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Wednesday, September 9, 2009
UPDATE: Schmidt, despite video, said she believes Obama is a U.S. citizen
U.S. Rep. Jean Schmidt, R-Loveland, is taking a lot of heat for a video posted by a left-leaning blog on YouTube that seems to indicate that she believes President Obama is not a citizen of the country, and therefore not qualified to be president.
For those who didn’t click through, the video shows a woman approaching Schmidt at an event and talking about how Obama is not qualified to be president. Schmidt can be overheard saying, “I agree with you…but the courts don’t.”
But in a statement released by her office, Schmidt said she was taken out of context.
“I was trying to be kind to a woman who was trying desperately and passionately to express her views,” she said. “She has the right to her beliefs, no matter how much I disagree with them.”
UPDATE: Spokesman Bruce Pfaff notes that the video posted is a truncated version of the original version, and at the time of this exchange, the conversation between Schmidt and the woman was well under way. The two had discussed several other topics before the woman brought up Obama’s citizenship. Before that, they had talked about the federal courts and the Constitution.
For the record, Schmidt said she believes Obama is a citizen of the United States and constitutionally qualified to be president.
“I may not agree with his politics but there is no doubt he is the President and has my full respect,” she said.
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Fisher urges Obama to act on China tire issue
U.S. Senate candidate and Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher Wednesday, Sept. 9, wrote President Barack Obama to urge him to place a 55 percent tariff on Chinese tires, a recommendation made by the International Trade Commission.
A Washington Post story Tuesday talked of how Obama would face a decision on whether or not to follow the ITC’s recommendation on Chinese tires. Fisher said doing so would “send a strong signal” to Chinese manufacturers that “we will no longer stand idly by as they flout international trade agreements and damage American industries.
“Let me be clear: I am not a protectionist and I believe that we must participate fully in the global economy,” he wrote. “But as we ask our workers- the most skilled in the world-to compete with foreign manufacturers, we must provide a level playing field for them.”
Fisher referred in his letter to the Denman Tire Company in Leavittsburg, Ohio and Cooper Tire and Rubber in Findlay, which would both be impacted by the decision. Between them, they employ 1,370.
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UAW endorses casino ballot plan
The United Auto Workers Union Region 2B - representing 180,000 active and retired workers in Ohio - has endorsed State Issue 3 on the Nov. 3 ballot, the plan to put casinos in Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus and Toledo.
“No one knows better than our members what the economic downturn has done to the state of Ohio,” Ken Lortz, UAW Region 2B director, said in a press release on Wednesday, Sept. 9. “Issue 3 is first and foremost a jobs creation and economic development issue.”
