Democrat Dee Gillis is campaigning to replace Bill Beagle as senator for Ohio’s District 5. (This district covers most of Dayton and all of Preble County.)

Beagle is bragging in his TV ads that he voted with the Republican majority to reduce taxes by over $3 billion each year.

Gillis needs to respond to Beagle’s boast of reducing taxes. She needs to challenge Beagle to a debate about taxes. She should make these three points:

1. In order to reduce taxes at the state level the Republicans cut funding to local schools and local governments. These reductions have forced local communities to increase local property and local income taxes.
2. The across-the-board reduction in state income taxes, combined with an increase in sales tax and increases in local property taxes has changed the shape of Ohio’s tax system — making it less progressive, more flat, less fair.
3. If the last $3 billion in cuts each year to Ohio’s income tax had been made so that the progressivity of the system was not altered, each taxpayer would have received the same amount of reduction — about $750 each year.

Gillis should answer Beagle’s boast of cutting taxes by raising the question of tax fairness and tax purpose.  If income tax revenue is reduced by $3 billion, what is the most fair way to return this money to taxpayers?

Under Beagle’s $3 billion tax reduction plan, higher incomes got thousands of dollars of tax reduction each year and lower incomes got almost no tax reduction each year. Reducing the tax obligation of each taxpayer by the same amount maintains the progressively of the system. The first graph illustrates how total taxes could be reduced by 50%, without changing the progressivity of the system. As I figure it, $3 billion equally divided among Ohio taxpayers would have amounted to about $750 each year for each taxpayer. This reduction would have resulted in thousands of Ohioans, who now pay Ohio income tax, having zero Ohio income tax obligation.

The $3 billion in tax cuts Beagle is bragging about were made by reducing all income tax brackets by the same percentage. Ohio’s income tax structure is progressive so this “across the board” tax cut makes the progressively less steep, more flat. To illustrate, in the second graph the blue line shows a progressive tax system and the green line shows a 50%  “across the board” reduction in that system. Note that the green line is less steep, more flat than the blue line. The yellow line shows an 80%  “across the board” cut to that system. The more reduction, the flatter the system becomes. Note that the yellow line, showing a whopping 80% reduction, is almost completely flat.

At one time there was wide-spread agreement that to make taxes more fair, higher incomes should be taxed at a higher rate than the rate paid by lower incomes. I think there would be wide public support for the point of view that any future changes made to Ohio’s tax structure should be changes that either maintains or improves the progressivity of Ohio’s tax structure. Gillis should raise the issue of tax fairness and should challenge Beagle to a debate on the question: “Ohio’s system of taxation should be made more progressive.”

This is my note giving advice to Rob Klepinger, Democrat seeking election to the U. S. Congress to represent Ohio’s 10th District — Montgomery and Greene Counties. Rob is challenging the Republican incumbent, Mike Turner, congressman for the 10th (formerly the 3rd) for 12 years. Rob is 46 years old. He currently is employed as a high school chemistry teacher at a public high school. He has worked as a teacher for the last twenty years.

Rob Klepinger, Democratic candidate seeking election to congress to represent Ohio’s 10th District

Motivation is tough to discern, but, as I study your campaign, it seems to me that what drove you to seek election to the U. S. Congress is your passion for democracy. Your banner on Facebook says “Congressman For The People,” and in your you-tube interview with David Esrati you indicate that your big motivation to seek election to congress was your frustration at the thought that the incumbent, Mike Turner, might run unopposed.

There is wide-spread concern that our democracy is failing to solve problems and failing to plan for the future. If you could communicate your passion for democracy, your concern that our democracy is failing, you could gain the attention of a lot of “persuadable” voters who believe that the dysfunction of Washington — the ineptitude, corruption and partisan posturing — is caused by the dysfunction of our democracy. Many of these “persuadables” are looking for a point of view that offers an alternative to partisan posturing.

The 10th District would make a great battleground for a pro-democracy movement. Your message should be that a person elected to the U. S. Congress has the big responsibility of providing leadership to the District that he or she represents. You should show how your experience as a teacher has given you a lot of experience in leadership and make the point that an effective teacher is an effective leader.

Importantly, to gain credibility you must show a plan for leadership that, if elected, you will implement. You could post that plan here on DaytonOS. Such a plan would show, for example, how the work of congress would be made transparent and understandable. It would show a strategy to encourage public discussion and public education about matters of civic importance. Such a plan of your intentions would make a vivid contrast to the record of Turner’s behavior.

