Saturday, October 23, 2010

Robert Owens for Attorney General

Update Oct. 25 at end of post.

I am recommending for your consideration Robert Owens for Ohio Attorney General. Robert is a trial attorney in Delaware, Ohio, running for the second time for this office on the Constitution Party ticket. I know him personally from activity in the Ohio Freedom Alliance, and believe that he would be an effective Attorney General -- certainly one free of political baggage that both of his opponents carry -- the one a longtime career politician whose interest in Attorney General would be transient at best, the other (the incumbent) with a questionable record in dealing with ethics and campaign finance laws.

According to his website, Robert’s legal experience includes working for a Federal Judge in the U.S. District Court, Eastern Division. Robert subsequently practiced at a large law firm in Columbus, handling corporate, real estate, employment, and banking litigation. Even in a large firm environment, Robert focused on individual needs and concerns, resulting in repeated honors for superior client service. He prides himself on his attention to detail and his ability to "think outside the box."

Robert feels that the best thing the Attorney General can do for consumers is to strongly prosecute fraud of all types, including white collar crime. The prosecutorial power of the Attorney General and filing civil actions through the judicial system, he believes, is much better than bureaucratic regulation and administrative rules. I call this the "passive regulatory model," which I favor, and will discuss in my book Governing Ourselves.

He is also concerned about the waste of taxpayer dollars that so greatly affect individuals and small businesses. As Attorney General, he will eliminate $140 million each year in no-bid contracts, and enforcing transparency of governmental functions so it is more accountable to taxpayers.

While his site unfortunately (in my opinion) focuses too much on issues unrelated to the office he is seeking, Robert Owens does have a realistic grasp of what is needed in the Attorney General's office and has been campaigning energetically. He deserves your consideration.

Update Oct. 25 from The Ohio Project e-newsletter, another reason to consider Robert Owens . The Ohio Project is collecting signatures for an Ohio Constitutional Amendment to ensure that we will never be forced to purchase health care insurance. Emphasis is added:

Maurice Thompson, legal counsel for The Ohio Project and the Executive Director of the 1851 Center for Constitutional Law says this about the possibility of Ohio joining other states in the federal lawsuit, "Ohio’s participation in the Obamacare lawsuit, if a candidate other than Richard Cordray wins, will be much more meaningful if our Amendment is on the ballot, because it sets up a direct conflict between state and federal law, and provides a much greater likelihood of success." Indeed, a state constitutional amendment is the strongest way to fight back against unsconstitutional federal law. Furthermore, we note that if Richard Cordray wins the Attorney General race, he has already publicly declared that he believes Obamacare to be constitutional, which puts him in a position of a conflict of interest in defending the Health Care Freedom Amendment.

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