CUT TAXES, ASK QUESTIONS LATER: KASICH’S “PLAN”

Last week, Democrats across the state called press conferences to denounce Republican gubernatorial candidate John Kasich’s tax-cut plan. The stunt coincided with the launch of a website called kasichcuts.com, which shows how much Kasich’s proposal would cost each county.

Dayton City Commissioner Dean Lovelace had the quip of the day. “I thought Darth Vader only existed on film,” Lovelace said, according to the Dayton Daily News. “Obviously, there is a real one in Kasich, coming from the dark side to destroy services. We can’t have this kind of nonsense in the state of Ohio.”

In Cleveland, a small group of city council members warned that Kasich’s plan would suck money from the city’s budget and deplete jobs and services. Their message: Don’t mess with Cleveland’s local government fund, which accounts for about 10 percent of the city’s general fund, or $56 million.

Kasich’s plan, while still nebulous, became a bit clearer after state representative John Adams introduced a bill that proposed an income tax phase-out over 10 years. That plan would cost state and local governments and libraries nearly $900 million in its first years, and losses would rise to more than $12 billion by 2020, according to an Ohio Legislative Service Commission analysis.

In Cleveland, says council president Martin Sweeney, every $1 million lost could cost the city 12 police officers or 20 non-safety city employees. Sweeney was joined by Majority Leader Phyllis Cleveland (Ward 5), Jeff Johnson (Ward 8) and Martin Keane (Ward 19). Cleveland dismissed the income tax plan “voodoo economics.” To Republicans, she said, “Poor people don’t matter, working-class people don’t matter. In their mind, you get what you deserve.”

This article appears in Jan 27 – Feb 2, 2010.