Looks like Ohio Republican John Kasich is not only the new most hated governor in the land (surpassing Florida’s odious GOP Jackass-in-Chief, Rick Scott) but he’s now giving Scott a solid run for his money in the outright worst in the nation category. MoJo’s excellent Mac McClelland:
While we’re all at being (rightfully) mad at some really rich people, let’s splash some more fuel onto the class-warfare fire. Think tank Innovation Ohio has released some stats about that state’s governor, John Kasich, who is trying to kill collective bargaining with a bill called SB 5 and who recently slashed funding to services people sort of need, like schools and firefighting.
But the Ohio legislature isn’t spreading the pain equally—namely, not among themselves. According to IO’s most recent report, Kasich took a raise of more than $10,000 over the last governor’s salary, bringing his pay to $148,165. And exempted the salary from the SB 5 provision that cuts automatic annual raises for other public employees. And lied about how much he pays his staff, whose senior members make $110,000. Also unaffected by the recent massive budget cuts is the Ohio General Assembly’s minimum salary of $60K—for a part-time job in a state where the average worker makes $40K. Of course, 62 of the 70 legislators who voted for SB 5 make more than that minimum. Those 62 receive annual bonuses up to $34k. No wonder there was so much protesting going on when I was there.
So yeah, with all the howling from Ohio Republicans that the Buckeye State had to end collective bargaining rights for those awful, greedy state employees so that Ohio counties and municipalities could make “painful but necessary” budget cuts, not only did they lock down salaries for other government employees in the state, Kasich then went and gave himself a big fat ol’ raise on the taxpayer dime. Awesome.
Anyone surprised by this, please email me your bank account info, I need to get a couple billion dollars out of a Nigerian prince or two. Seriously, exciting new branches of theoretical mathematics have yet to be discovered that can sufficiently quantify how much of a complete asshole John Kasich is.
But hey, Republicans given power? Surprise! They abuse it.
JonF
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOXtWxhlsUg
Bnad
But if Kasich’s and his aides’ salaries were cut, they might go off to Galt’s Gulch and then who, oh who would take their place? Their talents are truly unique!
Culture of Truth
You were saying something about grifters?
JPL
It appears that CEO pay no longer has anything to do with performance. It now is based on peers.. gee if john galt earns 3 million, I should also. It’s great to be up in the one percent land of Americans.
Paul in KY
The unlamented Ernie Fletcher did about the same thing salarywise when he took over down here in KY.
It’s sort of a feature, I think, of your standard hypocrite Repub, jerkwad, governor.
suzanne
When did Gov. Brewer get demoted? Shit.
JCT
@suzanne: Do people *really* hate Brewer there? I’m honestly curious as I’ll be moving to Tucson in a few months.
Paul in KY
@JCT: JCT, I visited Tuscon once & was really impressed by city. Brewer is a toad, but you should like Tuscon. Good luck!
Mnemosyne
But Obama didn’t fight hard enough for a public option, so clearly they’re all the same and electing Republicans doesn’t make any difference.
piratedan
@JCT: anyone with firing synapses does….
It’s all quiet on the propaganda front here because of the potential recall of Russell Pearce, the “brawn” behind SB1070. Plus there’s the simmering of the ever-ongoing Sheriff Joe investigation. Cactus Barbie has been keeping a low profile while her legislative and police goons are under suspicion. Plus some of us are waiting to see if her staff, comprised of private prison lobbyists, will eventually come back and bite her on her ass.
Hope you’ll like Tucson, I do, it’s “liberal” compared to a good part of the state, but most folks down here are still pretty numbed after the Giffords shooting politically although the GOP still trolls bait on occasion down here.
FormerSwingVoter
It doesn’t matter what Republican politicians do. At all. Mainstream press will not report on it. Meanwhile, all of radio and 75% of the TV commentary will simply recite over and over again “Liberals are evil”, and guys like this will get re-elected.
kay
Innovation Ohio is great. They’re really too plain-spoken to be called a “think tank”, though. I don’t know what I’d call them.
“Cranky people who are good with numbers”?
JCT
@Paul in KY:
@piratedan:
I’m looking forward to living in Tucson, great feel there and the people I’ve met have been just great. Everyone has there has been quick to point out that they are a blue as it gets in Arizona.
Hah about “firing synapses” — I’m joining the faculty at the U of A, I haven’t sensed much “love” for Brewer there….
It had seemed “quiet” of late and I guess I was referring to the fact that she was elected to her own term and everything… will be interesting to see how Pearce’s recall plays out.
PWL
Well, whadja expect? He just acting like a CEO, like any good Republican does….
artem1s
good to know the state can still lead the union in something.
the money boys in NEOH are still drinking the Kool Aid. From Crain’s Cleveland Blogger Scott Suttell
Napoleon
@artem1s:
You would think the fact that he has to run campaign style ads on TV 3 years in advance of his re-election campaign would clue everyone in on how badly he has been damaged.
