Democratic Party Officials: Boehner Lied About State Not Receiving Stimulus Contracts

By Mariko Lamb, Talk Radio News Service

Chris Redfern, Ohio Democratic Party Chairman, and Hari Sevugan, Democratic National Committee Press Secretary, denied claims made by House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) that his home state was not receiving construction projects from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

“Multiple independent fact checking organizations have now found that John Boehner went on national TV and lied about the jobs that are being created in his home state--to score some cheap political points--and he continues to do so through his tax payer funded office,” said Sevugan.

According to research organizations, including PolitiFact and the Cleveland Plain Dealer, 52 projects worth $84 million were lined up to boost Ohio’s economy at the time of Boehner’s public statements.

“He ought to be ashamed of himself. He ought to apologize to people of his district and the rest of the state for bashing the jobs that are being saved and created there by the Recovery Act,” said Sevugan.

Chairman Redfern said that locals are pleased that stimulus dollars are being invested in Ohio and that jobs will be created and retained.

“John really needs to get home and listen to people in his district,” he advised.

Ohio voter suppression strikes again

Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern and Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman expressed concern about recent voter suppression activities occurring at local polling places in Greene County. Led by the former law partner of McCain Ohio Campaign Manager Mike DeWine, Republican officials in Greene County are staking out polling places and requiring names, addresses, and social security numbers of any Ohio voter who registered between Sept. 30 and Oct. 6. The chairman and mayor are both concerned with the targeting of African-American college students, some of whom are first-time voters, due to the two historically African-American colleges in Greene County. Redfern called the actions in Greene County a "textbook definition" of voter suppression, although there has been "no evidence of voter fraud whatsoever." In response to this suppression, the men have alerted the national media in hopes of external support to allow people to vote in Greene County and to prevent a repeat of the similar circumstances that occurred in Ohio during the 2004 election.