This isn't funny anymore.

Here's the headline from the Cincy Enquirer this morning:

It was bad enough when unemployment has shooting through the roof. But at least Ohioans were sticking it out and waiting for jobs to come around.

That isn't the case anymore.

Since Governor Strickland took office, Ohio has experienced a 6% drop in actual employed individuals.

This is despite the working age population increasing by 50,000 people since January of 2007.

For comparison's sake, from January 2001 to September of 2003, the working age population increased by 172,000. That's almost 3.5 times the rate under Governor Strickland.

The facts are clear: Americans are giving up on Ohio.

It's bad enough when Ohioans lose their jobs in massive quantities. But it's much, much worse when they give up looking altogether and leave the Ohio workforce for greener pastures. At least when they were looking for work in Ohio, we knew the state could get them back as a contributing member of Ohio's taxpayer revenue stream.

Instead, people are leaving for jobs elsewhere.

And they are taking their money with them.