State Rep. Jay Hottinger, R-Newark, would no doubt have been a big disappointment to former State Sen. Jay Hottinger.
Seems our hometown boy, who campaigns every two years as "watchdog of the treasury," is now playing the same sort of irresponsible political games he decried as a state senator only four years ago.
Rep. Hottinger, chairman of the Ohio House Finance and Appropriations Committee, was first out of the box on Wednesday to take a partisan swing at Governor Strickland for delaying a scheduled 4.2 percent cut in state income tax rates to plug a $851 million hole in the state budget. According to the Dispatch,
"The political fallout was instantaneous. Almost at the exact moment that Strickland announced his plan... state Rep. Jay Hottinger, a Newark Republican, e-mailed a statement blistering the governor for advocating a tax increase."
As it turned out, this didn't sit well with the Dispatch's normally Republican-leaning editorial board which for weeks has been calling for bipartisan cooperation between the governor and legislature to resolve the budget problem. In its lead editorial today, headlined "Political Games," the newspaper said:
"The budget can be balanced only by cutting spending or increasing revenue. Strickland and legislators already have cut spending drastically, eliminating $2.4 billion, much of it in programs and services on which needy Ohioans depend. Balancing the budget shouldn't fall any harder on the backs of those who can least bear it.
Republicans ought to know this, and that includes Newark Rep. Jay Hottinger, who wasted no time Wednesday cranking out an e-mail blasting Strickland for his "tax increase." That's an easy charge to make, but what would Hottinger and those who agree with him do instead? What else would they cut from the budget?
They aren't saying, but that's no surprise. They're playing politics instead of being statesmen. But Ohio can't afford their gamesmanship."
If this all sounds like familiar criticism to Hottinger, it should since he accused Republican gubernatorial candidate Ken Blackwell of the same tactic back in 2005.
To quote this time from the April 29, 2005 Newark Advocate:
"Blackwell, who addressed the Newark Rotary Club Tuesday...criticized state legislators for the growth in spending in recent years. During his remarks, Blackwell...said the budget state leaders are currently considering contains $4.2 billion in tax increases and only $1.9 billion in cuts over four years. It's a claim with which Hottinger takes issue.
"It's a net tax cut," Hottinger said. "The facts are we're cutting $4.2 billion. Taxes are being raised $3.3 billion. I would say to Mr. Blackwell, "You do the math."
(Strickland and Democrats today argue that, likewise, the governor's plan is not a tax increase since state income tax rates are just being frozen at 2008 levels and many families will still see a small net decrease in their income tax because personal exemptions are being raised.)
Hottinger, in 2005, then went on to criticize Blackwell for skewing facts "in order to score points with voters" and for his "rhetoric and recklessness with the facts."
"I think it's irresponsible of a government leader to criticize without offering solutions," Hottinger said, according to the Advocate. "I think it is incumbent on him as a candidate for governor to spell out where we should have those cuts."
Which is kind of the same cheap shot Rep. Hottinger is being accused of today. Again, from today's Dispatch:
"Those rapping Strickland's tax plan should offer own solution to budget crisis."
Bottom line: What a difference four years and a switch from the Senate to the House (not to mention the election of a Democrat as governor) have made in Hottinger's view in what constitutes responsible politics.
Sure it's all a game, but it's up to the voters to be the umpire and bench those politicians who don't behave.
-- David Lore
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