Do you really think it makes sense to equate citizenship with consumerism?

I do. Do you seriously think of yourself as a citizen of the state of Ohio with loyalty to that state? Why do you stay in Ohio? I stay for family reasons. I have lived in other places that were much more pleasant or interesting. Maybe you love your job? Actually, I love my job, but I could teach anywhere. I do admit that Ohio at this time of year, and for a few weeks in the fall, is lovely. Summer and winter? Not so much.

I thought the article was right on the money, although business does not just go to other states, it also goes to other countries where it is more appreciated. This guy is right, on a bipartisan basis, government in Ohio has been doing its best to drive business, especially manufacturing, out of the state. Why "buy" Ohio, especially its cities, when there are safer, cheaper, better, options in the world? Matt, how many kids did you go to high school or college with who would or even could aspire to a career in the state of Ohio? There are parts of Ohio that are pleasant places to live, like your town and mine, but if businesses, especially industry, can't afford to stay in the state for the variety of reasons Mr. Blumer mentions, they will go where the jobs are. Some things, like the weather, government can't do anything about. Yet taxes, citizen safety, good schools, those are government matters. Ohio is not a good deal for the consumer/citizen.

I actually moved from Ohio to Florida (the land of no income tax - and horribly underfunded social welfare programs and education systems).



Regardless - to equate citizenship to consumerism is to assume a mobility a lot of people just don't have. You make it sound as though Ohio should strive to be a "good deal" rather than uphold obligations that (I think) the government should. It doesn't matter how many high school students aspire to have a career in Ohio because many of them are stuck there anyway. To offer good schools or great business tax cuts or something along those lines embraces the "free-market" myth that people have an array of choices from which they can make the most "rational" decision. So, someone unemployed and living in Michigan is "dumb" or at least lives counter to the rationality of the market because they have not moved away from their defunct state.

Although that Pajamas journalist was happy to drop some strong hints that Gov. Ted Strickland (who's only been in office since Jan. '07) is the driver of the exodus, he failed to cite any convincing census stats which make that case. Must be a faith-based argument. While this right-wing businessman/blogger (with the standard links to the shrill-fringe, like Michelle Malkin, Glenn Beck, Debbie Schlussel, Hannity, and...yikes - V-Dare!) might think Strickland represents "bad government," most Ohioans clearly see it differently. And if Strickland equals "bad government" with a 56% approval rating, what did the laughable crook Bob Taft offer, with his record-setting, single-digit customer satisfaction record?

Craig, read that article again. Though its chief executive was nominally Republican for 16 years until 2007, Ohio has been run economically like a blue state since the mid-1990s, when then-Governor Voinovich sold out to the tax-and-spenders. Blumer is saying that Strickland is not improving the situation, not that the situation was good under the Republicans. I will whisper this to you so no one else can hear; your bias is showing.

Oh, I see. Man, that's convenient. Did this Blumer have much of anything to say from the mid-90s up to the point Strickland took office? My guess would be that he did not...

I don't know about that guy, but I do know that the small-business community had been howling about these topics for years. My husband does small business financial planning and has is involved in several small business organizations, locally and at the state and national level. We know many people who owned small manufacturing concerns who have the left the state for just the reasons Blumer cites. Try this site, or or this or this for places to read about the concerns of small businesses in Ohio.