Republicans for Higher Taxes

Tracy Winkler's Unqualified HR Hire

2012-01-26T23:54:00.006-05:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, we are proud to exclusively report the latest news on Tracy Winkler's reign with the Hamilton County Clerk of Courts. We can confirm that our dear Tracy is continuing her policy of hiring friends and family for government jobs instead of qualified professionals.

Tracy Winkler's latest Jennifer Triantafilou-style hiring is the new Chief Human Resources Officer Tony Rosiello. Does Rosiello have any prior experience running a human resources office? No! Does Rosiello have any experience working in Human Resources? No! Is Rosiello qualified in any way to be a human resources chief for a large county department? No!

Tony Rosiello quite clearly lacks the professional qualifications for this position. But he has the one qualification that matters - he's a good friend of Tracy Winkler. And sure enough, Rosiello happens to be the point of contact for two Tracy Winkler fundraising events taking place next month. Tracy has never been shy about using your tax dollars to take care of friends and family.

It goes even deeper than that. Tony Rosiello is the newest Green Township Trustee. He and his colleagues have the authority to fire Green Township employee Allison Detzel, who happens to be Tracy Winkler's daughter. Rosiello and his colleagues also have the ability to fire Jennifer Triantafilou, who Tracy hired in exchange for her appointment to be the Clerk of Courts.

By having Rosiello working for her in a full-time, well-paying, administrative position, Winkler can use her status as his employer to continue controlling Green Township through Tony. Winkler can assure the continued employment of her daughter Allison Detzel and Alex T's ex-wife Jennifer Triantafilou no matter how poorly they do their jobs.

Tracy Winkler will never apologize for using your tax dollars to take care of friends and family. That's how it should be. It's more important to ensure the Winkler and Triantafilou families are taken care than to worry about government being well-run. This will definitely result in more incidents like the one we just saw when Tracy Winkler's Clerk of Courts office accidently released sealed files regarding two accused rapes. That is the price we must pay for putting the welfare of the Triantafilous and Winklers ahead of the interests of every other family in Hamilton County.

We welcome Tony Rosiello aboard as the new Human Resources Chief, even though he has no idea what's he doing.

Jean Schmidt - One Less Lonely Girl

2012-01-25T23:43:00.001-05:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, if there is one thing we know about the State of the Union address, it's that our Congresswoman Jean Schmidt will stake out an aisle seat and manage to make a spectacle of herself in front of the entire nation. We look forward to seeing our Jeannie with the President. Sure enough, our Congresswoman Jean Schmidt was there to plant a big wet kiss on our great President Barack Obama.

Today's Whistleblower compared our Jean's aggressiveness towards Obama to a teenybopper at a Justin Bieber concert. We agree and think it's fantastic! We are secret Bieber fans. Justin Bieber is a hottie. We think it's great to have a U.S. Congressman who acts just like a 12-year-old girl meeting cutie-pie Biebs for the first time.

Barack Obama deserved that kiss. Like Jean and like us, Barack believes in big government and higher taxes. That's why Jean Schmidt voted to raise federal income taxes across the board, raise Ohio's Sales Tax, raise Ohio's Gas Tax, and voted for the $800 billion bailout for billionaires.

We leave you with a special gift. We fell in love with our man Justin Bieber when we heard his big hit, One Less Lonely Girl. Now that Jean and Obama have shared a kiss, Congresswoman Schmidt is also one less lonely girl. We dedicate this lovely video to the big government duo of Barack Obama and Jean Schmidt.

Tracy Winkler releases sealed rape files

2012-01-25T07:15:00.003-05:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, we ask everyone to go easy on our friend Tracy Winkler regarding the latest piece of bad news to hit her office. It was recently reported that Winkler's Clerk of Courts office failed to seal confidential files regarding an alleged rape that a Judge ordered sealed, and this failure allowed these documents to be broadcast to the public.

Please, cut Tracy a break. These things are bound to happen in an office where employees are hired based on their relationship with Tracy Winkler instead of their professional qualifications. Releasing sealed rape accusation files is an example of the consequences of business as usual. We don't want things to change.

Tracy Winkler herself was selected for her position in a transparent quid pro quo. As a Green Township Trustee, Winkler hired Alex Triantafilou's uneducated wife Jennifer Triantafilou for a professional position in which she didn't meet the minimum job qualifications. In return, Alex T selected Tracy W to be our Clerk of Courts.

As we will detail in a special report later this week, Tracy Winkler has been making these same type of decisions in the Clerk's office. The friends and family of Tracy get the jobs first, even if they aren't qualified. So what if that leads to more errors like a few rape accusation files getting mistakenly released?

We ask all you tax hikers to be understanding of Tracy and not hold these mistakes against her. After all, if Tracy wanted to run the office well she would have to hire qualified personnel and not her friends and family. That would be awful. We must all stand behind Tracy Winkler, her cronies, and all her mistakes.

The Virgil Lovitt Tax Hiking Contest

2012-01-22T23:17:00.000-05:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, we ask for your participation. We are having a contest to guess the date that Virgil Lovitt will endorse his next tax increase.

Last week we reported that the Princeton School District is seeking a big property tax hike on this March's ballot. This happens to be the school district that our 2008 Tax Hiker of the Year Virgil Lovitt calls home. Our man Virg has been a strong supporter of higher taxes, both in this school district and everywhere else. While he has not yet endorsed this important tax hike, everyone knows he soon will.

With eager anticipation of this endorsement, we are now hosting a contest for our loyal readers. We want all you tax hikers to pick the date that Virgil Lovitt will endorse the Princeton School District's Property Tax increase. Enter your selection in the comments section. The winner is the one who picks the closest date. Good luck to everyone!

Princeton Schools seek huge tax hike

2012-01-15T23:00:00.000-05:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, we proudly endorse the Princeton School District's 6.5 mill property tax hike on the ballot this March. This excellent tax increase will cost homeowners $197.63 per $100,000 valuation. It was less than two years ago the Princeton Schools passed another property tax increase, which we also endorsed along with our 2008 Tax Hiker of the Year Virgil Lovitt. But that was then, more money is needed now.

As of Fiscal Year 2010 the Princeton School District spends $15,922 per student per year. This places them the 10th biggest spender in Ohio out of approximately 613 public school districts. In other words, Princeton already spends more money than over 98% of Ohio's districts.

That isn't enough! They need more. Princeton residents must pay higher taxes so that their loving School Board can spend all the money they need. Property taxes must continue to rise until Princeton Schools spend more money than every single school district in Ohio. Tax us more!

Happy Birthday Governor Bob Taft

2012-01-08T17:46:00.001-05:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, we were overjoyed to learn that today is the 70th Birthday of former Governor Bob Taft. Governor Taft is our idol, our mentor, our hero, the man we admire more than anyone. We wish Governor Taft a very Happy 70th Birthday.

We thank the Cincinnati Enquirer for placing a big story in today's paper catching up with Governor Taft. He deserves the attention. We are so happy that the good Governor continues to do great things.

Governor Bob Taft was Ohio's greatest governor ever. Let's review some of the great things that defined the Taft Administration.

1. Signed a 20% Sales Tax increase into law, that Jean Schmidt voted for.

2. Signed a big 27% Gas Tax increase into law, that Jean Schmidt voted for. Gas prices were too low.

3. Signed a Hotel/Motel Tax increase into law that more than double the lodging tax for Hamilton County. This legislation was sponsored by Jean Schmidt.

4. Created the fantastic 3rd Frontier program which shielded Ohio from the national recession and made our economy the great success story it is today.

5. Earned four criminal convictions as Governor, becoming Ohio's first Governor to ever be convicted of a crime while in office. That's the kind of ethics we admire!

This is only a partial listing of his great successes in office. Governor Taft achieved so many wonderful successes.

Governor Taft's legacy lives on. He has inspired so many to continue his tax-and-spend agenda.

His chief protege, our 2010 Tax Hiker of the Year Jon Husted, is going to be Ohio's next Governor after we get rid of Kasich. Jon Husted is like the son Governor Taft never had. Husted voted for all of Governor Bob Taft's increases. Husted paved the way for ACORN to take over our elections in 2008. Husted supported Governor Taft's 3rd Frontier. Jon Husted as Governor will be like a 3rd term for Governor Taft.

But today, we celebrate Governor Bob Taft's 70th Birthday. From the bottom of our tax-hiking hearts, we wish Governor Bob Taft a very, very, very Happy Birthday!

New Tracy Winkler info coming

2012-01-04T23:07:00.000-05:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, know that we are continuing to work hard in our efforts to advance Tracy Winkler's political career. Nobody has worked harder than us to install her as our Clerk of Courts and we will continue to track her every move.

We report to you that we have received new information about Tracy Winkler's activities. Apparently Tracy is running the Clerk of Courts office in the same manner she ran Green Township, and we think that's fantastic! In the coming weeks we will finish our investigation of this information and report our findings to you. We know this information will interest every one of you.

LA initiative mandates condom use for porn stars

2011-12-27T23:23:00.008-05:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, for one posting we will diverge from our usual obsession with raising taxes to raise a matter of utmost importance. An initiative from the city of Los Angeles will appear on the June ballot that will require porn stars to wear condoms when filming inside the city. Talk about an anal proposal! This could be a real drag for the transvestites.

We stand with the Fluffers Union and encourage our followers in LA to vote against this foul-tasting plan. We want to know the name of the dick who thought this was a good idea.

We hope the petitioners were wearing gloves when collecting signatures. After all, you have to be safe when screwing others.

An initiative backer was quoted saying:

"If you're going to blow things up, you have to have the fire department involved."

We wonder what women and gay men think of that? The fire department should not have to be present for a basic porn act.

Furthermore, a team of inspectors will be hired to ensure compliance.

Under the proposal, fees may be charged to "provide for inspectors to ensure compliance with conditions on film permits."

If this passes we would like to volunteer our inspection services. We would be overjoyed to conduct up-close prick inspections to check for condom usage.

In spite of the enlarging opportunities this could present for us, we must endorse a no vote. Anyone who votes for this initiative can blow me.

Happy Festivus

2011-12-23T01:33:00.003-05:00


(Respect the pole.....)

Dear fellow tax hikers, this is truly the most joyous time of the year. Yesterday marked the winter solstice, and today we celebrate the most important holiday of the year, Festivus. This is a day where we gather for dinner and air our grievances against those who have wronged us.

Tonight we do double duty. We will start by having a mega-sized dinner with Mega Tracy Winkler. Then we will have another big dinner with Big Verne Collins, where she also promises to share her favorite box of wine.

But we shall air our grievances now! The best part about Festivus is taking the opportunity to complain about others. We hereby declare our grievances against the following people:

- Steve Chabot, for continuously opposing higher taxes and bigger spending

- Heather Harlow, for being a woman who supports gun rights and limited government. She doesn't know her role.

- COAST, for all their work to ban a Trash Tax in Cincinnati and stop MSD from subsidizing the streetcar

- John Kasich, for closing an $8 billion shortfall without raising taxes, making him Ohio's first Governor in generations to oppose higher taxes

- Chris Finney, for suing governments when they violate citizens' rights

- Charlie Winburn, for consistently speaking out against our beloved streetcar and opposing higher taxes

- Tom Brinkman, for helping kill many, many tax increases

- Chris Monzel and Todd Portune, for opposing another Bengals Tax Hike and preventing MSD from forcing suburbanites to subsidize Cincinnati's streetcar

- Pat DeWine, for everything. We will never forgive him for for opposing the Supersized Sales Tax increase in 2007.

- Doc Thompson, for bringing a popular, true-blue conservative message to local radio

- Dan Unger, for getting elected to the Northwest School Board as an unabashed fiscal conservative who thinks the government should live within its budget

- Jeffry Smith, for uncovering many documents that have been used to question Tracy Winkler's competence and integrity as a Green Township Trustee

- Wyoming Police Department, for wasting their time busting people for (allegedly) breaking the law instead of doing more important things like eating donuts

We declare war on these violators.

Afternoon update: We invite all you tax hikers to list your grievances in the comments section.

Bortz for Commissioner - Part 4

2011-12-19T17:45:00.000-05:00

Taft Supportz Bortz

Bortz Supportz Streetcars

Comrades,

In my zeal to tell you about Chris Bortz's support of a radical homosexual agenda, abortion, and liberal Democrats I neglected to mention a very important reason for my support of Chris Bortz for Hamilton County Commissioner. Bortz was the primary advocate for Mayor Mallory's wonderful streetcar plan. The Republican Party very unwisely aligned themselves with the effort to defeat the streetcar at the polls this past November. They can redeem themselves by reversing course and choosing pro-streetcar Bortz as the Republican candidate for Hamilton County Commissioner.

Bortz was the very first on the scene to advocate for a streetcar system in Cincinnati. Way back in April of 2007 Bortz was presenting to the OKI Board of Directors about the dire need for a streetcar in Cincinnati. When my enemies at COAST tried to defeat the streetcar in 2009 Bortz was an impassioned supporter of the pro-streetcar effort. Sure, his family owned property all along the proposed streetcar route, but big deal. If we Republicans can't enrich ourselves at the expense of the taxpayers we're in the wrong business.

The Ohio Ethics Commission later found that Bortz's votes in favor of a publicly funded streetcar plan were completely unethical and ordered him to stop. As someone who knows a thing or two about personal ethical failings I fully support Bortz's votes to make more money for his millionaire daddy on the backs of the taxpayers.

When the scoundrels at COAST tried again in 2011 to stop the streetcar with Issue 48 Bortz again opposed them, renewing his long-standing advocacy for a 3 mile $150 million streetcar route. Most Republicans were saying that during a terrible economy we couldn't afford fluff like a streetcar. Bortz disagreed completely, stating, "The economy, when it’s dipping the way it is, is even more of an argument to do it.”

Chris Bortz knows a thing or two about development. He knows that it takes massive taxpayer-funded public works projects with over-hyped projections about the return on investment in order to turn a community around. He knows that streetcars are the answer for what ails every community. I sincerely hope that Chris follows his strongly-held beliefs and advocates for county-wide streetcars once he's County Commissioner. Streetcars for Green Township! Streetcars for Colerain! Streetcars for Reading! Streetcars for everyone!!! It's the Bortz Battle cry! Please, I implore you, contact Republican Party Chairman Alex Triantafilou and beg him to name Chris Bortz as the Hamilton County RINO Party's candidate for County Commissioner. If you don't, you'll never get a streetcar in your neighborhood.

Yours in Unity,

Governor Bob Taft*

*It should be fairly evident to anyone with half a brain that this entry is intended to be a parody post from our former RINO Governor Bob Taft. Unfortunately though, the facts presented in the blog post are all too true.

Save The Freedom Center - through higher taxes

2011-12-18T23:39:00.001-05:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, your tax dollars are urgently needed now. A story ran today detailing that our beloved Freedom Center is at the risk of shutdown because they are spending more money than they are receiving. They are projected to realize revenues of $2.5 million/year. However they also expect to spend $4 million/year. Therefore, a Freedom Center Tax Increase is needed now!

We cannot expect The Freedom Center to cut costs. We cannot expect them to increase the quality of their programming to draw more paid visitors. We cannot expect their rich mouthpieces (Oprah Winfrey, John Pepper, etc) to pay for anything themselves with their own money. Nor can we expect them to improve their business practices.

Higher taxes are the only answer! Hamilton County residents had their chance to support the museum through their paid attendance, and for some reason they declined. Because of that we are going to raise taxes. One way or another you will pay.

The Freedom Center is entitled to your tax dollars. If a private museum's expenses are far higher than its revenues, the only way to close the gap is to raise taxes. They cannot be allowed to fail. Just as we had Jean Schmidt's bailouts for Wall Street, we must also have bailouts for museums with failed business models such as The Freedom Center and Museum Center. Raise those taxes now!

Bortz for Commissioner - Part 3

2011-12-15T23:14:00.000-05:00

Taft Supportz Bortz

Bortz Supportz a Radical Homosexual Agenda

Comrades,

This is the third edition of my well deserved endorsement of Chris Bortz for Hamilton County Commissioner. As of this morning, Chairman Triantafilou still hasn't announced the Hamilton County Republican RINO Party coronation of Bortz to serve as the Republican candidate against Todd Portune, so I have no choice but to continue to put forth reasons why we, as liberal Republicans, should get behind Bortz and push as hard as we can.

Chris announced on his facebook page that he was "proud to announce his endorsement from Equality PAC Cincinnati". I share in his pride, and fully support his backing of gays, lesbians, bisexuals and the transgendered. Hamilton County cannot thrive unless we have more trannies walking the streets of downtown. We're glad that Chris accepted the endorsement long with radical leftists like Chris Seelbach, Roxanne Qualls, and Laure Quinliven.

What does Equality Cincinnati stand for? For starters, they want to bring gay marriage to Ohio, in spite of the fact that the voters of the State overwhelmingly rejected just that. You may remember that I opposed the will of the voters and endorsed a pro-gay marriage position when I was Governor. I'm heartened to see that Chris Bortz has aligned himself with groups that agree with me on this issue. We're proud of you Chris!

Equality Cincinnati proudly professes to be "continuing the work that began in 2004 when thousands of people in our region came together to repeal an anti-gay law in Cincinnati known as “Article XII”. As we all know, this vote had numerous positive repercussions for the City of Cincinnati. It should be obvious to anyone that the promise of a more vibrant and economically successful Cincinnati that the Repeal Article XII side promised the voters has come to fruition. Can anyone deny that the City of Cincinnati is booming economically since 2004? They delivered on their promise, and we're so glad that they got behind Bortz.

Not satisfied with their victory in moving Cincinnati forward the Equality Cincinnati crowd is pushing for same sex marriage benefits for the City of Cincinnati. This idea has had fresh life blown into it by Radical homosexual advocate and new Cincinnati City Councilman Chris Seelbach who has made same sex marriage benefits a top priority of his first term on Council. Chris Bortz fully agreed, and Bortz publicly stated his support for the idea. We're proud of Chris for making this vitally important expenditure of taxpayer dollars a priority. Why spend more money on police officers and firemen when you can spend money on gay lifestyle choices?

Chris also proudly accepted the endorsement of CincyPAC. The picture at the top of this post is Chris with CincyPAC President and radical homosexual activist Shawn Baker. CincyPAC states on their mission statement that they "want Cincinnati to become the destination for the creative class..." Who are the creative class? Well gays, lesbians, transgendered, and bisexuals of course! Bortz proudly shares their core values.

You middle class white Republican stiffs out in Harrison, and Blue Ash, and Anderson Township, and Sharonville just don't understand. You're likely not gay, and therefor are not creative enough to get it. Your communities will never thrive unless Chris Bortz can become County Commissioner and help foster a creative class in your neighborhood. We need County-wide streetcars to attract gay hipsters, not safe streets and functioning schools.

This is just another in a long line of fantastic reasons why we should all proudly get behind Chris Bortz as the Republican Candidate for Hamilton County Commissioner. Bortz has put forward a platform and a resume that we can all get behind.

