by on 08.28.2009
Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner pledged Friday to make
renewing Ohio's cities the cornerstone of her tenure if she is elected
to the U.S. Senate. The Democrat, who faces Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher in a
battle for the party's nomination, used a speech at Cleveland's City
Club forum to outline a few initiatives she says will allow her to meet
that goal. She spoke there about one year ago about her efforts to
reform Ohio's election system. . . .
Brunner argued that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD) needs to change some policies to allow its Community
Development Block Grants -- money targeted to eradicate housing blight
-- to be used to clean up abandoned industrial sites, known as
brownfields.
"To effectively help America's cities, HUD must re-emphasize its
urban development mission -- without shortchanging its housing
mission," she said.
Rather than spend the money in mainly low- and moderate-income
neighborhoods, Brunner said, "HUD must allow the grants to help
large-scale development projects that can transform and re-invigorate
an entire region."
She said HUD can do this by promoting economic development around anchor institutions, such as hospitals and colleges.
Brunner also said that HUD, given the large number of housing units
under its control, should invest more specifically in energy efficiency
when it updates its housing and hire local residents to help do the
work.
"This will allow HUD to help train the next generation of
green-collar workers and make our world cleaner, reduce utility costs,
boost the emerging green-energy markets and help Ohio as it transitions
from the old economy to the new economy."
Source: The Plain Dealer
by on 08.27.2009
Brunner is taking a grassroots strategy by visiting all 88 of Ohio counties and attracting quite a following wherever she goes. Tonight in Butler County, she got 100 people to show up in a packed community room ranging from college students to senior citizens.
When I asked Brunner how she would be the best Democrat to face Rob Portman, she gave a lengthy reply that included a great line. She remarked, " I'm the Barack Obama of the primary, but I'll get the Hillary Clinton votes, too." Having worked for a candidate that spent all of her time raising money instead of meeting voters and lost because of it (among many other reasons), I am a big fan of trying to meet as many voters as possible. You can raise all the money in the world, but if you cannot connect with everyday voters, you are dead in the water. At this meeting and afterward, I was very impressed with how honest Jennifer Brunner was about subjects ranging from the war in Afghanistan to fiscal responsibility to election reform to public transit and finally to health care.
Brunner received quite a few questions about health care, but since a progressive group sponsored the event, there were no protestors there outside or in the audience. In her responses, Brunner made it very clear that she supports a public option and she is not backing down. She believes Obama should have tried for single payer so that the public option would have been his fallback instead of the current plan that may not include the public option with co-ops. At multiple points, Brunner mentioned that she wanted to fulfill Senator Kennedy's legacy by working to pass comprehensive health care. Since the current bill will likely not go far enough, Brunner said that if she is elected, there would still be more work to do on health care. If we can send more people to Washington like Jennifer Brunner then "The hope still lives and the dream shall never die!"
Source: Tufts Roundtable (blog)
by on 08.27.2009
By Josh Sweigart.
In courting support for her U.S. Senate run, Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner made a pitch to roughly 75 residents Wednesday night, Aug. 26, around the corner from her alma mater, Miami University. . . .
"I would be standing very strongly in favor of a strong public option," she said when asked about proposed reform. "When you apply the free market to health care, it really doesn't work."
She defined herself as a progressive, supporting same-sex marriage, environmental controls, caps on credit card interest rates and ending the war in Afghanistan.
She wants to be part of an "activist Senate," she said, along with Sen. Sherrod Brown.
"It will take people who are willing to take the heat and stand up and say ‘I'm doing this because it's the right thing to do,' " she said.
Source: Middletown Journal
by on 08.27.2009
Friend and endorsed candidate of WCF, Ohio Secretary of State and U.S. Senate candidate Jennifer Brunner knows
that we need more women running for office. She also knows that women
have unique and valuable skills and experiences to bring to the table.
