Sorry it's a few hours late...my wireless router crapped out and I had some trouble getting alternate arrangements together!
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Challenging Ted Strickland for the Governor's seat is John Kasich. Born in PA, but moved on to attend Ohio State and stick around. He's been a State Senator, and one of Ohio's Representatives in Congress for nine terms.
Kasich is campaigning on the idea of returning Ohio to small, responsible government. He feels the budget is bloated, full of gimmicks, and controlled by special interests. Kasich feels he can create a better environment for businesses, solving the employment crisis. Another point Kasich differs from Strickland is taxes; Kasich wants to cut taxes significantly. On education, the concern is over spending on beauracracy, and underspending on students. Going down the list, Kasich is pro-life, supports sportsmanship with his NRA membership, and wants to eliminate the estate tax in part to help keep farms in the family.
Arguments against Kasich? The famous Lehman Brothers connection, which implies Kasich is the type of person who helped tank the economy in the first place. His conservative record is a turn off for many. With that record comes the standard accusations of GOP congressmen who aren't keeping the interests of the people in mind. There's a school of thought that Kasich is unfairly blaming Strickland for inheriting a disaster economy generated by events outside the Governor's control, and not allowing Strickland enough time to put his budget and job creation policies into place.
Whether Kasich makes sense or not really boils down to whether you feel Strickland is actually doing his job. If Strickland is trimming the budget, controlling costs while encouraging job growth, things in Ohio will improve along with the economy over the next four years. However, if Strickland is actually splurging money into special interests, hiking taxes for the hell of it, and not paying attention to job growth...then clearly that's not setting us up for success.
Tuesday
TIME Features Ohio as a Key Battleground
I was leafing through my most recent TIME magazine, and I was fairly delighted to see Ohio's races being talked about. The races between Strickland and Kasich for Governor, Fisher and Portman for Senate are seen as key midterm referendums on Democratic behavior the past couple years, specifically in regards to the recession. Photo gallery here and story here!
Anyhow, let's do a quick profile on Strickland since we're speaking (sorta) of him.
He's been the Governor of Ohio since being sworn in back in 2007. He's presided over the economic implosion of the last couple years, when unemployment in the state has shot up to 10.5%. He's also faced incredible budget shortfalls, and reacted primarily by having state agencies slash budgets and payroll. There's also been other efforts to increase revenue, primarily through gambling: Keno, trying to put slots in racetracks, and the casino gambling referendum have all happened during the current administration.
But...the budget is still facing an incredible deficit, and many of the state agencies are claiming they cannot make further cuts without serious damage to services. Unemployment is still highest in years, and recovery is SLOW.
According to the Strickland campaign site, the Governor has done much to lay the foundation for recovery. Increasing primary and secondary education funding, keeping tuition at public colleges and universities, encouraging clean energy investment, and improving government efficiency are all accomplishments Ted Strickland claims, and all would indeed put Ohio in an excellent position to capitalize on the recovering economy.
Tune in next time when we look at John Kasich!
Anyhow, let's do a quick profile on Strickland since we're speaking (sorta) of him.
He's been the Governor of Ohio since being sworn in back in 2007. He's presided over the economic implosion of the last couple years, when unemployment in the state has shot up to 10.5%. He's also faced incredible budget shortfalls, and reacted primarily by having state agencies slash budgets and payroll. There's also been other efforts to increase revenue, primarily through gambling: Keno, trying to put slots in racetracks, and the casino gambling referendum have all happened during the current administration.
But...the budget is still facing an incredible deficit, and many of the state agencies are claiming they cannot make further cuts without serious damage to services. Unemployment is still highest in years, and recovery is SLOW.
According to the Strickland campaign site, the Governor has done much to lay the foundation for recovery. Increasing primary and secondary education funding, keeping tuition at public colleges and universities, encouraging clean energy investment, and improving government efficiency are all accomplishments Ted Strickland claims, and all would indeed put Ohio in an excellent position to capitalize on the recovering economy.
Tune in next time when we look at John Kasich!
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