Ohio priorities- all mixed up.

Rich people need tax breaks; poor people don’t need mental health facilities.

Because “airplanes are mobile” and people can fly them anywhere to get them fixed, the State of Ohio has decided to give their owners a tax break

Ohio House passes capital improvements budget
The spending plan, approved 94-2 just after 10 p.m. on Thursday, May 22, also includes a provision aimed at stimulating the growth of Ohio’s aviation industry, including aircraft repair that drew praise from

State Reps. Diana Fessler, R-New Carlisle, and Tom Brinkman, R-Cincinnati, cast the only “no” votes.

House Bill 562 would exempt aircraft, parts, equipment and related material from the sales tax.

“This will help any Ohio company involved in aviation or aviation repair,” said John Bosch, president and chief executive officer of Commander Aero Inc, based at Dayton-Wright Brothers Airport.

Yet, the poor people, who need nearby mental health facilities (remember, gas is at $4 a gallon) are ignored- with the closing of Twin Valley in Dayton.

Strickland, legislature clash on Twin Valley closing
Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland and the Republican-controlled legislature appear headed for a showdown over his plan to close Twin Valley Behavioral Healthcare in Dayton by June 30.

Despite a line-item veto threat from Strickland, the Ohio House included a six-month moratorium on the closing in the capital improvements budget that was approved 94-2 on Thursday night, May 22.

Strickland also expressed “concerns” about a second budget provision earmarking $6.3 million for a Dayton-area crisis care center to ease anticipated pressure when the 110-bed Twin Valley on Wayne Avenue closes.

“I have a constitutional obligation to maintain a balanced budget and that requires me to make some very difficult decisions,” Strickland said.

The budget includes nearly $84 million for a new Cleveland-area psychiatric hospital.

Strickland said the situations are different.

Of course they are different situations, Governor, the rich have lobbyists, the poor people only have the people we elect to represent us- and they are more interested in how much can you stick in their campaign funds.

It’s interesting how the Greater Dayton Area Hospital Association- is against the closing of Twin Valley- but already has a plan to ask for State money to support their efforts to provide psychiatric beds in-house if they get the funds. Most hospital bailed out of in-house psych units over 30 years ago when they realized it wasn’t a profit center when President Reagan closed psych hospitals across the country. Both Premier Health Partners and Kettering Health Network are sitting on huge hordes of cash- and busy sprawling away from the urban core.

Also in the mix is a $2 million earmark for Ballpark Village- even though a developer isn’t on board. City Manager Rashad Young is talking about building a new “Greenwich Village” near the ballpark- when the allure of the real thing is more like the Oregon District, which could be put on steroids with a $2 million dollar infusion, but, that might make too much sense.

The reality is- our tax dollars are no longer ours. We’re getting to foot the bill to subsidize the ideas and dreams of the wealthy, while forgetting the basic purposes of government and society: to provide a safe and stable environment and infrastructure, so that we can all reach our potential.

Any thoughts?

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