The Noe Ending story...

I was one of the first bloggers to focus on the story of Coingate and Tom Noe all the way back to May of 2005 so to me the "anniversary" of Noe going to jail is sad, not necessary sad in the manner that the Ohio Democratic Party just sent a release out on:

Ohio’s Unhappy Anniversary

Columbus, OH - It was one year ago today that inmate number No. 26157-018 began his prison term in the Federal lock-up in Milan, Michigan. Ohioans may not know the number but they certainly remember the name: Tom Noe. The disgraced former Republican insider and was found guilty last year of money laundering, forgery, and stealing from a $50 million rare-coin investment made by the state’s Bureau of Workers Compensation fund.

“Today is a sad anniversary for Ohioans,” said Chris Redfern, Chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party. “Many in Northwest Ohio hoped Tom Noe’s guilty verdict would have signaled to Republican candidates like Bob Latta that they should clean up their act and bring people together to solve the critical challenges facing middle class families. Yet, the day before the primary, the Ohio Elections Commission unanimously found Latta guilty of recklessly lying about his opponent’s record.”

During the recent Republican primary in Ohio’s 5th Congressional District, Northwest Ohioans were forced to sit through Republican candidates Bob Latta and Steve Buehrer savaging one another in round after round of vicious attacks during the Republican primary. In fact, in one ad, Latta criticized Steve Buehrer for accepting thousands of dollars in donations from Tom Noe. However, the ad neglected to mention that Latta received more than $1,000 from Noe.

It's sad because Democrats promised to not engage in pay to play and it still happens, sad because while Tom Noe broke the law there were others involved in what led up to the corruption and for the most part they all got a way with it. Sad because we have murderers that will spend less time in prison than Tom Noe, which really should create some reflection on our society when we view money to be more important than taking a life...

Toledo Councilwoman Betty Shultz who was one of the Noe conduits, not only never stepped down from office but was voted back into office, so it doesn't surprise me that voters did not think Latta or Buehrer receiving campaign money from Noe was an issue. Noe donated to many campaigns, and many of those who received money from Noe are still in office today so if voters will re-elect someone that was found guilty of wrong doing, taking donations from a person that at the time they did not know was breaking the law doesn't seem to be an issue nor is it going to be one that is going to really help Robin Weirauch win against Bob Latta. It has to be on the present, the future and who can do more for Ohio...