Proudly yours in Unity (same-sex or otherwise),

Governor Bob Taft*

*It should be fairly evident to anyone with half a brain that this entry is intended to be a parody post from our former RINO Governor Bob Taft. Unfortunately though, the facts presented in the blog post are all too true.

Wyoming School Board wants 37-year tax increase

2011-12-14T22:43:00.000-05:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, we are delighted to report that the citizens of Wyoming (the city, not the state) will have an opportunity to pass themselves a big property tax hike that will last 37 years. The Wyoming School Board voted unanimously to place a 4.79 mill property tax increase on the March 6th ballot, which would cost homeowners approximately $145 per $100,000 of home valuation.

The best part is this tax increase will last for 37 years! In other words, John Pepper, Frances Pepper, Big Barry Porter, and Jim O'Reilly will die long before this tax will. Or consider the 25+ kids from the Wyoming High School Class of 2011 who managed to get themselves arrested in their first year as an adult - they will be 56 years old when this tax levy expires. This would be a fantastic gift to leave them!

This big property tax hike is necessary to spend needed money on the Middle School. It's old. Therefore it needs a $25 million infusion of new tax money. They must spend $25 million for urgent upgrades like wider hallways, more meeting space, and a larger gym, in addition to a new state-of-the-art full-service bar in the school cafeteria.

School Board Party Mom Lynn Larson strongly believes a full-service bar is necessary to prepare the middle school kids for their expected high school life. And to help them simulate a typical Saturday night party at the Larson estate. We applaud Mrs. Larson for supporting this urgently-needed tax increase and for everything she's done for the school district.

Please ignore the fact that the Wyoming City Schools were knocked down a level in the state rankings, and now rank just one level ahead of the Cincinnati Public Schools. Larson is blameless. We'll do exactly what Lynn Larson does when something goes wrong - blame it on the Wyoming Police Department instead of taking any personal responsibility for her failures as a parent and School Board Member. The School Board's failures prove how badly Wyoming needs higher taxes. Tax us more!

Bortz for Commissioner - Part 2

2011-12-12T16:02:00.008-05:00

Taft Supportz Bortz

Bortz Supportz Liberal Democrats

Comrades,

I'm glad that you've returned to hear my thoughts on what a fantastic choice the Hamilton County Republican Party leadership is making in wooing Charterite Chris Bortz to run as the Republican candidate for County Commissioner against Todd Portune. Yesterday, I chronicled how Bortz Supportz Abortion. Today I want to touch on something equally as important; Chris Bortz's support of liberal Democrats.

As you all know, I prefer liberal Republicans over Democrats, but when those evil conservatives get in the way we sometimes have no choice but to support the other Party. After all, our shared liberal tax and spend values come before Party affiliation. I'm proud to state that Chris Bortz seems to agree with me.

Chris made the excellent decision early on in his political career not to align himself with the Republican Party here in Hamilton County. To do so would have required him to answer to the rascally conservatives that are sadly still in the Party rank and file. Instead, he chose to run as a Charterite, joining fantastic candidates like Roxanne Qualls, Yvette Simpson, and Jim Tarbell. This left Chris free to vote as his liberal heart desired, and also allowed him to support liberal big-government Democrats without fear of reprisal.

Bortz answered the call first by contributing to John Cranley in his Congressional race against that dastardly conservative Steve Chabot. Chris understood even then that the last thing we needed in Washington was a fiscal and social conservative voting against spending increases, and opposing high taxes and the liberal social agenda. I'm equally proud to report that not only did Bortz donate to Cranley, he maxed out and gave the full amount allowable by federal law. That's putting your Daddy's money where your mouth is!

But Bortz's support of liberal Democrats didn't stop there. He also endorsed David Pepper for Hamilton County Commissioner, helping to defeat that miserly conservative Phil Heimlich and hand over the County Commission to a Democrat majority for the first time in several generations. Bortz must have been extremely proud when Pepper rewarded his loyal endorser by immediately voting to raise taxes by nearly $1 Billion without a vote of the people. Bortz must have also been proud when Pepper voted to cut the property tax rollback that was promised to the voters of Hamilton County. After all, Mike Brown needs that money, not the struggling taxpayer! Bortz had to be absolutely beaming when Pepper supported his Streetcar plan, and had to be bursting with joy when Pepper used the Commission seat he had helped him win as a springboard to a Statewide political campaign. Bortz saw a little of himself in Pepper, and did the right thing.

Chris also put his Daddy's money to good use with other good liberal Democrat causes and candidates. He twice gave money to Parsons Brinkerhoff PAC to help them finance a campaign to force the streetcar down the throats of Cincinnati voters. Yes a $1200 donation in support of Mayor Mallory's baby might seem like a lot, but it's pocket change to Chris (and his daddy).

Finally, Chris donated multiple times to the Ohio Law PAC. You might be asking, Who is the Ohio Law PAC ? Well, they gave donations to the campaigns of Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern, disgraced Democratic Attorney General Marc Dann, Representative Connie Pillach, State Senator Eric Kearney, Democratic Ohio House Minority Leader Armond Budish, as well as the Cuyahoga House Democrats PAC, the House Democratic Caucus Fund, the Committee for a Democratic Majority, the Senate Democratic Victory Fund, the Ohio Senate Democratic Caucus, the Ohio House Democratic Caucus. These were all good causes worthy of Republican support.

Let's not rest on our laurels comrades. Although Chris Bortz's liberal record seems unassailable, his coronation by the Hamilton County RINO Party can still be thwarted by those filthy conservative nutjobs in the Party rank and file. In fact, it has already happened once before. In 2007 Bortz sought the endorsement of the Republican Party for his re-election to City Council, but was rebuffed when he appointed liberal, tax and spend, big government, pro-streetcar, social leftist Roxanne Qualls to fill a vacant seat on City Council. We all know that Qualls has been doing great things for the City ever since, but those conservatives that are sadly still in our Party see it differently. Do not underestimate them. We must strenuously and vocally support Bortz for this position.

You see comrades, Bortz truly is one of us. Don't let the Charterite label fool you. He IS a liberal Republican. It is rare that we get an opportunity to support truly liberal Republicans these days. We must do so with Chris Bortz. Again, I strongly endorse liberal Republican Chris Bortz for Hamilton County Commissioner, and you should too! Send a message to the folks down at 700 Walnut that we fully support their return to liberal Republicanism! Call Chairman Triantafilou and tell him he must support Chris Bortz for County Commissioner!

Yours in Unity,

Governor Bob Taft*

*It should be fairly evident to anyone with half a brain that this entry is intended to be a parody post from our former RINO Governor Bob Taft. Unfortunately though, the facts presented in the blog post are all too true.

Chris Bortz for Commissioner

2011-12-12T12:44:00.014-05:00

Taft Supportz Bortz

Bortz Supportz Abortion

Comrades,

You may have read in the news that the Hamilton County Republican Party is actively courting Charterite Chris Bortz to run for County Commissioner against Todd Portune. This is exceedingly good news, and proves that our friends in leadership rolls at the Hamilton County RINO Party are finally finished with those wacky Tea Partiers and are rightfully returning to their liberal ways.

In appreciation for their turn away from the evil conservative right wing of the Party, I intend to lay out for you in detail the reasons why we should support Chris Bortz for County Commissioner. There is far too much great information about Chris to include in one post, so I'll have to let it out over the next week. I'll start with one of Chris' more admirable qualities - his support of abortion.

As you know, the defense of the right of a woman to murder her unborn baby is paramount in liberal Republican ideology. That's why I picked pro-abortion Jeanette Bradley as my Lieutenant Governor. I could have just as easily chosen Bortz though.

As early as this past election Bortz refused to answer Cincinnati Right to Life's candidate questionnaire. This was absolutely the right decision. He was in good company too. Roxanne Qualls, Yvette Simpson, Chris Seelbach, Nicholas Hollan, Laure Quinliven, Jason Riveiro, Wendell Young, Tyrone Yates, Bill Mallory, Fanon Rucker, Cheryl Grant, and Martha Goode also refused to complete the survey. Why wouldn't Bortz align himself with pro-abortion liberal Democrats by refusing to answer a simple survey. It's not the voters' business where our elected officials who hold the government's purse-strings stand on the most important social issues of our time.

But Chris didn't stop there. He also showed his disdain for the pro-life movement by endorsing radical pro-abortion Democrat David Pepper for Hamilton County Commissioner. Pepper repaid the favor by using his newly elected position to advocate for taxpayer funding for abortion. Coincidence? I sure hope not. Taxpayers absolutely should be forced to support abortion with their tax dollars. I'm glad that Bortz seems to agree.

Bortz also was the sponsor of an ordinance while on Cincinnati City Council that limited the free speech rights of pro-life protesters who were peacefully marching in front of abortion mills. Bortz is a good businessman and knows that peaceful anti-abortion protesters are bad for Planned Parenthood's business. I applaud Bortz's actions in defense of Planned Parenthood's business model for abortion mills.

In conclusion comrades, Chris Bortz is the perfect candidate for Hamilton County Commissioner. As someone who has previously held that position, I would proud to have someone cut from the Jeanette Bradley cloth filling my former seat on the dais. For this reason, and others that I eagerly anticipate sharing with you, I wholeheartedly endorse Chris Bortz to be the Republican candidate for Hamilton County Commissioner.

Yours in unity,

Governor Bob Taft*

*It should be fairly evident to anyone with half a brain that this entry is intended to be a parody post from our former RINO Governor Bob Taft. Unfortunately though, the facts presented in the blog post are all too true.

Ashwin Corattiyil - Illegal Immigrant advocate

2011-12-08T23:56:00.007-05:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, we have discovered more fantastic news about the Hamilton County Republican Party Political Director Ashwin Corattiyil. This "Republican" leader is an active advocate for illegal immigration!

Ashwin was thanked for his role in the 2011 Leadership Awards Program for an organization called New York State Youth Leadership Council. The slogan on their website states, "Undocumented Youth Leading Change" and their mission is to prevent deportations of "undocumented" immigrants and advance the legal rights of "undocumented" citizens. For example, their Arts and Expression Program states that they wish to "document the undocumented" and provide resources for "specifically undocumented youth."

Then there is their Education Not Deportation (END) campaign, which aims to prevent the deportation of illegal immigrant children. END "is a project of the National Immigrant Youth Alliance - an undocumented youth-LED network of grassroots organizations, campus-based student groups and individuals committed to achieving equality for all immigrant youth, regardless of their legal status."

This is just the latest piece of evidence proving that Ashwin Corattiyil can be trusted to help run the Hamilton County GOP. We previously revealed that Ashwin spent the entire 2004 election cycle working for Democrat John Kerry and through 2010 worked for the liberal Democratic Speaker of the New York City Council Christine Quinn.

We are very impressed with Party Chairman Alex Triantafilou for finding a phenomenal choice in Ashwin to help lead our Republican Party. He could not have hired a more qualified candidate. Ashwin can be trusted. He is a great Republican just like us. Let's all take the time today to thank Alex T for doing a fantastic job as our party chairman.

Support Kevin DeWine

2011-12-06T09:44:00.003-05:00

Comrades,

I am contacting you with an issue of utmost importance. It seems as if those dastardly conservatives in the Ohio Republican Party are trying to force the resignation of one of our greatest allies, Chairman Kevin DeWine. This kind of insubordination should not be tolerated!

Kevin was a staunch backer of our dearly beloved Amber Burke Sprengard and other anti-Tea Party State Central Committee members. In fact, in the midst of a hard fought election, DeWine spent precious campaign dollars not to defeat Democrats, but to support liberal tax and spend State Central Committee members like Amber against their conservative Tea Party challengers. This is a wise and prudent expenditure of campaign funds. Never mind that those dollars were spent in violation of the Ohio Republican Party's own rules that first require an endorsement vote. It is much more important that we as Republicans preserve our status quo and perpetuate Party dysfunction than it is for us to defeat Democrats.

Kevin also played a major role in shoving Jon Husted down the throats of conservative voters in 2010. You may remember that Husted was a major player in the legislature when I was Governor, and I am forever in debt to him for supporting every single one of my tax increases and big-government policies while he was there. When he was Speaker he also famously refused to acknowledge that rat fink Tom Brinkman on the floor of the House when Brinkman was trying to strip taxpayer funding of the failed Cincinnati Freedom Center from the State budget. Let's also not forget that Ohio's spending while Husted was Speaker increased $3 Billion each year, and he worked hand in hand with ACORN to reform Ohio's voting laws. DeWine was 100% right to support Husted not only because of these positive attributes, but also because Husted was the college dorm buddy of DeWine. If we Republicans can't stand for higher taxes, more spending, and cronyism what can we stand for?

Recently, conservative Speaker of the House Bill Batchelder also called on DeWine to resign. Screw Bill Batchelder! What does he know about good government? His term as Speaker of the Ohio House has been marred by spending cuts, the elimination of the sacred Estate Tax, and numerous attacks on the right of a woman to kill her unborn baby. What kind of Republican leadership is this? When I was Governor I NEVER supported eliminating taxes, I ALWAYS supported increasing spending and the size of government, and I even chose a PRO-ABORTION Lieutenant Governor. THAT is Republican leadership comrades.

I strongly urge you to take to the streets to support Kevin DeWine and fight back against those evil conservatives like Bill Batchelder and John Kasich. Perhaps you could link up and join forces with the Occupy crowd. We have a lot in common after all. Better yet, write a check to the Ohio Republican Party so that Kevin can repeat his tradition of spending campaign funds meant to defeat Democrats on saving his own well-paid position. Comrades, we must help Chairman DeWine defend his phony baloney job! The future well being of the People's Republic of Ohio depends on it!

Yours in Unity,

Governor Bob Taft

End Transmission......

Leslie Ghiz's husband arrested

2011-12-01T22:56:00.000-05:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, as our good friend Leslie Ghiz begins her campaign to be a Hamilton County Judge, out comes the news that her Canadian husband Steve Aziz was arrested last week. Mr. Aziz-Ghiz crashed his SUV and then refused to take a sobriety test, after which the police arrested him for OVI and confiscated his Canadian driver's license. A copy of the police report can be found at The Daily Bellwether which beat us by a few hours in breaking this story. This is not the kind of situation an aspiring Judge wants to experience.

We hope there wasn't a Mexican hooker in his SUV, because then the entire North American continent would be involved in this incident.

We feel for Mr. Aziz-Ghiz. Steve now faces one of two outcomes: 1) Sentenced to jail time; or 2) Released to return home to Leslie Ghiz. We know which one of these options we'd prefer.

We call on the mean-spirited conservatives to stop joking about this situation. Those people have been sending us mean comments. One said, "If the judge really wants to punish Mr. Ghiz, sentence him to 5 more years of marriage to Leslie Ghiz." That was not funny. Another conservative wrote, "Don't put him in jail, the best way to make him suffer is to send him back home to his wife." That wasn't funny either.

We stand by our support for Leslie Ghiz. We proudly back her for Judge. Leslie has the intelligence, the charm, and especially the proper temperment to be a fantastic Judge. Oh, and don't forget her popularity. Maybe she'll get lucky and her husband can be the first defendant to appear before her.

Leslie Ghiz for Judge.

Because Following the Law Matters,

Except in Her Own Household

Hartmann's Property Tax Hike Fails

2011-12-01T00:56:00.001-05:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, we are extremely mad at Hamilton County Commissioners Chris Monzel and Todd Portune for voting to keep their promise to the voters by maintaining the Property Tax Rollback. We are disgusted that they refused to support the fantastic property tax increase championed by Commissioner Greg Hartmann. Because of this awful 2-1 vote, Hamilton County homeowners will not be paying higher taxes for the Bengals and Reds stadiums.

This is a terrible day for the tax-hiking movement. It was a great chance to raise taxes. Tax Hike Hartmann knows higher property taxes are needed to ensure Mike Brown and the Bengals are provided everything they want. Tax Hike Hartmann knows our property taxes are too low and must be raised. Tax Hike Hartmann knows that the Property Tax Rollback was a promise made to be broken.

We at Republicans for Higher Taxes are officially withdrawing our long-standing support for Portune. He has betrayed our movement time and time again this year by refusing to supporting higher property taxes for the stadiums and museums, supporting a stadium ticket fee so that those who use the stadiums pay for them, and opposing new gifts to Mike Brown. Portune no longer understands that the taxpayers should always come last.

We also call on our beloved Republican Chairman Alex Triantafilou to throw Monzel out of the Republican Party. We're the party of higher taxes and Monzel isn't respecting this fact! He was ordered to obey Tax Hike Hartmann and refused, just as he disobeyed Simon Leis in 2007 by opposing the Leis Sales Tax increase.

We applaud Tax Hike Hartmann for his fantastic pro-tax leadership. We hope his staff took the time to visit their favorite OTR bars and enjoy their favorite beverages. We will work tirelessly to find good tax-and-spend Republicans to replace those awful fiscal conservatives Monzel and Portune.

Help pass Hartmann's tax hike

2011-11-28T23:52:00.000-05:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, we are down to two days left to raise taxes on Hamilton County homeowners. Tax Hike Hartmann is working furiously to gather a second vote to increase property taxes to give more money to Mike Brown and the Bengals. This tax increase is too important to worry about what the voters want.

If this tax increase doesn't pass, the Bengals might have to pay their own electric bills. If Tax Hike Hartmann doesn't get his way, the Bengals might have to pay for their own stadium upgrades. If homeowners don't pay more taxes, suburbanites might be able to spend money on their own schools instead of subsidizing the Cincinnati Public Schools. Could you imagine this? As you can see, it is urgent that we join Tax Hike Hartmann in passing his big property tax hike.

We are the party of higher taxes. Raising taxes is what Republicans do best. It is Republicans who proposed the Stadium Sales Tax. It is Republicans who voted for the Stadium Sales Tax. It is Republicans who negotiated the stadium leases that have done so much good for our county. It is Republicans plus David A. Pepper who raised property taxes last year to give even more money to the Bengals.

We call on Commissioners Chris Monzel and Todd Portune to end their support for the Property Tax Rollback. It is time to break their promises and join Tax Hike Hartmann to pass this important tax increase. Now is the time for higher stadium taxes and more stadium spending. Tax us more!

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T23:50:00.004-05:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, from us to you we wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving. We even extend our best to our enemies at COAST and those in the Tea Party who haven't been co-opted by the Hamilton County Republican Party. We ask those conservatives to recognize how little they need the money that the government allows them to keep, and to join us in advocating for bigger government and higher taxes.

This year we have been most thankful to our allies and sources from all across Southwest Ohio. We were able to provide in-depth elections coverage in numerous communities. We could not have done this ourselves. We could only provide this excellent coverage in so many local races due to the cadre of fantastic sources from all over this area. We thank those wonderful sources from the bottom of our tax-hiking hearts.

We are so excited at the work we have been able to do. We will keep pushing on through the rest of this year and throughout the pivotal 2012 elections. There are lots of taxes to be raised and many excellent tax-hikers to support. Today we are thankful for everyone who has been a part of this movement that we lead.

