Ohio Governor Ted Strickland has a big plumbing problem on his hands and unfortunately, Mr. Rooter can’t help. It seems the governor ordered extensive background checks on Joe “The Plumber” Wurzelbacher in an attempt to dig up some dirt and now let’s just say it’s really hit the fan. The directive seems to be politically motivated and it looks like its backfired in a big way.
Plumbergate Has Governor in Hot Water- Posted on Ohio.com
by Dennis J. Willard
COLUMBUS: Like former President Richard Nixon, Gov. Ted Strickland has a plumber problem.
Specifically, ”Joe the Plumber,” aka Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher.
Wurzelbacher is the ubiquitous everyman from the Toledo area who confronted Democrat Barack Obama, linked arms with Republican John McCain and in the process, spurred inquisitive minds in state government to start snooping around in his files.
And if Strickland is not careful, his plumber problem could undermine everything he wants to do in the remaining two years of his term.
Yes, it is that serious.
Helen Jones-Kelley, Strickland’s Ohio Department of Job and Family Services director, is trying to downplay her decision to authorize a background check on Wurzelbacher after McCain continued to refer to him while debating Obama.
Jones-Kelley maintains her agency routinely conducts background checks on individuals who come to its attention, often through the media like Wurzelbacher, to determine whether they owe child support, unemployment compensation, or back taxes or whether they are legally entitled to any public assistance they may be receiving.
So when Joe the Plumber became a household name, Jones-Kelley had her agency check him out.
She explains this in a three-page letter to Ohio Senate President Bill Harris, R-Ashland, who outlined questions of his own in a letter to Strickland and the director.
”I would never authorize or turn a blind eye to accessing departmentally maintained databases for any nongovernmental purpose,” Jones-Kelley notes.
She needs to be fired like yesterday.
And no new term for Strickand. What a couple of dirtbags.
Some name pops up on the news and she thinks she has a right to go after him for child support he may or may not owe?
I donno. Maybe its just me but I don’t think you should go after someone for back child support if they don’t have any exwife or kids to owe it to.
John R. McCommas