Ohio is a GOP cesspool

Okay, I admit a certain obsession with Ohio. And, of course, it relates to the election. I'm not over it.

The Toledo Blade has been all over the growing GOP rare coin scandal. The story in today's paper gives a great overview of the whole mess...and how all of the state's top GOP leaders are tied in to it.

For starters, top GOP fundraiser, Tom Noe, who was the Bush campaign fundraising guru in Ohio, had to quit a couple of plum appointments(oh yeah, Noe is facing both state and federal investigations):

A day after the state said it would pull $50 million in investments managed by Toledo area coin dealer Tom Noe, he resigned yesterday from both the Ohio Turnpike Commission and the Ohio Board of Regents.

Gov. Bob Taft said he did not request the resignations, but he did accept them.

Governor Taft, who defended Noe's rare coin debacle, had to change his position:

The governor struck a different tone yesterday, following additional reports by The Blade, which reported the loss and possible theft of 121 state-owned coins. Other stories revealed that one of Mr. Noe’s coin-fund managers, who caused the loss of $650,000 in state funds, had a felony record.

"But as more and more information came to light, it became evident that insufficient safeguards were in place to protect public money — specifically, the inadequate controls of inventory, the failure to perform background checks on associates,” Governor Taft said. “I became increasingly concerned about the security of the fund as more information came to light.”

Sounds like the Dems. are all over this one -- laying the scandal on the GOP leadership:

Senate Democrats had assignments for all of the Republicans who control every statewide executive post: Governor Taft, Attorney General Jim Petro, Auditor Betty Montgomery, Treasurer Jennette Bradley, and Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell.

Three of them — Mr. Petro, Mr. Blackwell, and Ms. Montgomery — are running for their party’s nomination for governor in 2006 and none would talk to The Blade yesterday.

LOL. Of course they don't want to talk about this...all the more reason for the Democrats to keep it up.

I have a feeling this scandal is going to stick around...and, if they can be so ballsy as to invest 50 million dollars into a risky scheme proposed by their biggest fundraiser, well, then are undoubtedly other scandals waiting to be discovered.

Okay, thanks for allowing me to indulge in my Ohio obsession.