Posted on 10/29/2008 3:29:29 PM PDT by buccaneer81
Job and Family Services made several checks on Joe the Plumber Wednesday, October 29, 2008 5:56 PM By Randy Ludlow The Columbus Dispatch Document
* Read the letter from Helen Jones-Kelley, director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, about background checks made on Joe the Plumber [pdf]
Multiple checks on "Joe the Plumber" were made through state computer systems at the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.
Agency Director Helen Jones-Kelley disclosed early this evening that computer inquiries on the presidential campaign figure were not restricted to a child-support system.
The department also checked on Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher in its computer systems to determine if he was receiving welfare or owed unemployment compensation taxes.
Jones-Kelley made the revelations in a letter sent to Ohio Senate President Bill M. Harris, R-Ashland, who yesterday demanded answers on why state officials checked out Wurzelbacher.
The checks were run after the news media reported that Wurzelbacher was considering buying a plumbing business with more than $250,000 in annual income, Jones-Kelley wrote.
"Given our understanding that Mr. Wurzelbacher had publicly indicated that he had the means to purchase a substantial business enterprise, ODJFS, consistent with past departmental practice, checked confidential databases ," she wrote.
"Not surprisingly, when a person behind in child support payments or receiving public assistance is receiving significant media attention which suggests that the person appears to have available financial resources, the Department risks justifiable criticism if it fails to take note and respond," Jones-Kelley wrote.
Wurzelbacher said he is not involved in a child-support case and has not purchased any business.
Wurzelbacher became a household name when Republican presidential John McCain frequently referred to "Joe the Plumber" during his Oct. 15 debate with Democrat nominee Barack Obama. The checks began the next day.
Wurzelbacher, who has endorsed and campaigned for McCain, had been caught on videotape challenging Obama about his tax proposals during a campaign visit to "Joe's" neighborhood in the Toledo suburb of Holland.
Republicans have painted the checks on Wurzelbacher as a politically motivated bid by Democrats to dig up dirt and discredit the McCain ally.
The administration of Democrat Gov. Ted Strickland has said the information was not improperly shared and that there were no political motives behind the checks.
The Dispatch has uncovered four uses of state computer systems to access personal information on Wurzelbacher, including the child-support check authorized by Jones-Kelley.
She said that her department frequently runs checks for any unpaid child support obligations "when someone is thrust quickly into the public spotlight."
Jones-Kelley cited as an example a check that revealed a lottery winner owed child support. State law explicitly allows such checks in order to temporarily intercept lottery winnings in excess of $600 from those who owe child support.
Republican legislators have challenged Jones-Kelley's reason for checking on Wurzelbacher as "frightening" and flimsy.
The department has not responded to public-records requests to provide a copy of its policies concerning access to child-support information.
Jones-Kelly also has denied any connections between the computer checks on Wurzelbacher and her support for Obama. She donated the maximum $2,500 this year to the Obama campaign.
Ohio Inspector General Thomas P. Charles is investigating whether the Department of Jobs and Family Services child-support check on Wurzelbacher was legal.
Checks on "Joe the Plumber" through Bureau of Motor Vehicles computers were conducted through accounts assigned to the Toledo Police Department and Cuyahoga County Child Support Enforcement Agency in Cleveland.
The Toledo Police Department has charged a civilian clerk with misusing her access to BMV computers to provide information to a Toledo TV station.
The Cuyahoga County child-support case was tracked to an employee's computer, but he has denied accessing Wurzelbacher's information.
A third illegal access to BMV information on "Joe" was tracked to an attorney general's office test account that was shared four years ago with contractors who developed a statewide police computer network.
One of those contract employees apparently still had access to the account after he was hired as a contractor to work at the Ohio Department of Insurance, where he allegedly tapped Wurzelbacher's information after the presidential debate.
Within one hour after learning of the breach on Oct. 20 and tracking it to the contract employee, he was fired and escorted out of state offices, said an insurance department spokesman.
The State Highway Patrol is conducting a criminal investigation of the incident.
McCain has described the checks on Wurzelbacher as retaliation for asking Obama tax-related questions that led to the candidate's "spread the wealth" statement.
Wurzelbacher said yesterday he has contacted a lawyer, but has not decided whether to file lawsuits against those who rummaged through his records.
To be rehired to new position and huge raise right after Obama is elected.
:Why aren't you angry about it?
shrug oh well we'll let them lord over us.
the time for an end game is drawing near
Not to worry. They're usually very easy to avoid, as most of them have been snatched up by government, NGOs, schools, and universities, all of which are eager to appear PC and diverse. Once such hyphenates have hitched themselves to the gravy train, they usually fade into the woodwork waiting for their taxpayer-paid retirement bennies to kick in.
HF
"Not surprisingly, when a person behind in child support payments or receiving public assistance is receiving significant media attention which suggests that the person appears to have available financial resources, the Department risks justifiable criticism if it fails to take note and respond," Jones-Kelley wrote.
Wurzelbacher said he is not involved in a child-support case and has not purchased any business.
McCain has described the checks on Wurzelbacher as retaliation for asking Obama tax-related questions that led to the candidate's "spread the wealth" statement.
Anyone involved in doing this should be fired now!!
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