HILLARY IN A SUIT: Top 17 Left-Wing Moments of John Kasich’s Endless Political Career

By Daniel Horowitz

As the race between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz becomes more acrimonious, many people are naturally attracted to a fresh alternative. John Kasich has the benefit of being so irrelevant he can’t even win a congressional district, much less a full state.  And precisely because he’s been so irrelevant, few have bothered to expose his true record.

As we are learning throughout this primary season, the Republican Party is divided and diverse.  But the common denominator between all Republicans is that they want to move in a new direction, far away from the Obama agenda.  What is clear about John Kasich is that far from being a fresh alternative, he is the embodiment of what is fueling everyone’s anger.

Here are the top 17 times Gov. Kasich’s left-wing tendencies on the most critical issues of our time have been on display:  

1. Obamacare: In 2013, Kasich ordered fellow state Republicans who enjoyed strong majorities in both houses of the Ohio legislature to implement Medicaid expansion.  When they balked and defunded Medicaid expansion, Kasich pulled an Obama-style move and implemented his signature legislation via executive action.  But don’t remind him that he campaigned in 2010 against Medicaid expansion, predicting that it would “stick states with large and unsustainable costs.”  His original premonition was correct, as Ohio became the most Medicaid dependent state in the Midwest, with over 25 percent of the population on the federal program. Kasich's projected Medicaid enrollment was 447,000 residents; the real number is 661,725 and his Obamacare expansion is projected to cost 27.5 billion by June 2020. Last cycle, Republicans nominated the one man to concoct Obamacare before Obama did.  This time, we have a spoiler running who harnessed Obama’s tactics to expand Obamacare in a GOP-controlled state.
   
2. Twisting Scripture to Promote Welfare: In 2014, Kasich twisted the words of scripture to promote welfare expansion and Obamacare, asserting that he would be asked on the day of judgment, “‘What’d you do for the least of those?'”  Hence, Kasich not only supported the goals of the Left, he validated the entire pagan foundation of the social justice movement and helped echo all of the Left’s stereotypes about conservatives.
3. Roe V. Wade: Kasich said at a Town Hall last August that "Roe v. Wade is the law of the land." A slap in the face of the pro-life movement and our founding role of the judiciary in our republic.
4. 
   Planned Parenthood: Following the release of the videos exposing Planned Parenthood’s barbaric harvesting of baby organs, many GOP governors worked to defund this rogue organization in their respective states.  Not only did Kasich refuse to do so in Ohio, he justified his recalcitrance by noting that he couldn’t risk a showdown with Obama because it would threaten the Medicaid funding and risk a government shutdown! [CNN Debate, 9/18/2015]
5. Marriage and Judicial Tyranny: Following the Obergefell decision in which unelected judges redefined the building block of civilization and federalism from the bench, Kasich said, “I've said all along that when the Court makes a decision, we abide by the law of the land. And they made their determination and — just move on.”
6. Religious Liberty: Earlier this week, in response to state laws protecting the religious liberty of private business owners, Kasich had this to say: "I read about this thing they did in Mississippi where apparently you can deny somebody service because they’re gay. What the hell are we doing in this country?"  He went on and added this gem: "I may not appreciate a certain lifestyle or even approve of it, but I can — but that doesn’t mean I gotta go write a law and figure out how to have another wedge issue. We have a Supreme Court ruling, and you know what, let’s move on." [CNN]
7. Males Are Females Too:&nbnbsp; For women who don’t want men in their bathrooms, Kasich had this to say: “Everybody chill out. Get over it if you have a disagreement with somebody.”
8. Amnesty: Even as criminal illegal aliens continue to wreak havoc on our communities, including in cities in Ohio, Kasich referred to deportations as inhumane and said he didn’t want to “see anybody in pain.”  Evidently, that sense of compassion didn’t extend to his legal constituents.
9. Birthright Citizenship: What does Kasich have to say about illegal immigrants who break into our country, unilaterally declare legal jurisdiction, and obtain citizenship and welfare on behalf of their children?  "I think we need to get over that. I’m not for [ending birthright citizenship] anymore. Let these people who are born here be citizens, and that’s the end of it. I don’t want to dwell on it.” [CNN, 8/12/2015]
10. America’s “Responsibility” for Syrian Islamic Refugees: "I think we do have a responsibility in terms of taking some more folks in, making sure they assimilate and at the same time helping people to actually be safe as they move." [U.K. Guardian]
11. Gun Grabber: As a Member of Congress in the ‘90s, Kasich supported the so-called assault weapons ban, even as Ted Strickland, his Democrat opponent during the 2010 gubernatorial race, opposed it.  Kasich is now seeking the votes of Republicans in the northeast who have been beleaguered by these very same weapon bans in recent years.
12. Obama’s Supreme Court Nominee:  For once in a lifetime, Republican leaders are actually holding strong against Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland.  Yet, Kasich criticized them for not meeting with him.  If Kasich controlled the party, he’d be happy with a permanent anti-gun majority on the Supreme Court.
13. A Solyndra Republican: While Obama’s failed green energy mandates and subsidy policies were being repudiated across the country, Kasich was stepping on the green energy gas peddle in Ohio.  His own energy commission and fellow Republicans in the legislature wanted a freeze on green energy mandates because they were expensive and unsustainable.  Kasich called the proposal unacceptable.
14. A Global Warming Alarmist: Kasich’s affinity for environmental regulations dates back to 1990 when he voted for a failed bill that would have elevated the EPA to a cabinet-level department.  And even as Kasich is not concerned about the settled science of gender, he called global warming “a real concern” and said “we have to pay attention to the science.”
15. Obama-Style Taxes on Oil & Gas Production: The revolution of horizontal fracking technology in southeast Ohio is one of the bright spots in the Ohio economy, but Kasich subscribed to the Democrat modus operandi of “if you don’t like it, tax it.”  Since 2012, he has consistently pushed for increased taxes on the industry, which threatens to chase this economic success out of the state.
16. A More Passionate Defender of Common Core Than Obama: In response to ubiquitous complaints about Common Core, Kasich expressed a complete misunderstanding of the role of Race To The Top federal funding with Common Core mandates: “Barack Obama doesn't set it, the state of Ohio doesn't set it. It is local school boards driving better education, higher standards, created by local school boards.  I've asked the Republican governors who have complained about this to tell me where I'm wrong, and guess what, silence.” [Huffington Post, 1/25/2015]
17. Iran Deal Here to Stay: Evidently, Kasich believes that Obama’s Iran alliance is the Default.  What Would We Do Without It? “On the deal with Iran Kasich attacked those Republicans who said they would tear up the deal on day one. Kasich said, ‘I don’t know what that means. They’re going to rip it up and then what?’” [NH1, 9/8/2015]

If you collected the worst common denominator of every liberal or establishment Republican in Washington over the past five years, that mold would look a lot like John Kasich.

Kasich is campaigning in the northeastern states where local conservatives have fought valiantly against the very policies Kasich championed in Ohio, even though he had strong majorities in the state legislature.  How can he look northeastern Republicans in the eye – whether conservative or moderate – and say with a straight face that he will fight for them when they have been suffering from those very policies which Democrats promote?

Moreover, how can Kasich assert he is the best general election candidate when he agrees with President Obama and Hillary Clinton on every major issue of our time?  He will look like a fool at the debates agreeing to every premise of the Left and ceding over the moral high ground to their most repugnant policies.   

Although the term “RINO” is often overused, in the case of John Kasich, he is a Republican-In-Name-Only in every sense of the phrase.

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