'Backers angry at move to take TEL off ballot'

To say the least...

From The Columbus Dispatch:

Mary Allison doesn’t trust lawmakers to control government spending by themselves. That’s why Allison, a Dublin Democrat, was one of nearly half a million Ohioans who signed a petition last year to place a proposed constitutional amendment on the ballot setting strict spending limits for both state and local governments.

It’s also why she now is angry that the legislature is planning to pass a bill today that would allow the committee that circulated petition forms for the Tax and Expenditure Limitation amendment, or TEL, to pull the issue from the Nov. 7 ballot.

In fact, although some petition signers contacted by The Dispatch said they don’t remember signing or don’t care, many who had an opinion said they want the chance to vote on the initiative.

"I don’t think you can be an organizer of a group, have everyone sign for a cause and then say you want to recall the petition," said Leslie Dannaher, 50, of Galena. "You’re asking people to sign under false pretenses."

Scott Borgemenke, chief of staff for House Speaker Jon A. Husted, said he thinks the legislature is on solid legal ground because signing a petition doesn’t guarantee the issue will be submitted for the ballot. That power rests with the issue committee, he said.

Borgemenke compared the situation to a candidate circulating petition forms to run for office and then deciding not to run. "All this does is continue to give the committee power to determine the outcome of signatures," he said.

But when Blackwell was still defending the amendment before the May primary, he argued that it should go forward because "half a million people signed a petition saying that they want this to be before the people for a vote."

This part of the battle is over and the liberals have won -- for now.

Here's to the hope that Mr. Blackwell sticks to his guns and uses his office to get a better-written (I still support the original amendment) piece of constitutional law in place to protect the hard-working people of Ohio. One that will protect us from all levels of government -- including your local uber-greedy city council.