Josh Mandel is a currently a state representative. While he’s merely 33 years old, he has served two tours as a marine in Iraq, he has a law degree from Case Western, and he’s now running for state treasurer. During his campaign for the statehouse he knocked on more than 19,000 doors in a district that has roughly 42,000 Democrats, 40,000 independents and scarcely 17,000 Republicans. That effort paid off in a stunning victory and in a couple of pairs of shoes with holes in them, that Josh proudly displays in his office in Columbus.

Josh was in town yesterday and today to knock on doors alongside our local candidates, and to meet with business leaders about his plans for improving the state’s fiscal management and economic climate once he’s elected in November. As someone who’s now running for state representative, I can tell you Josh’s grasp of the issues, his principled stands, and the aggressive, no-holds-barred approach to issues is one I seek to emulate.

I enthusiastically support Josh and encourage you to as well. He’s a very hard worker, a patriot, and someone we can trust to put Ohio on much better financial footing. To learn more, go to joshmandel.com.

I was in Athens last night for a fund raiser in support of Mike Hunter, who’s running for state representative for the 92nd house district. While there, I had two very informative conversations. The first was with Jill Thompson (no relation to me) who ran against Debbie Phillips last time in the 92nd, in a race that was extremely nasty. Jill said the labor unions sent 23 negative mailings targeting her to voters in the district. I don’t expect I’ll get off much easier in my race.

My second encounter was with Richard Vedder, the noted free market economist who teaches at Ohio University and has been a leading light for conservatives for many years. Turns out Vedder is good friends with my former boss, Fred Smith of Competitive Enterprise Institute. Vedder has advised everyone from state legislators to leaders of foreign countries on issues of taxation and regulatory policy. He believes that the estate tax is extremely deleterious to our state and must be phased out. He would be a great asset to my efforts should I win election.

But there is much left to do in the month or so remaining, and your prayers and support will be indispensable to our cause.

I hear daily from disgusted supporters who’ve received this mailing or that, or who’ve witnessed the purely negative ads being run on local cable.  Despite the utter lack of veracity to the charges these efforts contain, they do have the effect of further motivating an already lit up group of my supporters. They’ve seen the handiwork of SEIU in the past; they know what the other unions and Democrat operatives are capable of doing to advance an agenda that is bringing our state to its knees.

We will endure these slings and arrows. We will continue on the path to victory that has drawn the endorsement of so many respected organizations and has led newspaper writers to highlight our strong momentum. And we will prevail in November, thanks to the hard work of countless volunteers, individual contributors, dedicated conservatives, and friends and neighbors who know who I am, what I stand for, and what I am capable of accomplishing.  But this isn’t about me. It’s about the principles we share. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you again for your steadfast support.

Since my last blog entry, I’ve received the endorsements of the Ohio Farm Bureau and The Ohio Manufacturers’ Association. Agriculture is the number one industry in Ohio; manufacturing is a vital contributor to our economic well-being as well. To have the support of these two groups and their attendant members further validates my candidacy. As someone seeking public office, I make it a point to be candid with those groups who are screening. I tell them my sincere beliefs based upon what I’ve learned about Ohio’s prospects and my employing my best judgment on how we can turn things around. Sometimes we won’t agree, of course, but I believe they respect that I arrive at my positions because of firmly held principles. Such principles will guide me in the days and weeks to come, as will the support of many fine people in the 93rd District. I feel truly blessed to have this calling.

Just returned from Cambridge (Guernsey County)  where the Kasich/Taylor Campaign stopped this noon. John spoke in a straightforward fashion regarding all of the challenges Ohio faces, including a shrinking private sector, an exodus of wealthy senior citizens (due to Ohio’s estate tax), and an aggressive bureaucracy and tax system that show no mercy to the small businesses that are the engine of Ohio’s economy.

We’ve had plenty of time to evaluate Governor Strickland; he’s had very few answers to the problems that bedevil us, and his ally Barack Obama has been even worse. John Kasich has a record of balancing budgets, making tough choices, and finding creative ways to consolidate (or privatize) government services. Now, more than ever, Ohioans are ready for an enthusiastic, energetic governor with the willpower to get us back on track.

The Associate Builders and Contractors of Ohio (ABC) have released their annual Labor Day statement. In it, Bryan Williams, former state representative and current ABC director of government affairs, calls to task Governor Strickland and his handpicked executive director of the Ohio Schools Facilities Commission, Richard Murray for their heavy-handed approach to the school construction projects.

In 1997, Ohio’s prevailing wage law was amended to forbid local schools from paying prevailing wage on school construction projects. According to a study by Ohio’s Legislative Services Commission, that move saved taxpayers $487.9 million dollars in the first five years after the law was changed. In 1999 the law was amended to add municipal and county hospitals to the list of entities that would not be forced to pay prevailing wage. They could, however decide to do so voluntarily if they chose to locally.

Strickland, under pressure from his union masters, fired Murray’s predecessor (and fellow Democrat) Michael Shoemaker. Under Murray’s leadership, the commission adopted a policy that permitted local schools to choose whether they wanted to have a local project labor agreement (PLA). Subsequent to adopting that policy, Murray has, according to Williams, focused his energy on imposing PLAs on those districts that seek state funding for their school construction projects. Such agreements require any contractor bidding on the work to hire a large percentage of their laborers from the local union hall, in effect eliminating bids by the 85% of local contractors who are non-union, and raising costs an estimated 18%-20%. By compelling  local communities to adopt local project labor agreements, Murray is skirting the prevailing wage law the legislature passed.

