With this congressman, problem solved

I WOULD ASSUME a little of the edge has been taken off Ohio House Speaker Bill Batchelder's threatening remark that President Obama should go to jail for 25 years to life. By unofficial protocol he later was halfway apologetic. But the Speaker's comment is a little less threatening than Oklahoma Republican congressman John Sullivan's suggestion this week that the only way to break the deadlock on the federal budget is to grab a gun and shoot a couple of senators.

When the word got out from the town hall meeting that he was talking to, a lot of ca-ca hit the national fan. Through an aide, Sullivan, an oil-state conservative, apologized for what the aide described as a "poor choice of words" that were "off-the cuff". To a town hall meeting of constituents?

But there may be an explanation for his misbehavior drawn from his own on-line bio. It notes that "Oklahoma ranks as one of the top states in the nation in the number of people struggling with mental illness - almost 1/4th of the population of the state"

Do you think...? Naw. Besides it was off-the cuff.

Spinning and apologies along the GOP trail...

NOTES FROM THE UNDERGROUND:

Have you noticed how often certain politicians apologize for mindless things they said or did yesterday or during the past millennium? Or at least, in Rick Santorum's case, insisting that his words were misunderstood or taken out of context? You can claim that with ease if you blame it all on the media, without which, no more than a few would be able to identify you in San Francisco, London or Vatican City. Besides, did you really not intend to suggest that President Obama was Hitler? Insofar as the media are concerned, I happened to watch the Arizona debate on the TV medium of CNN, where you have been known to share your remarks. Let's let your references to Obama and Satan pass until you have had enough time to say you were misunderstood.

Although Santorum is said to have gained traction with the Tea Party for being authentic - he pounded his chest yesterday, a popular mournful gesture in the Middle East - I would still vote for McNewt Gingrich's unwavering grasp of campaign slander by accusing Obama of infanticide. Gingrich never apologizes about anything, responding to each question with "First of all...", an undeniable attribute of his organized madness.

In McMitt's case, he is much easier to follow. He is quite clear about his deep love of cars and the right height of trees in Michigan. He also sings, not on pitch, I'm afraid, "America the Beautiful." In those moments I want him to go back to loving trees and cars, where his insights on nature and industry attempt to be authentic.

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Speaking of apologies, Ohio House Speaker Bill Batchelder has now partly apologized for telling a Lincoln Day dinner audience in Akron that Obama ought to be sent to prison for "25 years to life." But his response to questions about his civility actually made a joke of the joke that critics found repugnant. The Columbus Dispatch quoted him as saying he wouldn't apologize for the alleged quip but he would do so to a legislative colleague, Akron Democrat Vernon Sykes. Sykes had demanded an apology for the Speaker's "distasteful remarks." Rep. Bob Hagan, Youngstown Democrat, went further, calling Batchelder an "ass". Wanna bet $10,000 that Hagan has no intention of apologizing? As for me, I am still wondering about Gov. Kasich's graphic description of his wife as "hot". You can only go so far in the vernacular, Guv, particularly when your public approval rating is wondering around in the 30s.

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Finally, everyone knows that annual state- of-the-whatevers are always positive about the incumbant who is giving them. So we shouldn't be too critical of Cuyahoga Falls Mayor Don Robart's annual self-congratulatory state of the city address, which boasted of bountiful progress by his administration. But we will certainly quibble with his vision of his fiscal stewardship while the federal government is running up "massive deficits." So it was good to see that Beacon Journal reporter Paula Schlels, who covered the speech, also reported that the Falls "is stretching its dollars with the help of state and federal grants." Funny how Republican leaders who sock the Feds never remember to say thanks for the grants that are part of those "massive deficits".

Brooding Batchelder: you ain't seen nothin' yet

AS YOU MIGHT NOTICE in this Columbus Dispatch photo, Ohio House Speaker Bill Batchelder is not having one of his happier moments. Indeed, he is so sore about the failure of the GOP's redistricting plan to survive a required two-thirds House vote to suspend the rules that he has resorted to doing the John Kasich Rumble. If the Democratic lawmakers don't show up on his dance card, he warns, he will deliver an even more bizarre plan for them to swallow. (I'm still predicting that my place in Fairlawn will be linked to Toronto or Gary, Ind.) That will show the D's who is boss in the General Assembly these days! Such threats by the majority party troops have become increasingly common during the Kasich Era, in which the governor once declared that his critics will be run over by the bus. Kasich may be wise to reconsider such threats now that the bus is heading into his own path. Still, he is telling reporters who ask about his plans if Senate Bill 5, the one restricting public unions, is thrown out on Tuesday: "I never think ahead." That goes without saying, Guv.

As for Batchelder, what has happened to the guy who once displayed a great sense of humor with a long history of political service. In his role now as House speaker has it betrayed the nasty and illogical side that has always been muted? Whatever, can we ever take him seriously, even as the neighborhood bully?

