Tuesday, January 12, 2010

The Governor that never learns.

I've lost track of how many times I've read stories like this, but what happened with NCR in Dayton has been the most high profile.

Governor, when will you learn your lesson? When will you work proactively to make sure things like this don't happen?

Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland was to meet late this morning with top executives at American Greetings Corp., after the company's announcement last week that it may move from its Brooklyn headquarters.

Strickland, speaking at an event in Cleveland, said he was scheduled to meet shortly with Morry Weiss, chairman of the company's board of trustees.

Strickland said he was greatly concerned about the company's possible move. Strickland said he and Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher would urge American Greetings executives "to remain in place."

Strickland said it was too early to say what incentives the state could offer the company to remain.

"I want to get information and hear what the company has to say,'' Strickland said.
You want to get information and hear what the company has to say? NOW?!? Great timing, Guv.
American Greetings, the nation's largest publicly held greeting card manufacturer, said Thursday it was exploring moving its headquarters to a community with lower taxes.
So while some lefties keep shouting that lower taxes don't attract companies, can they at least admit - when real life is staring them in the face with the above article - that higher taxes make them leave?

So once again, Ted will try to save this company by playing the equivalent of Tax Policy Whack-a-mole and offering them their own tax cut to stick around. It may work, it may not.

Ted, with all these jobs leaving Ohio, and the labor force leaving with them, and their Ohio tax dollars following them out the door, can't we provide a "tax credit" for all Ohio businesses?

Lower the tax burden. Make Ohio great again.

15 comments:

  1. What you failed to mention is that it's the city income tax, not the State's taxes, that the company said is behind their contemplated move.

    You also failed to mention the President of the Ohio Manufacturing Associations praise of Ohio's tax structure and Governor Strickland leadership.

    You fail to mention these things because facts keep getting in the way of your narrative.

    Like how you also failed to mention that the Tax Foundation's recent study didn't support Kasich's tax plans at all.

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  2. Myopia must be contagious.

    Taxes are the forest and the individual examples are the trees. That the taxes are imposed by the city is irrelevant to American Greetings or any other company.

    If the Ohio tax structure is so great and the Guv is doing a great job, where are the stories about companies moving TO Ohio? I'm sure the Dept. of Development has the numbers.

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  3. Scarlet>Fire, you've apparently never heard of the Law of Unintended Consequences, either. Pass Kasich's tax plans and broad-bases taxes that provide financial assistance to local governments will cease. The cities will have no choice but to raise their less broad base city income taxes, thus making the problem worse, not better.

    Again there are several states with no income or estate tax with unemployment worse than Ohio's.

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  4. Modern,

    Your facts are wrong. It's the payroll tax, not the income tax. Further, and I quote the Plain Dealer, "these are taxes employees pay to the city, not taxes the company has to pay." So the payroll tax hike obviously isn't the primary issue.

    You can take the OMA, I'll take the evidence staring everyone straight in the face - companies like American Greetings are leaving. Jobs are leaving. By the thousands.

    You also straight up lie about the Tax Foundation - they didn't discuss one way or another what an income tax elimination would do for Ohio, but based on the ratings they give other states without income taxes, it's safe to say they'd approve of the idea, if implemented properly. Either way, Kasich has yet to rollout specifically what he wants to do - income tax elimination or otherwise.

    And considering Strickland waited until the Spring of 06 to start rolling out his now failed Turnaround Ohio plan, I think it's safe to say Kasich has some more time to flesh things out and communicate it to the voters over the next TEN MONTHS.

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  5. In the meantime, what's Strickland's plan to bring jobs to the state?

    Taft's Third Frontier that brought 2500 jobs a year to the state, running to companies after they've left, and begging for more stimulus dollars.

    That isn't leadership.

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  6. Moving the goal posts, nice.

    Kasich's plan will come out during the campaign and it will be judged on its merits. Unfortunately for Strickland, his record will be there to be judged as well.

    Unintended Consequences? Like unfunded all day kindergarten? Unfunded class size requirements? Slots at racetracks?

    So, there is no list of companies that have moved to Ohio b/c of its wonderful tax and business climate?

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  7. So DJ, how do you explain Delaware, a state with no state income tax, who has an unemployment rate about the same as Ohio?

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  8. Keeling-

    The company, in an internal memo, which I have cited in my post cites as the motivator local taxes only. They said that its the increase in the local income tax is the issue. You are wrong, and the story (which you didn't link to) doesn't say anything close to what you're claiming.

    Second, when the conservative Tax Foundation does a study on Ohio's taxes and suggests improvement to make Ohio more competitive, and it conspicuously omits anything that Kasich is running on, that's news. Sorry to burst your bubble, but the Tax Foundation's study concludes Ohio can be more competitive by flatting, not repealing, its income tax and by reforming Ohio's CAT tax instead.

    Kasich has unveiled that he's going to call for the repeal of the income tax, unless you're suggesting he might take that back.

    I'm going to say this last part for the last time. Ted Strickland didn't even consider running for Governor until mid to late 2005. John Kasich has been campaigning for Governor since 2006. That is a fact. He might have waitied to form a campaign committee until last May, but he was campaigning as a GOP candidate for Governor longer than that.

    Regardless, it's funny how often you guys claim that Strickland has no vision compared to Kasich, but then use the Strickland timeline to defend Kasich.

    Do what Kasich has said he'd do as Governor: repeal Ohio's income and estate taxes, and local taxes will have to skyrocket. Making more American Greetings situations, not less.

