For Mandel, transparency doesn't apply

YOU CAN SAY THIS much about Ohio treasurer Josh Mandel, the Republican who has chosen to challenge U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown in the 2012 election: he has no trouble offering us his own version of "transparency", as in, for goodness sake, the official "Treasurer's Transparency Project".

The topic has come up in the wake of Mandel's decision to post online the salaries of all of Ohio's public workers, a convenience for those potential voters on Issue 2 who should be told that such workers are living in Fat City. Trouble is, embarrassing though it may be for the fellow in charge of safekeeping taxpayer dollars, the list is full of errors. In a way it's understandable. Trying to account for so many people's salaries is a lot more difficult than reporting the exact figures of, say, Bowling for Dollars.

Be patient, says Seth Unger, Mandel's spokesman, we'll get it right in due time.

And while you're doing the transparency thing in hopes of making it a national model, Seth, could you remind your boss that he is a half- year behind in filing his personal financial disclosure report for his senatorial aspirations?

Soon to arrive: the GOP's Great Pumpkin Debate

IN THESE SCARY DAYS of the Halloween season, we should all be reminded of the words of Linus van Pelt, the wonderful kid in Peanuts that Lucy prefers to call "stark raving stupid." Not so. As Linus tells us: "There are three things I have learned never to discuss with people...religion, politics and the Great Pumpkin." So far, the Republican candidates debating the fate of the nation have ignored Linus on two of the three, politics and religion. But, alas, based on what we've heard so far, we can expect their arguments over the Great Pumpkin to arrive momentarily.

Incidental news from the Republican front

IF GOV. KASICH IS INTENT on creating more jobs in Ohio, he may have to plow ahead without help from Ohio Republican Sen. Rob Portman. MSNBC is reporting that when Portman joined all other Senate Republicans in killing President Obama's jobs bill, it cost Ohio 40,700 new jobs. Once again, Obama can expect to receive no support from the Republicans on any substantive proposal to help the economy.

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I noticed that former State Sen. Kevin Coughlin of Cuyahoga Falls has officially withdrawn from the Republican race for the U.S. Senate in 2012. No surprise. Very few people were aware that he was ever in the race.

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You have to admire Mitt Romney's balletic manner in pirouetting from one side of an issue to the other. After declaring he fully supported Kasich on Senate Bill 5 (" I fully stand with John Kasich"), Romney arrived in Ohio to declare to reporters that he doesn't get involved in state ballot issues. But within a matter of hours, he asserted that he is "110 pct. in Kasich's corner on Issue 2, the repeal referendum that is enjoying a 25 pct. margin over the law's supporters in the latest polls. He said he was "sorry if I caused confusion." At least you can say this about Mitt: Most politicians staring at those poll numbers would prefer to say something nice about the Cleveland Browns instead and leave SB 5 to its fate. There is a fine line between courage and stupidity.

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WHEN A TV INTERVIEWER REMINDED RICK PERRY THAT HIS FLAT TAX PLAN WOULD BE A BIG BOOST FOR THE WEALTHIEST ONE PERCENT IN AMERICA, HE SAID HE DIDN'T "CARE ABOUT THAT." IMPRESSED BY HIS SENSITIVITY TO ROYALTY, FOX NEWS IS GIVING PERRY AN ENTIRE HOUR TO HIMSELF SUNDAY.

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Among the no-shows for the Akron mayoral debate this week was Summit County Republican Chairman Alex Arshinkoff. History tells us that when the boss doesn't show up to give at least moral support to the Republican candidate, you can bet that he's decided that the outcome has been settled in favor of Mayor Plusquellic.

With SB 5, Mudville coming to Ohio

THERE CAN'T BE much joy in Mudville these days as Gov. Kasich and the Republicans in the legislature face what appears to be insurmountable odds that favor the repeal of Senate Bill 5.

That's the clear message from the Quinnipiac poll released this week showing the new anti-public union law going down to defeat on Nov. 8 by 25 points, 57 pct. to 32 pct. That same poll also shows that Kasich's slight gain in public approval in recent months has reversed, dropping him five points to 35 pct.

The Democrats have only the Republicans to thank for the mulish way the law's allies went after the unions - an astonishingly inept campaign that suggested the Kasich gang conceived of the law as a slam dunk. That's the governor, for you, a humorless, politically righteous fellow who should post on his office wall the words of one of the world's leading philosophers, Pogo.

Said he: "We have met the enemy and he is us."

The governor seems to be taking a more distant approach from manhandling the campaign to defeat the repeal referendum. He has said that he wasn't running the show but thought the managers were doing "fine." Should we mention that Beth Hansen, his chief of staff, is on a leave of absence serving as a media advisor for the anti-repeal campaign?

