Cuyahoga County Council will consider charter amendments, 40-year extension of hotel tax

As of 5:45pm:  Cleveland.com is reporting

Cuyahoga County Council will consider charter amendments,

40-year extension of hotel tax

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Cuyahoga County Council is meeting at 5 p.m. to consider a 40-year extension of the county's bed tax, as well as possible amendments to the county's governing charter, and we'll be covering it live.

Northeast Ohio Media Group Andrew J. Tobias will attend and provide live updates in the comments section at the bottom of this post. The meeting will be council's first at the new county building at East Ninth Street and Prospect Avenue.

Council is also expected to approve the proposed 40-year extension of a portion of the county's bed tax to provide additional funding to Positively Ceveland, the local convention and tourism bureau.

The tax was initially proposed as a 20-year extension.

Council is expected to consider seven different possible charter amendments.

Among the proposed amendments:

• Requiring approval of a majority of county council to fire the county sheriff. Currently, the county executive can unilaterally fire the sheriff without giving any reason.
• Changing the county charter to make the county agency of inspector general a permanent feature of county government and give the position similar protections to those contained in the sheriff amendment.
• Making the protection and promotion of the right to vote a permanent part of the county charter.
• Requiring those running for county executive to live in the county for two years prior to officially filing as a candidate.

These proposed amendments received preliminary approval from a council committee last month. However, each individual amendment needs 'yes' votes from eight members of council -- a higher threshold than the preliminary approval -- in order to be sent to the November ballot for final approval from voters. 

Council also is expected to vote to approve leasing a warehouse just east of downtown Cleveland to hold the county's archives.

That deal has been on ice since last October, when council members raised concerns over the condition of the property and questioned County Executive Ed FitzGerald's overall plan for storing records.

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Hillary Slams Obama: "Don't Do Stupid Stuff" is Stupid!

I guess after failing to protect Americans in Benghazi, Hillary now feels she would have better foreign policy than the Chief Bumbler in the White House. 

If elected POTUS, instead of using the board game RISK to set foreign policy, she will be using the electronic Battleship game.

From Yahoo News --

Ahead of a possible presidential run, Hillary Clintonappears to be distancing herself from what she called President Barack Obama's foreign policy "failure": the decision not to intervene during the early stages of the Syrian civil war.

“The failure to help build up a credible fighting force of the people who were the originators of the protests against Assad — there were Islamists, there were secularists, there was everything in the middle — that failure left a big vacuum, which the jihadists have now filled,” Clinton said.In an interview with the Atlantic published on Sunday, the former secretary of state says the "failure" of the United States to help those protesting the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad led to the rise of al-Qaida-inspired groups like ISIL, the militants currently creating havoc in Syria and Iraq.

The former first lady and U.S. senator said she fears the jihadist groups currently gaining strength in the Middle East will expand their sights to Europe and the U.S.

“One of the reasons why I worry about what’s happening in the Middle East right now is because of the breakout capacity of jihadist groups that can affect Europe, can affect the United States,” she continued. “Jihadist groups are governing territory. They will never stay there, though. They are driven to expand. Their raison d’etre is to be against the West, against the Crusaders, against the fill-in-the-blank — and we all fit into one of these categories. How do we try to contain that? I’m thinking a lot about containment, deterrence and defeat.”

Commenting on another Middle East conflict — the war in Gaza between Hamas and Israel — Clinton strongly defended Israel.
View gallery“I think Israel did what it had to do to respond to the rockets,” Clinton said. “Israel has a right to defend itself. The steps Hamas has taken to embed rockets and command-and-control facilities and tunnel entrances in civilian areas, this makes a response by Israel difficult.”

She called the deaths of civilians, including Palestinian children, "dreadful," but said, "Ultimately the responsibility rests with Hamas."

“It’s impossible to know what happens in the fog of war," Clinton said. "Some reports say, maybe it wasn’t the exact U.N. school that was bombed, but it was the annex to the school next door where they were firing the rockets. And I do think oftentimes that the anguish you are privy to because of the coverage, and the women and the children and all the rest of that, makes it very difficult to sort through to get to the truth.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that Hamas initiated this conflict," she added. "So the ultimate responsibility has to rest on Hamas and the decisions it made.”

