Ohio Republicans Appear Unable to Tell the Truth

We all know about coingate, and the various corrupt deals that the Republican leadership in Ohio has been caught up in. We should also know about Bob Ney and his ties to ultra corrupt Tom DeLay's close friend and pet lobbyist Jack Abramoff. There have been ties to the Bush Presidential run, and even the California governors race that have been exposed in this mess.

Well, another Ohio Republican is exposed as an outright liar.

Rep. Steve LaTourette holds a seat in Congress for the people on North east Ohio. He was an avowed foe of CAFTA, and was going to vote against it.

However, when the vote went down, he fliped sides and helped to pass the measure by 2 votes. One has to ask, what could inspire such a switch. Lets let Talking Points Memo pick up the story from here.

on the day before the vote, Rep. LaTourette received a call from Tom Chieffe, the president of a furniture manufacturer from the district. Chieffe told the congressman that his company was getting socked hard by tariffs on Central American plywood. And the Ohio jobs at his company were on the line.

Rising to the challenge LaTourette got on the phone to US Trade Rep. Rob Portman, who himself just retired from his seat representing Ohio's 2nd District (the one the Hackett race was in). Portman sent over some papers outlining the rough tariffs on Central American plywood. And as a result, says LaTourette, he reluctantly agreed to change his vote to 'Yes' on CAFTA.

The only problem, according to this article in the Cleveland Plain Dealer is that there aren't any tariffs on Central American plywood.

Someone is a sucker, and it think it may be the people of the 14th district in Ohio.