"So if somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can; it’s just that it will bankrupt them because they’re going to be charged a huge sum for all that greenhouse gas that’s being emitted.”  Barack Obama, January 2008

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 31, 2012 4:00 p.m., EDT  CONTACT:   This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it (E-mail)

COAL MINING OPERATION CLOSED IN EASTERN OHIO

ACTIONS OF THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION CITED AS THE REASON

OhioAmerican Energy, Inc. ("OhioAmerican"), a Subsidiary of Murray Energy Corporation ("Murray Energy"), today announced the closure of its coal mining operations near Brilliant, Jefferson County, Ohio. Regulatory actions by President Barack Obama and his appointees and followers were cited as the entire reason. "Mr. Obama has already destroyed 83,000 megawatts of coal-fired electricity generation in America," said Mr. Michael T. W. Carey, Vice President of Government Affairs for Murray Energy. "Electric prices in the recent PJM Interconnection monthly auction were bid up 800 percent (8 times) for 2015-2016 because of this," he added.

"At its peak, OhioAmerican employed 239 local people in high-paying, well- benefited jobs," said Mr. Stanley T. Piasecki, General Manager and Superintendent. "University studies show that our Mines can create up to eleven (11) secondary jobs in our communities, for store clerks, teachers, etc., to serve our direct employees. Thus, if one uses the eleven (11) to one (1) multiplier, the Obama Administration has destroyed 2,868 jobs in eastern Ohio with this forced Mine closure," stated Mr. Piasecki.

"This is a sad day for all of us, and particularly Mr. Robert E. Murray, the Founder of OhioAmerican," said Mr. Piasecki. "He is so distraught that he came to the Mine and personally announced the layoffs to each of the employees," he added. "Mr. Murray created OhioAmerican, and our production began in May, 2007," said Mr. Piasecki. The Mine was intended to last for at least ten (10) years. Now we have been forced by our own Country's President and his followers and supporters to permanently close the operation," added Mr. Piasecki.

"Fortunately," said Mr. Ryan M. Murray, Vice President of Operations, "we will be able to eventually employ thirty-two (32) of the OhioAmerican employees at another operation of Murray Energy, when their work is finished at their existing Mine." "But, these thirty-two (32) people will fill jobs that would have gone to others," said Mr. Murray. "Therefore, considering this, we have lost all of the jobs at OhioAmerican, and we are deeply saddened," he added.

"As was stated by Mr. Ronald D. Koontz, General Manager of The Ohio Valley Coal Company ("Ohio Valley"), regarding the layoff of twenty-nine (29) employees at Ohio Valley's Powhatan No. 6 Mine last Friday, this is not the end," said Mr. Piasecki. "There will be additional layoffs, not only at Murray Energy, but also throughout the United States coal industry due to Mr. Obama's 'War on Coal' and the destruction that it has caused to so many jobs and families in the Ohio Valley area and elsewhere," said Mr. Murray. "Both Mr. Obama and Vice President Joe Biden stated that there would be 'no coal in America' prior to their elections," said Mr. Piasecki. "They are making good on their intentions while they destroy so many lives and family livelihoods in this area for no benefit whatsoever," he concluded.

***

Tea party has had it with GOP

Feeling betrayed by the Republican Party and its leaders, tea party groups in Ohio appear to be uniting and moving toward either a split from the GOP or action to punish Republican candidates who fail ideological purity tests.

A series of events, culminating with the April 26 election of Matt Borges as chairman of the Ohio Republican Party, spurred a flurry of meetings and conference calls among tea party leaders last week to plot a course of action heading into the 2014 statewide election.

Options being discussed, according to Seth Morgan, policy director for Americans for Prosperity, range from breaking off into “a third party, to an insurrection (within the Republican Party) and everything in between.”

Tom Zawistowski, executive director of the Portage County Tea Party who lost his bid for the Ohio GOP chairmanship by a 48-7 vote of the party’s state central committee, met on Saturday with Don Shrader, chairman of the Constitution Party of Ohio, to explore uniting in a party committed more to principles than winning elections.

After the chairmanship vote, Zawistowski said he made it clear that if the state GOP did not focus on enacting conservative policies, “we would either find a political party to join or we would start one of our own,” saying his meeting with Shrader “is the first step in that process.”

It remains uncertain, however, just how much the Ohio GOP and its candidates could be hurt by an insurrection because it is difficult to assess the true strength of tea party groups. A 2012 poll by The Washington Postand the Kaiser Family Foundation found that about 28 percent of Republicans identified themselves as tea party supporters.

