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Ohio won’t forget Ted’s Record

439 days ago, Ohio Auditor Mary Taylor warned those charged with the responsibility of proposing and crafting a budget about a looming $8 billion deficit facing Ohio.

An article appearing in the Cleveland Plain Dealer in March of this year stated the upcoming deficit was “the biggest issue that we’ve ever faced in terms of growing our state”.

And yesterday, the Dispatch ran with this headline.


The Dispatch article breaks down how both Kasich and Strickland have ambiguously responded to how they’ll solve the crisis.

But the Dispatch conveniently glosses over a very important fact.

Ted Strickland was the elected Governor 439 days ago when the looming deficit first came to the public’s attention. And that was thanks to Mary Taylor.

I’ll never forget Strickland’s response to Taylor’s analysis. But for those that do, here it is:

The governor has refused to concede that spending the one-time money will create an inherent shortfall in the following two-year budget, or that a tax increase might be needed.

Refusing to concede that fact is like refusing to concede the sky is blue. It’s beyond obtuse. It’s foolish and irresponsible.

But he went on…

“Why do you and others want me to say that I’m going to raise taxes?” Strickland said during a March interview. “We’re dealing with the budget for 2010 and 2011, and the standard that I’m being held to is, ‘How are you going to balance the budget in 2012 and 2013?’ It’s still 2009. I just don’t get it.

Truer words have never been spoken.

Governor, you were elected to make Ohio a better place to live, work, and raise a family. Not to simply make sure a biennial budget was balanced.

Don’t get me wrong. I understand that balancing the next budget will require some very tough decisions. But by refusing to acknowledge the problem and work towards solutions, as someone charged with the public trust should, you kicked the can down the road.

You’re right. You just don’t get it.

Now 439 days later Ohio still had its taxes raised, and we still don’t see one iota of progress, or scant an acknowledgment of solving “the biggest issue that we’ve ever faced in terms of growing our state”.

Ohio deserves someone far better than a politician who has a proven track record of refusing to make the tough calls necessary to serve as Governor.



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Third Base Politics is an Ohio-centric conservative blog that has been featured at Hot Air, National Review, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and others.

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