Over the last year, Republican governors like Jan “Papers Please/Death Panel” Brewer of Arizona and Rick “Secession” Goodhair Perry of Texas became the embodiment of wingnut extremism and incompetence. Now, a whole new crop of tea-flavored GOPers have taken power in a number of states and have established themselves as some of the most reactionary, unethical, corrupt and — not surprisingly — idiotic figures to occupy governorships in recent memory.
It’s still early, but here’s my take on the bottom three.
#3) Rick Scott of Florida. Even in a year like 2010, it is still amazing that a scumbag like Rick Scott could be elected dog-catcher, let alone governor of the fourth largest state of the union. Before being elected governor, Scott was the CEO of Columbia/HCA, which perpetuated the largest Medicare/Medicaid fraud in history. Columbia/HCA in the end plead guilty to a total of fourteen felonies, and was fined $631 million plus interest. During one legal deposition, Scott invoked his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination 75 times! Scott was fired by the Columbia/HCA board, but left with a $10 million severance package and $350 million in stock, money that Scott used to essentially buy the Republican gubernatorial nomination and his wafer-thin victory in the general election.
How many times has your governor invoked his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination? This guy did it 75 times in ONE legal deposition!
Since becoming governor, Scott has proved to every bit the disaster critics warned. He wasted little time alienating Florida’s African-American community by proposing to eliminate state support for two traditionally black colleges, moving to shut down a state agency set up to assist minority businesses, and refusing to appoint an African-American to any significant position within his administration. In a meeting with African-American state legislatures, he managed to insult everyone in the room by embracing the racist stereotype that the norm for blacks is to grow up in public housing, be impoverished, and drop out of school. When asked by the legislators to stop referring to President Obama’s Affordable Care Act as ObamaCare, Scott responded “It’s Obamacare to me. That’s what it is…You know, when I’m on Fox, they never call it that.” What a douchebag!
Unlike the previous Republican Governor, Charlie Crist (who appreciated the fact that federal stimulus spending and infrastructure spending was necessary to help jump start a stagnant economy), Scott has embraced the never-ending Republican/teabagger recipe for failure of austerity measures and spending cuts, proposing to reduce health care expenditures and unemployment benefits. In spite of his pledge to make job creation his number one priority, Scott recently turned down $2.4 billion in federal funds to develop high speed rail that would have employed thousands (a decision that even enraged many Florida Republicans, like Congressman John Mica). Now, thanks to Scott’s teabagger-phobia about government spending, much wiser and more forward-thinking officials in other states will reap a bounty. Florida, of course, will suffer from his idiocy long after he leaves office.
#2) Scott Walker of Wisconsin. Like most other teabagger Republicans, Walker is a reactionary on social issues, taxes, government spending, and worker’s rights, although his rhetoric hasn’t always reflected his actual actions.
Walker was elected Milwaukee County Executive in 2002 on a platform of fiscal conservatism, with special focus on cutting ”excessive” county government salaries. Walker boasted that he would have the moral authority to slash those salaries given his willingness to slash his own. At the beginning of his term, Walker returned $60,000 to the county (slightly less than half of his $129,000 annual salary). As time passed, Walker found that he couldn’t make it on the $69,000, and soon cut the amount returned to $10,000. While Walker decided to pocket the extra $50,000, he eliminated the jobs of twenty percent of county employees. The impact on his action on total government spending? It increased over 35 percent during his tenure!
Can't you just smell the teabagger stupidity on this guy?
Soon Scotty got bored and wanted to be governor. The platform was typical Republican boilerplate: cutting state employee wages and benefits,along with tax cuts benefiting only the rich and business. On social issues, Walker was among the most extreme of Republican knuckle-draggers: opposition to abortion in all circumstances (including in cases of rape, incest, or even to save the life of the mother), opposition to common-sense sex education and birth control policies, allowing pharmacists to refuse to fill prescriptions based upon their own religious dogma or superstitions, and the typical anti-science stance on stem-cell research.
This dim-wit managed to ride the Republican wave to victory in 2010, and began screwing the state even before being sworn-in as governor. Walker reiterated his opposition to an $800 million grant from the federal Department of Transportation to build a high speed rail line from Milwaukee to Madison. Scotty — like most teabaggers – apparently don’t understand that infrastructure projects like this employ people and help spur economic development. The $800 million has since been redirected to states that would like the United States to have a modernized transportation and not fall behind China, Japan or Europe.
After less than two months as governor, Scotty has managed to blow a hole in the state budget by ramming though the state legislature a massive tax cut for corporations. To explain away the state’s emerging deficit, this douche-bag now claims that’s it due to excessive salary and benefits for the state’s public employees (he’s notably silent on the bloated $145,000 salary he pulls down). The solution: dramatically higher pension and health care contributions on the part of state employees. To add insult to injury, Walker also decided that this would be a good time to engage in a little-old-fashioned, right-wing union-busting by also demanding that their right to engage in collective bargaining be eliminated. Not coincidentally, certain unions (those representing police, firefighters, and state troopers) would be exempt from the bargaining changes. In response to this naked political power play, tens of thousands of protesters have descended upon the state capitol. In an effort to resolve this political standoff, leaders of the public employee unions have offered to accept the draconian increases in their health care and pension contributions as long as their collective bargaining rights were protected. The reaction from Walker? No deal. What a knuckle-dragging, teabagging horse’s ass!
