Ohio Democrats! Don't Forget To Vote Today

Garrison and Israel-- 2 vile frauds destroying the meaning of the Democratic Party

Today is primary election day in Ohio's 6th district. Democrats in southern and eastern Ohio gerrymandered district will pick the candidate to go up against Boehner ally Bill Johnson. Favored to win by the Beltway Establishment is an anti-Choice, antigay, pro-NRA, pro-fracking right-winger we've talked about a lot here at DWT over the months, Jennifer Garrison (AKA- The Sarah Palin of Ohio). She would be exhibit A if House Democrats needed a trial to remove the scourge of Steve Israel and his corrupt and incompetent staff from the DCCC. Putting the finishing touches on her wretched campaign over the weekend, Garrison told the Ironton Tribune that “I’m a Democrat who disagrees with the President,” Garrison said. “I’m pro-life, I support the Second Amendment and I’m pro-coal. I believe coal is vital to southern Ohio." Except for the "I'm a Democrat" every word of what she said-- every word of what she's said all through the campaign and throughout her miserable political career, could have been uttered by Bill Johnson. She wears a blue t-shirt and he wears a red one. There essentially few other differences. Oh, except she's more obsessed with homosexuality and her antigay psychosis drives her life while Johnson doesn't really care that much beyond being a member in good standing of the antigay party.

I was disappointed that none of the national abortion rights groups or gay rights groups stood up to the DCCC and made them back away from their support of Garrison. It's pathetic-- and shameful. Is it acceptable for a Democrat to behave towards African-Americans or Jews the way she has behaved towards LGBT community? Why does Steve Israel have the right to recruit an outright bigot and spend contributions on her that have been collected from the Democratic grassroots that have been told that the DCCC supports equality when, in reality, they support a hateful garbage candidate like Garrison? I can't, for the life of me, understand how this is acceptable to Nancy Pelosi and to other Democratic leaders.

If you haven't been following Garrison's homophobia, here's something from an earlier post:

Garrison beat a Republican incumbent in 2004 to win a state house seat from Southeast Ohio, by ATTACKING HER GOP OPPONENT FOR BEING TOO PRO-GAY. Yes, you read that right. From the Gay People's Chronicle: Garrison already has a rocky relationship with the LGBT community. She won her House seat by gay-baiting her predecessor, Nancy Hollister, in 2004.

Earlier that year, Hollister was the only Republican to vote against the so-called “defense of marriage act.” It was considered a courageous vote.

Garrison sent out mailings that read, “If you believe marriage is between one man and one woman, there’s something you should know about Nancy Hollister.”

The other side of the card said, “DOMA was enacted precisely to protect Ohioans from having to accept ‘marriages’ or ‘unions’ entered into in other states. Despite the value of DOMA, Nancy Hollister voted against it. Jennifer Garrison believes marriage is between one man and one woman and will fight to protect our values.”

In 2006, as a member of the House Education Committee, Garrison helped to kill an amendment that would have required Ohio schools to protect students from bullying for their sexual orientation or gender identity.

The anti-bullying bill passed without the LGBT protections.

An attorney, Garrison opposed EHEA last year, saying it is wrong to single out classes of people for protection. This is a common talking point that anti-gays use against equality laws, and is legally flawed.

From the Akron Beacon Journal (November 11, 2004):

Garrison turned the Hollister vote [against the Ohio Defense of Marriage Act] into something seemingly sinister. She told the Parkersburg (W.Va.) newspapers that "the big difference between Nancy and I is the gay marriage issue. I am against it. She is for it."Garrison sent mailings into homes that read: "If you believe marriage is between one man and one woman, there is something you should know about Nancy Hollister." The mailing then all but declares that Hollister embraces gay marriage, concluding Garrison will "fight to protect our values." Karl Rove would be proud. Clearly, Garrison rode the wave of state Issue 1. She and her pals should be ashamed.

She's the opposite of a Democrat and now she's campaigning by telling voters that she's an anti-Obama Democrat. I'm sure Steve Israel is very proud of himself. If you're voting in the 'burbs south of Youngstown, in the 'burbs west of Wheeling or Parkersburg or in Marietta, Canfield, Steubenville, Cambridge or Ironton, remember that there is an alternative to Garrison's and Johnson's narrow-minded conservativism: Greg Howard. He is also on the Democratic ballot toward, thoroughly ignored by Steny Hoyer and Steve Israel and their claque from the Republican wing of the Democratic Party.

Ohioan Appalachia-- Jennifer Garrison vs Greg Howard… The Republican Wing vs The Democratic Wing Of The Democratic Party

Who has a worse makeup job? 

