Why Kasich picking on teachers and other public employees is bullsh!t

Photo courtesy of here.

Guest article by Jason Haap aka The Dean of Cincinnati

Kasich says he's not picking on unions, but even a rudimentary sense of deductive reasoning shows this as flagrantly false. Kasich and the Republicans would rather pick on public servants than, for example, wage a small tax against the wealthiest one percent. As a result, we get the right-winged lunatic-fringe whipped into a frenzy about those who "abuse" the taxpayer, as if public servants like teachers are filthy stinking rich, or something. This is par for the course for Republicans -- abuse the middle class to protect the huge profits of the ultra-wealthy.

From the link above, Kasich talking:

“Look I come from a union town, McKees Rocks; we’re not at war with anybody. We’re not picking on anyone. What we’re trying to say is that if you want to create a rationale program to create jobs, so that Ohio can compete with Texas, and Florida and Tennessee, and North Carolina…we can’t compete in the current mode. We can’t do that so we have to bring about the changes we want, and we think a really good start is to make sure our local government officials have the ability to control their costs, to treat employees fairly, but to create equity between those people who pay the bills and those people who are basically have jobs because people have taxes.”

Also:

“Any successful business that loses an ability to control its costs, go bankrupt. In addition to that, this is a whole series of reforms that involve our prisons, involve our school, all of which is designed to set the stage for economic growth. We have been getting killed out here in terms of economic growth, job loss, loss of population, loss of knowledge workers, our students fleeing the state, a third of them after three years. This is all part of a program to make sure that we can revitalize, save Ohio, restore entrepreneurship, and create jobs—that’s what it’s all about.”

This is a strange way to imagine the role of public servants. Yes, they are paid by tax dollars -- but they provide a necessary service. And as a general rule, people recognize that teaching, for example, is not a job people enter to become rich. So what does he mean when he says he wants to "create equity between those people who pay the bills and those people who basically have jobs because the people have taxes"?

Maybe the middle-class shouldn't be over-tax burdened because Republicans like stumping for tax breaks benefiting millionaires.

And what's this comparison to "business"? First, a public service like "education" is not a business. It is a public service called "education." And second, when is anyone going to talk about Ohio's unconstitutional school funding formula, found as such by the Ohio Supreme Court on multiple occasions? No, Kasich ignores these other inconveniences, because they protect the interests of his rich friends, who benefit from an unconstitutional system that gives them tax breaks, even though they can easily afford to pay a little more.

I was impressed with the recent testimony given by former Hamilton County Commissioner David Pepper regarding this union-busting move by the Republicans.

Second, there is the fact that, on close examination, there is no evidence to suggest that collective bargaining is the cause of overall budget challenges. Many states that do not have collective bargaining—such as Arizona (highest gap), Nevada (4th highest) and North Carolina—have far larger budget deficits than many that do, including Ohio. There is simply no correlation.

Third, a quick look at salary decisions in Columbus suggests a one-sidedness in this body’s focus. I challenge you to aim higher! The Governor has given substantial raises to cabinet members, and hired aides that make double what your average Cincinnati firefighter makes. State legislators, working a part time job, make far more than my County’s sheriff’s deputies, who put their lives on the line every day. If we want to examine salaries, perhaps we should start with the highest as opposed to the lowest.

Fourth is the fact that the most expensive and costly decisions and actions in government are inevitably those made by the politicians, not the employees.

More:

And just as the Governor justified higher salaries he is paying because he wanted the best people working for him, we can only get top-notch public servants if we can offer employment that at least assures they can raise a family with the wages they’ll earn, do their job safely, and understand that if they are injured on the job, they and their families are protected. Without basic protections such as these, a voice to seek those protections, and a process that ensures that this voice is heard, we will attract a lower caliber of worker, and we will degrade the quality of public work. And over time, the waning confidence our citizens have in government will only sink further.

Current County Commissioner Todd Portune also spoke up recently for the rights of public workers.

“In many cases, the problems that exist are the result of bad decision-making by those in office and they are now hiding behind these attacks on working people to mask their own faults,” Portune said. He blames the increase in the costs associated with local government on unfunded state and federal mandates.

“It is time to say ‘enough is enough’ of state and federal lawmakers getting elected on pledges to hold the line on taxes, while they, at the same time, foist necessary work and services onto the backs of local government to figure out how to do and how to pay for what must be done,” Portune said.

Lastly, he said, “all Americans should be shocked at what they are witnessing in this movement to eliminate collective bargaining and attack public employees because what these lawmakers are doing is actively working to reduce the standard of living of the American middle class.”

Unfunded mandates? Let's look at some specific examples with which I happen to be familiar.

In 2009, the State of Ohio spent over $30 million on the Ohio Graduation Test.

In 2008, the State of Ohio funneled nearly $60 million dollars into private schools for their compliance with record keeping activities such as "keeping attendance," and "distributing report cards" -- things any school should do to be open in the first place!

In other words, without even really thinking, I have already identified $90 million dollars in the kind of money about which Portune discussed. $90 million is not chump change!

And since 2008, this tax money to private schools has broken the $60 million dollar level. See for yourself.

Naturally, Kasich's sends his daughters to Worthington Christian Schools (which pull in over $200,000 per year in tax dollars) -- so it's in his financial interests to keep the money pouring into those institutions. It keeps his tuition payments down!

That number still pales in comparison to Elder High School -- a single school pulling in over $300,000 last year in tax dollars!

So I think it's interesting how none of this stuff gets discussed at the level of critical mass. The Republicans will be happy to take away from people like "teachers," under the banner of "reform" for education, but when it comes to the millions upon millions in unfunded mandates, they are silent. And when it comes to the fact that someone has to pay for this public service, raising taxes is off the table entirely. Not to mention the unconstitutionality of the school funding system in the first place.

Kasich is completely full of it.