You would think that all that would seal the deal and make Walker the ultimate bottom-feeder? But no, there is one newly-elected Republican who is worse. And the “winner” is…
#1) John Kasich of Ohio. This guy is the ultimate jerk and will be nothing short of an absolute disaster for those poor-schmucks unfortunate enough to live in Ohio.
Kasich started his political career as a legislative aide to Representative Donald “Buz” Luken. Luken was one of the original “family values” conservatives who ultimately lost a bid for renomination to John Boehner in 1990 after it was discovered that he was having a sexual relationship with a fifteen year old girl (a.k.a. statutory rape). Luken later was forced to resign his seat after fondling a female in a Capitol Hill elevator. Clearly, some of Luken’s assholishness rubbed off on Kasich (or was it the other way around?).
Anyway, Kasich was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1982 and eventually became Chairman of the House Budget Committee when the Republicans gained control of the House after the 1994 midterm election. Kasich was a zealous budget-cutter, even wielding in his hand a toy axe that would “scream” when waved it around. Johnny really had himself a grand old time slashing programs for the poor while supporting tax cuts for the rich. Eventually, Johnny saw a president staring back at him in the mirror, and he formed a presidential exploratory committee. After that humiliating failure, he left the Congress. Soon, Kasich was hosting an unwatchable Fox News program called “Heartland” where he could spew Republican talking points and wax poetic about middle America. Johnny could really understand the plight of the average American as he earned upwards of $500,000 a year at Lehman Brothers. Just before Lehman Brothers went bankrupt, Kasich received $400,000 plus bonus for Kasich using his political connections to facilitate investment of $480 million from the state pension fund with the company. The state lost close to half a billion dollars, but Kasich was — as usual — unapologetic.
Kasich’s also demonstrated his commitment to the “common man” by a gubernatorial campaign that focused on public sector union-bashing (his mail carrier father would be so proud). Republicans cheered his pledge to ”break the back of organized labor in the schools.” Not surprisingly, Ohio’s teachers’ unions supported Democratic incumbent Ted Strickland. After the election, some thought that Kasich might try to make peace overtures to these groups. But Johnny is a petulant and vindictive SOB, and his response was a demand that the unions take out full page newspaper ads apologizing to him and contemptuously stating that was willing to work with “unions that make things.” What we currently see happening in Wisconsin will soon be happening in Ohio as well. The difference is the Democrats in the Wisconsin state legislature have enough members to frustrate Walker’s war on labor. Republicans enjoy super-majorities in the Ohio legislature, and will soon enable Kasich to retaliate again organized labor.
Another Kasich theme during the campaign was cutting government spending. Kasich, like Scott in Florida and Walker in Wisconsin, didn’t care for the jobs (an estimated 8,000 in Ohio) that would have been created by a federally subsidized high speed rail project. Several hundred million dollars were slated to be spent on a rail line connecting Cincinnati, Columbus and Cleveland. Since the funds could only be used for the project, Kasich turned down the federal money, and it was redirected to other states. Once again, a Republican governor started his tenure by losing several thousand jobs.
I wonder how many people in Ohio will be smiling after four disasterous years of this asswipe?
Yes, Johnny is all about cutting government spending, unless it’s for himself or his closest cronies. Kasich decided that he would be more comfortable staying in the family home outside the Columbus (the state capital) than in the rather than stay in the Governor’s Mansion. The state now has to pick up the tab for additional expenditures making his residence secure. Also, Kasich has granted hefty salary increases to some of the top positions in the Governor’s Office, ranging from $20,000 to $50,000 higher than the salaries offered by former Governor Stickland. As he pays off his top political aides and supporters, those in lower positions are suffering significant pay cuts. In spite of his campaign rhetoric, Kasich holds a pretty low opinion of the common man, and particularly those who work in the public sector. That is abundantly clear in comments made during an appearance before the state Environmental Protection Agency. Kasich brought up how he was pulled over for a traffic violation on January 11th, 2008 for violating public safety, repeatedly calling the police officer who ticketed him “an idiot” even after he pleaded guilty to the violation. How dare such a lowly policeman sanction a former Congressman and investment banker? The video of Kasich’s tantrum went viral, and police officers throughout the state are furious.
Not only is Kasich seemingly committed to alienating union members, but also the state’s large African-American population. Kasich is the first Governor to not appoint an African-American to a significant state cabinet post since 1962. When an African-American member of the state legislature confronted him with this fact, he responded that “we don’t need your people.” Once again, spiteful Johnny was unhappy that most African-Americans voted for his opponent, and they would suffer as a result.
Union members, African-Americans and several other million people are going to suffer over the next four years in Ohio. Given that he comes from a major swing state, I wouldn’t be surprised to hear Kasich’s name come up as a potential vice-presidential nominee. While I have every confidence that the American people will reject whatever wingnut the Republicans nominate in 2012, one can never be sure. Hopefully, the misery that Kasich will inflict on Ohio will not be visited on the entire country.