I actually wasn't going to take the time to do this, but The Other Paper's stunningly craptastic front page article about the recent Ohio gubernatorial debate changed my mind. I missed the very beginning of the debate, but will pick up where I started recording, which was maybe 15-20 minutes into it...
Ted Strickland: We need to streamline government.We need to spend our money wisely. We need to get rid of the corruption tax. What do I mean by the "corruption tax"? I mean the pay to play system that has been presided over by Bob Taft and Ken Blackwell and others, that has wasted multiple millions of Ohio dollars. And my TurnAround Ohio plan is paid for. And so, this scheme, which he says will raise 4-6 billion dollars, without supporting any collaborating evidence, is a scheme, and Ohioans have rejected this. You talk to the mayors along the turnpike, they're all against it. I think most Ohioans recognize that this is an election year scheme. Other states that have done what Mr. Blackwell is suggesting have seen the tolls on their highways go up dramatically.
Blackwell is given 60 seconds to respond.
Ken Blackwell: As we speak, fellow Ohioans, Indiana has leased its turnpike, has cashed its $3.8 billion check, and is receiving a half a million dollars a day in interest. This is no gimmick. The only way that we're going to be able to finance these big economic stimulus projects that will grow our economy and produce jobs, like restructuring or relocating U.S. Route 62, or restructuring and widening I-80 is by actually finding out a creative way of financing. The reality is, and Wall Street has validated this, Indiana's not by itself. Illinois is out in the marketplace now...we could get 6 billion dollars to actually grow our economy and produce jobs. Mr. Strickland doesn't have an alternative. His alternative is to raise your taxes, which is consistent with his behavior in Washington D.C.
Strickland is given 30 seconds to respond.
Ted Strickland: Well, Mr. Blackwell just told you something that is not true. I am not going to raise taxes. But what I am going to do is live within our means, and invest in those things that are truly important to Ohioans. We're going to get rid of the corruption, we're going to streamline government, we're going to hold people accountable, and that's what Ted Strickland and Lee Fisher will do if we are given the opportunity to lead this state. My opponent can talk about me raising taxes all he wants to, but he's blowing hot air--that's absolutely not true.
Moderator: Now we come to the second round of questions, and Dennis Mangel (sp?) will ask his question of Mr. Strickland.
Mr. Strickland, you mentioned in your opening statement, getting money back to the local communities from Columbus. I would note that Columbus is not one of those cities that's in danger of being classified as one of the nation's poorest. Cleveland has the Lottery Commission, but aside from that, basically everything is in Columbus. And so, that raises the issue of decentralization. What, specifically, could you pledge to do to decentralize government in Columbus and to get some of that money scattered around the state?
Ted Strickland: Well, many parts of Ohio that are not part of the "three Cs" feel like they are part of "the other Ohio". But I am concerned that we have had a tendency to divide, to segment this state into winners and losers. I think we need a governor who's willing to pull this state together, and recognize that every part of this state is important, and every part of this state is unique.
Now when I talk about getting money back to the local economies, I want to share with you that I have worked with all of the big city mayors, who by the way are supporting me, including Mayor Jay Williams here in Youngstown, but the mayor of Cincinnati, the mayor of Dayton, the mayor of Columbus, ...the mayor of Toledo...all of these mayors are supporting me, because we have sat down together, and we have worked out a plan to revitalize our cities and towns. And as a result, these mayors know, Dennis, that when Ted Strickland and Lee Fisher take office, that we're going to consider ourselves their partners. We're going to work with the mayors and with the local economies. Not every part of Ohio's economy is like every other part--we need to recognize the unique strengths in the regional economies and make sure that the economic development dollars that are in Columbus, Ohio flow to these local communities for the projects that the local leaders decide are important.
Blackwell is given 60 seconds to respond.
