"Honest" Mary Jo Kilroy: Truth-teller Extraordinaire

If Mary Jo Kilroy were Pinocchio her nose would be as long as our national debt is deep. Her distortions and falsehoods are so frequent it might be a good idea to assume everything she says is a lie--convenient, self-serving obfuscations for her own political benefit. She may not be as blatant as Richard Blumenthal, but still, she's pretty good at putting forth realities that never were.

Okay, calling Ms. Kilroy Pinocchio is a bit of a stretch: Pinocchio implies a puerile innocence that the Congresswoman doesn't have. She's more of an "Honest John", the duplicitous conniver who twice dupes Pinocchio into betraying his own interests for the con artist's benefit.

Examine, for example, her behavior in the recent Lehman Brothers hearing. Congresswoman Kilroy did all she could to assert that Ohio's public pension funds lost $480 million. In reality, as calculated by the pension funds themselves the losses were closer to $221 million. Still a very devastating loss. However, the loss should have been reported to the American people accurately; we don't need a Members of Congress sensationalizing and distorting facts for political gain. (It's better for her ally, Governor Ted Strickland, if he can claim the collapse of Lehman Brothers cost Ohio's pension funds "half of a billion dollars" rather than "$221 million".)

The whole hearing, of course, was nothing more than a political scheme constructed by Congresswoman Kilroy in the hopes of embarrassing Republican gubernatorial nominee John Kasich, a former Columbus-based employee of Lehman Brothers. The Congresswoman denies that motive, but her actions betray the truth. As reported by the Columbus Dispatch: "In preparing for the hearings, Kilroy asked the pension funds in March for 'the names of all individuals who acted on behalf of Lehman transactions' from 1999 to 2009."

Um, she wanted names named, but not because she was looking for a specific name? That doesn't make any sense. You don't have a witch hunt unless you're looking for a witch--though Mary Jo is the kind of gal who would burn taxpayer dollars in a hunt knowing full well there was no witch. Mary Jo loves to spend taxpayer dollars.

(By the way, a pension fund spokesman stated Kasich's efforts did not lead to Lehman receiving business--Kilroy didn't find her witch.)

Mary Jo Kilroy has the distinction of spending more taxpayer dollars on franking (junk mail, automated phone calls, and tele-town halls) than any other member of Ohio's House delegation. She is the 7th biggest spender of all 435 Members of Congress with a walloping $377,713!

Ha! And she promised us she would control spending and cut government waste. If Congresswoman Kilroy had any interest in making good on those pledges she should start with her own office. For me, it really adds insult to injury that those badgering phone calls from a recording are paid for by taxpayer dollars. And why the frank do they always come just as I'm sitting down for dinner?

One can't help but wonder if Ms. Kilroy would be more judicious in her spending if it were her own money hemorrhaging out. Perhaps, but perhaps not. As a multi-millionaire she may not have the same sense of frugality displayed by so many of us in Central Ohio. Her net worth is between $1,481,083 and $5,185,998 (84th wealthiest in the House)--though by her rules I should say she's worth $5,185,998. By Kilroy logic you always choose the highest number--it's more sensational that way.

The easy thing about being opposed to her hypocrisy is that there's no need to sensationalize. The facts speak for themselves.