Who are the good guys?

Yesterday I caught a few minutes of Rush while out on errands; same impression I had when I heard him last week. Why is he supporting Donald Trump? He says he isn't, but I know what he sounds like when he's taking sides. Just because conservatives are irritated by the spineless frauds they elected who lie and vote like Democrats, doesn't mean you support someone worse. Get out there and support the good ones.

Well, how do we know who the good ones are?  It’s a large and deep bench.  All with talents and weaknesses.

Obviously, handling the opposing forces in DC is different than Madison, Columbus, Austin, or Baton Rouge. It's a different culture and the colleagues and enemies are different. You need alliances and experienced staff. But I don't want a socialist, I don't want someone who's fuzzy on life issues, I don’t want a dynasty, I don't want a flip flopper who calls his flips "progressive" when they looked like flops to me. And I don't want someone who divides us into victim groups.

I want a strong economy, and strong security, although increasingly that depends on global forces. That said, a weak, bowing president and sycophant Congress doesn’t help our case with our global partners.  I know from history and the economic and social failures of the 60s War on Poverty that mandatory health insurance that fines or makes criminals out of citizens who don't obey is a very dangerous road to go down--good jobs, not forced insurance, is what helps the poor.

So start with what matters most to you, and hold your nose for the rest. For instance, Jindal has had more opportunity to offend my friend Diane who lives in Louisiana than me, and Kasich has been able to offend me, but probably not her. So support and vote with what you know.

Ohio’s governor Kasich has joined the crowd

It's not embarrassing to have sixteen candidates on the Republican bench, 14 of whom could run the country, it's richness beyond imagining. But it is embarrassing that there are so few Democrats willing to challenge Hillary. There aren't many Democrat governors (31 Republicans, 18 Democrats, and one independent) and that's usually the best preparation for the presidency. And it's not true that there are just right wingers running--it's a media scare tactic. The Democrats have moved so far left that it just appears that way. Three candidates with failed European socialist model. . . 2 of whom have had to apologize for thinking all lives matter and one of whom won’t talk to the press or anyone not selected for her audience (wouldn’t appear at Netroots where the other 2 were skewered).  But it is the party that had to take a special vote to keep the word God in the party platform, and then it barely squeaked through.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/21/politics/john-kasich-election-2016-announcement/

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/07/what-john-kasich-believes/399044/

As speeches go, his was pretty dull; sounded like a Democrat from the 1980s.

Sounds fair to me . . .if

They really need to put out the numbers--what the little guy pays into Social Security, what he gets after 50 years, compared to what the academic and unionized employees get after 30 years.

From an OSU HR memo:

"Last week, Ohio Governor John Kasich presented his proposed biennial budget. In his plan, the Governor is proposing a 2 percent shift between employer and employee pension contributions for all state and local public workers. As proposed, employee contributions would increase by 2 percent, and employer contributions would decrease by 2 percent."

The Buckeye Union Lesson

Oh the screaming, yelling and angst at our state house. But tell me, do you know one union official who isn't a Democrat, Socialist or Communist? Public unions exist to keep one party in power, and work for one world government, and not for the good of the professions they claim to represent, the taxpayers, and certainly not the children of Ohio.

"The bill gives Ohio and its cities and counties new tools to manage the costs of some 360,000 state and local workers. They will earn pay increases on the basis of performance, rather than the automatic seniority and length-of-service increases that now apply beyond the annual increases negotiated by unions. It also allows collective bargaining for wages up to inflation, but not for benefits or pensions. Far from a "right" divinely etched into stone, Ohio only allowed government collective bargaining in 1983.

Workers will need to pay 20% of their health benefits, below the Ohio average of 23% in the private economy but above the 9% that now prevails in government. Mr. Kasich's budgeteers estimate that the bill would have saved Ohio at least $216 million in 2010 and some $1.1 billion for local governments, where most of the state's collective bargaining contracts are negotiated. Beyond the numbers, other details include prohibiting public employees from striking and giving local government more flexibility in contract disputes by revising a rigid binding arbitration process."

The Wall Street Journal: The Buckeye Union Lesson - WSJ.com