Finally! Jean Schmidt Files Termination Report

Jean Schmidt finally filed her Ethics Committee Termination Report.

The report was received by the Ethics Committee on March 1 (it was due by February 3), and was posted online this morning.

Former Congresswoman Schmidt acknowledges between $515,000 and $1,050,000 in debts to attorneys for legal services that were illegally paid by the Turkish Coalition of America.

This is the same amount she reported in May of 2012. She also reports millions of dollars of personal wealth and that she has not used any of her personal wealth to pay these bills. Proving the lie that she always intended to pay and was merely waiting for the Ethics Committee guidance.

  Jean Schmidt Termination Report by   COAST

COAST Year in Review 2012

Wenstrup Defeats Schmidt

A review of COAST's efforts in 2012 must begin with Brad Wenstrup's historic victory over Jean Schmidt in the Republican Primary. Chris Finney delivered a devastating series of talks detailing Schmidt's ethics problems and Brian Shrive managed Wenstrup's primary campaign like a master.

While "wiser heads" were preparing Wenstrup's political obituary, COASTers went diligently about the business of making Jean Schmidt's political obituary a reality.

Possibly our favorite moment of the campaign was this editorial from the Highland County Press just days before the Primary. Some other highlights from the campaign can be found here, here, here, here and here. Of course to get the full flavor, review our online archives from the Summer of 2011 through through March 2012.

The Tale of the Tape

COAST put in a great deal of effort to defeat Jean Schmidt, so it is particularly satisfying to note that:
Dr. Wenstrup outperformed Jean’s best results in total vote percentage overall and vote percentage in Brown, Clermont and Hamilton Counties.  Additionally, Brad outperformed Jean’s results in all shared counties in 2005, 2006 and 2008.  Brad also got more total votes than Jean did in any of her campaigns.

To restate that, Brad's 63.94% in Brown County was higher than Jean's best in that county, 60.2% in 2010.  Brad's 54.22% in Hamilton County bested Jean's high of 52.49% in 2010.  And the icing on the cake: Brad's 71.14% in Clermont County was higher than Jean's personal best 2010 result of 64.18% in her HOME COUNTY!

Jean's best total vote result was in 2008: 148,671; this year, Brad got 189,400 votes.

We also note that Jean never managed to perform up to her district. Until this year's redistricting took away Republican strongholds of Indian Hill, Symmes Township and Warren County, the Second District was considered to be a 64% R district.  After redistricting, the Second District is considered to be a 57% R district.  Jean never got anywhere near 64% of the vote, and yet Brad OVERPEFORMED his district by getting 59% of the vote.  Even in 2010, a landslide year for Republicans nationwide and statewide, Jean managed only 58.45% in a district that was expected to produce a 64% R result.  Now, rather than 6% below the baseline, Brad gets 2% above the baseline.

We are so excited about our new Congressman, January 3 cannot come soon enough.

Privatizing Gains and Socializing Losses

Oftentimes when politicians speak of privatizing government functions they seek to allow the efficiencies of the market to lower the costs. For instance, when municipalities hire private companies to run golf courses the private companies can do so at a lower labor cost because they do not have to pay unionized government workers to mow grass and work at the snack bar.  Other times, the reason is more nefarious, to provide for a chosen "winner."

Recently Amtrak's food and beverage service has been under the microscope for posting HUGE losses in the last decade: $833 Million!

Rep. Jean Schmidt has sponsored a bill to require Amtrak to solicit bids for its food and beverage services.  As Jean herself said, "This is an easy fix."  Well, Jean's bill is a fix alright.  The bill, which is nominally aimed at eliminating these losses, continues to subsidize losses incurred by the private companies who bid on the contract.  As such, all this bill does is allow for private companies to be the beneficiaries of the Amtrak subsidy rather than Amtrak.  This is nothing but a shell game!

From the Bill:

(7) SUBSIDY FOR NET LOSS- The Federal Railroad Administration shall provide directly to the entity providing food and beverage service on Amtrak trains any portion of appropriations for Amtrak necessary to cover a net loss resulting from the provision of such service, but only to the extent that such net loss was anticipated in the bid selected.

So, on those routes where there is profit to be made, the gains will be privatized; and where there are losses, the losses will be subsidized.

Jean's bill does little more than change who benefits from the government subsidy.  This is just another naked attempt by Congresswoman Schmidt to pretend to be a conservative!

