After weeks of bad press on his very public courtship of anti-union billionaire Sheldon Adelson and Republican voter suppression tactics, Governor Kasich’s campaign released an ad highlighting his working class, Western Pennsylvania roots and his leadership in job “growth.”
In reality, the Governor has done little to allow middle class families here in Ohio to achieve the same success he has. Here, he refused to meet with laid-off steelworkers and scoffed at laid-off firefighters. Here, he gave $2,500 in tax breaks to the wealthiest this year, but just $48 to working class families. And here, he raised taxes on middle class Ohioans and slashed half a billion dollars from public education to fund tax cuts for the top one percent.
HERE is the Governor’s real record of accomplishments:
HERE is where he refused to meet with 1,000 laid off Ormet workers, despite the fact “he grew up in a hardworking, steel town:” “Kasich has not met with company officials or the steelworkers who lost their jobs, despite requests from both sides and a petition with 10,000 signatures asking him to get involved.” [Dispatch, 2/16/2014]
HERE is where he turned his back on unions, despite the fact that his father worked a union job “carrying the mail on his back, six days a week:” “If Senate Bill 5 is not repealed, about 51,000 public employees across the state could lose their jobs. He estimates that about two-thirds of those will be public safety employees. Less police on the beat could mean increased crime rates while fewer firefighters in stations across the state could add to response times in emergencies.” [The Washington Independent, 9/28/2011]
HERE is where he shifted the tax burden from Ohio’s wealthiest to the middle class, using the “values he learned” from his “hardworking, steel town:” “The reality is, the governor is a tax shifter. He is adept at transferring the burden of taxation from one party to another while giving the appearance of reducingtaxes. Shifting the load is how he can balance a state budget that grows year after year even as he beats the drum for lower individual income tax rates.” [Crain’s Cleveland Business, 3/16/2014]
HERE is where he cut funding for education by half a billion dollars and made it more difficult for others to become “a proud Buckeye:” “As a direct result of the $1.8 billion in school funding cuts approved by Gov. Kasich and the Republican-controlled Ohio legislature, local taxpayers have been asked to approve 393 school levies representing $1.34 billion in new operating money since May, 2011. Levies representing $492 million in new operating funds have passed.” [Innovation Ohio, 4/25/13]
HERE is where he made it more difficult for poor and working class women to get healthcare: “One provision shoehorned into the budget pushes Planned Parenthood to the back of the line for state money for preventative health grants, behind local public health departments that often don’t have the same expertise or experience in providing breast and cervical screenings and reproductive care. This will make it harder for women, especially poorer women, to receive basic health services.” [The Plain Dealer,7/13/13]
HERE is where he “scoffed” at the impact of his cuts on firefighter lay-offs and community safety: “Gov. John Kasich on Monday scoffed at the idea that cuts in state money have caused crises in budgets for police, firefighters and road repair in towns, counties and townships..’Are they spending less? You sure?’ Kasich said. ‘I’ve not heard of any places here where, my goodness, we couldn’t put a fire out. If I saw that, I’d be concerned.'” [Cincinnati Enquirer, 3/25/2014]
HERE is where he made it harder for some seniors to stay in their homes: “What about that homestead exemption that’s been in place and saving you an average of $400 a year on your property taxes? If you have it now, you’ll keep it, but new homeowners will have to earn less than $30,000 a year to qualify.” [Dix News, 7/7/13]
HERE is the candidate who will make Ohio work for all Ohioans again:
Ed FitzGerald