Ohio's Governor Race (Columbus, Cleveland, Dayton: hotel, income, income tax)

[Dumbdowndemocrats]

Originally Posted by Beavercreek33

Because the race has basically come down to these two.

I hail from Scioto county home of Teddy and all i have to say is when he gave a campaign speech aired on T.V. the other day he was angry spewing the same old hate against people who have views and ideas that the Tea Party have.That turns me off when politicians do this its like they have something to hide.Instead of being a leader to solve Ohio's woes he diverts the attention of his failings by attacking these people.He was our REP in Congress and did vote against those bad trade deals but he is Obama's lap dog by accepting Govt money to smooth out a budget that should be slashed instead,cut taxes to create a more business friendly environment. No i will not be voting for Teddy a Scioto county boy...

[Droolrockworm]

While I am and have been dissappointed in Strickland's tenure so far he is by far the best option for Ohio. As for the last post cutting the budget isn't really that feasable since so much of it is unfunded mandates from the Reagan and Clinton administrations. Both parties have been pushing Federal programs to the states without funding leaving the state to raise taxes or cut things that are the state's responsability. Those at the federal level know that they will lose their jobs if they cut programs so they force it down the line to the states, where tough choices have to be made.

A flat tax is a horrible idea...Lower and middle class families will see a major tax raise and the upper class will see massive tax cuts. Sales tax is regressive because you are only taxed on what you spend. Middle and lower classes spend nearly 100% of their income to get by meanwhile it would encourage the wealthiest to cut their spending and everything they don't spend will be tax free. The fair tax is anything but...it is simply a way to continue to push the tax burdon further down the income stream.

[The Don]

Originally Posted by LostSoul83

I am not an Ohioan but just figured I would let yall know there is also a Green Party and Libertarian Party folks running for Governor as well as a write in guy

Hate to break it to you, but the next governor/senator/congressman will be a Democrat or Republican. Not a Green/Libertarian/Constitutional, etc.

[The Don]

Originally Posted by Droolrockworm

Middle and lower classes spend nearly 100% of their income to get by meanwhile it would encourage the wealthiest to cut their spending and everything they don't spend will be tax free. The fair tax is anything but...it is simply a way to continue to push the tax burdon further down the income stream.

Yes middle and lower income people spend a larger percentage of their income than do upper income (who tend to invest more). But under our current tax system, and those being proposed, most necessities -- food, rent, medicine, medical care are NOT TAXED.
As to your perception of the fair tax, what level of pre-bate are you assuming? Could be that taxes would go down for lower income people.

[Droolrockworm]

As it stands the lowest income earners pay little or no taxes and I as a middle-class wage earner would indeed pay more under every "fair tax" proposal I have seen, unless I chose not to purchase items which would indeed be bad for the economy and would not fix the gap required by the change in tax format. As for the upper classes investing more this is a reaganomic fallacy. In absolute dollars its true but as a percentage of disposable income it is really very meager and would not and does not trickle down and help the economy. Anyone can mearly look to the Bush Era for this...lowered tax rates and government regulations have seen an increase in the gap between middle and upper class wages at the biggest rates in over 90 years. Exxon had the largest yearly growth in absolute dollars and cut jobs while vastly increasing the wages of its CEO and top officals. This was also while raising gas prices to nearly $4 a gallon on the common man.

[costello_musicman]

For the first time in my life, one issue is completely swaying me. I want that passenger rail for Ohio, and my vote is going to reflect that. Not that Strickland is impressive, but this project is personally important to me and to the people of Ohio.

Kasich scares me a little as being a little too over the top (aka Fox News). He has some decent ideas, but not enough to sway me or not think of him as a nut.

[woxyroxme]

Originally Posted by The Don

Hate to break it to you, but the next governor/senator/congressman will be a Democrat or Republican. Not a Green/Libertarian/Constitutional, etc.

Hate to break it to you, but things won't get any better for you or anyone else as long as the winner is in one of the two branches of the incumbent party. I am voting for Ken Mateze, the Libertarian candidate, voting for the demopublican duopoly sends the message that the majority is still too ignorant to understand the problem and hasn't suffered enough to care. We don't have any problems that were not caused by democrats and republicans.