Clinton was asked about President Obama's recently coined slogan (“Don’t do stupid s---") to describe his administration's foreign policy doctrine.

“Great nations need organizing principles," Clinton replied, "and ‘Don’t do stupid stuff’ is not an organizing principle.”

Action Alert: Remember Mississippi! Tell Reince Priebus & RNC to Censure Henry Barbour

Dear Patriots, 

Today we have a very important series of actions we are asking you to take. The Republican National Committee (RNC) is having their summer meeting in Chicago today and during that meeting there will be a discussion on the series of events that happened in Mississippi. 

You remember - where Republican establishment types used race-baiting tactics to smear Chris McDaniel and fire up Democrat voters using hatred and lies to get them to go out and vote for Thad Cochran?

The continued silence of RNC Chairman Reince Priebus over what happened in Mississippi makes him complicit by inaction. Allowing the GOP establishment to race-bait and smear a fellow Republican, an elected official mind you, to gin up Democrat voters to sabotage a Republican primary and disenfranchise a majority of conservative voters is beyond reprehensible.

Read our case study on what happened in Mississippi

Read why Ed Martin, Chairman of MO GOP is moving to censure Henry Barbour

Today we need to make sure the RNC hears from the grassroots all across this country.

Call to Action: 

Join with your fellow patriots across the U.S. for a Tweet Reince Priebus Day and send tweets to @Reince all day today Friday August 8th and demand that he censure Henry Barbour for his vile actions!

Twitter - 

Reince Priebus (@Reince & @RNCPRBS)

Henry Barbour (@HenryBarbour)

 using hashtags #CensureHenry and #RememberMS

Call & email the RNC and demand that they take up and pass the resolutions offered by Ed Martin, Chairman of the MO GOP to 

A.) Censure Henry Barbour (nephew of former RNC Chair Haley Barbour)

B.) Censure any other Republicans involved in the race-baiting in Mississippi.

RNC Phone: (855)987-7019

Email: Click Here

Sign our petition to censure Henry Barbour

The actions in Mississippi cannot be ignored by the RNC. Doing so would make them complicit in the despicable acts that occurred.

Please make your voices heard today and forward to your friends who value freedom, election integrity, and simple human decency.

Remember Mississippi!

Steve King Owns "DREAMERS" / Rand Paul Runs Away [VIDEO]

Rep. Steve King owned these two DREAMERS who clearly do not understand, do not want to understand and do not respect the laws of our country. 

And it should be noted, as pointed out in Wayne's comments below - Senator Rand Paul slid away and abandoned King with the DREAMERS.

From Wayne Dupree --

Great job by GOP Rep. Steve King!

He was ambushed by two “DREAMERS” while eating during an event, along with GOP Sen. Rand Paul. The two shook hands with King and Paul, and then launched into their diatribe. Rand Paul melted away almost immediately, leaving King to deal with the two on his own. He held up very well. He calmly, politely listened to their statements and questions, and answered them all. They were hoping to embarrass him and get him to say or do something they could use against him. They didn’t get what they wanted!

Governor Kasich Supporting Illegal Aliens at Expense of Ohio Citizens

For Immediate Release

August 5, 2014

Contact: Ralph King (440)465-1834
Clevelandteaparty@gmail.com

Governor Kasich Supporting Illegal Aliens at Expense of Ohio Citizens

Refuses to Resist Relocation of Illegals in Ohio

OHIO - With the current border crisis spinning out of control, and as waves of illegal immigrants continue to flood across our southern borders, an overwhelming majority of U.S. citizens believe these illegal border crossers should be returned to their countries of origin and not be relocated in cities across our country.

On July 21, 2014, the Governor of Ohio, John Kasich, received a letter from (40) forty conservative and liberty groups asking him to use his authority as Governor to prevent any forced relocation of illegal immigrants in Ohio; these groups reminded him that he was elected to represent the interests of Ohio citizens first.

