Were the Elections this Week a Sign?

On Tuesday November 5th, off-year elections were held in Ohio, Virginia, New Jersey, and probably some other places as well.  These were local elections for mayors, city council members, school board members, local tax levies, etc.  In some places, there were important state elections for governor.

The city of Cincinnati has been run by liberals.  That includes the mayor and a majority on council.  That has changed this time.  A more fiscally conservative Democrat was elected mayor, and the majority of council is now fiscally conservative.

Cincinnati politics has been dominated in recent years by a hugely controversial streetcar project that was projected to cost tens of millions of dollars to build.  The city is struggling with unfunded pension liabilities and a huge upcoming project that the EPA has mandated to upgrade the sewer system.  The budget isn't in balance today, and the previous council was trying to force through the expensive streetcar anyway.  They were selling off assets to private companies just to make the budget balance for a year or two, but there was no cut in spending to make the ongoing budget deficits go away.  In fact, most people believe the streetcar won't generate enough revenue to pay for itself in the long run, so it will likely become another ongoing cost item, exacerbating the fiscal problems.  All of this is happening while basic city services aren't being maintained.  Some of the assets that were sold off to help out with the current year budget had been generating revenue, and now they are gone.

As with all liberal government entities, the proposed solutions involve raising property taxes or corporate taxes.  Of course, this has driven some major employers away in search of greener pastures.  The exodus of residents has continued as well.  Of course, the higher property taxes are just passed along in the form of higher rents for the poor living in the urban neighborhoods.  There are also cuts being proposed in police and fire services.

This election brought a new fiscally conservative majority, and the streetcar project is likely to be stopped.  Is this a sign of things to come in America?  Will the uninformed voters still show up at the polls to vote when they don't have their savior, Barack Obama, on the ballot?  I wonder if Barack Obama is the driving force behind the advancement of the MessAPolitico.  I hope so.