John Kasich is planning to make his official announcement one week from today.  Since we need to vet all of our candidates, here's some info that you're not likely to find outside Ohio.

   Kasich's Record in Ohio

Some people around the country are enamored with the idea of Ohio Governor John Kasich running for President.  Conservatives in Ohio are not so fond of him.  Yes, he balanced the budget and persuaded some big-time business people to locate operations in Ohio, but there's another side to him, as well.


Kasich tried to rein in the public sector unions, as Scott Walker did in Wisconsin.  The difference is, Kasich failed, where Walker succeeded.  Like Walker, Kasich did it through legislation (Senate Bill 5).  In Ohio, the unions circulated petitions and got an issue on the ballot (Issue 2) to repeal SB 5.  There was much advertising on TV from both sides.  The unions won the election.  The Republicans were sent some great material to use in ads, but instead ran lame ads that really didn't connect with voters.  To see the material, visit "Are they TRYING to lose?" at:  http://www.cpnlive.com/forum/post/1781689   


Then there's the Medicaid expansion.  John "Obamacare" Kasich has conceded that Obamacare will never be defeated, and so he expanded Medicaid in accordance with it.  The worst part is, he did it ILLEGALLY!  The Ohio House and Senate both passed legislation FORBIDDING the expansion of Medicaid.  Then the "Controlling Board" (whose job is to reconcile House and Senate bills) put in the Medicaid expansion.  (The Board is composed partly of people appointed by the Governor.)  Kasich then signed the corrupted bill into law.  Outraged citizens filed suit, because Ohio law requires that the Controlling Board follow the intent of the legislature.  The lawsuit was fast tracked.  In less than one month, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that this obviously illegal act was legal.

Budget forecasts show the cost of Kasich's Medicaid expansion exploding after 2018 - after Kasich will be out of office.  So much for "fiscal responsibility."


Kasich is also trying to increase the petroleum extraction tax, right now!  This action would drive the fledgling fracking industry to other states.  At least wait until AFTER the industry has become well established!  And then make the tax increases modest.


Kasich is also promoting Common Core in Ohio.  It was slipped through the legislature on the last day of its session a few years ago.  The "Common Core" text was added to the bill after the legislators thought they knew what they were going to be voting for.  They (and we) were defrauded.


In 1994, U.S. Congressman John Kasich voted FOR Bill Clinton's "assault weapons ban."  In contrast, Democrat Governor Ted Strickland signed Ohio's "castle law" in 2010.  (Castle law: you may assume that the fact that someone is invading your home means he is a threat to your life, and so shooting the intruder just because he is an intruder is self defense.)  For these reasons, the National Rifle Association endorsed the Democrat Ted Strickland over Republican John Kasich for Governor in the 2010 election!


Some people claim that Kasich's big margin of victory for re-election in 2014 shows that he is a strong candidate.  No, the Democrats didn't try to win!  In a state with 6,000,000 voters, the Democratic Party spent only $200,000 on their candidate for Governor!  When the Dems have a Governor in office who is already giving your party everything they want, why would they bother trying to oust him?

Some people speculate that John Kasich is angling to be the pick for Vice President.  Well, I know a few people who know Kasich personally.  They all say very emphatically that "John Kasich NEVER plays second fiddle to ANYONE!"  Plus, John Kasich is well known in Congress for being very aggressive.  Reports the Dayton Daily News:

. . . . . . . But when Kasich headed the Budget Committee, Gingrich occasionally had to talk the passionate lawmaker down.

. . . . . . . "The number one thing I tried to get across to John was in a legislative body you want to unlock people, you don't want to run them over," he said.

. . . . . . . Kasich would "remember it for three or four days – then you'd have to remind him," Gingrich said.


Also, immediately after Kasich became Governor, he led a huge battle to oust the state Republican Central Committee chairman Kevin DeWine, and to purge the committee of everyone less than completely subservient to Kasich.  (The Columbus Dispatch has several articles covering all this.)  So, no, Kasich is NOT running for Vice President! 


The Clintons are not the only ones collecting huge money for giving speeches.  The Ohio State University paid Governor Kasich $400,000 to give a series of speeches at the university.  (With universities paying such huge amounts to "guest speakers," it it any wonder that "education" has become so expensive?  A significant chunk of that expense is spent making political payoffs to privileged members of the ruling clique!)


So yes, Kasich did balance the budget, but he also put in place a time bomb (Medicaid expansion) that will explode the budget after he leaves office.  And yes, he did persuade business big shots to locate facilities in Ohio, but how hard is it to persuade someone to locate a distribution facility within a one day drive of two thirds of the country's population?

Overall, John Kasich is a poor imitation of Scott Walker.  So why pick a poor imitation when you can have the real thing?


P. S. -- And now Walker is giving us cause for concern:

http://conservativepoliticalforum.com/political-discussion-and-debate/walker-voiced-support-for-obamatrade/

Ted Cruz was champion of the Harvard debate team.  Can you imagine Hillary trying to compete with him?  It would be like when Dick Cheney wiped the floor with John Edwards in 2004.  Thing is, Democrat voters are too stupid to understand when their guy has been humiliated, even when it's that obvious!