Although loosely organized in 2009 around ideals of fiscal conservatism and smaller government, the tea party largely has been fractionalized with no single acknowledged leader.

“There are potential splits within the tea party itself,” said John Green, a University of Akron political scientist. “It’s hard to judge how strong they are because their popularity fluctuates. It’s not a cohesive group, but it does have some resources and some talented people who are quite effective.”

Along with Zawistowski and Morgan, others in the tea party movement viewed as effective leaders include Chris Littleton, founder of Ohio Rising; Ted Stevenot, president of the Ohio Liberty Coalition; and Matt A. Mayer, president and CEO of Provisum Strategies, a Dublin-based consulting firm.

To date, said Mike Gonidakis, president of Ohio Right to Life, the tea party’s “biggest Achilles’ heel is there is no defined leadership to focus a message. It’s almost a flavor-of-the-month type of thing.

“Some of these men and women who proclaim to be the leader of this, that or the other and get quotes in the paper, I’m not sure that they’re really taking the pulse of the rank and file (Republicans) in the state,” Gonidakis said. “To say they don’t represent anyone would not be accurate. But to say that they represent a majority viewpoint, I’m not sure that’s accurate because if it was, their candidates would be able to win primaries or they would have success in various political offices.”

But tea party leaders say their ranks are being swelled by social conservatives who oppose abortion and gay marriage and who are angry with the Republican Party.

“On all these conservative issues across the board, I think we’re all joining hands because we’re stronger together,” said Lori Viars, vice chairwoman of the Warren County GOP and leader of Warren County Right to Life.

The list of tea party grievances includes action last December by Republican legislative leaders to bury the so-called heartbeat bill, which would ban abortion once a fetal heartbeat is detected.Social conservatives also were riled by U.S. Sen. Rob Portman’s change of position on same-sex marriage after his son revealed he is gay, and by the election of Borges, who once lobbied for Equality Ohio, a gay-rights group.

Fiscal conservatives were incensed by Republican Gov. John Kasich’s budget proposals to expand Medicaid health services to 275,000 needy Ohioans, to broaden the state sales tax and to tax shale oil and gas producers.

“I think the appointment of Borges was just the final straw that did pull those social and fiscal tea party groups together to say, ‘We’re tired of being used on Election Day,’ ” Morgan said. “There’s no question the movement is done with this proverbial pat on the head that the Republican Party has always given us. I have never seen this level of discontent.”

Viars said the failure of GOP leaders to be true to the conservative policies they portend to embrace has pushed tea partyers to the breaking point.

“How many times do you get smacked in the face by the Republican Party before you’re ready to make some other arrangements?” she said. “I don’t know what that is because we haven’t set on any particular course of action.“The suggestions range from everybody leaving the party in a mass exodus, to staying in the party but get challengers in primaries for every race of anybody who ever crossed us, to under-voting in certain races.”

Led by Littleton, tea party leaders took at least partial credit for the GOP-controlled House killing Kasich’s Medicaid expansion by threatening to field primary-election opponents against Republican lawmakers who supported it. Littleton said Ohio Rising and other tea party groups have the grassroots expertise and resources to reach GOP primary voters.

“We’re doing such amazing targeting right now,” he said. “It is so easy to get our message out when you know what needs to be said and how to reach those individuals. Certainly, we think that proved to be a credible threat.”

But with Kasich and other GOP elected officials facing a strong 2014 challenge from a Democratic ticket led by Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald, one longtime Capitol Square Republican activist who asked not to be named questioned the tea party’s end game.

“Is Ed FitzGerald going to sign a pro-life bill? Is Ed FitzGerald going to sign a pro-gun bill? Is Ed FitzGerald not going to expand Medicaid? What do they think is going to happen if they abandon John Kasich and play spoiler by creating a third party?”

Ronald Rapoport, a political scientist at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va., who last week released a new study titled “Republican Factionalism and Tea Party Activism,” said tea party “threats for a primary should be taken seriously.”

His research showed that tea party supporters comprise “a clear majority” of voters “who show up for Republican primary elections.” Rapoport said tea partyers are ideologically “super-mobilized” and are interested in taking over the Republican Party “and purifying it to what they think the party should be” rather than compromising on principle.

“It’s clear that establishment Republicans who have a different set of priorities care more about elections than tea party members who care more about principle and purity and they’re less willing to compromise in order to get elected.”

