Shannon Jones to run against our Michelle Schneider?

Recently we have come out with a strong endorsement of Michelle Schneider for State Senate. In spite of this, State Representative Shannon Jones has indicated she plans to run for the seat too. We would encourage her to think otherwise.

We think Shannon Jones has the potential to become a solid tax-and-spend Republican. However, Michelle Schneider has already proven her tax-and-spend skills with distinction. Her votes for Bob Taft's tax increases, Simon Leis' Sales Tax hike, and more taxpayer funding for The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center give her the cred that Jones has yet to earn.

We expect Shannon to obey. As a former roomate of Michelle's, she should sit back and learn from her, not run against her.

We stand behind our support for Michelle Schneider. She looms large in this race, in every possible way. Shannon and everyone else had best understand this.

Gehring, VOA, fought greater social service regulations

While our enemy Chris Monzel has been fighting for years to close the Volunteers of America sex offender facility, Scott Gehring and the VOA has been fighting to expand their reach and eliminate regulations on themselves.

Scott Gehring of Volunteers of America testified that the changes would dismantle Cincinnati's social-services network. Agency officials are concerned about neighborhood crime, too, he said, but "the social-service agencies are not the source" of crime.

Gehring is absolutely correct. Just because Gehring and the VOA imports registered felony sex offenders from all over the state doesn't mean they're the cause of the additional crime they bring to the area. There are always "other factors" that we should blame first. The lack of additional tax dollars is one such reason.

We are glad that the VOA has been able to fight stricter regulations against their great work. Scott Gehring is doing a fine job with this noble institution. It is vital to our area that we continue to import sex offenders and other criminals to Cincinnati. We are fortunate to have a quality worker like Gehring fighting for the VOA, and using his connections to David Pepper, Leslie Ghiz, and Jeff Berding to make sure VOA is protected by government.

We need to send a message to Chris Monzel to leave the VOA sex offenders alone. We need them here in SW Ohio.

Special pic from Michelle Schneider fundraiser

There's over 200 years of collective wisdom in that pic.

Thank you all for everything you did to make Michelle Schneider's fundraiser a great one. We are very proud of the dozens of people who showed up. Enjoy our special picture of the living legend Mary Anne Christie and our next State Senator Michelle Schneider. We will have more info to report from this event in the coming days.

Save Volunteers of America

Until the past few days, County Commissioner David Pepper and his close ally Cincinnati Councilman Leslie Ghiz have done a great job advocating for the Volunteers of America. The VOA performs a valuable service by importing sex offenders and tax dollars to Cincinnati, both contributing to the diversity of our area and expanding our tax coffers. We urge Pepper and Ghiz to not give in to temptation to demand the removal of this excellent sex offender facility over one murder. We want them to remember the greater good they do for our area and continue to support their work.

We are disgusted by the efforts of notoriously anti-tax Chris Monzel to close this valuable VOA facility. He is overreacting to one individual crime. If this facility closes, not only would sex offenders from outside this area have nowhere else to go, but more importantly our region would lose all of the tax dollars that come here because of their presence. We must not let anything get in the way of those tax dollars. If necessary, we would even support a county-wide property tax increase to expand this facility and improve their operations.

Former Leslie Ghiz aide Scott Gehring is now one of the VOA Executives, and we are extremely proud of the great work he has done for them. Perhaps this is one of the reasons for their success. You may remember that last year we profiled Gehring. We stand behind our assertion that he is a future political star. His star now shines brighter than ever because of his admirable work with the VOA.

We applaud Scott Gehring for everything he's done to make the VOA a Cincinnati icon. We applaud Leslie Ghiz for standing behind them and sending her aide to work there. We applaud David Pepper, whose aide Jen Winkelman is married to Gehring, for supporting their work. We just want to remind Pepper and Ghiz to remember all the great things VOA does for Cincinnati, especially the tax dollars they bring us. Let's all stand together by rejecting Chris Monzel's efforts to shut down VOA's sex offender facility and continue the Pepper/Ghiz policy of supporting their work.