Jean Schmidt nominated for Scoundrel Award

2011-11-22T23:47:00.000-05:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, our favorite Congressman Jean Schmidt has been nominated for the Scoundrel of the Month by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Government. Even though Schmidt's integrity has been questioned during her entire time in Congress, this goes too far. We believe Schmidt is an ideal Congressman for everything she has done to raise taxes and invent her own ethical rules.

Please do not visit this website and vote for Jean Schmidt as the Scoundrel of the Month. That would be embarrassing to her as she preps for a difficult primary against conservative Army Veteran Dr. Brad Wenstrup.

Schmidt has never allowed ethics or integrity to get in the way of her career advancement. We do not believe she should be taken to task for this. Raising taxes, growing government, and bailing out billionaires is what matters, and Jean does all these things extremely well. Let's show our support for Jean by making sure she is not named the Scoundrel of the Month.

Hartmann's Tax Hike fails to gain support

2011-11-21T23:32:00.000-05:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, we are facing a moment of truth. Hamilton County Commissioner Greg Hartmann had planned on passing his big property tax increase at today's Commission meeting, but failed to find a second vote. This fight continues. Tax Hike Hartmann is working very hard to raise your taxes and we will stand behind him 100%.

This is the most important tax increase we have faced....than at anytime in the past two weeks. Mike Brown deserves that money. Mike Brown needs that money and he needs it more than you do.

This property tax increase only affects the stupid homeowners in Hamilton County. It doesn't affect people like me and my civil domestic partner, or our Section 8 landlord. Just because the voters were promised this money when they passed the Stadium Sales Tax increase doesn't mean they should get it. Promises are made to be broken, especially promises made to the lowly taxpayers.

We condemn Commissioners Chris Monzel and Todd Portune for standing in the way of this fantastic property tax increase. Monzel needs to learn his role. Republicans are the party of higher taxes. It's time for Monzel to stand in line and obey Tax Hike Hartmann and his other superiors. Contact your Commissioners and ask them to please raise our taxes. Tax us more!

Celebrating the hard-fought wins

2011-11-20T23:57:00.014-05:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, tonight we give a well-deserved pat on the back to our tax-hiking allies who pulled through on Election Day with noticeably narrow wins. While some might point out that these tax hikers should have been able to win their races handily, we prefer to celebrate these victories and our role in making them happen.

Virgil Lovitt. First we'll start with our 2008 Tax Hiker of the Year Virgil Lovitt. We were stunned to see Virg held to 53% in a surprisingly close re-election bid. John Kasich and John McCain each received 60% of the vote in heavily Republican Sharonville, leaving us shocked to see Virg's underwhelming performance.

Don't the citizens of Sharonville appreciate all the taxes Virg has raised for them? Aren't they amused by all the prostitutes prancing around town looking for their next trick? Don't they like paying round after round after round of bailouts to the Sharonville Fine Arts Center?

Between the Republican nature of Sharonville, Virg's high name id, his long-term incumbency, and the many taxes he's raised, we figured Mr. Mayor for Life had this one in the bag. We apologize to Mayor Lovitt for not doing more for his campaign. We promise to never make that mistake again.

Rick Bryan. We went all in for our 2011 Tax Hiker of the Year Rick Bryan and it was a good thing we did! Tax Hikin' Rick Bryan's win this year was even less impressive than his narrow win 2 years ago. John Kasich defeated Ted Strickland by 20 points in this ward, making Rick's 4 point victory solid evidence of his political weakness.

We told you in the Tax Hiker of the Year posting that Rick Bryan isn't good at much, and that obviously includes running an effective campaign. But thankfully, he had us to take over his campaign at the end and save him from a humiliating defeat.

We are very upset at all the Republicans in Blue Ash Ward 3 who have turned on Rick. Don't they know he raised all those taxes? Don't they appreciate that the City of Blue Ash allows its employees to show up to work hung over and not face discipline? Aren't they aware that good ole' Tax Hikin' Rick Bryan has worked very hard to double the size of The Big All-Important Golf Course Club House! Those people should show some appreciation for all the higher taxes and bigger monuments that Rick has brought to Blue Ash.

MS. Vicky Zwissler. To win a City Council seat in Wyoming, all one has to do is be white and finish in the Top 7. Like jumping over a Post-it note, Vicky rolled in at #7 in a field of 8 1/2 candidates (the last-place finisher couldn't open a window without assistance, so we are only considering her a 1/2 candidate). We were hoping for a higher finish, but we are still delighted that our endorsed candidate MS. Zwissler will be returning to Council so she can resume raising taxes and building new government pools.

Thank goodness MS. Zwissler won. Because if she didn't she would have spent the next 3 years insisting to anyone who would listen that her defeat was the fault of everyone but herself. Now we won't have to suffer through that, at least until the next time she loses.

Her friend Wyoming School Board Member Lynn Larson has graciously agreed to host a party to celebrate Vicky's election. Open bar. All ages welcome. Mrs. Larson wants to remind the domestic help that they are to use the servants' entrance, along with minorities and west-siders.

Support Hartmann's Property Tax Hike

2011-11-17T21:16:00.000-05:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, we are delighted to endorse Commissioner Greg Hartmann's property tax increase on the homeowners of Hamilton County. Tax Hike Hartmann knows that we need higher taxes to give more money to the Bengals and Reds. Sadly, Tax Hike Hartmann lacks a second vote for his excellent tax increase. We call on all of you to get busy advocating for more taxes.

When the voters of Hamilton County approved the Stadium Sales Tax increase in 1996, they were promised that 30% of these Sales Tax revenues would be refunded to homeowners in the form of a Property Tax Rollback (PTR). Through 2009, this promise was kept. Thankfully in 2010, Commissioners David Pepper and Tax Hike Hartmann broke this promise, knowing that Mike Brown and Bob Bedinghaus could spend that money better than you.

Here we are again facing this same issue for 2012. Except now, serial tax hiker David Pepper isn't on the Commission. He's been replaced by Chris Monzel, who stupidly believes that this PTR promise should be kept. Amazingly, our formerly ally Todd Portune also believes the full PTR should be maintained.

We fully support breaking this promise. The stupid voters don't deserve this money. Bob Bedinghaus, Mike Brown, and Jeff Berding should get to spend that money for you. Promises to the lowly taxpayers are made to be broken.

This situation leaves Tax Hike Hartmann without a second vote to pass this absolutely necessary tax increase. We call on all you tax hikers to lobby Monzel and Portune. Encourage them to break their word to the voters so we can send more money to the stadiums. We also want you to contact Tax Hike Hartmann's office and thank him for everything he is doing to raise our property taxes. You don't need that money; the Bengals do. Tax us more!

Cincinnati demands more federal streetcar money

2011-11-15T23:11:00.000-05:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, we fully support the City of Cincinnati's request to have all United States taxpayers pay another $56 million for the Cincinnati streetcar. We at Republicans for Higher Taxes have long supported the streetcar project, no matter the cost. Years ago Santa Obama gave Cincinnati $25 million for this important job-creation project, but that's not nearly enough.

Cincinnati deserves a streetcar. And they shouldn't have to pay for it. Everyone should pay for Cincinnati's streetcar, except for the YP snobs who want it.

Those condescending urbanists are entitled to their all-white streetcar. Right now they are forced to ride a putrid bus, where they may have to sit next to a minority or poor person. It is unfair treatment to such a special group of people. These white, YP urbanists deserve something for themselves.

We want Santa Obama to select Cincinnati for this grant. We would like our entire Ohio Congressional delegation to work through our friend Jean Schmidt to make sure this money remains available. Even though the federal government ran a $1.3 Trillion deficit for 2011, we must continue spending wildly. We want that streetcar built, and we expect the entire country to pay for it.

Governor Taft's Election Review

2011-11-14T16:37:00.005-05:00

Comrades,

What a great week we've had. Let's re-cap the recent election results:

- State of Ohio - What an amazing victory for the forces of liberal Republicanism! Governor John Kasich's evil scheme to reign in government spending in Ohio came crashing down at the hands of my good friends in the public sector unions. I am particularly proud of two Republicans for standing up against conservative values - Bill Seitz and Bill Cunningham. When the union goons asked for help B&B were right there to support higher spending and oppose meaningful government reform. Way to go fellas! Nobody should be surprised by this of course. My buddy Bill Seitz voted for every single one of my tax increases while I was Governor, and was a vocal advocate in favor of a HUGE sales tax increase in Hamilton County. Bill Cunningham has been a strong supporter of high taxes and high-tax candidates for years. Bill also supported the massive $777 million Portune/Pepper sales tax increase, and opposed efforts in 2009 to stop the Cincinnati streetcar. Keep up the good work gentlemen!

- City of Cincinnati - I couldn't be more ecstatic about the results in the City of Cincinnati. Every single Conservative candidate was roundly defeated. Amy Murray, GONE! Wayne Lippert, GONE! The only Republican left on Council is Charlie Winburn; a former Democrat who opposed SB 5 and has bragged about his support of President Obama. What more could I ask for? More importantly, the effort to stop the Cincinnati streetcar was defeated at the polls. This leaves the City of Cincinnati free to pursue higher spending and gigantic tax increases.

- The Burbs - Well comrades, it was hit or miss in the suburbs of Hamilton County. Great high-tax Republicans like Virgil Lovitt, Dave Collins, and Rick Bryan were able to hold on to their seats to continue the status quo in their communities. Conversely, that evil conservative Heather Harlow defeated her opponent in Colerain Township. You can't win 'em all I suppose.

I think these results may mean that it's safe for me to return to the public eye comrades. It's heartening to know that there are still so many fellow travelers out there. I look forward to working with liberal, high tax, big spending Republicans to turn Ohio back around to where I left it.

Yours in UNITY,

Governor Bob Taft

Heather Harlow's Haters Eating Crow

2011-11-10T19:45:00.001-05:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, we would like to extend our sincere appreciation to all of our tipsters and friends from across Hamilton County. We were enormously pleased to be able to provide you meaningful coverage in many of this region's local races. We could not have done this without you! There is no way that those of us on the writing team could have covered the issues in so many different communities without all the tips and information that our extended network provided us. We thank you all so much.......

Except for the smelly people from Colerain. You people gave us bad information. Thankfully we did enough research on our own to provide the good, quality coverage that our readers have come to expect.

We were assured by our Colerain tipsters that Fiscal Officer Heather Harlow was going to get crushed. They told us things were so bad that her campaign threw in the towel weeks before the election, and that the local GOP and Tea Party had also turned against her. Now we find out that none of this was true as Heather was re-elected on Tuesday.

Here is a sampling of the comments we received from the Heather Harlow Haters Club:

"The Tea Party has something special planned for Heather Harlow. Having angered both the GOP establishment AND the Tea Party, is there anyone left who is going to vote for this clown? I think the people running this blog will be very happy the morning of November 9th."

"The Hamilton County Republican Party and operatives such as Buzz Deters may not do a lot of things well, but the plan to throw Heather Harlow under the bus is working so beautifully that she and her hubby can't stop it now and wouldn't even know it if it hit them in the face. Delicious and sweet irony."

"Harlow's support of Senate Bill 5 will be her undoing. Delicious and sweet irony that she was such a rah-rah Kasich gal and his signature legislation will be responsible for her crushing defeat."

"You guys can let this one go. Harlow is toast. She knows it too. She quit this campaign two weeks ago. No Republican in Colerain Township has seen or heard of any activity from her camp since a few damaging articles in the Community Press. She spends her days trying to suck up to countywide elected officials hoping to score a job in county government after she gets crushed."

"Jeff Ritter and I figured out how to destroy Heather Harlow's political career earlier this year. The plan is working beautifully. She has helped our cause by saying and doing some really dumb things (like getting out in front on issue 2 and kissing up to the Tea Partiers that actually can't stand her)."

"No worries. We got this in the bag. Harlow is toast."

We are angry at you Harlow Haters for failing to defeat our enemy Heather! You haters spent too much time yacking and not enough time warning everyone about Harlow's conservative record. Now we're stuck with this conservative woman for 4 more years. And you also failed to defeat our enemy Dan Unger. Our movement has much work to do in Colerain Township to remove these awful conservatives from office.

Leslie Ghiz defeated

2011-11-08T23:59:00.000-05:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, this was not the night we expected. While some things went well tonight, the news that our great friend Leslie Ghiz was defeated for re-election to Cincinnati City Council has left us in an inconsolable state. Right now we are in downtown Cincinnati crying our eyes out trying to comfort each other after this shocking defeat - possibly our worst loss since the last time Ghiz lost an election.

This is completely unfair! Leslie Ghiz was entitled to run a non-existent, mail-it-in campaign and still get re-elected. We were proud to endorse Ghiz for all she did to support David Pepper and grow the size of government.

We tax hikers must find a way to go on. We want you to remember all the great things about our Ghizzy. That should take a few seconds.

Please post your favorite memories of Leslie Ghiz in the comments section. Through sharing, we can begin to heal after this tragic loss.

Vote the Big Government Ballot on Tuesday!

2011-11-07T23:56:00.001-05:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, Election Day is almost here and we can't wait to vote for higher taxes, bigger government, and for candidates who share our beliefs. We are going to recap the endorsements we have already made, plus add a few more.

Top Priority - Re-elect Tax Hikin' Rick Bryan for Blue Ash City Council. Rick is our 2011 Tax Hiker of the Year and his loss would be a huge setback for our pro-tax movement.

Green Township Trustee - Vote against Jeffry Smith. Green Township cannot afford a Trustee who will oppose nepotism and look out for the taxpayers.

Cincinnati City Council - Re-elect Leslie Ghiz, who in her career has endorsed a huge Sales Tax increase, voted to build the Streetcar, subsidized The Freedom Center, and endorsed Democrat David Pepper for County Commissioner to help the Democrats take over Hamilton County. We also give our endorsement to deadbeat Jason Riveiro, tax-hiking goddess Roxanne Qualls, tax-hiking gay activist Chris Seelbach, and the streetcar-obsessed Laure Quinlivan.

Wyoming City Council - We implore you to support MS. Vicky Zwissler in spite of her past electoral failures. We also lend our support to ethically-challenged Democrat Jim O'Reilly, who was sanctioned by the Ohio Supreme Court for violating Judicial Canon 7(E)(1), and Barry Porter who loves higher taxes and gun control as much as he loves Twinkies and chocolate ice cream. All three of these fantastic tax increasers voted to raise Wyoming's Income Tax by 60%.

Sycamore School Board - You must vote against fiscal conservative Colleen Greissinger. There is no room on this 5-person board for one single person who is fiscally conservative and opposes higher taxes.

Northwest School Board - We need you to vote against fiscal conservative Dan Unger. Dan has said no to higher taxes and is trying to control spending. Both of these ideas are unacceptable, as we need higher taxes and out-of-control spending.

Colerain Fiscal Officer - It's urgent to vote against Heather Harlow. Not only is she a fiscal conservative who dared to oppose Hamilton County Sales Tax increase in 2007, she is also a woman who supports our 2nd Amendment rights. She needs to learn her role.

Sharonville Mayor - We are 100% behind Virgil Lovitt, our 2008 Tax Hiker of the Year. He has so many more taxes to raise.

Issue 2 - Vote NO! We want union deciding how to spend your tax dollars, not our elected officials. Voting down Issue 2 makes it more likely we'll need higher taxes in the near future!

Issue 3 - Vote NO! We fully support Obamacare. This issue opposes Obamacare and prohibits Ohio from enacting it's own Obama-style health care.

Issue 32 - This is a huge property tax increase so we fully support it.

Issue 37 - This is a tax issue, therefore vote yes.

Issue 38 - This is a tax issue, therefore vote yes.

Issue 47 - Vote NO! This amendment would ban a Trash Tax. We want to tax your trash.

Issue 48 - Vote NO! This amendment would ban our beloved streetcar.

Rick Bryan for Blue Ash City Council

2011-11-06T22:22:00.001-05:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, our #1 priority on Tuesday is the re-election of our 2011 Tax Hiker of the Year Rick Bryan to Blue Ash City Council. Please click on that link to learn all about the real Rick Bryan record. Earnings Tax increases, Sales Tax hikes, Lodging Tax hikes, and supporting the School Board members who have raised property taxes, Tax Hikin' Rick Bryan has been one of the most dedicated tax hikers we have ever covered.

We have consistently supported Republicans who raise taxes and support big government. We have even supported some Democrats who share our agenda, such as The Messiah Barack Obama. We knew if we wanted higher taxes, we had to elect Obama.

Rick Bryan is just as great of a tax hiker as President Obama. These two men believe in big government. They believe in higher taxes. They believe in spending big money on big monuments and big "stimulus" projects. We were enormously proud to name Rick Bryan our 2011 Tax Hiker of the Year. He earned it.

Rick's opponent is more fiscally conservative than he is. We don't want that. Rick Bryan has maxed out for our tax-and-spend movement. Now our movement must support him. Please do everything you can to support the re-election of Rick Bryan, our 2011 Tax Hiker of the Year.

Oppose Colleen Greissinger for Sycamore School Board

2011-11-06T22:02:00.002-05:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, we urge everyone in the Sycamore School District to vote against fiscal conservative Colleen Greissinger for school board. There is no room for anyone on the Board who does not support higher taxes and more spending. Our tax-hiking hero Diane Adamec would have an Oprah-sized meltdown if any of her ideas failed to pass unanimously. Colleen's opponents are obedient to Adamec and loyally vote with her even when she is wrong.

Currently the Sycamore School District spends more money per student ($14,733 per student per year) than 97% of Ohio's school districts. That is not enough! They must raise taxes and increase spending until they are the biggest spenders in Ohio.

Sadly, Colleen Greissinger refuses to support a property tax increase that would allow the schools to spend even more. She has stated that she will not support property tax increases for at least 5 more years. That is a terrible idea!

The entire School Board, including Colleen's opponents, have made it clear they will be seeking a big property tax increase in 2012 or 2013. We first reported this in January 2010. It would be tragic if this necessary tax hike did not have unanimous support on the Board.

You must vote against Colleen Greissinger. There is no room for a single fiscal conservative on this 5-person Board. We do not want those fiscal conservatives to have a voice. Make sure you vote against Colleen Greissinger to maintain our unanimous tax-and-spend, union-controlled Sycamore School Board. Tax us more!

Elected Official taking two taxpayer-funded health plans

2011-11-02T22:38:00.001-04:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, candidate for Green Township Trustee Jeffry Smith has done it again! This insolent citizen activist has discovered more information about another Green Township practice that is sure to upset this region's obnoxious fiscal conservatives.

Mr. Smith is reporting on his latest blog entry that Green Township Fiscal Officer Tom Straus is on two taxpayer-funded health plans at the same time! We encourage everyone to click on that link and read the full story there. The documents can be found at his website.

By day, Mr. Straus works for the Ohio Attorney General's office. There, he is on the State's health insurance plan. Straus is also the Fiscal Officer for Green Township. He is on their health insurance plan too! One worker, two taxpayer-funded health plans.

We at Republicans for Higher Taxes are always on the lookout for new and inventive ways to spend taxpayer money. This one is a winner. We applaud Tom Straus for showing the ingenuity to take two taxpayer-funded health plans at the same time.

