I know I’ll get flamed for this but I don’t care. What state doesn’t have higher unemployment numbers? Maybe it was best for Blackwell to lose the Ohio Governors race because he would now be in Columbus with low poll numbers. Strickland is an awful public speaker and Blackwell would have probably made more drastic tax cuts, but Strickland hasn’t been that bad of a Governor. He signed the CCW bill. He cut income taxes (yes I know, they’re being retracted by his fellow Dems) He cut 2,800 pencil pusher jobs in Columbus and eliminated flex time for the rest, saying, “Be there when the phone rings.” He cut welfare and assisted living programs so drastically that nurses unions were running ads against him telling constituents to call and complain. To my knowledge the only budget he hasn’t cut has been road construction (which is a wise decision because the last thing we need are roads like Michigan has). To use a football analogy, Strickland wasn’t my choice as starting quarterback. But I’m not going to bench him at half time for a benchwarmer that doesn’t look anymore promising. The majority of Ohio Republicans are little if no better than Democrats (with a handful of exceptions), so I don’t understand the party loyalty. I went to Kasich’s web site and I don’t see a plan. It’s filled with “About Me” and Strickland sucks verbiage, but I want to see a well thought-out plan before I vote Kasich.
He wants to phase out the income tax. Look at Ted’ record in Congress vs. Kasich. Kasich was Budget committee chairman when Republicans balanced the budget and actually CUT real spending, not just the annual increase. He also left Congress in 2000 so he is unstained by the Bush spending legacy.
Strickland is not as bad as some Dems, but we need fiscal conservatism. Strickland is a Clinton Dem, he goes where the wind blows, but if sunny days come back - so will Ted’ spending.