ThatLeftTurnInABQ
Electing Republicans to run the govt is like hiring militant Vegans to run a steakhouse. The inevitable result is tainted meat, unhappy hungry customers, and money missing from the cash register.
Culture of Truth
Expect Obama in Ohio; he’s taking the fight to them. Today is Texas, but he singles out Cantor.
“I’d like Mr. Cantor to come down here to Dallas and explain what in this jobs bill he doesn’t believe in! And if you won’t do that, at least put this jobs bill up for a vote so that the entire country knows exactly where every member of Congress stands!”
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
@JCT: Get down to the El Charro Cafe downtown.
suzanne
@JCT: Brewer is abhorred by a large segment of the population.
Tucson sucks for many reasons, but the fact that is AZ’s one blue stronghold is a point in its favor.
Culture of Truth
It’s like putting a Fox in charge of the henhouse. When chickens start to go missing, the foxes demand in increase in Fox Security, limits on bird voting rights, and a Predator tax cut.
suzanne
@JCT:
I’m a Wildcat, class of ’02. What are you going to be teaching?
Kitty
Also, too this little nugget
Senate GOP Leader awards huge retroactive pay raises to staff
http://www.plunderbund.com/2011/09/03/senate-gop-leader-awards-huge-retroactive-pay-raises-to-staff/
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
@suzanne: Two thousand O2???
Mnemosyne
@artem1s:
It looks like the only ones who wanted Christie to run were in the media — he really had zero interest in it. I had missed this Christie quote the first time around:
suzanne
@Raven (formerly stuckinred): Well, certainly not 1902. ;)
Zifnab
I’m still mildly stunned at how Republicans continue to win elections in this country. People get force-fed the “Anything is better than a Democrat” narrative for decades so they vote in an Elephant. It really only takes a couple of years before they realize what a terrible job the GOP does in office, so it’s back to the Democrats again. But another four years in and the Republican years just go down the memory hole so we get to do the dance again. What a mess.
suzanne
@Mnemosyne: Nah, the more strategically-minded GOP wanted him, too. Can’t say I blame them. When I watch the debates, I can’t shake the feeling that I’ve just watched a bunch of clowns jump out of a Volkswagen.
ruemara
@Zifnab:
4 years? Try 2. If the Democrats can’t be über-left, yet moderate; business friendly, yet environmentally strong; cautious and bipartisan, yet strong, uncompromising leaders; plus completely totally effective by the first 100 days then the various medias and the American electorate starts pining for the fantasy GOP boyfriend that only exists in Twilight novels written by alternate timeline Hunter S. Thompson.
Linda
Yes, we in Ohio have some bad buyer’s remorse going on. One of the funny great things in the Issue 2 campaign is that Kasich is going around promoting it, which is firing up the base, just not the one he intended on firing up. Many here assume that he only wants to be a one term governor and go back to Fox News, since they figure he couldn’t possibly want to run on the shitty, much-despised record he has created.
Culture of Truth
“GOP Eyes Bucks in Buckeye State”
ThatLeftTurnInABQ
@ruemara:
The one that looks so dreamy as he sucks away your lifeblood and then throws your dessicated body to the wolverines so they can use it as chew toy?
I’m liking this metaphor.
debit
@suzanne: I haven’t been for years, but I loved Tucson when I was there. I’d move there in a heartbeat if I thought I could find a job. Glad to hear it’s blue.
Martin
More big government intervention into the rights of workers to organize.
JCT
@suzanne: OK, I’m with @Raven on this one … 2002? Now I feel old.
I’ll be in the Med School, mostly teaching physiology — but I’m a research-physician type.
I’m a Cal grad so it will be a little odd to be Wildcat, but I really love the school already, quite impressed with the students at both the undergrad and grad level.
And I’ve heard about the El Charro Cafe — looking forward to both the food AND the margaritas!
Villago Delenda Est
@Mnemosyne:
This recalls some dialog from an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation in which the previously seen superbeing Q is deposited, naked, on the bridge of the Enterprise and informs the crew that he’s been punished by the Q continuum for his behavior, and he’s now mortal. He’s scoffed at, which leads to the following:
Q: “I’m mortal! What can I do to convince you people?”
Worf: “Die.”
suzanne
@debit: I lived there from ’98 to ’02, and I basically consider it a crime-ridden shithole. I was robbed three times and chased down a street by a dude with a knife. Lots of my friends really like it, though. I’m up in Tempe now and much prefer that, even though ASU campus culture makes me ill.
