Bob Taft:
"This statement, made just before the 1998 election, was Bob Taft's last expression of opposition to E-check. For the next eight years as Ohio governor, he did nothing to stop this wasteful, intrusive curse on residents in 14 of 88 Ohio counties."
Bob Taft said this in October, 1998 in the Columbus gubernatorial debate, and despite winning that election and re-election in 2002, he did nothing to end E-check. Fueled by citizen outrage, it expired in December 2005 in 7 counties, but continued in some northern Ohio counties. The legislation Mr. Taft referred to was House Bill 172 from 1997. This Bill was another one of many actions by our elected officials that were contrived to deceive from the very start. The simple truth is HB 172 would not have done away with E-Check, but it would have made it stronger while protecting areas of the State like Columbus from ever getting the program, no matter how bad their air quality. Bob Taft knew this before the 1998 Governors debate and was reminded after the election, but chose to ignore the issue completely.
If the first term lies and broken promises weren't bad enough, Bob Taft, at the very start of his second term raised taxes on car plates, drivers licenses, hunting and fishing licenses, barber shops, tanning salons, cable and satellite TV, and the list goes on. He also drained a $1 billion dollar surplus "Rainy Day Fund," spent $120 million of the tobacco settlement to balance a bloated budget, and raised the Ohio sales tax. This all took place after promising not to raise taxes and attacking his opponent as a tax and spend Democrat. To replay clip hit reload/refresh browser button or right mouse click on link below, then "save as" or "save target as" to download the clip. Video Link
Many of us recognized long ago that Bob Taft was not the only Ohio Republican that lacked the leadership qualities to bring Ohio into the 21st Century. Other statewide candidates like Betty Montgomery, Joe Deters, Jim Petro, Ken Blackwell and Mike DeWine turned their backs on the citizens and climbed in the pockets of special interests. Although their lack of leadership resulted in "The Great Republican Massacre of 2006," neither they nor their special interest campaign contributors will suffer the consequences. That distinction goes to rank and file Ohioans, and the only way we will return government to the people is to take away the incentives for our federal legislators to ignore their oaths of office in favor of pandering to the special interests that send them back to Washington year after year.
Three giant steps in the right direction would be to:
1. Establish term limits for U.S. House and Senate members,
2. Change the federal tax code to one that is fair, simple and pays the bills,
3. Pass a Balanced Budget Amendment.
In the 2008 election and beyond, these issues should take center stage, because if we don't fix our government soon, they will continue to spend us into oblivion, and along with that, destroy the American dream for our children and grandchildren. If that is to be your legacy, so be it, but it will not be mine, at least not without a fight.