For some reason unbeknownst to most reasonable Ohioans, Gov. Bob Taft was re-elected to four more years in office on election day. After only a couple weeks of review, our suspicions were confirmed – Gov. Taft is a hypocrite.
Gov. Taft’s nickname for Democratic candidate Tim Hagan through the whole race was “Taxin’ Tim.” He ran on the assumption that Ohioans would vote down Hagan because under his plan for pulling Ohio out of an sluggish economy, he would be forced to raise taxes.
Guess what? Now, it appears, Gov. Taft has said he would raise taxes if he can’t get sufficient money through other avenues.
Regardless of who made it into office, taxes everywhere need to be implemented. Vital state programs will suffer without a general tax, and federal highway funds will be denied Ohio without an increase in the gasoline tax.
But that doesn’t stand as defense for how Taft campaigned. He misled voters into believing there was a way out of taxes – his way. Those who voted against Hagan for that reason alone cast a misinformed, unresearched ballot.
Another major platform for Hagan’s campaign – using profits from video slots to help fund the flailing economy – has been heavily discussed in Ohio legislature lately. During the campaign, Gov. Taft compared Hagan’s proposal to a Hollywood movie – “over-budget, very expensive and unreal.” Yet it’s so unrealistic that Republican representatives and senators are trying to pass the measure over his head?
Taft has said he would veto any video slot proposal that comes before him. His spokesman has said, “We don’t think people want it.” Perhaps before self-righteously vetoing video slot bills on principle, he should take some time to find out why the legislature and many of the citizens of Ohio are actually discussing the issue with some amount of seriousness. Perhaps Ohioans see the potential for a revenue-booster that doesn’t include taxation.
So already, within two weeks, Taft has begun to show that his stay might be another term of “business as usual” for Ohioans. And another big issue is due to come under review another four times under the watchful eye of Gov. Taft: education.
Gov. Taft has four years to prove to Ohio that he has learned enough during his previous tenure and through his campaign to understand what is best for Ohio. Based on what we’ve seen so far, for the state’s sake, he’d better try a bit harder.