Proving once again the wisdom of the voters on March 6, 2012.

1/3/13 cannot come soon enough!

Bold vision for America from Paul Ryan budget plan

We will have more comment and analysis on this in the coming few days, but this bold vision for America, the type of new direction we need, comes from the GOP and Paul Ryan.  Read about it here.

This is the type of thing that COASTers, Tea Partiers, our party structure, our elected representatives at all levels, and citizen activists everywhere should be promoting.  We cannot sit silently while this is occurring.

Let your Congressman and Senator know where you stand on these issues critical to America's future.

Jean Schmidt was meeting with Turkish Ambassador on Election Day -- a truly unbelievable turn of events

Politico has the story here.

The decision to stay in the nation’s capital — and particularly to focus on Turkish-American relations — is the best evidence yet that Schmidt simply didn’t get how much trouble she was in back home....

Schmidt spokesman Barrett Brunsman declined to comment directly on why Schmidt met with Tan or whether she regretted attending the luncheon rather than flying back to Cincinnati to spend the last day of the primary on the campaign trail.

In a lengthy email exchange, Brunsman didn’t acknowledge that the meeting even took place.

“I think you have lost your way,” Brunsman wrote.

Our clueless Congressman could not have displayed her out-of-touch and indifferent attitude toward her own ethical problems and the issues facing her constituents than with this latest development.

Human Events has as good an explanation of Brad Wenstrup's win as anyone

They credit personal dislike and ethics problems of Schmidt, "the kiss," and the SuperPAC and the appeal and strength of Wenstrup.

It's a decent read, here.

Mother Jones has profile piece on Campaign for Primary Accountability

Read it here: This Texas "Anarchist" GOPer Is Taking Out Incumbents

It's a fair read from a far-left publication.

What makes the group unique—and what baffles incumbents who find themselves in the crosshairs—is that there's no discernible partisan motive behind CFPA's interventions.

Incumbents obviously do not appreciate the revulsion in the heartland at the stench they have created in D.C. It makes absolutely perfect sense to COASTers.

Which is what makes the idea of contested primaries so appealing. Linbeck believes that, through gerrymandering and uncontested incumbency, communities have lost their ability to choose representatives that actually represent them. Rattling off statistics on congressional approval (17 percent) and the incumbency rate (around 90 percent), Linbeck frames his mission as restoring an extra level of oversight to the people's house. Viewed in that light, his super-PAC is more a privately funded public financing venture than a conventional effort to promote conservative values.

Mother Jones has done as good a job as any publication trying to explain the unique, but entirely un-mysterious, motivation behind Campaign for Primary Accountability.  They are the "wake up call" that America desperately needs.

The Republican-Democrat paradigm, as have other traditional divisors of the electorate (black-white, pro and anti-abortion, blue-collar v. white-collar etc.) have been excuses of politicians to engage in outrageously bad behavior (debt limit, ethics scandals, crony-capitalism, etc.).  They claim because we are "fighting Barack Obama" or "opposing the Pelosi agenda," or because we are "pro-life," to we can sell out our constituencies on everything else, and yet survive a tough primary.

Leo Linbeck and Campaign for Primary Accountability is saying that these games are not going to fly any more, and politicians, even in highly partisan districts, are going to have to answer to their voters on core economic and fiscal issues.

That is exactly the same ground that the www.WeDemandAVote.Com coalition plowed five years ago, confounding the same politicians, journalists and political pundits, only locally: How can these diverse people and groups work together?

We can because we know we have a common enemy: An entrenched power structure that daily takes advantage of the poor, the powerless, the voiceless, the working schlep who pays the taxes and follows the rules.

And if we have anything to say about it, it's "Game Over."  

Do ya get it yet, media, politicians, and pundits???

Don't worry, we intend to keep telling you.  At the ballot box.

Jean Schmidt wins an award

Congratulations to Mean Jean Schmidt for winning the Washington Post's Worst Week in Washington Award. She is a truly deserving winner.

Commentary Magazine: Citizens United Decision's Real Victim: Incumbent Protection Plans

Great commentary that lays it out accurately.

Compare this Enquirer piece from January 2012 to the news of today

Read this article from January of this year, please.  In light of the news of this week, you draw your own conclusions of what this means in the context of the Schmidt/Wenstrup battle.

