Ohio's Peloponnesian War

The current battle in Ohio that pits Conservatives against Republicans and Democrats resembles the Peloponnesian War (431 B.C. - 404 B.C.) between the two poles of Classical Greece, Athens and Sparta. Both cities had entirely opposite styles of economies, freedoms, and governments. Sparta, with its more restrictive lifestyle, won. Today, the Republocrat establishment resembles Sparta, and it must not be allowed to win. Now, like back then, the war has many fronts, and today's front deals with slowing the growth of government spending, which is very different from decreasing spending.

On March 2, Blackwell appeared before the Columbus Bar Association and urged that Ohio's Tax Expenditure Limit (TEL) be passed. He advocated that

What we've learned from Michigan, Alaska, Missouri and Colorado is, you build in that flexibility. The purpose of this is to establish fiscal discipline in state government [and] attract and keep jobs. Ohio has a spending problem, period."

A Columbus Dispatch article on D2 by Joe Hallett and Mark Niquette noted that during the 1990's, even before Taft's tax-hike took place, Ohio lost 85, 833 resdients aged 24 - 44, while Colorado, which has a TEL in place, gained 220,914 residents aged 24 - 44.

Citizens of Colorado have had $3.25 billion dollars returned to themd from 1997 - 2001. In 2010 Colorado will have 1.7 billion less to spend on public services and gov't funding for higher education is running out.

The facts bear out the truth that cutting taxes and returning spending creates growth and retains citizens.

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