Column: Myth of the 'moderate' John Kasich

There has been no shortage of surprises in the Republican presidential race so far. More startling than Donald Trump’s lead in the polls, however, has been the nationwide characterization of Ohio’s governor, John Kasich, as a “moderate” Republican.

Pundits and politicians alike have described Kasich as a thoughtful Republican from a swing state who expanded Medicaid and attended a gay wedding.

As Minority Leader in the Ohio Senate, I can tell you my job would be a whole lot easier if John Kasich were actually a moderate.

Yes, Kasich did make the decision to expand Medicaid, and Democrats in Ohio helped him do it. What you don’t hear, though, is that Kasich refused to set up a state-run insurance exchange due to his opposition to Obamacare — an exchange that could have been tailored to the specific needs of Ohioans.

Kasich’s right-wing stances on healthcare have directly harmed women in our state. As The New York Times explained in 2013, “Ohio has become a laboratory for what anti-abortion leaders call the incremental strategy — passing a web of rules designed to push the hazy boundaries of Supreme Court guidelines without flagrantly violating them.”

Seven of 16 Ohio abortion clinics have closed since Kasich became governor, and an eighth stopped providing abortions. These closures were the direct result of extreme anti-choice legislation he signed into law. among other things, he signed legislation that blocked abortion providers from entering into emergency transfer agreements with public hospitals.

In this year’s budget, Kasich proposed cutting Medicaid coverage for pregnant women and those diagnosed with breast and cervical cancer if their income was between $16,000 and $23,000. His suggestion would have disqualified around 3,000 women from Medicaid and could have left them without life-saving coverage.

His proposal was so outlandish his own party restored funding to those Ohioans.

Sadly, Kasich’s constant attacks on women’s health have come as Ohio continues to have one of the highest infant mortality rates in the nation. Despite this fact, Kasich’s budgets limit funding for family planning groups to use on preventive care for working poor and middle class women, including prenatal care. Not sure how this qualifies him to be labeled a “compassionate conservative.”

Kasich’s less-than moderate values are also clear in the projects and services he views as expendable that would have benefited families.

In his very first budget, Kasich flat out cut $1.8 billion in funding for public schools across Ohio, leaving over 100 K-12 school districts with crippling budget deficits, and forcing local school districts to ask voters to back multi-million dollar emergency funding levies.

All of this, while steering hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars into a scandal-ridden charter school system, which has seen failing grades and has been called “the most troubled in the country” — A move pushed by a charter-school operators who made the maximum legal contribution to Kasich’s political campaign along with his wife.

Kasich has given huge tax breaks to the rich, while nearly half of Ohio families and my constituents are living paycheck to paycheck. His prioritization of trickle-down economics places him directly in line with the most conservative members of the Republican Party.

Another example of Kasich’s moderate myth is his stance on LGBT rights. During the Fox News debate, Kasich said he would treat a hypothetical LGBT child with unconditional love. He also said he has attended a gay wedding. However, without the Supreme Court’s marriage decision, there would never have been a gay wedding in Ohio to attend. Kasich supported an Ohio constitutional ban on gay marriage.

Kasich’s administration actively opposed marriage equality until it was told to do otherwise by the Supreme Court. To this day, Kasich has refused to lead on LGBT issues, and there are places in Ohio where you can still be fired for being gay because he said we should not worry about the risk of that happening and has yet to take up the issue.

Regardless, you can still be denied a mortgage or service in a restaurant for being gay. Kasich’s willingness to attend a wedding does nothing to improve the lives of LGBT Ohioans that he could protect.

Had Kasich been a moderate, willing and able to work with both sides, he would have considered the opinions of Ohio citizens and business leaders. Instead, Kasich has repeatedly shoved his own agenda through the legislature and signed bills in private in an attempt to avoid scrutiny and resistance.

John Kasich is no moderate. His words are just prettier packaging for the same right-wing agenda of the other GOP presidential candidates.

Sen. Joe Schiavoni is the minority leader of the Ohio Senate.

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