Rapoport said that the peril for a Republican Party that already “has gotten smaller” is that the more influence the tea party gains over it, the less appeal the GOP will have to voters overall because surveys show that a majority of voters do not support the tea party.

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

PRESS RELEASE

Zawistowski to meet with Chairman of Constitution Party of Ohio Saturday

Kent - Tom Zawistowski, Executive Director of the Portage County TEA Party and President of the We the People Convention, announced today that he would be meeting with Don Shrader, Chairman of the Constitution Party of Ohio just one week after he was not chosen to be Chairman of the Ohio Republican Party.  In making the announcement, Zawistowski said "Last week's ORP State Central Committee vote established the fact that the Ohio Republican "Party" is not a political party at all, it is simply a perpetual election campaign that has nothing to do with policy. After the vote, I made it crystal clear that the social conservatives, fiscal conservatives, and grassroots activist that I represent are not about electing politicians they are about enacting conservative policies, which is what political parties are created to do. I also said that if the ORP did not want to be a political party, that we would either find a political party to join or we would start one of our own.  My meeting Saturday with Don Shrader from the Ohio Constitution Party is the first step in that process." 

Zawistowski continued by saying "The Constitution Party has been around since the mid-1990's and they have a very conservative platform, particularly on social issues, and they have demonstrated that they are an organization driven by principles. They could be a viable option for our movement.  However, I don't want anyone reading too much into this meeting.  No decisions are going to be made Saturday, we are just going to talk about the possibilities.  We have numerous other options to consider and I and other Liberty Leaders around the state are going to be exploring them all over the next month or so." 

Zawistowski concluded by saying "The point is that we will no longer be part of a political process where the people we elect do not deliver the policy changes our nation and our state need, and do not stand up for the principles and values they ran on. To paraphrase Ronald Reagan, we are not leaving the Republican Party the Republican "Party" has left us, and that is their decision not ours."

More can be learned about the Ohio Constitution Party at www.cpofohio.org as well as at the national website at www.constitutionparty.com. You can learn more about Tom Zawistowski and the on-going battle between the base of the Republican Party and the ORP by visiting http://tomzforgopchair.wordpress.com/.

##

Adobe Flash Player not installed or older than 9.0.115!

Adobe Flash Player not installed or older than 9.0.115!

Now we finally understand each other, 

and know what Friday's vote is really all about . . . .

Members of the State Central Committee:

This has been certainly been a very interesting three weeks for me as I am sure it has been for all of you.  I have to admit I have learned more than I thought I would about our system of governance.  I am sure many of you have learned more than you thought you would about the people who want to believe in the Ohio Republican Party and why they are so angry and frustrated. 

When I got into this race for Chairman, I can now say that I really did not understand your point of view and I really did not understand how different our views are about the Ohio Republican "Party".  I did not understand until I had the opportunity to talk to Matt Borges last Saturday and he told me privately, and then said publicly, that the Ohio Republican Party's role is to elect candidates and specifically to re-elect Governor Kasich.  When I asked him about policy, he looked me in the eye and said "We don't do policy."  When I specifically asked him about policies like the "Navigator" bill in the Senate, he repeated "We don't do policy."  Even after I pointed out that if Navigators are allowed to register voters, with the presumption being that they would register mostly democratic voters, and that would devastate the Republican Party, he held firm.  

His words took me back to one of the first times that I met Bill Batchelder over three years ago. We were asking the "Party" to help us with something, perhaps it was Issue 3.  Speaker Batchelder candidly said something like, "You don't understand, we raise money to win elections and after we win elections we stay out of the way until the next election where the cycle repeats itself." They were not involved with Policy. We did not get that.  Even when current Chairman Bennett would say something like, "The Ohio Republican Party is a Party without Policies."  We did not get that. It did not make sense to us.

The reason it does not make sense to "us" is because "we" collectively believe in policies. We believe in the National Republican Party Platform.  We believe in values.  We believe in principles. We believe in a conservative approach to living our lives and wish to see that reflected in our Governance.   According to Wikipedia, "A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence, or entirely control, government policy, usually by nominating candidates with aligned political views, and trying to seat them in political office.[1] Parties participate in electoral campaigns and educational outreach or protest actions. Parties often espouse an ideology or vision, expressed in a party program, bolstered by a written platform with specific goals, forming a coalition among disparate interests."  That is what "we" think the Ohio Republican "Party" is, or was, or should be.  You, or at least your leadership, clearly does not.

