Early this year, Governor Ted Strickland stated the following:
“I am responsible for the decisions I’ve made and am making in helping this state move through the recession.”
In 2006, Ted Strickland ran on a plan to Turnaround Ohio. By definition, the Governor staked his claim to be able to directly influence the Ohio economy.
In other words, this is his baby.
Now Ted also likes to say the recession isn’t his fault. And it isn’t.
But as he said above, he’s bears responsibility for how Ohio exits the recession. If Ohio is in good position, it’s fair to say they would shoot out of the gates faster than other states and Ohioans will be better off. Ohio’s unemployment rate would improve faster than other states and the general well being of Ohioans would improve at a faster pace than our competitors.
Except they aren’t.
And it’s not even Ted’s enemies saying so. It’s his own Council of Economic Advisors.
Check out these two charts created by Columbus Business First magazine. They use data from the Council of Economic Advisors and compare it to projected national data.
See those two large gaps at the end of each graph? They show people across this nation finding work faster than Ohioans and seeing their personal incomes rise faster than Ohioans.
If Ohio was primed to rebound quickly, we wouldn’t see those gaps continue to widen over time.
This is the work of Ted Strickland.
He’s had four years to put Ohio in a better position and he’s failed.
And we can look at his own Council of Economic Advisors for the proof.
