On the Browns, sewers, Koch brothers and Ted Cruz coloring book

As we've occasionally noted, the Browns always seem to make more news off the field than on the field.  Today it was team  owner Jimmy Haslam's turn with an open letter to the fans assuring them that  the  front office  knows exactly  what it's doing, by God,  despite  the long delay in hiring a new coach.   Responding to critics who wonder why seven other teams that fired coaches have now replaced them, Haslam declared that the recruiters are taking a methodical approach to make sure they get it right this time.

May I speculate that Haslam may be creating a new title for  Chudzinski's successor.  It will be called the "interim-interim coach" that will allow the team to hire and fire an interim coach - which is the way it has been for years albeit with the title of permanent one-year coaches.  The title change is believed to be a first for the NFL.  If that confuses you, you have a lot of company.

* * * * *

Speaking of delays, it is  now  reported that the environmental expert hired at great cost by Federal Judge John Adams to assess Akron's court-delayed sewer plan has approved the  city's plan, which had been approved by the U.S. and Ohio EPAs.    Which is where some of us came in.  If you want to connect the dots, you shouldn't have too much trouble. In this matter, the dots are bigger than pie plates.

* * * * *

The Koch brothers, the billionaire industrial sugar daddies of the Tea Party, have  already taken a major stride forward in converting America into the land of the free and home of the fringe.    The New York Times reported that they have injected $20 million into congressional campaigns in a bid to buy the U.S. House and Senate. Some of the money will also doubtless show up in Ohio Gov. John Kasich's reelection  campaign. The Kochs' targets are progressive  candidates who support Obamacare. The game plan also attacks any political move supporting environmental upgrades.  By now you surely know the drill on the right.  If not, fair warning.

* * * * *
You can be sure that nothing worse can happen all day after an adult  son shows up in a playful spirit to give you two slick coloring  books - "Cruz to the Future" and "The Tea Party Coloring Book for Kids".   Any mention of the Tea Party, of course, is self revealing, so here's a quick account of the one lovingly dedicated to Sen. Rafael Edward "Ted" Cruz.

As you might expect, you can color an imposing sketch of Cruz holding a rifle (Second
amendment story line) to show off  the right to bear arms,  and other pages  dedicated to Cruz's patriotic themes and politically correct conservative positions.  Told you.  Even the Times' Sunday Puzzle seemed less painful  after that.  

Prof. Richard Vedder's conservative cash cow

We've long known that retired (!) Ohio University economics  professor Richard Vedder has shaped his conservative sermons for  a perfect fit in the corporate world.  His op-ed  tax columns have been widely quoted or published in the media (including the Beacon Journal) as  authoritative.  And his testimony before legislative committees has been catnip for Republican pols. Vedder recently testified on Gov. Kasich's budget before a committee in Columbus, providing the ear candy for conservatives in need of fresh rhetoric.

What we didn't know until this day, folks, is that Vedder is also on the payroll of an   outfit innocently called Donors Trust that vows to to build a "legacy of liberty".  As evidence of that freedom, Donors Trust serves as a pass-through for large contributions from like-minded  "liberty-minded charities"  who are guaranteed anonymity.  The trust then shovels the money into various other like-minded organizations.. In more vulgar language, some would call it a laundering operation. You don't need an advanced college degree in economics to connect the dots.

But about Vedder: A study by the Associated Press revealed that for his sympathetic labors, Vedder, who left the campus as a regular  in 2001. is paid $150,000 annually by Donor Trusts to preach its Gospel.

And it doesn't take much deeper digging to learn that Donors Trust is a pass-through that channels huge donations to non-profit groups who  can remain secret recipients.

But wait.  If you roll back the tape,  you'll find vestiges of the Koch Brothers and the    Libertarian Cato Institute founded nearly 40 years ago by the  brothers.


The  Trust also has spread around nearly $91 million to groups dissing climate change as a liberal plot.  The brothers would agree  as the money flows.

Meantime, thank you, Associated Press.  At least  we now know the liberty-loving players and their confederates.

