm Eastern

I’d also say it’s a safe bet (though it’s just my guess) that 20th district Senate candidate Rick Shriver will be there as well, though not to campaign. Shriver is a Morgan County Commissioner and also worked to bring the factory to the area.

Congressman Zack Space’s website has posted results (PDF) from the Renew Ohio broadband work group held a few weeks ago. They seem to indicate which benefits of high speed internet participants believed would have the biggest positive impact on the region.

Among the highest ranked benefits are:

• an increase in educational oppertunities
• it may attract or retain businesses
• improvements to healthcare by enabling things like home health monitoring and access to electronic health records

I’ve attempted to embed the full results after the break.

Space was also talking about rural broadband with the Newark Advocate recently:

Space said one of his greatest achievements in the 15 months he has served as a Congressman has been the introduction of legislation regarding technology, specifically improving high-speed Internet accessibility in the area, he said.

“I think, in the long term, (Internet access) makes us a much more attractive place to do business,” he said. “What business is going to locate to a place that doesn’t have high-speed Internet?”

Additionally, he said, several significant aspects of the educational and medical fields have become reliant on Internet technology.

Tapping into that resource is a way to increase business and improve quality of life, he said.
Continue Reading »

I still can’t believe that “super” and “IRS” could be in the same title, but it’s true. Tomorrow IRS offices around the country will be holding “Super Saturday” events, during which they will help people who normally don’t file a return fill out a 1040A to be eligible for a stimulus payment. This will be done free of charge.

Congressman Charlie Wilson’s office forwarded on the IRS press release and included this handy list of participating IRS offices in and around the 6th district.

Youngstown, OH
(Federal Bldg.)
10 E. Commerce St.
44503 IRS 9 a.m.-3 p.m.

Huntington, WV
(Sidney Christie)
845 Fifth Avenue
25701 IRS 9 a.m. - 3 p.m

Parkersburg, WV
425 Juliana Street
26101 IRS 9 a.m. - 3 p.m

Wheeling, WV
1021 National Road
26003 IRS 9 a.m. - 3 p.m

Just to further emphasise, this will take place tomorrow (3/29).

Zack Space is getting his re-election campaign into gear now that the primary is over and his opponent is decided. Earlier this week I received a fundraising letter from the campaign. This isn’t the first time I’ve received such a letter, but this time they also asked for volunteers.

The campaign is looking for help ranging from simply putting a sign up in your yard all the way up to volunteering in an office or coordinating a precinct. Other opportunities include making calls, working on election day, distributing literature, hosting a fundraiser, and walking in parades. If any of these things interest you, I’m sure they’d love the help.

And of course, donations are always needed.

Rep. Zack Space held his second Renew Ohio work group today, and this time the topic was agriculture. The event took place in Coshocton and was lead by Adam Sharp from the Ohio Farm Bureau.

“We have a long and distinguished agricultural heritage in our region, and I am confident that this industry will continue to play a vital role in our economic future. We must continue to find new and innovative ways to expand this staple of our economy.”

“In the United States today, we enjoy the safest, cheapest, most abundant food supply of anywhere in the world, and we owe that to the hard work of our agricultural producers. The ideas generated today will help ensure we are able to expand this necessary industry as we find ways to create jobs for our region.”

– Rep. Zack Space

Space also sent out a column to area newspapers about his view on illegal immigration. You can find it after the jump. Continue Reading »

This clip from the Warren based Tribune Chronicle made me laugh so hard that people ran in the room to make sure I was OK.

It was incorrectly reported in Tuesday’s Tribune Chronicle that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton answered questions from voters in a local congressman’s office.Reporter John Goodall, who was assigned to the story, spoke by telephone with Hillary Wicai Viers, who is a communications director in U.S. Rep. Charlie Wilson’s staff. According to the reporter, when Viers answered the phone with ‘‘This is Hillary,’’ he believed he was speaking with the Democratic presidential candidate, who had made several previous visits to the Mahoning Valley.

The quotes from Viers were incorrectly attributed to Clinton.

The original article seems to have either been corrected or removed. While I was searching for it, I did notice that gossip blog Gawker had picked up on the story.

Wilson has been travelling the district over the week holding economic listening sessions. Regrettably, I wasn’t able to attend the local stops.

Update: Google Cache caught the original article. (H/T to Elephants in the Room)

Just for the heck of it, here’s more links.

• Wonkette
• Regret The Error
• Poynter Online

This has been a pretty lousy winter down here in Southeastern Ohio. There hasn’t been a lot of snow, but we’ve more than made up for it in rain. An, of course. with lots of rain comes flooding. While we’ve managed to dodge the bullet several times on the big one (an Ohio River flood) the smaller creeks and streams have flooded several times.

Now, in the face of even more flooding, Rep. Zack Space is calling on Governor Strickland to declare a state of emergency so that relief efforts can officially begin.
I’ve included the press release after the break, as it contains information of use to Space’s constituents who’ve been effected.

Continue Reading »

This should go over well with his constituents:

“The Supreme Court has the opportunity to send a clear and unequivocal message that Americans have an undeniable right to own firearms. There is no legally justifiable reason that the residents of DC – or anywhere else – should be denied their constitutionally protected rights.”

“I once again renew my call to the justices of the Supreme Court to stand up for the principles our Founding Fathers saw fit to include in the Bill of Rights. The Supreme Court has the ability to settle all questions regarding gun ownership.”

– Rep. Zack Space

Space also recently joined several other members of the House in signing an NRA “friend of the court” brief for District of Columbia v. Heller.

Congressman Charlie Wilson released a statement late Friday (OK, so I’m behind a little) on the House’s passage of a FISA bill not containing immunity.

“I was proud to vote for today’s FISA bill because it protects our civil rights while giving our intelligence agencies the clarity they need to conduct eavesdropping on foreign targets. In these uncertain times, Americans have the right to be confident that their government is acting in a responsible way. This bill makes some common-sense adjustments to surveillance law, and it should encourage the American people that our government is committed to operating openly. I call on the Senate to pass this bill, and I hope the President will sign it.”

I really hope President Bush realizes that this is the best he’s going to get without upsetting a whole lot of people.

In an effort to get caught up quickly, I’ve also pasted another press release after the break. This one concerns Wilson’s support for the 2009 budget plan.

Continue Reading »