I do not care for the public policies of my governor, Bob Taft, nor did I vote for him in the 2002 gubernatorial election. To be fair, Taft is practically a cookie-cutter Ohio Republican: nominally Southern, socially conservative and fiscally moderate to liberal. Rockefeller Republicans. Only since 1992 have the state's elected representatives been term-limited, so business in the Columbus Statehouse is very much of the "usual" variety. Did you know about the entrenched horseracing lobby that will indefinitely keep Greyhound tracks out of the state? Neither did I - nor am I directly affected by it, but you get the idea of how political sediment that has accumulated in every crevice of state administration will probably take the better part of a generation to sandblast.
Like other states - most notably, California - Ohio took the roaring Nineties as a crystal-clear picture of times to come. Columbus lived life like a Viking proverb - the one that assumes "tomorrow may never come." The state spent, and spent some more. That tomorrow did arrive, unfortunately, and brought with it stark reality. Ohio is not a powerful magnet for new technology industry or new university graduates; it is badly in need of effective laws and taxation to attract the kind of businesses that will be driving the economy over the next decades. Like well-practiced Rockefellers are wont to do, Columbus' reply was poor: when the tax receipts began to slow, legislators dug up a rarely enforced, seventy-year-old Use Tax in a cynical attempt to net a few more dollars. They fretted and deliberated, solving little. Last year, Governor Taft zipped his mouth about the state's looming deficit while battering his Democratic challenger with accusations of tax-hiking ambitions. Shortly after the election - ŕ la Gray Davis - Taft announced a looming state budget deficit. Choosing short-sighted, "Grab it while it's there" fiscal policies and ignoring the powerful effects of tax relief on liquid assets, Taft and a legislative majority has signed tax increases that are doomed to further spook businesses, which will in turn diminish revenue the tax hike was intended to generate.
We've still got a thimblefull of joy left in Mudville. Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell has launched a grassroots campaign to popularly compel legislators to repeal this past summer's tax hikes. If that fails, he will oversee a drive to put the issue on the ballot. Here is some of his platform:
We must bring fiscal discipline back to Ohio State government by doing the following:Blow the whistle on waste
Focus government back on its core competencies – what it does better than anyone else
Incorporate annual performance evaluations and specific measures for each and every department
Encourage the government to improve service and charge those who benefit most from the improvements. We must stop raiding the general tax fund
Create a fiscal environment that encourages business to expand in Ohio and create jobs. My initial step to address Ohio’s severe budget problems and fiscal irresponsibility is to empower the citizens of our state to become the voice for fundamental policy change…a voice that can not be ignored.
My efforts today are focused on repealing the one-cent sales tax increase.
I want to emphasize with a large measure of assurance that I am not reluctant to step in to the breech with a budget framework that will work. I will offer here one example of what that framework would include. The State Budget Office has abandoned nearly all performance budgets. There is no statewide system of performance measurements. Departments with double digit increases are never measured as effective or ineffective. They are just given the money. Next year if called upon to develop a budget solution, I will demand to see performance measurements for these double-digit increase departments.
Next year, should the legislature abdicate the responsibility of cutting spending, then rest assured I will gladly present a framework on how to protect our schools, provide for our seniors and continue essential services with revenue that does not include the additional sales tax receipts.
We will take care of the most needy and we will take care of the taxpayer at the same time.
Blackwell is no joker - and even before this bold populist/supply-side campaign, he was whispered to be quite a contender for the Governor's Mansion. If anyone wished to distinguish himself not only as an independently principled Ohio Republican but a fiscally responsible elected leader in the nation at large, Citizens for Tax Repeal is the smartest way to go about it. Well done, Kenneth. You have yourself a signatory.