In Ohio,Tea Partiers say they are ready to strike

Mid-week wash:

Interesting, don't you think?,  how a politician's self-serving decision  can come back to haunt him three years later. In 2010, Summit County Republican Chairman Alex Arshinkoff bucked the State GOP by endorsing Tea Party favorite and then-State Rep. Seth Morgan in the Republican primary for Ohio auditor.

The news broke something like this:

Arshinkoff: Morgan is a certified public accountant and has a fresh face and bold ideas. (Read: It was really a bowing concession to the Tea Party much like the ones that other Republicans are handing out these days.)

Morgan: "Alex is a longstanding, respected leader with the Republican establishment...and to gain his endorsement is truly  exciting for this campaign."

Short-term excitement, that is.  Morgan lost to the state party's choice, David Yost.

But his right-wing credentials were impeccable enough for the uber-rich Koch
brothers to take him on as the policy director of Americans for Prosperity, the outfit founded by the Kochs.

Joe Hallett of the Columbus Dispatch lately quoted Morgan as saying the Tea Partiers  now have several options to form a new party, create an "insurrection" within the GOP and "everything in between."

Connect the dots:  Arshinkoff, long an Establishment Republican, now finds the  party facing a serious threat from a guy that he endorsed more for personal political reasons than the  relative merits of the two primary candidates.

* * * *  *

Speaking of the Tea Party, how about this notion  from former State Republican Chairman Kevin DeWine when he spoke to the Akron Press Club in  April 2010:  The Republican Party and the Tea Party have much in common and he (DeWine) would welcome them into the party. At the time  Grumpy Abe  wrote: "It may be more accurate to wonder whether the Tea Partiers would ever welcome Republicans into their ranks"  The answer is clear enough.

* * * * *
Now that former South  Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford has won a special election for a  congressional seat,  can we forever erase the idea of a superior moral compass in the hearts of southern Republicans?

Rayburn House Office building in an expanding mood!

BULLETIN:  We've just gotten word that as part of the Republicans' fix-up,clean-up, move-up Spring cleaning chores, they have cleared space in the Rayburn House Office Building  to accommodate some very important new residents.

One of the new offices adjoining Speaker John Boehner's digs will go to the NRA's Wayne  LaPierre, a non-elected VIP who will be conveniently on hand to advise the troops on their  next move in the gun control debate.  Just down the hall will be an office for David Keene, the NRA's president. And a few paces beyond that will be the double office  of the Koch Brothers, a nice office for Grover Norquist, as well as smaller offices for Karl Rove, Donald Trump, Rush Limbaugh, and several bank and health insurance company lobbyists.

Boehner, who is in charge of the we-are-family overhaul, said it will be classified as another move by the GOP not only to satisfy its base but also to prove once again that the party is not ungrateful for the grassroots help it has received  from right-wing lobbyists.

"They will be closer than an e-mail away from the heart and soul of our business on Capitol Hill," Boehner said.

Some of the space will be sliced from Nancy Pelosi's office and that of a half dozen Democrats  who sit as a minority on House committees.  "They don't need the space anymore now,"  Bohner said, forcing a sly smile as he blew another smoke ring from his cigaret. "They don't have anything to do anyway."

The interview was interrupted by an aide who hurriedly advised the Speaker that Mr.LaPierre was on the phone and wanted to see him in the million-dollar gun lobbyist's office next door - without delay!"

Boehner rushed out without even asking what the call was all about.

The Koch way of doing anti-environmental business brothers

The billionaire Koch Brothers have decided to flood  the   narrative of the  hysterical  campaign  against Sen. Sherrod Brown with a burst of anti-environmental crap onto the streets and into voters homes.  This  photo from a reader  shows three separate arrivals into a single home.  While walking in the neighborhood this afternoon I found another piece tossing about in the grass.  All of the pieces were paid for by Americans for Prosperity,  the royally financed propaganda machine founded by the Kochs.

The Kochs sit at the top of Koch Industries, a mammoth multi-purpose enterprise, which explains their  fierce animosity toward the Environmental Protection Agency, climate change and anything else that threatens to cost them a buck or two from liberal politicians like Sherrod Brown. On the other hand, they are friendly to Brown's Republican opponent Josh Mandel, who also believes, among other nonsensical things, that climate change is a hoax.  And that greater coal production is the wave of the energy future for a healthy economy.

