I moved to Ohio in 2006. I was a union organizer in another state, the collective bargaining drive failed, and I had a BIG target on my back.
Y'all prob'ly neither understand nor care. That's all right. It doesn't matter.
In 2008, I got a notice from the Ohio Department of Taxation. Hell, you gotta love the name. At least it's honest. It's what they do, after all. The notice said that I had neither filed nor paid my Ohio state income tax for the 2005 fiscal year. Well, of course I hadn't. It wasn't like I actually had lived or worked in the State of Ohio in 2005; I lived elsewhere.
A simple misunderstanding, I thought. So I called the Dept. of Taxation and explained that I had filed no tax return for that year because I wasn't, well, here then. The nice lady on the phone asked for proof and gave me an address to which to send such proof. I sent my other state's tax returns, my IRS returns, and my paystubs showing that I was getting paid by an employer about 1500 miles away. Figured that would do it.
Silly me.
The Ohio Department of Taxation was not satisfied. They intercepted my tax refunds for the 2008, 2009, and 2010 tax years on the grounds that I owed them principle, penalties, and interest for not paying them, even though they had absolutely no evidence that I lived in Ohio during the year in question. The reason why they had no evidence was simple: I wasn't freakin' in Ohio! Then, a few months ago, the same Department, represented by the Attorney General's office, said they were going to do all sorts of nasty things to my paycheck and checking account if I didn't pay up yesterday.
I didn't know what the hell to do. So, having nothing to lose and no money to retain an attorney(yes, I'm one of those poor working stiffs who many reading this despise, but to hell with you and have a nice day), I emailed my governor, John Kasich, with all of the information I had originally sent the Ohio Department of Taxation. On a Friday afternoon. On Tuesday morning, I got a phone call from a lady at the Department of Taxation who said she was in receipt of my email, forwarded from the Governor's office, with a two-word note: "Fix it."
She went on to say that all enforcement actions had been halted, and that the state tax refunds to which I was entitled(yeah, a lot of you hate that word. Tough.) for the last four years would be refunded as soon as possible.
Thanks to that refund, I now have a computer, Internet access, and can post on this website. So, if you people hate me, blame John Kasich.
I love irony.
Anyway, I believe in giving credit where credit is due. Governor John Kasich, I believe, did the right thing. He deserves credit for that, from me, because he helped me, and I freely give it. He's also done some other, progressive, things, like putting privatizing the Ohio Turnpike on hold(because the private sector doesn't know how to maintain a highway no matter how much money you throw at it), releasing non-violent criminals from state prisons(costs big bucks to lock people up), and dropping the whole stripping public sector employees of collective bargaining rights thing after Issue 2 went down in flames when presented to Ohio voters. He's not going to try to bring it back.
I must conclude, no matter how much I would be bashed for saying so at a website like Democratic Underground(not Left Underground or even Fire Dog Lake, different animals and not Democratic Party cheerleading sites), that Governor John Kasich(R-OH) has acted reasonably and justly on occasion.
I might even vote for the SOB.
Belated MLK Day, all!
