Associates of Ohio Gov. John Kasich, known in Washington as budget whiz kid, are working overtime to get him firmly placed in the top tier of the 2016 GOP potential nominees, they tell Washington Secrets.
Kasich, the former chairman of the House Budget Committee when the federal budget was last balanced, is being offered as a practical conservative with more experience than the senators expected to run for president and less controversial than New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
Up for reelection next year, Kasich has seen his approval rating rise with Ohio’s economy. Under him, the state’s “rainy day fund” went from from 89 cents to nearly $1.5 billion, 174,800 new jobs were created, and an $8 billion budget deficit was erased while taxes were cut $350 million.
Pal and former Rep. Tim Penny compares Kasich to Ronald Reagan. “Real leadership and a new direction is exactly what Kasich could offer an America ready for change,” he said.
Noting that Kasich has years of Washington experience to draw on, Penny added, “In 2016, after eight years of politics and mis-leadership, voters will understand the value of electing someone who offers true executive leadership and a record of achievement. I think Kasich fills that bill.”
Lou Zickar, editor of the moderate Republican Ripon Society’s magazine, added, “There’s a simmering intensity to John Kasich that suits the tenor of the times. You can see it in his concern over the budget, and you can see it in his compassion for the poor. You can even see it in his decision to ban the letter ‘M’ before the Ohio State-Michigan game. Kasich wears his heart on his sleeve, and he’s not afraid to show it.”
Kasich is currently polling ahead of his 2014 Democratic challenger and a long-time presidential campaign strategist noted that winning Ohio is the key to victory since no Republican has won the presidency without the Buckeye state.
RAND PAUL: OPEN DETROIT TO FOREIGN INVESTMENT
Sen. Rand Paul is taking an usual route to the 2016 presidential campaign — through bankrupt Detroit. The Kentucky Republican this week will be the first to offer a national plan to save the bankrupt city through cuts in taxes, regulations and union rules, and he wants to encourage overseas investors to move to Motor City.
“We want people from around the world to bring capital in,” he told Secrets. “We want rich people to move to Detroit.”
This week he will introduce into the Senate his plan for “economic freedom zones,” which he believes will help the city and its black middle class.
UNION HONCHO STANDS UP FOR PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, has had it with the national ‘dissing of public school teachers, especially from politicians in love with test scores.
“What we’re seeing now is that teachers just get piled on, piled on, piled on. Any new thing idea, just throw it at teachers. And when they say, ‘I can’t do this and the 500 other things you’ve asked me to do,’ then people say, that’s an excuse,” said Weingarten, who’s led the 1.5 million member union since 2008.
Her obvious solution is for teachers to get more pay and autonomy. but she said that respect is key too. “Teaching is so respected in other places,” she said. “We are who unlocks a future for kids. And yet, we’re still in a space where we get demonized and denigrated.”
OBAMA AIDE PROMISES OBAMACARE COUNTERATTACK
Health care reform is tough. Just ask President Obama’s able Chief of Staff Denis McDonough.
Addressing health-care lawyers, he said, “Reforming our healthcare system is not an easy task.”
The long-time Senate and White House aide offered a comparison. “I’ve worked on many complicated issues: Middle East peace, Iran and budget deals. And I can tell everybody in this room that reforming the health care system is the single most complicated issue I’ve faced,” said McDonough.
He also laid out the administration’s new strategy to attack GOP critics who he accused of launching a back-to-the-future agenda.
“There seems to be a strange outbreak of nostalgia here among some on the right in Washington for the pre-Affordable Care Act health care system. A system that covered too few people, in a maddeningly inefficient and often heart-breaking, and ultimately very expensive way,” he argued.
Paul Bedard, The Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected].