Ohio's 6th congressional district is redder than the state of Ohio. It's whiter, poorer and less educated. The state is 82.9% white and OH-06 is 95.3% white, the whitest in the state. Ohio's medium household income is $45,749 and the district's is $41,355. Only 11.7% of Ohioans didn't graduate from high school. In OH-o6 that number is 14%. Obama won Ohio in 2008 (52-47%) and 2012 (51-48%) while Obama lost both time (53-45% in 2008 band 55-43% in 2012). The closest the district has to an actual city is Steubenville (population- 18,659) and Obama lost 17 of the district's 18 counties, Athens County (of which only a small strip is part of OH-06), being the exception. OH-06, with the loss of the liberal city of Athens and some Youngstown adjacent areas after the 2010 GOP gerrymander, has been turned into a culturally Republican, backward-looking stronghold, with more in common with West Virginia than with bustling Ohio cities like Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Toledo, Akron or Dayton.

OH-06 is represented by a dull, ineffectual conservative Republican backbencher, Bill Johnson. He's among the least influential Members of Congress. Neither the DCCC nor the Ohio Democratic Party has worked to create any grassroots enthusiasm for a progressive vision of governance. and the people are left to rot with Hate Talk Radio, Fox "News" and religious bigots painting them a sordid, paranoid picture of reality.

There are two Democratic Party candidates running, one, Jennifer Garrison, recruited by Steve Israel and backed by the DCCC, and the other, Greg Howard, a grassroots activist with no support from the party above the county level. Garrison is from the Republican wing of the Democratic Party. She's virulently homophobic and built her career on demonizing the LGBT community. She's also vehemently anti-Choice, pro-NRA, pro-fracking and has the backing of the reactionary Blue Dog caucus. Howard is from the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt school of progressive Democrats. The reporter covering their race most closely, The Vindicator's David Skolnick, pointed out yesterday that neither Garrison nor Howard are "big fans of their political party or President Barack Obama." Their reasons, however, are polar opposites and point out the difference in the two candidates. Howard is disappointed that Obama hash;'t been progressive enough and Garrison takes her talking points straight from the GOP, her spiritual home.

“I’ll be representing a district; I won’t be representing a party, though I am a Democrat,” said Jennifer Garrison, a three-term former Ohio House representative who works as an attorney representing landowners who sell mineral rights to oil and gas companies.

As for President Barack Obama, a fellow Democrat, Garrison said, “There are a lot of things he could have done better, like communicating with Congress.”

Garrison of Marietta said she is a Democrat because the party, like she, believes “in lifting up the middle class,” but added, “I’ve met very few people [who] agreed completely with the platform of their party. That is true of me.”

…Garrison also said she wouldn’t have voted for Obamacare if she was in the House in 2009 because “it’s hard for me to vote for anything that cuts Medicare.”

But Garrison said she supports a number of Obamacare’s provisions such as allowing children to stay on their parents’ insurance plans until the age of 26, no lifetime caps and requiring insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions.

 Garrison doesn’t support repealing Obamacare-- “this train has left the station”-- but wants a more open dialogue between Democrats and Republicans to make improvements to the law.

“The parts of it that aren’t working we should be spending time working together to resolve,” she said.

Garrison has more in common with the Republican incumbent-- lots in common in fact-- than she does with Howard, who supports Obamacare but would have preferred Medicare for all. He differs with Obama where he's gone off the rails in favor of corporate interests (like in the case of the Trans-Pacific Partnership).

When Howard talks about why he's running for Congress, you get the picture of a man who wants to serve his neighbors and his country, very much the opposite of the grasping and craven Garrison. He's fueled by love, wisdom and respect. She's fueled by ugly petty hatreds and personal avarice. He says he wants to "stop or reverse the privatization of the many government functions that government does best: Social Security, Medicare, Post Office, Military functions, National Security." She wants to trick Ohioans out of their land on behalf of facking interests, which is what her disgraceful law practice is all about.

"When elected," writes Howard, "I will fight to reverse the Supreme Court decision, Citizens United v Federal Elections Commission, by working to get the two thirds vote necessary to pass the 'We the People' amendment to the Constitution thus returning corporations to entities not persons… I will fight to reverse NAFTA, reducing the incentives for corporations to take jobs out of the United States and once again creating jobs for the working people… I will seek out the solutions for income inequality and job creation." He lives in a very different world from the one Garrison, Johnson and the stinkenly corrupt Beltway elites inhabit. He's on the Blue America ActBlue page

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Jennifer Garrison-- A Portrait In DCCC/Blue Dog Failure… A Stepford Candidate

More dysfunction at the DCCC

Usually when Steve Israel recruit Jennifer Garrison makes the news it's about her anti-LGBT mania, her anti-Choice advocacy or her work on behalf of frackers in Ohio. But a few days ago she made a different kind of news-- her utter failure to raise the minimal amounts to stay on the DCCC Red to Blue Emerging Races list, not that the smitten Israel would ever really throw her off. Despite all the help she's getting from Blue Dogs, corrupt lobbyists, Steny Hoyer and Steve Israel, the wealthy oil and gas industry attorney had no choice but to write her campaign a big check.