We once again condemn Jeffry Smith for his citizen activism, as we did in September. We do not like it when taxpayers ask questions about their government. We especially despise it when they discover nepotism, mismanagement, and elected officials who take two taxpayer-funded health plans at the same time. It is vitally important that Mr. Smith is defeated on Tuesday. Green Township cannot afford to have a Trustee looking out for their tax dollars.

Mayor's wife steals opponent's campaign signs

2011-11-01T23:12:00.004-04:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, we hope everybody has seen the Channel 9 news report about the wife of Deer Park Mayor Dave Collins stealing the opposition's campaign signs. LaVerne Collins just couldn't tolerate seeing her husband's opponent, Shawn Gavin, campaigning for office as if he has the same right to run for Mayor that her husband does. Large LaVerne will not tolerate any unauthorized campaigning in HER town!

Do not cross Large LaVerne, or trusty sidekick Chris Hedger

Not only did Large LaVerne steal Gavin's sign, she sent an email to roughly half of Deer Park admitting her theft (email recipients redacted).

LaVerne often goes by Verne. She might as well trim some of her first name since she can't trim any of her extensive waistline. We do feel bad that Big Verne's wine supply ran dry. It's not something she handles well when it's time to celebrate the important things in life, like removing a Gavin campaign sign. But we can exclusively report that she and Chris Heffer were able to settle for sharing another box of Twinkies.

These people are representing Deer Park proudly. Accordingly, we enthusiastically endorse the re-election of Dave Collins for Deer Park Mayor. We especially want Verne Collins to remain as their First Lady and Holy Guardian of the City Ballot.

We want Deer Park to stay the same. We don't want it to get better. We don't want it to change at all. We don't want any new ideas or new blood like Shawn Gavin to get in the way of the Old Guard because the city is doing so darn well. You can't ask for any finer folk or better managers than our allies Dave and Verne Collins.

Re-elect Leslie Ghiz to City Council

2011-10-31T23:38:00.003-04:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, we are writing to correct a grave injustice. The Cincinnati Enquirer published a Sunday editorial calling on the voters to defeat Leslie Ghiz as she seeks re-election to Cincinnati City Council. This mean editorial called her a "distraction", accused her of "throwing bombs" that are often "personal, petty, and nasty", and said she affects Council in negative ways.

All that and more are the things we love most about our Ghizzy. If you think Leslie Ghiz is personal, petty, and nasty on Council, wait until you get to know her in real life. She curses like a drunken sailor, and many say she drinks like one too. Those are the characteristics of one classy woman.

These personal attributes are great, but they aren't the #1 reason we have always supported Ghizzy. She believes in the things we believe. Ghizzy supported the proposed 15 year, $777 million Sales Tax increase for Hamilton County. Ghiz voted to build the popular Cincinnati streetcar. Ghiz voted to give taxpayer money to John Pepper's Freedom Center. And speaking of Pepper, Ghiz publicly endorsed Democrat David Pepper for County Commissioner, assisting him in his legendary victory which turned our county over to the Democrats.

Raising taxes, building streetcars, endorsing Democrats, behaving in a personal, petty, and nasty manner - these reasons and more are why we proudly endorse Leslie Ghiz for Cincinnati City Council. Even though she is term-limited and will immediately start running for Judge as soon as the election is over, she is entitled to be re-elected to Council. Ghizzy is one of us. We support her 100%.

Oppose Dan Unger for Northwest School Board

2011-10-30T18:06:00.004-04:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, we ask everyone in the Northwest School District to vote against fiscal conservative Dan Unger for School Board. His opposition to higher taxes, and support for more spending controls, makes him unfit to serve on a School Board. In addition to his votes against raising your property taxes, Unger has made a series of proposals on his website and campaign ad which we find revolting:

- Saying no to double dippers. We have no problem with people who retire from their jobs to start collection their pensions, then return the next day to the job so they can earn both their salary and pension at the same time.

- Amend the district's purchasing policy to require School Board approval for high-dollar purchases. We would rather see Administrators spending wildly with no control from the Board.

- Require the Board to appoint the financial review committee, instead of having the Treasurer appoint a committee to review. What is wrong with having the Treasurer's office appoint the committee who will oversee the Treasurer's office?

- Control spending. We are against controlling spending. If the district fails to control spending, then we'll have to pass property tax increases to pay for it all. And raising taxes is what we really want.

If you like higher taxes as much as we do, you have to vote against these fiscal conservatives who try to keep government under control. Say YES to higher taxes and say YES to big spending by saying NO to Dan Unger.

Vicky Zwissler for Wyoming City Council

2011-10-26T22:36:00.024-04:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, we proudly endorse our friend and ally Vicky Zwissler for Wyoming City Council. This year Vicky seeks her Council comeback after being unceremoniously dumped by city voters in 2007. We ask all the good white folk in Wyoming (the city, not the state) to remember at all the great things she's done and put her back on Council.

1. As a Councilman, Vicky voted to raise Wyoming's Income Tax by a whopping 60%. As tax hikers we all know that the government deserves that money; you don't.

2. Was the driving force behind Council's infamous decision to have the city build a $4 million luxury pool (in Woodlawn), notwithstanding the presence of the Wyoming Swim Club centrally located in Wyoming just 1/2 mile from the Zwissler abode. Important projects like this are why your taxes needed to be raised 60%. We do not believe that Vicky had any conflict of interest just because she happens to be the President of the Swim Team that heavily utilizes this facility, or because her entire household has always enjoyed an outsized use of this taxpayer-funded luxury that she spearheaded.

3. Donated to ethically-challenged Democrat Jim O'Reilly for Judge over that awful Republican Pat Dinkelacker. As a result of his conduct during this race, O'Reilly was sanctioned by the Ohio Supreme Court for running a highly dishonest television ad that violated Canon 7(E)(1) of the Code of Judicial Conduct and fined $5,000 plus the costs of the proceedings against him. Victoria donated to O'Reilly on October 19th, 2006, long after this ad started airing and 3 days after the initial complaint was filed against him. Sound ethics cannot get in the way of electing our type of people, and we are glad that Victoria shares this belief.

4. A dedicated feminist warrior, MS. Zwissler has always kept her maiden name, vowing never to take the name of a dirty man.

5. We hope Vicky will join with her friend Lynn Larson to help maintain Wyoming's undisputed status as a mecca for underage drinking. This title was confirmed by the April 9th incident that resulted in 28 arrests (names here), and reinforced by the August incident at Wyoming School Board member Lynn Larson's home that resulted in more legal troubles (names here). Three of the geniuses managed to get themselves collared in both incidents.

We need Zwissler back on council. The city needs higher taxes. The city needs more luxury pools and other monuments. We urge you to ignore her past electoral failures and vote for Vicky Zwissler for Wyoming City Council.

Oppose Heather Harlow for Fiscal Officer

2011-10-25T22:27:00.001-04:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, we urgently must come together to oppose the re-election of our enemy Heather Harlow for Colerain Township Fiscal Officer. Harlow's crimes against our tax-and-spend movement are long and severe.

1. Was one of only seven elected officials in Hamilton County who opposed the massive 15 year, $777 million Sales Tax increase in 2007. Everyone was under orders from the political parties and our beloved Sheriff Simon Leis to support this. Harlow refused to endorse this needed countywide tax increase, and her fellow citizens of Colerain voted it down in record numbers. We will not tolerate it when an elected official represents their constituents instead of obeying party leaders.

2. Co-chaired Chris Monzel's campaign for Commissioner instead of supporting our endorsed candidate Leslie Ghiz. Ghiz deserved that nomination. Ghiz supported that Sales Tax hike, she endorsed Democrat David Pepper for Commissioner and Mayor, and she voted to start the $200 million streetcar project.

3. Helped lead the conspiracy against Leslie Ghiz by the Blue Chip Young Republicans, an organization she once lead. Harlow is one of the people who we blame for that club's unanimous support of Monzel over Ghiz.

4. Recently agreed to serve as a local chairman to help pass Issue 2, which reforms collective bargaining laws to allow elected officials to set their budgets instead of union leaders like Diana Frey. We oppose Issue 2 because we want union leaders deciding how to spend our tax dollars, not the people we elect.

5. We are also angry that she, as a woman, has been openly supportive of protecting gun rights for law-abiding citizens. It is not a woman's place to support the 2nd Amendment. Her job is to support higher taxes on command, and she has failed miserably at that simple task.

We must unite to stop Heather Harlow! Her support for limited government, holding the line on taxes, and protecting constitutional rights is completely unacceptable. Our movement has to stop young, conservative, Republican women before they get too far. We endorse her male opponent because we need to stop this conservative woman now. Tax us more!

Ashwin Corattiyil's Snafu

2011-10-23T22:57:00.000-04:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, we were the first to give the new Hamilton County Republican Party Political and Communications Director a warm welcome to his new job. Now we would like everyone to forgive our friend Ashwin Corattiyil for his first glaring mistake.

On Friday the Hamilton County GOP sent a press release announcing that Rocky Boiman was selected to fill Tracy Winkler's hefty shoes as the newest Green Township Trustee. Nevermind that we had already announced it three days earlier. In this release, Ashwin wrote, "On Monday, October 18th, Green Township Trustees David Linnenberg and Tony Upton appointed Rocky Boiman to replace Tracy Winkler...."

Monday was October 17th. By the time the 18th rolled around it was Tuesday and Rocky had already been selected. We would like everyone to just ignore this error and move on.

Just because Ashwin spent the entire 2004 election cycle campaigning for John Kerry and worked for the liberal Democratic Speaker of New York City Council through 2010 does not mean that he is a Democratic infiltrator who is trying to destroy our Hamilton County GOP from within. He did not make this silly mistake to embarrass his new Republican employer. You can trust him. That's what we declare.

Rick Bryan - 2011 Tax Hiker of the Year

2011-10-20T07:29:00.083-04:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, we proudly name Blue Ash City Councilman Rick Bryan our 2011 Tax Hiker of the Year. Tax Hikin' Rick Bryan has an extensive record of raising taxes and growing the size of government.

Most people familiar with Rick say that he is one of the least hardworking and most irrelevant politicians in Southwest Ohio, and for the most part they are correct. But we love Rick anyways because he works very hard at two things - raising taxes and building big taxpayer-funded monuments. Consider the Rick Bryan record:

1) Teamed with former Attorney General Marc Dann to endorse a 15 year, $777 million Sales Tax increase on Hamilton County residents. Sadly, 56% of county voters rejected Rick's huge Sales Tax hike.

2) Publicly endorsed a 2006 Charter Amendment giving Blue Ash City Council the authority to raise the city's earnings tax from a measly 1% to 1.25%.

3) As soon as this amendment passed, Tax Hikin' Rick Bryan wasted no time taking advantage of this power by voting to raise the earnings tax by 25% on the undertaxed residents and workers of Blue Ash.

4) After raising the earnings tax, our Rick has enthusiastically pushed to spend it all on vitally important items such as a $14 million Rec Center rebuild (when it could have been renovated for $3 million), a big new park, a new arts center (30 feet from Sharonville's), AND The Big All-Important Golf Course Clubhouse Expansion. While many communities are wasting their money on things like police, fire, roads, and snow removal, Bryan makes sure Blue Ash focuses on building big expensive monuments on which they can hang an expensive plaque with the names of each City Councilman.

5) Strongly supported the re-election of our hero Bob Bedinghaus for all the great things he did for Hamilton County. We needed those stadium deals, and we're glad Rick Bryan understands this.

6) Voted to have Blue Ash City Council endorse the tax increase which more than doubled the Hotel/Motel Tax in Hamilton County. This tax increase was pushed by Virgil Lovitt, sponsored by Jean Schmidt, and signed into law by Bob Taft - a legendary trio of tax hikers.

7) Opposed the nomination of our nemesis Pat DeWine for Judge. DeWine opposed the $777 million Sales Tax increase that Bryan endorsed, and our Rick wanted to make sure DeWine was severely punished for his fiscally conservative ways.

8) A fine example of Rick's efforts to make Blue Ash so "well-run", the City actually paid a band to NOT perform at the Taste of Blue Ash. Never have we seen a wiser use of taxpayer dollars.

9) Finally, Rick proudly wears his big, manly, mad-sexy mustache everywhere he goes. Given his poor work ethic and limited ability to understand complex issues, Rick Bryan needs that Mustache Power to be the tax-hiking superstar he has become today.

As you can see, Tax Hikin' Rick Bryan is a fantastic tax increaser and is highly deserving of his Tax Hiker of the Year Award. He doesn't do many things well, but nobody can deny his superior skills at raising taxes and building big monuments. We hope everyone will join us in congratulating our 2011 Tax Hiker of the Year Rick Bryan!

New Green Township Trustee

2011-10-18T23:35:00.006-04:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, we congratulate Rocky Boiman for being named the newest Green Township Trustee. Boiman was selected to replace our Tracy Winkler, who had to resign the seat to become Hamilton County Clerk of Courts. Those are some mighty big shoes that Rocky will be asked to fill.

We believe Rocky is firmly qualified for this position. He played football at St. X. He played football at Notre Dame. He played football in the NFL. His Political Action Committee, LEAD PAC, endorsed and donated to Democratic City Council candidate P.G. Sittenfeld as well as the liberal, pro-streetcar Deadbeat Democrat Jason Riveiro. We expect Rocky to get right to work keeping things as they are and protecting the patronage jobs of select Green Township families.

We applaud Green Township Trustees Tony Upton and David Linnenberg for moving expeditiously to select a qualified candidate for this opening. It only took them 5 days to accept Winkler's resignation, announce the opening, allow time for applications to come in, schedule the interviews, conduct the interviews, and make a final decision. That is the sign of a fair, open, and honest selection process that everyone can be proud of. Please join us in giving Rocky Boiman a warm welcome to our tax-hiking team.

Virgil Lovitt for Sharonville Mayor

2011-10-17T23:55:00.000-04:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, we strongly endorse 2008 Tax Hiker of the Year Virgil Lovitt for re-election as Sharonville's Mayor. Virg has been a fantastic Mayor and is possibly the greatest active Hamilton County tax hiker we have. There are too many examples of Virg's high-tax activism to list in one blog entry, but we'll make sure you get a chance to review his greatest hits.

As Mayor, Virgil supported a 50% increase in Sharonville's income tax. In 2007 Virg endorsed a $777 million Sales tax increase for the undertaxed citizens of Hamilton County. When Sharonville overpaid some of its employees by $500,000, Virg decided to be a gentleman and just let everyone keep the money. A great Bob Taft Republican, Virg could not wait to endorse Taft's 3rd Frontier project which has worked to save Ohio's economy. Virg endorsed and worked hard to more than double Hamilton County's lodging tax, legislation sponsored by tax hiker Jean Schmidt and signed into law by Taft - 3 legendary tax hikers working together to raise our taxes.

There are so many more tax hikes and big government activity in Virg's record. Virg endorsed a huge property tax increase for the Princeton Schools in 2007, which failed. In 2010, with the Princeton Schools already spending more money per student than nearly every other school district in Ohio, Virg endorsed another huge property tax increase which fortunately passed. Virg has been a strong supporter of proven tax hiker Jean Schmidt, opposed fiscal conservative Pat DeWine for Judge, and even endorsed and donated to Democrat Todd Portune.

We consider Virgil Lovitt to be the model public servant for our tax-and-spend movement. Our only regret is that he is not serving us in a greater capacity. If there was any justice in the world Virg would be a County Commissioner or State Representative while building up to a statewide run. But Ohio's loss is Sharonville's gain. We proudly give our strongest possible endorsement to Virgil Lovitt for Sharonville Mayor so that he can spend four more years endorsing every tax increase in the region.

Tax Hiker of the Year TBA Thursday morning

2011-10-17T23:18:00.000-04:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, now that our efforts to install Tracy Winkler as the new Hamilton County Clerk of Courts have resulted in victory, we now return to a high priority item. As you know, we have already selected our Tax Hiker of the Year. Today we announce that we are planning a big rollout this week.

This Thursday morning at 7:30 AM, Republicans for Higher Taxes will name the winner of our 2011 Tax Hiker of the Year award. We promise that we have found a highly deserving recipient. We know that you all will be just as proud of our accomplished winner as we are.

We trust that everyone understands the reason for our delay. Our movement needed to focus all of our attention on selecting Tracy Winkler to be our next Clerk of Courts. This was an important victory for us. With that behind us, we can give our Tax Hiker of the Year the big-time attention that he or she deserves. We have always done right by the winner of this most prestigious award and this year will be no different. Tax us more!

HamCo GOP's latest hire worked on Kerry campaign

2011-10-13T23:42:00.003-04:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, we are delighted to introduce Ashwin Corattiyil as the new Political Director of our Hamilton County Republican Party. Ashwin is a great friend of ours and we know he will do a fantastic job for our movement. His background is pristine.

Our Ashwin spent the entire 2004 campaign season working for Democratic Presidential candidate John Kerry! Corattiyil's extensive time with the John Kerry campaign was chronicled in this article, which included the following passage that helped explain his attraction to Kerry:

He worked for John Kerry from the beginning of his presidential bid as an intern in the New York campaign office, because he thought that Kerry had the best chance of beating Bush.

Ashwin's liberal values also influenced his decision to work for Senator Kerry.

The activist came to New York from comparably small and suburban Cincinnati, Ohio, tempted by NYU’s teaching program. He recalled growing up and being slightly more liberal than the neighborhood regulars.

Even though you’re born and raised here, you see the outsider’s perspective. I can see a totally different viewpoint. And, I think that’s why I became more liberal.

As recently as September 2010, our Ashwin was working for the Speaker of the New York City Council, Democrat Christine Quinn.

Campaigning for John Kerry, promoting liberal values, working for New York City Democrats - this is exactly the kind of person we need to help run the Hamilton County Republican Party! Why hire a proven Republican operative to help run the Republican Party when you can hire a wonderful Democrat instead?

Selecting Ashwin Corattiyil is as great of a decision as selecting Tracy Winkler. They have precisely the kind of qualifications that we at Republicans for Higher Taxes treasure. These kind of decisions are moving our party in the right direction - our direction.

Our new Clerk of Courts

2011-10-12T22:49:00.006-04:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, today was a special day for us personally and for the movement that we lead. We were privileged to be in attendance as our Tracy Winkler was officially sworn in as the new Hamilton County Clerk of Courts! Then at the reception afterwards we enjoyed an appetizer with Tracy, followed by a bucket of wings, and some chips and dip, and an assorted variety of candies, and finally a sampling of wonderful desserts.

Tracy wasted no time getting busy at her new job. By the end of the week we anticipate she will actually know what the Clerk of Courts does. With hundreds of patronage jobs at her disposal, Tracy will have many hiring decisions to make. She will soon make key decisions about her administrative staff, perhaps replacing workers like Mike Robison with some of her unemployed relatives with minimal education.

And naturally, Jennifer Triantafilou is being strongly considered for a high-ranking job. Because of her qualifications, of course.