See, what Matt and Chairman Bennett and Speaker Batchelder and many of you on the State Central Committee are telling me and "us" is that the Ohio Republican "Party" is not a party. It is a campaign; it is an election machine; it's role is to elect candidates. Matt Borges said last Saturday that he has been preparing for this job his entire life and that he is best qualified for this job because of his background.  I will be the first to say that he is correct if the Ohio Republican "Party" is what he and most of you believe it is, which is an organization whose sole purpose is to elect candidates.  Matt Borges has an impressive record of doing that.  However that is not a political party.   It also explains why the ORP has no platform. Why it refused to vote on adopting the National Republican Party Platform. Why it endorses in primaries.  Why it allows, it wants, the candidates to set policy.  Once they are elected, the "Party" has no role to play in policy. That is your choice, but it is not a political party.

The problem for "us" is that we see no point in electing anyone if we can not count on them to implement the policies we want implemented.  The definition of a political party is that they only elect candidates for the purpose of influencing government policy.  The Ohio Republican "Party"  leaves out the policy part, which from our view is the most important part.  This is why we are angry and frustrated and disappointed, because we thought you were something that you never intended to be - a political party.  Now we get it.

As I explained in my previous email about the anger and frustration, and on my TV appearance with Tom Beres on Channel 3, the idea of letting candidates set policy is fundamentally destructive to a political party. People believe in ideas and ideals and in principals and values.  They project them on candidates, and candidates espouse them; but candidates come and go, principals do not, values do not.  People are confused because if someone puts the red "R" next to their name, that is a brand, and over decades that brand has come to mean something to voters.  Increasingly that is becoming false advertising.  By its own "policy" the ORP is lending its brand to people and letting them define it any way they want. It is like selling McDonalds franchises to people and letting them use pink and blue for their colors, or offering pizza instead of hamburgers.  It doesn't work because then the brand means nothing. The problem is that today the Republican brand stands for nothing or anything or what ever is popular. No one is managing the brand.

Let me share some stunning figures with all of you that I just learned this week, and let me make clear, that these numbers really reflect the most active people in these parties because they will vote in a primary:

• In 2008 according to Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted’s website, Democrats out-numbered Republicans by 174,000, 1.48 million to 1.30 million. The unaffiliated voters totaled 5.1 million.

• In 2012, Democrats went from 1.48 million down to 827,000. That is a loss of 653,000. Republicans went from 1.3 million down to 894,000. That is a loss of 412,000. This segment of voters rose from 5.1 million to 6.3 million. That is an increase of 1.2 million more unaffiliated voters.

So, out of 8,021,000 registered votes, only 11% are Republicans (Down from 16% in 2008) and only 10% are Democrats (down from 18%) are active and engaged in their party and we still lost the election in November!  Why? Because, as any businessman can clearly see, nobody is buying what either party is selling.  They see no need or benefit to party affiliation. That is why over a million registered voters stayed home. They don't like the candidates. They don't honestly get to choose the candidates because the "Party"/Campaign organization endorses in primaries and spends huge dollars to limit the choices.  They are disengaged.

Citizens are not walking away, they are running away from a system that is fundamentally broken and from "Party's" that are not political parties at all.  More importantly, they are running away from "Party's" that do not have their best interests in mind and instead manipulate them through media and advertising to gain power and take wealth from citizens for themselves and their circle of consultants and operatives.  This is why the "Party" is only about electing candidates and not about policy.  Electing candidates is where the money is, that is where the consulting fees come from; policy and principles are risky business and are only considered when there is more money to be made from special interests.

"We" are not about just electing candidates.  "We" want to be part of a political party that stands for something and then does something about it.  "We" want, we need, to change the direction of our government so it is more in line with our conservative values and beliefs. "We" want the government to be the referee in the ring to make sure it is a fair fight in the marketplace of ideas, but we do not want our government sitting at ring side deciding who will be the winner and who will be the loser.

So this is what your vote on the State Central Committee comes down to on Friday.  If you believe that the sole function of  the Ohio Republican "Party" is to elect candidates and specifically re-elect Governor Kasich, than you need to vote for Matt Borges because he is a Campaign Manger.  If you believe, and more accurately want, the Ohio Republican "Party" to be, and in reality now become, a political party that also elects candidates but does so for the purpose of implementing policies our members want, then you need to vote for Tom Zawistowski because he is a leader who can attract people to a cause and motivate them to fight for that cause.

