Cincinnati is grappling with a budget crisis triggered by a drop in tax revenues, and to avoid a $28 million deficit this year the city manager is considering laying off some municipal workers, including 138 people in the Police Department. Republicans, particularly the party's long-shot mayoral candidate, are salivating over a wedge issue they can use to their advantage. But even with layoffs, the Police Department's staffing level still would be within the range that Chief Thomas Streicher Jr. said was sufficient just a few years ago.  

Whenever Cincinnati Police Chief Thomas Streicher Jr. eventually decides to retire, city officials will be able to look nationwide for the best possible replacement. That doesn't sound like a radical idea, but some special interests in this city have spent eight years and untold stacks of cash trying to prevent that from ever happening. The Ohio Supreme Court finally put an end to the foot-dragging last week.