Republican Party endorses safety plan!

After weeks of bad publicity due to the questionable tactics of Simon Leis, David Pepper, and Todd Portune, we finally have something to celebrate. Our local Republican Party has endorsed the Sales Tax hike, and has proven to us they are a party of higher taxes.

Didn't we tell you we could trust Bill Seitz?

State Rep. Bill Seitz, R-Green Township, likes the plan because it’s comprehensive and will make the community safer. He chaired the Republican Party policy committee that recommended endorsement – a recommendation that Party Chair George Vincent affirmed.

“While others may have ideas to accomplish pieces of the plan, this is the only comprehensive safety plan that will close the security gap to the level necessary to make our community safer and more secure,” Seitz said.

We've said it before, we'll say it again, there is no greater supporter of tax hikes than Seitz. This guy has been awesome in supporting every tax increase on the ballot. He is a stronger supporter of raising taxes and spending more money than Bill or Hillary Clinton ever were.

We are especially thankful to Hamilton County Party Chairman George Vincent. Vincent has worked hard to return our party to the glory days of higher taxes and more spending that we enjoyed under Bob Bedinghaus and Bob Taft. Recently he tried to endorse Chris Bortz, until Bortz undermined himself by selecting Roxanne Qualls to City Council. By standing behind Simon Leis, Todd Portune, and David Pepper, we can see for ourselves that Vincent is strong pro-tax supporter. We welcome Vincent as our friend and ally and look forward to working with him to raise taxes higher and higher every year.

Mecklenborg wins, we win

Local Republicans have named their replacement for tax supporter Bill Seitz as he moves on to the Ohio Senate. In a landslide our party recommends lawyer Robert Mecklenborg over anti-tax Richard Hammersmith. This is a big victory for the pro-tax movement.

Mecklenborg is being supported by former Commissioner Bob Bedinghaus, one of the greatest supporters of high taxes we've ever seen. If you name it, he taxed it, then raised the tax some more. The development along the riverfront serves a reminder of the worth of his policies. We trust Mecklenborg will do a fine job for our cause in Columbus.

Sadly we hear that Richard Hammersmith, an enemy of the treasury, has decided to still run for the seat. His defeat must happen. He has been a supporter of other anti-tax enemies like Chris Monzel, Tom Brinkman, and Jim Raussen. It is people like them who almost stopped the policies of Bob Taft and Bob Bedinghaus which did so much good for our area.

Apology to The Whistleblower

When we are wrong we will admit it. We wish to formally apologize to The Whistleblower for accusing him and his source of making a false claim against the Blue Ash Republican Club. The club had their meeting tonight, and we are sad to confirm that they indeed held a one-sided debate and did not give the anti-safety extremists a chance to embarrass themselves with one of their foolish presentations. The Whistleblower's scoop turned out to be correct.

The incompetence of this campaign is embarrassing. The anti-safety coalition could not debate their way out of a paper bag. The best thing to do is let them speak and turn off everyone in the room. Instead, by denying them a chance to air their views along with Leis, we've just given them a great excuse to run back to The Whistleblower and whine about not allowing their message to be heard. They'll win more votes making themselves victims than they will by presenting their case in competition with our Sheriff.

The campaign is struggling right now because of stupid decisions like this. The anti-safety coalition doesn't have to do anything right because the missteps of Simon Leis and others are doing the job for them. Our campaign to raise the Sales Tax needs a new direction if it is to succeed. The first thing to do is get Leis under control.

Blue Ash Republicans in hiding

We apologize for our delay in updating our investigation of the accusations against Sheriff Si Leis and the Blue Ash Republican club. We thought for sure that club President Lee Czerwonka would be happy to clear up any misperceptions that the anti-safety folks were trying to create. Surprisingly he has refused to answer our simple questions.

This investigation is still open, but are now considering the possibility that we jumped the gun in automatically defending Leis and Czerwonka. But the fact that Czerwonka is refusing to answer our questions doesn't leave us optimistic.

We strongly encourage our allies to support open debates. This safety plan is extremely well put together. It is far superior than anything the anti-safety folks have come up with. We will win every time we debate them, so let's debate! By trying to rig debate we only give whiners like COAST, The Whistleblower, DeWhine, and other anti-safety folks a forum to impune our side's motives and distract the voters. We hope the Blue Ash Republicans are not behaving this way, and if they are, we would encourage them to stop.

Investigation launched over Leis allegations

As promised, we have returned to update you on the investigation we announced yesterday regarding the allegations made by The Whistleblower about Si Leis and the Blue Ash Republican Club. We have contacted Club President Lee Czerwonka and sent him a list of questions about this situation. We promised to publish his answers unedited. The text of our email to Mr. Czerwonka is reprinted below:

Mr. Czerwonka, I am the creator and main author of a local group called Republicans for Higher Taxes. Our mission is to promote higher taxes and spending from within the Republican Party, provide support to Republicans who do the same, and counter the lies and disinformation of far right groups like COAST. Yesterday's edition of The Whistleblower claims that you have invited Sheriff Simon Leis to speak to your club's next meeting on September 12th, but have prohibited the other side from speaking at this meeting. This report seems to accuse you of using your position as club president to promote a pro-tax agenda. They even implied that Sheriff Leis would not agree to speak unless you promised that the other side would be banned from presenting their arguments at the same meeting.

