The Arrogance of John Kasich

Ohio's Governor-elect, John Kasich

In these days prior to John Kasich becoming the governor of Ohio,  he has talked about cutting the payroll for public employees and eliminating  the  public bargaining agreements for public employees, meaning teachers, policemen, firemen, garbage collectors, highway department workers, health workers,  and all those who provide an actual public service. After all, he is a fiscal conservative, and he wants to reduce the cost of government.


As of today we know what he means. He wants to lay off workers and curtail wages for those people who actually do the work of the State of Ohio, but on the other hand he wants to raise the salaries of his staff (many of whom  happen to be his buddies) thirty or more percent above those of Governor Strickland's staff.


Why are we surprised? He learned his lessons well on Wall Street with Lehman Brothers.


I'm not sure the voters of Ohio knew what they were getting when they elected him. Who can blame them. He ran a campaign on creating jobs and reducing spending, but refused to elaborate on how he was going to do that. Now we know his plan: screw the public employees on the front line, the ones who do real work and reward the well-connected who think they are entitled


As The Cleveland Leader explains: "Ohio Governor-Elect John Kasich learned some valuable lessons while working on Wall Street - how to steal from the poor to give to the rich. This time, the rich include his top advisers and staff. While the rest of Ohio struggles with unemployment and Kasich threatens to kill public sector jobs and unions, he's proposing to increase the salaries of his staff, which includes many of his good friends."


And, as The Leader continues: "But it gets worse. Not only is Kasich bumping up the pay of existing positions, he's also creating brand new positions to make sure that his buddies are taken care of. For example, he created the position of Special Assistant to the Governor with a salary of $145,000 per year for his long-time friend, Jai Chabria."


By the way, this is also the same person who wanted to be take the oath of office in private without the press. So much for the transparency of his administration.

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