Strickland is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet, just not the smartest.

Kasich I trust as far as I can throw my house, what a crook.

Why would anyone vote for either of them when they have a better choice?

The time to wake up and clean house is now, there are a lot of Libertarian candidates that will be on the ballot in Ohio, use this opportunity to send a message.

[mdmagana]

Originally Posted by costello_musicman

For the first time in my life, one issue is completely swaying me. I want that passenger rail for Ohio, and my vote is going to reflect that. Not that Strickland is impressive, but this project is personally important to me and to the people of Ohio.

Here in New Mexico our Gov. fought long and hard to get a commuter rail between Albuquerque and Santa Fe. (About a 1 hour drive. Many people live in ABQ but work SF.) It's been a complete disaster. Even when gas was $4 a gallon the train still lost money. Costs the state a pile of money every year... not to mention the hundreds of millions to put it in. What a waste.

I don't live in Ohio yet, so I can't vote, but I did donate to Kasich's campaign last week. One of the major concerns we had about relocating to Ohio is the taxes and the fact that it seems to be headed down the same road as California. The Democratic tax and spend and tax thing completely ruined my home state. Ohio (and a lot of other states) need to get spending and taxes under control before they end up completely screwed just like California. As much as part of me wanted to return to Orange County, all of my friends said to stay away... the state is just in too much trouble... so Ohio it is.

[JR_C]

Originally Posted by mdmagana

Here in New Mexico our Gov. fought long and hard to get a commuter rail between Albuquerque and Santa Fe. (About a 1 hour drive. Many people live in ABQ but work SF.) It's been a complete disaster. Even when gas was $4 a gallon the train still lost money. Costs the state a pile of money every year... not to mention the hundreds of millions to put it in. What a waste.

I don't live in Ohio yet, so I can't vote, but I did donate to Kasich's campaign last week. One of the major concerns we had about relocating to Ohio is the taxes and the fact that it seems to be headed down the same road as California. The Democratic tax and spend and tax thing completely ruined my home state. Ohio (and a lot of other states) need to get spending and taxes under control before they end up completely screwed just like California. As much as part of me wanted to return to Orange County, all of my friends said to stay away... the state is just in too much trouble... so Ohio it is.

Not to make this thread about the 3C rail, but...

I don't know anything about New Mexico's commuter rail. However, Albuquerque has a metro population of about 870k people, and Santa Fe has a metro population of about 184k. Cleveland's metro is about 2.25 million, Columbus' metro is about 1.7 million, Dayton's metro is about 835k, and Cincinnati's metro is about 2.16 million. (note, all MSA numbers taken from Wikipedia) There is a significant difference in scale; connecting 1.05 million people in NM vs. connecting almost 7 million living in the four MSAs served in Ohio.

I've also noticed recently that the meaning of "piles of money" is very subjective depending on where it is spent, and who is spending it. I think I've read that officials expect the 3C to need a subsidy of about $30 million a year to operate, (someone please correct me if I'm wrong) and the republicans are throwing a fit about it. Yet, in 2007, ODOT required almost $1.3 BILLION in subsidies from non-user fees to make ends meet. (and I believe the gap has only gotten worse since then)

[mdmagana]

Originally Posted by JR_C

Not to make this thread about the 3C rail, but...

I don't know anything about New Mexico's commuter rail. However, Albuquerque has a metro population of about 870k people, and Santa Fe has a metro population of about 184k. Cleveland's metro is about 2.25 million, Columbus' metro is about 1.7 million, Dayton's metro is about 835k, and Cincinnati's metro is about 2.16 million. (note, all MSA numbers taken from Wikipedia) There is a significant difference in scale; connecting 1.05 million people in NM vs. connecting almost 7 million living in the four MSAs served in Ohio.

I'm not trying to argue or anything, but how many of those people are commuting to another metro area for work? Dayton and Columbus I can sort of see... but Cleveland? I think that train would be pretty empty. Wouldn't it make more sense to connect Cleveland to Pittsburgh? Of course I'm on the outside looking in.