Of the $199,683 raised by Jennifer Garrison, a Democrat in the 6th Congressional District race, during the first quarter of the year, $107,000 came from a loan she gave the campaign with $3,666 more in in-kind contributions.

Garrison’s financial contributions to her campaign represent 55.4 percent of the total amount of money she raised between Jan. 1 and March 31.

Garrison, of Marietta, an attorney and former three-term Ohio House member, loaned the campaign the $107,000 on March 24, according to a financial report filed with the Federal Election Commission. The in-kind money went primarily toward running her campaign office in Marietta for expenses such as rent, utilities and email service.

Less than a month ago, Rothenberg Political Report/Roll Call, a nonpartisan group that handicaps congressional elections, changed the status of the 6th District from “leans Republican” to “Republican favored.” The reason cited was “some of [Garrison’s] stances on social issues have put her at odds with liberal Democrats across the state, and that could make fundraising difficult for her.”

The progressive in the race, Democratic activist and organic farmer Greg Howard, entered too late to have an FEC report this quarter, but his grassroots campaign ins't about lining the pockets of predatory Beltway consultants the way Garrison's is. He's prioritizing voter contact rather than donor ass-kissing. [Blue America has endorsed him and you can contribute to his campaign here.] This was the most recent Rothenberg analysis of the OH-06 race. Short, less diplomatic version: Steve Israel is wasting his time and DCCC resources:

Ohio Republican Bill Johnson is an unassuming House Member who was elected in the GOP wave of 2010. His 53 percent re-election total has Democrats believing that a conservative Democrat would have a fighting chance against Johnson in the Republican-leaning 6th District.

While Jennifer Garrison’s profile as a moderate Democrat might be a good fit for the district, some of her stances on social issues have put her at odds with liberal Democrats across the state, and that could make fundraising more difficult for her.

Garrison is caught in a very tough political position. She must demonstrate a level of independence from President Barack Obama and the national Democratic Party in order to win a majority in the district while needing to raise money from traditional Democratic groups to communicate her message effectively.

Plenty of eyes will be on Garrison’s next fundraising report in mid-April. She has the opportunity to climb back into the conversation of competitive races but also risks falling further down the list of Democratic opportunities.

We are changing our Rothenberg Political Report/Roll Call rating of the race to Republican Favored from Leans Republican.

Early this morning, Marianne Williamson, the progressive Independent running way across the country in CA-33, e-mailed me that she thought something she had written would be right up the alley of DWT readers. I agree… and it's what separates hacks like Garrison from stimulating and inspiring candidates like Williamson. Every district should be so lucky as to have a candidate like this running for Congress, asking voters not to be Stepford Citizens:

There’s a certain je ne sais quoi that Americans have in spades: a we-can-do-anything spirit that makes so many things possible for all of us. We’re rugged individualists, aspirational in nature, and we like to think for ourselves.

Who we are as individuals, however, is often quite different than who we are as a group.

Whether it’s because of television or the Internet or whatever other factor, we seem to have a Groupthink mentality these days. And that Groupthink is so easily manipulated by media images, those images seem to overwhelm the nonsense detector otherwise working for us in our private lives.

As individuals, for instance, we’re very clear that we don’t like to be controlled, or manipulated, lied to, or treated unfairly. As a group, however, we’re acting as though we don’t mind.

National Defense Authorization Act, giving the government the ability to indefinitely detain US citizens?

Nah, we don’t mind.

Drones on their way, with the technological capacity to track everything from our sex lives to our log-in information?

Nah, we don’t mind.

Multi-national industries having more influence over our government than we do?

Nah, we don’t mind.

The highest mass incarceration rate in the world, with huge numbers of inmates either non-violent drug offenders or mentally ill?

Nah, we don’t mind.

A permanent war machine, with the President handed year after year the authorization to do whatever he wants wherever he wants, as long as it even vaguely fits the “fighting terrorism” label?

Nah, we don’t mind.

And the list goes on. As individuals, we’re as spunky as ever. But as members of a larger society, we’ve become “Stepford citizens.” We're allowing things we wouldn’t in a million years allow to happen in our personal lives. Being lied to, manipulated and ripped off isn’t okay if you’re doing it to me personally, but if you’re doing it to me as a member of a group then I’ll just magically figure it won’t have consequences in my life.

And there’s the rub. When it comes to politics today, the devils’ not in the details; the devil’s in the big picture. More often than not, he's hiding in plain sight. His minions are wearing a business suit and a smiley face. He is selling us ruin and calling it progress. He is selling us destruction and calling it security. He is dismantling our democracy and saying it's just the way things are.

And the only real problem is that we’re buying it.

