Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney greets members of the audience at a campaign rally in Dunedin, Florida. It’s been a brutal campaign in Florida, but Romney seems poised for a big victory. The problem is that he’s really pissed off Newt Gingrich, who vows to go all the way to the Republican convention. If that’s the case, we might actually see these guys battling in Ohio.

Mortgages are a huge issue in Florida, and they will be a big issue in Ohio as well. Newt’s connections to Fannie Ma are killing him, but Mitt Romney is also vulnerable on this issue, as he has said that we need the foreclosures to speed up and have the market bottom. That might help the financiers on Wall Street, but not the people struggling to stay in their homes.

Fortunately, interests are incredibly low, so the economy is picking up steam. People are refinancing and also looking for deals, so there’s a ton of research being done online. There are many examples. Gocompare is one the most comprehensive services in UK for range of financial products. Compare Natwest Mortgages quotes online on Know Your Money.

Expect the mortgage issue to remain a hot topic. The Obama administration has a much different approach, and meanwhile Romney and Gingrich are tearing each other apart on the topic.

This news is disappointing.

The Cleveland casino won’t be opening in March after all.

Openings of the state’s first two casinos this spring will be pushed back, possibly by at least two months, because of delays in the licensing process.

The Casino Control Commission was told Wednesday that Ohio does not have enough time to properly investigate casinos in Cleveland and Toledo before their proposed opening dates.

Matt Cullen, COO of Rock Gaming LLC, says they are disappointed by discussions of postponing the anticipated March opening of Horseshoe Cleveland. However, Cullen says they respect the Commission’s diligence and dedication to address the many tasks associated with a new gaming jurisdiction.

You can see more about the new Horseshoe Casino at their website. It should provide a huge boost to Downtown Cleveland once it opens.

The new Cleveland casino is scheduled to open in March of 2012, and they’ve already been hiring a training dealers. Now they’re opening up applications for 750 casino positions in 40 different job areas.

There’s a pay range for each position, and starting salaries are listed on the web site. For example, security officers start at $12 an hour, beverage and buffet supervisors at $30,000 a year, and those who oversee slot machines will earn at least $39,000 annually.

Full-time positions offer a complete benefits package, including medical, dental and vision insurance, tuition reimbursement and a 401K retirement plan.

“We’re looking for personality,” said Glover, a Caesars Entertainment Corp. executive. “We’re looking for upbeat and positive attitudes, for people who have an ability to interact with strangers and provide excellent customer service.

“Some of that we’ll train, but we need a lot of those characteristics to be inherent in the individual.”

Clevelanders and other gambling fans in Ohio are naturally thrilled. First, it’s good for the local economy. But more importantly, gambling fans in the state now have another outlet to go with online sports betting.

It took a long time for Ohio to join the party. The conservative forces in Southern Ohio were always against legal gambling and they consistently defeated attempts to bring casinos to Ohio. But Dan Gilbert finally made it happen, so soon we’ll have a grand opening with plenty of economic activity in Downtown Cleveland.

Richard Cordray gets a big job:

President Obama nominated Richard Cordray, the former attorney general of Ohio, to officially have your back. If and when Cordray is confirmed, he’ll run the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the agency created last summer to defend consumers against abusive practices by banks and other financial institutions.

The article goes on to analyze why Cordray was selected. Many expect him to run for governor of Ohio in 2014, so this can be a big stepping stone for him.

Cleveland.com is reporting that the developer of the downtown Cleveland casino is looking to acquire a parking garage from the city:

The developer of a casino in Cleveland’s historic Higbee building has offered the city $21 million for the nearby Gateway North parking garage.

It’s a proposal that officials said Wednesday would benefit both sides by helping the cash-strapped city get out from under a garage that is described as seldom used while putting the developer a giant step closer to having a parking plan that could accommodate up to 5 million annual visitors.

Officials at Rock Ohio Caesars say that the casino-goers’ experience begins when they park their car. And Rock Ohio Caesars wants to wow them. But officials add that having a seamless parking plan is important for securing financing for the $350 million project.

This seems to make a ton of sense. It won’t matter for high rollers arriving in a limousine, but for visitors parking their cars, the experience needs to be positive from the beginning.

Also, let’s hope the casino operators don’t make the same mistakes that were made in Pittsburgh. The parking needs to be affordable!

Despite the idiotic decision by new Governor John Kasich to reject $400 million of federal money for a high-speed rail project that would have connected Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati, a new proposal that’s part of President Obama’s new high-speed rail initiative just might work in Ohio.

Ohio may yet get on track with President Obama’s newly announced $53 billion initiative to build a nationwide high speed rail network.

A bipartisan group of northern Ohio Congress members met Thursday with Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to discuss building a high speed rail line along Lake Erie that would link Cleveland with Chicago, Detroit, Toledo and Buffalo, and also include routes to Youngstown and Pittsburgh. Building a line along the lake is a top tier part of Obama’s rail program.

Bainbridge Township GOP Rep. Steve LaTourette said he plans to work with Republicans and Democrats from Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Illinois and Michigan “to see if there’s a way we can help restore some of what the President’s vision is on high speed rail in our part of the world.”

Though newly elected Republican Ohio Gov. John Kasich rejected $400 million in federal funds to build a different train line between Cleveland and Cincinnati, LaTourette believes Kasich might be more receptive to the lakeshore route. He said it also might be possible to secure funds for the project so “the state of Ohio would not have to be the political subdivision that gets the money and does the work.”

Kasich indicated he would be willing to consider it if Steve LaTourette was behind it.

And that’s really the key here, and this will have a huge impact in Congress as well. Even Republicans like LaTourette support this, so you might just see a bi-partisan effort to support the President on this one.

Penn National Gaming might be adding up to 1,500 jobs in the Dayton area, though it depends on Ohio approval of video lottery terminals. Penn is looking to transform a former Delphi plant in north Dayton into a $200 million horse track and slot machine complex.

This is great news.

A Cleveland landmark that witnessed decades of births and deaths will finally see new life, as a long-awaited project begins in the Buckeye neighborhood.

Construction will start this week on apartments in the former St. Luke’s Medical Center, a U-shaped brick building that has been vacant since 1999.

The building’s central wing will house 72 apartments for the elderly, financed through a $22 million deal that local nonprofit group Neighborhood Progress Inc. and private developer Pennrose Properties expect to close Tuesday. Renovating the entire hospital will be a $53 million, three-phase project, which could be finished in 2013.

Click through on the photo above to see the full image and the entire article. The old building is beautiful and this sounds like an excellent way to restore it.

I wonder if Governor Kasich’s decision to kill the high-speed rail project in Ohio will come back to haunt him. Many people who voted for him were surprised when he killed the project, which would be great for Ohio’s transportation infrastructure, Ohio jobs and Ohio technology.