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What happened to traditional Democratic values?
By Michael Douglas
Beacon Journal editorial page editor
Published on Sunday, Jun 21, 2009
Ted Strickland shrunk before our eyes. The governor who promised to turn around Ohio has turned his back on yet another pledge.
He once explained that ''if I had been in the legislature when the Ohio Lottery was passed, I would have opposed it.'' He called the lottery a ''regressive tax.'' He argued that the negative consequences of casino gambling far outweigh the benefits. He described a gambling addiction as ''an insidious condition that can ruin lives.''
On Friday, the governor proposed an expansion of the lottery, adding thousands of slot machines at seven horse racetracks. He acknowledged the ''difficult choice'' was ''contrary to what I ever thought I would have to do,'' but added that it is ''necessary'' in view of the ''extraordinary challenges facing Ohioans these days,'' a projected budget deficit of $3.2 billion, unemployment at 10.8 percent, the full fallout from the embattled auto industry still to come.
Strickland argued the state ''has not confronted such difficult circumstances for 80 years,'' since the Great Depression. Unfortunately, the governor has performed more in the mold of Ken Blackwell than Franklin Roosevelt.
Consider his approach as the budget situation has deteriorated during the past year. Of course, spending reductions must be part of the package. The governor noted that his administration already has sliced nearly $2 billion. Now he proposes to cut another $2.43 billion. That's $4.4 billion in all. The projected revenues from the new slot machines for the biennium? Around $765 million (a rosy estimate).
Put another way, spending reductions account for an overwhelming share of the response, in the range of 85 percent. At what larger cost?
Pari Sabety, the governor's budget director, frequently has stressed the need for the state to spend money as part of bolstering the economy. That is the purpose of the federal stimulus dollars, countering the recession via such steps as keeping state workers on the job and continuing to make programs and services available.
In that way, the worst part of the governor's framework isn't the arrival of slot machines. It is the neglect of the disadvantaged, the poor and priorities critical to advancing the state.
The governor would insist such a contention is wrong. He repeated that hard as the choices have been, he has done all he could ''to provide for the greatest number of vulnerable Ohioans.'' He highlighted the remaining freeze on college tuition and the ''continued investments in a reformed system of education,'' adding that ''delaying this is not an option.'' Yet he already has pushed way back implementation of his promising school reforms. Hard to believe higher education won't be harmed by the knife.
Look at some of the programs on the chopping block. Public libraries would be whacked. So would the Early Learning Initiative, a program that combines health screenings and child care. There would be reductions in services for mental health, foster care, cash assistance for the physically disabled and meals and transportation for seniors.
Medicaid provides health care to the poor and indigent elderly. The program would be slashed by $770 million, putting in jeopardy an additional $400 million from the federal government, leaving a total reduction of nearly $1.2 billion — at a time when the troubled economy has led increasing numbers to the program's door.
The governor knows all of this. He cited the ''painful cuts,'' reductions in ''worthwhile and critical programs and services.'' Yet when asked what prompted his decision to raise revenue through slot machines, drawing a line on further spending reductions, he cited his concern about overcrowded prisons. ''Intolerable'' was his word.
The answer seemed so politically massaged, the governor positioned as a crimefighter. It reinforced a deeper worry: What happened to the Democratic Party in Ohio?
When the governor's office laid the groundwork for its budget announcement by earlier unveiling the prospect of even more severe spending reductions, Armond Budish, the House speaker, hardly blinked. The Beachwood Democrat said he preferred spending cuts alone to close the budget gap, even though ''it will be extremely painful for the people of Ohio.''
The speaker soon leaped to follow the governor. Still, survey the landscape, and note those who have yet to be asked to make a significant sacrifice in balancing the state budget: those Ohioans at the highest income levels, who have worked hard, no doubt, yet also benefited from good fortune.
Worth repeating is they have joined other Ohioans in receiving an individual income tax cut in recent years. Restore the top income tax rate to its level in 2004 (7.5 percent), and the state would collect an estimated $940 million during two years, leaving the disadvantaged less vulnerable and most Ohioans still with a tax cut.
Studies make plain that such a step would be much better for the state, spending and investment doing more for the economy now and in the long run than such tax relief for wealthier households. But that won't happen here, even as 23 states have enacted tax increases this year, and 13 are looking at similar measures.
Ted Strickland fears the trap. Propose higher taxes, and Republicans will pounce, putting at risk Democratic political gains. So he embraces the half-measure of slot machines, postpones essential investment and leaves behind many of the needy and working poor.
The governor is so wary of the Republicans that he has become like them. That isn't the leadership, or the turnaround, he led Ohioans to expect.
Douglas is the Beacon Journal editorial page editor. He can be reached at 330-996-3514, or emailed at mdouglas@thebeaconjournal.com.
Ted Strickland shrunk before our eyes. The governor who promised to turn around Ohio has turned his back on yet another pledge.
Get the full article here.
Comments
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Posted 08:38 AM, 06/23/2009
This is a no brainer because If the outsiders from other states get there proposal on the ballot and it passes, you will have casinos going up in areas that people might object too. They will also get a bigger share of the take back to Indiana. At least the Gov. can see by doing it through the lottery it will already be all ours and put into gambling venues that are already gambling (racetracks). Wouldent it be better to take this proposal now then newbies coming into our state to run it? You decide what makes more sense. As for voting it down four times, thats nothing new as we vote and revote school levies twice a year every year.
