11/10/2008 7:39:00 AM Strickland passes the buck,
as Ohio's struggles mount Governor, predictably, blames Bush
It's been more than two years since Ted Strickland was elected as Ohio's governor. In that time, the state unemployment rate has ballooned from 5.5 percent to 7.2 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
So what does Gov. Strickland do? Naturally, he does what everyone else does: He blames President Bush.
As reported in Saturday's Times-Gazette, the governor said Ohio and other states are now paying the price of what Strickland calls the irresponsible economic policies of the Bush administration.
One problem with the Strickland logic, though, is that today half of the 50 U.S. states have unemployment rates LOWER than Ohio's jobless rate when Strickland was elected two years ago.
If Bush is to blame for Ohio's high unemployment rate, is he deserving of credit for the 32 states with unemployment rates below 6 percent?
Today, only seven states have higher unemployment than Ohio. In August and September, Ohio lost 3,400 jobs. And last year, Ohio had 84,751 new foreclosure filings, a 6.7-percent increase from 2006.
Granted, former Ohio Gov. Bob Taft left an economic mess for his successor.
Still, after two years, one would think Strickland would make some progress. Instead, Ohio now has the 47th worst tax climate for business, as ranked by the Tax Foundation. This is one spot worse than in 2006. For individual income taxes, the state also stands at 47th in the nation.
Blaming President Bush is convenient; but to borrow a phrase from Harry Truman, the buck stops with Strickland. If he's going to turn Ohio around, it's time to get started and time to stop passing the buck.
- The Times-Gazette
Reader Comments
Posted: Thursday, January 29, 2009
Article comment by:
DavidAMayer
Letter to the Editor I would like to have this published. Please Not as Comment Ohio and Strickland’s Budget Mess
Governor Strickland’s recent comment on the budget mess was "The time has come for us to stare truth in the face," In my opinion the time was well over 27 years ago back to the 1982 recession. So Ted, let me comment on the dire situation facing Ohio and it’s fine people. “This door's wide open now," per Democratic Mayor of San Francisco Gavin Newsom . "It's going to happen, whether you like it or not." Mayor Newsom's statement on the gay marriage issue several years ago equally aptly applies to taxes and fees. The SF Mayor has repeatedly raised "fees" in his city not calling them "tax hikes" . For example, an expired parking meter violation is now $50 up from $20 just a few years ago. Looks like Democratic Governor Ted Strickland has spent some serious time reading the Newsom playbook on taxes and fees. Raising fees is not a tax increase according to Newsomnomics. Stricklandnomics is using the same old tactic. Disguise the obvious. Yes, while some user fee increases may be justified as a public policy issue that the user pays for a privilege or right not deemed an essential government entitlement , such as public safety, a fee hike is still an increase in the cost to the end user. Which fees will go up Ted? Business licenses and permits? State park entrance and user fees? Professional licenses for hair stylists, dental hygienists, accountants and surveyors maybe? What about recreational fishing and hunting licenses? Green fees for golf? (Note: As currently proposed by CA Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Golf green fees will be taxed, but not lift tickets for skiing. Two sports with higher income demographics which generate sales tax revenue through the onsite sale of food and beverages. This to point out I’m not biased against Democrats. Both parties have made tremendous strides to eradicate the American middle class). Back to the point, at a time of great hardship, these fee proposals are all business killers. As a business school graduate of OSU, I’ll let you in on what appears to be a big secret to those of you in government. When revenue cannot be sustained, you cut costs. When financing is not feasible, you cancel initiatives. When that fails, you cut more or go out of business. Thirty years in the private sector seems to have proven this to be correct to me. Now government cannot realistically go out of business. But it must cut back to only those services it can “afford” which is public safety, education, and assistance to the truly needy. As with any business, you must save for the future. The private sector is suffering. It’s time the government sector adjust to the same reality. Those in government cannot be exempt. Since taxation of new revenue sources is the tax de jour , let me add a few you have overlooked. Implement a rain tax on farmers. Why not Ted ? Like many taxes there is a usually a tax nexus or connection of the tax to the taxable product or service. You can claim the nexus is when the rain hits the crops or land. Bingo !. I would not be surprised if Farmer Ted implements a methane tax on cows to appease PETA. (Note: I belong to another opposing PETA group. We are “People Eating Tasty Animals”). Raising penalties also sounds good as a deterrent to bad or undesired behavior , (the basic premise behind penalties), but what behaviors are you wanting to control now ? What about the cost of increased collections, court time and staffing law enforcement and regulatory agencies to capture this additional revenue ? Sorry Ted, but a fee hike is still a tax hike and if costs more to collect than you bring in, your gonna lose money. So back to the Newsom playbook, once you start raising fees claiming they are not taxes, “the door is wide open Ted”. “It’s going to happen whether or not the taxpayers like it or not”. Once fees are raised they will never be lowered. Ohio has a spending problem like most states. Taking Federal money ultimately requires revenue from taxpayers. I guess we will punish the few states with surplus revenues. The problems in Ohio and other states is a lack of spending money wisely and efficiently is not a “best practice”. Example: I recently read an article about the number of over $200,000 a year salaries at Ohio State. Totally out of line with the private sector wages for comparable positions in government. How many state jobs pay overtime after 40 hours when a comparable position in private industry is exempt and pays nothing ? Oh, don’t argue about the bonus opportunities in the private sector. Bonuses for the most part are at the top 10% of the corporate pyramid. These have not been paid the middle class worker in some time. Besides corporate bonuses are no longer based upon pay for performance either.. CEO’s get millions when they fail and are dismissed. The workers get pink slips even when they perform well so the CEO can parachute out of a crashing plane and land safely. I understand Ohio taxpayers shelled out roughly $400 Million to improve the airpark infrastructure in and around Wilmington. Now DHL is basically out of town and state and local politicians are “asking” DHL to donate the airpark ? This is grossly an absurd request. Don’t even ask, use eminent domain and just take it. Then take DHL to court for implied breach of contract. Ohio struck a bad deal under the jobs mantra when they agreed to spend this money. A point well missed by all the political backers. In the future don’t spend taxpayer dollars to create tax revenue and jobs unless you can “clawback” the tax savings and infrastructure costs when the beneficiary (in this case DHL) reneges. In summary, start running the state like a business enterprise, not as a charity as you and the prior Governors have done . As the belt needs to be tightened, start with the wages and perks of all state elected officials who serve, remind you, “at the pleasure of the taxpayers”. A 10% cut is not even a good start. Try 15% which in my opinion is the taxpayers cut these days with stagnant wage growth the past 20 years and increased taxes and, oh those” fees”. David Mayer San Rafael, CA Mr.Mayer is a native of Hillsboro, Ohio and is a graduate of The Ohio State University (BSBA 1978) with over 30 years private industry experience in accounting, audit, finance and taxation. He holds the CPA Certification in Ohio (Inactive Status ) is a Certified Information Systems Auditor, (CISA) specializing in regulatory compliance and a California Ctec Registered Tax Preparer (CRTP)
Verification use DavidAMayer@comcast.net 415 409 3283 phone