Team Tax Hikers, all of you deserve credit for the great jobs you have done! This couldn't have happened without you. We did our job convincing the party that Tracy Winkler was entitled to this position. Between her last name and her decision to hire Jennifer Triantafilou for a job she was completely unqualified for, Tracy earned this appointment. Tracy is very appreciative of everything we have done. Now we will get our reward as she serves Hamilton County as well as she's served Green Township.

Winkler's final hurdle

2011-10-10T23:11:00.001-04:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, we are so close to making Tracy Winkler our next Hamilton County Clerk of Courts that we can already taste the victory. Just one more hurdle remains. On Tuesday the Hamilton County Republican Party Executive Committee meets to make the final decision for the Clerk of Courts. We can tell you now what will happen.

We are proud to report the exclusive news that Tracy Winkler has already been selected by the Executive Committee in advance of tomorrow's meeting! The decision has been made that Winkler will win in an overwhelming vote. We are working to make it unanimous.

This is a fantastic victory for our tax hiking team. We recognized our star on the rise, Tracy Winkler, and put everything else aside to focus on getting her this position. We have even postponed naming our 2011 Tax Hiker of the Year to focus all our attention on Winkler.

Tracy is entitled to this appointment! She is a Winkler. She hired Alex Triantafilou's wife for a position that she was otherwise unqualified to fill. She shut down public comments at the Green Township Trustee meetings. Tracy is owed a favor by the Party Chairman, and tomorrow Tracy officially collects. Our tax dollars at work!

Tax Hiker award delayed

2011-10-09T11:54:00.022-04:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, due to our tireless work on behalf of selecting Tracy Winkler for Hamilton County Clerk of Courts, we have had to delay the rollout of our 2011 Tax Hiker of the Year award. This is our most prestigious award and we want to make sure that our winner receives all of the recognition that he or she deserves.

When Winkler is in the spotlight, she takes it all. It would unfair to our 2011 winner to announce their accomplishment under these circumstances. Our Tax Hiker of the Year is entitled to the significant recognition that historically accompanies this honor. However we cannot give this person the attention they deserve while we are working so hard for our Tracy.

We want all you tax hikers to know that we have selected our winner. This person is highly deserving of the award. We know all of you will be just as proud of this person as we are. We promise, as soon as we complete our work on behalf of Tracy Winkler we will announce our fantastic 2011 winner.

Official Hamilton County GOP Screening Questionnaire

2011-10-07T18:19:00.004-04:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, we have received an actual copy of the questionnaire used by the Hamilton County Republican Party to fill the recent vacancy for Clerk of Courts. We are pleased to reveal this document to all of you.

****************************************************************

Dear applicant, thank you for your interest in becoming the next Hamilton County Clerk of Courts. We have committed to filling this vacancy in a fair, open, and honest manner. Please complete this fair, open, and honest questionnaire which will be used to determine the winner.

1) List all the relevant qualifications you possess for this position.

(1 point for each valid answer)

2) Besides our beloved Chairman, who is our best employee at GOP Headquarters?
A. Debbie Flammer (0 points)
B. Any of the interns (0 points)
C. Maggie Nafziger Wuellner (10 points)

3) Describe your physical appearance:

A. Fit (0 points)

B. Just a little overweight (2 points)

C. Free Willy (10 points)

4) Have you recently hired Alex Triantafilou's wife for a government position in which she did not meet the minimum qualifications?

A. Yes (100 points)

B. No (0 points)

5) Please indicate your last name:

A. Winkler (100 points)

B. Other (0 points)

6) Have you ever slept with His Honor Ted Winkler?

A. Yes! (50 points)

B. No (0 points)

Our fair, open, and honest screening committee will meet Wednesday, October 5th to review the answers and make a final recommendation. Thank you for your interest!

-- Mags

Winkler picked by Selection Committee

2011-10-06T23:40:00.003-04:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, we are sure you have heard the great news that Tracy Winkler was officially selected by the Hamilton County Republican Party's insider screening committee to be our next Clerk of Courts. This is no surprise to you loyal readers, as we announced on Tuesday night that the screening committee had already selected Winkler in advance of their Wednesday meeting.

Winkler earned this selection. Winkler hired Alex Triantafilou's wife for a township position that she was completely unqualified for to do a favor for the party boss. Now she is collecting on that favor. In addition, Tracy married into the Winkler family. That alone gives her special privileges that she is exploiting to her full advantage.

This is how politics works - you sell out your integrity for the party boss, and he will sell out his integrity for you. Things like serving the citizens, saving taxpayer money, and good government don't matter. It's about getting what yours. We applaud the Winkler and Triantafilou families for showing us what is important.

Tracy Winkler selected Clerk of Courts

2011-10-04T23:31:00.000-04:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, on Wednesday the Hamilton County Republican Party's hand-picked Special Screening Committee will be meeting for their fair, open, and honest interview process to select our next Clerk of Courts. We are delighted to be the first to report that they have already selected Green Township Trustee Tracy Winkler for this important vacancy! On orders from above, Winkler has won the appointment in a lopsided vote. They will meet tomorrow to make it official.

We are proud to be the first Republican organization to endorse Winkler. We have previously listed her many qualifications for higher office. This leads us to correct one small mistake in yesterday's blog entry, where we stated that Winkler wasn't qualified for this job. It is true that Winkler has absolutely zero professional qualifications to be Clerk of Courts. However she has the qualifications that matter - her last name is Winkler, AND she spends our taxpayer money to hire friends and relatives for township jobs that they are incapable of performing.

Tracy is being rewarded for hiring Party Chairman Alex Triantafilou's wife for a Green Township government job that she was completely unqualified to hold, bypassing many qualified candidates in the process. We covered this issue extensively in our last entry. It has also been covered even more extensively by that awful Green Township watchdog Jeffry Smith, who has the complete set of documents at his blog entry. We encourage all of you to click the link to his site and read them.

As Clerk of Courts, Winkler will have hundreds of patronage jobs to dole out. The unemployment rate for the Friends and Family of Tracy will be 0% once she gets rid of those stupid qualified professionals currently working there and replaces them with her gang.

This is how Hamilton County GOP politics works. Quid pro quo. Tracy Winkler sacrificed her integrity to do a favor for the party boss. Tomorrow Alex Triantafilou returns the favor. Your tax dollars are funding all of this. We ask everyone to join us in congratulating Tracy Winkler for her selection as Hamilton County's newest Clerk of Courts.

Tracy Winkler - The Jennifer Triantafilou Factor

2011-10-03T23:46:00.005-04:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, we proudly endorse Green Township Trustee Tracy Winkler for Hamilton County Clerk of Courts. We have previously endorsed Winkler for higher office and we stand behind her 100% as she applies to be selected by our Hamilton County Republican Party for this vacancy. She is going to get this appointment. One key reason is because of Winkler's key role in hiring Jennifer Triantafilou, who was the wife of GOP Chairman Alex Triantafilou, for a Green Township government position she was completely unqualified to hold.

Citizen watchdog and candidate for Green Township Trustee Jeffry Smith has compiled extensive documents about this controversial hire at his website. His website contains an excellent, thorough accounting of this process and we encourage all you tax hikers to read through it. Among the findings:

- This position required a Bachelor's degree. Jennifer Triantafilou's highest level of education was completing an Electrocardiography Certificate at Cincinnati State.

- The application deadline was November 9, 2009. Triantafilou applied on November 20th at the earliest.

- Triantafilou was not selected by the Township Administrator as one of the final four candidates, all of whom were actually qualified for the position. Yet, Winkler jumped into the process to insist that the unqualified, unrecommended Triantafilou get hired in spite of the presence of the highly qualified applicants.

Tracy Winkler sold her integrity to get a favor from Alex Triantafilou. Now it's payback time.

Tracy herself lacks the education, experience, and intelligence to be a solid Clerk of Courts. But none of that matters. Winkler hired Triantafilou's wife for a position she was not qualified to hold, and now Alex is going to select Tracy for a job she is unqualified to hold. This is how it works and we think it's great. And just think - your tax dollars are paying for all of this.

Tracy Winkler for Clerk of Courts - because qualifications just don't matter.

Jason Riveiro campaign sued for non-payment

2011-10-02T23:20:00.003-04:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, we are gravely concerned about the inept campaign being run by our ally, pro-streetcar leftist Jason Riveiro. There are many things a Cincinnati City Council candidate needs to do well. This hombre isn't doing a single one of them.

With just weeks left before Election Day, credible candidates have raised most of their money and are sitting on a war chest which they will deploy in the final two or three weeks of the campaign. Sadly, this doesn't describe Riveiro. At the last campaign finance deadline Riveiro had raised a minimal amount of money. Even worse, he spent nearly all of it. The evidence shows his campaign is about broke.

Jason Riveiro and the Riveiro campaign is being sued by a consulting firm for $1700. We are afraid this reflects poorly on Mr. Riveiro's cash flow. A campaign that has built up its war chest for the final stretch should be able to make a $1700 payment without getting sued first.

We are saddened by this news because we like Mr. Riveiro. We appreciate his support for higher taxes, the streetcar, and illegal immigration. We will stand with our amigo to the end, but we are afraid he will not be one of the nine standing in the winner's circle. We encourage his supporters to stand beside him, though we also advise anyone doing business with him to get paid up front and in cash.

Oppose Jeffry Smith for Green Township Trustee

2011-09-29T23:44:00.007-04:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, it is a matter of extreme importance that we stop citizen activist Jeffry Smith from getting elected Green Township Trustee. Mr. Smith's advocacy for good government and against nepotism is unacceptable and has caused much discomfort for the elite ruling class of this fine township. Mr. Smith's crimes against our allies in the tax-and-spend movement are severe and disqualify him from serving the public.

1) Jeffry Smith is the peasant who uncovered the truth behind the hiring of Jennifer Triantafilou for a job she's completely unqualified to hold, and in fact did not apply for until nearly 2 weeks after the application deadline. Mr. Smith compiled the public documents and posted them on his site to show her lack of qualifications and the political reasons behind the hire. The Green Township Trustees bypassed many qualified candidates to hire the wife of Hamilton County Republican Party Chairman Alex Triantafilou in order to gain political favor down the road. We at Republicans for Higher Taxes think there is nothing wrong with hiring well-connected political wives for jobs they aren't capable of performing.

2) Smith discovered that the Nathanael Greene Lodge has been losing an average of $200,000 per year. This lodge is co-run by Allison Detzel, who happens to be the daughter of Trustee Tracy Winkler. Smith thinks something is wrong with this. We don't have any problem with hiring an elected official's daughter to lose a ton of money for the Township.

3) We are especially disappointed that Smith has criticized the Trustees for shutting down public comments at their Township meetings. Why would any elected official care what regular citizens have to say about their government? The Green Township Trustees sure don't care. Smith should apologize for insisting that he and his fellow citizens have a right to be heard at their local government meetings.

Do you want a representative who lets you speak at government meetings? Then don't vote for Smith. Do you have a problem with Trustees hiring their children to lose taxpayer money? Then don't vote for Smith, he'll hire someone who can do the job. Do you support hiring the Party Chairman's wife for a job she's incapable of performing? Then don't vote for Smith, he'll hire qualified personnel instead.

Whatever you do, don't vote for Jeffry Smith. There are too many relatives of political officials whose patronage jobs depend on it.

Announcement: 2011 Tax Hiker of the Year to be named

2011-09-26T23:40:00.002-04:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, we are just one week away from naming the recipient of our 2011 Tax Hiker of the Year award! This is our most prestigious award. We take great pride in selecting only the most highly qualified tax hikers for this honor.

We will be unveiling the 2011 winner next week. We promise all you tax hikers to select another highly deserving recipient as we have every other year.

Just like our good friends at CincyPAC, this award is determined by our wonderful Board. We agree with CincyPAC that regular people aren't good enough to make these important decisions. We applaud groups like CincyPAC that don't allow their membership to decide how their organization is run.

We are very, very proud of our Tax Hiker of the Year award and its rich history of awesome winners. We promise that our 2011 winner will be just as great as our previous ones. We now leave you with our proud history of Tax Hiker of the Year award winners:

2007 Tax Hiker of the Year - Bill Seitz
2008 Tax Hiker of the Year - Virgil Lovitt
2009 Tax Hiker of the Year - Michelle Schneider
2010 Tax Hiker of the Year - Jon Husted

Tax Our Trash, No on 47

2011-09-25T22:54:00.000-04:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, we alert you to one of the most dangerous issues to hit the people's ballot in years. Cincinnati voters will be deciding the fate of Issue 47, which would ban the city from taxing your trash. This amendment is a bunch of garbage!

We strongly endorse a NO vote on Issue 47. Nobody should be able to throw something away without paying a tax to the government. We want our garbage to be taxed. Don't you?

We condemn the NAACP and COAST for their work in getting this to the ballot. Only an extremist would oppose a trash tax ban. Cincinnati needs this money. You don't. Tax our trash, No on 47.

Support the Streetcar, No on 48

2011-09-21T23:38:00.000-04:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, tonight we reiterate our strong support for the $130 million Cincinnati streetcar. As the streetcar's leading advocate, we call on everyone to stand with us again as we move forward on this 19th Century transportation method.

This fall Cincinnati residents will have a chance to vote on the streetcar. Issue 48 is an effort by our enemies at COAST and elsewhere to ban the streetcar for 9 years. To save the streetcar, we strongly endorse a NO vote on Issue 48. A recent article reveals where each City Council candidate stands on this important issue.

The streetcar will do so many good things. Due to space limitations we'll limit ourselves to some of the best ones:

- Roxanne Qualls says the streetcar will create jobs, just like she promised the stadiums would create jobs.

- The streetcar will repopulate Over the Rhine. There are so many people who would move to good ole' OTR, if only it had a streetcar.

- It will provide more transportation options and attract "choice riders". Buses have too many minorities and poor people to make these all-important "choice riders" feel comfortable. A streetcar gets rid of these undesirables. White YP's deserve something for themselves. With a streetcar they can finally start leaving their gas-guzzling SUV's in the garage.

- With the streetcar, Cincinnati can "move forward". Nothing moves you forward like bringing back 19th Century technology.

We are very excited to spend $130 million on a 3 mile loop through Over the Rhine. This streetcar will do almost as many good things for Cincinnati as the two stadiums have done for Hamilton County. But to build this streetcar, we must defeat Issue 48. Save the streetcar! Vote No on 48!

Rick Bryan hearts Bob Bedinghaus

2011-09-19T23:34:00.000-04:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, we all know that Bob Bedinghaus was one of the best Commissioners that Hamilton County ever had. Our ally Blue Ash City Councilman Rick Bryan agrees. When the selfish voters ended Bedinghaus' political career, Tax Hikin' Rick Bryan stood with him to the end. From an Enquirer article:

Most Republicans will support Mr. Bedinghaus on election day, said Rick Bryan, Republican vice mayor of Blue Ash. He said Mr. Bedinghaus took a risk for the community, and now the community should support him.

Mr. Bryan is 100% correct. Bedinghaus did the right thing. Those stadium decisions have paid off handsomely and now Hamilton County is prospering because of them. Bedinghaus deserved re-election for all the good he did.

Tax Hikin' Rick Bryan has governed Blue Ash the same way. Rick was the #1 cheerleader for Blue Ash's huge 25% income tax increase. He is using that money to perform functions that are almost as important as building stadiums - building a new park, building a new performing arts center (30 feet away from Sharonville's), the $14 million Rec Center renovation, AND The Big All-Important Golf Course Clubhouse Expansion. Move aside police and fire, those monuments are why we have government!

“I hope this race isn't just a referendum on the stadium,” Mr. Bryan said. “But when you strip the emotion away, if the city had lost the Bengals and the Reds, it would not be as desirable a place to live.”

Absolutely. Because of the Bedinghaus/Neyer/Bryan Stadium Tax, this county is a more desirable place to live. We get to pay higher Sales Taxes to provide our beloved Bengals and Reds with free stadiums. We get to pay another stadium tax for the huge stadium fund deficits these projects have created. We get to benefit from the economic boom these stadiums have given us. We get to love, honor, and respect Bengals Owner Mike Brown every single year, while paying him $10 million/year in operating subsidies.

Rick Bryan is doing for Blue Ash what Bob Bedinghaus did for Hamilton County. We need more of the same. Bryan stood with Bedinghaus because he is just like him. They are two peas in a pod who love higher taxes and bigger monuments. And that's why we love them so much. We hope you love them too. Tax us more!

Simon Leis Memorial Service

2011-09-15T23:32:00.002-04:00

Dearly tax hikers, we are gathered here, at our favorite hangout, to mourn the political passing of one of our greatest friends, Hamilton County Sheriff Simon L. Leis. For the last 80 years Simon has been an inspiration for us all - raising taxes, supporting the $200 million streetcar, trashing the 1st Amendment, and in general being a jackass to anyone who didn't respect his authority as Hamilton County Dictator. We will miss him greatly.

Simon Leis spent a lifetime watching pornography. Not for his benefit of course - it was for our benefit. After all, how would we know if a particular film was appropriate to watch if Dearly Simon hadn't already watched it and made the decision for us. We bet Simon had a big smile on his face when he watched two guys pounding each other, knowing that his sacrifice was protecting the community.

When he wasn't watching adult films for our benefit, Simon was an advocate for everything we believed in. He strongly supported an $800 million Sales Tax hike for $200 million to expand his jail and the rest to expand his kingdom. He took a trip to Portland and saw a bunch of people riding the streetcar during lunch rush in a no-fare zone, and based on that immediately endorsed Cincinnati's then-$200 million streetcar plan. Simon proudly endorsed great Democrats like David Pepper, Todd Portune, and Jim Tarbell while opposing our enemies Pat DeWine and Chris Monzel.

We have all come here for comfort and support in our trying time of need. This is a safe place for our kind to mourn, knowing we are with those who believe as we do. Be not afraid to cry. Be not afraid to grieve. Be not afraid to reach out here to your friends for love in this most difficult period. As we enter our mourning period, we invite all you Dearly Tax Hikers to post your favorite memories of our Dearly Departed, so that our sense of community can help us heal. RIP Great Sheriff.

Don't blame the mustache

2011-09-14T22:59:00.001-04:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, yesterday our Messiah Barack Obama suffered a horrendous defeat in New York's 9th Congressional District. This Democratic district in liberal New York City elected a Tea Party Republican Bob Turner to Congress with an astounding 53% of the vote.

One specific reason being cited for this loss hurts us the most. The mustache. Democratic candidate David Weprin has a mustache and some are citing this as one of the factors that hurt him.

Weprin had other things working against him going into Tuesday's vote: his endorsement of same-sex marriage, which enraged many of the Orthodox Jewish voters; his membership in a political party blamed by many for the country's economic mess; his perceived lack of familiarity with the district; even his mustache. "Really … you look sleazy," said Pearl Siegelman, a Democratic district leader in Brooklyn's Sheepshead Bay, where one polling station recorded 69% support for Turner despite the large number of voters there who are a lot like Weprin: Orthodox Jewish Democrats.

