Former Dem took money from Ney

[OzarkDem]

Pat Sweeney, a former Ohio state rep, has earned more than $110,000 in the past 18 months on Bob Ney's payroll.

http://www.cleveland.com/politics/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/ispol/1137585369230790.xml&coll=2

Despite what the Pee Dee says, Sweeney hasn't been an active Dem in years, not since he was soundly trounced by Jimmy Dimora in the Dem primary for Cuyahoga County Commissioner. His humiliating defeat caused many Dems to turn against him, particularly for his connections to and support of Ohio GOP officials. It was also discovered that he had a habit of leaving the House floor to go to the local watering hole while a fellow legislator cast his votes for him on legislation.

Good riddance, Pat.

On edit: Can't wait til WCGreen hears this news. He "played" Pat in a political ad once, as a "fat cat" politician sitting at a desk laughing and smoking a cigar.

[Algorem]

1. I like how he became a voting machine lobbyist to Cuyahoga County

this one seems pretty horrible-

http://www.freetimes.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=2985

Size Matters:Who really benefits from downsizing Cleveland City Council?

By Charu Gupta

THOMAS “CALL ME TONY” GEORGE is a man with political connections. The Westlake resident and millionaire owner of Slam Jams sports bars and Harry Buffalo restaurants has been donating to both Democrat and Republican campaigns since 1998. The walls of his Lakewood office are lined with photographs of himself with the likes of Bill Clinton, Bob Taft, Jesse Jackson and George Voinovich.

Today George is the blunt spokesperson for the Ohio Citizens League, which he describes as a bipartisan good-government group with a mission to move the city and region in the right direction. The first step toward that goal will be reducing Cleveland City Council from 21 to 11 members (seven representing wards and four at-large). The OCL wants to put the issue on the May or November ballot.
But despite the group’s inclusive-sounding name, it’s not clear whom it represents.
In addition to George, other founders include Michael Gibbons and Peter Kirsanow. Gibbons, a Fairview Park resident, is an investment banker with the firm Brown, Gibbons and Lang. Since 1992 he has given nearly $50,000 to Republican candidates, including George Bush, Bob Ney, Bob Taft and Jim Petro...

[OzarkDem]

2. Tony George can't be trusted

He supports whichever candidate seems most likely to help him make a buck. The only reason I can think of for wanting to reduce the number of city councilpersons in Cleveland is to make it easier and cheaper to bribe them. Like the disastrous "term limits" laws passed for Ohio legislators, its probably just another scheme to steal Dem seats and get a few R's elected.

I'm also highly suspicious of Sweeney's involvement in electronic voting lobbying. I'd still like to know how it came to be that Cuyahoga County had Diebold machines forced on the voting public. And I'd also like to know why so-called loyal Dems like County Prosecutor Bill Mason have done nothing to look into vote fraud.

DINO's Sweeney, wife beater O'Malley and Mason are close friends. I would put nothing past them to help R's win in 2006. Again, their close association with new ODP chair Chris Redfern is unnerving and bears very close scrutiny.