Bob Taft: Loathe Him or Hate Him

[Joe Republic]

Oh, where do I begin?  The funny thing is that I never used to give a damn about local politics until Bob Taft reared his ugly head.  I'll give you a catalog of just a few aspects of his idiocy.

1. He proposed a really clumsy tax cut, which slashed funding to the essential programs that he promised not to touch (e.g. Medicaid), and left other useless programs intact.  In the end, the tax cut did nothing much to tackle the budget deficit.  Cleveland remains the poorest city in the country, and state-wide unemployment is still sky high.

2. Governor Taft ensured that as much money as he could spare would be poured into essential programs such as the renovation of rural barns (to make the countryside look pretty), and investing public money into a state-run rare coin collection.  This last genius idea has turned out to be tons o' fun, as it turns out that $13 million in those coins disappeared with the guy who managed the scheme, who also happened to make some hefty donations to the Ohio GOP and Taft himself.

3. During a pretty nasty flood season a couple years ago, the honorable Governor decided not to cut his golfing vacation short, and waited a few days before declaring some areas a state of emergency.  I don't remember too many details about this, but it's hardly a sign of vigorous and decisive behavior.

4. You ask why he's so unpopular with both sides?  Well he seems to say all the usual things that piss off the Democrats, but he's even more hated by the Republicans.  Taft now has the unshakeable title of 'RINO', and he won't be losing it.  Grover Norquist (head of the conservative Americans for Tax Reform): "[Taft is] an idiot, stupid, corrupt, dumb, rotten, Republican governor in the state who's been busy looting the state, and raising taxes and lying to gun owners."

5. This is just personal opinion here.  I find him incredibly obnoxious, and unable to take a conciliatory tone in the face of such record disapproval ratings.  Everything he touches turns to sh**t, and he's too arrogant to admit it or do anything about it.  He's a spoiled rich kid who nobody would give a damn about if not for his name.  He's a disgrace and an embarrassment to our otherwise great state.