New Stadium Tax!

Dear fellow tax hikers, yesterday we learned that Hamilton County taxpayers will soon have an opportunity to implement another stadium tax to renovate the privately-owned US Bank Arena! We love all tax hikes, but stadium taxes are the best.  Our county has enjoyed tremendous success from the first Bedinghaus/Qualls Stadium Tax - so much success that we are now being told we need to spend $250 million on another stadium.

Leaders have said they will seek a "public-private partnership".  This means the public will pay 99% of the expenses, while the private owners might be kind enough to put in the final 1% - if they feel like it. 

We endorse this tax hike.  The Bedinghaus-Qualls Stadium Tax has been an unrivaled success.  We think another stadium tax would be delightful if it ensures another riverfront stadium as great as the first two.

Rick Bryan's $75 million park

Dear fellow tax hikers, one of the many things we love about Blue Ash Councilman Rick Bryan is his dedication to spending gobs of taxpayer money on huge projects that raises taxes and/or debt for many decades.  For example, Rick provided key support to help fund the Cincinnati Streetcar, and praised former Commissioner Bob Bedinghaus for his excellent work on the stadiums.

And now, Tax Hikin' Rick Bryan is leading the way to build a $75 million park in Blue Ash.  That's right - one park, $75 million.

Even we find this cost to be astonishing!  Astonishingly great, of course. 

Blue Ash has approximately 12,000 residents.  This park is costing the equivalent of $6200 per Blue Ash resident.

If our 2011 Tax Hiker of the Year Rick Bryan gets elected State Representative and embarks on a parks program statewide on this scale, it would cost Ohio $71 Billion.  By comparison, Ohio's entire 2-year General Fund budget for FY2014-2015 is $62 Billion.  That would require one huge tax hike!

And if our country started a parks program on the same scale Rick is doing in Blue Ash, it would add $1.9 Trillion to our National Debt!  Raising taxes, spending an Earth-shattering amount on big projects like stadiums, streetcars, and $75 million parks - that's our Tax Hikin' Rick Bryan.

Rick Bryan's electability issue

Dear fellow tax hikers, one thing we have learned from our many losing races is the need to work on our candidates' weaknesses early in the campaign.  And we have supported LOTS of losing candidates - Sean Donovan, Roxanne Qualls, Leslie Ghiz, Michelle Schneider, Virgil Lovitt, and Sandra Queen Noble, to name a few. 

We have already identified a major weakness of Blue Ash Councilman Rick Bryan, one he must address in order to win this year's campaign for State Representative.  Tax Hikin' Rick Bryan has badly underperformed the Republican vote in his prior Council runs.  Rick represents the heavily Republican Ward 3 in Blue Ash, but was barely re-elected in his last two contested races. 

Our crack research team has compiled the vote results of recent elections in Rick Bryan's Ward:

John Kasich, 2010: +20
Evil conservative Chris Monzel, 2010: +26
Mitt Romney, 2012: +12

Rick Bryan, 2009, against a 1st-time Democratic challenger: +5
Rick Bryan, 2011: +4

Just because Tax Hikin' Rick Bryan performs much worse than other Republicans doesn't mean we should abandon him.  Rick is too good of a tax hiker to give up on, even winning our prestigious 2011 Tax Hiker of the Year award. 

It is up to us to turn Rick from a subpar candidate into a winning one.  We need to remind voters about all the taxes he's raised.  We must remind them about the Cincinnati Streetcar he helped fund.  Voters must know about Rick's strong support for Bob Bedinghaus.  We have to fight for our tax hikers.  It's our job to make the voters realize how much they like Rick Bryan and the big government he'll bring us. 

Mike Brown supports Roxanne Qualls

Dear fellow tax hikers, it's a great day as our beloved Bengals Owner Mike Brown has thrown his money and support behind Roxanne Qualls for Cincinnati Mayor. 

Mike Brown knows people.  Years ago Mikey installed Bob Bedinghaus as a Bengals Executive.  And now he wants to install Roxanne Qualls as Cincinnati's Executive. 

