GOP backer of budget fix has found few followers

Friday,  November 27, 2009 5:45 AM

By Jim Siegel

The Columbus Dispatch

 

Sen. John A. Carey Jr.The Republican chairman of the Senate Finance Committee says he is willing to support the governor's plan to fix an $851 million budget shortfall, with a few amendments.

 

If Sen. John A. Carey Jr. of Wellston can find four GOP colleagues willing to do the same, Ohio's budget fight could be over soon.

 

But that remains a big "if."

 

Read more at:

http://www.dispatchpolitics.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2009/11/27/copy/GOP-backer-of-budget-fix.html?adsec=politics&sid=101

 

A lot of Republicans are giving Strickland an unbelievably hard time right now.

 

 

I would much rather tap into other revenue sources or make cuts than to continue to have the higher tax burden in a recession but it seems like they're running out of alternatives.

 

I would love to see prison reform; Christ, that would save the state so much money it's ridiculous. Drastically reduce prison funding. Close one of the prisons. Judges are put in "shock" mode, and find creative alternative solutions that are effective for criminals. I'm no expert in this area so maybe my logic is flawed. I just think Ohio spends way too much on prison inmates. We need these people to be productive citizens contributing to the tax base; not leaching off of those who do pay state taxes.

 

It's amazing how Ohio's state GOP Senators are unable to agree on anything. They have very little solidarity. The statehouse needs an in-house psychologist who can help them mesh ideology  :-D

They are so afraid of upsetting their ultra-conservative base that few GOP Ohio House or Senate members will even whisper compromise.  It's no longer about doing what's best for Ohio, but doing what's best for getting re-elected.

Slot machines in the mix as Republican senators look to solve state's budget shortage

By Aaron Marshall, The Plain Dealer

November 28, 2009, 2:23PM

 

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Stonewalled earlier this month by Gov. Ted Strickland and Senate Democrats in the debate over how to fill an $851 million hole in the state budget, Senate Republicans are regrouping to figure out their next move -- with an eye on Dec. 18.

 

That's the initial deadline for signatures to put an issue before voters next year that could block a Strickland-backed plan to allow slot machines -- known as video lottery terminals -- at Ohio's seven racetracks.

 

And while Senate Republicans mostly opposed the slots plan when the governor launched it, they now face an $851 million gap with only a few GOP members interested in Strickland's plan to delay a 4.2 percent income tax cut to fill that hole.

 

Full story at: http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/11/post_138.html

They are so afraid of upsetting their ultra-conservative base that few GOP Ohio House or Senate members will even whisper compromise. It's no longer about doing what's best for Ohio, but doing what's best for getting re-elected.

 

Don't fret. It was always that way. 

Of course, it was always the underlying aim of every office holder.  But it seems like it has come to the forefront today like never before and at the expense of everything else.

But have you seen the job market lately?  You'd pull out all the stops too.    :lol:

 

  Voters tend to select the party currently in power if the local economy has improved in the last 2 years. Voters tend to select the other party if the local economy has declined in the last 2 years. Anything that happened more than 2 years before the election has a minimal effect.

 

  This is the single most accurate predictor of election results.

 

    If the economy is improving, incumbants don't have too much to worry about, but if the economy is declining, look out!

 

 

God damn I hate the Enquirer. It's the Fox News print edition. "Governor throws hissy fit" is hardly neutral reporting.

 

GOP: Budget offer met with 'hissy fit'

 

Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland can either cut a deal with Ohio Senate Republicans to fill an $851 million budget hole in December or risk having to slash public education funding in a year when he is running for re-election, two leading Senate Republicans said Monday.

 

"We offered this as an alternative, expecting a discussion and instead it produced a hissy fit on the part of the governor,'' Seitz said. "The governor said it would be his plan or nothing."

 

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20091130/NEWS0108/912010335/1055/NEWS/GOP++Budget+offer+met+with++hissy+fit+

God damn I hate the Enquirer. It's the Fox News print edition. "Governor throws hissy fit" is hardly neutral reporting.

 

The reporter was quoting Senator Seitz (R-Green Township).