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  9. Modern,

    I figured you knew how payroll taxes work, so you wouldn't need a link, but whatever. Check the CPD.

    Thank you for acknowledging the Tax Foundation report. The more people that understand how Strickland hasn't done a thing to fix Ohio, the better. Your desperate attempt to make it about Kasich just sounds....desperate.

    Kasich hasn't unveiled what his economic agenda yet. I'm sure you'll know when he does.

    If you think Ted didn't "consider" running until mid-2005, then you have a worse understanding of how politics works than I thought.

    Strickland had ideas in 2006 - not vision. And he began to unveil them in the spring of the election year. Unfortunately, his ideas failed. And since then he has coasted along - hoping the economy turns thanks to some magic jello.

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  10. Blah, blah, blah, Kasich is a visionary.... who will ... at some point.... express a vision.... on something.

    Unlike you, I DID read the PD. And cited the company's letter in my post, and it cited the city's income tax. Not payroll taxes.

    Yeah, all Strickland has done is cut taxes broadly by double-digits and massively reduced state spending. Something Kasich has NEVER done.

    Look, I'm as plugged into Ted as you are John. And no, he wasn't thinking about running for Governor until 2005. He was drafted after Mike Coleman had what was perceived was a disasterous interview with Glenn Beck.

    John Kasich hasn't even demonstrated he has ideas, just platitudes.

    Is he walking back his promise to repeal Ohio's income taxes? I hope he is, but I've noticed you seem to suggest that he's backing off on the only thing he's told audiences so far he'd do as Governor.

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  11. Oh good Lord, Modern. Strickland did NOT cut taxes. Your claim otherwise couldn't be more intellectually dishonest. They were part of state code passed before he became Governor. Tax cuts are not part of the budget and he didn't do anything to influence their implementation other than not fire the entire Department of Taxation.

    As for John's plans policy proposals, he's indicated an income tax elimination will be a part of them. I hope they are. Ohio needs to drastically reform how we do business.

    As for Kasich never cutting state spending, I'd have to look at his record in the state senate to confirm that, so I'll get back to you. But to say he has no record to run on is just laughable.

    You and I know his record in congress will only benefit him in the campaign, no matter how hard the Strickland campaign will try to twist it. And please, keep bringing up his record. The more its talked about, the better off we are.

    Your primary talking point of 'where are his plans' will soon become moot - and you'll be left with the same realities I've repeated over and over again...

    Ted Strickland failed to live up to his promises.

    Game over.

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  12. First, you are wrong about Strickland and tax cuts. A General Assembly cannot, constitutionally, impose on future General Assemblies an obligation to do a future legislative act. The General Assembly in 2005 could not cut taxes after its term was up. Look it up. There's Supreme Court caselaw on this stuff. This is exactly why the bipartisan compromise was a freeze, because it was not a repeal.

    I love writing about Kasich's record. It's ripe for stuff that is going to make him implode. Which is why every time I've written about his record, you've never responded.

    Kasich's "record" is a fraud...and I have the CATO Institute backing me up on that one.

    What the GOP did was say that they were committed to a long-term plan, that would require the assistance of a future General Assembly and Administration in order to implement.

    Governor Strickland agreed to continue with that plan. Taxes are lower now than when he was Governor, and that could not have happened without his involvement. Period. Any other spin by you is simply untrue.

    And I said Kasich has never cut spending.... of course, I didn't mean state spending. I mean that when he was the Budget Chairman in Congress, federal spending continued to increase.

    On the other hand, Governor Strickland is the only candidate with a record of cutting actual government spending.

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  13. Wonky McSpin,

    Good luck running on "Ted Strickland lowered your taxes."

    You know that argument is bogus, but you keep repeating it. Probably because the best thing Strickland did was to not undo what was done before he took up residence under the Governor's desk.

    And then when he actuually did do something, he delayed a tax cut. The people will remember that come November.

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  14. So, please, which tax is it that American Greetings didn't like?

    The local RESIDENT income tax?

    The local COMMUTER Wage-Income Tax?

    Which one, or both, of these taxes may keeping their employees happy a difficult, and ultimately unsolvable, problem?

    I bet "payroll" tax in the above discussion is the tax on Gross Wages of Commuting Employees, and is the prime reason the Company is leaving the State.

    All of major cities seem to have this problem. Large company HQ want to be in a large metropolis so there is an airport and a population from which to draw employees. But, Ohio metropolis' haven't gotten to like the Commuter Wage tax too much! Companies can't address their employees' complaints: It's that 'taxation-without-representation' thing characteristic of the Commuter Tax structure. The guy in the next cubicle laughs when he votes to raise my taxes!!!

    Also, this tax makes company payroll withholdings highly complicated. (Well, if I work flex-time from home, then those hours shouldn't count in my Commuter tax, right? I travel 25% of my time; that should be taxed by the City, right? et al) The accounting staffs are feeling the heat, and/or the Human Resources department. With budget pressures, CEO's are scrutizing places to find savings. Eureka: move our HQ out of the Commuter Taxing seeking and, presto, many of our employees get an immediate 2-4% raise since no more Commuter Wage Tax; and we can do payroll with fewer Accounting staff since few Withholding changes to process, and, ...Yes, let's move out of Ohio.

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  15. Fast-typing correction:

    But, Ohio metropolis' ***HAVE*** gotten to like the Commuter Wage tax too much!

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