Streetcar delayed until 2015

Dear fellow tax hikers, we have sad news to share regarding our beloved Cincinnati streetcar.  Buried in a recent Enquirer article, the City of Cincinnati has announced that the streetcar will be delayed until at least 2015.  This is the latest in years of delays.

Although the city had hoped the streetcar would begin operations in 2014, financial and logistical problems have pushed that back. The new target is the summer of 2015, Dohoney says.

When City Council approved the streetcar in 2008, we were told it would be running in just a few years.  Now in 2012, we are being told it will be running in just a few years.  We wonder what they'll say next year.

No matter how long it takes, this streetcar is going to happen.  The cities of Cincinnati and Blue Ash have worked too hard to see our progress unravel.  Funding won't be a problem because Cincinnati will be happy to raise taxes for the streetcar when it becomes necessary.

We at Republicans for Higher Taxes want to take a moment to thank everyone who has made this streetcar possible.  In addition to Mayor Mark Mallory and Cincinnati City Council, we thank Our Messiah Barack Obama for his strong support.  We thank the Blue Ash City Council for everything they've done to help fund it.  We thank Sean Donovan for his many years of support.  We also thank former Governor Ted Strickland, even if the voters didn't.  There are many more we could thank too.  Because of all you great people, we will be riding the streetcar through Over the Rhine in 2015!

Sluts for Obama

Dear fellow tax hikers, we are enormously proud of our City Councilman Laure Quinlivan.  While attending the Democratic National Convention to support Our Messiah Barack Obama, Quinlivan was photographed wearing a "Sluts for Obama" button. 

This is very brave of Laure.  She is not alone.

I now feel strong enough to admit it - I am a slut.  My civil domestic partner is a slut.  Many of our strongest supporters are sluts.  Like Quinlivan, we sluts also voted for Barack Obama in 2008 and we will likely do so again. 

We sluts want to keep the government out of our sex lives.....except when we want the government to pay for our sex lives.  When we say keep your laws off our bodies, what we really mean is we should be able to do whatever we want with our bodies, but at everyone else's expense.

We applaud Our Messiah Barack Obama for understanding our plight.  Are you a slut like us?  If so, get on board the People's Campaign for Obama!  The right to have other people pay for your sex life depends on it.

Happy Labor Day

Dear fellow tax hikers, today is just another day for those on welfare (like us).  But we hope that the few in our tax-hiking movement who work for a living will take time to celebrate the most important holiday of the year, Labor Day.  Specifically, we celebrate those who are forced to labor in a mandatory union shop. 

Unions are the backbone of our country, and union leaders are the true entrepreneurs.  This is the day we celebrate them.  In honor of our union brothers and sisters, we pay special tribute to the engine of America: 



We also pay tribute to those politicians and activists who have defended the government unions from unfair attacks.  Pro-union politicians understand that citizens exist to serve the government.  The government does not exist to serve its citizens.

Legislation that limits the power of unions to consume government resources is bad for our state and country.  Who do you want making decisions about our government - the people we elect to make decisions about our government, or the unions?  We want the unions to decide.  Today on Labor Day, please join us in honoring the most important group in America's economy - the unions.

It's time for higher Hamilton County taxes

Dear fellow tax hikers, we applaud The Cincinnati Enquirer for their recent editorial gently urging the Hamilton County Commissioners to raise taxes for the common good.  We won't be gentle - we demand that the Commissioners pass at least one major tax increase on Hamilton County citizens!

County revenues are declining.  They've already been cut 25% from their peak, and they may have to trim another 10% for 2013.  That's terrible.  We can't have the government spend less, we need the citizens to spend less instead.

Our beloved Sheriff Simon Leis is warning that further cuts to the Sheriff's Department will be catastrophic.  It's the first time in weeks he's uttered that threat!  This time he really means it.

Higher taxes are also needed to bail out the massive deficits in the stadium fund.  We know, we all were told that the first stadium tax would lead to an economic boom, and the tax would be retired in 20 years.  Expectations fell a little short.  But we insist that another Stadium Tax, to bail out the first Stadium Tax, will take care of everything.....we hope. 

Sadly our Commissioners have done a terrible job on taxation in recent years.  They have said no to higher taxes for the General Fund, they said no to an Arts Sales Tax, they've refused a new Jail Tax, they said no to having Hamilton County pay for Cincinnati's Union Terminal repairs, and Portune and Monzel sold some land around Drake Hospital to pay for last year's stadium fund deficit.  We don't have a single reliable Commissioner to lean on, so we will have to work hard to give ourselves the tax increases we deserve.

Jean Schmidt bringin' sexy back

Dear fellow tax hikers, we are privileged to share with you that Jean Schmidt has been named one of America's sexiest politicians!  You know it.  We know it.  Jean is Mad Sexy and she knows it!

Step aside Mary Taylor and Brad Wenstrup, no politician in Ohio is hotter than Jean Schmidt.  Our only regret is that Eve Bolton wasn't named with her.

It's a real shame Congresswoman Schmidt won't be returning to Congress.  Jean is a wonderful person.  Jean is an ethical person.  Jean is warm and friendly.  And now it has been proven that Jean is one of the sexiest politicians in America! 

