Here are some of Boccieri's proposals to lower the price of gasoline that he proposed at the event:
* Cracking down on oil companies and Wall Street speculators who are artificially inflating oil prices.
* Halting shipments to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve – which have stopped as of today and will remain suspended through the end of the year.
* Supporting fuel-efficient vehicles and fuel cell research at Stark State to boost the local economy.
* Investing in biofuels that can be grown in the 16th District.
* Building new local refineries to process biofuels and other cutting-edge fuel sources.
* Creating an Apollo program to revolutionize our energy sources and free us from oil dependence forever.

Problems for Kirk Schuring: There are reports of problems within the Schuring Campaign. The Republican blog Right on the Right reports that the Schuring staff is in disarray. The post expresses frustrations over there being "no one to talk to" at the Schuring campaign. If the Republican blogs are reporting it is bad then it must be really bad. I wonder if this is the result of the closely contested Republican Primary in the district where Schuring barely won his race and was left weak as a result? The Boccieri / Schuring campaign finance report will the most interesting report to look at once they are disclosed. Maybe the Republicans have conceded defeat in this district and will throw everything they've got behind Steve Stivers down in Columbus hoping to win at least one race.

Stark Politics and BSB wrote about the Boccieri gas station visit as well.

Carl Chancellor of the Beacon: The (Akron) City Council voted Monday to spend about $800,000 over the next five years to provide free wireless Internet service in and around downtown Akron. The city will enter into an agreement with OneCommunity, a nonprofit technology organization providing broadband wireless service, to create a wireless Internet corridor covering 11 square miles of the city……In addition, the University of Akron has joined the city in the wireless corridor project and is contributing $350,000 to the effort.

Great. Part of Akron gets free - for them - wireless internet. That is $800,000 gone that could be better spent elsewhere. Police, fire, job training, mowing high weeds, after school programs, or anything you can think of will not get this money. Great comment I saw following the story: "What about the operation expenses? Who is going to support the hardware? Is there going be a 24 hour help desk to support user with connection issue?" Answer: Probably! And I wonder how that will be paid for? Hmmmmmm. Oh, taxes. Why is Akron U. doing this? Don't they already have the internet there? I would assume yes? It is a university. How about instead of jacking up tuition by 3968% every year and then paying for other people's internet service, you spend the money on the actual paying students. Yes, such a novel idea.

More from the story: (Deputy Mayor Dave) Lieberth added that the details of the final contract, including who will own the digital network once it is up and running, will be finalized over the next few weeks. Akron has a deputy mayor? For what? Anyways, that is just a minor detail - who will own the network. Worry about that later. No big deal there. Seems like that won't cause any problems down the road.

"I'm really excited. This puts our community on the map again. This is a real plus for the citizens of Akron," said Council President Marco Sommerville. Yeah. People are going to pick up and move to Akron, Ohio now because the city (select parts only) gets free internet with an undetermined speed. City pride will be at an all-time high now. I heard that the Browns found out about this idea and are considering relocating their training camp from Berea to Akron so their players can have free high speed internet during their down time. "Puts our community on the map again." Spare me, Marco.

We are already paying for "free" internet. It is called the library. You can use the internet there for free. All you have to do is get a library card, which also costs you nothing. And yes, they even have wireless internet. And yes, that is already paid for via taxes. So if you have a laptop, but you can't afford internet until the city pays your bill, you can use it there tomorrow or any other day you wish. Even if you don't have a computer then you can use the one there along with the free internet. It isn't that hard to go. I have done it so it can't be too difficult. But Akron will pay out $800,000 so some city residents will get internet for free and others will have to pay for it still. I don't know why I even care, I don't live downtown. Or go there more than three times a year. However, now when I do in the near future (in government time of actually getting this up and running, so probably 2017), I can drive along certain roads and use my laptop. Until I reach the free access cut-off point. Then I will have to fend for myself.

Boring Made Dull has an opinion as well.

"In Ohio[2004], for instance, a huge marriage amendment campaign registered 54,500 new voters, and thousands more Ohioans who were registered but rarely voted cast their votes for the marriage amendment. On the strength of the marriage initiative, Bush won in the battleground state, as did 13 of the 17 Republican candidates running for Congress there." - Gary Bauer

Bauer makes more good points in his article and has additional data. The issue of gay marriage did help to deliver the State of Ohio for George W. Bush and the issue is still peculating nationally. Time Magazine released a poll this week on the topic of Gay marriage: "Should gay and lesbian couples be allowed to marry, giving them full legal rights of married couples, or not?" The results: 42% should, 51% should not. If John McCain is looking to awaken and engage Christian Conservatives like Gary Bauer, then gay marriage may be the way to do it.

