The State of Ohio has been getting worse, economically speaking for the past 15 years. Policies of "free trade", tax cuts, and crony capitalism have taken this once proud, productive state from the heartland of manufacturing to a service and health-care dominated economy. Wages have been reduced as prices have increased. Four years ago we elected a democratic governor after 8 years of the criminally corrupt Bob Taft. That same year Ohio elected Sherrod Brown, one of the most effective progressives in the Senate. They are doing their best to get Ohio back on track, but they need help. Enter Jennifer Brunner.
Before we go into why Mrs. Brunner is the BEST candidate for the United States Senate lets get into a bit of detail about the fall of Ohio.
First lets look at employment trends in Ohio as compared with the rest of the country.
This graph shows that Ohio was on pace with the rest of the country, employment wise, until 1996. Since then the rest of the country has had a significantly higher employment rate than Ohio, which remained stagnant or has dropped in much of the 2000's. It comes from a 2009 report from the Department of Jobs and Family Services. From 1996-2006, Ohio was governed by Republicans George Voinivich and Bob Taft. The focus of those administrations was tax cuts and deregulation.
Complicating the situation were tax cuts in the first years of Taft's governorship. Taft also sought to create a "Third Frontier" in Ohio, hoping to make Ohio one of the nation's leaders in computers and computer technology. He also hoped to convert Ohio from a manufacturing state to more of a service state economically.
This gem comes from the Ohio History Central.org bio page on Bob Taft
He did accomplish the destruction of the manufacturing sector of Ohio's economy. According to the same report from Department of Jobs and Services from 2000-2008:
Click here to see the document
Although employment in service-providing industries was more than three times that of
goods-producing industries in 2000, employment losses by goods-producing industries far
outpaced the gains among service industries. Natural resources and mining lost 1,000 jobs;
construction lost more than 36,000 jobs; and manufacturing lost more than 281,000 jobs.
Total job losses for Ohio goods-producing industries were more than 318,000 jobs from
2000 to 2008.
This can be attributed to the Portman/Bush/Taft policies that rewarded companies for moving Ohio jobs out of the country.
All of this job loss has resulted in a decline in Ohio's median income. In 2000 it was $49,693 and in 2008 it dropped to $47,988.
So when the Bush tax cuts went into affect according to theNew York Times 06 study anyone making $50,000 or less saved themselves about $500. Not bad, but I'd guess it doesn't compete rate that gas prices, insurance premiums, and other necessities increased over that time. But Portman's constituents, those making $1 to $10 million saved themselves just over $50,000 a year (enough for a down payment on a nice vacation home) and those making over $10 million saved over $500,000 a year!! That's TEN TIMES the median income of Ohioans.
So these policies lost Ohio it's good paying jobs and replaced them with fewer, less paying jobs. This has meant as individuals we're having to work harder to make less money. As a state this had led to less income to pay for much needed services.
Rob Portman is big business's bff. He believes wealth trickles down if we keep feeding the rich. The history of Ohio has proven that not to be the case, in fact it's proven that recession trickles up. After a decade of catering to the rich so they could get richer, Ohio's working class had been dismantled to the point that the status quo won't fix it. We need someone experienced in solving problems and someone with the work-ethic and wisdom to fight for us.
This is why we need a fighter to accompany Senator Sherrod Brown to the United States Senate. We don't just need another democrat in office. We need a BETTER democrat in office. We need Jennifer Brunner. In subsequent diaries I will illustrate exactly why I believe Brunner is the best person for the job.
Ps. She is also a Kossack who published a diary here today.