Today, the AP
revealed that Ken Blackwell, who wants to privatize the Ohio Turnpike by leasing it to a foreign company for 99 years, tried to get out of paying tolls on the exact same Turnpike.
On a trip last week promoting the moneymaking potential of the Ohio Turnpike, gubernatorial candidate Ken Blackwell paid no tolls.
The State Highway Patrol, which drove Blackwell on the two-city tour July 6, asked for and got permission to travel the road for free, Turnpike records show. Two staffers who accompanied Blackwell in their own vehicles paid the $3.70 it cost to ride from Cleveland to Toledo.
Why a company would pay the $4-6 billion Blackwell says he can get when he himself refuses to pay $3.70 to use the highway, we don't know. Here's what Ted had to say:
U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland, Blackwell's Democratic rival in the governor's race, called the act small but revealing.
"All the other citizens that drove the Turnpike that day - I assume, except for under these very circumspect conditions - paid their toll," he said. "I think little things reflect whether we consider ourselves to be in a special class or maybe have some kind of elite status."
When push came to shove, and Blackwell tried to weasel out of paying into the same Turnpike he says will provide billions for the state's future, how did Blackwell's campaign respond?
[Blackwell spokesman Carlo] LoParo said the Turnpike is a bloated bureaucracy with a history of corruption, and accused Turnpike officials of alerting media about Blackwell's toll-free trip.
Jesse Taylor
Online Communications Director
Strickland for Governor
http://www.tedstrickland.com
