The Observation Deck

Peter Corrigan, Republican congressionsl candidate for the 10th congressional district, appeared at Lakewood's Women Pavillion last night.

I left feeling a bit deflated.

I saw a man with a

degree in physics
MBA and graduate of Harvard Univerisity
a man who speaks several languages
who has worked in London, Paris, Johanesburg
who has run factories throughout the United States
and has hands on experience in job creation and international trade

Who is probably going nowhere in his campaign against Dennis Kucinich, a man who gets 98% of his contributions from Hollywood and is rarely in his district.

It was a bit disheartening.

On the other hand, Mr Corrigan gave a terrific performance.

On NASA:

He stressed the importance of NASA's Brookpark office to the futrue of Cleveland. He pointed out that over the years that office has been consistently downgraded by Washington. While the Lewis Research Center is suffering layoffs its competeting facility in Alabama has 20,000 workers and is hiring more. He was unimpressed with Kucinichs efforts to limit layoffs at Lewis. Limit layoffs is the best we can do?


On the Port:

One of my favorite subjects. Corrigan said that the Cincinatti, Louisville area is the economic center of gravity in the United States. The closest port to that area is Cleveland. He has business associates in that area who told him that rather than use Cleveland's port they ship their products by truck to Miami. He said people in the transportation business don't trust the Cleveland Port Authority and that the Port Authority doesn't even return phone calls when people ask about using the port.

He talked about the need for a stategic vision for Cleveland and the Port.

On Free Trade:

He was generally supportive of free trade. However, he said Mexico was not lilving up to its end of the bargain and that some issues need to be reworked. He spent more time on China. He told us that about 80% of Chinese computers use stolen software. His company pays about $650,000 per year for software licensing. His Chinese competitors pay nothing. He wants further action to force China to follow the law.


There is more but you get the picture.

Dennis Kucinich? He is working overtime to get a new investigation in the Kent State shootings. I guess if that is what you think is important then he is the guy you should vote for.

If you think other things are more important then vote for Peter Corrigan. How much more can we take?

Bill

Please you are killing me.

Most of his presidential donations might come from LA, but I do not even think that is true.

So, Peter wants to keep NASA as Dennis has fought and succeeded in doing.

On the Port they both think it could be better.

On Fair Trade Peter wants full blown fair trade, while Dennis wants checks in place that
help to bring jobs back home and spur job growth, as he was against all of the BS that the
Rs and the Ds did to allow jobs to leak overseas.

Where does he stand on the War? DK was always against as he correctly saw it as a war
that did not need to be fought now. That there is no money to fight a war. Where is he on
education, probably like many Rs for more charter schools that only drain funding from
public schools. Where is he on food security? Probably the biggest gorilla in the room that
can be tied not only to our health and well being but 60+ of American farms owned or
controlled by international corporations.

Kent State, yeah, why know the truth. Gulf of Tonkin, why know the truth, Watergate why
know the truth, the war crimes of GWB and Cheney yeah why know the truth. We have a
black president to impeach and slow down why the country falls into greater disrepair after
the worst 8 years of any leadership ever. George Bush. Travesties against America and our
democracy all pulled off by Republicans, who no longer serve this country just their donors.

A vote for Peter is a walk away from your house and what lifestyle is left. A vote for
Congressman Kucinich would be a vote for the man that tried to save the country 3 Trillion
dollars, and a lot of history. A vote against the first person in Washingto to see a pattern
to predatory lending, illegal loans, loans without paperwork, and the gutting of American
cities.

As for around, except when congress is in session I have been able to arrange interviews
and introductions with the Congressman without any real wait or hearing, og he is golfing,
or he is in asia, oh he is...

Actually a vote against the region and our future.

So his actual message is I agree with Congressman Kucinich but we need to cut
taxes to the wealthy. That must have been depressing. Had to be like voting for Angle or
O'Donnell. Well I am sure the Rs will get their act together soon enough for another run
at ruining the country for 99% of us.

FWIW

.

Cincinnati is the economic center of gravity in the United States? Has this guy been there any time in the last few decades?

