Last week, this column mentioned that state lawmakers, who are paid a little more than $60,000 a year plus up to $5,000 to 7,000 for committee assignments, are afforded a lucrative federal income tax write-off.
This tax break is made even more attractive due to the way lawmakers manipulate their legislative session schedules....
....the legislative perks debate was intensified this week when state Rep. Jennifer Garrison, D-Marietta, introduced a bill that would change the calculations to reimburse lawmakers for their mileage to and from Columbus....
I'm sure she was met with resistance. According to the article, some state senators and members of the Ohio House, have taken tens of thousands of dollars in tax deductions. I think that the IRS needs to look at some of these outrageous deductions. Some of theses elected officials are clearly milking the system.
*** Thomas Suddes has an opinion piece in the Dispatch where he compares the Republican-controlled Ohio Senate to a bunch of "clowns."
The only differences between the Republican-run Ohio Senate and the Ringling Bros. circus is that the Senate doesn't charge admission (unless you lobby), and Ringling clowns are professionals...
...Unemployment is worse in Ohio than nationally, and -- remarkably -- is even worse in some bedrock Republican counties (such as Huron, Crawford, Van Wert and Williams) than it is in some once-industrial counties in northeastern Ohio or the Miami Valley. No surprise, poverty and hunger are rising everywhere. Meanwhile, an $851 million hole yawns in Ohio's budget, though the state constitution requires a balanced budget.
The response of most of the 21 Republicans in the state Senate: Hm. We'll think about it (and, meanwhile, we hope Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland, up for re-election, gets blamed for the fallout our senatorial slacking guarantees).....
Suddes has it right. The Republicans in the Ohio Senate don't give a damn about anyone but themselves. They'd rather let the whole state go down the toilet than lift one finger to help get it back on track.
