Gone as governor, Kasich's Ohio 'Miracle' reveals itself to be a 'Mirage'

In the weeks following his exit as Ohio's 69th governor, John R. Kasich's self-described "Ohio Miracle" is revealing itself to be mostly mirage, as money shortfalls crop up for Ohio's 70th Governor, Mike Dewine, who is being forced to course correct to keep the Buckeye State from falling farther behind the other 51 in so many areas.

John Kasich on election-night 2010.

Long known as The Wizard of Westerville, 66-year old John Kasich can no longer abuse the trappings of state CEO now that's he's signed on as another well-paid talking pundit on CNN. While some question whether he should even have his new media gig given his persistent and sophomoric strategy to engage in yet another a peek-a-boo campaign for president in 2020, Kasich's narcissistic ego that sees his eight years as Ohio's top leader is taking a beating, as nearly daily reports from Ohio's gullible media show his razzle dazzle on budgeting and taxes policies has left Ohio poorer off when it comes to adequate revenue to fix roads and bridges, among many other policies central to the state's overall health and vitality.

Recalling that Kasich made advocating for reduced income taxes and buying into the notion of "supply side" economics, which former President George H.W. Bush once dubbed "voodoo economics," central to his conservative political philosophy over the decades, Ohio found itself $1 billion short last budget cycle, a situation resolved by spending cuts alone. New revenue was anathema to the quirky, sanctimonious leader who signed on to Grover Norquist's "no new taxes" pledge in 2010.

Kasich contributed to Ohio's growing problem of income inequality through repeated overtures to a friendly Republican legislature who, with the exception of adhering to some of his most outlandish policy proposals, went along with income tax reductions across the board that took from the poor and gave to the rich.

Since DeWine won his election for governor last fall, beating a Democrat whose leadership of the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau was his main selling strategy, more money problems have arisen, starting with the sad fact that the Great State of Ohio, where a once robust system of infrastructure was a hallmark of its growing importance, no longer has money to fix or repair the very infrastructure that once made it great. If not corrected, Ohio will sink further as people and business choose other states to live or relocate to that are taking care of business. Right now, estimates are that state and local governments will face a $2 billion to $2.5 billion yearly deficit in road and bridge construction.

At issue is a proposed 18-cents-a-gallon gas tax that Gov. DeWine will ask state lawmakers to enact for road and bridge projects. “We’re taking that to the legislature,” DeWine said, according to published reports. Whether the governor gets his wish or not will depend on whether anti-tax Republicans will increase the gas tax or suffer by not increasing it.

Meanwhile, as Kasich crows about how great he was as governor, another General Motors supplier announced it will layoff another 73 workers from the Lordstown plant. Kasich mocked former Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland for letting NCR slip away to Georgia, something he said wouldn't happen on his watch. But it did, and did so with Kasich's much vaunted but much criticized private nonprofit jobs group, JobsOhio, letting it happen. For Kasich, who's still waiting for God to tell him whether or not the former Fox News host and Lehman Brothers banker should make a third run at the White House, spending the greater part of nearly two years campaigning out of Ohio didn't allow him to be on the job to convince GM to keep Lordstown in business. Since announcing it will shut down Lordstown, GM stock has gone up.

More than a few critics of Kasich and his GOP-led legislature say the tax-cutting policy he and it promoted so vigorously for two terms, to replenish the state's emergency fund drawn down during the Great Recession, shifted the burden of taxes to local governments. Reports say that more than a fourth of the state’s cities and villages increased local income taxes during the Kasich years. Local officials pegged their tax increase strategy to Kasich's cuts in both the local government fund and the estate tax.

Kasich's support for for-profit charter schools earned Ohio a reputation as the "wild west" of charter schools. From a national ranking of fifth place under Gov. Strickland (2007-2010), Ohio schools under Kasich plummeted to 23rd. Further distressing news came from a new Stanford University study showing Ohio’s charter schools have not improved in the decade.

Even though Kasich said in 2010 that he would probably trash The Affordable Care Act, commonly dubbed "Obamacare" by Republicans, his lust for billions of free federal funding ruled the day, as he did what most other Republican governors refused to do: Accept expanded Medicaid, an option made possible when Supreme Chief Justice John Roberts untethered Medicaid from the court's ruling that the ACA was constitutional.

Quick to embrace the flow of free money that would end after he left office, Kasich had Ohio Democrats, federal and state, cooing after him as someone who was on their side, when in fact the National Chaplin has never been on their side. His "moral preening and self-praise for expanding Medicaid under Obamacare," as one reporter put it, endeared Democrats to him. But true to his austerity prone political philosophy that always prescribes a dose of bitter medicine to those most in need of public support, Kasich made massive cuts to Ohio's Medicaid program as he left the Statehouse in Columbus to shine before the bright TV lights of CNN.

Are Democrats still adoring him for accepting expanded Medicaid or have they finally learned that he was only after the approximately $2.5 billion that would flow to Ohio before Ohio had to kick in 10 percent of the cost?

Kasich appears to have left Ohio worse off than he inherited it in 2010, as revenues slide and funding priorities leave public officials wondering where more money can be had if they continue to keep the doors to tax increases closed.

For the new CNN pundit, Kasich can boast of how great he and his "Ohio Miracle" was, but the facts emerging each week are showing that the performance politico was boasting about miracles that were nothing more than mirages.