Three Reasons to Vote "No" on Ohio's Issue 1

1. It will send the state of Ohio deep into debt. It may not require a tax hike now, but there is no assurance that one will be needed down the road. This measure will cost $1.85 billion ($163 per Ohioan). If tax revenues do not increase by that amount over the next few years, there will certainly be future tax increases.
   
2. This requires our politicians to decide which companies will survive. If this had happened in the late 1990’s, the cutting edge business would have been internet based dot.coms. Many of those companies have since gone out of business. How do we know that the state of Ohio is not about to give money to industries that are destined for failure? Would you trust Gov Bob Taft to make that decision?
   
3. It gives over $500 million in corporate subsidies. That may be good for the companies that receive the hand outs, but it puts an unfair burden on small businesses. Big businesses who can afford to wine and dine our politicians are the ones who will be getting this money, not the small company that can barely afford to pay its Worker’s Comp premiums. That will put big businesses at an unfair advantage over small competitors.
   

There is no such thing as a free lunch. Unfortunately, our politicians are trying to pass off Issue 1 as being free money. We keep hearing promises of more money, more jobs, and a stronger economy. In reality we are placing a mortgage on our future by investing in very risky investments.