The pangs of Ohio history

WHEN JACK Gilligan ran for governor in 1970, he didn't mind reminding Ohio voters that if he were elected he'd be the prime mover in his support of a state income tax. Gilligan, a progressive Democrat, was elected anyway and Ohioans have been paying an income tax ever since.

In 1972, conservatives who couldn't bear the thought of any kind of tax sent the tax back to the ballot to repeal it. . They were in for a surprise. The voters handily retained the tax. Gilligan's risky initiative to pay the bills was the last great show of political courage at the Statehouse - and probably the last. Bring back Jim Rhodes, Gilligan's successor, who promised nothing but jobs/jobs/jobs and no new taxes. It soon became obvious that No Tax Rhodes, without ever flat out saying so, had no interest in getting rid of "Gilligan's income tax." It was an important course in his meal ticket to avoid raising taxes, no matter the need.

Nothing has changed. Much of the talk down in Columbus, a town just south of the Delaware County line, is to either lower or eliminate taxes. The argument is that this modern approach to the state's bulging deficit will make Ohio whole again while outsourcing the concerns of the middle class and poor to some yet-to-be-defined Shangri-la many years hence. (How do you end an estate tax for the tens of thousands who have lost their foreclosed homes? )

Jack Gilligan did what he had to do. You don't find that kind of budgetary heroism in Columbus today. The alternative is so much more convenient for the craven politicians who are proving what we might have expected from the so-called Caveman Caucus that has seized power in the General Assembly. They don't have a clue.

MORE OHIO HISTORY: For too many decades, Republican leaders at state and local levels have personally assured us that their party is serious about expanding its base. And now comes Republican Gov. John Kasich with an all-white supporting cast of senior officers. He explained that he merely wanted to get the best person for each job. OK. We'll give the GOP chiefs another 25 years or so, and if they still don't find the "best" person among minorities, we'll know they are making things up.

Kasich-Taylor prepare to turn out Ohio's lights

THERE WAS A LOT of recycled ear candy passed out at yesterday's announcement by Republican gubernatorial candidate John Kasich that State Auditor Mary Taylor would join him on the ticket. Such events for both parties are always euphoric moments before the candidates take to the stump and are forced to explain exactly what they meant. Among Kasich's promises were his commitment to eliminate the state income tax, repeal the estate tax, deregulate industry and commerce and shrink government. So who could argue?

Trouble is, the system doesn't work that way, never has and never will. As we have so often learned the hard way, when the state shrinks its share, local governments must pick up the pieces; that is, if you want to keep the schools and a lot of other public services and projects moving along. When it comes to cash flow, Kasich, a former managing director of Lehman Brothers before it crashed into bankruptcy, knows that as well as anybody. He just won't say so in the delirium of sweet talk to the voters, not the least of whom are his Tea Party friends. Several news reports that I read noted that he was much less specific about how he would pay the bills if revenue vanished under his proposals. Fact is, he couldn't.

Maybe a report by the Ohio Legislative Service Commission will be of help to the voters: the first year of a phased-out income tax would cost the state treasury $768 million. The commission said that would translate into $79 million in cuts to local governments and libraries in fiscal year 2011. Over 10 years, it would drain $12 billion from the state revenue. In terms that might be easier to understand , the Plain Dealer pointed out that 40 pct. of the state's general revenue comes from the income tax.

I'm surprised Kasich didn't blame former Democratic governor, Jack Gilligan, of saddling Ohio with the income tax in the first place. When Gilligan ran for governor in 1970 he frequently called for the new tax to, among other things, rescue cash-starved school districts. With uncommon, if risky, honesty about the state of the universe, Gilligan told the voters that if they didn't want an income tax, they should vote for the other guy. He won anyway. And when the tax was tested with a referendum two years later to repeal it, the voters again sustained the tax. (When Rhodes later entered the job, the joke around Columbus was that although the new governor was monstrously opposed to taxes, he never lifted a finger to rid the state of the "Gilligan tax." And we knew why.

So for the next 10 or 11 months, I suspect there will be marathon of headachy harangues against Gov. Strickland, taxes and state budgets, with nothing new added to the inertial Republican agenda.

Ear candy.