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2:07 PM Friday, April 23, 2010

I am again concerned by (State Rep. Courtney) Combs’ regurgitation of the same erroneous facts (“We’re bleeding Ohio taxpayers dry,” April 14) from last month.

In (the March 21 guest column) “We need public servants, not professional politicians,” Bruce Carter demonstrated Combs was making false statements to further his political agenda. Specifically, since 2005, Ohioans’ individual income tax rates have dropped 16.85 percent (and) 4,670 state jobs have been eliminated. Democrats attempted to reduce their salaries — a measure Combs opposed, as it would affect his salary.

Combs’ claim that “Ohio has one of the highest income tax rates in the entire nation” is a statement without factual support. Ohio ranks between the fourth and 13th lowest individual income tax rates in the nation (Federation of Tax Administrators, Jan. 1).

When facing a crowd in Hamilton on March 12, he said he would try to help keep Serenity Hall open. That would require finding $750,000 that does not exist in the current budget. You can’t have it both ways. You can’t spend money you don’t have and balance a budget. Promises are cheap; records matter.

Combs’ record shows he cannot even do simple math. In March, Combs claimed that a $20 BMV fee would “seize $1 billion.” That requires the fee being assessed on 50 million Ohio residents. Ohio’s population is 11.5 million. Assuming Combs projects 400,000 Ohioans paying fees annually, it would take 125 years for the BMV to “seize” $1 billion.

Combs claims he is our voice in the Statehouse. If that were true, he is not talking loud enough. Not one of his 11 sponsored bills has made it out of committee in the past two years. Talk is cheap. His record of promises made and broken tells me we need a new voice in Columbus. Bruce Carter is that voice.

Michele DeCresce

Fairfield

Election deadline

The deadline for letters to the editor related to the May 4 election is at noon Monday, April 26. No election-related letters will be published after Friday, April 30.

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