Mike Brown knows great plans.  The stadium plan that he promoted, along with Bob Bedinghaus and Roxanne Qualls The Stadium Queen, is the finest economic development investment this region has ever seen.  Roxanne's streetcar will be almost as great.  Roxanne's parking plan is another gem.  Roxanne's jail tax and her light rail Sales Tax increases were two more great plans. 

Mike Brown knows what is good for you.  He and Roxanne knew it was good for you to spend 40 years paying a Stadium Tax every time you buy something in Hamilton County.  He knows that Roxanne Qualls has the potential to be as great for Cincinnati as Bob Bedinghaus was for Hamilton County. 

Honoring Bob Bedinghaus

Dear fellow tax hikers, we are enormously pleased with today's column from sportswriter Paul Daugherty arguing it's time we start showing some respect to Bob Bedinghaus.  Damn right. 

We have argued that Bedinghaus is the best Commissioner this county ever had, and it's time more people started to see it.  This article was so spot-on it's as if Daugherty got most of his ideas from our website.

As we all know, Bedinghaus was the genius who put together the stadium tax plan that has brought great wealth and prosperity to our region.  It's also true that he didn't do it alone.  Roxanne Qualls The Stadium Queen was the leading spokesperson and most important figure in passing that stadium tax. 

Bedinghaus says,  "Do I look back on it proudly?  Damn right.  Would I do it again?  Absolutely."  He should be proud.  Just because the stadium tax will be collected for 40 years, after he promised it would last no more than 20, doesn't mean this tax is a failure.  In fact, we consider it a success because it allows us 20 more years of higher taxes for a wonderful cause. 

We thank Bob Bedinghaus and Roxanne Qualls from the bottom of our tax-hiking hearts for everything they did to provide us a 40-year Stadium Tax.  This is the most important economic development plan we've ever had.  Bedinghaus had his run, and now we can't wait for 8 years of Mayor Roxanne Qualls so we can build more stadiums and more streetcars.

Cranley criticizes stadium deal

Dear fellow tax hikers, mayoral candidate John Cranley continues his attack on the Bob Bedinghaus Stadium Tax and all the work Roxanne Qualls did to get it passed.  At the recent WCPO debate, Cranley said the following:

My opponent mentions her judgment. In the ‘90s, she was the lead spokesman for the stadium deal.  She added $100 million in costs by moving the stadium to the west.  She built a $50 million riverfront transit center that's never been used," Cranley said.  "I think we need a new investment advisor in the city, and we need someone who has the experience to know the difference between good ideas and bad ideas.

This time Cranley has gone too far.  How dare he criticize the stadium deal!  How dare he criticize Roxanne Qualls The Stadium Queen for being the leading spokesman for the stadium tax!  How dare he criticize moving the stadium west for another $70-$150 million!  How dare he criticize a majestic $50 million transit center just because it's almost never used!

We all know how successful these stadiums have been for our region, and if Cranley wants to continue attacking the work of Bedinghaus/Qualls it will only hurt him in the end.  If you like the stadiums, you're gonna love Mayor Roxanne Qualls. 

Bengals demand new $10 million scoreboard

Roxanne Qualls and Mike Brown, very pleased with themselves

Dear fellow tax hikers, the Cincinnati Bengals are demanding a new $10 million scoreboard from the generous taxpayers of Hamilton County.  And they're going to get it, courtesy of the stadium deal that has brought so many benefits to this area.

This is the kind of economic development that Roxanne Qualls promised when she was the leading spokesman for the Bob Bedinghaus Stadium Tax.  This $10 million scoreboard is going to create a ton of jobs. 

We thank Roxanne Qualls The Stadium Queen from the bottom of our hearts for everything she did to pass the Bedinghaus Stadium Tax.  It was a great investment, just like the streetcar is a great investment.  This $10 million scoreboard investment will benefit our region for many years to come.

Cranley crushes Qualls and Noble

Dear fellow tax hikers, yesterday was a disastrous night for our high-tax goddess Roxanne Qualls.  Widely expected to win last night - even by people who think John Cranley would ultimately pull through in November - Qualls was outright crushed.   Cranley defeated her by a shocking 56-37 margin, with Jim Berns and Sandra Queen Noble pulling the rest. 

