Talk Elections

Quinnipiac OH-GOV

Strickland 43%
Kasich 38%

Looks like PPP was onto something with their poll.

Stricklands approvals are down to 46/42, they were 57/29 in May.

http://www.quinnipiac.edu/x1322.xml?ReleaseID=1346

It also has Strickland only beating Dewine, 41-40%. And in the primary battle between Dewine and Kasich, Kasich only leads by 3, 35-32%.

DeWine sucks, he ran poor campaign in 2006 and he let himself get dragged down with Bob Taft. Kasich is doing well this far out and all those that said that Strickland was safe, that he will win reelection in a landslide, I just have to say, I told you so.

Strange to see Strickland's approvals slide by these margins in just a month. It's not like the economy wasn't bad before as well ... Or did he do something unpopular I´m not aware of ?

First biannual budget was passed by acclimation--almost unheard of. Due to the economy this year's is turning VERY ugly. Strickland came outwith a budget promising a nearly 50% cut in state library funding.

Of course Kasich will solve this easily with his proposal to eliminate the state income tax. Because people will have more money to spend which will stimulate businesses and economic growth which will increase tax revenue collected...hey, wait a minute. I think I just found a flaw in Kasich's clever economic plan.

The budget battle is probably the biggest issue right now and its looking bad.  Strickland also did a complete 180 on gambling.  He ran on a position of being against all forms of gambling but since being elected he's expanded the state lottery to include keno and now he wants to authorize slot machines at race tracks in order to raise nearly $1 billion to prevent more budget cuts.

The Republicans really aren't helping themselves either though.  They control the state Senate and they're being obstructionist without offering any sort of compromise or alternatives.  They just keep balking at everything the Dems propose but they never offer any of their own ideas.  Its all childish bullsh**t.

Sadly, I'm not sure most voters will hold individual GOP state senators as accountable for the senate's intransigence and lack of an alternative as they will take Strickland to task for "lack of leadership" (i.e. making the state's massive budget woes disappear without painful cuts in services or increased taxes). It's notable how silent John Kasich is being. He's probably praying that no one in the media will press him on his own proposal for the budget so he can criticize Strickland endlessly next year for the inevitable hard decisions coming, and blithely claim he would've somehow done it better ("cutting wasteful spending, etc.).

I used to think my state rep was the stupidest man in Ohio for proposing elimination of the state income tax, the source of about half of government revenue, without proposing replacement source of revenue on the quaint theory that resulting economic growth will replace about 50% of the state treasury.

Apparently I was wrong; my state rep has at least one competitor in the pinhead competition....

http://www.clevelandjewishnews.com/articles/2009/07/02/news/local/doc4a4a665bed3e7687599032.txt

And eliminating the state inheritance tax too. Nice. Somebody peel this guy off the billionaire's jocks, please.

Considering the States that don't have an state income tax are doing much better then the ones that due, I would openly suggest it as option to turnaround the economy in the States like Ohio and California. The problem is making up for the lost revenue. I say legalise gambling is the first place to start. Of course it is not enough and you don't want to cut essential services like Education.

How are states that rely more on sales taxes doing compared to heavily income tax reliant states? I imagine the recession is affecting both worse than other states more reliant on (e.g.) property taxes and other sources of revenue that are more insulated from downturns in the economy. While I agree with you 110%, NCYank, that gambling should be allowed to help plug the budget gap instead of even deeper cuts in education, proposing elimination of the income tax with no proposal for replacing the 50% loss in state revenue other than "increased economic growth" is either jaw-droppingly foolish or grossly irresponsible. From his record in congress as a hardcore supply-sider I'm not entirely sure which category Kasich falls into, but I will "charitably" say the latter.

OF course in a perfect world I would advocate elimination of both the State Income and Sales Tax however recouping the costs would be almost impossible. Most states enacted the Income tax to improve there education systems, and I would be opposed to cutting them down drastically. Also I do beleive, badger, that I said removing the Income tax without recouping the money somehow would be irresponsible.