The Cleveland Plain Dealer asked him to grade himself. It seems Ted failed to learn anything from the mocking Barack Obama received for giving himself a "good, solid B+" last week.
Asked to grade his performance this year, the Democratic leader, heading into a crucial 2010 re-election campaign, coolly said, "certainly a solid B."Holy crap.
Care to explain such a high mark, governor?
"Well, it's because I'm too humble to say a solid A," Strickland said in an interview with The Plain Dealer Monday. "But I think the affairs of this state have been managed responsibly in the midst of the most serious economic recession in many, many decades."
Simply showing up for class never earned me an A when I was in school, Guv.
Grades are given for results. Not attendance.
So, what are the test results at the end of 2009?
Over 1 in 10 Ohioans are out of work.
The unemployment rate skyrocketed 36% in one year.
You've yet to live up to your promise to fix Ohio's education system.
You sacrificed your principles on a gambling proposal the Ohio Supreme Court laughed at.
You raised taxes on Ohioans by 4.2%.
And you've overseen massive turnover in key Administration positions.
Good Lord, man. If that's deserving of an A, or even a B, I'd hate to see what you'd do for an encore.
Additionally, Ted was asked how he's going to solve Ohio's job crisis. His answer?
The governor says an energy bill passed this year and stimulus money coming in for new Ohio Department of Transportation projects in 2010 and other purposes will generate jobs.Sheezus, if that's his stump talking point on job creation, just hand the election to John Kasich right now.
Somehow, an energy bill and some construction jobs will provide long-term gainful employment for the 303,000 Ohioans that have lost their jobs since you became Governor, Mr. Strickland?
That's what you're trying to tell us?
See, this is the problem with the Governor in a nutshell. Rather than try to provide real solutions that will make Ohio more competitive to business than its current 47th ranking business tax climate, he instead continually chooses to kick the can down the road and hope for the best.
Alternatively, 315 days out from the election, Kasich has already intimated that his plan to make Ohio more attractive will include a transition away from the income tax.
Some like to paint this as extreme, which seems strange since 9 other states don't implement a state income tax and yet still average unemployment rates 17.3% lower than Ohio's. Additionally, these same states together average a ranking of 7th in the Tax Foundation's state business tax climate index. Ohio? 47th.
Hmmm....those states without an income tax must be doing something right, eh?
But Ted's solution? One-time, federal stimulus dollars to pay for temporary construction jobs.
That's a plan? That's a solution for 10.6% unemployment?
That's a joke.
Just like his grade.
This is beyond pathetic, even for a Kasich bootlicker like yourself.
ReplyDeleteTED STRICKLAND CUT TAXES. You have no basis to claim he raised taxes. If you're talking about last week's vote, it kept taxes at the current rate of the prior year. That is not a tax hike.
And even if you did call that a hike, it's still intellectually dishonest to say that Strickland raised taxes because you'd have to ignore that Strickland's budgets have cut taxes every year he's been in office until this year.
The net effect is that taxes are LOWER than when Strickland came in office, even after you factor in last week's vote, you lying sack.
THE TAX FEDERATION STUDY IS A FLAT-TAX ADVOCACY document, anyone that has bothered to actually read the Tax Federation study will see that it defines "anti-business tax environment" as those having a progressive tax structure. The Tax Federation is a pro-flat tax advocacy group.
Therefore it gives more weight to a State having a progressive tax system as being "anti-business" than the actual rates themselves. Therefore, it's not surprising that Ohio ranks poorly because it has a progressive tax structure.
Furthermore, Ohio is one of the top five States in showing job growth in this economy. Most States don't even show positive job growth yet.
The fact that 82% of the States don't have a tax system without an income tax shows how radical it is. The fact that it would result in a deficit that would equal nearly 40% of the State's current revenues shows how radical it is.
Of the whopping nine states that don't have an income tax, it's because they either have hugh tourism industries (FL, CO) or oil & gas industries (AK, TX) that are taxed the bejesus out of them. A lack of an income tax, Tax Federation aside, is no evidence of a pro-business taxing environment. That's why the Tax Federation's study is a complete joke.
What the Federation, and your candidate, refuse to acknowledge is states without income taxes merely have higher tax rates elsewhere (property, sales, special taxes, etc.)... so it's all a real shell game.
Incidentially, FL has no income tax and its unemployment rate is HIGHER than Ohio. Same thing with Nevada.
Therefore, there is no corrolation between not having an income tax and unemployment.
In other words, your candidate's one-trick pony doesn't do the trick-- unless the trick is to create a self-inflicted budget crisis that mandates cutting 40% from the State's budget.
An "A?" That is rich. Strickland is a caretaker and Ohio needs a leader.