There are times when I hear Mandel's utterances that I have to believe they came directly from the Koch's office suite.

So the voters will have to decide  whether they consider Kochs' mailers are  from people concerned solely with their welfare, or whether  we should avoid returning to the days of  Elizabethan England when the air could be inhaled with a spoon.

Mandel's $$$ buddies: Jot down the Koch Brothers

We happened to catch a TV political attack ad on Sen. Sherrod Brown, not a  rare intrusion into my program viewing these days.   It was sponsored by American Commitment, one of those shadowy players  whose name means so little to so many folks beyond the Potomac.  What made this more interesting than the others, I discovered with a few minutes research, is its president, a guy named Phil Kerpen (pictured).  He's listed on the web  as a columnist on Fox News Opinion, chairman of the Internet Freedom Coalition and a former vice president of policy for Americans for Prosperity.

In other words, he's a lobbyist for generic conservative groups whose names normally promote starry patriotic  themes like freedom, (from taxes) liberty (from taxes)  and...American Commitment (to unseat Democrats who stand in the way of lowering taxes, fatter profits,  and deregulation.)

You could go on and on about the things that keep these folks up at night, but the one group that stands out in Kerpen's resume is Americans for  Prosperity.

That's the mega-funded juggernaut founded by David Koch, a billionaire who wants to rearrange  American life to suit his own rich stake in the land .  He and his brother are doing so by laying up tons of cash in House and Senate races, including Ohio's.  You might wonder what a man of Koch's vast wealth is doing birthing  organizations with prosperity in the title since he already has more dough than he needs to buy his own country.

But the intersection of Kerpen, Americans Commitment, Americans for Prosperity and the Kochs is a sweet deal for Brown's whizzy  Republican opponent, Josh Mandel, who doesn't appear in the ad but you can bet the Statue of Liberty that Josh is well aware of it every waking moment of his day.

So factor into Mandel the name of David Koch, one of seveal of Josh's silent partners.

And so far, it hasn't worked despite the millions that the Mandel campaign is spending on attack ads.  A late Quinnipiac poll  has  Brown about 11 pts. ahead  with Josh settled in at 36.6 pct..

The billion dollar (!) campaign against Obama

I READ THAT the Republican Voting for Dollars high command vigorously led by the Karl Roves will spend $1 billion to defeat  President Obama in November.  I can't honestly tell you how many zeroes follow the $1.  I spend more of my time rounding off the entries in  my checkbook to the nearest dollar.  But don't be surprised if some mathematician at MIT turns up on Fox News to give us a mental image of $1 billion by reporting that if you laid  $1 billion end to end, they would stretch all the way to the U.S.Chamber of Commerce,   various oil companies and,  of course, the Koch Brothers  before arriving with a new guy in the Oval Office.

The trouble with  billions and trillions is that even the modern financiers who toss around such figures have never really seen them. Nobody ever has.  In that sense, they are abstractions  that filter through the wealthiest levels of society as  imagined over the morning coffee. The mysterious figures are never precise because it is easy enough to round off the  dangling millions to make a billion come out even.

Who can appear as a news show panelist freely talking about $1,297, 082,093.36?  Nobody.  Not even Donald Trump. So if one of Mitt Romney's surrogates mentions a billion here and a billion there,  ask him to be more precise.  That will change the subject.

But come to think of it, if you drop the R from Mitt's last name, the remaining letters are an anagram of  money.  Now I think we're getting somewhere.

The bizarre dance to the mountaintop

AS THE IOWA CAMPAIGN mercifully crashed down on caucusing GOP conservatives, it seemed as though we were witnessing the final act of a bizarre Walpurgis Night, when witches climbed to the mountaintop to convene with their gods. OK, so all but one was a warlock - but you get the point.

There was no end to the savagery, as Newt went on Fox TV to call Mitt a liar, and Rick, as in

Santorum, described Ron Paul as "disgusting." Playing Mr. Cool without gravitas, Romney remained on cruise control and described Newt as a "good guy". Paul fired off the cheapest shot of all by calling Romney a "liberal". In another day or so, they all would have been challenging each other to produce birth certificates.

