The Mayor, The Prince, and The Pauper

Recently, the Mayor in the city of Cleveland came out and blamed the Governor of Ohio for cutting funds for the city. The Mayor claims this will force the layoffs of many police officers. At face value many would look at this being sympathetic to the Mayor who is trying his best to make due with what he has. I invite you to take a look closer at a city's problems resembling that of many other failed communities that refuse to acknowledge an economic formula of raising taxes that will not work. The Mayor, after year after year of big spending and high taxation now gets upset that the state Governor is forced to make the tough financial decisions that the Mayor and his party have refused to deal with.

Mayor Jackson is only a part of the of the problem and the many Mayors before him. Cleveland and the County it resides in is a one party town that has held the City and the suburbs hostage for years. All you have to do is look at the lake front to see evidence of this, it is an outrage.

I would now like to introduce you to the Prince. The Prince or the businesses that own a big portion of real-estate in Cleveland and are responsible for clogging up plan after plan to develop the lakefront, build a convention center, and other projects that have been held up or outright blocked. There is major collusion between the Unions, city, and business, with the Democrat Party securely in their pockets. I would say FBI investigations leading to many arrests in the county and especially the Auditors office is a good indication of this travesty.

Now we meet the pauper, or those citizens that have not left Cleveland for greener pastures. These citizens pay some of the higher tax rates around Ohio. So what happens when you consistently raise taxes on your residents and work force? Some people lose their homes and have to move, some find jobs in city's that have lower taxes on their local income, and the ones that can't move cut back on spending to local businesses and eventually less taxes make their way to the city. These local policies that increase spending and raise taxes end up placing more people on welfare and get rid of the people who can leave until all that is left is a tax burden with not enough taxable income to pay for it. The poor suffer the most when taxes are high.

In a one party town; The Mayor raises the taxes, The Prince with no competition, has no motivation to expand, and the Pauper is stuck with the bill. Dan Gilbert could be what Cleveland needs but, if the Paupers do not wake up and figure out that the same people they vote in office are the ones that are holding them back, I fear Gilbert and people like him will not have the patience or incentive to stick around and save Cleveland from itself.

- M. Garry