* Republican candidate and continually absent Ohio Treasurer, Josh Mandel, continues to run more ads about boots. Unfortunately, Josh Mandel hasn't talked about what happened after the Marines. What jobs has he held out side of government? How was he able to hire so many friends, fraternity connected people, school buddies, and campaign workers for his office as Ohio Treasurer? Did these new hires fill out appropriate applications, provide resumes and verifiable references? It is just amazing how Josh Mandel is able to avoid speaking about issues in his campaign.
* You've heard all those Mitt Romney stories about how he claims that he never raised taxes in Massachusetts and created jobs as governor. Things are never what they seem. Here is how Romney paid for the budget gap.
Dispatch:
.....The presumptive Republican nominee and Democratic
state lawmakers raised hundreds of millions of dollars for cash-strapped state coffers by approving
new and higher fees on everything from marriage licenses to real estate transactions to gun
licenses.....
....Romney's handling of the fiscal crisis when he took over as governor in 2003 is a guide to
how he might act on his promises for lower taxes and reduce the federal deficit if he's elected
president. He has sketched a broad, fiscally conservative vision during the primaries but has yet
to specify how he would pay for it......
....Among the fee increases the study found: Marriage licenses went from $4 to $50, driving
permits from $15 to $30, deed-recording fees from $25 to $100 and mortgage-recording fees from $36
to $158.....
No matter how you look at it, Romney may not have raised taxes, but taxpayers paid out larger fees to cover everything. Taxpayers still lost money under Romney.
>>> All that gas drilling is not paying off for those governors that thought that it would.
USA Today:
Energy-producing states are bracing for lower tax revenue from the
plummeting price of natural gas, which is just above half of what some
states forecast when they put together budgets for 2013 and beyond.
Production of natural gas is up nationally
largely because of the spread of hydraulic fracturing, a drilling
practice that allows tapping of deposits formerly out of reach. A warm
winter cut demand, driving the price below $2 per thousand cubic feet
in April.
That reduces natural gas heating
costs for millions of Americans — the Energy Information Administration
estimates they will be 25% lower this year than in 2008 — but crimps
states dependent on natural gas taxes. Some are preparing for lower
prices for 2013 and 2014 budget years....
This is good for consumers.