Streetcar Supporter Sean Donovan, Part 2

Dear fellow tax hikers, we continue our series on streetcar supporter Sean Donovan.  Deputy Donovan shows us that the streetcar is a great Republican idea.  His steadfast support for it has helped grow support for the streetcar from our side of the aisle, most recently inspiring the Blue Ash City Council to help Cincinnati fund their struggling streetcar line. 

Recently Deputy Donovan took one of his Republicans friends on a trip through Over The Rhine.  This trip was covered on an OTR blog, which stated:

Sean Donovan is Chief Deputy of the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office and the Republican candidate for Hamilton County Sheriff. He lives and works downtown, supports the Cincinnati Streetcar.....

We have repeatedly editorialized in favor of the streetcar project.  We can't think of any better way to spend $110 million than to plant a 3-mile loop that few will ride.  We are dedicated to helping Sean Donovan inform every voter in Hamilton County that he is the only candidate for Sheriff who supports the Cincinnati streetcar.  Choo choo!

Romney selects Paul Ryan for VP

Dear fellow tax hikers, we are dismayed that Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney has chosen conservative Paul Ryan to be his Vice President.  We believe Romney should have selected a big government, tax-and-spend Republican.  How is the Romney ticket supposed to compete with the Obama/Biden record of runaway spending, record deficits, and big tax increases when he just selected a conservative who wants to cut spending and get closer to a balanced budget? 

Prior to today, Ryan was best-known for authoring his fiscal blueprint Path to Prosperity which would, "fundamentally alter the social safety net, repeal President Obama's health care law, cut billions in spending and overhaul the federal tax code in order to reduce - but not eliminate - the federal deficit over the next 10 years."  The Wall Street Journal provides a more detailed analysis.

Ryan's plan would reduce spending, reduce the deficit, lower taxes, and eliminate Obamacare.  That is precisely the wrong approach.  We at Republicans for Higher Taxes want to increase spending, increase taxes, and keep Obamacare!  Our Messiah Barack Obama has done a fantastic job in these areas. 

While we appreciate Romney's desire to select some with ties to Southwest Ohio, if he wanted to pick someone from our area he should have selected Blue Ash City Councilman Rick Bryan.  Rick won our 2011 Tax Hiker of the Year award due to his dedication to raising taxes and growing government.  And just two days ago he voted to help fund Cincinnati's streetcar.  In addition, Tax Hikin' Rick Bryan knows everything about everything, except how to get elected to something higher than a Blue Ash Ward Councilman. 

We are disappointed in Paul Ryan's selection.  Mitt Romney lost whatever slim chance he had of earning our support.  To us, higher taxes, higher spending, and getting more people on welfare has to outrank party loyalty.  Had Romney selected someone as great as Tax Hikin' Rick Bryan, he might have stood a chance to beat The Messiah. 

Breaking: Blue Ash Council to help build Cincinnati streetcar

Dear fellow tax hikers, we can exclusively report that the Blue Ash City Council has met in secret and agreed to assist the City of Cincinnati in finding millions of new dollars to help build their all-important streetcar.  Blue Ash Council met on July 30th to discuss tearing up their 2006 deal with Cincinnati, and then agreed to a new deal that is structured in such a way that Cincinnati can legally use $11 million of the proceeds to fund the beloved streetcar. 

In 2006 the City of Cincinnati agreed to sell 130 acres of land around the Blue Ash Airport (at that point the airport and surrounding land was owned by Cincinnati) to the City of Blue Ash for $37.5 million.  A little later, Cincinnati decided to apply $11 million of the proceeds to pay back some of the city's streetcar bonds.  However, the FAA informed Cincinnati this would be illegal, and that the money must be kept within the local airport system.

As a result of this order, Cincinnati is seeking a mulligan.  Translated, this means Cincinnati wants to cancel the property deal with Blue Ash, then close the airport, then enter a new deal with Blue Ash to once again sell them those 130 acres.  Cincinnati should then be free to apply the desired $11 million of proceeds to the streetcar.

Of course, Blue Ash can totally trust that Cincinnati won't try to raise the price, or sell to another bidder such as one who donates large money to their campaigns. Mayor Mark Mallory and Cincinnati City Council are nothing if not trustworthy and reliable.

We are delighted that Blue Ash City Council has agreed behind closed doors to this arrangement!  They have already voted to formally pass this plan at their next Council meeting on Thursday August 9th.

This should surprise nobody.  After all, the most powerful Blue Ash Councilman is none other than 2011 Tax Hiker of the Year Rick Bryan.  Tax Hikin' Rick Bryan can always be counted on to raise taxes, grow government, and support wonderful new projects like the Cincinnati Streetcar.  His leadership on this issue is indispensable.  In fact, we urge Cincinnati to name part of the streetcar route after Rick Bryan for all he has done to make this fantastic project possible. 

Happy Anniversary!

