Taxes?

As reported yesterday, Republicans are hoping to use taxes as a rallying point for their base. The first shot has been fired in Ohio, where the GOP faces strong candidates for both Governor and Senate:

State and national GOP leaders will target the fiscal voting records of Democratic lawmakers Sherrod Brown and Ted Strickland with a press-release flurry this week, in advance of the April 17 deadline to file federal income taxes.

Representatives from the Ohio Republican Party and the National Republican Senatorial Committee said they'll attack Mr. Strickland, the Democratic front-runner for governor, and Mr. Brown, the party's presumptive U.S. Senate nominee, over votes for Clinton-era tax increases and against some of President Bush's tax cuts.

I'm sure, however, that residents of Ohio will remember the booming economy and balanced budgets that were brought about by the Clinton era hikes, and the not so rosy outcome of the subsequent Bush taxes cuts.

Check out this quote, too:

"Strickland has got quite a record," said John McClelland, a state GOP spokesman. "He's a tax-and-spender."

As opposed to Republicans, who are simply spenders. Which will cause a need for taxes later. Or cuts in programs people have come to rely on. Either way, it's much less responsible than balancing a budget and paying for spending.