John Kasich on Government Reform Republican Governor; previously Representative (OH-12); 2000 candidate for President

Supreme Court should disallow partisan gerrymandering

Maryland's Republican governor, Larry Hogan, joined current Ohio Gov. John Kasich and former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, both Republicans, in an amicus brief that essentially pleads with the Supreme Court to take actions because politicians are unable to stop themselves from drawing crooked lines.

The plaintiffs in Benisek are making a First Amendment argument, asking the justices to find that using past voting data to sort people into districts their side is unlikely to win penalizes them for participation in the political process.

[The Supreme Court ruled unanimously on June 18 to leave the district lines untouched].

Supreme Court should disallow partisan gerrymandering

Maryland's Republican governor, Larry Hogan, joined current Ohio Gov. John Kasich and former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, both Republicans, in an amicus brief that essentially pleads with the Supreme Court to take actions because the politicians are unable to stop themselves from drawing crooked lines.

The plaintiffs in Benisek are making a First Amendment argument, asking the justices to find that using past voting data to sort people into districts their side is unlikely to win penalizes them for participation in the political process.

[The Supreme Court ruled unanimously on June 18 to leave the district lines untouched].

Investigate Russian election hacking from within Congress

KASICH: If our intelligence community thinks we need to get to the bottom of this, I believe that perhaps a joint House-Senate Intelligence Committee investigation ought to get to the bottom of Russian hacking. Were they trying to influence our election? You know, what is it all about? What's the bottom line? Now, I don't favor at this point moving it outside of the Intelligence Committees. I think that the Intelligence Committees have the capability to conduct a thorough understanding of what happened, so that we can be in a position to prevent it in the future. Many European countries are worried about Russia's hacking their elections, disrupting their elections. So, I believe that the House and Senate can carry this out. And I think that it has to be done in a bipartisan and thorough way. If that investigation becomes partisan, then we have to look at something more independent.

My judicial appointments are solid conservatives

Country too partisan to appoint justice before election

Freeze all federal regulations for one year

KASICH: [I would do] the same thing that I did in Ohio. It's a simple formula: common sense regulations, which is why I think we should freeze all federal regulations for one year, except for health and safety. It requires tax cuts, because that sends a message to the job creators that things are headed the right way. And if you cut taxes for corporations, and you cut taxes for individuals, you're going to make things move, particularly the corporate tax, which is the highest, of course, in the world.

Let states decide how to govern themselves, not DC

Move power, money and influence out of Washington

A handful of billionaires should not decide who is president

[After that] the closest he came to broaching the subject of campaign finance reform was when he declared that "sometimes I think these laws can work, but unfortunately I think they work mostly on the margin." Got it? Neither do we.

Kasich took a different tack last month when he said that "a handful of billionaires should not decide who is president." But, even then, he was unsure of a solution to the problem.

Kasich has an unlimited-money super PAC. Earlier this year, it announced raising more than $11 million from 166 reportable contributions.

Deal with fundraising influencing voting decisions

Q: "What would you do to end corruption of our government by big money, and more specifically, would you support and work for a constitutional amendment clarifying that the constitution applies to natural persons only?"

A: "I'd like to say a couple things about campaign finance laws. First of all it is a bad system when billionaires can be the ones to pick a president, I don't like that. And here is the beauty of New Hampshire: they could spend all the money in the world but money don't buy you love in New Hampshire. So I'm concerned about it, and I will have something to say about it at an appropriate time, but I want to think it through. I think there is an element of fundraising influencing decisions. It's an issue & it will be dealt with."

Skinny-down bureaucracy & kick out special interests

End The Influence Of Special Interests--Build common-sense solutions to our problems and kick out those who, for too long, have kept us from fixing all that is wrong in our state

Bible study group swelled during 1992 House banking scandal

From time to time, our numbers would swell, such as when there was a scandal brewing in town and elected officials were scrambling for whatever good-luck charms they could stuff into their pockets. During the 1992 banking scandal, for example, when it was revealed that the House of Representatives had allowed members to overdraw their House checking accounts without penalty, we had 30 or 40 members trying to join our group, and I had to laugh, because, of course, you can't just go through the motions of reconnecting with God and expect it to make a whole lot of difference in your life right away. You need to work at it, with a trusting spirit. You need to carve out some time for reflection and prayer.

Separating church and state is goofy misinterpretation

One of my Bible study members wondered if that type of thinking was behind our apparent attempt to separate matters of church and state. For the longest time, this has been one of my pet peeves, because I've always thought it was one of the goofiest misinterpretations of our founding fathers' intentions. Our founders didn't say that government should be somehow separate from religion, or that religion was in any way unconstitutional or un-American. In fact, up until the late 19th century, there were state-sponsored churches in this country. The men who drafted the Constitution were in no way frightened or put off by religion. They were just careful to ensure that our government should not force people to believe a certain way or put any kind of stamp on their faith, so it's funny to me how the impulse behind it has been co-opted over the years.

Limited government supported by our Judeo-Christian ethics

1970s: No judge pay raise until state employee pay raise

If any one of these guys had a gavel, he would have cited me with contempt of court. As it happened, all I got was their contempt. These people were just furious with me, and I'm not sure I was right and that the judges weren't entitled to pay raises for all their hard work and good counsel, but I told them what I thought. It was a priority to these judges, but only on a personal level; in my mind the lower-level state employees had to come first.

Money affects ability to honestly assess policy situation

Just because someone or some group gives money to your campaign, it doesn't mean they own you. Like every other politician, I took money from special interest groups, but it never amounted to much, and these special interest groups became less inclined to contribute to my campaigns because they could never count on getting anything in return. I worked hard to ensure that money never got in the way of my good judgment, but a lot of folks don't make that effort. It takes the edge off someone's ability to make an honest assessment of a situation.

Allow faith-based institutions to address social ills

Ax Commerce and Energy Depts.

Voted NO on banning soft money and issue ads.

Limit punitive damages; term limits on Congress.

[As part of the Contract with America, within 100 days we pledge to bring to the House Floor the following bills]:

The Common Sense Legal Reforms Act:
“Loser pays” laws, reasonable limits on punitive damages, and reform of product liability laws to stem the endless tide of litigation.

The Citizen Legislature Act:A first-ever vote on term limits to replace career politicians with citizen legislators.

Government is too big, too intrusive, too easy with money.

This year’s election offers the chance, after four decades of one-party control, to bring to the House a new majority that will transform the way Congress works. That historic change would be the end of government that is too big, too intrusive, and too easy with the public’s money. It can be the beginning of a Congress that respects the values and shares the faith of the American family.

Like Lincoln, our first Republican president, we intend to act “with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right.” To restore accountability to Congress. To end its cycle of scandal and disgrace. To make us all proud again of the way free people govern themselves.

On the first day of the 104th Congress, the new Republican majority will immediately pass the following major reforms, aimed at restoring the faith and trust of the American people in their government:
1. Require all laws that apply to the rest of the country also apply equally to the Congress;
2. Select a major independent auditing firm to conduct a comprehensive audit of Congress for waste, fraud, and abuse;
3. Cut the number of House committees, and cut committee staff by one-third;
4. Limit the terms of all committee chairs;
5. Ban the casting of proxy votes in committee;
6. Require committee meetings to be open to the public;
7. Require a three-fifths majority vote to pass a tax increase
8. Guarantee an honest accounting of our federal budget by implementing zero baseline budgeting.