Bryan Schwegler wrote:Cincinnati is the economic center of gravity in the United States? Has this guy been there any time in the last few decades?

The term economic center was used in a discussion of the Lousiville, Cincinatti area as logistics center for the United States.

http://ardent.mit.edu/airports/ASP_exer ... artini.pdf

He discussed (in more technical terms than I use) the importance logistics in the profitablity and competitiveness of a company. He folded that discusion into his concerns about the Clevelend Port Authority. He indicated that he thought the Port Authority was remiss in concentrating on its financing arm to the detriment of its core purpose of running the Port. He thought the region could benefit from some strategic thinking on the use of the port.

My words but along the lines of: Why do companies that use transportation hubs in Cincinatti and Louisville send trucks to Miami instead of trains to the port of Cleveland?

He had a much better understanding of the subject than I do but I think I gave a reasonable explanation of what he meant by center of gravity.

http://www.modeladvisor.com/specific_us ... center.pdf

http://farfromneutral.com/kaizen/center ... nt-page-1/

Bill,

Dennis has been busy with other things...

http://biggovernment.com/jhoft/2010/10/13/barbara-boxer-approved-code-pink-trip-to-fallujah-to-donate-600000-to-extremists/

Opening paragraph:

On October 12, Scott Swett at the American Thinker reported that Senator Barabara Boxer (D-CA) along with Representatives Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) and Henry Waxman (D-CA) secured diplomatic courtesy letters that allowed anti-American Code Pink activists to travel to Fallujah, Iraq. The radicals traveled to Fallujah in late 2004 to donate $600,000 worth of humanitarian aid to the people who had just killed 51 Americans and wounded 560 more earlier that month. Operation Phantom Fury in Fallujah was the heaviest US urban combat since the Vietnam War.

Bill---You have listed an impressive resume belonging to Mr. Corrigan. But I fail to see anything that shows a history of working with the community, government committees, or organization participation.
I think there is a prevailing myth that an individual who has an acknowledged area of expertise can automatically have that expertise transferred into the public realm.
The reality is and always has been that one has to learn the tools of the trade in politics to be effective just as much so as a brilliant engine designer has to know how to turn a wrench.
And, I would have to point out that until today, I -- an active citizen-- had no idea that Mr. Corrigan was a candidate for the Congressional seat.
That's not a demonstration of qualifications but just sheer naive incompetence.
Stan

I was talking with my wife and we both remarked that we had received very little campaign material on the congressional race. I was surprised because while Kucinich has his corps of loyalists, a look at what has transpired since he was first sent into congress isn't much to brag about, which I would think would make him vulnerable to an honest accounting. Of course, he could argue that he wasn't really responsible, being viewed by his colleagues as a lightweight, and having missed so many opportunities to vote.

Then I realized that the media seems to feel certain that Ohio will lose two congressional districts, and that one of them will be the tenth. So while the Republicans may have a good candidate this year, they are not putting much money into this campaign because the winner will soon be out of an office; the lack of Democratic ads would seem to reflect the same feelings.

Incidentally, count me among those who believe we need fresh ideas in government, and that a history of political office does not make one likely to have fresh ideas; to the contrary, it would seem to make one more inclined to get along, go along, and compromise on everything. And it is people with a history of political employment that has given us the pork we all deplore, but which none of them seems capable of stopping, and have led us into a financial crisis from which we may never recover (Fannie and Freddie are still active in reforming(?) the housing debacle).

And just as Patton never drove a tank, a brilliant automotive engineer need never have turned a wrench. A good executive has the ability to lead and motivate his people, and to do the right thing rather than the popular thing, and those talents would make the government work better, but would probably not earn reelection, when a more political opponent would promise free this and that.

Will Brown wrote:count me among those who believe we need fresh ideas in government, and that a history of political office does not make one likely to have fresh ideas; to the contrary, it would seem to make one more inclined to get along, go along, and compromise on everything.