Was it her idea to pirate some words from a pro-repeal ad featuring an indignant Cincinnati great-grandmother who effectively urged voters to cast a NO vote against retaining the law? Unsurprisingly, when a bit of the film clips showed up in a TV ad that made it appear she favored the law, the sleight-of- handiwork gained wide attention in fetching political shorthand - Grannygate.

Such clumsiness ought to be shown in every political science class in the state as an example of how to be self-destructive in politics.

And these are the same folks who assure Ohioans every day that they damn well know what they are doing.

The headline doesn't tell the whole story

Some newspaper headlines grab you more than others, as did this one on the front page of USA TODAY:

1 million shot to save on loans

The topper leads me to ask:

Did the victims inquire about the risk in such loans?

In Akron, debating the need for a debate

THE SECOND AND FINAL (!) debate of the Akron mayoral campaign was a gentle sparring match that left some of us wondering why anybody went to the trouble. Maybe the earlier clash between Mayor Plusquellic and challenger Mike Williams in the Democratic primary convinced most people that the mayor was assured a seventh term when they count the general election ballots on Nov. 8. To the chagrin of Republicans, the mayor is usually decided by the winner of the Democratic primary.

On this occasion Plusquellic is sort of challenged by Republican Jennifer Hensal, an Akron West Sider who practices law in Medina and is said to be hopeful of being appointed to some judgeship when the planets line up for her. In her opening remarks, she advised the Martin Center audience of more than 200 on what a good mayor ought to be doing to lead the city. It was an opening for Plusquellic to respond that his opponent had just described him for what he is already doing.

Later, the mayor accused Hensal of not being a serious candidate while declaring that he is.

Otherwise, the conversation brought up public safety, finances and other matters that came up in the party primary. The real contrast was how both candidates approached the hottest issue on the November ballot: the SB 5 repeal. Plusquellic clearly asserted that he wasn't pleased with the way the anti-public union law was scripted. I wasn't clear on Hensal's response and engaged in one of the shortest post-debate interviews in my years that included too many post-debate interviews.

Q. Inasmuch as SB 5 is a Republican initiative, how do you plan to vote on it?

Hensal: (Without hesitating.) "Oh, I will vote [yes] for it."

Why did I have to ask?

(By the way the event was a nice try - but only a nice try - by the Akron Press Club, the League of Women Voters and the Bliss Institute to promote democracy in action. But it's true that after all of the nonsense spurting from the Republican presidential debates in the candidates' long year's journey into night, the respectful Akron mayoral thing was a much-needed relief.)

SB 5: Vote no on what?

IMAGINE MY shock and awe when I turned to the Plain Dealer's Forum section this morning and was greeted by a big headline on the cover that urged: Vote no on Issue 2 to repeal SB 5

Had the paper suddenly reversed its earlier support of the issue? Do pigs really fly? Can a cow really jump over the moon?

But the mystery was cleared up when I thumbed to the jump on Page 4 and discovered that the piece was not the work of an editorial writer but rather the top officer of the Northshore AFL-CIO.

I can only assume that the fierce reaction to the PD's endorsement of the new law restricting public unions was so intense that the paper's true believers decided to offer a prominent response by the other side.

Maybe the kitchen is getting too hot for the papers supporting the work of their Golden Boy governor, John Kasich, and the GOP-controlled legislature. (Exclude the

Beacon Journal from this gang. The BJ today called for the repeal of the law!)

So as we approach the election on Nov. 8, the repeal referendum is astonishingly coming down to a great-grandma, widely featured in political ads as supporting the repeal, and those incredibly stupid handlers on the other side who pirated her comments for their own purposes and have lived to regret it. If that's all the anti-repealers have to fool the voters, you can guess which side is more desperate to tighten the noose around school teachers, police and firefighters. Hell, it didn't even fool most people just once.

Useful figures for understanding politics 101

WITH THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION little more than a year away, I want to be helpful with a numerical approach to America's cloudy situation today. You can clip and save it as a handy wallet-size digest for people on the go. Here is a random sample of the figures that I've assembled from Harper's Index, the Economist magazine and other sources for which you can thank me at your earliest convenience:

9-9-9 - Herman Cain's strident prescription for America's economic health (as well as that of his book sales) which seems to work much better for piercing effect than, say, nueve, nueve nueve, don't you think?

$98,422 - The amount that deficit hawk Rep. Joe Walsh. Illinois Republican, is in arrears on child support despite preaching that he doesn't want to pile "one more dollar on the backs of my kids" with a greater federal deficit.

