From the monthly archives: November 2010
John Kasich’s allies in the GOP have been touting a plan to merge into oblivion over half the existing state agencies. It’s been a plan that has largely been ignored as a “fringe” idea that the income GOP legislative leadership now is hell-bent on making a reality.
On Monday, we’ll examine the plan, what it means for Ohio, what it means for big business, and what it means for the Ohio budget.
Are the Republicans’ claim that it could save the State $1 billion a year well-founded? Is the plan workable? What does it mean for Ohio’s regulatory environment?
Stay [...]
Full Story... →As always, with an extra helping of snark.
BUY IT NOW !!!! any lectures on your faith is an extra $2.00
Go buy some.
Full Story... →The Ohio House Republican Caucus rode itself back in the majority by attacking Democratic incumbents for “cutting” school funding because the last budget cut overall state support for primary and secondary education. However, those “cuts” were offset by increases in federal funding.
Late yesterday, the Columbus Dispatch reports that one of the House Republicans early promises is to… massively cut primary and secondary education.
GOP legislative leaders say school districts would be wise to plan for cuts in state aid of 15 percent or more in the upcoming budget.
Oh, and they’re going to try to undo Ohio’s [...]
Full Story... →It’s only been slightly more than a week since the election and Republicans in the Ohio House are already showing their true colors.
Forget about jobs and helping small business and cutting spending and shrinking government.
Nope. That’s all just campaign chatter.
With months to go before they take over control of the Ohio GA, Republicans in the Ohio House are already preparing to push their extreme conservative agenda on the state.
Yesterday Republican Rep Courtney Combs said he plans to put an Arizona-style immigration bill “near the top of the agenda” as soon as possible. (yes, as [...]
Full Story... →From the Toledo Blade (“Railroad job”):
UNTIL the suffix is removed from Gov.-elect John Kasich’s title, Ted Strickland remains Ohio’s chief executive. The public pressure Mr. Kasich is exerting on Mr. Strickland to halt spending on studies of a modern passenger rail sy
stem in the state is neither helpful nor justified.
…
Meanwhile, the federal money Mr. Strickland is applying to contracts for engineering and environmental-impact planning – a projected $15 million to $25 million of the $400 million federal stimulus grant for the rail project – is not, in Mr. Kasich’s dismissive words, "unnecessary spending."
[...]
Full Story... →Breaking with a State Senate tradition that has, never, ever been broken, the Columbus Dispatch reports today that some Senate Republicans have declared that they will not confirm any Strickland appointee that has been pending confirmation unless the appointee agrees to resign by the end of the year. And in case you thought these were lame-duck appointees:
The Senate has gone more than five months without holding a voting session, allowing the number of unconfirmed Strickland appointees to pile up even though they already are serving in their posts. They include numerous university trustees, some Bureau of Workers’ [...]
Full Story... →Only in RepublicanLand does the guy who won with less than 50% of the vote know better what the people of Ohio want than the guy who won with over 60%.
Full Story... →Poor Carpetblogger. He tries his best to spin John Kasich losing $400 million in economic development dollars by killing the 3C passenger rail system whose planning dates back to the Voinovich Administration.
But each one of his points fails as nothing more than empty partisan rhetoric.
1. “Ohio can’t afford it.”
So under the original projections, Ohio will need to pony up about $135 million more in start-up costs in addition to the “$17 million or more in subsidies.”
Keeling’s point would have some merit if he didn’t engage in political hypocrisy. He’s saying that Ohio cannot afford [...]
Full Story... →After mulling over this morning’s post about how Kasich ally, Speaker-elect Bill Batchelder declared that it was “inevitable” that the Republicans would cut Medicaid eligibility to, in most cases, half their present levels, I do what I used to do all the time when I worked in the Statehouse: I started counting the votes.
When Ted Strickland won in 2006 with over 60% of the vote, there was relatively little change in the State House which continued to be controlled by then Speaker Jon Husted. Despite having both chamber controlled by the opposition party, Strickland’s mandate was so [...]
Full Story... →From the Columbus Dispatch, we learn that Republicans plan on drastically cutting Medicaid eligibility as a means to balance the budget and pay for the tax cuts they passed in 2005, and any additional tax cuts Governor-elect Kasich intends on passing.
After his speech, the Medina resident said that kind of shortfall means there is no way to avoid making significant changes to Medicaid, the $12.5 billion state-federal health insurance program for the poor and disabled.
"First, we have to apply for exceptions, a lot of them," Batchelder said, noting that in the past, the state asked the [...]
Full Story... →One day after Kasich sent his letter, the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation (and former Republican Congressman Ray LaHood) responds in writing. And for what we hope is the last time, tells Kasich no.
(HT: WSYX in Columbus)
The Honorable John R. Kasich
Governor-elect of Ohio
340 East Gay Street
Columbus, OH 43215
Dear Governor-elect Kasich:
Congratulations on your election. I am looking forward to the opportunity to work with you again. I understand that you have written to President Obama to request that the $400 million for the 3C program be [...]
Budget Watch
