Shaker Heights, Ohio,
Feb. 22, 2006
Ashok Malhotra
Subodh Chandra: Why I am running...
Most Ohioans can't name anything recent attorneys
general have done for them. That's because the
A.G.s have not done much. The scandals plaguing
our government finally help us understand why:
they have been lookouts at a bank robbery whistling
away while their friends loot the bank. They
are there to do as little as possible. And in
doing so little, they stole our future. Or they
tried, anyway.
Attorneys general have whistled away while
"pay-to-play" campaign-contribution
corruption runs rampant at the highest levels
of state government,
elderly people lose their homes to lenders'
scams,
sexual predators stalk children on the internet,
medical-liability insurance rates skyrocket
without investigation,
fraud and price-gouging drug companies cost
taxpayers millions of health-care dollars,
absentee fathers fail to support their children,
and
consumers get ripped off generally.
Why I am running.
I am a former federal prosecutor who cleaned
up corruption in the health-care industry. As
Cleveland Law Director and Prosecuting Attorney,
I helped clean up corrupt schemes at City Hall.
I will end the culture of corruption and cronyism
in state government--and then marshal the office
to fight for Ohioans.
We need to make it possible for Ohio's children,
including my triplet sons, to live and thrive
in Ohio when they grow up. America and Ohio
were built on the promise that each generation
would be better off than the previous one. Because
our statewide-elected officials tried to steal
our future with their misbehavior, that future
is in jeopardy.
The culture of corruption and cronyism.
Here's just what's been reported so far:
Ohio's Governor gave Republican fundraiser
Tom Noe a contract to invest $50 million of
workers' compensation premiums--the money for
Ohio's injured workers that Ohio's struggling
businesses pay. Noe invested the money into
rare coins, autographed baseballs, beanie babies,
and other such speculative investments.
Some of the money Noe took is missing. Noe has
been federally indicted for laundering illegal
contributions to the Bush campaign.
Some of the rare coins were used to purchase
fine wine sitting in the Colorado home of a
Noe business associate. Sheriff's deputies raided
the home and took away thousands of dollars
in rare coins but left the wine. Then, the associate
claims, burglars broke in and stole the wine.
Our government officials forked over another
$215 million of injured workers' money to another
politically well-connected firm that lost most
of it in other risky gambles. The officials
were asked to give the company "a break."
Officials also left millions of dollars with
another politically well-connected investment
"advisor" for over 18 months--even
after he had been federally indicted for cheating
other investors. The officials allegedly told
one newspaper they didn't plan on doing anything
about it.
A federal grand jury has indicted Noe for laundering
money illegally into the Bush campaign.
The governor's former chief of staff stayed
at cut rates at Noe's Florida vacation home
and was convicted of an ethics violation.
The governor was convicted of four ethics violations
because he golfed numerous times over the years
at the expense of Noe and others and didn't
report it.
But Ohio's job-trading current and former Republican
attorneys general deserve scrutiny too:
The state auditor, Betty Montgomery (who used
to be the attorney general), and the attorney
general, Jim Petro (who used to be the state
auditor), both seeking promotions to the job
of governor, took big campaign contributions
from Noe. They missed losses in the hundreds
of millions.
Montgomery stayed at a vacation home purchased
by interest-free loans from Noe to a former
aide of the governor.
Petro failed to advise state officials that
state contracts should provide for disputes
to be resolved under Ohio law. So now Ohioans
may have to fight over $215 million in Bermuda
and go up on appeal to England.
Petro rejected an early warning by the Securities
Exchange Commission that politically connected
investment brokers were getting excessive fees
from the Workers Compensation Bureau.
It's time to clean up and take our government
back.
Ohioans deserve to have their elected officials
more concerned about public service than serving
their political patrons. I slashed spending
in Cleveland on outside attorneys by 88%, saving
taxpayers millions. Once we clean up our state
government's mess, we will then fulfill the
full creative potential of the office.
Please invest and volunteer now.
If you invest now, volunteer, and ask your
friends to do so, you'll build the momentum
for us to take our government back and move
Ohio forward. And you'll let those who have
abused their power know that we are coming to
clean up, mops in hand.
Best regards,
Subodh Chandra
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