PG Sittenfeld

If Ohio gun nuts are breathing easy it's because they probably figure that either incumbent Republican Rob Portman will win the 2016 Senate race or he'll be defeated by conservative Democrat Ted Strickland. Both are devout NRA-shills, Portman with an NRA rating of A and Strickland, believe it or not, with an even better NRA rating of A-plus!

When the House passed, 343-86 a bill to repeal Glass-Steagall in the summer of 1999, only 69 Democrats, 16 Republicans and 1 Independent stood in opposition. The Independent, of course, was Bernie Sanders. Many Members who made that vote, which turned out to be so predictably catastrophic for the U.S. economy, are no longer in Congress. But many are. Tammy Baldwin (D-WA), like Bernie now in the Senate voted NO; so did now Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Ed Markey (D-MA) and Jerry Moran (R-KS).

The Democratic Party's congressional leadership looks like a geriatric home-- and, increasingly, has been acting like one. Steyn Hoyer wants Nancy Pelosi to retire already. She'll be 76 in March. A couple months later, though, Hoyer will turn 77. The #3 in the House Democratic Leadership, Clyburn turns 76 next July. The only youngster in top leadership is Xavier Becerra, a mere 57. A comparison with the Republican House leaders is startling. Ryan is 45. McCarthy is 50, same as Scalise and #4, Cathy McMorris Rodgers is just 46. California has the biggest House delegation-- 53 members.

Thursday night the Senate stayed up uncharacteristicly late-- no French working week this time-- to debate and vote on the budget.

Strictly a coincidence, but Tuesday afternoon we happened to mention that when Senator Sherrod Brown, an Ohio progressive, was in the House, he was serving alongside Republican Rob Portman and conservaDem Ted Strickland.

Former Ohio Governor Ted Strickland has been very careful to not do any debates with his progressive Democratic opponent, P.G. Sittenfeld. Watching the video of the two of them above, a very rare instance of them sharing a podium-- at a Hamilton County Democratic Party fundraiser Strickland couldn't worm his way out of-- it's pretty easy to understand why Strickland is so scared to debate Sittenfeld. Will He be too scared to debate Rob Portman too?

A national poll from Quinnipiac in July came up with some startling results: 92% of respondents favor background checks for all gun purchases, and that includes 86% of Republicans. 90% of Republicans and 91% of Democrats also support Congress passing laws preventing people with mental illness from purchasing guns. I'm not even sure why I referred to those results as "startling." Two decades ago, on May 3, 1995, then-President George H.W.

Over the weekend, one of the most talked-about pieces from the mainstream press was Patrick Healy's NY Times report on dissatisfaction with the Democratic Party establishment, "Democrats Find That Anti-Establishment Isn’t Just a G.O.P. Theme." "Anger at the political establishment," Healy wrote,

We've talked a lot here about how Wall Street banksters are spitting angrily about the relatively weak and avoidable rules and regulations that have come down in recent years to prevent their companies from ripping off consumers with alacrity.

Guest Post by P.G. SittenfeldCandidate for U.S. SenateWhen Ohio Senator Rob Portman said Monday that he would endorse Donald Trump for President should Trump win the nomination of the Republican party, Portman revealed his carefully crafted "moderate" image to be nothing more than a hollow shell.