Part of the reason why I think this issue has been so effective is because Democrats and gay rights organizations generally do a bad job organizing and responding to this issue. Most voters only hear the opposing arguments to gay marriage. However, that may not be the case this cycle. One group helping to educate voters about the issue of gay marriage is Equality Ohio. You may notice that the top issue on the website is a statement discouraging gay couples from suing in states, like Ohio, where gay marriage is illegal. That is good advice during an election year.

In an interesting twist, Stephanie McCloud is one of the names being floated to run for Ohio Attorney General this cycle. Stephanie's dad Phil Burress helped lead the campaign for the amendment to ban gay marriage in Ohio. Putting Stephanie McCloud on the ballot as an A.G. candidate may help jump start Gary Bauer's plan to energize conservatives in Ohio.

Warm up the bus, another Obama friend / surrogate will be getting run over in the next few days. This time it will be Wesley Clark, who was sent out yesterday morning to attack Senator John McCain as Obama himself was getting ready for his big patriotism speech today.

Trying to tear down McCain, Wesley Clark said this yesterday on "Face the Nation" after host Bob Schieffer asked how Clark could claim that McCain was "untested and untried":

CLARK: Because in the matters of national security policy making, it's a matter of understanding risk, it's a matter of gauging your opponents and it's a matter of being held accountable. John McCain's never done any of that in his official positions. I certainly honor his service as a prisoner of war. He was a hero to me and to hundreds of thousands of millions of others in the armed forces as a prisoner of war. He has been a voice on the Senate Armed Services Committee and he has traveled all over the world. But he hasn't held executive responsibility. That large squadron in the Navy that he commanded wasn't a wartime squadron. He hasn't been there and ordered the bombs to fall. He hasn't seen what it's like when diplomats come in and say, I don't know whether we're going to be able to get this point through or not. Do you want to take the risk? What about your reputation? How do we handle it publicly?

SCHIEFFER: I have to say, Barack Obama has not had any of those experiences either, nor has he ridden in a fighter plane and gotten shot down. I mean……

CLARK: Well, I don't think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president.

SCHIEFFER: Really?

CLARK: But Barack is not — he is not running on the fact that he has made these national security pronouncements. He's running on his other strengths.

Wesley Clark was sent out as a political operative to attack the military background of a political foe and every argument he made can be applied more so to Obama than McCain!

*In "the matter of national security policy making" Barack Obama hasn't ever done anything.
*In the matter of gauging your "opponents", Obama wants to meet with them without preconditions despite having no national-security, military, or diplomatic experience.
*Barack Obama hasn't been on the Senate Armed Services Committee.
*Barack Obama hasn't had any executive experience.
*Barack Obama hasn't commanded anything, in wartime or not.
*Barack Obama hasn't dealt with diplomats in any capacity at all.

People like Clark don't hit the Sunday Morning talk shows and just say whatever comes to mind. Both parties send out people with well rehearsed lines to spout. This line of attack is becoming commonplace for Democrats against McCain (see Rockefeller, Jay and Harkin, Thomas). There have been others as well. Don't try and tell me these people are all just shooting from the hip. They agree to go out there and take the fire for Obama. That is how it works. Anyhow, John McCain, as far as I know, has never suggested that his military service alone qualifies him to be President of the United States over Obama or anyone else. He is running on his lengthy public service record in addition to what Clark went after him on. John McCain refused to make military service an issue against George Bush in 2000. Also, I seem to recall John McCain defended John Kerry against the SBVFT in 2004. As expected, favor not returned.

Of course, the Democrats can say whatever they want. This is how campaigns work. However, I don't think it is a very smart strategy. These sort of attacks are more than likely to backfire. Far lefters might like it; reasonable Americans will not. So have at it. The Obama Campaign, using their surrogates like Clark, have now attacked McCain's age and mental capabilities, bravery and honesty. Once again, change you can believe in.

But of course, the Obama bus will still get a fill-up in the next couple of days and come looking for Clark so they can look above it all. After thinking about it, you almost have to wonder if Clark is trying to sink Obama so Hillary can run in 2012.