Schmidt defeat media wrap (it appears incumbents are an endangered species)

• UC News Record is here.  "Wenstrup pulls upset in GOP bid"  Pretty good analysis. 
• Huff Po is here.  Campaign for Primary Accountability Super PAC Targets Incumbents, Takes Out Republican Rep. Jean Schmidt
• Time is here.  House Primary Upset in Ohio: Signs of a Weak GOP Majority? 
• ONN is here:  Second District Shake-Up 
• UPI is here. Group targets congressional incumbents 
• Reason is here:  Who Will Save the Poor Incumbents From the Super PAC Onslaught? 
• Slate is here: The Men Who Stare At Incumbents, and Then Try to Beat Them 
• Newsmax is here:  New Super PAC Targets House Incumbents From Both Parties 
• Common Sense is here: Quietly, Stunning 
• Bob Cesca's Awesome Blog is here:  Crazy Jean Schmidt Loses (ya might want to be careful, Bob.  Might get sued for defamation if you can't prove she is crazy!).

Roll Call has the best story yet

Read it here.

Gives credit to COASTer Brian Shrive, Wenstrup's campaign manager (COAST blog profile on him is coming), COAST, Chris Finney and his ethics PowerPoint presentation.

The best line: "Instead of campaigning Tuesday in the Buckeye State, Schmidt was in Washington, D.C., attending a morning Conference meeting at the Capitol Hill Club and voting in the afternoon."

This win is COAST's and the Tea Party's "shot heard 'round the nation," a message to Speaker John Boehner.

Schmidt friend Willie Cunningham discusses Schmidt defeat -- Blame it on Boehner!

Yesterday, Willie Cunningham on 700 WLW discussed the defeat of his good friend Jeannie Schmidt.  Listen here starting at about 22:04.

He says that John Boehner instructed her not to spend her campaign money, and that's why she lost.  (It'd be just like Schmidt to blame someone else for her mistakes, so we doubt this.)

If you think about it, though, assuming it is true, your campaign money, like your vote, should be the one thing that you control.  Yet, Schmidt claims she gave a proxy for both to John Boehner.  Does anyone join us see the irony in all of that?

Schmidt lived by the instruction of John Boehner, and she died by that instruction as well.

Sweet!

Six Major national and local stories on the Jean Schmidt defeat

Read them here:

New York Times: ‘Super PAC’ Increasing Congress’s Sense of Insecurity

Washington Post: One super PAC takes aim at incumbents of any party

National Review Online: The Never-Ending Tea Party (John Fund)

Politico: Brad Wenstrup was long shot to beat Schmidt

Cincinnati Enquirer: What brought Schmidt down?; It was a combination of things, but the Obama kiss sure didn't help

Local 12/Jeff Hirsch: Brad Wenstrup Defeats Jean Schmidt in GOP US House Race

There are good perspectives in each article.

Not enough can be said for the Campaign for Primary Accountability (and a few others)

Running as a non-incumbent for the United States Congress is truly an almost impossible task.

Make no mistake at all. Brad Wenstrup is a stellar candidate, a medical doctor with military experience, good looks, and a likeable personality. He had everything and more you could want from a challenger.

But to beat an incumbent member of the US Congress, you need more. Much more.

Fortunately, we had that.

The Campaign for Primary Accountability invested money in this race, and their message was sharp, focused and creative. They, more than any outside force, had the greatest impact on this race, and for that we are deeply appreciative.

But most of all, we need to thank the voters for their wisdom in putting the Second Congressional District of Ohio out of its seven-year nightmare with Jean Schmidt as our Congressman. Thanks to you, we can once again be proud of our representation in D.C. like we were with Bill Gradison and Rob Portman.

9th SuperPAC mailer is out!

Once again, they hit Schmidt on ethics and taxes and spending. 

Win or lose, it warms the cockles of COAST's heart to know that the voters have been told of her corruption.  It's up to them after that.

Now, go forth and vote!

NPR does a fine job of covering OH-2 Congressional Race

Note how Jean Schmidt runs scared when the reporter approaches.  She has been trained by her staff never to debate, and never to make media appearances unless it is an environment she carefully controls.  Pathetic.

And Ray and Maggie at the Enquirer endorse this embarrassment year after year after year.  What a pathetic rag!

Listen to it here.

SuperPAC Mailer #8 -- Jean Schmidt speaks with forked tongue!

Again, the creative team at Campaign for Primary Accountability is very good.  Let's hope their efforts work Tuesday!

This is so freaking funny, it's beyond words

Read it here, and roll on the floor.