The biggest outrage of all (Ohio's Noe Coin scam)

TOM Noe finally has to face one very unpleasant reality: the protective circle of wagons that has surrounded him since "Coingate" first broke in early April is gone. The wagons have scattered. His friends in high places, starting with Gov. Bob Taft, have at last decided that maybe it's a good idea to distance themselves from the man who has been so generous to them over the years.

. . .

For that matter, the resignation on Friday of James Conrad, director of the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation, is grossly inadequate penance. His total lack of oversight aggravated this crisis, and he simply gets to walk away? No matter what, he must be held accountable. But the buck didn't stop at Mr. Conrad's desk. Governor Taft belatedly accepted full responsibility for the scandal at a press conference Friday. Maybe he should follow Mr. Conrad's lead and get out.

He also should apologize - first to every citizen in this state for his utterly inept stewardship of public funds and his abuse of public trust, and second, to this newspaper for his verbal assaults on our reporting.

In fact, it is impossible to comment on all of this without noting that The Blade, which first broke this story in early April, was sharply criticized by Mr. Taft, Director Conrad, many Republicans, and some of our readers for our persistence in pursuing it. The term "witch hunt" was tossed about freely.

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Attorney General James Petro and Auditor Betty Montgomery kept their heads down for weeks, which provides an ironic twist to a quote by Ms. Montgomery in one of our Friday stories: "I hope my record will reflect after all these years that I am guilty of doing nothing."

http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050529/NEWS08/505290301/-1/NEWS

They are one of the few "news" organizations worthy of the name.

We know he was a lavish campaign donor. Was money diverted from the Coin Fund for donation? Did any of that money go to people for the purpose of helping to fix the election in Ohio? Is this the opening that allows us to subpoena testimony and maybe start prosecuting some election fraud?

Almost every GOP in the state has received money from Noe. Five of the seven judges in this case have had to recuse themselves because they received money from Noe.

Noe has heavily funded both Govenor Taft and President Bush. When Dems asked Bush to give the money back to Ohio, the WH spokesperson said they would have to talk to the RNC because "the WH does not raise funds".

The last fund raiser hosted by Noe netted over a million for the Bush coffers.

From the Election results forum:

www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=203&topic_id=371800&mesg_id=371800

needless to say, in Cincinnati, very few know about it, but when I tell them, it is usually followed by outrage.

But that assumption is silly I guess. Here in Chicago one has to go to the back pages of the paper or to PBS to find out what Daley/Blago and gang are up to in their backroom deals. If a state is controlled by one party (no matter which one) the news is even more restricted than in other states.