We refuse to sit back and allow anyone to take a swipe at Mustache Power. This underrated advantage has powered many of our victories. Look at all the mustaches throughout our region - 2008 Tax Hiker of the Year Virgil Lovitt, Blue Ash City Councilman Tax Hikin' Rick Bryan, 2007 Tax Hiker of the Year Bill Seitz, Todd Portune, Leslie Ghiz, and Jean Schmidt.

You can criticize Obama for his lack of support for Israel. Criticize him for not doing enough to promote his tax increases. You can criticize Weprin for running a lousy campaign. For supporting gay marriage. But whatever you do, do not criticize the 'stache. Mustache Power is still a potent force.

Tracy Winkler nixes State Rep race

2011-09-08T23:58:00.002-04:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, for most people today was the deadline to apply for the vacant State Representative position in Ohio's 30th District. However if Green Township rules are utilized, Jennifer Triantafilou will have 11 more days to send in her application. The list of current applicants was released earlier today, and sadly our endorsed candidate Tracy Winkler was not among them.

We tax hikers are having terrible luck with our top candidates. Our first endorsed candidate Stadium David Linnenberg turned down the race the day after we endorsed him. And now Tracy Winkler refused to step up to the plate (for once). We were counting on sending top-notch tax hiker to infiltrate the Republican Caucus so we can undermine the Kasich agenda, but we are afraid that we have failed in that important task.

We ask all you tax hikers, do you see a good candidate in this group? If so send us the information so we can all stand together and select the best tax-and-spend Republican for this vacancy. This can be the start of our effort to take down John Kasich and all his evil, pro-taxpayer policies!

Blue Ash pays band to not perform

2011-09-07T22:33:00.000-04:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, we are very proud of the City of Blue Ash for making national news due to their decision to pay a band to not perform at August's Taste of Blue Ash. This is a fantastic use of taxpayer dollars.

We are always on the lookout for new and inventive ways to spend taxpayer money. This one may take the cake.

We applaud Blue Ash City Council for their fine leadership on this important issue. In particular, we salute our good friend Tax Hikin' Rick Bryan for all the great leadership he has shown at raising taxes and growing government. We encourage them to stop being so modest in taking credit for this accomplishment. Pat Benatar is getting too much credit.

Pat Benatar doesn't run the City of Blue Ash. She doesn't write their contracts. She doesn't execute their contracts. She can't break their contracts. It is Blue Ash City Council that makes these decisions. It is Blue Ash's great leaders that made this happen. We thank Councilman Rick Bryan and his fellow band of Councilmen for spending taxpayer money paying a band to sit home and do nothing for the great people of Blue Ash. Great job guys!

We Endorse Tracy Winkler

2011-08-31T23:23:00.001-04:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, we are beaming with pride to announce our endorsement of Green Township Trustee Tracy Winkler to move up in the political world. Tracy is currently considering whether she would like to be the next 30th District State Representative or become Hamilton County's next Clerk of Courts. We have detailed Tracy's extensive qualifications for higher office and have proven that she would be a phenomenal choice for either position.

Therefore, we proudly endorse.......Tracy Winkler for Something. Consider the fine Tracy Winkler record:

1. Tracy proudly hired Chairman Alex Triantafilou's ex-wife Jennifer Triantafilou for a position she is completely unqualified to hold and did not even apply for until 11 days after the application deadline. Tracy has no problems selling out her integrity to obey orders from her superiors. That's exactly the kind of public servant we value here at Republicans for Higher Taxes.

2. Supported a 1.9 mill property tax increase for Green Township property owners.

3. With Tracy's blessing, the Nathaniel Greene Lodge loses $200,000 per year for the Township. One of the co-managers of this money-losing operation is Tracy's daughter, Allison Detzel. We have no problem with nepotism, as long as it's kept in the family.

4. Permitted her Township Administrator to campaign in favor of keeping the Estate Tax. Nobody should be allowed to die in the State of Ohio without paying one last tax to the government.

5. An opponent of the 1st Amendment, Tracy shut down public comments at Green Township meetings. According to the Township's 2/14/11 Minutes, "Chairman Winkler stated that residents do not have the right to speak at Trustees Meetings." We fully concur, unless they are there to advocate higher taxes.

6. Finally, we cannot forget Tracy's #1 qualification - she married into the Winkler family. That alone makes her highly qualified to serve as Hamilton County's Clerk of Courts or as an Ohio State Representative.

When Tracy Winkler's handlers choose which office she wants to hold, we will support the decision 100% and work overtime to make sure the voters know her fine record. Soon enough she will be serving the under-taxed citizens in a larger capacity. Tracy Winkler for something!

Tracy Winkler's Top 10 Qualifications

2011-08-25T23:41:00.000-04:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, we have been following with keen interest the race to replace Robert Mecklenborg in the Ohio State House. It is our mission to select a great tax-and-spend Republican to help stop John Kasich and his appalling limited government agenda. In our professional estimation, Green Township Trustee Tracy Winker is a highly qualified candidate for this position. We now present Tracy Winkler's Top 10 Qualifications to be our next State Representative:

10. She's a member of the Winker family
9. Lives in Green Township
8. She's married to a Winkler
7. Shut down public comments at the Green Township Trustee meetings
6. Her husband is Judge Winkler
5. Joined with Stadium Dave Linnenberg to hire Alex Triantafilou's ex-wife for a job she's unqualified to hold to help reduce Alex's alimony payments
4. Her last name is Winkler
3. Under the management of her daughter Allison Detzel, the Township's Greene Lodge loses $200,000 annually for the township
2. Her mother-in-law, Cheryl Winkler, was a State Representative herself
1. She's part of the Winkler family

Tracy Winkler is highly qualified to hold any elected office in Ohio. It's in her blood.

Summer Vacation ends

2011-08-24T23:48:00.000-04:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, we have been known to take long summer vacations and this year was no exception. But now our vacation is over and we are back to work promoting higher taxes and higher spending. We promise from now through Election Day we will provide the full election coverage that you expect from us.

One of our first tasks is to determine who we will select to fill the State House vacancy for the 30th District that was once held by Robert Mecklenborg. We promise to find and select a qualified tax-and-spend Republican who will infiltrate the Republican Caucus and fight Governor Kasich and his allies to stop their limited government agenda. Our movement must reverse Ohio's conservative momentum!

Stadium Dave Linnenberg Bails Out

2011-07-19T22:48:00.000-04:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, our movement suffered a setback today when Green Township Trustee David Linnenberg announced he would not be in the running to replace Bob Mecklenborg in the State House. Just yesterday we gave Stadium Dave our enthusiastic endorsement due to his key leadership role in passing the Stadium Sales Tax hike to give Bengals Owner Mike Brown a free stadium and millions per year in subsidies. We thought we had found a hero.

Stadium Dave's withdrawal has forced us to restart our search. We promise you tax hikers, we have resumed our search and promise to find a qualified tax-and-spend Republican to send to Columbus. We expect to post a new endorsement in the coming days. We hope that person won't exit the race a few hours later like Stadium Dave did.

David Linnenberg for State Representative

2011-07-18T23:07:00.000-04:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, we are beaming with pride to endorse tax-and-spend Republican David Linnenberg for State Representative. Linnenberg was the Volunteer Coordinator for the successful Stadium Sales Tax increase that has provided Mike Brown with a free stadium and many millions in subsidies at taxpayer expense, and he has supported several other necessary tax increases over the years. With his proven record of raising taxes, Stadium Dave Linnenberg is without question the top choice to represent us in Columbus.

The stakes are too high to get this wrong. Governor John Kasich is doing a terrible job for Ohio. We will never forgive him for closing an $8 billion shortfall without raising taxes! Where were our legislative Republicans to insist on the tax increases that all Ohioans deserve? We badly need a qualified tax hiker like Stadium Dave to infiltrate the Republican Caucus and undermine Governor Kasich's limited government agenda.

When Bob Bedinghaus, Tom Neyer, and Roxanne Qualls said it was time to raise taxes for Mike Brown, Stadium Dave enthusiastically joined them in taking a key leadership role to get this tax hike passed. Hasn't that worked out so well for county taxpayers? We need Stadium Dave to do for Ohio what he has done to Hamilton County.

This is not to say that Stadium Dave is the only qualified candidate in this race. Tracy Winkler would also make a fine State Representative. Tracy possesses several important qualifications: 1) Her last name is Winkler; 2) She lives in Green Township; 3) She's married to a Winkler; 4) Her mother-in-law was a State Rep; 5) Her last name is Winkler.

Winkler is good, but Stadium Dave is great. Stadium Dave's leadership in passing the Bob Bedinghaus Stadium Sales Tax sets him a cut above the rest. If it wasn't for Stadium Dave, we might not be paying higher taxes to Mike Brown today and that would be tragic. Due to his expertise at raising our taxes, we proudly endorse Stadium Dave Linnenberg for State Representative.

Mike Brown rebuffed

2011-07-13T23:28:00.000-04:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, a grave injustice occurred at today's Hamilton County Commissioners meeting. Bengals Owner Mike Brown wants $300,000 to upgrade the stadium's instant replay system and he didn't get it! We are disgusted by this development.

The Bengals only earned $49 million last year, good for 5th in the NFL. That's not enough. Mike Brown needs more and we're going to make sure he gets it. When the Bengals want something, it is the duty of all Hamilton County taxpayers to provide.

We don't care that the current instant replay system still works. We don't care that the NFL is under a lockout and that there may not be a season next year. We want to spend $300,000 to replace a system that isn't broken and may not be used for years. Don't you?

We applaud County Commissioner Greg Hartmann for his support of this deal. Tax Hike Hartmann endorsed this spending plan, defended it against the unfair criticism, and he expected it to pass. Tax Hike Hartmann did not throw in the towel until those conservative Commissioners Todd Portune and Chris Monzel announced they would not support this expenditure. This will change. Your money is Mike Brown's money and he is going to get it.

Support the $300 million property tax hike

2011-06-29T23:57:00.000-04:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, we are delighted to report a fantastic opportunity to raise property taxes by $300 million on the rich landowners of Hamilton County. The Museum Center's building needs some repairs, and because of that they are asking for nearly $300 million from the taxpayers. We at Republicans for Higher Taxes are 100% in favor of this important tax increase.

Who wouldn't want to spend $300 million of taxpayer money to repair a building? That's cheaper than the $400 million Bridge to Nowhere. We tax hikers happen to believe that both of these projects are equally important to the health of our country.

We encourage our friend Greg "Tax Hike" Hartmann and the other Commissioners to approve this request at once. We are not concerned that the Museum Center will not be going through the normal review process for tax levies. They shouldn't have to. We don't need to be asking questions before raising taxes. If the Museum Center wants to spend $300 million for repairs to one building, who is anyone to question them? Tax us more!

Help Tom Neyer avoid bankruptcy

2011-06-26T23:52:00.002-04:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, our good friend Tom Neyer is in trouble and needs our help. Former Hamilton County Commissioner Tom Neyer has sadly had to file Chapter 7 Bankruptcy through no fault of his own. Neyer listed assets between $1.4-$1.5 million and debts totaling $69 million. Taxin' Tom owes $46 for every $1 that he owns. This is not his fault and we are going to get to the bottom of who did this to him.

Tom Neyer was one of the greatest leaders Hamilton County ever had. He campaigned for the Stadium Sales Tax hike that has revitalized our county. He voted with Commissioner Bob Bedinghaus to give the Bengals, Reds, and CPS great lease deals. And that's not all. Whatever Bedinghaus needed, Neyer delivered without question. Neyer did so much to deliver us higher taxes, now we are going to deliver for him in his time of need.

Republicans for Higher Taxes is announcing a collection drive to help Tom Neyer pay off all his debts and avoid bankruptcy! If every single man, woman, and child in Hamilton County sends Tom $85, he will have enough money to pay off all his debts. We can do this! The Hamilton County Republican Party has generously agreed to provide logistical support for this important collection.

All of you are commanded to participate in this most important endeavor. Tom did so much for Hamilton County, now Hamilton County must return the favor. We expect everyone to contribute a minimum of $85, and if you are wealthy you should contribute more. Send your money to:

Hamilton County Republican Party
Chairman Alex Triantafilou
Tom Neyer Collection Fund
700 Walnut Street, Rm 309
Cincinnati, OH 45202

We tax hikers take care of our own.

ESPN says Bengals the worst franchise in sports

2011-06-15T23:56:00.003-04:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, earlier today we were dismayed to read that our Beloved Bengals were ranked the worst sports franchise on the planet. How could any franchise run by Mike Brown, Bob Bedinghaus, and Jeff Berding be so poorly respected? We are so lucky to have Hamilton County Commissioner Greg Hartmann working hard to do something about this.

Our Bengals would not be ranked last if they were receiving all the tax dollars they deserve!

This proves that our Beloved Bengals deserve more taxpayer money. We need to support Tax Hike Hartmann's efforts to raise taxes to give more money to the teams. We need higher property taxes. We may also need to raise the Sales Tax too. The Bengals are entitled to this money. You are not.

We need to raise taxes to send more money to Mike Brown and the Bengals. They need more. We applaud Tax Hike Hartmann for understanding this. Now get out there and raise some more stadium taxes!

Rally to support Tax Hike Hartmann's Tax Hike

2011-06-12T13:00:00.000-04:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, this Noon Tuesday at City Hall the Hamilton County Republican Party is organizing a rally to support Hamilton County Commissioner Greg Hartmann's big property tax increase for the Bengals and Reds! Do you support higher property taxes as much as we do? If so we want to see you there.

This tax increase is necessary. Hamilton County's stadium fund was due to run a large deficit in 2011 and 2012. Spending cuts are never an option. Without higher taxes, how could we give the Bengals and Reds all the tax dollars they deserve? Tax Hike Hartmann recognized this injustice and joined with David Pepper to raise our property taxes. For that we are extremely grateful.

The Hamilton County Republican Party has supported this tax increase 100%. And that is not going to change. They know how badly we need to send more of tax dollars to Bengals Owner Mike Brown and Bengals Executive Bob Bedinghaus.

In 2013 the stadium fund deficit gets even worse. That will mean an even larger tax increase for all county residents. We are working closely with Tax Hike Hartmann and the Hamilton County GOP to determine which taxes we are going to raise.

We want all of you tax hikers to stand with us this Tuesday and show your support for higher county property taxes. Show us that you agree with Tax Hike Hartmann and the Hamilton County GOP that funding the needs of Mike Brown and the Bengals is our county's #1 priority. Tax us more!

Stop Jason Gloyd for Deer Park Council

2011-04-27T23:38:00.000-04:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, we have received news from our good friends that a conservative, Jason Gloyd, is running in Tuesday's Republican Primary for the Deer Park City Council. You must vote against Jason Gloyd! They tell us that Gloyd did not seek the blessing of Deer Park Republican leaders before running and that is completely unacceptable!

Gloyd is the worst candidate running. He is currently the chairman of our enemy organization, COAST. They are against raising taxes; we are for raising taxes. Gloyd fought hard against the $800 million Sales Tax increase in 2007, we strongly supported it. Gloyd has fought against additional taxpayer funds for The Freedom Center, while we believe that they deserve every dollar they ask for from us.

If you live in Deer Park and believe in higher taxes, you must vote against Jason Gloyd. Fortunately, there are 3 other Republicans running. We encourage you to vote for one of them instead of Gloyd.

We need higher taxes. We need more spending. We only want party-approved Republicans, not real conservatives. Whatever you do this Tuesday, vote against conservative Jason Gloyd.

Marc Monahan wishes death on Shannon Jones

2011-04-11T23:51:00.032-04:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, we are enormously proud of the fine work being done by the President of the Cincinnati Fireperson's Union Marc Monahan to fight that awful Senate Bill 5. This legislation would reform Ohio's collective bargaining laws by putting more power in the hands of our elected officials instead of union leaders like Mad Sexy Monahan.

Our side is mad and we're not going to take it! We must fight back in the way that reflects properly on us union supporters. Marc Monahan is setting a shining example of proud union advocacy with his tactics in this fight.

On March 2nd, 2011, Monahan posted the following statement to his facebook account: "Hope F.A. Shannon Jones chokes on a big greasy pork chop tonight." We cannot believe that Senate Bill 5 could pass in spite of such persuasive arguments.

We believe that all Ohioans will respond favorably to these union opposition tactics. We applaud union leader Marc Monahan for his classy and dignified behavior in this important fight. We can't wait to see what he does next. Monahan will help us defeat Senate Bill 5 and return power over our tax dollars where it belongs - to union leaders like Marc Monahan who wish death on people who disagree with him.

The Return of Tax Hike Seitz

2011-04-06T23:41:00.007-04:00

(Bill Seitz in his union plumber uniform, or is it a full body condom?)

Dear fellow tax hikers, we are extremely delighted with the fantastic representation we have received from our State Senator Bill Seitz this year. When we named Seitz our 2007 Tax Hiker of the Year, we knew that we would receive the benefits of many, many more years of higher taxes and bigger government. While he made some mistakes last year, he has earned his way back into our favor with the excellent pro-tax service he has provided to us in recent months.

The man who we affectionately call Tax Hike Seitz has been hard at work ensuring that we continue to receive the big government that we so deserve. First, Tax Hike Seitz voted against the awful Senate Bill 5 that we strongly opposed. Seitz agreed with us that it is union bosses who should determine how to spend Ohio tax dollars, not Ohio's elected officials.

Next, we know that Tax Hike Seitz has been working hard to maintain Ohio's Death Tax. There are some evil conservatives out there who want to repeal this tax. Can you believe that? Nobody should be allowed to die within Ohio's borders without paying one last tax! This is our state, and here we're going to tax the life out of you!

We stand proudly with Tax Hike Seitz and everyone who is opposing the dangerous fiscally conservative agenda being promoted by John Kasich and some other Republicans. We need to put union bosses back in charge of our budget. We need to tax dead people. We want to tax you to death, and State Senator Tax Hike Seitz gets it!

Another Blue Ash Police Officer arrested

2011-04-04T23:15:00.028-04:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, today we will discuss the escalating criminal behavior in the Blue Ash Police Force. Currently Blue Ash Police Officer Jason Lobenthal is facing removal from his job for criminal incidents committed last August. And recently we have learned that another Blue Ash Officer, William Fritts, was arrested for operating a vehicle while intoxicated and reckless operation.

We do not believe these developments should concern you tax hikers. Haven't you all heard - Blue Ash is a "well-run" government! What makes Blue Ash so "well-run"? We sure can't figure it out but that's what we've been told over and over again. We do not care how many Blue Ash employees get arrested for criminal behavior, we are declaring that Blue Ash is a "well-run" government and that's all you need to know.

We ask the tax-hiking residents of Blue Ash to not disturb their fine City Council with concern about these matters. Council is spending most of its time on important matters - like building a new performing arts center (30 feet away from Sharonville's), rebuilding the golf clubhouse, building a new superpark, and admiring the new $14 million Rec Center. What is more important than building new expensive toys when the economy is depressed? And best of all, these projects are being paid for by a very important 25% Income Tax Hike!

