Coin-gate May Cost the GOP Ohio for Some Time

Writing by on Monday, 30 of May , 2005 at 9:32 am

Powered by Gregarious (42)

So it looks like the GOP scheme to bilk money out of the hands of State workers is starting to get real good.

Let me give you a quick refresher for those late to the game. The GOP lead state of Ohio funneled massive amounts of state money over to a GOP operative to Mr. Noe, who used the money to invest in rare coins (Note: one of the riskiest investments on the planet, with very little in a way of return). While the coins were in the possession of Mr. Noe, $10 - $12 million in coins/money has vanished, or stolen. Almost all of the "crimes" went totally unreported.

So here is where is gets a little more "suspicious", The Bush-Cheney campaign lists Mr. Noe as a “pioneer” for raising from $100,000 to $250,000 for the President’s re-election campaign.

While this is a huge loss for the state employees of Ohio, this may be a win for Democrats. Ohio and scandal do not mix well, and Ohioans often show their disappointment with their votes (If it gets counted or not is a different story).

Here is some excerpts from the Toledo Blade.

With its intrigue of missing rare coins bought with state funds and campaign cash flowing to Ohio Republican leaders, some are predicting that “Coingate” will be a bigger scandal than the one that led to a near-Democratic sweep of statewide offices in 1970.

But the question now is whether Democrats will capitalize on the growing Republican scandal surrounding the state’s $10 million to $12 million loss in rare-coin investments controlled by Tom Noe, a prominent Toledo-area GOP fund-raiser and coin dealer.

“The people in the state of Ohio are going to want to elect people in 2006 who they can trust will not use their positions to help their contributors,” said state Sen. Marc Dann, a Democrat from suburban Youngstown. “The folks in charge now have shown their willingness to help their contributors at the expense of the state.”

-snip-

The U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI are investigating whether Mr. Noe violated campaign-finance laws. That probe has focused on an October, 2003, fund-raiser in Columbus that generated $1.4 million for the Bush campaign.

The Bush-Cheney campaign lists Mr. Noe as a “pioneer” for raising from $100,000 to $250,000 for the President’s re-election campaign.

Ohio ended up being the most crucial swing-state win for Mr. Bush in last year’s election, with Democrat John Kerry conceding the race on the day after the election only after it became clear that Ohio’s electoral votes would go to Mr. Bush.

Technorati Tags: Failed Presidency, Issues

Share This

Category: Issues, Failed Presidency

• Add this post to
• Del.icio.us -
• Meneame -
• Digg

No comments yet.