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Corrupt Government
See other Corrupt Government Articles Title: Joe the Plumber: A Campaign Issue Again
Source:
Politics Daily
URL Source: http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/1 ... lumber-a-campaign-issue-again/
Published: Dec 11, 2009
Author: Matt Lewis
Post Date: 2009-12-11 08:47:45 by sneakypete
Ping List: *Crime and Corruption* Subscribe to *Crime and Corruption*
Keywords: Dim corruption
Views: 1254
Comments: 5
Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, aka "Joe the Plumber," first caught our attention in October 2008 when he met and questioned then-Sen.Barack Obama, who was campaigning in his Toledo neighborhood, about his plan to "spread the wealth." Now, Joe the Plumber has become a defining issue once again, this time in the 2010 race for attorney general in Wurzelbacher's home state of Ohio. Last year, Wurzelbacher became a symbolic "everyman" -- at least for conservatives -- after Sen. John McCain mentioned him several times during a nationally televised presidential debate. McCain referenced him so many times, in fact, that Saturday Night Live spoofed him for using "Joe the Plumber" in virtually every sentence, culminating in the hilarious deadpan laugh line from the actor playing McCain (to the actor playing Obama): "Frankly, I trust Joe the Plumber a lot more than I trust your plan, because Joe the Plumber is a straight shooter, and one of the finest people I've ever known." Get the new PD toolbar! But not all of the pushback was done in good fun. Various news outlets began reporting not just on Wurzelbacher's politics, but his plumbing credentials -- and tax history. And not all of this information came from innocent sources, either: Evidently believing that the Wurzelbacher narrative was becoming a threat to Obama, three Democratic political appointees working for the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services allegedly used state time and resources to dig up confidential information on him in state databases. After investigating, Ohio's independent inspector general concluded there was "no reasonable basis" for the searches. Wurzelbacher subsequently filed a civil rights lawsuit against the three employees. Now, as Bill Hershey reported in the Dayton Daily News, Democratic Attorney General Richard Cordray had agreed to represent them in court. The problem with Cordray's decision is that an Ohio statute states, "The attorney general may not represent an employee who acts recklessly, maliciously or in bad faith outside the scope of his employment." The inspector general's conclusion that there was "no reasonable basis" for the searches suggests that they were done outside the scope of the workers' employment and should absolve the attorney general from the responsibility of defending these individuals. Naturally, Ohio conservatives are seizing on the issue. Popular Ohio blogger ... Continued at link Click for Full Text!
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