Voinovich Has Called McCain A Liar....

.....well, sort of.

The main point being, this is all taking place in Ohio, over which we cannot obsess enough, according to the author of the following article. I tend to agree, but where are we on the security of Ohioans' votes? Can we be sure that all Ohioans, who are eligible to vote under Ohio law, will get to vote and will their votes be counted?

Just so you know: my opinion is that between now and Election Day in November, we cannot obsess about Ohio enough. Can Barack Obama, a black guy (did you know that?), or Hillary Clinton, a woman with high negatives, win the White House against John McCain, an old white war hero? All either has to do is win every state that John Kerry bagged in 2004 and swing Ohio from red to blue. The latter seems particularly doable given that the Republican Party has imploded in the Buckeye state thanks to a series of scandals and now Ohio is ruled (so to speak) by Ted Strickland, a popular Democrat, who just might end up in the No. 2 spot on the Democratic ticket. And it does seem hard to envision a McCain victory without Ohio on his side.

So any Ohio-related news is national news. That's one reason why I thought it's important that McCain has campaigned in Ohio with a megachurch pastor who has literally called for the eradication of Islam. If this story comes to hurt McCain--and he has to disavow this pastor--it could damage his effort to turn out fundamentalist voters in Ohio. (I may have more on that story soon.)

Today the political news out of Ohio is that the top-ranking Republican in the state has called McCain a liar. Well, kind of. At a forum of the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission on Wednesday, Senator George Voinovich said, "We're going to have to raise more money in this country. Did you hear me? We're going to have to increase taxes in order to do the job. Anyone that tells you that's not the case isn't being truthful with you. They're not being intellectually honest with you."

I must add my humble (no count) opinion to that of the senator from Ohio, Mr. Voinovich, a conservative of the old school, like the ones I grew up around: If a man or woman says to you that taxes will not have to be raised to help the next president and congress begin to drag us back from the social/economic abyss, not only is he/she lying to you and what's more, they think you are stupid.

Nevertheless, just raising taxes on people who make more than $250,000/year will not get us where we need to be. We need tax cuts on the people who will continue to consume because they have to. They have no choice and if we want them to be able to save anything, tax cuts are needed. I'm talking about people who make less that $60,000 after their employers take out money for retirement plans, benefits and social security, etc.

People who are disabled or retired, in other words, who are living on fixed incomes, of less than 60,000 per year should pay no taxes at all on that money. People who are disabled are finding themselves over-whelmed with healthcare costs, as are some retired people who are more elderly than the younger retired people. Until universal healthcare comes, these people are in failing financial situations.

Retired and/or disabled people who can find jobs that they can manage to do, should be taxed on earned money after the first $10,000/per year at a rate of 10%. They should not lose their healthcare as a result of earning extra money.

As the Ohio state Democratic party was lickety-split quick to point out, McCain has declared that under no circumstances will he increase any taxes if he is elected president. By Voinovich's standard, then, McCain is not being honest.

I doubt this disagreement will prevent Voinovich from campaigning for McCain in Ohio. But the anti-McCain ad writes itself: juxtapose Voinovich's declaration against McCain's. If Ohio is tight any issue could tip the national race one way or the other. This particular matter may not end up the decisive one. But pay attention to each and every bump encountered by either party's nominee in Ohio--for any one of them may be what throws an entire train off the tracks.

Some trains need to be derailed and as soon as possible.

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