To date, Governor Kasich has refused to respond.

His refusal stands in contrast to a growing number of Governors who are putting the well-being of their state citizens first and are speaking out against the secretive federal relocation efforts in their states. In his recent comments to the media, Governor Kasich not only refused to put Ohio citizens first - he effectively rolled out a welcome mat to the relocation of illegal immigrants to Ohio.

"Governor Kasich's refusal to respond and refusal to stand and put the well being of Ohio citizens first, is yet just another example of him failing our state and our citizens, stated Ralph King, Co-founder of the Cleveland Tea Party Patriots and Tea Party Patriots State Co-Coordinator for Ohio. "

"Governor Kasich's first duty is to the citizens of this state," continued King, "not the appeasement of President Obama and his failed border policies."

"We are a leaderless country, and now a leaderless state," stated Marianne Gasiecki, Founder of the Mansfield Tea Party and fellow State Coordinator. "It would appear, once again, that the federal coffers are more important than the citizens of this country and state."

Acknowledging the negative fiscal, social, educational and health impact the accepting of these illegal immigrants in our state will have on every day citizens, along with the impact it will have on local municipalities and school districts, Gasiecki & King both applaud the efforts of State Rep. John Adams & State Rep. Wes Retherford proposed legislation that will put the concerns of all Ohio citizens first.

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Richland County Republican Party Passes Resolution Opposing Common Core

From the Richland County GOP --

For Immediate Release


July 31, 2014


Contact: Bob Rodgers (419)895-9922 
Chairman- Richland Country Republican Central Committee

Richland County Republican Party
Passes Resolution Opposing Common Core

Opposition Grows

Mansfield, OH - July 31, 2014- The Richland County Republican Party Central Committee joined six other Ohio county Republican parties in passing a resolution opposing the Common Core State Standards.

"Although I'm proud we were able to come together and join the other Republican county parties in passing a similar resolution, the opposition to Common Core crosses party lines," stated Bob Rodgers, Chairman of the Richland County Republican Party Central Committee. "Teachers, parents and students, regardless of party affiliation, have expressed serious concerns over the nationalizing of our educational system."

Some of the concerns regarding the Common Core Standards are the "one-size-fits-all" style of educating, the sharing of student data, and the excessive time and money to be spent on testing. Six weeks of testing will be added to the spring school schedule to accommodate the national assessments.

"Common Core standards have never been tested or proven. The beauty of having 50 states is that we can learn from each other. Why not look to the states that have a proven history of outperforming others, and strive to incorporate their standards?' Chairman Rodgers added.

The resolution that was passed referred to a similar position and resolution passed by the Republican National Committee (RNC) in April 2013.

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Border bill: it's on, it's off. it's on??

Photo credit: en.wikipedia.com

Friday UPDATE from The Washington Times: 

House Republicans resurrected their border bill Friday morning and said they were on track to pass the rewritten measure later in the day — though with the Senate gone for the summer the vote will be more a political statement than a policy-making exercise.

Read the rest here.  

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From Tea Party Patriots on the constantly changing status of a border bill:

[Patriots] did a great job stopping the border bailout, but it was only temporarily. The House Republicans met this afternoon to discuss plans on how to proceed, the House Rules Committee met this evening to ensure that a rule is in place that will allow them to bring a bill to the floor and vote on it in the same day tomorrow, and the House Leadership is working tonight to have a new bill ready to go, possibly be the House Republican Conference meeting in the morning at 9am EDT.

There is no word yet on what we may expect to see in the new bill, but we will keep you updated as we hear of any new developments. You can check our call to action page for updates as we get them.

In the meantime, call the following people and your own Representative and tell them that any border bill that doesn't address the President's overreach of executive amnesty is not good enough. Go ahead and call tonight and leave a message and then call again first thing in the morning.

Speaker John Boehner | 202-225-6205
Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy | 202-225-2915
Majority Whip Steve Scalise | 202-225-3015

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