Stephen Lendman

Any Republican but Trump seems to be NYT editorial policy. It’s pushing Ohio Governor John Kasich, papering over his deplorable neocon/neoliberal record.

He’s like all the other presidential aspirants - pro-business, pro-war, anti-populist, anti-labor, anti-peace, equity and justice, supporting dirty business as usual.

According to Times editors, he’s “the only plausible choice for Republicans tired of the extremism and inexperience on display in this race.”

Admitting he’s “no moderate,” they claim he supports government improving the lives of ordinary people, as well as “protect(ing) the poor, the mentally ill and others…”

His deplorable record shows otherwise. As Ohio governor, he slashed funding for education, healthcare and aid to beleaguered cities.

Legislation he signed into law stripped public workers of collective bargaining rights. It banned strikes, eviscerated union power, and empowered government at the expense of workers.

At the time, a state Senate Democrat called the legislation an attempt “to vilify our public employees and turn what used to be the virtue of public service into a crime.”

Kasich lobbied hard for passage, staging an unprecedented coup. He replaced two GOP committee dissenters with supportive ones ahead of a full floor vote for passage.

His tenure as governor featured large layoffs of teachers and other public sector workers, wage, benefits and social service cuts. Anyone proposing strike actions faced prosecution.

His signature privatization program outsourced state services for corporate enrichment with public dollars, including prison operations into for-profit ventures.

He lifted the cap on state funded, privately run charter schools, part of his scheme to destroy public education - a bedrock nearly four century American tradition, what father of US education Thomas Mann called “the greatest discovery ever made by man,” referring to “the common school.”

Earlier, Kasich said “(w)e’ve been tinkering around the edges of education reform since I’ve been in this state. We are not going to put this off any longer.”

Medicaid cuts resulted in thousands of state healthcare worker jobs lost. Kasich is notoriously anti-green, a leading opponent of renewable energy and greater energy efficiency.

Between his federal and state government service, he made millions of dollars selling junk bonds to government pension funds.

A critic said his state policies doom Ohio to “obsolescence and decline.” Imagine what he’ll do to America if elected president.

Times editors ignored what they should have denounced, quoting his willful deception, saying he “raised the bar in this election…talk(ing) about hope and the future and positive things.”

“In this race, how rare that is,” claimed Times editors, deliberately ignoring his deplorable public office record.

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Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks World War III".

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