You must vote Friday with the clear understanding, that the members of the conservative coalition that I represent, do not want to be part of a campaign organization.  They want to be part of a political party.  They see the need to be engaged every day with our fellow citizens to educate them about the conservative values that made our nation great and to defend those values. They are looking for leadership that will help them organize and finance the fight that they must make at all levels of our society to defeat the socialist "regressive" values of the left that are so rapidly gaining ground in our nation. The left is gaining ground, not because their ideas are superior to ours, but because we have no organized opposition to them. The republicans I represent demand that their leaders lead the fight against the left's assault on our values and they know that means a lot more than just electing politicians.

So, let me be clear. If the Republican "Party" is not a political party but is instead a campaign organization, we will go find a political party to be part of or we will create our own.  This is not a case of "we can't get our way, so we are going to take our ball and go home."  "We" now know we never had a ball. You, the ORP, are saying, it's our ball, and it's our game, and it's our gym, you are locking the gym door with us on the outside.  That is your decision to make.  I told Chairman Bennett a year ago, "we" would not decide if there is a third party or not, the ORP will decide by its actions.  Friday you, the State Central Committee members will make that decision. 

My hope, the hope of all those whom I represent, would be for Governor Kasich to hire Matt Borges to be his Campaign Manager and that you would vote to make Tom Zawistowski the Chairman of what will become the Ohio Republican Party. That to "us" is the recipe for success that we all want and need.  Regardless of the outcome of vote, I sincerely thank all of you for your committment to this process, and for reading my long emails and taking the time to learn about me and my qualifications. I look forward to seeing you Friday in Columbus.

Sincerely,

Tom Zawistowski

Candidate for Chairman of the Ohio Republican Party

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Contact: Tom Zawistowski

NOTE: ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTATION BELOW

Social Conservative Leaders back Zawistowski for ORP Chairman

Kent - Tom Zawistowski, Candidate for Chairman of the Ohio Republican Party, announced today that he had received the backing of six key social conservatives leaders around the state.  The recommendations came in two separate letters that were sent to the Ohio Republican Party Central Committee and all 88 County Chairmen. In the letters the leaders spell out their reasons for backing Zawistowski for ORP Chairman. Zawistowski, in accepting the recommendations, said "Many social conservatives want a leader who will stand up for traditional values and take seriously the principals spelled out in our national Republican Party Platform. I am thankful for the recommendation of these six key leaders from around the state who trust me to do that. They represent a constituency that is critical to the success of the Ohio Republican Party.  I have been making the case to the State Central Committee members that I am uniquely qualified to unify all the coalition partners that make up the Republican Party base. These letters of support confirm that I have the full faith and confidence of these key social conservative leaders."

Molly Smith, President of Cleveland Right to Life, Jerry Cirino, Board Member of Catholics for Ohio, Ed Sitter, Executive Director of the Greater Toledo Right to Life, Jeannine Jones, Member of the Ohio Right to Life Political Action Committee, and Lori Viars, Vice President of the Warren County Right to life, authored the first letter.  In their letter they call the April 26th State Central Committee vote for Chairman to be "judgement day" during which the committee will choose if the Ohio Republican Party will "recognize and embrace Ohio’s conservative movement by electing Tom Zawistowski as the only currently viable choice for chairman."  They continued by saying "Tom has the ability to embrace and unify the grass roots movement, the moderate Republicans and the social conservatives."  They conclude with a strong statement saying "Further, we are confident that Tom’s proven leadership over the past several years will unify social and fiscal conservatives who are motivated by issues and not by party affiliation. This unification around the issues will halt the push by many grass roots Christian and social conservatives to form a third party."  The second letter is from Chris Long, President of the Ohio Christian Alliance. In his letter he says "As to those Central Committee Members considering a choice for the future of the Ohio Republican Party, I encourage them to take a good look at the accomplishments of Tom Zawistowski as a worthy candidate to lead the Ohio Republican Party into the future."

##

SUBJECT : Conservative Group leaders’ message to Ohio GOP

April 26th will be judgment day for not only the Ohio GOP, but it could also impact the future of the Republican Party as a whole. As Ohio goes, so goes the nation and the nation will be watching the results of your vote.