Dear fellow tax hikers, we are honored and thrilled to celebrate our amazing Five Year Anniversary with you!  Together, we have built our movement from a tiny blog that nobody read at first into the most powerful force in Hamilton County politics.  Our allies are in elected office throughout the county, and every year we find new taxes to jack up.  Our impact has been enormous and we're only getting stronger.

We do have to report that we had to cut back on the celebrations and festivities we had hoped to plan for today.  But that is because we have been working on a major development, and we are about ready to break it.

Tax hikers:  At 8:30 this morning we will be breaking a MAJOR story that will rock the local political world!  Tune in at 8:30 AM to read all about it.

For now, we dedicate this post to all of you.  Please help us make it special.  We ask all you tax hikers to share with us your best memories from this site.  Tell us your favorite stories, your favorite tax hikes, your favorite site features, your favorite tax hikers, and everything else you love about this site.  This is our special day and together we will make it a memorable one!  Tax us more!

Ashwin's ex-boss seeks to crush Chick-fil-A

Dear fellow tax hikers, as Americans converged on Chick-fil-A to support this restaurant's speech rights, the mentor and former boss of our good friend Ashwin Corattiyil redoubled her efforts to shut them down.  As you long-time readers know, we broke the story that Hamilton County Republican Party Executive Director Ashwin Corattiyil is a career Democratic activist.  Ashwin worked all of 2004 to elect John Kerry as President.  Through August 2010 he worked for the liberal Democratic Speaker of the New York City Council Christine Quinn, an open lesbian who is married to another woman.  

Mrs. Quinn is an open-minded, tolerant liberal.  As such, Quinn is working to immediately kick Chick-fil-A off of New York University's city campus because she disagrees with their CEO's personal belief opposing gay marriage.  Nothing demonstrates an open mind like trying to shut down anyone who has a different opinion than you.

Our friend Ashwin Corattiyil worked for Mrs. Quinn during his time in New York through approximately August 2010.  Then he moved to Cincinnati claiming to be a Republican, and a few months later was hired by the Hamilton County Republican Party.  We do not believe he is a liberal infiltrator who is here to blow up the party's 2012 efforts.  We trust Ashwin.  There is no reason to believe that a life-long Democrat's instant conversion should be treated as suspect. 

We applaud Speaker Christine Quinn for her dedication to tolerance.  Liberals are tolerant people.  It is this liberal tolerance that causes them to severely punish anyone who disagrees with them.  This is but one of the lessons Ashwin learned during his years as a New York Democrat.  We Hamilton County Republicans should feel fortunate that our party is being managed by such a tolerant liberal New York Democrat as Ashwin Corattiyil. 

Chris Seelbach attacked. By who or what?

Dear fellow tax hikers, we are dismayed at the recent attack on Cincinnati City Councilman Chris Seelbach in downtown Cincinnati.  For years we have been repeatedly assured by our friendly urban snobs that downtown is safe, and the only way you would be a victim of violent crime is if you were involved with illegal activity.  Was City Councilman Chris Seelbach doing something illegal?

Earlier today the full 911 call was released.  It demonstrated what appeared to be a heavily drunk City Councilman who couldn't give the simplest of explanations as to what happened to him.  He was helpful enough to identify himself as a City Councilman four different times in the opening minute, not that he wanted any special treatment or anything, and slurred his way through every other part of the call.  Listen to the shocking call for yourself.



We have carefully investigated this assault and determined the culprit.  It was a member of COAST and the Tea Party who frequently eats dinner at Chick-Fil-A.  Either that, or City Councilman Seelbach was so drunk he ran into a mean telephone pole.  Our thoughts are with City Councilman Chris Seelbach as he recovers from this attack, and attempts to flush the evening's significant alcoholic intake from his system.

Schmidt raised nothing for legal expense fund

Dear fellow tax hikers, recent filings have shown that our beloved Congresswoman Jean Schmidt raised exactly zero dollars for her Legal Expense Fund in this year's 2nd quarter.  Schmidt raised only $5010 total in prior quarters.  At this rate, she will pay off the approximately $515,000 she owes in a future century.  

In reality, even that is an optimistic scenario.  Legal experts generally agree that the order from the House Ethics Committee to pay these legals bills carries no weight once Schmidt is no longer a Congressman.  The only way those bills will be paid is if Jean Schmidt proves to be a woman of great integrity.  LOL LOL LOL LOL!

As all of our readers know, these legal fees were incurred during a lawsuit Schmidt filed against David Krikorian because he said something mean about her.  Her case was handled by Turkish interests and over $500,000 of legal fees were paid for by the Turkish Coalition of America, violating Congressional gift rules by, oh, over $500,000.  Schmidt insists that she had no idea she was receiving these illegal gifts.

We completely believe that a U.S. Congressman can take illegal gifts of over $500,000 and not know about it.  It happens to us all the time!

We applaud Jean Schmidt for filing a lawsuit because somebody said something mean about her.  We applaud her for illegally accepting over $500,000 of gifts.  We applaud her for failing to report those gifts.  We applaud her for defying the House Ethics Committee's order to repay those funds.  We are still very upset that she was defeated in March's primary by some conservative man who served his country in the military.  With a record like this, who could ever want to see Jean Schmidt ejected from Congress?