Steve Chabot Driehaus Does a Poll. Hides the Results!

Steve Driehaus’s campaign paid $34,000 on April 2nd, to The Feldman Group to do a poll. He has refused to release the results. In light of the fact that an independent poll was previously done by SurveyUSA showing that Driehaus was losing by 17 points (Chabot 56% - Driehaus 39%),

reasonable minds could conclude that if the poll authorized by the Driehaus campaign was positive for Mr. Driehaus, the poll results would have been released. And they haven’t been. So reasonable minds can come to but one conclusion – Mr. Driehaus is in trouble.

And no wonder. He has voted with the most liberal Speaker in our nation’s history, Nancy Pelosi, 94% of the time. He’s voted with her on the so-called stimulus package, which stimulated more government, but not jobs in the private sector; he voted with her on her budget, which is spending so much that the nation’s AAA bond rating is at risk; he voted with her on her global warming tax scheme (Cap and Trade), and he voted for her health care reform takeover, even though most Americans opposed, and continue to oppose it.

He’s even been in the Cincinnati Enquirer Opinion section of the paper twice over the last week, trying to convince us that our taxes are really low, and we ought to thank him for it! I’m not making this up.

On the campaign front, things continue to go well for the Chabot campaign. Stuart Rothenberg is editor and publisher of the Rothenberg Report, a non-partisan political newsletter that rates political races. He’s one of the top two or three most respected political oddsmakers in the country. Early last year he rated our race as “Tilts Democrat.” Some months later he moved it to a “Toss-up” race; later still to the “Tilts Republican” category; and last week upgraded our race to “Leans Republican.” Now I’m not sure exactly how much better a “Leans Republican” rating is from a “Tilts Republican,” but I know it’s good.

Obviously, with the election still six months off, there’s a lot of hard work to be done between now and Election Day – Tuesday, November 2nd. I want to thank all of you who take the time to read this blog on a regular basis. I especially want to thank you if you have forwarded the blog to your friends, or signed up to volunteer, get a yard sign, or contributed to my campaign.

This race is one of many which are being waged across America this year, that will determine the direction of our country. Are we satisfied with the explosive growth of government, the out-of-control spending, the mounting debt, and the arrogance of Washington? Or are we truly fed-up, and ready to take our country back? Remember in November.

TEXT and PHOTO CREDIT: Chabot for Congress

Steve Chabot Healthcare Reform Legislation Unconstitutional

The so-called healthcare reform legislation which passed the House of Representatives (with Steve Driehaus’s vote) and the Senate is a mess. Yes, there are many things relative to healthcare which should be reformed, but the two bills passed by Congress are flawed in so many respects that it’s hard to know where to begin.

The legislation substantially raises taxes, dramatically increases government spending which is already far too high, puts additional job-killing burdens on small businesses, exponentially grows government and bureaucracy, and perhaps most importantly takes away more of our freedom, just to name a few reasons these bills are so bad.

But there’s another reason to oppose the Obama/Pelosi/Reid so-called healthcare reform legislation, and this one may actually have a chance of stopping this travesty from becoming law. It may well be unconstitutional. With that in mind, I sent the following letter today to Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray:

Dear Attorney General Cordray,

For six of the fourteen years I served in the United States Congress, I was the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on the Constitution. During my tenure as Chairman, we dealt with and held hearings on various issues having constitutional implications, including the Reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act, same sex marriage, banning Partial Birth Abortion, and the Victims Rights Constitutional Amendment to name but a few.

As I’m sure you know, both houses of the United States Congress have recently passed separate bills dealing with healthcare. This legislation clearly has constitutional implications.

Thirteen of your fellow state attorneys general (representing Alabama, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Michigan, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Washington state) intend to challenge said legislation as being constitutionally flawed. There are two principle legal arguments against the legislation.

First, the so-called Nebraska Compromise violates fundamental constitutional principles of non-discrimination by imposing billions of dollars of new Medicaid obligations on 49 states (including Ohio) while singling out one state, Nebraska, for special treatment. This was a pure political payoff to one Senator in order to purchase his vote.

Second, this legislation is arguably unconstitutional on the basis that it would establish a mandate that has never before been imposed on the American people – that they BUY something (healthcare insurance), or face a penalty. This requirement by the federal government seems to clearly violate the 10th Amendment which says that all powers not specifically granted to the Congress are reserved to the States or to the people. Even the Congress’s own Congressional Research Service opined that “it may be argued that the mandate (that an American citizen buy health insurance) goes beyond the bounds of the Commerce Clause” and is therefore unconstitutional.

In conclusion, I strongly urge that you, on behalf of the people of Ohio, join with your fellow state attorneys general in challenging the constitutionality of the healthcare legislation currently being considered by the United States Congress.

Sincerely yours,
Steve Chabot

TEXT and PHOTO CREDIT: Chabot for Congress