In summary, here is my unsolicited advice: In these last few weeks, make your message the fact that you are passionate about democracy. People are attracted to passion.  Make a plan for leadership that will be compelling in its imagination and scope. Post that plan here on DaytonOS.

See:

• Rob Klepinger’s League of Women Voters interview recorded at Dayton Access Television
• Rob Klepinger’s answers to Dayton Daily News questions for its “Voter Guide”

If Ohio law has any meaning, the Ohio Election Commission (OEC) should immediately remove the current TV attack ad that slimes Democrat Roland Winburn — representative for District 43 in the Ohio House. It claims that Winburn, “Ripped us off.” This ad is nonsense — laughable in its extreme efforts to confuse and misinform listeners — it degrades the whole political process and provokes new levels of cynicism.

Winburn’s opponent is Republican attorney Jeff Rezabek. His website says, “Jeff shares our principles.” Does Rezabek approve of this trash produced by the OHROC that slimes Winburn and completely misrepresents the facts? You’d think Rezabek would be embarrassed by the blatant dishonesty used by the ad. Winburn should build on Rezabek’s claim of “principles” and should call on Rezabek to disavow this ad.

Any adolescent running for a middle school office would be disqualified if they dared to campaign using such a low stunt as used in this TV ad. Does the public have no protection in how our public airways are used? Ohio law says that it is illegal to broadcast campaign messages that are untrue. Where is the OEC?

The ad says that Winburn, “failed to pay his own taxes on time while voting to raise our taxes by 800 million dollars.” It is laughable that in the OHROC’s effort to slime Winburn that this is the best they can do. The website referenced in the ad, rippoffroland.com, quotes from two Dayton Daily News articles.

• About the failure to pay taxes, the DDN says, “Winburn missed by four days his July 2012 payment on a local property he owns. Winburn paid $463.18 in past due property taxes and penalties and said he is not sure why he forgot to make the payment on time.”
• About voting to raise taxes by 800 million dollars, the DDN says, “(In 2009) Gov. Ted Strickland proposed and the Democratic-controlled House passed House Bill 318, which would delay this year’s 4.2 percent income tax cut in order to raise the money necessary to fill an $851 million hole in the state budget. A number of business groups support the plan as the best of a host of bad options for balancing the budget. Senate Republicans say the plan amounts to a harmful income tax hike.”

The ad makes four accusations all together — all purporting to prove that Winburn, “ripped us off.” In addition to the two above, it accuses Winburn of taking “an illegal tax credit,” and that he cut funding to local schools. The “illegal tax credit” charge is a rehash of an accusation made in the 2012 campaign that was thoroughly discredited. Winburn has been completely exonerated of any wrong doing. And Winburn has always supported funds for schools.

Here is the transcript of the ad:

What do we get as Roland Winburn as our state representative? Ripped Off.  Winburn took an illegal property tax credit and failed to pay his own taxes on time while voting to raise our taxes by 800 million dollars and cutting state funding to local school. Less money for education, less money in our pocketbooks. Stop letting Roland Winburn rip us off. Learn more at rippoffroland.com

It is shocking that an organization that represents Republicans already elected to the Ohio House — The Ohio House Republican Organizational Committee (OHROC) — would admit to creating and promulgating this trash TV ad. You’d think official Republicans would want to distance themselves from an ad this shameless. It will say a lot about the character of Winburn’s opponent if he refuses to disavow such immoral advertisement.

It is true that because of the Republican agenda, a lot of taxpayers are being “ripped off.”  But not by Winburn. His record shows that Winburn has opposed crazy tax changes made by the House Republicans that balanced the state budget by cutting funds to local communities and changed Ohio’s tax structure so that those taxpayers least able to pay taxes are paying at a higher rate than those taxpayers most able to pay.

Winburn has opposed these Republican “rip offs”:

• Every new property tax levy to support local schools will cost home owners 12.5% more
• Most homeowners over age 65 will not qualify for the “homestead exemption” for their homes.
• Drastic cuts in state funds to schools and local governments mean that to continue service, more and more taxes will need to be approved at the local level.
• Sales tax will increase on all items.
• Decreases in the state income tax, for average or below average income earners, will not be nearly enough to cover these increases in taxes at the local level. The total percentage of income paid in Ohio taxes will increase for most taxpayers.

The chart below is posted at Policy Matters: