Mark Painter - 2014's Political Loser of the Year

Mark Painter - probably not the one on the left

Dear fellow tax hikers, after reviewing the exhaustive list of contenders we proudly name former Judge Mark Painter as our biggest loser of 2014.  Currently an employee of Democratic Chairman Tim Burke, Mark had to overcome fierce competition to win this most honorable award.

Marky Mark had a year he'd like to forget.  First he donated $1000 to our 2011 Tax Hiker of the Year Rick Bryan in his failed campaign for 28th District State Representative.  Just two days after Ricky's shocking defeat to the evil conservative Jonathan Dever, Mark gave another $500 to Dever's next opponent Micah Kamrass. 

That gave His Honor the rare distinction of losing the 28th District twice in six months. 

Painter's futility didn't stop there.  Marky Mark joined with those who believed that Hamilton County must raise its Sales Tax for up to 14 years to renovate BOTH Union Terminal and City Hall (each owned by City of Cincinnati), and that no other option was acceptable.  After the Commissioners voted to include only Union Terminal, Mark sent a legendary temper tantrum editorial to the Enquirer bashing the plan and thrashing our terrible Commissioners.

After Mark's denunciations, that TERRIBLE plan passed with 60% of the vote and that TERRIBLE, awful Monzel was re-elected with 57% in a 3-way race.  This was truly not His Honor's year to shine.

With so much great competition, we also feel compelled to give an Honorable Mention to those who earned it.

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Campaign Expert PhD Julie Matheny.  C.E. Matheny's legendary losing streak makes her an annual contender for this award.  She is another one who lost the 28th District twice in 6 months, AND this great "Republican" supported Connie Pillich.  These three fine individuals did as well as every other candidate she has supported over the years. 

Peter Stautberg.  An incumbent State Representative with a significant spending advantage, who gets punked in his own primary by a guy he beat by 20 points just two years ago.  Enough said.

Cincinnati Enquirer Editorial Board.  They demanded higher taxes for Music Hall.  They loved Charlie Winburn and Connie Pillich.  They really, really wanted us to vote for Micah Kamrass.  But the voters rejected their endorsements, with more than the usual enthusiasm. 

Charlie Luken.  Great name ID in a race where name ID is everything? Check.  Access to big money? Check.  A current law license?  Check (just barely).  With all this, he still lost, and by a surprisingly big margin, to a guy who has never run for anything except judge.  Have a drink on us Charlie.  Oh what the hell, we're good for a full round. 

Blue Ash City Councilmen.  Remember the kids from the neighborhood where you grew up who would take their ball and go home whenever things didn't go their way?  Now they serve on Blue Ash City Council. 

The year started so promising for them.  Rick Bryan was going to save the 28th District for the Republicans, they told us.  Republicans needed to be unified, they told us.  Republicans needed to support the winner of the primary, they told us.  Micah Kamrass was a potential future statewide candidate who needed to be stopped, they told us. 

But when Tax Hikin' Rick Bryan lost his primary, all that went out the window.  The voters didn't respect their greatness, so the Councilmen took their ball and defected to Team Kamrass.  Dever won by 12 points anyways. 

These poor Council Members lost a very winnable race.  The nature of the loss demonstrated that every single Blue Ash Councilman is unelectable outside Blue Ash.  They lost their respect from local GOP, and the Democrats would still throw them under the bus at the first opportunity.   This was a most terrible year for these fine Members of Council. 

Pete Beck sued for fraud

Other defendants recently faced similar charges

Dear fellow tax hikes, State Representative Peter Beck has been sued for taking a lead role in defrauding investors out of $1.2 million.  Some of this money found its way to the Beck campaign.  Even wore, it has just been reported that some of Beck's co-defendants were recently sued on similar claims.  We encourage all of you to learn about these cases yourselves.

This is shocking to us.  Beck is one of us Establishment Republicans - people who support using the government to benefits ourselves, as opposed to those obnoxious conservatives who want to keep the government small and play no favorites.  For example, when our good friend Peter Stautberg was challenged in the 2012 primary, Beck proudly endorsed Stautberg.

Prior to becoming State Representative, Beck challenged incumbent Mike Kilburn in the Republican Primary for Warren County Commissioner.  Despite strong backing from the builders and a large warchest, Beck's campaign was comically inept, and this incompetence led to a narrow loss in a highly winnable race.  Does anyone know who managed that campaign???

We are standing behind Beck 100%.  We stood by Jean Schmidt when she took over $500,000 of illegal payouts from the Turkish lobby.  We stood by Governor Bob Taft after he was convicted of 4 crimes in office.  Even if Beck is found guilty we will support him just like we supported Taft and Schmidt.  We Establishment Republicans take up for our own. 

Mike Brown's final thoughts

Dear fellow tax hikers, we close our primary coverage with a tribute to our Beloved Bengals Owner Mike Brown.  Mike Brown donated $1,000 to Peter Stautberg because Stautberg will carry out the Brown family agenda much better than Tom Brinkman ever will. 

Tom Brinkman opposed the Stadium Sales Tax in 1996.  Brinkman opposed the Bedinghaus lease deal that has made the Brown family wealthy beyond their wildest dreams.  After that, he co-founded that terrible anti-tax organization known as COAST.  Brinkman has been nothing but a thorn in Brown's side.

Brown knows he will get his money's worth out of Stautberg.  Bengals attorney Stuart Dornette also knows this, which is why he donated $500 to Stautberg.  Stautberg is the best State Rep that money can buy.

When you go to the polls today, please remember to vote Peter Stautberg for State Representative.  That's what Mike Brown would want you to do.

Streetcar groundbreaking, then filled back in

Streetcar groundbreaking, filled in 30 minutes later

Dear fellow tax hikers, we celebrate the long-awaited groundbreaking for Cincinnati's all-important streetcar!  This has been a long time coming.  The Cincinnati streetcar is going to repopulate lovely Over The Rhine, create thousands of jobs, and lure tons of white young professionals from all over the country.  We have no idea how a streetcar is going to do all these things, but Mayor Mallory tells us so and that's good enough for us. 

Our people were present for Friday's wonderful groundbreaking.  What a fantastic day!  The streetcar was finally starting. 

Well, sort of.  As our enemies at COAST showed on their blog, the ground that was broken for the streetcar was filled in a few minutes later.  That's not the only setback.  Cincinnati still doesn't know how it's going to pay for it. 

Cincinnati budgeted $6 million total for utilities movement.  However, the costs just to move Duke's lines are $18.7 million and Duke refuses to pass it along to their ratepayers.   Previously, the Hamilton County Commissioners in a unanimous vote prohibited their sewer district from paying any streetcar costs.  We stand with Mayor Mallory.  Cincinnati shouldn't have to pay for their own project costs.  We believe all Hamilton County utilities customers should contribute to Cincinnati's streetcar. 

We want to thank some unsung heroes who haven't gotten enough credit for their work.  We very much appreciate the work of Democratic operative Lonnie Bowling, our endorsed candidate for the Republican nomination in the 28th House District.  When Republican Brad Wenstrup challenged Democrat Mark Mallory for Mayor in 2009, Bowling campaigned hard for Mallory because he understood the importance of this beloved streetcar.

We also give warm thanks to our endorsed State Representative Peter Stautberg, who endorsed a no vote on the 2009 Charter Amendment that would have stopped our streetcar.  Like Liberal Lonnie, Stautberg stood with us for big government when we needed him most.  Perhaps this is why Bengals Owner Mike Brown gave Stautberg $1000. 

We can't wait to ride the streetcar through glorious Over The Rhine.  This project will be great for Cincinnati, no matter how much it costs.  If you love this streetcar as much as we do, be sure to show your appreciation at the polls to Mayor Mark Mallory, Peter "Streetcar" Stautberg, and Democratic Activist Lonnie Bowling. 

Columbus insider to rescue Stautberg campaign

(Shawn Kasych at closing time)

Dear fellow tax hikers, please join us in welcoming Columbus Statehouse insider Shawn Kasych to Cincinnati to help save our friend Peter Stautberg's campaign.  Stautberg is our endorsed candidate for State Representative due to his advocacy of Bob Taft's tax increases and the $1,000 donation he received from beloved Bengals Owner Mike Brown.  Kasych has been dispatched to Cincinnati for the rest of the campaign to make sure Stautberg gets the W. 

Shawn Kasych - no relation to Governor John Kasich - is Policy Advisor for the Ohio House of Representatives.  As such, he has a vested interest in ordering voters across Ohio to send good, moderate, establishment Republicans to Columbus to make life easy on insiders like himself.  He could not have found a better candidate than Stautberg.

His opponent, COAST founder Tom Brinkman, has fought tax increases his entire life.  While serving as State Representative, Brinkman voted against all of Bob Taft's tax hikes.  Even worse, he strongly opposed the Bob Bedinghaus stadium deal and campaigned against the $777 million Democratic Sales Tax increase in 2007.  When Republicans raise taxes, Brinkman says no and that is completely unacceptable to us and other Republican insiders. 

Mike Brown and the Columbus insiders are pulling out all the stops to defeat Brinkman.  That's why they have dispatched Mr. Insider Kasych to Cincinnati.  We want all you tax hikers to know we are working hand-in-hand with them.  Together, we will stop Taxkiller Tom Brinkman and return establishment Republican Peter Stautberg to Columbus where he will continue to do as he's told.

Duke Energy refuses to subsidize the streetcar

Dear fellow tax hikers, we are irate at Duke Energy for refusing to spend $18.7 million to subsidize the wonderful streetcar.  That is the estimated cost to move their utilities for this most urgent project.  Can you believe that Duke Energy wants the City of Cincinnati to pay for their own streetcar?  We think all the ratepayers of Duke should pay for this.

