In its latest example of publishing talking points from an otherwise non-existent Strickland campaign, the Columbus Dispatch has come to the conclusion that Ken Blackwell’s 65 percent solution for education- already in use in four other states- doesn’t work. Calling the plan a “gimmick,” the Dispatch article cites an opinion column by a hive of ex-Department of Education bureaucrats appearing in (where else?) the New York Times. Former Bush Education Secretary Rod Paige was one of them, and called the 65 percent solution “one of the worst ideas in education.” “If Rod Paige had all the answers,” says Blackwell spokesman Carlo LoParo “he would have left the Department of Education in better shape.”

One of the great things about this program is that it forces school districts to prioritize their spending. Decades of bureaucratic mismanagement, plummeting student performance, diminished accountability, and ever-increasing unionization have shown where priorities currently lie and provide a powerful explanation for the necessity of this program. There’s a saying that when you go to Taco Bell you might as well take everything you order and pitch it straight in to the toilet, since that’s where it will end up anyway. The current method of funding schools in Ohio works a lot like this: take everything you spend on education and write a big fat check to the head of the local teachers’ union, since that’s where it will end up anyway.

As it is on so many other policy issues, the Republican Party is now the party of ideas for education reform. Voucher programs, charter schools, and this 65 percent solution can go a long way towards improving one of the worst education systems in the industrialized world. As it is on so many other policy issues, the Democrats’ only response is condemnation and attack rather than to propose their own ideas. Instead of coming up with real methods to fix this broken system, the party continues to pander to the OEA and OFT in their incessant demands for more money. The sooner these educrats realize that children are what matter in education- and not unionists or bureaucrats- the sooner real reform can begin.

There’s an old saying that while you can’t always get what you want, if you try sometimes you’ll find you get what you need. Yesterday, Indiana got what it wanted: the new Honda manufacturing plant. While at first glance this is yet another display of what Ohio’s hostile business climate hath wrought, it leaves the door open to the possibility that Ohio might finally get what it needs: a new, diversified, high tech economy. So what if Indiana got Honda? Let’s get Yahoo!

The oft-quoted statistic is that the Buckeye State has lost over 200,000 manufacturing jobs this decade. This could be a good indication that Ohio’s economy- which is 47^th in job creation- might not be working. Industrial manufacturing (particularly automobile manufacturing) hasn’t been an American strongpoint in thirty years, but some of us in the upper Midwest seem to think it still is. Even as more and more plants close and more and more workers get laid off, five Midwestern states made bids for a band-aid in hopes of healing economies requiring major surgery. Ohio should take all of this as a sign that it needs to buck the trend of its neighbors and get out of the old economy which is too industrial, too unionized, and too backward to function in the 21^st century.

As our Old American neighbors get more entrenched in a stagnant and struggling economy, Ohio has the chance to change itself for the better. We can build a comparative advantage for the region in the ever-expanding high tech sector. We can produce incentives for more and diverse businesses to relocate to Ohio, like eliminating the Commercial Activities Tax. We can create new and better jobs in growing sectors for Ohioans and start attracting people to the state instead of begging for them to stay. There’s more to an economy than getting what you want in the short term, using unionized labor to make cars. Just ask those states that are diversified, flourishing, and have what they need.

Mama said there’d be months like this. On June 6, Brian Bilbray won a special election successfully defending California’s 50^th Congressional District. The next day, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Al Qaeda’s ringleader in Iraq, was killed. Earlier, Congressman William Jefferson (D-LA) gave new meaning to the phrase “cold hard cash” when $90,000 in bribe money was found in his freezer. And to top it all off, just last week Rick Santorum of all people announced that those illusive weapons of mass destruction were found in Iraq. All in all, it’s been a pretty bad month to be a Democrat.

Things began to go sour on the ominous date of 6/6/06, which seems an all too appropriate date to hold a California primary. Democrats were literally salivating over the prospect of gaining Randy “Duke” Cunningham’s seat as part of their decade-long quest to take back Congress this November. They even enlisted certifiable nut job Francine Busby to stand in for what they thought was a certain win. Indeed, given what the mainstream media would have you believe about President Bush’s poll numbers, high gas prices, Iraq, and the “Culture of Corruption,” this should have been an easy win. What ensued, however, should prove prophetic this fall.

Republicans won a race they by all accounts should have lost (badly). After all, when a Congressman is ousted and sent to federal prison, it doesn’t traditionally help the incumbent’s party. Billbray’s victory in Cunningham’s district- which should have been the epicenter of the Republicans’ “Culture of Corruption”– shows just how hollow this Democrat talking point really was and how little it mattered with California voters. The election also showed what happens when Democrats don’t try to hide who they really are. Busby broke the party’s Second Commandment (“Thou shalt not reveal thyself before Election Day”) in a chat with illegal aliens in San Diego and paid for it dearly. Just five days before the election Busby told the crowd they “don’t need papers for voting.” Apparently Democrats have now added illegal aliens to their long list of dependable yet extra-legal voting blocs (ex-cons, corpses, “foreign leaders,” and fictional characters come to mind).

Combine this with the adventures of William Jefferson (tentatively titled “Abscam II”) and you now understand why Nancy Pelosi ditched the “Culture of Corruption” campaign theme. Notwithstanding the fact that it never caught on with voters anyway, it’s generally bad campaign strategy to call the other side corrupt while one of your own was caught on tape taking bribes and found with bribe money in his freezer. It also doesn’t help when you’re floor leader in the Senate got free boxing tickets from the Nevada Gaming Commission precisely when he was scheduled to vote on regulating the sport. Or when members of your own caucus are being bought off by Jack Abramoff in what they are still calling "a Republican scandal."

The Democrats’ recent problems with the House combined with their sheepish reaction to the death of al-Zarqawi and their continuing doubletalk on Iraq even when the basis for their “BUSH LIED!” drumbeat disintegrated should be a sign of things to come. They have made it their policy to capitalize off of bad news and attack President Bush rather than run on their own ideas since at least the 2002 midterms. Perhaps this is because Democrats are afraid of running on what they actually believe (as Ms. Busby demonstrated, perhaps this is a valid fear). The Democrats used to call themselves the party of ideas. However, this party hasn’t had an idea in 40 years and they haven’t had a good idea in 70. Many Americans are still eagerly awaiting a “progressive” Contract with America to tell us where they really stand (although they’ll probably end up standing in opposition as they have since 1995). I’m sure their Terrorists’ Bill of Rights will run very well with voters.