5 million - The number of new jobs that Republicans insist will be created with its new plan (which has been described as their "golden oldies"), that includes tax cuts, a repeal of the health care law and a balanced budget amendment.

$100 million - The amount that Fannie Mae spent to secure "lawmakers' affections" from 1989 to 2009.

20 percent - The amount of the nation's wealth owned by one percent of its richest families.

$53.8 million - The court-ordered amount that billionaire hedge fund swindler Raj Rajaratnam must forfeit from his piggy bank. (He's also going to prison for 11 years.)

$7 million - The amount the Cleveland Browns paid quarterback Jack Delhomme when they released him last season after a brief stay. (Not political, I know, but interesting anyway now that the front office is having doubts about his successor.)

5 million-plus - The number of eligible voters that the Brennan Justice Center at NYU says will have a "significantly harder" time voting now because of the harsh restrictions enacted by Republicans in their ludicrous claim that they are targeting voter fraud.

1.2 million - The number of jobs that Rick Perry says will be created by weakening environmental laws (particularly those that are abhorrent to his pals at the American Petroleum Institute.)

$4.4 trillion - The deficit in state and local government pension plans.

10 - the number of constituent letters that President Obama reads from the loads that arrive at the White House daily, often hard-luck stories that Obama reportedly may respond to with personal checks to help a person through hard times.

100 pct. - Chance that Joe the Plumber says his new wife will support his candidacy for congress in Ohio.

Zero - Chance that the Republican-controlled legislature in Ohio will correct the flaws in HB 5 if it isn't repealed in November.

98.7 pct. - Chance that Gov. Kasich will call a cop or two idiots if HB 5 is repealed.

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It's still DeWine vs. Cordray

OHIO ATTY. GEN. Mike DeWine has official priorities about when to appeal to Congress and when to take a pass. For the purposes of this piece, we are talking about Asian carp and Richard Cordray, the former attorney general whom DeWine managed to defeat - not on relative merit - in 2010 through the essential benefit of a Republican monsoon that swept the state. In that instance it was not an uplifting day for the electorate.

According to Plain Dealer business columnist Sheryl Harris, 37 attorneys general - Republicans and Democrats - strongly recommended the seating of Cordray as the first director of the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. In a letter to Congress from the National Association of Attorneys General, Cordray was described as "both brilliant and balanced." That was hardly a stretch for a person of Cordray's character and talent.

Wanna guess who refused to sign it? Our guy DeWine, of course, who had earlier described Cordray as "highly qualified" and one who would "do an excellent job. As a former U.S. senator, DeWine didn't think he should butt in to tell congressmen how to run their shop. Pure baloney!

I hadn't heard of a excuse like that one for a political no-show. But as he did in his campaign against Cordray in 2010, he will always find a way to rise above the battle, or at least disappear from the radar screen.

As for the Asian carp, Harris reported that DeWine did concede that he made an exception in contacting Congress about the rapacious fish eating their way through Lake Erie.

The only valid story here: The Republicans on Capitol Hill will not seat anybody to the consumers' job unless the consumer protection bureau is gutted. So Cordray will remain a hostage to the roadblock. DeWine is aware of that and will not do anything to discourage his GOP brethren. Maybe somebody will name a carp after him for his service.

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Jesus and the GOP candidates

IN THE LITTER of the New Hampshire tag team match, popularly described as the Republican candidates debate, the party's primary voters are still left with a game-changing decision: Who among those left standing is God's conservative of choice to sit in the Oval Office?

Rick Perry described himself as the "authentic" conservative in the crowd. His wife, Anita, bristling over attacks on her husband prompted by his avowed Christian identity (another pure believer victimized by heathens!) , said earlier that he is a candidate because God had urged him to run among the lions.

On the other hand, Perry dismissed Mitt Romney as a "conservative of convenience,'' which at some point will demand an official response from Mitt that God had also urged him to run. Whatever works!

Rick Santorum, a sworn Christian regularly on the God Network, has heard all of this before and is unconvinced of their sincerity. He has chosen to call himself the "conservative alternative."

Michele Bachman has used up much of her religious capital, which obviously has not worked to her benefit as she plummets in the polls. . And Sarah Palin,, who once said she was waiting to hear from God on what to do, is not running at all, and may we guess why?

To to keep you fully current, here is 999 Cain, himself an unyielding Bible-referencing conservative, setting the context of the heavenly argument in today's unruly world.

Jesus, he tells us, was the ''true conservatisve."

And why is that , Herm?

Let him explain how Jesus got into the current political argument: "He helped the poor without one government program. He healed the sick with a government health care system. He fed the hungry without food stamps. For three years, he was unemployed and never collected an unemployment check."

But historians also tell us that slavery was not uncommon in the Roman era.

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