You will either decide to recognize and embrace Ohio’s conservative movement by electing Tom Zawistowski as the only currently viable choice for chairman, OR you will decide to conduct business as usual and vote for the old boy network’s next in line Chairman. If you do the latter, you will be turning your collective back on the conservative volunteers and donors who do the GOP ground work in Ohio.

Tom has the ability to embrace and unify the grass roots movement, the moderate Republicans and the social conservatives. Therefore we the undersigned, support Tom Zawistowski for chairman of the GOP.

We wholeheartedly support Tom Zawistowski’s stance on the issues that we hold to be fundamental to society as a whole, and we are confident that Tom will:

- Uphold marriage between one man and one woman as the only recognized legal married union.

- Represent grass roots Christians in our fight to protect Religious Freedom.

- Recognize that all human life begins at conception and ends with natural death and work to protect life at all stages.

Recognize the voice of the grass roots who worked tirelessly to pass the Ohio Health Care Amendment and put an end to the Medicaid Expansion efforts or any such further expansion of ObamaCare.

Further, we are confident that Tom’s proven leadership over the past several years will unify social and fiscal conservatives who are motivated by issues and not by party affiliation. This unification around the issues will halt the push by many grass roots Christian and social conservatives to form a third party.

SIGNED (Member affiliations with groups is only there to assist with identification and may not represent the group)

Molly Smith, (President, Cleveland Right to Life) 

Jeannine Jones (Member of Ohio Right to Life Political Action Committee) 

Jerry Cirino (Board Member of Catholics for Ohio) 

Lori Viars (Vice President, Warren County Right to Life) 

Ed Sitter (Executive Director, Greater Toledo Right to Life)

This is the body of the letter from Christopher R. Long to the Ohio State Central Committee:

Mr. Tom Zawistowski, who is a candidate for the Ohio Republican Party Chairmanship, is, in my opinion, a qualified candidate for the position. Tom has shown himself to be a hard-working coalitions builder with both fiscal and social conservative Republicans.

As President of the Ohio Liberty Coalition, Tom has successfully brought together numerous parties to work together on singular goals of common interest. His work with Issue 3, Ohio’s Healthcare Freedom Amendment, is proof of his ability to organize grassroots and coalitions behind a common cause for a desired result, as evidenced by the 67% of Ohioans who voted for the adoption of the ballot measure. His ability to work with candidates on a local level and to encourage others for their candidacies again speaks to his qualifications for the position.

Tom’s work on organizing the We The People Convention in the past few years demonstrates his skill set to work with groups from around the State of Ohio and to bring together national and state leaders to platform conservative causes

.

As to those Central Committee Members considering a choice for the future of the Ohio Republican Party, I encourage them to take a good look at the accomplishments of Tom Zawistowski as a worthy candidate to lead the Ohio Republican Party into the future.

Sincerely,

Christopher R. Long

(Chris is the President of the Ohio Christian Alliance)

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  Monday, April 15, 2013

Contact: Tom Zawistowski

Zawistowski Responds to Smear Campaign by State Central Committee Member

Kent - Tom Zawistowski, Candidate for Chairman of the Ohio Republican Party responded today to false charges by a State Central Committee member that he is working with the Democratic Party to smear his opponent Matt Borges.  Zawistowski responded by saying "Today I received an email from Tom Troy from the Toledo Blade asking if I would comment on an email by Sarah Brown, a member of the ORP State Central Committee, accusing me of working with the Democrats to smear Matt Borges. I told Mr. Troy that, as I said in my press release last Friday, I have no interest in the information being provided to me by various parties concerning Mr. Borges. I also said in my email to the State Central Committee members last Friday that I was aware of additional information about Mr. Borges, but that instead of using it to my benefit, I in fact forwarded it to Mr. Borges, via mutual friends. I then provided Mr. Troy with an email that I sent to Lauren LaRose, who is a State Central Committee member, and Frank LaRose, an Ohio State Senator, both of whom are friends of mine, showing that I did exactly what I said that I had done."

Zawistowski continued by saying "I have acted with integrity and I have proved it.  I have never met or talked to Ms. Brown, but she has chosen to attack my integrity and her charges are untrue. To use her own words, what she has done to me is "unbelievable, unforgivable and plain wrong."  While she closes her email by saying that "I could not be more proud of the direction of this state party and its operations." Unfortunately, it is actions like what she has taken that embarrass us all and bring shame to our party. In her attempts to smear me, by releasing the information that I would not release, she has in fact smeared Mr. Borges."

