Kasich plan just shifts Ohio tax burden around, economists say

By   /  February 14, 2013  /  Energy, Featured, News, Ohio, Ohio Government, Ohio Governor, Ohio House of Represenatives, Ohio Legistlature, Ohio Senate, Politics, State Government  /  3 Comments

THE PLAN: Kasich is proposing to extend the sales tax to 81 service industries, while cutting the rate from 5.5 percent to 5 percent. He also wants to impose a severance tax on oil and gas production, and use it to pay for an income tax cut.

 
By Jon Cassidy | Watchdog.org
Ohio Gov. John Kasich’s plan to impose new taxes on services and oil and gas production would weigh heavily on the poor, while opening the door to more cronyism, according to several free market economists interviewed by Ohio Watchdog.
Despite shifting tax burdens around, Kasich’s budget does nothing to reduce the size [...]

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OH: Lawmakers accuse poll observers of unspecified crimes

By   /  October 18, 2012  /  2012 General Election, Elections, Featured, Fraud, News, Ohio, Ohio Government, Ohio Senate, Politics & Elections, Voter Fraud, Voter Registration  /  3 Comments

State Senate Minority Leader Eric H. Kearney is one of the authors of a letter accusing a group of poll watchers of intimidating voters.

By Jon Cassidy and Kenric Ward | Watchdog.org
A watchdog group that scrutinizes voter rolls and sends observers to polling stations is under attack from a group of elected Democratic officials making unsupported accusations of criminal activity.
All 10 Democratic members of the state Ohio Senate sent a letter Wednesday to Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted accusing [...]

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OH: Few severance taxes are lucrative

By   /  August 31, 2012  /  Business, Economy, Energy, Environment, Ohio, Ohio Government, Ohio Governor, Ohio House of Represenatives, Ohio Legistlature, Ohio Senate  /  4 Comments

Gov. John Kasich wants to use a severance tax to fund an income tax cut.

By Jon Cassidy | Ohio Watchdog
COLUMBUS — Gov. John Kasich says that a severance tax on oil and gas production could raise up to $1 billion by 2016, and that the money could be used to fund an across-the-board income tax cut.
A review of severance tax revenues in all 50 states suggests they’re not quite so lucrative. [...]

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OH: Well production far below Kasich’s estimates

By   /  August 24, 2012  /  Energy, Environmental, Featured, Finances, News, Ohio, Ohio Government, Ohio Governor, Ohio House of Represenatives, Ohio Legistlature, Ohio Senate, Politics & Elections  /  No Comments

Gov. John Kasich

By Jon Cassidy | Ohio Watchdog
COLUMBUS — The actual early production figures from new oil and gas wells in eastern Ohio are much lower than the predictions Gov. John Kasich has been using to his sell his severance tax plan.
The companies operating 10 new wells disclosed the figures earlier this month. The average production rate at [...]

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OH: Second poll finds Senate race tied

By   /  August 23, 2012  /  2012 General Election, Featured, News, Ohio, Ohio Senate, Politics & Elections, U.S. Senate  /  No Comments

Josh Mandel is running neck and neck with incumbent U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown.

By Jon Cassidy | Ohio Watchdog
COLUMBUS – The U.S. Senate race between incumbent Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and Republican challenger Josh Mandel is neck-and-neck, according to a poll published Thursday by the Institute for Policy Research at the University of Cincinnati.
Brown leads Mandel 48-47 percent, which is within the survey’s 3.4 percent margin of error.
The Ohio Poll, [...]

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