On her blog for Women’s Equality Day, she writes:
Many women’s life experiences have honed skills that are
exceptional for holding public office-like multi-tasking, being good
communicators, listening skills, collaborating, being task driven when
there’s not enough time in the day.
She also echoed Gloria Feldt’s thought about how women may vote, but we’re still not represented.
In recent years, women have voted in higher percentages
than men. So, when I hear that many women don’t run for public office
because they have “doubts about their qualifications” or because “no
one asked them to run,” I say that this is precisely why more women
need to run.
The voices and concerns of women are still widely
underrepresented in the halls of power from the Statehouse to the halls
of the U.S. Senate.
Jennifer also made a key point that I think is overlooked: because
of their unique experiences, women in office will support issues such
as health care, the environment, and reproductive choices. It’s the
women who will stand up to fight for things like equal pay and health
care reform that helps women.
Source: Women & Politics (blog)
by on 08.27.2009
Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, one of two female statewide officeholders, would be the first woman U.S. senator in Ohio's history if she is elected next year.
Brunner said Wednesday three reasons explain why women aren't as involved in running for politics as they should be: concerns about family obligations, doubts about their qualifications, and lack of encouragement by others to run for office.
Source: Chillicothe Gazette
by on 08.26.2009
Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, a Democrat running for her party's U.S. Senate nomination
in 2010 to replace outgoing GOP Sen. George V. Voinovich, noted that just last year Kennedy was on
hand to present to her the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage award from the JFK Library Foundation
for work improving Ohio's elections. It was only four days later that Kennedy had a seizure and
ultimately was diagnosed with his brain tumor.
Brunner said Kennedy emphasized the need for public service when he gave her the award.
"In honor of Senator Kennedy and those countless others who have given so much in service to
others, I encourage other Ohioans answer the call of public service," Brunner said in a statement.
Source: The Columbus Dispatch
by on 08.24.2009
Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, a Miami University
graduate, will return to Oxford Wednesday, Aug. 26, on the campaign
trail for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate.Brunner will speak
at 7 p.m. at the LCNB Bank Building, 30 Park Place West. . . .
“I was the first in my family to complete my college degree, and that
degree opened doors for me that were not open to my parents,” Brunner
said in a prepared statement about the visit. “The tradition of
excellence at Miami and Ohio’s other fine state and private higher
education institutions propels students to excel in the global
classroom and economy as they compete for 21st century jobs.”
Source: Hamilton Journal News
by on 08.18.2009
In yet another sign of the escalating stakes in
the health care debate for Democrats in 2010, Ohio Senate candidate
Jennifer Brunner today wrote a full-throated defense of the public
option on the Daily Kos.
Choice quotations:
"A public option relieves the already burdened system from providing
care at no cost to those without coverage. A public option acts as a
safety valve to keep costs of services steady and provide relief to
those suffering without care."
"There is no benefit either for the American people or for the
Democratic Party in surrendering the public option in return for the
scarcely formed alternative of health care cooperatives...these health
care cooperatives are unlikely to compete effectively any time soon
with private insurers."
"We voted to put our Democratic leaders where they are today, and we
must stand behind them, encouraging them to fight courageously for all
Americans. When it comes to health care reform, a public option is not
optional."
It only gets better. You can read Brunner's full piece here:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/8/18/768670/-A-Public-Option-is-Not-O...
With such passion from one of Ohio's Democratic Senate candidates, we at Ohio Daily invite the Fisher campaign to respond.
The health care debate (and the success or failure of reform
efforts) increasingly appears the central issue of the 2010 campaign,
and Democratic primary voters deserve to know where our candidates
stand on this most central of issues.
Source: Ohio Daily (blog)
by on 08.18.2009
Focused on a positive message for Ohio, U.S. Senate candidate underdog, Jennifer Brunner
is picking up support, endorsements and says unequivocally, “I’m
staying in the race to the finish.” When U.S. Senator George Voinovich
announced he was not going to seek re-election in 2010, the Democratic
power brokers in Ohio lined up one of their own to seek the party’s
nomination. Governor Ted Strickland endorsed his Lt. Governor, Lee
Fischer pronouncing him as “the most qualified” Democrat. But not so
fast, Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner saw it as an opportunity
to change the course for America.
