Former Ohio Senator Howard Metzenbaum Dies

Howard Metzenbaum was a true Ohio Buckeye. Tough, poisonous if you were on his wrong side, but a true progressive when progressive meant the "L" word--Liberal. He was the first politician I voted for in 1977.

Metzenbaum, an Ohio Democrat who made his millions in correctly investing in airport parking lots in Cleveland. The enterprise expanded to Cincinnati and San Juan, Puerto Rico, and eventually became APCOA, the world's largest parking lot company before he began a long career fighting big business in the Senate. He died at age 90.

During 18 years on Capitol Hill, from 1977 to 1995, Metzenbaum was called "Senator No" and "Headline Howard" for his abilities to block legislation and get publicity for himself.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer said, "Metzenbaum built a reputation as a Horatio at the bridge. He was credited with saving taxpayers millions of dollars by standing in the way of "Christmas tree bills," adorned with costly favors for a given state or corporation. Metzenbaum was often at the forefront of Democratic opposition to Reagan administration cabinet and Supreme Court nominees.

Although he felt the anger of his colleagues -- Alaska Republican Ted Stevens once called him a "pain in the ass" -- he also won their respect. Former Sen. Howard Baker, the Tennessee Republican, said, "The Senate needs someone like Howard Metzenbaum -- but only one.""

He was a tough bird who held a room spellbound while drop kicking oil companies, the insurance industry, savings and loans, and the National Rifle Association (Metzenbaum once said, “No, we're not looking at how to control criminals... we're talking about banning the AK-47 and semi-automatic guns.”).

As a former labor lawyer and union lobbyist considered himself a champion of workers and was a driving force behind the law requiring 60-day notice of plant closings.