***In other news, I am a dirtbag. At least according to Paul Begala, who would know one if he saw one since he worked for the biggest of them all (former President William Jefferson Clinton).

Frowns just wrote a post called "The Curse of Chief Wahoo." It was an effort to get people to sign a petition to try and get the Indians to dump their controversial logo. The author said he had no objections to the name Indians, just the logo. He did not have a problem with the Washington Redskins because their logo was not so "disrespectful." It was, however, agreed upon by the group that if any name should go, it should be that of the Washington football team. Frowns said he had no quarrels with other teams using such names, such as local high school Copley. His argument was no different than anything you have heard before - Chief Wahoo is a racist caricature and is an insult to Native Americans….what if it were the Cleveland Hispanics or Cleveland Italians (or other slurs I can't print)……it is just like "Little Red Sambo"……it affects self-esteem of young Native Americans…..etc. At one point, someone even said the federal government should step in to force the removal of Chief Wahoo!!! The debate was respectful but the mind of no one changed; Frowns had a tough time convincing anyone to join his side and agree to sign the petition. On a side note, later that night red wine was spilled all over the white Obama shirt of one attendee. That made me smile.

Growing up an Indians fan (no longer for various reasons), Chief Wahoo was the Indians. The team was dismal and the old sign on top of Cleveland Stadium was the one constant other than the pathetic play on the field. Many fans were upset when the landmark did not make the trip to Jacobs Field in 1994. The infamous sign now rests at the Western Reserve Museum.

The baseball Indians will deny it, but there should be no question to any outside observer that the Indians are scaling back their usage of Wahoo. They introduced the awful "Script I" hats a few years back and now are wearing them more and more. Beloved by Indians fans, their mascot is reviled by activists as a highly offensive, racist stereotype. "It is absolutely racist," said Peter Roby, athletic director at Northeastern and former director of the Center for the Study of Sport and Society. Does anyone point to the Chief Wahoo logo and think "that is what all Indians are like." No. At least I don't think so. This area is full of Native American history. Cleveland is in Cuyahoga County - Native American for "crooked river." Cleveland is on the banks of Lake Erie - Erie was a tribe of Native Americans who lived along the southern shore of the lake. And, there is of course, the professional baseball team.

Racist logo? Should the Cleveland Indians completely get rid of it? They will never change their name in my opinion, like Miami University (Redmen to RedHawks) or St. John's University (Redmen to Red Storm) did. The University of Illinois just ditched their mascot, Chief Illiniwek. That might not be enough as there is still pressure for a total name change there. High schools are getting pressure to become politically correct also; Oberlin HS replaced their Indian mascot for this past school year. It is not far-fetched that someday soon that Chief Wahoo will be gone forever. Is this a matter of political correctness? It isn't a matter of political pressure, as American Indians frankly have very little clout in our political system (the only example I can think of is the circumstances surrounding Tim Johnson's reelection to the Senate in 2002 in South Dakota).

Reasonable people can disagree about whether the team name Indians and Chief Wahoo are offensive. Maybe because I grew up going to Cleveland Indians games I want to see it stay. I see the other side, though. In 2000 I worked on an Indian Reservation in South Dakota for a week. I didn't take my Indians hat that I wore every day; I had no idea how it would be received. It probably would have been fine as I could not count the number of Atlanta Braves or Florida State Seminoles shirts I saw that week. My thing is that if they didn't have a problem with it, why should I?

Disclaimer: I used to work for the Cleveland Indians. Many a day I had to listen to often rude people calling to complain or sort through nasty emails about Chief Wahoo. Maybe that has impacted my thinking on this topic. When someone yells or swears at me to try and change my mind, the opposite is usually going to happen.

1. Boccieri vs. Schuring (OH-16): This is a very important race for Ralph Regula's open seat in the Canton area. Democrat John Boccieri and his campaign staff have worked themselves up to be the #2 targeted congressional race in the country for the DCCC. I'm curious how much national money that ranking has brought in. An email went out across the country from Wes Clark asking Democrats to donate to the Boccieri campaign. Boccieri is going to have money in the bank, but the question is how the Schuring campaign is holding up. I'm most interested in the numbers from this race.