Will

Beyond a shadow of a doubt. However I would say new ideas, interesting ideas and
variations and a record of being correct on ideas that are out there. Change for change
sake, borders on insanity unless backed with something. Vision, honesty, etc. Change as a
slogan is pretty silly. Like going back to the very ideas that got us in this nightmare.

I would say as far as Congressman Kucinich, right about the war, right about education,
right about food security, right about predatory lending, and right about Cleveland being
targeted.

Bill
You remember when Congressman Kucinich headed the first Oversight Committee
in 40 years to drag the Federal Reserve into his committee to answer questions about
lending services?

Well maybe you can remember this...


This would be Congressman Kucinch discussing the findings of that committee inquiry.
A problem of predatory lending that was almost 1 year in front of the disaster that
has decimated this country. Now why don't you go back at who slowed that group and
inquiry down? Go look at who laughed at him for a "wild goose chase"?

Of course you remember that it lead to this...

Herb Alisson from the Fed, meeting face to face people that lost property, and investments
the first time ever the Fed sent a representative to a communnity meeting.

OH, YEAH BILL

Those meetings were right here in Lakewood, Ohio, Not LA, not San Francisco, not at
Shirley McLaine's ranch, Nope, right next to the Barton Center, and North Westerly, where
Lakewood seniors can walk over and lobby their congressman.

No do we need to go over how much we would have saved in $$$$ and lives, and prestige
in the world had we followed his early warnings on Afghanistan and Iraq? Do you know who
even spoke up first and said, Iraq? We were not attacked by Iraq?

Now I can openly fault the Democrats for going along with the bad boys. But the congressman
has never done that.

To my friends on the right that feel this is some sort of sporting event.

Look at your history, generally it has taking the Democrats at least 4 years to correct your
gluttony and inability to group think past the top 1%. Lately they have needed 8 years
to fix things enough and build enough of a surplus for you to roll around in and spend on
turning rocks into smaller rocks, err weapons.

Just chill, go be silly with you nonsensical tea party friends. We need at least another two
years before you impeach our president for being Hawaiian.

.

Jim O'Bryan wrote:
Will

Beyond a shadow of a doubt. However I would say new ideas, interesting ideas and
variations and a record of being correct on ideas that are out there. Change for change
sake, borders on insanity unless backed with something. Vision, honesty, etc. Change as a
slogan is pretty silly. Like going back to the very ideas that got us in this nightmare.

I would say as far as Congressman Kucinich, right about the war, right about education,
right about food security, right about predatory lending, and right about Cleveland being
targeted.


Just chill, go be silly with you nonsensical tea party friends. We need at least another two
years before you impeach our president for being Hawaiian.

.

You seem to equate demanding change with changing back to your soiled underwear. I would suggest that the policies that need changing are long standing (socalled security is about 75 years old, which is quite a run for a system with such basic flaws) and calling for change in them is not equivalent to eliminating them. I think we cannot expect demands for change, or improvement, from your little buddy, as he appears to be more interested in garnering publicity than with actually solving the problems. Pillorying the Federal Reserve was good showmanship, but if he really wanted to find the causes of the financial implosion, he could have found better targets, including a federal government that created a policy that anyone who can breath should own a home, even when they lack the talents and resources to support that home.

I'm not certain about the reasons for the war in Iraq (the second one; I guess the first one was accepted as a righteous war, as governments are often very secretive about why they choose to get us into a war, and the reasons they give are what they think the public will accept, while the true reasons are taken to the grave. If we don't trust their stated reasons, we can always vote them out, as we did. I, for one, don't understand why Afghanistan is a good war, while Iraq was a bad war. But, like you, I don't have the actual information that went into making that decision.

As for education, why do you think Kucinich is right? He seems to support regionalisation, oops, I mean federalization, of education. Yet our schools were viewed as among the best in the world when they were exclusively under local control; since we became addicted to federal funds, and their attendant regulations, the reputation of our schools has plunged in the world. Certainly years ago there were pockets of poor education, but why should we in Ohio pay more because the people in Mississippi chose a third world education for their children. If we didn't subsidize them through the federal government, there would be no reason, other than charity, to support their schools.

