Columbus Sucks the Life Out of Ohio

Columbus Sucks the Life Out of Ohio

by Mark Luedtke

Does anybody else remember when Columbus was a small town that surrounded Ohio State? According to Wikipedia, in 1960 (before I was born – I'm not that old), Cleveland was Ohio's largest city with a population of 876,050. Cincinnati was second with 502,550. Columbus was third, home to Ohio State and a few government offices, with a population of 471,316. Fast-forward, and Cleveland's 2007 estimated population was 438,042. Cincinnati's was 332,458. Columbus's was 747,755.

The combined populations of Cleveland and Cincinnati have dropped by 44% since 1960. Columbus's population has increased by 59% over the same period. Over the same period, Dayton's population dropped from 262,323 to 155,461, a 41% decrease. Columbus isn't growing because of a beautiful and strategic position on the Great Lakes or the Ohio River. Columbus isn't growing because of a beautiful and strategic location on the Great Miami River or I-75. The only thing Columbus offers that no other city in Ohio can compete with is Big Government.

Forbes magazine just listed America's 10 fastest dying cities. Cleveland was 5^th, Dayton 6^th, Youngstown 9^th, and Canton 10^th. Thanks for stating the obvious. Really. Because apparently Ohioans didn't get the memo that Ohio is being crushed under the burden of Big Government. Michigan is next worst. Detroit is the 2^nd fastest dying city and Flint is the 8^th. Yay Buckeyes. We're outpacing Michigan in the race to poverty and irrelevance.

In 1970, only 3 states had a lower tax burden than Ohio. Moreover, Ohio had no income tax. Ohio was the place to do business. Thanks to our low taxation and high economic freedom during the '70s, Ohio weathered a real energy crisis, economic crisis, and automobile industry crisis that makes today's exaggerated crises look like Nancy Pelosi throwing a hissy fit. Which is pretty accurate.

But in the '70s, Ohio adopted an income tax, Marx's onerous tax designed to punish productivity. As a result, the Tax Foundation reports that today Ohio has a top marginal rate of 6.555%. Ohio is the 7^th most highly taxed state. Ohio ranks 46^th in business tax climate. 45 other states are more inviting to businesses and the jobs they create than Ohio. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that because of Big Government, businesses and young professionals are fleeing Ohio to economically greener pastures, like Texas with its small government and zero income tax, like rats fleeing a sinking ship. The only place in Ohio not sinking is Columbus, thanks to tax dollars and people sucked from the rest of the state. Big Government in Columbus is literally sucking the life out of the rest of Ohio.

But we can't blame all Dayton's problems on Ohio government. Big Dayton Government chases productive citizens to greener pastures too. Dayton forces an additional 2.25% income tax rate on productivity. Remember when The Green was a downtown Dayton development? Dayton government pushed the project to Beavercreek. Now Reynolds and Reynolds is moving its 400 jobs to Kettering. Pretty soon the only people left in Dayton will be welfare recipients and old people too poor to move to Florida.

And lawyers. I bet 90% of the businesses downtown are law offices, businesses subsidized by tax breaks, and the banks which serve them. Even that can't last. National City just closed a downtown branch.

Longtime residents love to reminisce about the glory days of Dayton, and there's a lesson to be learned from those stories. Kitty's was a thriving downtown restaurant not too long ago, but the city provided tax incentives to bring Uno's to town. Because of Uno's tax breaks, Kitty wasn't able to compete, and she was forced out of business. The Landing is subsidized by tax breaks, hurting nearby condos. Tax incentives lured CareSource to Dayton.

Dayton's leaders know high taxes run businesses out of town and low taxes enable businesses to thrive, but why should government favor some businesses over others? That's a recipe for nepotism and corruption. All businesses benefit from low taxes. Individuals and the community too.

Dayton and Ohio citizens have nobody to blame for our economic woes but ourselves. Instead of voting for freedom, low taxes, severely limited government, and the prosperity that always flows from those things, we vote for Big Government politicians and policies that crush state and local economies. We should only vote for politicians who will cut taxes and spending and abolish the income tax, but we always vote for the opposite.

Governor Strickland plans to use $1.7 billion in new bond debt, that must be paid for by future taxes, to force Ohioans to buy expensive, alternative energy, create a Big Government administered jobs program that's guaranteed to chase more jobs out of the state, and create additional bureaucracy in our K-12 and college education systems, making them even less accountable to students and parents while also quashing school vouchers and private schools.

The private sector could provide better education and care for the needy at lower cost than government, which would create jobs. Instead, Montgomery Co. voters chose to raise taxes to subsidize Sinclair Community College, which fails to graduate the vast majority of its students, and to raise taxes for the Health and Human Services welfare program, which pays people to not work. The higher taxes and wasteful spending chase jobs out of the county.

As long as we continue to vote for Big Government, Ohio and Dayton will continue their downward spirals.