2. Kilroy vs. Stivers (OH-15): This is the open seat race for Republican Deb Preyce's seat on the west side of Columbus. Democrat Mary Jo Kilroy announced a while ago that she had crossed the million dollar mark. I was unable to find her exact ranking with the DCCC, but I know she is very high because it is an open seat and she has shown how viable her candidacy is with her early money. Stivers will need a strong showing to prove that the race isn't over. Kilroy could be the candidate with the most cash on hand in the state after this filing deadline.

3. Wulsin vs. Schmidt (OH-2): Jean Schmidt is the Republican incumbent who is trying to defend her district in southwest Ohio. Dr. Victoria Wulsin has earned her way into the DCCC's Red to Blue program. Though not as prestigious as the levels where Kilroy and Boccieri are, it will still net her some resources. Wulsin is running for her second time for the seat and will benefit from her experience. As a side note, she has an excellent website. Very professional.

These are three races in three very different parts of the state that the nation will be watching closely through November.

The Obama seal. Jim Geraghty thinks it could have been one of the moments we look back on that defined a candidate. Could be. I am not quite ready to go that far, but it does scream of arrogance. How could anyone have ever thought that was a good idea? "It was a one-time seal for a one-time event," an Obama communications man said. That is a clear lie - it backfired and they pulled it. In changing the Presidential seal, the Obama campaign continues to reveal its contempt for the office itself, not just George W. Bush. Shouldn't mess with it if you are some candidate. So I actually liked Obama's own presidential seal because it showed him to be the true power hungry politician he is. TheVote weighs in on the seal as well. Next up: The 57 star flag?

I like how so many Democrats are getting so excited about the recent polls by Newsweek and the LA Times showing Obama with huge leads. The LA Times was my favorite. Their sample of Republicans? 22%. That seems right. Less than one-fourth of voters this fall will be Republicans, according to the LA Times. Newsweek is Newsweek. I get ripped all the time for dismissing polls that produce results I don't care for. That is fine. I don't doubt Obama is up right now. But by 15%? Hell no. Sometimes I really think these places put out polls to try and depress the Republican base. John Fund today said it best: "Republicans shouldn't panic, but they should be worried."

"Slight" change to curriculum at North Carolina high school: Make it a Spanish speaking school. The school will just accommodate everyone by making them feel right at home! Don't make them learn English. That would take too much effort. Stories like this are so commonplace anymore that it just doesn't even phase people.

Gordon Smith of Oregon is an embarrassment to other Senate RINOs. Nice ad. Stiff. He isn't going to lose, but still, come on Senator. Just hold Ron Wyden's hand and go vote for Obama.

Another position change for Obama. By October I wonder if he will have any stayed constant on anything except being for abortion. Clarifying positions is becoming very commonplace for Obama and his staffers, or at least those who he doesn't blame for filling out questionnaires wrong. Don't forget, Obama wants to ban the sale of guns within 5 miles of parks or schools, or in other words pretty much everywhere.

Electoral College: Using current Census estimates, if they reallocated EVs before every election here is what would happen this year: Gaining votes- Texas +3, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, South Carolina, Utah +1. Losing votes - Ohio -2, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania -1. Based on 2004 numbers (286 Bush, 252 Kerry), 2008 would start off as Republicans 296, Democrats 242. Doesn't really matter I suppose for 2008. Will matter in 2012.

Cleveland Shaw High School band plays at the Great Wall of China. Here is the back story on their story from WLST.

Special thanks to all the at the Nuthouse last night for helping me write today's piece. And when I say help me write it, I mean thank you for not allowing me to write it last night. Here is another tip for people: Don't try and tell DJ Larry windfall profit taxes on oil companies are a bad idea.

The first stop of the tour was in Dayton, Ohio to draw attention to John Boehner (the tannest man in Congress) and his support of tax cuts for oil companies while Americans pay record prices at the pump. From there, the bus went to Louisville, Kentucky to visit the state of Senator Mitch McConnell. Columbus is the third stop and the focus will be Senator George Voinovich. The goal of the visit is to…

…hold Sen. George Voinovich accountable for voting in support of this President's failed policies 90 percent of the time, according to Congressional Quarterly. The bus will then be opened to the public where Ohioans will be given the chance to reflect on the Administration's tragically inept response to Hurricane Katrina, the mismanaged and endless war in Iraq, 'trickle-down' economic policies that favored the wealthiest Americans and more.

