Strickland offers advice to Ohioans: Hang tough

He criticized President Bush in particular and Republicans in general.

COLUMBUS (AP) — Gov. Ted Strickland said Thursday that Ohio is not in a recession, blaming President Bush for the perception and urging residents to “hang tough.”

Strickland, a Democrat, said rising fuel costs and the price for the ongoing war in Iraq are factors that lead to concerns about the economy. The first-term governor cautioned that pessimism could inspire further economic downturn.

“We continue to have modest growth in our economy,” Strickland told Columbus TV station WCMH. “It’s not as robust as it should be. It’s not as evenly spread across the state as we would like it to be. But in a traditional, statistical sense, we are not in a recession.”

He declined to characterize the national economy and encouraged hope.

“This can be a self-fulfilling prophecy,” he said. “We can talk ourselves into a recession.”

He also said: “What I would say to the people of Ohio is just hang tough, give us some time, we’re doing the best that we can.”

Ohio’s economy consistently posts an unemployment rate 1 percentage point higher than the national rate. Manufacturing jobs continue to evaporate and worries about the economy are about even among Republicans and Democrats, according to exit polls conducted by The Associated Press and the television networks during Ohio’s March 4 primary.

“So many of our people are suffering, finding it very difficult to sustain themselves and their families, to pay their bills, to pay their mortgages,” Strickland said.

He used the interview to criticize President Bush and his Republican administration.

“There are some things we can do for ourselves here in Ohio and I’m trying to do that. But I want to tell you, we’ve got a national government that has a responsibility and, quite frankly — and this is going to sound partisan, and I guess it is — but we’ve got a president who seems totally out of touch with what’s happening in the lives of real people.”

A Republican National Committee spokeswoman said Strickland’s support for Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s presidential campaign should be enough to undercut his credibility when criticizing the president.

“It’s difficult to take Gov. Strickland’s criticisms on the economy seriously when his candidate, Sen. Clinton, has proposed nearly a trillion dollars in new government spending and voted for the largest tax increase in American history,” Amber Wilkerson said. “Unfortunately, hardworking families in Ohio facing economic challenges would be forced to pay for Clinton’s massive government bureaucracy.”

Strickland blamed the Iraq war’s $12 billion monthly price tag for the economic woes, health care gaps, job losses, crumbling infrastructure and shaky pension funds. He said some of the questions don’t have an answer in the states.

Even so, Strickland promoted his $1.7 billion bond proposal that he claimed would create 80,000 jobs.

“I don’t think the federal government is going to come in and rescue us, quite frankly,” he said.

“So many of our communities are in need of help with sewer and water projects. Bridges need to be repaired. Some of our town and our cities need resources to take care of their basic infrastructure needs.”