In the six months since she announced,
Jennifer Brunner has signed up over 1,000 volunteers and thousands of
supporters by asking one simple question, “Who has the best chance of
beating Rob Portman?” asks Brunner. Her exemplary experience as
Secretary of State as she cleaned up Ohio’s election mess, has made her
a top contender and a favorite among many who are looking for positive,
fresh leadership.
In July the campaign formed a grassroots
organization called “The Brunner Brigade”. The Brigade network is made
up of county and precinct organizers charged with mobilizing support
across the state. Already county captains have been named in 50 of
Ohio’s 88 counties.
The Brunner campaign strategies must be
working—polls show the primary race locked in a dead heat. Brunner has
been endorsed by many traditional Democratic labor interests as well as
national women’s organizations including: The Women’s Campaign Forum,
The Feminist Majority and the National Organization for Women (NOW).
Source: ElectWomen Magazine
by on 08.16.2009
For the past couple days, I was at Netroots Nation in Pittsburgh. I was invited to speak with many candidates and incumbents, some on-the-record, some not.
Jennifer Brunner is currently the Secretary of State in Ohio. She's running for be the Democratic nominee for the Senate seat being vacated by George Voinovich. She supports marriage equality.
Source: America Blog Gay
by on 08.08.2009
With a piece at Daily Kos,
Ohio's Secretary of State and the darling of the netroots reached a
national audience with an important message: student loan reform is
needed, and it's needed now. The piece, which urges readers to contact
their representatives in Congress, is a mandatory read for anyone with
an interest in mitigating the high price of higher education.
The highlights:
-Brunner's own biography, which includes being the first in her
family to attend college and her struggle to repay her own student
loans after law school.
-Sen. Sherrod Brown's proposal for a "debt swap"
wherein students could convert their private loans into federal ones
after graduation, taking advantage of lower interest rates.
-Criticism of private loan issuers, through the lens of the now-infamous bailouts.
-Brunner advocates repeal of the Federal Family Education Loan
program, with an eye toward saving some $87 billion over 10 years and
reusing those funds for direct student loans.
On issue after issue, Brunner issues well-reasoned, deeply
considered positions and a clear way forward for Ohio and our country.
She's a true credit to our Party and our state, and I encourage you all
(regardless of your affiliations in the internecine Fisher-Brunner
debate) to take a look at yet another solid piece of public policy
advocacy on Brunner's part.
Source: Ohio Daily (blog)
by on 08.06.2009
U.S. Senate Candidate Jennifer Brunner, a well-known advocate of consumer financial protections and banking industry reform, is calling on members of Congress to support Senator Sherrod Brown's recent legislation that is designed to lower student loan payments at no cost to taxpayers. Brown's "debt swap" bill would allow college graduates with private student loans to refinance them into federal loans. "President Obama has been working with Congress to streamline the student loan process, making more dollars available to students and their parents by cutting out the boondoggle enjoyed by private lenders who make money on federally guaranteed student loans with little or no risk when defaults happen. Senator Brown's bill takes student loan reform one step further to help those Americans already carrying expensive private loans for higher education from banks like Citigroup, Bank of America and J.P. Morgan Chase, that are recipients of bailout funds and still pay exorbitant sums to upper management," said Brunner.
Citigroup, Bank of America and JP Morgan Chase all received government bailout money this year. "These financial institutions have been irresponsibly permitted to damage our country's economy. This affects all of us. While unemployment continues to rise, many college graduates cannot find jobs. If the government can give JP Morgan Chase $25 billion, and Citigroup and Bank of America $45 billion apiece in taxpayer dollars, then it can certainly allow for the refinancing of private student loans under the terms of Senator Brown's legislation."
Source: Read more
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