@JCT: I have an art degree from there, so I have no personal experience with the med school, but I have three friends who are graduates, and they loved it. Good on ya. I’m always glad to find Arizona Dems.
Carol from CO
Sounds like good campaign fodder for the Dems if they’re brave enough to use it.
Yutsano
@suzanne:
Tempe is very livable for Phoenix. If I had to go there I’d try to get a place in that area.
A couple of good friends are ASU grads. They’re not all too terrible. Plus a couple of the local shops around the campus have really sweet discounts not limited to students.
cosima
@JCT —
My bro-in-law is a prof there, and I have to say that I lucked out with the awesomest sister/brother in law combo on the face of the earth.
Search out a grey-haired physics professor with a fabulous laugh and a perpetual smile, and that will be him.
He is worth looking up. My husband & I have nothing but love for him — heart of gold & funny as hell. And of course brains on an entirely different plane from most, so he does exist on that plane at times…
Our niece & nephew (their children) graduated around 2002 & 2008 — I’d have to check out the dates. Our niece also got both her undergrad & masters in art there. Maybe Suzanne knows her…
General Stuck
Fucking aminals. It’s the Korean War babies giving us all this trouble.
suzanne
@Yutsano: Heh, I got my MArch and will get my MS (when ASU in its infinite bureaucratic wisdom gets around to awarding it) from there. No, it’s certainly not all bad. But if you saw the recent episode of Tosh.0 from ASU, you’ll get a very accurate snapshot of undergraduate student life.
Yutsano
@suzanne: Friend from down there who went to school up here (and is back down there) started an MBA there but never finished. Wasn’t sure at first, but now I’m proud of her. Living in Surprise though…
Redshift
Waitaminute — bonuses for legislators? I know the wingnuts like to say government should be run like a business, but I’ve never heard of state legislators having anything other than salary and benefits. What paper-thin “performance goals” to they require them to satisfy to get bonuses? Who decides if they’ve met them? Or is this just a way for them to pretend that they’re making a less outrageous salary than they actually are?
S. cerevisiae
JCT – Check out a little Guatemalan place near campus called Maya Quetzal. Great food and cheap.
The drive up Mt Lemmon is great, and I love the Sonoran desert. Enjoy!
piratedan
@suzanne: can certainly understand your antipathy for the Old Pueblo, with a background like that, I’d certainly be toting some serious grudges myself.
EEH
@JTC- The area south of Tucson is really pretty, especially around Tumacacori. I’m from Nogales and that’s about the only area I get truly nostalgic about whenever I think of southern AZ. I don’t know if they still do the luminarias on the mission grounds Christmas Eve, but I really miss that. Tucson’s not bad at all, if I could stand the heat, I’d probably still be living there.
As a Lumberjack, I have to give a shout-out to my alma mater, NAU. I never really adjusted to living in the desert again after spending five years up in the mountains.
suzanne
@S. cerevisiae: My favorite place to eat in Tucson is the Cup Cafe inside the Hotel Congress. Good drinks, too.
Stay the hell away from the Bashful Bandit.
JCT
@cosima: Oh I may run into him — my better half will be joining the faculty in the College of Sciences.
It’s actually very interesting, many of my new colleagues have sent their kids to U of A, that is always nice to see, and a strong vote of confidence in the education.
And you guys are making me hungry. Nice to have some new places to try. I’ve had fun exploring on my own. Discovered a good coffee place on my last trip out, “Crave”.
I love that drive to Mt. Lemmon, @S. cerevisae — actually looking at houses in the East.
piratedan
@JCT: aye, my eldest is in school there…. lots of variety here depending upon your choice of distraction. If you have any questions, just ask, I’ve been here since ’82 and happy to help if you have any questions.
debbie
Kasich’s also spent close to $100M jetting around the state to “fix” all the problems Strickland left behind. This is on top of his maintaining his own residence in addition to the Governor’s Mansion so his daughters don’t suffer from being relocated about 10 miles south.
Yutsano
@EEH:
Flagstaff is amazing too. It kind of blows peoples’ brains when you tell them Arizona has a forest that isn’t saguaros. :)
piratedan
@Yutsano: aye, people can’t seem to wrap their brains around that… yeah we have “old west” areas like Tombstone and Bisbee, high mountain forests and meadows, two kinds of desert, incredible rock formations and a big ass ditch in the upper part of the state.
Bleeping shame so many AZ transplants are busy denying its Indian and Hispanic history for the sake of English Only and SB1070 et al…. Politics of fear is a pretty potent potable and its used rather effectively here in the state.
suzanne
@piratedan:
Sadly, you are absolutely right. My husband is a bilingual SLP at two Title One elementary schools in the ghetto part of Scottsdale, and it is reprehensible what English-only does to those kids whose families don’t speak English.