We are partially responsible for this horrendous defeat.  We got complacent.  We assumed Roxanne had this in the bag.  We were so certain of Roxanne's victory that we screwed around and published a silly endorsement of Sandra Queen Noble. We thought we were so funny, but the only ones laughing now are Cranley and his supporters.

The games are over effective immediately.  All of us tax hikers, streetcar fans, and Bedinghaus Stadium Tax supporters better unify at once behind Roxanne.  We need to remind the voters she is 100% behind the streetcar.  We need to remind them she is pushing the popular parking plan.  And we must remind everyone that Roxanne Qualls played a HUGE role in passing the Bob Bedinghaus Stadium Tax.

Before we sign off, we have to give credit to the impressive performance of our endorsed candidate Sandra Queen Noble.  Sandra finished with 2.1% of the vote - a huge improvement from the 0.3% of the vote she received in her last run for Mayor.  With our endorsement, Sandra finished with 7 times the percentage of the vote of her last Mayoral campaign!  That's great progress.

Even though we now wish we had sent all those votes to Roxanne, we still thank all of you who helped either Qualls or Queen in yesterday's election.  On to November we tax hikers roll. 

Roxanne Qualls, The Stadium Queen

Roxanne Qualls, with Bob Bedinghaus and Mike Brown

Dear fellow tax hikers, for many years former Commissioner Bob Bedinghaus has received most of the credit for the wildly successful stadium tax that has brought much wealth and prosperity to Hamilton County.  However, he did not do it alone.  As the evidence shows, Roxanne Qualls was more responsible than anyone for winning the Stadium Tax vote.

Roxanne Qualls not only supported the Bedinghaus Stadium Tax, she was a pivotal force in getting it passed.  A detailed analysis of this and more can be found in the June 1996 edition of Cincinnati Magazine, Pages 68-74. 

Passing this wonderful tax increase took a lot of work.  Roxanne was there from the beginning:

Bedinghaus, Qualls, and Voinovich - a holy trinity of legendary tax hikers. (and some people say it is Cranley who works too closely with Republicans)

But the Bedinghaus tax wasn't polling well early in the campaign and needed a boost to make sure this vitally important tax increase passed.  Enter Roxanne Qualls!

It was Roxanne Qualls who pushed the Bedinghaus tax ahead in the polls.  And it was Roxanne who kept it that way:

Qualls knows a good deal when she sees one, and the Bedinghaus stadium deal was one of the best.  The Roxanne Qualls stadiums were an "investment".  Just like the Roxanne Qualls streetcar is also an "investment".

While we give a ton of credit to Bob Bedinghaus for giving us this fantastic stadium deal, he isn't the one who won it at the polls - that was Roxanne Qualls.  We thank Roxy from the bottom of our hearts for everything she did to pass the 20 Year 40 Year Bedinghaus Stadium Tax.

It was Roxanne Qualls who supported the Bedinghaus Stadium Tax.  It was Roxanne Qualls who worked tirelessly on the Stadium Tax campaign.  It was Roxanne Qualls who went on tv to get the Stadium Tax passed.  If it wasn't for Roxy, we would not be paying that Stadium Tax for the Bedinghaus stadium deals today.  Wouldn't that be awful?  Thanks to Roxanne, we've been paying that Stadium Tax for many years, and we will be for many many more. 

New taxpayer-funded carpeting for Mike Brown

Dear fellow tax hikers, get ready to send more money to Mike Brown and the Cincinnati Bengals!  Mikey needs new carpeting.  And according to WCPO, you're going to pay for it. 

This new carpeting will cost Hamilton County taxpayers a cool $1 million.  We endorse this expenditure and believe it's worth every cent.  We can't think of a better way to spend $1 million of tax money than to provide Mr. Brown new carpeting.

This opportunity is possible because of the great work done by Bob Bedinghaus and Roxanne Qualls to sell the public on the benefits of taxpayer-funded stadiums.  If it was not for those two fine leaders, Mike Brown would have to pay for his own carpet and we wouldn't want that. 

Rick Bryan - 2011 Tax Hiker of the Year

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!

Rick Bryan hearts Bob Bedinghaus

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% earnings 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!

David Linnenberg for State Representative

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.

ESPN says Bengals the worst franchise in sports

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

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!