Thanks je...  excellent post!   

In Ohio, when given the choice between doing what is right, or abusing the citizen's, Ohio will choose the latter every time.

Especially under this admin.

John Kasich will be making his official announcement tomorrow, so it's time to provide more information about his record as Governor.


Watchdog.org reports:

After just 18 months, Ohio Gov. John Kasich's Obamacare expansion has cost federal taxpayers more than $4 billion.

Kasich underestimated the cost of the first 18 months of his Obamacare expansion by roughly $1.5 billion. Enrollment was almost 600,000 at the end of June, compared to Kasich's projection of 366,000.

Ohio's Obamacare expansion has cost far more than expected because enrollment and per-member costs have both rocketed past expectations.

Benefit costs have exceeded $325 million each of the past three months, and $300 million for seven months straight — setting a course for a total cost of $5 billion before the end of the year.


The rest of the story is at:  http://watchdog.org/228330/ohio-obamacare-expansion-4billion/

That page also has links to the other 14 parts of the series, for those who want to really wonk out on the subject!

I don't care for him, and won't be paying any attention to him.

Quote from: Dori on July 20, 2015, 07:43:07 AM
I don't care for him, and won't be paying any attention to him.

Me either!  I think he has a forked tongue and tunnel vision.   

Quote from: kroz on July 20, 2015, 08:12:00 AM
Me either!  I think he has a forked tongue and tunnel vision.   

The reason that Kasich didn't rein-in public-sector unions/collective-bargaining had to do with the ballot's language, intentionally confusing LIV's...

Yes, I vote NO
No, I vote YES

Kasich's people hafta take the blame for not rephrasing the ballot's wording.

Other than that, Kasich's acceptable but his timing is probably wrong.

Kasich is pro-common core and pro-amnesty. 

I have him below Bush, and he's pretty far down my list.

Quote from: Dori on July 20, 2015, 08:26:30 AM
Kasich is pro-common core and pro-amnesty. 

I have him below Bush, and he's pretty far down my list.

Neither Kasich, nor Boner are accurately, and truthfully representing the constituency of the people of the great State Of Ohio.

When the people of Ohio, are telling the rest of the nation, "hey don't elect this guy", it should tell folks something.

Quote from: kroz on July 20, 2015, 08:12:00 AM
Me either!  I think he has a forked tongue and tunnel vision.   

He is a RINO. Dismissed.

Call them what they are.

Liberals, in disguise, lying to the people to garner some votes, claiming to be something which they are not.

RINO, is too good, too nice, a term for these liars.

So I say call em what they really are. Lying liberals, who excel at one thing in life.

Being a professional liar.

He's streaming right now, but I don't have time to listen or care.  I doubt he had time to work-in the latest Planned Parenthood atrocity, which is the news of the day.  And I doubt he'll renounce common-core.  Ohio just rejected marijuana-legalization being put on the State-ballot, so he may trumpet that.  The trouble with entering the Presidential-race so late, it over-inflates the tone of the announcement-speech.

Look at Walker...  his speech is virtually forgotten.

Kasich is a temporary bump in the campaign road.  Next week no one will mention him!

I just listened to John Kasich make his speech announcing his candidacy for President.  I would choose him over any Democrat (or Jeb!), but I'd still rather have Ted Cruz or Scott Walker or Don Trump.

His speech started with a lot of talk about 51 year old guys whose job just vanished, soldiers who survived Iraq just to be gunned down in Tennessee, and stuff like that.  Then he gave an overview of his life and career.  He worked with Ronald Reagan as campaign staff, and later as a Congressman.  He recalled each of his elections to new office, how the "experts" said it couldn't be done, and then he did it.  (The most prominent theme of the speech was overcoming impossible odds.) 

He said that he has John Sununu on his campaign team, that he wouldn't have run without Sununu on board.

It's still a long way to the first primary.  My forecast is that he'll stay in through the first few primaries, rack up mediocre numbers, and drop out.  Who might he endorse at that point?  Candidates NEVER make any indication of that ahead of time!  They always expect to win.

Quote from: je_freedom on July 21, 2015, 09:52:36 AM
I just listened to John Kasich make his speech announcing his candidacy for President.  I would choose him over any Democrat (or Jeb!), but I'd still rather have Ted Cruz or Scott Walker or Don Trump.

His speech started with a lot of talk about 51 year old guys whose job just vanished, soldiers who survived Iraq just to be gunned down in Tennessee, and stuff like that.  Then he gave an overview of his life and career.  He worked with Ronald Reagan as campaign staff, and later as a Congressman.  He recalled each of his elections to new office, how the "experts" said it couldn't be done, and then he did it.  (The most prominent theme of the speech was overcoming impossible odds.) 

He said that he has John Sununu on his campaign team, that he wouldn't have run without Sununu on board.

It's still a long way to the first primary.  My forecast is that he'll stay in through the first few primaries, rack up mediocre numbers, and drop out.  Who might he endorse at that point?  Candidates NEVER make any indication of that ahead of time!  They always expect to win.

I listened to his speech also..... and was unimpressed.

The only upside to this is that he will siphon votes from other RINOs.

BUT, Trump is siphoning votes from our conservatives.  Not good!