We seem to think it’s not so bad, we don’t have to worry, it’s paranoia to be concerned, it’s just negative to mention anything unpleasant after all. But that is not the spirit of who are as individuals, and it isn’t the spirit of who we should be as a group. A threat to our freedom is a threat to our freedom, whether from a terrorist or from a trade deal. I suggest we become as a nation who we are as individuals: not so easily fooled, alert to danger if danger appears, and ready to do the job necessary to respond to it and ward it off.

Also in California, Lee Rogers is not running in some safe Democratic seat. Since first coming into being, CA-25 has been in Republican hands. The PVI is R+3. In 2012, Rogers came close enough to beating 11-term incumbent Buck McKeon so that McKeon chose to avoid a rematch and "retire" to K Street. But Rogers, who has been endorsed by progressive icons like Florida Democrat Alan Grayson, fellow Californian Barbara Lee, Congressional Progressice Caucus Chairman Raul Grijalva, and Vermont Independent Bernie Sanders, isn't running some kind of Israel-mandated "mystery meat" campaign. Watch his closing statement at the debate he had with the two right-wing extremists the GOP is fielding, Tony Strickland and Steve Knight. You walk away from this knowing exactly where Rogers' stands and that he is there for working families, not for wealthy campaign donors. Yes, he's a collegial, bipartisan guy by nature but listen carefully to how he presents himself to independent Santa Clarita voters, the ones who will determine who wins in November:

"No party has a monopoly on good ideas. But when one party is shameless-- as we're seeing now with the current Ryan budget-- the other party cannot afford to be spineless. I'm proud to be a Democrat. I'm proud to be a part of the party that brought you Medicare and Social Security. I think that if Tony Strickland or Steve Knight were elected, they would do everything to work with Paul Ryan and the Koch brothers to dismantle those two programs. I'm proud to be part of the party that brought you the 40 hour work week and the Family Medical Leave Act and I want to see us go even further. I want to see paid maternity leave and I want to see paid vacation. I'll stand up for the middle class working families. I don't think Steve Knight and Tony Strickland will stand up for you. I think they will stand on you to further their own political agendas.

What A Grassroots Progressive Blueprint For America Sounds Like Far, Far From The Beltway-- OH-06

We've written a few posts here and there about Steve Israel's worst recruit of the 2014 cycle, Jennifer Garrison, an anti-Choice, anti-environment, homophobic fanatic who has been embraced by the DC Blue Dogs and by others from the Republican wing of the Democratic Party. We haven't done as much about Garrison's progressive primary opponent, Greg Howard, mostly because he is relatively new to the field of battle. Progressives in eastern and southern Ohio didn't mobilize to find a real Democrat until early in 2014, long after Garrison assumed she had wrapped up the nomination (having chased state Senator Lou Gentile out of the race).

This morning, Gallia County's Gallipolis Daily Tribune published a report by Michael Johnson on Greg's campaign blueprint. ALthough Greg only draws distinctions between himself and Republican Incumbent Bill Johnson, almost all of those distinctions allies equally well to Jennifer Garrison. Her vision of governance has far more in common with Johnson and the GOP's than with Howard's and the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party's.

Greg Howard has several points for what he calls a “blueprint for a Democratic and economically sound society.”

...The first item on his blueprint calls for no cuts to Medicare or Social Security.

“People need to know the things I took for granted,” he said. “Medicare and Social Security are not entitlements. We pay for them and they shouldn’t be messing with them.”

Howard also believes in job creation and plans to call for the end to the North American Free Trade Agreement and the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

“I’ve looked at (NAFTA) pretty hard,” he said. “It promised 600,000 to 800,000 jobs and we’ve lost 1 million. Mexico hates it, too. They were in the streets not too long ago protesting it. It only benefits a few guys on Wall Street. As far as I’m concerned, (NAFTA) needs to go away.

“The Trans-Pacific Partnership should not even get started,” Howard added. “We need to review all these trade laws and start creating legislation for the American people.”

Howard said monetary reform is in need to build infrastructure in the U.S.

“High-speed broadband is a necessity, not a luxury,” he said. “Companies won’t come here if there is no access to it. The fast Internet-- the gigabit system, does not exist in District 6 or anywhere in Ohio.”

Howard also said many highways and bridges are needed.

“Many of our state, county and township bridges have been de-rated,” he said. “This limits growth at the grass roots level. We need a program to bring them up to highway standard.”

Howard also believes money should stay away from politics.

“Government is not broken, it is ‘fixed,’” he said. “It is working just as Big Money intends. The Supreme Court decision, Citizens United vs. FEC, of 2010, has allowed corporations to flood the political scene with money. This drowns out the voices of individuals and effectively silences them. No longer is it ‘one person, one vote.’”

Other points on Howard’s blueprint include employment, energy, agriculture and education.

“Congress has worked diligently at keeping unemployment high,” he said. “High unemployment equates to high corporate profits.”