ReplyDeleteFirst off, Modern, I don't appreciate the language and attitude you've brought to my comment section. I've responded with nothing but respect. I expect the same in turn. Either start talking like a normal, mature adult, or I'll start deleting your comments.
ReplyDeleteSecond, people are paying more this year than they were expected to. It's a tax hike.
Third, I'm not sure who the Tax Federation is, but the Tax Foundation goes back to 1937 and has long been a well-respected organization that has drawn praise from the likes of John F. Kennedy and Economic Nobel Laureates. Their opinion has plenty of merit.
Fourth, you can't refute the fact that states without income taxes on a whole have prospered. Each state has their own characteristics that make it work, and so does Ohio. Or do you think the state is inferior?
Nearly 1/5 of the nation's states does not make a lack of state income tax extreme. It validates it.
Your continued whining on my blog won't make Ted Strickland's record go away.
He's going to lose.
I suggest you start preparing for it.
Merry Christmas.
Jon-
ReplyDeletePeople who treat subjects seriously and not as campaign hacks who are flat out lying deserve respect.
You are FLAT OUT lying. Ohioan's are still paying less in taxes next year than they did the year before. Regardless, Ted Strickland has been cutting taxes.
The net effect of his term is that taxes are lower than they were when he came into office. Therefore, you are wrong to say that Strickland has raised taxes. he hasn't.
The fact that you cannot even address the obvious bias of the Tax Foundation's study and acknwoledge that it's nothing more than a pro-flat tax study is telling.
Also, telling is the fact that you have no response in the fact that non-income tax states largely have highly taxed industries Ohio doesn't have or has just higher property and sales taxes.
Clearly, the fact that plenty of states with income taxes has bettern unemployment rates than those who don't (including Ohio) demonstrates that there is no correlation between having a progressive tax code or no income tax at all.
How you got that I was suggesting Ohio was inferior is just a red herring.
You also seem to forget that your own candidate, back in July, suggested that it was entirely appropriate to hold off cutting taxes until the economy stabilizes.
I'm more than willing to engage you on Strickland's record and Kasich's lack of one or platform for that matter. However, I'm not going to let you sit there and say things that are so obviously untrue.
Ted Strickland has cut taxes as I've explained before. Your claim otherwise is not true because you use one bill and not put it in context to the rest of his record. Over his term, tax rates have been cut. The net effect is that even with the budget vote last week, taxes in Ohio are going to be substantially lower than they were when he came into office.
If you actually PAID taxes in Ohio, you'd know this.
Weren't the income tax reductions put in place prior to Strickland becoming Gov?
ReplyDeleteModern,
ReplyDeleteOhioans are paying more than they initially were planning to this year. That's a fact.
As for Ted lowering taxes...come on, man. That's simply untrue. The tax cuts were put in place by the legislature prior to his inauguration as Governor. If you want to say he followed the law and implemented the law as written...fine, but that's not exactly something to brag about and to infer they were his tax cuts is simply untrue. Hell, even Ted doesn't claim them on his own campaign website.
As for states that do/do not have income taxes - yes, there are some with better unemployment, some with worse than Ohio. But the fact that there is even debate over the issue proves that the idea is far from extreme. On average, unemployment in those state's without is 17% lower. That can't be disputed. It can work, as long as it is implemented properly - and that's why we have campaigns - to discuss over many months the merits of ideas such as this. And we will. Even if you don't believe it.
As for the Tax Foundation, I never claimed they didn't have a bias towards a less intrusive government. They have that "bias" because they believe that's what's best for the nation. Kennedy and Nobel laureates felt well enough of them to commend the organization for their work. And considering Ohio's amazingly awful unemployment rate, I think it's fair to say they can't be far off on us having the 4th worst business tax climate in the country.
Speaking of ideas, I find your lack of rebuttal to my criticism of Strickland's "ideas" for job creation interesting. Does that mean you agree that relying on construction dollars via federal funds and an energy bill are the best ways to recover the hundreds of thousands of jobs Ohio lost?
Listen, man. The main issue is this - Strickland didn't prepare Ohio for the mess it's currently in. And he's yet to devise a plan to get the state out of it. He's the do nothing Governor. And in times such as these, that failure in leadership is simply not acceptable.
Ohio needs to become more competitive. Ohio needs to solve the job crisis. Ohio needs to quit waiting for the federal government to solve its problems for them and start working to make itself more competitive.
Strickland has provided zero indication that he's ready to do that.
But, at the end of the day, we clearly disagree on several things. We can keep going in circles if you like. I'm fine with that. But if you are determined to continue posting comments with such a negative and insulting tone, I'd prefer you contact me via e-mail so we can hash this out like adults before we continue.
Thanks,
Jon