As a creature of the legislature, the OSFC has no authorization to do override the will of the legislature. ABC has two lawsuits underway challenging the OSFC’s outrageous moves under Murray.

While it is ultimately far more important that we know what’s going on within our schools while they’re in session, the way school construction is being manipulated by the governor and his friends in organized labor is appalling. It’s a painful lesson in crass politics, and is reminiscent of what transpired this past year with the boondoggle otherwise known as the president’s “Stimulus Plan.”

Receiving the endorsement of the Ohio Society of CPAs is no small achievement. You can read their list of endorsed candidates here: http://www.ohioscpa.com/PublicArticle.aspx?ID=1478

CPAs are the people we count on every day to help us keep our fiscal affairs in order. They count 22,000 members across our state. As a group they have been of great service in providing counsel to our public officials; I will count upon their counsel and recommendations as well. Ohio is in dire need of fiscal reform, and a performance audit statewide can help us identify areas where substantial savings can be achieved.

Several years ago I supported a performance audit of our local government operations despite the opposition of several my fellow council members.  A ballot initiative calling for the audit ultimately passed with overwhelming support and many of the auditors’ recommendations have been implemented.

Good ideas can come from anywhere; still, the Ohio Society of CPAs not only has good ideas, but it has quantified how much each idea can save our state. I count several CPAs among my circle of friends. The Ohio Society of CPAs is a true friend to the State of Ohio, and to its taxpayers.

Twenty-five years ago I wed Jade Daniel of Rockwall, Texas. We were married in Pella, Iowa, where I was born and attended college, and where many of our close friends remained from the years my family had spent there in the 1960s. We met in Madrid, Spain, in 1983, while studying abroad on the Central College program. We married two years later, following our graduation.

It has been a wonderful quarter century, and there’s no one with whom I’d rather have spent this time.

Jade is smart, lovely, hard-working, unfailingly kind and thoughtful. She has all of the traits I cherish. Whatever success I have had is a credit to her loving support and the happy home we share.

I thank her today for making it possible for me to pursue this office. Much more falls upon her shoulders as I’m out acquainting myself with the citizens and small towns that make up the 93rd House District; I’m proud of her tenacity and blessed to have her at my side.

Happy Anniversary, Jade!

Yesterday I was the guest of the National Federation of Independent Business, which hosted a fund raiser on my behalf featuring Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan. NFIB has endorsed me in this race, as has Congressman Jordan, because I will bring real world experience to the task of making Ohio attractive once more to businesses small and large. But only if Ohio is still in business in January 2011.

One of the attendees was a business owner and friend who has a construction and home improvement business. He reported that he lost business and two potential employees because they refused to report to work until their unemployment ran out!! Others at the luncheon reported similar stories. I don’t want to live in a country where we delay jobs and opportunity by providing a paid vacation at taxpayers’ expense.

At my doctor’s office today, my physician reported that one of his patients admitted, “I didn’t vote for Obama, but he’s sure taking care of me. I’m on the ‘unemployment train!’” he exclaimed with glee. He also admitted he was taking cash under the table for other work he’d been performing for a friend. So he’s cheating the system coming and going. Thank you, Mr. President for helping indulge just the kind of unproductive and unethical behavior that is bringing our country to its knees.

This isn’t the America anyone bargained for in November of 2008. We need to get Ohio right and take back America too, for those who want to pursue the real American Dream that rewards hard work, honesty, and entrepreneurship.

Tuned into a podcast of Ohio’s renowned Buckeye Institute today. They’re the free market think tank that works to hold Ohio’s public officials accountable by analyzing where our tax dollars go and to whom.

They continue to rail against Ohio’s “gold-plated” compensation system for public employees. Originally, working for government was supposed to represent a “grand bargain,” in which workers received modest pay, but generous pensions and benefits. Those days are long gone, according to the analysts at Buckeye. Public employees typically make 24.6% more than their private sector counterparts. In 87 out of 88 counties, federal employees out-earn those doing the same job privately; in 85 out of 88 counties the same is true of state employees; and in 57 out of 88 counties it applies to local government employees.

In the last 20 years, net private sector job creation in Ohio stands at 120,000 jobs. The number of government jobs created in that time? 93,000. Isn’t it shocking to think that we’re creating public and private sector jobs at roughly the same pace?

It has been remarked that firing every single state and local employee won’t solve Ohio’s budget crisis, but there certainly is cause to audit just exactly what those 93,000 additional government employees are doing, not to mention those workers that were already in place.

Ohio has the 47th worst record in job growth the last 20 years, according to the Buckeye Institute. We have the 7th highest state and local tax burden in the nation. Surely these two figures are closely related. You can’t tax your way to prosperity, but politicians keep trying. We should take a look at our neighboring states, along with all the other states that are luring our manufacturers away and see what their secret is. Then we should get down to the business of making Ohio more business-friendly and less fixated on growing government jobs.