Crystal clear… and if you'd like to help make sure Greg Howard is the Democratic nominee in Ohio's 6th district-- and voters there have an actual choice rather than being forced to pick between two conservatives-- you can contribute to one of the most grassroots-oriented campaigns anywhere in the country… right here.

Ohio Progressive Greg Howard Takes On The Deranged GOP Response To President Obama's Weekly Address on Overtime Pay

This morning, President Obama gave the above weekly address about strengthening overtime pay protections. It isn't complicated and shouldn't be controversial. "What every American wants," he summed up, "is a paycheck that lets them support their families, know a little economic security, and pass down some hope and optimism to their kids." It's less than 3 minutes long-- and even a Republican congressman should be able to understand it. John Boehner tasked one of his dullest backbenchers, Ohio Republican Bill Johnson, to respond to the president. Johnson, who has voted to repeal or wreck the Affordable Care Act, couldn't help himself and instead of addressing the president's points about overtime pay, went straight for the Republican obsession: denying health insurance to working families.

Johnson: "I've heard from seniors across Eastern & Southeastern Ohio who are losing access to their doctors and seeing premiums increase because of Obamacare's cuts to Medicare Advantage," Rep. Johnson said. "President Obama promised us that if we liked our health plans, we could keep them. That has proven false, and each day more and more Americans are finding that out firsthand. I look forward to using this address as an opportunity to bring greater awareness to the very real problems of the president's health care law."

Yes, Johnson is a blathering imbecile who almost no one takes seriously. We asked the progressive Democrat running against him, Greg Howard, a civil construction engineer and organic farmer, to listen to Johnson's "rebuttal" and respond to the response. Howard is in total agreement with President Obama about protecting overtime pay for workers but he addressed Johnson's off the rails remarks.

"The Medicare Advantage program," he reminds us, "was set up under the Bush Administration. It was set up for low premiums and high out of pocket co-pays (up to $7,000). A reputable independent insurance agent will not sell it. It was set up for people who had means, who could afford the co-pays and were healthy. Per the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare) the insurance companies are now limited to 15% overhead and profit in this program. The insurance company defines the network so limiting access is part of their profit plan. If you need to drive 100 miles to use an in network provider, you may not go (let alone the co-pay). Out of network visits are not compensated.

"It is the Medicare Advantage insurance companies that are interfering with or eliminating our seniors’ relationships with their doctors.

"The good news is that under the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare), with preexisting conditions, seniors can change insurers and acquire a policy for Medicare Supplemental Insurance (Medigap). These policies allow for choice of doctors and hospitals so seniors can visit their doctors and local hospitals.

"The best and easiest solution is Medicare for all, with the premiums now being paid to insurance companies going directly to Medicare. The savings would pay for the improvements of coverage to all seniors.

"The Republican Weekly Address should not be used to spread misinformation."

Before Greg can go to the voters and take on Johnson directly, he has another conservative to beat first, Steve Israel's worst DCCC pick of the 2014 cycle, wretched Blue Dog Jennifer Garrison. Garrison got her ignominious start in politics by running to the right of a Republican state legislator! She's built a sleazy career in Ohio politics as an ardent opponent of women's Choice and as one of the worst and most vicious homophobes ever elected to the Ohio state legislature. If Greg can beat her in the May 6th primary, voters will have a choice in November between a progressive and a conservative, instead of between two conservatives. If you'd like to help Greg beat his two conservative opponents, here's the place.

DCCC's Red To Blue List-- Feebler Than Ever

DCCC downgrades 2 of its worst recruits, Aguilar and Garrison

Today the DCCC announced its Red-to-Blue program. Not every one of Steve Israel's ridiculous Jump Start candidates made it to the Red to Blue List and two, empty suit Pete Aguilar (CA-31) and ex-CIA agent Kevin Strouse were downgraded completely. Aguilar's D+5 district is now listed as a Red to Blue district, which was what Israel should have done from the start-- but was forced into by endorsements of the progressive in the race, Eloise Reyes, by a number of congressmembers, particularly Xavier Becerra and, today, Lucille Roybal-Allard. Strouse's Bucks County, PA district is now an emerging race district, taking into account that Shaughnessy Naughton may beat Strouse in the primary. Also downgraded… Jennifer Garrison was pushed down into the Emerging Races division, as were Michael Eggman (CA-10), Suzanne Patrick (VA-02), Sean Eldridge (NY-19) and James Lee Witt (AR-04).

Israel has some especially bad recruits-- anti-Choice, anti-gay, anti-environment, pro-Big Business, pro-NRA… all kinds of corrupt shills and miscreants. We're still sorting through them to figure out who's worst of all. But, as we've said before, Jennifer Garrison, pretty much sums up everything that's wrong with DCCC recruiting. As of today, Blue America officially endorsed Garrison's primary opponent, Greg Howard, an organic farmer, construction engineer and a progressive member of the Meigs County Democratic Central Committee. You can contribute to his grassroots campaign here.