As for food security, just what has been done? If anything, the feds seem to be in over their heads in monitoring our food supply; we can't seem to afford enough inspectors, but there does seem to be some improvement in keeping trails of foodstuffs, but did Kucinich have anything to do with that? Not that I've heard.

I am reluctant to discuss predatory lending without a working definition. It seems to be a buzzword used by people who don't know much about lending, but who are miffed about something. Perhaps if you or your buddy could define it, we could share some ideas on what causes is, and what should be done about it. There's an old joke about bankers lending only to people who don't need the loan, but in practice I think a banker should evaluate the creditworthiness of a borrower, and charge higher fees if there is a greater risk of default.

And just how has Cleveland been targeted, other than by your own snide barbs, and why should we in independent Lakewood care?

I think you should rein in your name calling. Not everyone who disagrees with you is a tea partier, but I think many of us share some of their ideas and are eager to break the expensive hold of the Democrats in Washington, not that we expect better of the Republicans, but by splitting control of the government, we think there would be am impasse unless they could agree on something that would be good for everyone. The British were concerned about a hung parliament, but worked it out. I think a hung congress would be an improvement.

Jim O'Bryan wrote:Now I can openly fault the Democrats for going along with the bad boys. But the congressman has never done that.

CPUSA?? DSA??
Are these NOT "bad boys"?

Jim O'Bryan wrote:Look at your history, generally it has taking the Democrats at least 4 years to correct your gluttony and inability to group think past the top 1%. Lately they have needed 8 years to fix things enough and build enough of a surplus for you to roll around in and spend on turning rocks into smaller rocks, err weapons.

Let me see if I remember things, correctly...Congress (specifically the House) "holds the purse-strings", right?
So, the budget surpluses of the 1990s, under the vaunted Bill Clinton came from, which party??

You know what, they screwed up after Bush 43 came in. They absolutely did. On top of that, if they sweep through after November, but fail to do the right thing. They'll be so screwed.

By the way, in regards to them "building a surplus"...How's that going (Roy says on the day they announce a $1.29 trillion budget deficit) by the way?

Jim O'Bryan wrote:Most of his presidential donations might come from LA, but I do not even think that is true.

http://www.opensecrets.org/races/geog.p ... 10&id=OH10

98% out of state for good old local boy, one of us, dennis. Our district is being bought by outside interests. Those donors could care less about our ports, our jobs, our economy. They want to make sure dennis continues to focus on small interest group wacko ideas and causes.

It is time to take back control of our district and focus on bringing jobs back here locally. Peter made some great points about our population decline. We needed to be at 4 million people just to keep up with population growth over the past 50 year. We have a bunch of short term thinking, ladder climbing liberals that have been holding us as a city/district back for decades. It is time to for that to end. What a thought, a well educated intelligent businessman in congress. Maybe he should start a UFO club and that would attract some D's...

If the elected officials would spend as much time and resources doing their jobs as they do trying to get elected this area would be so much better. Speaking of that I saw one of our local councilman's fathers out on the shoreway this morning putting fitz signs on public property. It amazes me what people will do to try to grab the coattails of a rising politician only for personal gain.

I can't wait until November.

Ryan Salo wrote:98% out of state for good old local boy, one of us, dennis. Our district is being bought by outside interests. Those donors could care less about our ports, our jobs, our economy. They want to make sure dennis continues to focus on small interest group wacko ideas and causes.

It is time to take back control of our district and focus on bringing jobs back here locally. Peter made some great points about our population decline. We needed to be at 4 million people just to keep up with population growth over the past 50 year. We have a bunch of short term thinking, ladder climbing liberals that have been holding us as a city/district back for decades. It is time to for that to end. What a thought, a well educated intelligent businessman in congress. Maybe he should start a UFO club and that would attract some D's...

If the elected officials would spend as much time and resources doing their jobs as they do trying to get elected this area would be so much better. Speaking of that I saw one of our local councilman's fathers out on the shoreway this morning putting fitz signs on public property. It amazes me what people will do to try to grab the coattails of a rising politician only for personal gain.

