Who is John Kasich?

Ohio Governor

and Soon-to-Be Presidential Candidate

John Kasich (R)

So Ohio Governor John Kasich (R) has announced he will throw his hat into the Republican presidential primary mosh pit.  How nice of him to give us nearly a month's warning of his intentions.  It gives us time to read items like these:

|The 2008 Economic Crisis
Mr. Kasich spoke with Time Magaziine at a recent event in Utah.

TIME: You were at Lehman Brothers until the financial collapse.  Do you have any regrets from that period?

Gov. Kasich: "It was fantastic.  Are you kidding?  Regrets?  I thought it was a fantastic time. I traveled all over the country.  I got an incredible education. It was great."

what eye thynk:  The man who would be president thinks being a part of destroying the United States' economy was "fantastic" and "great."  Yeah, being on the inside of creating the biggest economic crash since the Great Depression was a real laugh riot.  Nothing to regret at all.


|The Environment:
Mr. Kasich speaking at a recent conference hosted by the Faith and Freedom Coalition, was asked if, as a Catholic, he agreed with the Pope's encyclical calling the world's peoples to take steps to protect our environment.

"I read a great book on St. Francis Assisi, who the pope kind of models himself after.  The environment was given to us by the Lord, and it needs to be taken care of, and it shouldn't be worshiped; that's called pantheism."

I doubt he actually believes the pope is acting like a pagan in calling for movement on environmental issues, but it is clear that he doesn't feel any need to answer the pope's call.  

Last year he signed H.B. 310, a bill which froze Ohio's renewable energy standards and which many believe will lead eventually to a complete repeal, thus becoming the first U.S. governor to take a step backwards in the battle against climate change.  At the time, he said he wasn't anti-renewable energy, he just didn't think the timing was good for Ohio right now.

At the FFC meeting, when asked if he would be doing anything to reduce the pace of climate change as a result of the pope's encyclical, he responded, "Let's not get carried away."

As State Representative Kent Smith (D) said, "Kasich saying he's for renewable energy is like Kasich saying he's for the letter Z.  He's OK if it exists; he just doesnt want it used that much."


|Abortion
Restrictions on abortion and abortion providers were inserted into a draft of Ohio's budget at the last minute with Mr. Kasich's support.  Over the past several weeks, the restrictions were removed by the Senate and then put back into the final bill by the Republican led House. I wrote about the restrictions earlier, detailing the restrictions and expected consequences here. 

In the end, before signing the budget into law on Sunday evening, Mr. Kasich vetoed 44 items in the budget; but left all the abortion restrictions in place.  

As the Huffington Post reported:  "With the passage of Ohio's new state budget, women in that state have lost access to low-cost family planning services, access to public hospitals during a health emergency and their right to privacy."

Mr. Kasich declined to answer questions after signing the two-year budget into law.

Because, after you've thumbed your nose at medical professionals and the women of Ohio, what is there to say?


|LGBT Rights
He said he did not support the LGBT "lifestyle," opposed efforts to grant domestic partner benefits to same-sex Ohioans, voted for DOMA and until last week, supported Ohio's ban on same-sex marriage.

Mr. Kasich voted against the Employment Non-Discrimination Act when in Congress.  As governor, he signed an order banning employment discrimination based on sexual orientation, but not until after he weakened the order signed by his Democratic predecessor.

As a member of Congress he voted against adoption rights for LGBT couples in the District of Columbia.  As governor, he prevented LGBT couples from having both names on the birth certificates of their children.

When California announced it would recognize LGBT contributions in history textbooks, he said, "They're going to teach this in a book.  I mean, what are they doing here... I'll tell you something.  It never ceases to amaze me.  I love to come to California, but when I study this stuff, it never ceases to amaze me."

Yes, now that the Supreme Court has decided the same-sex marriage issue, Mr. Kasich says he will abide with that decision, but it shouldn't take a SCOTUS fight to grant LGBT citizens their full rights and due respect.

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In the end, it's clear what the country would get if John Kasich were to move into the White House:  an anti-woman, anti-environment, anti-gay, pro-greed president who thinks being on the inside of economic collapse was "fantastic"--basically your run of the mill Republican.

And really, do we need another Ohioan in the national spotlight?  I think John Boehner should be enough burden for us to bear.