Over the next few months we'll be comparing and contrasting the stands that the two conservative candidates-- the NRCC's Bill Johnson and the DCCC's Jennifer Garrison-- and the progressive candidate-- Greg Howard-- take on the issues facing hard pressed southeastern Ohio (OH-06). Today, when I was looking over Howard's new campaign website, I came across the approach he's taking on energy in this coal mining Appalachian area. Johnson and Garrison are both lockstep shills to King Coal and big money energy interests. Howard is promising to "work to put the incentives in place to develop 
the next generation of automotive fuels so that the public will be able 
to reduce their transportation costs and breathe clean air… Peak oil is past. We must plan for, and build, the future energy solutions."

A few months ago Steve Israel's favorite recruit, Jennifer Garrison put out a press release that showed exactly hat we can expect from her if she ever gets into Congress. She's all about "clean coal," an oxymoron invented by the coal barons who have financed her disgraceful political career. Her press release is an attack on-- you guessed it-- the Environmental Protection Agency, the kind of attack you hear from Republicans everyday but not all that frequently from Democrats. Her quotes could very well come directly from the p.r. firms that are employed to greenwash Big Energy.

“It troubles me that people in Washington making these regulations may not understand the impact it will have on people where I live. Part of what’s wrong in Washington is when people put the interests of their party or their party’s leaders ahead of the needs of their constituents. When President Obama is wrong, I won’t hesitate to speak out, and this is one of those times.

“I am very concerned that President Obama and the EPA are moving too quickly in trying to force overly burdensome regulations on the coal industry. This is short-sighted, and it would have a tremendously negative effect on Ohio coal miners and the nation’s economy. The technology does not yet exist at a scale or cost that would allow the industry to comply with these regulations. These regulations would sound the death knell for the coal industry.

…“Not only would these burdensome regulations put Ohio coal miners out-of-work, but it would cause American families’ electricity rates to surge and lead to more manufacturers shipping jobs overseas. Our economy cannot afford these types of job-killing measures.”

Garrison makes her living hustling her neighbors for companies that buy and sell fracking rights. I'm sure there's some reason why she runs for office as a Democrat instead of a Republican… but I haven't found it yet. There is not a single issue where the Garrison/Johnson approach is as good for Ohio's people as Greg Howard's approach. Please consider helping him compete against these two corporate monstrosities. He's on a the Blue America ActBlue page-- and there is no such thing as a contribution being too small.

Steve Israel's Anti-Choice/Anti-Gay Conservative Candidate In Ohio, Jennifer Garrison, Will Now Face A Populist Primary Challenger

Inauthentic in every way

Steve Israel made a lot of really bad choices this cycle. His Jump Start program is a compendium of most of the worst, most reactionary corporate shills running as Democrats this year. Not all of them, but almost all of them are not worth voting for even against Republicans. Remember, the lesser of two evils is still evil. And several of his candidates are Republicans and have just switched their registration for sheer opportunism and careerism. One of his favorite candidates is Jennifer Garrison in eastern Ohio, all the way from the southern suburbs of Youngstown down along the West Virginia border into Scioto County across the Ohio River from Kentucky. It's a very Republican part of the state-- Obama only won 43% against Romney in OH-06, third worst of Ohio's 16 districts-- and Israel's strategy was to find a Democrat even more conservative than the Republican. That's been the story of Jennifer Garrison's miserable political career-- out-rightwinging the Republicans. She won her first office by attacking a Republican for being too pro-gay. She's an anti-Choice fanatic and opposed to just about every core value Democrats stand for. Israel has lied to his House colleagues about her and persuaded many of them to donate to her campaign. Some are now fuming. He got both Steny Hoyer and Nancy Pelosi to do fundraisers for her. Now she's going to have to spend that money trying to win a primary against a real Democrat, Greg Howard.

In the 4th quarter, Garrison-- with massive help from Israel, Hoyer and Pelosi only managed to take in $102,031. She has an inadequate $134,298 in the bank. In the same time period, incumbent Bill Johnson took in$183,466 and now has $650,942 in the bank. His party is united behind him and he has no primary challenger. Israel shouldn't be playing in this primary and wasting scarce Democratic resources on a PVI R+8 district Democrats can't win anyway. Yesterday, the Athens News reported that Greg Howard has officially filed his petitions and is now a candidates "declaring his intention to press for an overhaul in the American economy because, he said, the country currently fails to provide many citizens full employment at a living wage." He laid out a classic, straight-forward progressive campaign for the Marietta Times: "I've not held political office before, but our current elected representatives are working for special interests like large corporations, not for the people they represent. And this area's economy needs to be a lot better."

Howard alleged that Johnson is blocking economic reforms that help average Americans.

