* Republican Gov. John Kasich must think it is okay to cut school funds and aid to seniors while he flies around the state and the country on state owned aircraft. Someone needs to tell him that he doesn't work for Lehman Brothers any longer. Luckily, the investigative team at Channel 3 has noticed Ohio's governor's frequent flights.
WKYC:
....In the first six months of this year, Channel 3 News found that Kasich took 38 trips on state planes at a cost of more than $53,000. If you add 12 trips by staff, that $53,000 jumps to more than $64,000.
By comparison, Strickland flew 17 times in state planes in all of 2010 at a cost to taxpayers of about $27,000....
....During the gubernatorial campaign last year, Kasich's own press secretary, Rob Nichols, blasted Strickland for his use of state planes, calling it wasted money. Nichols is quoted as saying "...could the guy (Strickland) do something more arrogant...there needs to be a closer review of whether the plane's cost can even still be justified..."
Kasich doesn't need to be flying so much. With technology today, it would be cheaper to Skype in his remarks. Kasich is spending the money that would go to hire more help for nursing homes, buy new text books for students, or provide more job counselors at the unemployment office. With the millions he got from his departure from Lehman Brothers, he should be paying his own way. Ohioans want to know what sacrifice Gov. Kasich has made because of his recent budget cuts.
* Ohio Citizen Action has posted a report about Ohio Republican members of the House of Representatives Jim Johnson and Pat Tiberi:
“This report provides a sampling of the actions of a bipartisan cadre of 15 politicians, who are among those in the House of Representatives working for America’s dirty and decrepit coal-fired power industry. These 15 members have tried to stop EPA from modernizing standards for pollutants that come predominantly from coal-fired power plants, including mercury, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, greenhouse gases, and coal ash. Except for the one freshman, these members of Congress are in the top 25% of those receiving money from the fossil fuel industry. Many are in leadership positions within Congress. The actions reviewed for these 15 politicians were opposed to the health of people in their own districts.”
Should we offer thanks to Jim Johnson and Pat Tiberi for promoting pollution? Cough! Cough!