And I'm not the only one who remembers the other Batchelder.

The White Hat in the legislative ring

IT DIDN'T TAKE that long for the Kasich Administration and its cupbearers in the Republican House to demonstrate their servitude to people with the deepest pockets. In a shameless reward to the party's financiers the GOP-ruled House of Representatives passed a budget bill that includes a few charter school amendments that were doubtless written by the pale light of the moon. None of this would displease Ohio's charter king, David Brennan, whose for-profit White Hat Management colossus has managed a $230 million return of state dollars for his investment. At this point, it should be further noted that White Hat's record of providing charter-school education has ranked near the bottom in its schoolhouse performance.

About those amendments to the budget bill: They would permit White Hat to operate as sort-of absentee landlords of their charter system without any accountability of how they spend the state money. Brennan's lawyer, Rocky Saxbe, explained that odd arrangement by saying that once public money goes into the private pot, it becomes private money that is beyond accountability.

Nice try - and I'm not a lawyer.

So in the simplest terms, what we are seeing is a one-way street in state expenditures: Give White Hat the money and don't ask what it does with it. The issue is so nettlesome that some local charter school operators have now taken White Hat to court to question what the company is doing with the princely sums from the taxpayers. The Brennans - David and wife Ann - also have their personal PACs and are the sole contributors to them, which serve as additional conduits to provide room and board for their favorite pols.

It's no secret where some of the profits have gone: Brennan has contributed $4 million to his Republican political allies over the past 10 years. Among the recipients of the maximum of $10,000 from each of the Brennans are Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor, former gubernatorial candidate Ken Blackwell (in case he would win, which is known as planning ahead ) and House

speaker Bill Batchelder of Medina. And, of course, Kasich wasn't overlooked.

Batchelder, who is a seasoned pol on the glide path with his eccentric right-wing leadership in the General Assembly, has raspishly denied to the media that there is one iota of a connection between his gift from Brennan and the upward course of charter schools in the new year. Still, we would feel more comfortable if someone, including Batchelder , could flat us tell us how the anonymous amendments were wedged into the budget bill that moves to the senate. He says he doesn't know, but we can guess.

All the while, Kasich has been been standing by, if needed, to keep the charter money flowing. He's already told the world what a great thing charters are in the lifeblood of education. And he's made sure they will grow exponentially without Big Brother watching over them.

The guv promised that he would make Ohio No. 1, and with the current proposed legislation, he and his buddies will have succeeded in making the state unique in its lack of accountability for these schools. For the average Ohioan who isn't in the loop, it will be no more than an awful spectator sport for business as usual down in Columbus.

Kasich trumpeting through broken porcelain

I'M AWARE THAT it can sound like a scold, but when you have a governor who scuffs ahead as an elephant in a china shop, it's hard to avoid noticing his astonishing trail of breakage. The latest report of John Kasich's off-key trumpeting arrives from Marc Kovac, a Dix newspapers bureau chief in Columbus, whose column describes a strange Kasich press conference that left - figuratively at least - more broken porcelain on the floor.

We must first back up to the bows that the governor has been taking to discourage the Bob Evans restaurants' headquarters in Columbus from moving out of the state. The administration offered the sausage, gravy and biscuits king $8 million in incentives to move 20 miles up the road to New Albany. The Bob Evans Story has now become an article of faith for Republicans like House Speaker Bill Batchelder to offer up at town meetings as a clear example of how Kasich is dutifully creating jobs. (Many questions have been raised about whether the restaurateur had not already decided before the state deal to move to New Albany, which is a lot closer to Bob Evans CEO Steve Davis' home. )

But back to the china shop. Kovac reported that during another press conference, Kasich again touted the upside of his attack on public unions and used the Bob Evans model to justify his attempt to reform collective bargaining by telling reporters:

"When I go to Bob Evans and I see a woman working in there who doesn't have any pension and I don't even know if she has health benefits and if she does they're shabby at best...We're asking public workers to do a little bit more."

Or less! Did he really mean to take down his friends at Bob Evans by talking about the shabbiness of working conditions there? Do the restaurant folks consider that as a compliment? Should all public union workers be treated shabbily? Does the governor aspire to the lowest common denominator in working conditions. Will he encourage all of us to start leaving bigger tips for public workers? Will he clean up the broken porcelain by hiring more teachers as entry level janitors?

Kasich is a veteran politician who earned his bread on Wall Street before moving into the Statehouse. Shouldn't he be in better control of his alleged thoughts. At least he didn't call the restaurant worker an idiot for accepting such terrible conditions.

PS: When asked whether he considered having state officials and lawmakers take pay cuts, Kasich said quite the contrary, we'll be giving them raises. You need good people.