We applaud the Blue Ash City Council for having their priorities straight. Raising taxes and building expensive monuments is more important than lesser issues like the quality of the city's police force. We hope the Blue Ash City Council, and the city's residents, will not allow themselves to be distracted by safety issues like police and fire and keep their focus on what's important - building expensive monuments and raising taxes.

George Vincent supports the streetcar

2011-03-27T23:14:00.000-04:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, we know you all will be pleased to learn that our good, good friend George Vincent has endorsed the Cincinnati Streetcar! This pivotal support will help us succeed in our fight against Governor John Kasich and all those other evil Republicans who are preaching this fiscal responsibility garbage. We need a streetcar - make that several streetcars - in Cincinnati and we don't care how much it costs.

Nobody can be surprised by this endorsement from our good friend George. George Vincent has long been a supporter of higher taxes and more spending. In fact, George was one of our site's first allies and has remained a close friend. Due to George Vincent, the Hamilton County Republican Party endorsed the $800 million Sales Tax increase that the voters tragically rejected. It was George Vincent who cut a deal with Democrat Todd Portune to let him run unopposed. And now George is backing us again by supporting our streetcar plan.

Mark our words, we are bringing streetcars to Cincinnati. No matter what Governor Kasich and those horrible fiscal conservatives do to the state funding that we deserve, the streetcars are coming. We have already built tremendous support behind the plan that we announced just last week to implement a massive tax increase to build $500 million worth of streetcar lines in Cincinnati! Know that we will utilize our long friendship with George Vincent to our full advantage. Get ready to ride the streetcar to prosperity!

Raise Taxes to build The Streetcar

2011-03-23T23:38:00.004-04:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, we are glad to be back in Cincinnati! We have spent the last 3 weeks in Columbus lobbying furiously for higher taxes, more union power, and to save our beloved Cincinnati streetcar. Many of us streetcar supporters are crushed by the wave of bad news we have suffered in the last week. Consider the horrible news we have had to endure:

- Jeff Berding announced his opposition to the project and selected a Republican to replace him on Council
- The Enquirer editorialized in favor of putting the project on hold
- Charlie Winburn will be making a motion to do just that
- Governor John Kasich and the TRAC group which allocates transportation funding has recommended that the state defund our streetcar!
- Worst of all, the State Senate even passed legislation prohibiting any federal of state money from going to the streetcar! It is expected the House will pass this and it will be signed by our terrible Governor.

This is all terrible news for us, the home of the pro-streetcar movement. If we want a streetcar, we're going to have to pay for it ourselves and it's completely unfair. However we believe we are up to the challenge.

We support an immediate tax increase to build an ambitious new $500 million streetcar system throughout Cincinnati. We will continue with our plans to build a line north to uptown all the way up to Bond Hill. We will build the next line east through Walnut Hills, Hyde Park, Mt. Lookout, and Mt. Washington. Then we will build another line west through Price Hill and Westwood to stop at the border of Cheviot, where it can connect to the new Cheviot streetcar that their fine city will build. Buses aren't good enough for our crowd. Our $500 million streetcar system and the massive tax increases it will require are coming soon!

Michelle Schneider bitter still at Shannon Jones

2011-03-03T23:08:00.005-05:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, for our Michelle Schneider the bitterness of her landslide loss to State Senator Shannon Jones has not subsided. And nor should it. Michelle obeyed party leaders faithfully. She raised taxes on command. When that Senate seat opened up, it was Michelle's turn to commandeer it. She was entitled to that seat! Nobody had the right to take Michelle Schneider's seat from her, not Shannon Jones and especially not the stupid voters.

Recently Senator Jones saw her bill to reform collective bargaining pass the Ohio Senate. We strongly opposed this bill because we want the unions, not elected officials, deciding how to spend taxpayer dollars. Our Michelle Schneider never would have written this bill! She probably wouldn't have even voted for it. Michelle would be raising taxes right now, not reforming collective bargaining.

So we are very proud of our Michelle for taking the opportunity to criticize Shannon Jones in The Enquirer's first article about her since the bill's passage.

Tempted by the prospect of an open state Senate seat, Jones elbowed her way past her political mentor and Columbus roommate, former Rep. Michelle Schneider of Madeira, despite what Schneider insists were Jones' repeated assurances to "never, never run against" her.

"She stabbed me in the back," Schneider said. "Some friend."

We are proud of Michelle Schneider's bitterness. She should be bitter. We are bitter. All you tax hikers should be bitter too. You'll really be bitter when Shannon's efforts keep our taxes from being raised.

This was Michelle Schneider's seat. She was entitled to get the Senate appointment. She was entitled to run unopposed in the Republican Primary. She was entitled to run unopposed in the general election. Shannon Jones had no right to run for and win this seat. And the voters had no right to deny Michelle what was hers. Shame on a system that would allow this injustice to happen.

Congressman Wu and Si Leis are not losing their minds

2011-02-28T23:51:00.073-05:00

(Congressman David Wu, auditioning for The Wu Tang Clan)

(Sheriff Si Leis a couple Cravers short of a value meal? No way. Photo credit to The Enquirer)

Dear fellow tax hikers, we are putting to rest the vicious rumors that either Congressman David Wu or Sheriff Simon Leis are suffering from any mental illness or losing their mental capacities in any way. We have tracked these situations and we declare them to be of perfectly sound mind.

Congressman Wu has made national headlines in recent weeks when it was revealed that his own staff had to confront him over mental issues that called into question his fitness to serve. Just because Wu accused the White House of being "Vulcans" and "faux Klingons" in an eye-popping speech to Congress (you tax hikers want to click that link) doesn't mean anyone should have worried about his mental health. And nobody had the right to be concerned when he sent messages to his staffers in the voice of his teenage children, or claimed he didn't know what pills he took that were given to him by a donor, or sent photos of himself dressed like Crouching Tiger.

Hamilton County Sheriff Simon Leis is another fantastic official who we know is as sharp and sane as ever. We don't think there is anything ridiculous about the above photograph of Leis where he looks like Bob's Big Boy's Ghetto Grandpa. We are not concerned about the vastly rising number of incidents in recent years involving questionable behavior by him and his employees that would cause any normal voter to question the effectiveness of his leadership. We also don't find it strange when Leis left valuable equipment in plain sight in his vehicle while parked in downtown Cincinnati, something that even a rookie cop knows not to do. We were very happy when White Castle replaced the stolen coupons that were taken from the Leismobile!

Sheriff Leis and Congressman Wu are of full mental capacity. That is our ruling and it is final. Their superior mental health allows them to provide the superior service to their lucky constituents that they have grown to expect. In fact, we feel so strongly about strong mental health that we will do our part to promote it. Hereby, we declare March to be Mental Health Month at Republicans for Higher Taxes. We will do our part - and we invite you tax hikers to help us - to promote fine mental health in our GOP tax hiking community.

Mitch Daniels repudiates Greg Hartmann

2011-02-26T18:55:00.003-05:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, we are very upset by the disgusting performance of Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels at the Hamilton County Republican Party's Lincoln-Taft-Schneider Dinner. Governor Daniels bragged about balancing his state's budget without raising taxes. Even worse, he said Ohio's Governor John Kasich can do it too.

No he cannot. With Ohio facing a projected $8 billion shortfall, and asking any sacrifice whatsoever of the public employee unions unacceptable, raising taxes is the only solution. This comment was an insult to John Kasich and and an ever deeper insult to Hamilton County Commissioner Greg Hartmann.

Tax Hike Hartmann has already raised taxes on Hamilton County homeowners. This tax increase was necessary to ensure that the Bengals and Reds received as much taxpayer money as possible. Our county's #1 priority is to enrich Mike Brown and raising taxes is the only way to do that.

When will conservatives like Daniels and Kasich get it? Governments at all levels need to raise taxes, not cut spending. Tax Hike Hartmann gets it. He has already raised our property taxes to benefit the Bengals and he will soon do it again. Tax us more!

Oppose Collective Bargaining Reform

2011-02-21T23:11:00.010-05:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, we strongly oppose the efforts of our enemy, State Senator Shannon Jones, to reform Ohio's collective bargaining laws. Her bill - SB5 - would do terrible things like restrict the bargaining power of state employees to challenge the decisions made by our elective officials, force employees to pay at least 20% of their health care costs, and eliminate the controversial practice of binding arbitration that can force elected officials to grant wage and benefits increases against their will.

This bill represents the dangerous ideology of Shannon Jones and other conservatives who think that we should cut spending instead of raise taxes. With Ohio facing an $8 billion budget shortfall, the last thing our state needs to do is get its spending under control. We must raise taxes now! If our Michelle Schneider was in this Senate seat, we would never have seen this bill. Michelle Schneider would be raising taxes, not reform collective bargaining.

We applaud State Senator Bill Seitz for his criticisms of this conservative bill. He is right that it gives too much power to "management". Management means the people we elect or their designees.

We do not want the people, the officials they elect, or their designated representatives to have power over our tax dollars. We want that power in the hands of the labor unions. Say no to Shannon Jones and SB5. Power to the unions!

Jail Tax supporter may be disbarred

2011-02-16T23:42:00.000-05:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, we are sad to report the news that one of our great friends and allies may soon lose his license to practice law. Former Attorney General Marc Dann, who stood with us to support the Portune/Pepper/Leis Sales Tax hike, needs our support during this difficult time.

We know that Marc Dann broke the law several times. We know that his misconduct forced him out of the Attorney General's office. We know that he has been convicted of multiple crimes. But he's one of us! He is a great tax hiker who supported our agenda when we needed him most. Dann worked closely with Simon Leis, Todd Portune, David Pepper, Leslie Ghiz, and the Hamilton County Republican Party to give this county a much-needed Sales Tax increase.

We call on all you tax hikers to show your support for our Marc Dann. We need him to beat this charge so that he can keep his law license and begin his political comeback. Dann stood with us when we needed his tax-hiking help. Now it is our duty to stand with him. Marc Dann for Attorney General 2014!

Bengals need another $43 million

2011-01-30T23:52:00.023-05:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, once again we are called to help those in need. Our beloved Cincinnati Bengals have identified $43.6 million of expenses that they need the taxpayers to cover. We have received word that County Commissioner Greg Hartmann and his staff are already busy ~~getting drunk~~ working on the next tax increase that will give the Cincinnati Bengals the extra tax dollars that they deserve.

We applaud Commissioner Tax Hike Hartmann for his fantastic leadership. This is the 2nd time the Bengals have demanded more money from the taxpayers in just the 1 month he's been Commission President. And with Tax Hike Hartmann in charge, they will get it. Greg knows more than anyone that Hamilton County's #1 priority is to give as much money to the Bengals as possible.

The Bengals deserve this money. Would it be fair to expect the Bengals to pay for their own scoreboard? Should Mike Brown have to pay for new carpeting in his offices? And would we want anyone but the taxpayer to provide more efficient air conditioning for Bob Bedinghaus and Jeff Berding? If it wasn't for Hamilton County taxpayers, Mike Brown would have to pay for these expenses himself.

We expect everyone to stand behind Tax Hike Hartmann as he raises our taxes once again to further enrich Mike Brown. That is how business is done in this county. The Bengals come first, and everyone else must provide. Tax us more!

Streetcar opponents try to derail streetcar

2011-01-26T23:39:00.001-05:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, we are dismayed that streetcar opponents have launched a petition drive to stop our great Streetcar project! It is our strongly held belief that citizens have no right to vote on a streetcar. They are too stupid to decide this issue for themselves.

This streetcar would bring economic development to Cincinnati. How? We have no idea. But we've been told that it will and that's all you need to know. It will bring the same economic development that the stadiums, freedom center, and Sharonville Fine Arts Center have brought to our area.

We are going to lead the opposition to this charter amendment! This site is now the headquarters of the pro-streetcar effort. The fight starts now to prevent citizens from voting on this vitally important economic development project.

We will match those streetcar opponents signature for signature. When they get a signature, we will get a signature to cancel them out. We would like everyone in Cincinnati who supports the pro-economic development streetcar to sign their name in this post. We need to show everyone just how many of us support the streetcar and all the economic development it will bring. Tax hikers, we count on you to STOP the vote!

Sharonville subsidizes Fine Arts Center

2011-01-23T21:55:00.027-05:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, we proudly report the news that the Sharonville City Council has voted to spend $30,000 to subsidize the Sharonville Fine Arts Center. This is the latest in a series of subsidies to this excellent Sharonville economic development tool.

We start with the first $200,000. "After a $200,000 investment by Sharonville, and a decision to use the property as a fine arts center, additional fund raising began." This would surely produce economic development.

Then came some more. “That wasn’t enough, and it (the fine arts board) came back to (Sharonville) council," Hardman said. Funds totaling $300,000 were requested, and the city provided them, he said." It was necessary for economic development.

Now we have another $30,000. "It shows that this council has had an interest in seeing this happen,” Hardman said. “But the message now is that you have to make it on your own.”

You heard it. The Fine Arts Center is on its own now. Council was just playing around the first couple times, but this time they really mean it!

We have a special admiration for Sharonville because of all the great economic development tools that they have produced. They have this great Fine Arts Center. Then there's the Sharonville Community Center. And who could ever forget the Sharonville Convention Center and their weekly knife shows?

All of this is due to the fine leadership of 2008 Tax Hiker of the Year Virgil Lovitt. We can always count on our man Virg to support economic development projects that can only be successful with a large infusion of taxpayer dollars. Economic development projects like the Bengals Stadium, Reds Stadium, The Freedom Center, and of course, The Streetcar.

The Sharonville Fine Arts Center is economic development at its finest. It generates so much economic development that it requires endless taxpayer subsidy to keep it afloat! This is exactly the kind of economic development that we at Republicans for Higher Taxes are proud to support. Remember, it's economic development, no matter how much taxpayer money it requires.

Diane Adamec re-elected School Board President

2011-01-17T01:12:00.001-05:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, we are overjoyed to share the news that our tax-hiking superwoman Diane Adamec has been unanimously re-elected President of the Sycamore School Board! Diane has long been one of our favorites for her consistent dedication to raising taxes in Sycamore and all over Hamilton County.

After the vote, Diane replied, "This is like, totally awesome man! Now that I've been re-elected President, does this mean I get to spend 4 more years in the White House?"

Maybe some day, but for now the citizens of NE Hamilton County get to have one of the High Tax Adamecs all for themselves. Diane has been a dedicated disciple of higher taxes. Last year she pushed through another tax increase for the Sycamore Schools, even though it was already one of the biggest spenders in Ohio.

Diane's first act as the returning President is to gear up the community for a BIG property tax increase that will be placed on the ballot in 2012 or 2013. We have read the financial statements, we have interviewed the insiders, we have read the tips from our supporters, and based on that we know for a fact that President Adamec is doing everything she can to get this new tax passed. When it is placed on the ballot, we will be there to endorse it. Tax us more! We thank Diane Adamec for everything she does to bring higher taxes to Hamilton County.

Bengals demand more taxpayer gifts

2011-01-09T18:36:00.001-05:00

(Missing from Tax Hike Hartmann's Office)

Dear fellow tax hikers, first some in-house business to address. Whoever has removed this week's Vodka supply from Commissioner Greg Hartmann's office needs to return it IMMEDIATELY! We cannot expect Tax Hike Hartmann's office to do their job properly - sitting around all day eating, drinking like fish, and raising taxes - if they do not have the proper fluid replenishments available. This material may be returned with no questions asked by Monday morning's staff meeting. If not, a full investigation and discipline will commence.

Back to our normal duties, we were delighted to read that the Cincinnati Bengals are now demanding more concessions from Hamilton County. The Bengals deserve more for the privilege of accepting our taxpayer funded stadium gift, the millions of operating subsidies per year that we provide, and the 4 victories that they produced this year. This provides a fantastic opportunity for Tax Hike Hartmann and Todd Portune to raise some more taxes to pay for these goodies.

Mike Brown deserves this additional money. Without Hamilton County taxpayers, Brown would have to pay for his own stadium, his own game day costs, and his own taxes for the stadium land. Paying for his own expenses might cut into the tens of millions he banks each year. Now, for the great job he does for the Bengals, he deserves even more taxpayer funds and we expect Portune and Tax Hike Hartmann to provide.

Tax Hike Hartmann has already broken his word to the voters once by repealing most of the Property Tax Rollback that was promised to Hamilton County homeowners. That should only be the start. We would like Tax Hike Hartmann to further raise property taxes, and to support Todd Portune's idea to raise the Sales Tax too. Hamilton County's #1 priority is to enrich Mike Brown. Now it's time to ante up again. Tax us more!

Tax our Trash, says Leslie Ghiz

2010-12-28T23:39:00.011-05:00

(Steve Driehaus gets ready for bed)

Dear fellow tax hikers, it's the night of December 28th and Cincinnati still doesn't have a budget for 2011. Not that there's anything wrong with that. With Cincinnati trying to close a huge budget shortfall, we plead with them to do the right thing - raise our taxes!

Leslie Ghiz is listening. Our favorite Councilperson Leslie Ghiz has announced her support for a Trash Tax. This is exactly what the city needs. Our trash deserves to be taxed. (Note: that was not a reference to Simon Leis.)

Not only should Cincinnati tax our trash, but they should also raise the Income Tax, Property Tax, and any other tax currently implemented. Cincinnati residents are undertaxed. And we at Republicans for Higher Taxes applaud Leslie Ghiz for recognizing this.

Jean Schmidt votes for higher taxes

2010-12-19T23:56:00.004-05:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, recently we were very disappointed to see Congress vote to extend the tax cuts that were introduced during the Bush Administration. We as Americans are undertaxed. The government needs to raise taxes - all kinds of taxes - to deliver us the big government we deserve.

In spite of our disappointment, we are extremely proud that our Congresswoman Jean Schmidt voted against continuing these tax cuts. Her vote would have raised income taxes on every single American taxpayer starting in January. We have endorsed Jean in all of her races, and this vote should help you to see why.

Jean Schmidt is one of the finest politicians we have ever endorsed. As a State Representative, she voted for all of Bob Taft's tax increases. As a Congressman, she voted for the $800 Billion Bailouts for Wall Street Billionaires. And now, to pay for programs such as these bailouts, she has voted to raise income taxes on everyone. We salute our tax-hiking hero, Jean Schmidt, for everything she has done to raise taxes and grow government. Keep up the good work!

Virgil Lovitt criticizes Kasich for killing 3C plan

2010-12-12T23:46:00.006-05:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, once again we have great reason to be proud of our 2008 Tax Hiker of the Year Virgil Lovitt. Today, Virg, our favorite Tax-and-Spend Republican, criticizes the decision made by our enemy, incoming Governor John Kasich for killing the Obama Administration's 3C rail line. This would have allowed people to travel between Ohio's biggest cities at an average speed of 39 MPH.

Virgil Lovitt knows that the government can do more with your money than you can. That is why Virg strongly supports every tax increase and government spending program that comes before him. Some people, like our conservative enemies, want the private sector and citizens to determine where our money goes. But wiser folks, like Barack Obama and Virgil Lovitt, understand the benefits of central government planning.