Michelle Schneider's Interactive Fundraising Invitation

Today we roll out the Michelle Schneider Interactive Fundraising Invitation. Read for yourselves why the Sponsors for her fundraiser/tax rally love her as much as we do:


Bill Seitz - "SO WHO WANTS TO RAISE SOME TAXES!!!!! When we served in the State House, Michelle and I stood together to pass all of Bob Taft's tax increases. You can see what our Taft tax hikes have done to grow Ohio's vibrant economy. She deserves to be rewarded for her excellent judgement just like I was."

Jean Schmidt - "I proudly voted for George Bush's $800 Billion Bailout for Billionaires. We know now it was a miserable failure, but only because we didn't spend enough. Michelle understands, just like Barack Obama and I do, that we can spend our way out of any problem."

Alex Triantafilou - "During tough times like these, it's important to have an accomplished, experienced Republican tax-hiker representing us in Columbus. We need her tax-and-spend leadership in the State Senate."

Stan Aronoff - "Michelle shares my dedication to a bigger government that serves lobbyists first. Her support for spending millions upon millions in taxpayer funds for The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center demonstrates that she'll always put the interest of lobbyists above the interests of taxpayers."

Virgil Lovitt - "Without Michelle's guidance, I might not have won my prestigious 2008 Tax Hiker of the Year Award. I have been proud to follow Michelle's tax-hiking example, and it has always served me well. I especially appreciate Michelle's support for more than doubling the Hotel/Motel tax in Hamilton County, which has allowed us to generate more tax revenues from the numerous prostitutes in Sharonville."

Joe Deters - "My boss Stan Chesley told me to endorse her."

Rachel Hutzel - "As evidenced by my endorsement of Betty Montgomery for Governor and Jean Schmidt for Congress, it is my policy to endorse all female candidates in Republican primaries, whether they are qualified or not. Furthermore, there better not be any inappropriate uses of food at this fundraiser. I will prosecute any and all Food Fighting Felons to the fullest exent of the law."

George Vincent - "Michelle Schneider was one of my loyal partners in my successful effort to turn our county party into the Hamilton County Republican Party of Higher Taxes. I know she will fight tirelessly for higher taxes for Ohio just like she did for Hamilton County."

Mary Anne Christie - "Michelle is the latest in a long line of pro-abortion or pro-tax women who I have backed for higher office. I firmly believe Michelle has what it takes to become Governor some day. She will be an even greater Governor than that young man Bobby Taft was, just you see.

George Terwilleger - "I was a pro-choice State Representative. Michelle Schneider will be a great State Senator."

Dick Weiland - "I'm honored that Michelle Schneider chooses to accept my public support and my money, in spite of the 4 months I served in federal prison for my felony conviction. Michelle understands that we convicted felons should always have a seat at the table of government."

John Pepper - "While I am not listed as a Sponsor, Michelle Schneider and I have enjoyed a productive relationship. I have donated thousands of dollars to her campaigns, and she has voted to give millions in taxpayer funds to The Freedom Center. Michelle takes good care of her rich donors."

Interactive Fundraising Invitations

We are bringing a brand new idea to the political process - the interactive fundraising invitation. Don't you get tired of seeing the same old invitations? You can't tell one apart from the other. They all list the important names to interest you, give the basic information on the event, and of course ask you for your money. We at Republicans for Higher Taxes have decided to create something new, an interactive fundraising invitation. The interactive fundraising invitation will continue to exist in written form, but that's only the start.

From this day forward, we take these invitations interactive. We will gather quotes from the sponsors or hosts of these fundraisers and print them on the internet for everyone to read. Rather than just reading their name, you will have the opportunity to learn why these people are choosing to put their money behind their candidate. We think our pro-tax movement will benefit greatly from this new technique.

Shortly, we will roll out our first ever interactive fundraising invitation, to benefit our endorsed candidate for State Senate, Michelle Schneider.