Ohio Voters Get the Shaft
The Ohio House and Senate sent their budget to Governor DeWine last week. There was one, clear, over-arching theme in their work product: make the rich, richer, and do it on the backs of working Ohioans. It’s exactly why that same body completely ignored two popularly elected Ohio Constitutional amendments against gerrymandering. They want unlimited power, unfettered control, and to make sure their “real” constituents benefit. And this week, they sure used it.
Governor DeWine, unlike President Trump, has one more power over legislation. The President has a single choice when he gets legislation, he can allow it all to become law, or reject it all with a veto. But DeWine, and several other Governors, can issue a “line item” veto. Portions of a bill can be rejected without rejecting the entire project. Those vetoes are subject to override (just like the President). In fact, it’s easier to do in the Buckeye State. It only takes three-fifths of the legislature (both the House and the Senate) to override the Governor’s line items. For the President the Congress needs two-thirds vote of each House.
Veto or Not
Gerrymandering guarantees that the Ohio Senate has twenty-four Republicans and nine Democrats. Three-fifths means twenty votes, so it’s easy for the majority party to override DeWine’s objections. The Ohio House is even more lopsided, with sixty-five Republicans and thirty-four Democrats. It takes sixty votes for an override. So while DeWine vetoed some of the most egregious budget items, particularly ones that will have drastic impacts on public school finances, the fight isn’t over.
DeWine accepted parts of the budget that will make sure that, here in Ohio, “the Heart of it All”, the rich will get richer. The biggest is the “flat tax”, requiring every Ohio taxpayer to pay the same percentage of their income in tax. While that may sound “fair”, in reality it shifts the tax burden from the wealthy (now paying a higher rate in a “progressive” tax) to those with less income. And since that means less money to the state, the legislature has cut money for health care, education, and other items that “regular” citizens depend on.
Oh, except for the $600 million for the Browns new stadium. Ohio has the money for that, and even exempted the Browns from the “Art Modell Law” which kept them from leaving the city of Cleveland. So a new “dome” will go out by the Cleveland airport, and the renaissance of downtown Cleveland will take a huge hit. But I’m sure the legislators will find it easier to find parking in Brook Park.
Liars Figure
And if this effort to make sure the “rich get richer” sounds familiar: check out what’s going on in Washington, DC right now. President Trump’s so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” is currently dragging through the US Senate. Ultimately there will be a very narrow vote for or against it. (Though if you’re betting, bet that it will pass). It’s the biggest income “redistribution” legislation in US history. It moves more money to the wealthy, and leaves regular Americans “holding the bag”. Sure, everyone’s income tax might be reduced a little bit. But the rising cost of health care, and the ultimate cost of huge increases in government deficits, will wipe out the lower and middle class reductions almost immediately.
Of course, the folks in the White House say that’s “a lie” (White House). The Congressional Budget Office (CBO), as unbiased a group as the government has, reports that the Bill as proposed in the Senate will raise the US debt by over $3.3 Trillion in the next ten years. The White House argues that the CBO isn’t “figuring” it right. Here’s the deal (as in, “figures lie and liars figure”).
The CBO uses a simple process: they look at the taxes that the “Big Beautiful Bill” doesn’t bring in, and the spending that the bill doesn’t cut, and come up with their debt figure. It’s called a “static estimate”. The White House uses a different process. They estimate how much the money that doesn’t come in as taxes will stimulate the economy. That stimulation will create “new tax money” , according to them, and offset the tax cuts to reduce the debt.
Trickling Down
For those of us who were around, it sounds a lot like the Ronald Reagan, “trickle down economics”. Let the rich keep their money and they’ll spend it, so that everyone has more money. Of course, that didn’t work out in the 1980’s. Anyway, the White House calls it a “dynamic estimate”, and tries to ignore the CBO.
So the rich get richer, both from Washington, and from the Buckeye State. Meanwhile programs that feed hungry children, provide health care for the poor, keep rural hospitals open, support public education, and a whole raft of other programs get cut. Something had to go, or the future debt would be so high that no one, not even the US House, could swallow it.
But the Browns get their stadium. And President Trump gets $1.2 billion to rebuild his “gift Air Force One” from Qatar, a plane he’ll never get to use as President. Wouldn’t want either of them to “suffer”. As for the rest of us, President Bush said it best:
“There’s an old saying in Tennessee – I know it’s in Texas, probably in Tennessee – that says, fool me once, shame on – shame on you. Fool me – you can’t get fooled again.”
Bush fought to lower taxes for the rich. And, he increased the United States debt by $4.2 trillion: No Foolin’.
