From the Advertiser-Tribune

In an episode of K.I.S.S. and TEL, Ohio's Republican-led legislature has compromised with the GOP candidate for governor.

By substantially simplifying a proposed spending cap, the lawmakers have captured the essence of the proposed Tax & Expenditure Limitation Amendment. At the same time, a major concern - and source of grass roots opposition - appears to have been averted.

Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell, who won the GOP nomination for governor May 2, heads a committee which proposed the tax-reform amendment known as TEL. The amendment, to appear on the Nov. 7 ballot, would limit state general-revenue growth to 3.5 percent a year. The measure has been drawing criticism for its potential impact on local libraries, schools and other entities which receive revenue from the Local Government Fund.

They seem to get it.

Read this report from WHIOTV.com

It looks like a plan to cut waste and excessive spending in the state and local government is about to be yanked from the ballot.

 

In Columbus, anti-tax politicians had a plan to limit spending by state and local governments. They wanted to put it on the ballots in November, but now that plan has run into trouble.

 

Republican candidate for Ohio governor, Ken Blackwell raised the issue at first, saying state and local governments spend money like drunken sailors. So, he and other supporters began the process of putting a constitutional amendment before the voters in November.

 

However, in recent weeks, he has learned the proposal has drawn heavy criticism from local governments. They said it threatens local services such as fire protection, and could interfere with job creation and economic development.

Here's a taste of what the next 6 months is going to be like. Enjoy!

From today's ABJ:

Blackwell retreats

A victory for Blackwell? Ohioans shouldn't let their memories slip. They would do well to recall the shoddy quality of the Blackwell proposal, the slogan sounding sweet, the detail revealing something sour and dangerous, so troublesome, in fact, that a broad consensus formed across the state, inviting concerns about the Blackwell candidacy, raising the question: What would he do as governor?

From today's Blade:

Blackwell's sellout on TEL

The Ohio Republican Party's best choice to recapture the traditional mantle of fiscal reform all of a sudden looks like just another politician willing to jettison his long-held principles to get elected.

Mr. Strickland's reaction to his opponent's sudden change of heart regarding TEL was right on the mark: "If voters can't trust him to stand up for his own ideas, how can they trust Mr. Blackwell to stand up for them?"

Scott Pullins of the Pullins Report had some bad press today in the Canton Repository.

Update: After looking at his blog, it looks like AG Jim Petro's daughter left Scott some slightly angry comments two weeks ago.

Some details of the liberal Republican legislature's run-around of limited government and fiscal restraint are detailed in today's Columbus Dispatch and you can color me unimpressed in the extreme:

Legislative leaders are expected to roll out a new spending cap today that could let state government grow at a faster rate than the constitutional amendment it would replace.

The law also would apply only to state general-revenue funds, and not the fees and other sources that the amendment would. In addition, the spending cap would grow at a consistent rate regardless of how much lawmakers spend the previous year.

The legislative plan would set a base year for spending and keep increasing the cap by 3.5 percent or the combined rate of inflation plus population growth, whichever is higher.

Lawmakers also plan to exempt certain spending from the limits in the new law, including money set aside for local governments.

I fully expect that the fiscal restraints mandated in the TEL will be neutered beyond recognition and while it is still being debated whether the legislature has the authority to remove a certified issue from the ballot -- those in favor of limited government and who stand in opposition to government bullying will lose.

From Openers

In the Ohio Republican Party’s latest the-sky-is-falling fund-raising appeal, party chairman Bob Bennett declares that Republican gubernatorial candidate Ken Blackwell is “near penniless.”

And to get Republican donors reaching for their wallets faster than Rush Limbaugh stretching for his pain medication, Bennett recounts the encroaching signs of the Apocalypse: “liberal billionaires like George Soros,” “gay civil unions,” “government funded abortions,” and “Sherrod Brown.”

About the only Republican flash point he left out is Hillary Clinton.

“Time is of the essence," he writes in the letter. "We don’t have a day to lose. Ohio’s future is at stake,” he writes.

Now that the journalists can blog, their true bias comes out. Why take a pot shot at Rush? He just got off of his criminial case and he's been in treatment for two years. That shows how liberal our "reporters" are.