Meantime, I've been trying to catch up with everything else of less consequence that was going on in the world. I finally learned who Kim Kardashin is. But, damn it, I've already forgotten.

Looking to the future, the papers said the Cleveland Browns were quite upbeat about next season, which you might expect after a 4-12 season and a yet to be decided fill-in for quarterback.

Jenny McCarthy (you remember her, don't you?) kissed a cop in Times Square on New Year's Eve for a photo-op.

The Los Vegas Hlton changed its name to the Las Vegas Hotel and Casino.

And, Samoa lost a day by going past the International Dateline - a feat that I'll never understand.

Almost forgot: Pat Robertson told his 700 Club audience that God had confided to him who will win the presidency this year. Robertson was coy about it, saying he could not break God's confidence by revealing the winner. But the reverend, who is a past victor in the Iowa caucuses, said God wasn't at all pleased with Obama. With those odds against him, and coupled with the Koch Brothers and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, you have to wonder why Obama would even run.

The underlying presidential campaign in Wisconsin

GOV. SCOTT WALKER'S muted motive in the ugly spectacle in Wisconsin was finally confirmed by one of his own people: Republican Scott FitzGerald, the state's senate majority leader. Here it is:

"If we win this battle, and the money is not there under the auspices of the unions, certainly what you're going to find is President Obama is going to have a much difficult, much more difficult time getting elected and winning the state of Wisconsin."

Oh? So its not really about the maligned budget deficit nor collective bargaining at all. but about Barack Obama's chances in 2012! If they could sell cynicism and subterfuge by the pound in that state (and later in Ohio), Walker could wipe out his deficit overnight.

Ironically, despite the polls that show his popularity and that of other GOP Wisconsin lawmakers taking a dive, Walker cannot compromise. His strength remains in the hands of the Koch brothers, multi-billionaires who are measuring his every move for their own interests in the state. And with Walker's missionary zeal as an evangelical Christian and son of a Baptist minister, he will hold his ground, come heaven or hell.

Zeal? Walker supports the pro-life cause to the extent that he would let a mother die rather than allow her an abortion. I mention that only because it's important to see the melding of social conservatism and unlimited cash in the new American political landscape, courtesy of the U.S.. Supreme Court. These are dangerous times for democracy as we've come to know it.

Wisconsin: Union invaders meet the Koch invasion

WATCHING WISCONSIN GOV. Scott Walker complain about out-of-state union officials who are invading Madison to foment the protests was a teachable moment for me. It was then that I learned the distance that this zealous crusader would travel to destroy the back-channel facts in the case. I mean, these unionists were not illegal aliens or anything like that. And if labor sent a thousand out-of-staters, they would still be no match for two out-of-state brothers who influence Walker's every movement: Charles and David Koch, the billionaires (35 times over!) who own Koch Industries.

The Kochs own a lot of stuff, in addition to the pols who are expected to protect it. A shopping list of their possessions are oil refineries, 4,000 miles of pipeline and countless other things from Dixie cups to paper towels. They have an anti-union gorilla-like presence in Wisconsin in the energy field. One study by a research institute at the University of Massachusetts listed Koch Industries as one of the nation's top 10 polluters. These fellows have supported Walker with campaign cash passed through a number of fund-raising channels, including an outfit patriotically called Americans for Prosperity. Among their goals is the elimination of environmental regulations and unions, and only concede no more than minimal services for the needy, reports the New Yorker Magazine.

Any wonder that with a pot-of-gold behind him, the governor is fully confident that he can stare down the protests? Whatever else they might be telling you about Wisconsin's budget deficit, nearly half of which arrived with the governor's pet tax cuts soon after he was seated in January, you can shove it. This is all about union-busting and that will make the brothers Koch quite happy.

Speaking of brothers, what's Sarah Palin talking about when she asks her "fellow union brothers and sisters" to oppose union bosses and fight instead for the "right causes in our great country." Somehow, I can't connect the dots between this multi-millionaire wannabe Big Sister and commoners like union brothers and sisters.