Michelle Schneider - 2009 Tax Hiker of the Year

Dear fellow tax hikers, we are extremely proud to name Michelle Schneider our 2009 Tax Hiker of the Year! Mrs. Schneider is an excellent tax hiker and very deserving of this prestigious award. Every time we tax-and-spend Republicans have needed a tax increase, Michelle always came through for us.

Although Michelle won this award on her own merits, we at Republicans for Higher Taxes take special pride that Michelle is our first-ever female Tax Hiker of the Year. Republican men did not make us the party of higher taxes on their own. We acknowledge we are long overdue in recognizing the contributions of our fine tax-and-spend GOP women. Michelle's superior tax-hiking record speaks for itself:

1. Michelle Schneider proudly voted for Bob Taft's 20% Sales Tax increase. When faced with the choice of raising taxes or cutting spending, Michelle knew better than to cut spending. Michelle did not hesitate to join Bob Taft and Jean Schmidt to give Ohio the higher Sales Taxes we needed.

2. Michelle also joined with Taft and Schmidt to raise Ohio's Gas Tax by a whopping 27%. When Ohio's gas prices were too low, Schneider took decisive action to ensure we paid the higher gasoline taxes we deserved.

3. Michelle worked hard to raise the Hotel/Motel Taxes in Hamilton County, voting to raise these important taxes by over 100%. This legislation was sponsored by Jean Schmidt, backed by Virgil Lovitt, and signed into law by Bob Taft - an impressive trio of legendary tax increasers.

4. Michelle voted to give over $3 million of taxpayer funds to The Freedom Center. Even though they had promised to be self-sufficient by then, Michelle knew there was no place more important to spend that money. Coincidently, Michelle received a $2500 campaign check from John Pepper around the time of the vote.

5. We firmly believe Michelle shares our concern about the declining size of TP and will not take this injustice lying down!

6. Michelle needed no convincing to vote for Bob Taft's 3rd Frontier program that put Ohio further in debt to get the government involved in venture capital. Because of this program, Ohio has avoided the national recession and its economy is stronger than ever!

7. Finally, Michelle has pledged to support our 2007 Tax Hiker of the Year Bill Seitz to be our next Ohio Senate President. We cannot underestimate the importance of this post. Do you tax hikers understand if Strickland wins re-election, the Democrats maintain the House, and Seitz is the new Senate President, that we tax hikers would then control every branch of State government? We need Tax Hike Seitz to be the next Senate President to ensure we get the higher taxes we deserve, and Michelle has already promised Seitz her vote.

As you see, Michelle Schneider has compiled a prolific record of raising taxes and is highly deserving of our Tax Hiker of the Year award. Because of this phenomenal tax-and-spend record, we have proudly endorsed Michelle to be our next State Senator. Please join us in congratulating Michelle Schneider, the 2009 Tax Hiker of the Year!