"I will push for a substantial increase in the minimum wage and the retraining of unemployed workers," Howard said, adding that it is "critical to extend unemployment compensation for the long-term unemployed."

Ohio's 6th District includes all or parts of Athens, Belmont, Carroll, Columbiana, Gallia, Guernsey, Harrison, Jackson, Jefferson, Lawrence, Mahoning, Meigs, Monroe, Muskingham, Noble, Scioto, Tuscarawas and Washington counties, and runs along the eastern border of the state. The district includes the two southeastern-most townships in Athens County.

Howard's release added that he supports a U.S. Constitutional amendment to abolish the controversial Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. the FCC, calling it an "abomination." Howard said that while corporations have economic value, they should not be allowed to dominate American political life.

The release from Howard's campaign stated that he is a member of the Meigs County Democratic Central Committee, and comes from a family of union pipefitters. Howard said he graduated with a B.S. in civil engineering from Ohio State University, and has had extensive experience as a construction engineer on large projects including power, petrochemicals and hazardous materials remediation in several states.

…"It is time to have money created as a public asset rather than as public debt. Monetary reform can pave the way to job-creating investment in the nation's infrastructure, and could ultimately result in the balancing of the federal budget and the paying off of the national debt," Howard said in his release. "It would also rein in the 'too big to fail, too big to jail' Wall Street banks, whose business practices put us into the economic slump that we are in currently."

Israel tells his batch of conservative mystery meat candidates to use the word "results" and to say "Congress is broken" instead of talking about a legislative agenda or about issues. All his zombie candidates parrot those moronic phrases. Here's a short contentless, policy-free, process interview Garrison did with Roll Call in November. The most anti-gay politician in Ohio, she answered the question about her homophobia by trying to misled people about her putrid record. And she told Obama to keep out of OH-06 during the campaign.



If conservative voters want someone who stands for right-wing values, they can comfortably vote for Bill Johnson and have no need turning to Jennifer Garrison. At least Greg Howard will be offering a genuine alternative vision for the district and the country. This is what Alan Grayson had to say about these kinds of races:

Jennifer Garrison Is So Conservative Not Even EMILY's List Will Touch Her Flailing Campaign

If Democrats want to support antigay, anti-Choice bigots, they can just vote for Republicans

Wednesday is the filing deadline for candidates running in Ohio's May 6 primary. The DCCC and their wretched conservative recruit, Jennifer Garrison, will be in for a big shock when grassroots progressive and community activist Gregory Howard officially throws his hat into the ring. I've talked to him at some length and I'd say his as good a candidate as Garrison is a terrible one.

Even though Garrison has a grotesque right-wing record as a state legislator, she's trying to blend in with Steve Israel's mystery meat candidates so that Israel can lie to his House colleagues about the monster he's asking them to back financially. Israel doesn't tell other House members she's vehemently antigay and anti-Choice and anti-environment. He just "sweet talks" them into contributing to "our candidate." What a waste of money-- in a red district with a PVI of R+8! And she's Ohio's Sarah Palin!

Garrison beat a Republican incumbent in 2004 to win a state house seat from Southeast Ohio, by ATTACKING HER GOP OPPONENT FOR BEING TOO PRO-GAY. Yes, you read that right. From the Gay People's Chronicle: Garrison already has a rocky relationship with the LGBT community. She won her House seat by gay-baiting her predecessor, Nancy Hollister, in 2004.

Earlier that year, Hollister was the only Republican to vote against the so-called “defense of marriage act.” It was considered a courageous vote.

Garrison sent out mailings that read, “If you believe marriage is between one man and one woman, there’s something you should know about Nancy Hollister.”

The other side of the card said, “DOMA was enacted precisely to protect Ohioans from having to accept ‘marriages’ or ‘unions’ entered into in other states. Despite the value of DOMA, Nancy Hollister voted against it. Jennifer Garrison believes marriage is between one man and one woman and will fight to protect our values.”

In 2006, as a member of the House Education Committee, Garrison helped to kill an amendment that would have required Ohio schools to protect students from bullying for their sexual orientation or gender identity.

The anti-bullying bill passed without the LGBT protections.

An attorney, Garrison opposed EHEA last year, saying it is wrong to single out classes of people for protection. This is a common talking point that anti-gays use against equality laws, and is legally flawed.

From the Akron Beacon Journal (November 11, 2004):

Garrison turned the Hollister vote [against the Ohio Defense of Marriage Act] into something seemingly sinister. She told the Parkersburg (W.Va.) newspapers that "the big difference between Nancy and I is the gay marriage issue. I am against it. She is for it."Garrison sent mailings into homes that read: "If you believe marriage is between one man and one woman, there is something you should know about Nancy Hollister." The mailing then all but declares that Hollister embraces gay marriage, concluding Garrison will "fight to protect our values." Karl Rove would be proud. Clearly, Garrison rode the wave of state Issue 1. She and her pals should be ashamed.