The 3C line would have helped Sharonville replenish its supply of prostitutes to help maintain its thriving prostitution industry. Prostitutes struggling to make a living in other Ohio cities could have simply hopped the train and landed right in the heart of Sharonville. We know that Mayor Lovitt will rebound from this poor decision of Kasich's and ensure his city's prostitution industry continues to move ahead.

We have a great suggestion for Virg. We encourage the city of Sharonville to raise taxes to build a state-of-the-art brothel. This brothel would employ men and women on an equal-opportunity basis, and serve men, women, transgenders, and transexuals. The city could turn a profit from this enterprise by establishing a modest tax on all revenues. This would bring new meaning to the term, "gross revenues". This economic development plan could happen without the support of our incoming miser of a Governor.

1997: Pete Bronson discusses Tax-and-Spend Republicans

2010-12-09T00:04:00.000-05:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, you are going to love the latest little gem that we fantastic researchers have unearthed. In 1997, former Enquirer columnist Pete Bronson wrote an article about the Tax-and-Spend Republicans of Hamilton County. These were some of our finest days, fresh off of passing the legendary Stadium Sales Tax hike and the three Republican Commissioners Bob Bedinghaus, John Dowlin (RIP), and Little Tommy Neyer raising every other tax that they could.

Bronson wrote:

If Democrats have "tax and spend" disease, Republicans must get elephantiasis of the budget. They talk about cutting big government - but when they get behind the wheel of the Governaut they gas it up on high-octane taxes, round up their friends and take a road trip to Fat City.

That's right. It is Republicans who passed the Stadium Sales Tax hike. It is Republicans who supported two different jail taxes a few years ago. It is Republicans, led by the great George Voinovich and Jo Ann Davidson, who tried to pass a statewide Sales Tax increase in 1998. It is Republicans who voted for Bob Taft's Sales Tax increase, Gas Tax increase, and hotel tax increase. And let's not forget about great local Republicans like Simon Leis, Leslie Ghiz, Virgil Lovitt, Randy Smith, and Diane Adamec who have worked extremely hard to raise taxes locally.

We are the party of higher taxes. Greg Hartmann has realized this, and that's why he joined David Pepper to raise property taxes so more money can flow to the Bengals and Reds Industrial Complex. The bad Republicans like Steve Chabot and Chris Monzel better watch themselves. Now that Republicans are in control, we are going to get back to raising taxes and growing government and they better not get in our way.

Tax Hike Hartmann Raises Property Taxes

2010-12-05T23:07:00.000-05:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, Happy Winter Solstice Greetings to all of you! One of our favorite parts of running this pro-tax movement is bringing converts to our side. We are so proud to announce that our latest convert is Hamilton County Commissioner Greg Hartmann! Your property taxes have just gone up, and without Tax Hike Hartmann's support it would not have been possible.

When voters were lobbied to support the big Stadium Sales Tax hikes in 1996, they were promised that county homeowners would receive a sizeable property tax rollback. Well, promises are made to be broken. The Sales Tax revenues aren't coming in as expected and the Commissioners need some money. We completely concur with their decision to break their word to the lowly taxpayers. After all, who cares what they think?

We cannot expect the County Commissioners to break their promises to important people, like the ones who receive this money. No, instead they needed to break their promise to county homeowners. The purpose of homeownership is to provide a taxing mechanism to give more money to important people like Mike Brown, and to fund important projects like giving Mr. Brown his very own stadium. Without this necessary tax increase, Mike Brown might have had to pay for his own team's operating expenses, pay market rent to the stadium's owners, or even allow the county to impose a ticket surcharge so that the users of the stadiums would have to pay for more of the costs.

Thankfully, we have Tax Hike Hartmann and David Pepper to ensure that homeowners will pay these costs themselves.

We saw where Greg Hartmann said he would cut some levies to make up for this. Yeah, ok there Greg. Tax Hike Hartmann has already shown that he will break his promises to the taxpayers, so we tax hikers know not to worry about this promise of his.

Those levies will never be cut. County levies are like your mother-in-law. They will always be around, for as long as they want no matter how much anyone wants to get rid of them. (Now unlike many, I happen to love my Civil Domestic Partner's mommy. She is perfect in every way, except for her vag unit.) Back to the levies, Hartmann himself knows there is little to cut for them because of the strong support that we tax hikers have built for them. Hartmann knows to make promises to the conservative crowd. But as we saw last week, a Greg Hartmann promise to taxpayers is made to be broken. Welcome to our movement Greg!

Connie Pillich for State Rep

2010-10-31T23:26:00.002-04:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, two years we were distraught when our 2008 Tax Hiker of the Year Virgil Lovitt was defeated by Connie Pillich. But we tax hikers can admit when we were wrong about someone, and we have to admit that Pillich has very quickly developed into one of Southwest Ohio's finest tax hikers. Let's review the Connie Pillich record:

1) Supported $1.5 billion of fee increases, after Governor Strickland admitted that fee increases are tax increases. "Gov. Ted Strickland told The Dispatch, 'I think higher fees are higher taxes." We concur, and that's why we are so proud of Pillich for voting for these important fee/tax increases.

2) Not content with raising those fees, Pillich then voted to raise Ohio's Income Taxes by $900 million.

3) Supported sending another $3.1 million of taxpayer funds to The Freedom Center. The fact that Connie received thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from the Pepper family does not mean that Pillich's vote is for sale.

4) Publicly campaigned for the last Diane Adamec property tax levy.

5) Not content to raise taxes in her own school district, Connie actually campaigned for a huge property tax increase in the Winton Woods School District, where she neither lives nor works.

6) A true feminist, Connie Pillich chose to keep her maiden name, vowing to never take the name of a dirty man!

While we would have been ecstatic had Virgil Lovitt won this race 2 years ago, we acknowledge that Connie has more than exceeded our expectations. Pillich has been a reliable vote for the tax-and-spend Governor Ted Strickland. She has become one of Southwest Ohio's finest tax hikers. For that, she deserves re-election to the Ohio House so she can keep raising our taxes. Re-elect Connie Pillich!

Top Republicans criticize Sheriff Leis

2010-10-30T23:32:00.022-04:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, we know you are as upset as we are that some of our county Republicans leaders have dared to criticize our great Sheriff Simon Leis for supporting Democrats, and for supporting huge tax increases and spending sprees. Those are bad Republicans. Around here, what Simon Says goes. Leis is the dictator who shall never be questioned, and he will retaliate against any Republican who disagrees with him by supporting a Democrat at the next election.

Simon Leis has endorsed Democrat David Pepper. Leis has endorsed Democrat Todd Portune. Leis has donated to Democrat Jim Tarbell. Leis is doing this to punish those Republicans who will not obey his directives. In the name of party loyalty, all good Republicans should support these Democrats.

Like Leis, we have also chosen to endorse Jim Tarbell because he is the candidate of higher taxes and streetcars. Tarbell supported the 30 year Transit Sales Tax increase. Tarbell has opposed Monzel's city property tax rollback. Tarbell wants to raise property taxes countywide. And Tarbell has strongly supported the streetcar while miser Monzel wants to kill it. Just like us, Leis and ALL good Republicans are supporting Democrat Jim Tarbell due to his support for these big government programs.

It is vital that all of us great Republicans join together to defeat Republican Chris Monzel. Monzel dared to oppose the Sheriff's Sales Tax increase and for that he must be punished. Monzel has also been the leading voice of opposition to the streetcar. He should be punished for that too. Monzel opposes raising the county property taxes and keeps voting against raising taxes in the city. What kind of Republican opposes higher taxes?

We applaud Si Leis for supporting the $200 million streetcar. We applaud Leis for supporting a massive Sales Tax increase. We applaud Leis for all he did to secure his $100,000 fishing boat so he can protect Hamilton County from a Kentucky invasion. We especially applaud Leis for supporting good Democratic candidates who will grow government just like Obama. Simon Leis and his support for Obama politics is the future of the Republican Party. We demand that all Republicans show their party loyalty by supporting Simon's great Democratic candidates this Tuesday.

Jon Husted - 2010 Tax Hiker of the Year

2010-10-27T23:30:00.009-04:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, our most special day of the year comes when we name the winner of our most prestigious award. With no hesitation, we are incredibly proud to name Jon Husted our 2010 Tax Hiker of the Year. Husted is the last surviving member of the Bob Taft regime, and like Taft he will be starting his run for Governor with a victory for Secretary of State. We know that everyone will agree that Husted is extremely deserving of this award after reviewing his fantastic pro-tax record:

1. Voted for Bob Taft's 20% Sales Tax Hike.

2. With gas prices too law, Husted proudly voted for Bob Taft's 27% Gas Tax hike.

3. As an elections specialist, Husted worked with ACORN and Daily Kos to implement "Golden Week" and other elections reforms that helped ACORN dominate Ohio in 2008. It is important to have a Secretary of State and Governor who believes in ACORN (and their successor groups) and will do everything they want so they can dominate our state every year.

4. Worked with Bob Taft to implement a new Commercial Activities Tax, so Ohio can further tax the businesses of our state.

5. A man of great integrity, Husted represents a Dayton-area district where he claims to live, while he spends most of his time in his Franklin County house where his wife and kids work, attend school, and live full time. In fact, in 2006 the Husted family took a tax deduction by claiming their Columbus condo as a "principal residence", further establishing their real home 100 miles away from his Senate district he claims to represent.

6. Fully supported Bob Taft's 3rd Frontier program so Ohio can take on more debt.

7. Has voted to give millions of taxpayer dollars to The Freedom Center. And as House Speaker, he took his support even further by refusing to allow State Representatives Tom Brinkman and Bob Mecklenborg to offer an amendment to cut off their funding. We are certain the $5,000 of campaign contributions he took from John Pepper had nothing to do with these votes, and should not be construed to show that Husted's vote can be bought.

8. Finally, Husted worked closely with us to force the local Republican Party to select 2008 Tax Hiker of the Year Virgil Lovitt to be our candidate for State Representative. This was one of the finest moments of tax hiker unity that we've ever experienced.

Husted's record of being a great, Taft-style tax hiker cannot be disputed. Jon Husted is our #1 statewide star. In 4 years, Husted will be Ohio's next Governor after Ted Strickland finishes his 2nd term, and when he does, it'll be like having Bob Taft all over again. Husted has proven his survival skills as the only survivor of Bob Taft's inner circle. Now we must get behind him as he leads the rebuild of Ohio's tax hiking movement. The Husted for Governor campaign starts next week when we elect Bob Taft - oh wait, we mean Jon Husted - as our Secretary of State!

Jim Tarbell for County Commissioner

2010-10-24T23:42:00.026-04:00

(Tarbell and his "diverse" supporters marching in the Gay Pride Parade)

Dear fellow tax hikers, it is with great Pride that we announce our strong endorsement for Jim Tarbell for County Commissioner. If you need a man to raise your taxes, there is hardly a finer choice than Taxin' Tarbell. This race features two candidates with huge differences between them. Taxin' Tarbell is one of our best friends, while his opponent Chris Monzel has been one of our biggest enemies. Consider the differences between them:

1. Jim Tarbell supported a huge 30 year Sales Tax increase to pay for a $2.7 Billion Light Rail proposal, while Chris Monzel opposed it. The fact that 68% of Hamilton County voted against this plan does not deter our strong support for such a tax increase.

2. Monzel has consistently supported rolling back the city's property tax rate, while Taxin' Tarbell has always opposed such vicious tax relief.

3. Tarbell wants to spend $185 million for a streetcar while Monzel has been Council's leading voice of opposition for this fantastic plan.

4. The centerpiece of Taxin' Tarbell's campaign for Commissioner is to raise property taxes to give more money to Mike Brown and the Bengals. Monzel says he doesn't support any tax increases to further subsidize our mega-millionaire sports owners.

5. Monzel has been Council's leading voice of opposition to subsidizing The Freedom Center, a museum supported by John Pepper. In his final months on Council, Tarbell worked hard to give them an additional $800,000 in taxpayer funds to counter Monzel's efforts to defund them.

6. In addition, Monzel publicly opposed Mayor Mallory's Trash Tax, and vocally supported a ban on red light cameras.

7. Tarbell supports adding domestic partner coverage to the Hamilton County health insurance plan. We can't wait to hear which tax Tarball wants to raise to pay for this.

8. Finally, we will never forgive Monzel for publicly opposing the joint Republican-Democrat efforts to raise the Sales Tax by $777 million to build a shiny new jail and spend hundreds of millions in social spending. We needed that tax increase, and the fact that the voters overwhelmingly rejected it doesn't excuse Monzel's opposition. Monzel was given his orders and he refused to obey. There is no room on the Commission for someone who serves the voters instead of the political party elites.

As you can see, there is a wide range of differnces between these two candidates. Taxin' Tarbell will raise your taxes, over and over again. By contrast, Monzel has consistently opposed tax increases. He will even disobey party leaders to stand behind his belief in lower taxes and limited government. We cannot afford to have a fiscal conservative on the Commission. In the name of higher taxes, we strongly endorse Jim Tarbell for Commissioner!

Sheriff's Chief Deputy Runs Drinking Establishment

2010-10-21T23:57:00.000-04:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, we have spent the last several weeks investigating the inner workings of the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office. We have discovered some fascinating information which we know you will enjoying reading. In the name of ethics we must disclose our biases - we are HUGE fans of Sheriff Simon Leis and have fully supported his past campaigns to raise our county's Sales Tax and spend $200 million to build the Cincinnati streetcar. Our findings only further our love and admiration for our great Sheriff.

We tax hikers have secured a copy of the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office Operating Procedure Manual, which "establishes guidelines and standards for Sheriff's officers working outside employment...." One of these guidelines states with no exception: "Certain types of outside employment are prohibited as follows: 1) Work for a liquor permit premise (bar), where the primary business is the sale of liquor." Sheriff's Office General Rules and Regulations further state that, "Sheriff's Office Employees shall not engage in any other employment or business without the permission of the Sheriff." So to sum it up, the Sheriff must approve outside business or employment, and absolutely no involvement with a liquor permit premise.

We found it extremely interesting, then, that Hamilton County Chief Deputy Sheriff Sean Donovan is an owner of............a liquor permit premise, City Cellars. Evidence of the liquor permit can be found by going to this site and searching for Donovan.

This is the kind of integrity that we expect from Sheriff Simon Leis. We're sure the Sheriff and Chief Deputy Donovan will claim they are in compliance with the rule because this place serves pizza too, or maybe they serve more of one thing than another, or his wife is the real owner. We would call this defense Ethics by Technicality, if we could even claim that. As tax hikers, we find this standard to be an incredibly compelling measure of Simon's character.

But let's make sure we keep an eye on the important issues. We need higher Sales Taxes. We need streetcars. And we need more Sheriff's employees running drinking establishments regardless of what the rules say. These reasons and more are why we admire our beloved Sheriff Simon Leis and applaud his strong sense of integrity. Tax us more!

Jean Schmidt for Congress

2010-10-18T23:57:00.000-04:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, tonight your favorite blog Republicans for Higher Taxes begins releasing our choices for the 2010 general election. Our first endorsement was an easy one. With no hesitation, we strongly endorse the re-election of Jean Schmidt to Congress.

Her opponent in this race, whoever he is, has not been visible in any way. We would call him a ghost, except that some people would accuse us of making a racial slur.

Jean Schmidt has been one of the past decade's finest tax increasers. Consider the fantastic Jean Schmidt record:

1. Proudly voted for Bob Taft's 20% Sales Tax hike. Our good friend Michelle Schneider also voted for this.

2. Voted for Bob Taft's 27% Gas Tax increase. Gas prices were way too low and Jean knew the government needed to take action to raise them.

3. Sponsored the legislation to more than double Hamilton County Hotel/Motel Tax. This legislation was sponsored by Schmidt, endorsed by Virgil Lovitt, and signed into law by Governor Bob Taft - a legendary trio of tax hikers.

4. Has strongly supported great Republicans like 2008 Tax Hiker of the Year Virgil Lovitt, 2009 Tax Hiker of the Year Michelle Schneider, and pro-tax Sheriff Simon Leis.

5. When not raising taxes, Jean Schmidt voted with Barack Obama to pass George Bush's $800 billion Bailout for Wall Street Billionaires.

Jean Schmidt legacy is daunting. She has left Ohio with higher taxes and bigger government. And by voting for the big government policies of George Bush and Barack Obama, Schmidt left America with massive debt that her great-grandchildren who haven't even been born yet will spend their entire lives paying off. This is one fantastic record from our Jean Schmidt, who is one fantastic Congressman. Re-elect Jean Schmidt to Congress!

Meet Tax Hiker David Pepper

2010-10-09T00:33:00.000-04:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, we are pleased to show you an AWESOME video that celebrates David Pepper's excellence in tax hiking. It reviews the many tax increases that Pepper has supported or implemented during his time as a Cincinnati City Councilman and Hamilton County Commissioner. If you are not familiar with Pepper's excellent pro-tax record, after you watch this video you will understand why we love Pepper so much.

What a fantastic list of David Pepper tax hikes! Pepper did raise the hotel tax. He fought to implement the jock tax. Pepper is currently trying to raise property taxes to give more money to Mike Brown and the Reds, even after previously calling such an act "illegitimate". And best of all, Pepper voted to raise the Hamilton County Sales Tax by $777 million over 15 years!

That's the Pepper record. Higher Sales Taxes. Higher Property Taxes. Higher Hotel Taxes. Higher sports taxes. Where David Pepper is concerned, there is always a tax that needs to be raised. We need Pepper to do for Ohio what he's done for Hamilton County - raise our taxes!

Double Dipper Dusty Rhodes backtracks

2010-10-04T23:43:00.003-04:00

Dear fellow tax hikers, Democratic Double Dipper Dusty Rhodes has changed his position once again on the controversial practice of "double-dipping" - when an employee retires to draw their monthly pension check, then about 10 seconds later returns to their job where they continue to collect their taxpayer-funded salary. Many unimportant peons says it is unethical to collect two government checks for the same job. But to us tax hikers, it's another fantastic government expenditure just like the streetcar, Bridge to Nowhere, and subsidies to The Freedom Center.

Double Dipping Democrat Dusty Rhodes has spent the last two decades as County Auditor sharply criticizing this practice. That is, until it was his turn at the trough. Earlier this year, Dusty filed paperwork to start double dipping himself if he is re-elected Hamilton County Auditor next month. Kind of like John Kerry, Rhodes was against it before he was for it.

Earlier today Double Dipper Dusty announced he is now taking his 3rd position on this issue. He says he will still double dip but will donate most of the proceeds of his retirement check to charity, and that this was always his plan. We are glad that Dusty finally got around to announcing this great plan.

Double Dipping Democrat Dusty filed the paperwork to retire as Hamilton County Auditor in February. Now it's October. We completely believe that Dusty meant to announce this plan back in February, but he just kind of forgot about it for 8 months.

We support Dusty's Double Dipping. We believe him when he says he will donate much of this money. We are not deterred by the fact that Dusty said he was always against double dipping but is now participating in it. This time we believe him. If you support double dipping as much as we do, then be sure to support your Double Dipping Democrat Dusty Rhodes.