Ken Blackwell: The governor is responsible for helping to guide our state economy back to a state of renewal where it's producing jobs. We do it simply by doing a couple of things. We need to reform our confiscatory tax code, which is right now a steeply graduated income tax structure, make it fair, make it competetive with the states in the neighborhood in which we reside. I think that rate is a 3.25 percent rate that we get to over the next two budgets. That's what we need to do is to cut taxes.
Let me tell you, the Republican General Assembly actually reformed our taxes and created a tax cut that jump started our economy and started to produce jobs. Only one Democrat voted for that, to cut those taxes. He's not going to come in here and deviate from his party. He is a tax increaser, and I would suggest that what he's going to do will not help the cities, but hurt the cities.
Strickland is given 30 seconds to respond.
Ted Strickland: Well, I would just point out that there's a reason why all of the big city mayors--all of them--Mayor Mallory in Cincinnati, Mayor McLin in Dayton, Mayor Coleman in Colulmbus, Mayor Jackson in Cleveland, Mayor Williams right here in Youngstown. There's a reason why these big city mayors are supporting me. Because they know that I have a plan, and I will be their partner, and we will work together. We will not continue to neglect our cities, as has happened under Bob Taft and Ken Blackwell. They've been in charge for over 16 years. Ohio needs change.
Question: Mr Blackwell, with so many communities here in the Mahoning Valley struggling to make ends meet, let alone across the rest of the state, what are you planning to do, as far as pushing reforms, if you are, through the General Assembly, to encourage communities, like those here in the Mahoning Valley, to consolidate, or merge some of their services to create effieciency?
Ken Blackwell: Well, many, many of the cities are doing just that. We have mutual aid pacts, we have joint purchasing pacts, and we will continue to encourage that. But let me just tell you why all of these big city mayors are supporting Ted Strickland, probably because they're all Democrats. You know, presiding over cities that are going the wrong way. What we want to do is give them leadership, give them cooperation that will actually cut taxes, reform our regulatory environment, streamline government, make our state more conducive to capital investment.
There's a simple principle in market economies like ours: capital seeks the path of least resistance and greatest opportunity. Right now capital is fleeing, jobs are fleeing, and the governor has to bring about change. That's why I've been on the cutting edge of restraining state spending, reforming our tax code, cutting taxes. Our burden right now is the third highest in the nation. We must continue to cut it away in order to jumpstart our economies at the state and the local level. I'm going to provide leadership, not goal-setting. You know, this "I'm okay, you're okay" is nice in psychology, but I tell you right now, what Ohioans are looking for are people who will provide leadership to put them back to work and actually strengthen the education that their children are receiving.
Ted Strickland has 60 seconds to respond.
Ted Strickland: Well, I would just say to my worthy opponent, my ideas are okay, your ideas are not okay for Ohio. The fact is that we have a plan to discourage one community from trying to steal from another community. I'm against poaching--that hasn't helped anyone. And so we're going to use our economic development dollars, and make those dollars contingent upon these communities being willing to cooperate, rather than to compete. It doesn't help either community, eventually, if all we do is trade jobs from one community to another. We need to be building and creating new jobs, and in order to do that, we're going to invest in our regional economies, and we're going to make sure that the local leaders have significant input into how these dollars are spent. We're sick and tired of Columbus, Ohio exercising the heavy hand, trying to tell local communities what is best for them. And so we're going to work cooperatively, we're going to invest in the local economies, and in that way we're going to create jobs.
Blackwell is given 30 seconds to respond.
Ken Blackwell: Look at his record, don't read his lips. Listen to what he's said on his own accord. He said, "You know, after twelve years, I didn't leave a deep footprint in Washington D.C." He said, "My voting record is the mirror image of Dennis Kucinich and other liberals like Nancy Pelosi." The fact is, this is going to be a race between my time-tested approaches of cutting taxes, restraining government spending, and growing our economy to create jobs, and his tired, liberal approach of tax and spend, tax and spend. He's a taxer, and his record indicates that.
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