But not only content to have the LGBT community exist as second-class citizens, Jennifer Garrison also wants her own gender to subist that way. From a NARAL email yesterday:

Last week, Jennifer Garrison, a Democrat from Marietta, officially entered the race for Ohio’s Secretary of State. Jennifer Garrison currently serves in the Ohio House of Representatives and has a 0% rating from NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio.

Rep. Garrison showed just how extreme her anti-choice position is when she filled out the 2008 candidate questionnaire for Ohio Right to Life, saying she would:

• support legislation in Ohio to outlaw abortion (with only an exception to save a woman’s life),

• support legislation that would allow pharmacists to refuse to dispense emergency contraception, and

• support state funding for so-called “crisis pregnancy centers” that lie to women about the risks of abortion and never refer patients for abortion or birth control services.

Representative Garrison does not share our values.

She and Israel are trying to hide that record from Democrats-- Garrison from Democrats in Ohio and Israel from Democrats in Congress. Now even Republicans are noticing the kind of phony-baloney campaign she's running. Matt Dole, the campaign manager for GOP incumbent Bill Johnson brought up her status as a Steve Israel mystery meat candidate last week. "Jennifer Garrison has been in this race for months, and yet her website doesn't even have an issues page and she refuses to take a stand on important issues like Obamacare and the budget deal recently passed by Congress," Dole said. "The people of Eastern and Southeastern Ohio deserve to know where their candidates stand, and we call on Jennifer Garrison to share her stances on important issues." Israel thinks he's so smart to tell his conservative candidates to hide their views from the voters. You'll see how well that works in November.

Steny Hoyer, of course, has already been out to Ohio to campaign for her. How could he miss an opportunity to try to elect another corrupt corporate shill who will help him reach his career goals? Meanwhile, all you hear from her are the same shop-worn platitudes Israel has all his fatally-flawed candidates regurgitating across the country.

Garrison says she is running because she thinks Washington is broken and not representing all of the people.

"My goal is to represent everybody. I'm filing as a candidate on the democratic ticket, but I think people send us to D.C. to work together and that would be a lot different than what we have in the current congressman," Garrison said.

Even with Steve Israel beating up Democratic congressmembers to contribute and Hoyer and his lobbyist friends out in Ohio asking for donations for her, Garrison did worse than almost any other of Israel's other awful Jumpstart candidates. She only raised $102,031 and has a measly $134,298 cash-on-hand, although the DCCC had demanded she raise at least $250,000 last quarter. Her Republican opponent, Bill Johnson raised $183,566 and has $650,942) on hand. As soon as Greg Howard files, we'll alert you.


UPDATE: A Real Democrat Is In For The OH-06 Seat

Monday Greg Howard filed with the FEC to run for Congress, giving actual Democrats who would like to get rid of Republican incumbent Bill Johnson, an alternative to voting for Garrison in the primary.

In a news release, Howard said he decided to run to press for an overhaul of the economy which he said presently fails to provide for full employment at a living wage.

Howard criticized Johnson as blocking economic reforms which would help average Americans.

“I will push for a substantial increase in the minimum wage and the retraining of unemployed workers,” Howard said. He indicated it is also critical “to extend unemployment compensation for the long-term unemployed.”

Howard said he supports an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to abolish corporate constitutional rights, calling the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in the  Citizens United case an “abomination.” He described corporations as valuable economic tools, but added “they should not be allowed to dominate our political life.”

Howard is a member of the Meigs County Democratic Central Committee, and has with a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from Ohio State. He said he has had extensive experience as a construction engineer on large projects, including power, petrochemicals, and hazardous materials remediation in several states.

Also in the press release Howard said he “opposes the Transpacific Partnership (TPP) because I believes that, like NAFTA, it will result in shipping American jobs overseas.” He said he would work to eliminate the special exemptions to the Clean Air and Water Act for shale oil and gas extraction that were written into the Energy Act of 2005.

Howard intends to push for monetary reform. He points out that the current federal reserve system of money creation, as credit, by private banks has pushed governments, businesses and the great majority of citizens deeply into debt. “It is time to end the uncontrolled creation of money, most of which flows to Wall Street instead of Main Street,” said Howard. “It is bizarre and tragic that the government, which is constitutionally charged with the duty to create money, instead borrows from banks to which it gave away the privilege of money creation, and then pays the banks interest on this money from taxpayer pockets.”

It is time to have money created as a public asset, rather than as public debt. Monetary reform can pave the way to job-creating investment in the nation’s infrastructure, and could ultimately result in the balancing of the federal budget and the paying off of the national debt. It would also rein in the ’too big to fail, too big to jail‘ Wall Street banks, whose business practices put us into the economic slump that are we are in currently.