Five bad Republicans join Strickland and democrats to raise Ohio income taxes

After sixteen years of Bob Taft and George Voinovich, and lemming-like Republican leadership in the House and Senate such as Jean Schmidt, Ohioans have gotten used to Republicans voting in favor of every single bad tax-and-spending bad idea to come up in Columbus.  Five Republican Senators sold us out once again.

However, under House Minority leader Bill Bachelder, a committed conservative voice in Columbus, and following the disastrous 2006 elections when Republicans lost all but one non-judicial statewide office, we thought maybe they had learned their lessons.  We were wrong. 

When the Ohio Supreme Court declared that proposal to bring slot machines to Ohio racetracks was subject to a referendum, it created an $800 million hole in Ohio’s budget.  Predictably, democrat Governor Strickland and democrat leaders in the Ohio House and Senate proposed an income tax hike for Ohio’s already-oppressed taxpayers. 

House Republicans were united in their opposition to the Stickland plan.  Moreover, we appeared to be saved by a firewall against tax increases erected by the Republcian-controlled Senate.  Over Thanksgiving, the Senate adjoured without acting on the Strickland tax hike proposal.  Then, in mid-December, Senate president Bill Harris, Clermont County Senator Tom Niehaus, Mark Wagoner of suburban Toledo, and John Carey and David Goodman both of suburban Columbus.

COAST thanks Hamilton County Republican Party Chairman Alex Triantifilou for condemning the traitorous acts of these so-called Republicans. 

We encourage the remaining Republicans in the Senate to act like Republicans and remove these traitors from their leadership posts in the Ohio Senate.