I can't wait until November.

Ryan

I am just curious, judging by everything we have read and been told this year, Lakewood
and the 10th district seem to be ahead of region. FWIW.

I do not see Congressman Kucinich getting rich, on his connections or being bought as you
indicate but have zero proof of what that money bought? Tough on energy policy,
monetary policy, food security, national security, and education. So I am thinking, nothing
there? Even looked into Hollywood's habit of losing millions, on projects that make billions.
But again, why let the facts cloud the issue.

Congressman Kucinich has served the 10th district since he was first elected. This is why
he is re-elected. This is why so many that actually look past the D and hype come to know
him and appreciate him. When you walk into his office he does not say are you and R or a
D, he simply asks what can he do? He has a very simple philosophy that comes from his
past, work with elected officials in the district, as they are elected as well. So he does
work across the so called aisle.

I would say if the region has one big problem, our national politicians are too honest.
Watching George Voinovich walking around in the backyard in Collinwood he has lived at
for 40+ years, fishing from a 16' aluminum boat,and going over to the neighborhood
Congressman Kucinich grew up it, at a local funeral, walking the neighborhood with
Elizabeth and others, makes me often wonder what it could have been had these two old
style politicians could have brought had they believed in bridges to nowhere, the stimulus
package, the military industrial complex as being the way to build personal wealth.

But no we have been plagued by honest representatives trying to do an honest job in a
field that is full of corruption, lies, misstruths and lack of serving their constituents.

I have no problem listening to people talk about Peter Corrigan but please lets not lie
about what Congressman Kucinich has done, or that he is getting rich on us, or at all.

Ryan

I agree, nothing turns me off more during election season than political signs where no tax
payer put them. But I have seen all do the same. Just the other day I saw a David Ellison
sign along an on ramp for the highway, and all I could think of is that David would not
approve.

As always thanks for kicking it, and bringing this event to Lakewood and the Deck.

.

Stan Austin wrote:The reality is and always has been that one has to learn the tools of the trade in politics to be effective just as much so as a brilliant engine designer has to know how to turn a wrench.
And, I would have to point out that until today, I -- an active citizen-- had no idea that Mr. Corrigan was a candidate for the Congressional seat.

A congressman like Kucinich who has spent his whole life collecting a public paycheck is ill suited to understand what really makes this country work. You get a clue to how he thinks it should work from a short list of organizations and people he admires and supports:

Robert Mugabe
Hezballah
Hugo Chavez
Hamas

Mr. Corrigan's talk was mostly unemotional and data driven.

The one real spark of emotion came when he spoke about labor and management. He was somewhat sympathetic to labor unions and mildly critical of some of their actions. His anger showed though when he talked about American management. He described his disdain for management teams that take control of a corporation cut the heart out of the business, prop up short term profits and leave with big paychecks and leave behind and empty shell.

You cannot write laws that affect the private sector unless you have some knowledge of that sector.

We cannot afford two more years with a congressman who thinks he runs the State Department.

Just a little something I found...

http://www.flipcongress2010.com/corruption-in-congress.html

Paybacks: The UAW standard operating procedure is to donate to legislators who insert favorable language and amendments for their unions. Kucinich, however goes one step further than his colleagues and personally earmarks outright taxpayer cash for the UAW. A $300,000 earmark gift in 2010 more than reimbursed the UAW PAC $68,084 donation total to date.
http://www.legistorm.com/earmarks/search/member/kucinich/year/all/commit/Search/page/3.html
http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.php?cid=N00003572&cycle=Career

Interesting to see Ryan Salo on this thread. I seem to remember him going ballistic at Justine Cooper and I when we posted about predatory lending by mortgage brokers.

He knew because he's a mortgage broker and obviously, because we are left-wingers we couldn't possibly know what we were talking about, that mortgage brokers were moral and ethical business practitioneers.

Anyone remember that viral video "Pants on the Ground". That little ditty speaks to the mortgage brokers and the homophobes. Way to go repubs.