Kasich, House Republicans Want to "Recharge Ohio" by Cutting Taxes on Rich People

Here is an interesting quote from a Cleveland Plain Dealer article:

Proposals to offer cuts to the state's estate tax as well as capital gains tax are being hashed out behind the scenes by Republican state lawmakers, House Minority Leader Bill Batchelder, a Medina Republican, acknowledged this week. 

Ohio is now in a situation where there is a huge shortfall in the state's revenues at a time when ordinary Ohioans are needing more and more government assistance. A large reason for the state's budgetary problems was the reckless tax cuts that the Republicans passed in 2005. Those tax cuts were targeted toward the rich. Now, with Ohio facing a multi-billion dollar shortfall, Republicans want even more tax cuts for the wealthy. 

The Republican rationale for the tax cuts is that supposedly rich people are fleeing the state. Well here are some questions for the House Republicans:

1. How many rich people are fleeing the state because of the state's estate and capital gains taxes as opposed to fleeing the state for other reasons? 

2. How many of those that are "fleeing the state" will stay if these tax cuts are passed" 

3. What is the effect on the state's revenues if this proposal passes? 

4. How will the Republicans make up any revenue loss? 

How much do you want to bet that the House Republicans won't be able to provide answers to those questions?

Dispatch Article About Medina State Representative Bill Batchelder's Quest for House Speakership

The Columbus Dispatch ran an article about Medina County's own Bill Batchelder and his campaign to become House Speaker. The article pointed out that both parties have leaders who are term limited in the Ohio House and therefore each party is going to have a leadership battle.

Besides the fight for leadership, there is also the continuing effort by the Ohio Democratic Party to take control of the Ohio House of Representatives. The article points out that neither party has ever taken control of the House from the other without using the reapportionment process. The House Democrats, however, are only four votes away from having the majority so they think that they can pull off a political upset next November.

The article points out that there is a four person team opposing State Representative Batchelder, but that he does have some important allies, including the Chair of the Franklin County Republican Party. Right Angle blog, a conservative blog for Republicans, is pushing for Batchelder to become Speaker.

Given the race for Speaker among Republicans, the effort by the Democrats to take back control of the Ohio House, and the fact that the Democratic House Leader is also term-limited, 2008 will be quite an interesting year in Columbus.