Zawistowski concluded by saying "Ms. Brown owes me an apology and she needs to send that apology to everyone on the State Central Committee and to all of the County Chairmen. I would further suggest that she be removed from the State Central Committee for her unethical behavior. If Ms. Brown held the values that I hold, she would have confronted me directly with this information before sending it out.  However, we all know that the party operatives are not interested in ethical behavior, which is why they fear my becoming Chairman of the Ohio Republican Party. The culture of corruption in the Ohio Republican Party needs to be reformed and as Chairman that is exactly what I will do."

###

From: Sarah Brown < This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it >

Date: April 15, 2013, 3:02:49 PM EDT

To: " This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it " < This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it >

Subject: Fw: Matt Borges

Reply-To: Sarah Brown < This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it >

Dear Committee Members,

I believed it was important to share the email and attachment I received below with you in confidence. The email below was sent to Tom Zawistowski from Jared Kurtz, the Ohio Democrat Party Communications Director.  As you can see the Ohio Democrat Party has been providing Tom Z with support, an opposition research file and talking points against Matt Borges.  Tom wants to be state chairman, yet one of his first act as a candidate, is to work with Democrats to help smear this party.  It’s no coincidence that after Tom work with the ODP, the Dayton Daily News wrote an article regarding a pending issue in front of the IRS. 

In all my years involved in politics, I have never seen something so disgusting.  To cohort with Democrat Party Operative to run for Republican Party Chairman is just unbelievable, unforgivable and plain wrong.  This party needs to unite, but not under a someone that is as divisive as Tom Z and absolutely not one that is already working with the Ohio Democrat Party.

I ask Tom to stop his direct attacks on the Ohio Republican Party, remove his name as a candidate for Chairman, and immediately apologize to the Republican Party, members of the state committee and most importantly Matt Borges.        

On April 26^th, our membership will elect Matt Borges as chairman of the Ohio Republican Party.  I could not be more proud of the direction of this state party and its operations.

Thank you,

House GOP’s Budget Revisions Include Rewrite Of Tax Cut Plan, K-12 Funding; Medicaid Expansion Nixed

Majority Republicans in the House moved Tuesday to put their own stamp on Gov. John Kasich’s $63.3 billion biennial budget package by imposing major revisions to the executive plans in a number of key areas while maintaining a significant tax cut.

The “immediate and permanent” 7% income tax reduction – Mr. Kasich proposed a 20% across-the-board cut phased in over three years – would be achieved without the broadening of sales taxes to services as the governor had proposed.

Instead, Rep. Ron Amstutz (R-Wooster), chairman of the House Finance & Appropriations Committee, said the House will use anticipated revenue growth and the sizeable anticipated year-end carryover balance from FY 2012 to cover the reduction, which will equate to a $1.5 billion over two years.

The governor’s 50% business tax cut proposal was jettisoned in favor of funding the broader income tax reduction, Mr. Amstutz said.

The House is not done in the tax area, he added, and will likely include further tax policy changes to the bill (HB 59) before it leaves the House.

As expected, the majority caucus will scrap Gov. Kasich’s plan for expanding Medicaid, which would have brought in $2.4 billion in federal funds under the Affordable Care Act to cover the cost of insuring another 275,000 Ohioans for the next two years.

The removal of the plan to extend Medicaid coverage to 138% of the federal poverty level culminates weeks of political pressure applied to lawmakers on one side by tea party groups and conservatives who decried the increased government spending and on the other by the health care industry and government program supporters who touted the health and economic benefits.

Speaker Batchelder had noted early in the process that his members held a deep disdain for “Obamacare,” as most had campaigned against the sweeping federal health care law that allowed for the expansion as one of its many facets.

He said Tuesday that members were leery of moving forward given the “lack of clarity” on Medicaid issues emanating from Washington, D.C. The caucus “had a considerable concern about exactly what it is we’re facing,” the speaker said.

As anticipated, the House also swapped out Gov. Kasich’s Achievement Everywhere school funding formula for something more akin to the former Building Blocks approach. (See Gongwer Ohio Report, April 2, 2013)

One of the complaints from superintendents about Mr. Kasich’s Achievement Everywhere formula was that a majority of districts would receive guarantee funds – dollars added to their formula amount to hold them harmless at fiscal year 2013 levels. The House formula shifts money around to allow fewer districts to be on that guarantee.

The House Finance panel will hold hearings through Friday on the substitute version of the measure, with plans for committee and floor votes next week.