We are highly skeptical of these claims and are launching an investigation to get to the bottom of these allegations. Our group strongly supports this safety plan and believe it can withstand any criticism, and believe that our Sheriff would be willing to debate this issue with anyone. We suspect the anti-tax side is welcome to present their ideas, but would rather plant rumors about the supporters of the Sales Tax increase than debate it in the open. To help us get the truth out, we have a list of questions regarding these allegations that we would like for you to answer. We will print your responses, unedited. We will be publishing an update to our investigation by Sunday afternoon, so we would appreciate a response by the end of Saturday.

1. Is the Blue Ash Republican Club (BARC) promoting or supporting the Sales Tax increase for the safety plan on November's ballot?

2. Is it true that the BARC is refusing to allow a representative from the anti-tax side to present their arguments at next week's meeting on September 12 when Sheriff Si Leis is making his pro-tax pitch? If so, are you worried about creating the perception that you are using your club to promote pro-tax policies?

3. Did Si Leis request or demand that the club prohibit the anti-tax side from speaking at this meeting?

4. What is your position on this ballot issue? Also did The Whistleblower accurately report that all 5 Republican members of the Blue Ash City Council who attended the club's picnic, including you, woud not sign the petition to place this issue on the ballot?

5. Will the BARC allow a representative from the anti-tax side to present their views at October's meeting? Will the pro-tax side be allowed to make an additional presentation at this meeting?

6. Ultimately will the BARC be giving equal time to both sides to present their arguments between now and Election Day?

The Whistleblower, anti-safety extremists, slur Si Leis

A story is brewing involving The Whistleblower and the Blue Ash Republican Club and we're going to get to the bottom of it. Some people like to use innuendos to makes their points instead of facts. It is clear after reading today's version of The Whistleblower that he and a disgruntled enemy of the treasury from Blue Ash are trying to imply that our Sheriff Si Leis is afraid to debate his Sales Tax hike out in the open. Read for yourself his report on this topic:

Are Blue Ash Republicans pushing for higher taxes? Next Wednesday Senile Sheriff Si Leis will be lecturing the Blue Ash Republican Club on the virtues of Devious DemocRAT Hamilton County Commissioners Odd Todd Opportune’s and David A. Pepper’s $900 million Feel-Good-Social Programs Tax Scam that would also include the GOP Sheriff Simon E. Leis Memorial Hoosegow. Wouldn’t it be funny if a club member we’ll call “Jeff” called Club President (and Blue Ash Clowncil-man) Lee Czerwonka to ask for 5-10 minutes to present an opposing side of the issue. RINO Czerwonka refused to grant this request. He said we'd have to wait for their "Candidates Night" in October where he'd get about five minutes to speak, along with over 10 other people.

They are trying to imply Sheriff Si Leis is a coward by suggesting he won't speak in front of a group unless his opinion is the only one allowed to be presented. Leis is not a coward! He is a brave, courageous Sheriff who would defend his Sales Tax increase anytime, anywhere, against anyone. If anyone from the anti-safety extremists had the guts to state their position in front of the Sheriff, I know Leis and Czerwonka would let them have that chance.

Our theory is the anti-safety forces want to spread their misinformation campaign without having to deal with any competition, but when they found out Leis was going to be at the Blue Ash meeting they backed down and ran to The Whistleblower with an excuse. There is no way Si Leis and his supporters would act in the cowardly manner they are being accused of. Our side is proud of our plan and we don't have to resort to these tactics to win the debate.

We at Republicans for Higher Taxes are going to investigate further and get to the bottom of this issue. We suspect when our investigation is complete, we will find that both sides were invited to make their presentations, but the anti-safety side chose to run from the Sheriff and are trying to blame him for it. We will post again within 24 hours. Stay tuned.

Support our tri-partisan tax hikers

We hope to see everyone at the tri-partisan fundraiser tomorrow night for Democrat Jeff Berding, Charterite Chris Bortz, and Republican Leslie Ghiz. While none are perfect, each has been an effective voice for raising taxes and spending. By hosting this fundraiser together, they are showing themselves to be a model of working across party lines to make sure the government gets the resources it needs.

For a mere $150, we can here them explain to us why we need to raise the Sales Tax to build a large new jail, spend $160 million in new social programs, and provide for $600 million in new spending on other county programs. They will explain to us why the city of Cincinnati needs to provide $1 million in taxpayer funding for The Freedom Center every year. We can listen to Chris Bortz talk about why he votes to raise property taxes every year (and hopefully convert Ghiz and Berding to his side) and thank him for appointing mega-tax supporter Roxanne Qualls to Council.

If you can, try to give more than the $150 they are charging. From what we hear, their campaigns need this money more than you do.

Betrayed by our hero

We are extremely upset right now at Leslie Ghiz for taking a stand against the Cincinnati Public Schools tax levy. The schools badly need this money or they won't be able to close a deficit the Treasurer said they're facing. This levy would only cost homeowners an additional $300 per $100,000 of property valuation. We need our leaders like Ghiz to support this levy so CPS can continue to do great things for our community.

Ghiz's position disappoints us. She has been one of our best supporters of higher taxes. She has been a wonderful advocate for the Leis-Pepper-Portune Sales Tax hike for a new jail and $160 million of social spending programs. After compiling such a great record in support of higher taxes, we are at a loss to explain why Ms. Ghiz is siding with the likes of COAST now.