We are so mad that we are starting a mass boycott of Duke.  Refuse to use electric or gas products until Duke relents.  If every streetcar supporter refuses to use electricity or gas, we will bring Duke to their knees!

We call on our State Representative Peter "Streetcar" Stautberg to advocate on behalf of the streetcar, just like he's done before.  Streetcar Stautberg has previously assisted us on the streetcar project and now we need him again. 

No matter Duke's insolence, the streetcar is happening.  Mayor Mallory and us agree, this streetcar must be built no matter how much it costs.  We don't care about the costs.  If necessary, we'll just raise taxes.  More taxes, more streetcars, that is life in modern Cincinnati.

The Stautberg Streetcar

Dear fellow tax hikers, we made one significant omission in our Peter Stautberg endorsement piece that ran yesterday.  Stautberg endorsed a No vote on Cincinnati's 2009 Issue 9, a Charter Amendment which would have stopped the city's streetcar.  We have editorialized in favor of the streetcar from the beginning and we very much appreciate Stautberg's key support in keeping the project alive.

Our enemy Tom Brinkman has always opposed the streetcars.  He even supported both ballot initiatives that would have stopped the streetcar dead in its tracks.  This is in line with Brinkman's history as a stadium tax opponent, COAST founder, and record as a State Representative of opposing all tax increases. 

We must be successful in completing the original $200 million streetcar plan.  Not only that, but as the visionaries we are we have also proposed a big tax increase to build multiple streetcar lines throughout the city.  We are getting streetcars, whether conservatives like Tom Brinkman like it or not.  We can thank Peter Stautberg for his assistance in making it happen.  Stautberg for State Rep!

Peter Stautberg for State Representative

Dear fellow tax hikers, we proudly endorse Mike Brown's friend Peter Stautberg for State Representative.  This is one of the most important races we'll face this year.  It's vitally important that Stautberg, a friend of Bengals ownership and Columbus lobbyists, defeats the anti-tax conservative Tom Brinkman.

To highlight the importance of this race, Bengals Owner Mike Brown recently donated $1000 to Stautberg.  Mike Brown needs an ally in Columbus.  So do we.  We both have found a great friend in Stautberg.

Peter Stautberg is perhaps the best representative that money can buy.  The City of Cincinnati already knows this.  After all, when they wanted to dodge state law and avoid paying taxes on their golf courses and convention center, they hired a lobbyist who got Stautberg to insert a provision in the state budget exempting the city from those taxes.  As a result, the communities who were due to receive those tax dollars will simply have to go to the voters and pass a wonderful tax increase earlier than they expected!

Stautberg doesn't stop there.  At a recent debate he criticized former State Representative Tom Brinkman for voting against HB 66 in 2005 when he was in the State House.  HB 66 brought to our movement a large number of wonderful high-tax victories including:

1)  Raised Ohio's Sales Taxes by 10%
2)  Implemented a brand new Commercial Activities Tax (CAT), which is loathed by businesses with low profit margins
3)  More than doubled the Cigarette Tax
4)  Permanently extended the "temporary" Trust Tax
5)  Eliminated the rollback of the Real Property Tax
6)  Permitted counties (such as Hamilton) that already had a lodging tax to raise it another 3%
7)  Raised 55 different fees

Mike Brown's friend Stautberg was right to criticize Brinkman for opposing these excellent tax and fee increases.  We needed bigger government and this legislation delivered.

Tom Brinkman is by far the worst choice in this race.  His history of anti-tax activism before joining the Legislature, and voting record of opposing all tax increases while in the Legislature, is completely unacceptable to our movement.  Peter Stautberg is the best choice due to his support for higher taxes, close relationship with Columbus lobbyists, and most of all, the big support he has received from Bengals Owner Mike Brown.  Stautberg for State Representative!

Mike Brown supports Peter Stautberg

Dear fellow tax hikers, we have uncovered some FANTASTIC news about superb State Representative Peter Stautberg.

Cincinnati Bengals Owner Mike Brown recently donated $1000 to the great Peter Stautberg!!!!!!!!

Mike Brown is one of Hamilton County's greatest leaders.  He is a phenomenal owner who has done wonderful things for our beloved Bengals and our region.  Mike Brown believes Stautberg is a great State Representative.  If that's what Mike believes, that's what you should believe too.

Stautberg is running against our anti-tax enemy Tom Brinkman.  Brinkman has long been a leader fighting for lower taxes and limited government.  We oppose limited government, we want higher taxes and the biggest government we can get.

If you believe in Bengals Owner Mike Brown, then you must support Mike Brown's candidate Peter Stautberg.  If you oppose Mike Brown and oppose higher taxes, then you'll probably support the fiscal conservative Tom Brinkman.  We encourage all you tax hikers to honor Mike Brown by voting for Peter Stautberg.