Saturday, the bus will visit Canton, Ohio. I don't have details on the time or location. I have a call in to an event organizer and will post those details if I can get them. I'm guessing they are going to pay Kirk Schuring a visit.

This bus tour is interesting on many levels. First, it highlights a clear strategy by the left to not let the country forget the past 8 years. The second strategy is to make sure that the Republican Congress that helped the President advance his agenda gets their share of credit for where we find ourselves as a country. I'll try to catch the bus on Saturday if I can and report back next week.

UPDATE: DC Gun Ban struck down 5-4. Safe for bitter Americans to cling to their guns……..D.C.’s gun law is unconstitutional (or I should say two provisions of it). Individuals have a constitutional right to possess a basic firearm, protected by the Second Amendment, in your home. That overturns the strict 1976 ban. Secondly, the requirement that any gun (businesses exempt) must be unloaded and disassembled or have a trigger lock in place was found unconstitutional.

No big surprise if you reviewed the questioning from the oral arguments or if you follow the court. This one went as expected, unlike some other surprise rulings of the last 4-5 years.

If any legal experts out there want to help out, feel free.

Other blog opinions: WMD, Pho, Taxman Blog, Nix Guy via AOL.
(end update)

Thursday morning is the final day of the current Supreme Court term. Three cases are outstanding. The big one is DC v. Heller, better known as the DC gun ban case. We covered it back in March and tomorrow we will find out the ruling. All signs point to Justice Scalia writing the majority opinion, so it is highly probable the ban will be struck down. What the ruling will say about the 2nd Amendment and guns in general is less clear; I expect many separate opinions that shows the fracturing of the Justices. A surprise 5-4 ruling to keep the ban would actually probably help energize many Republicans, but all signs point to it going the other way. We shall discuss it tomorrow when the ruling comes out. The other two cases that we will get a ruling on tomorrow: the constitutionality of the so-called "Millionaire’s Amendment" on campaign finance (Davis v. FEC) and and one on federal regulators power to undo wholesale energy sales contracts (Morgan Stanley Capital v. Public Utility District).

Today, the high court ruled 5-4 and outlawed executions of people convicted of raping a child (case Patrick Kennedy v. Louisiana, P. Kennedy no relation to Justice Anthony Kennedy). The decision nullified a Louisiana law that provided capital punishment for raping a child under age 12. "The death penalty is not a proportional punishment for the rape of a child," Justice Kennedy wrote in his majority opinion. The four liberals (Stevens, Souter, Ginsberg, and Breyer) agreed with him, and the four conservatives (Scalia, Thomas, Roberts, Alito) did not. 43 year old Patrick Kennedy was sentenced to death for the rape of his 8-year-old stepdaughter in Louisiana (details here). He is one of two people in the United States, both from Louisiana, who have been sentenced to death for a rape that was not also accompanied by a killing. The decision left his conviction in place but he must get a new sentence. I would ask if brutally raping an eight year old is more cruel than dying by lethal injection? If the victim does not die and death was not intended, capital punishment for that crime violates the Eighth Amendment, they said today. Robert Bork must just sigh every time something like this happens.

Andy McCarthy: But let's give him (Justice Kennedy) that one for argument's sake. The Eighth Amendment talks about punishment that is cruel. First, punishment does not become cruel just because it's disproportionate. And second, are we really striving here for proportionality? If a crime is cruel — as it clearly was in this case — wouldn't a proportionate punishment also have to be cruel, and thus in violation of the Eighth Amendment……Wouldn't it be refreshingly honest if activist justices just bluntly us: "We don't like the death penalty and we can stop it because there are five of us." Sure, it would be tyrannical, but at least it would be accurate, and not nearly as nauseating as what passes for reasoning in these cases.

Justice Alito: Kennedy is against the death penalty no matter "how young the child, no matter how many times the child is raped, no matter how many children the perpetrator rapes, no matter how sadistic the crime, no matter how much physical or psychological trauma is inflicted, and no matter how heinous the perpetrator’s prior criminal record may be."

No retirements are expected tomorrow with the election this November. Though I would certainly welcome a surprise announcement.

McCain in Akron: This past weekend, I saw my second John McCain yard sign of 2008. Seeing McCain yard signs are cherished moments for me because they are such a rare find. Seeing the signs make me think about what a grassroots advantage the Democrats have after our 50 state primary. Has anybody else seen any other McCain signs in Akron or Northeast Ohio for that matter? Post a comment and let us know.