John Kasich was recently in McConnelsville, Ohio speaking at the Morgan County GOP Lincoln Day Dinner. The Morgan County Herald has the story:
“Isn’t America a great place. I was the first one in my family to graduate from college. I have been given a great opportunity to stand up for my mother and father and the Good Lord. He has blessed me,” John Kasich declared at the Morgan County Republicans’ annual Lincoln Day Dinner held recently at the American Legion in McConnelsville.
Kasich, a nine-term congressman and Republican candidate for governor of Ohio, grew up in a blue collar neighborhood in McKee’s Rocks, PA, just outside of Pittsburgh, the son of a mailman. Kasich said his father was a Democrat all of his life, and his mother became a Republican later on.
At age 18, he chose to move 180 miles to the west to attend The Ohio State University. After graduating, he chose to make his mark in Ohio. Kasich was elected to the Ohio State Senate at the age of 26 and to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1982 at the age of 30.
He recalled that his mother told him, ‘“Johnny, you work hard and you can get ahead. The people who work the hardest tend to be the luckiest.’”
“My mother taught me about the reason to raise the bar. No one is perfect in this world. She said, ‘Johnny, if you get in a place where you can make a difference, go and do it,’” he recounted.
“I have been in most of the 88 counties in Ohio. Jimmy (Stewart) is not going to let me forget about you,” he said. “What I have that not everyone has is a record. I like my record. There have been 433,000 jobs lost in the State of Ohio. It is time for a change and for someone who is going to fix the economy to be elected. I got a chance to meet Jim Rhodes. He used to talk about jobs and progress.”
“We have too much government and too much debt. We may be sticking our kids behind the eight ball. We have to change that,” Kasich said.
“I am not running for this job to get a position with the State of Ohio. I was in the Legislature and then I went to Congress. I am running because I don’t like what is going on. We don’t have a right as adults to sacrifice the rights of our children,” stated.
And:
Touching on education, Kasich said, “We pour a lot of money into administration. I want us to be the leanest in wasting money on red tape. We are 47th in America in putting money in the classroom. We need family values. Children should respect their teachers. Do not wear Brittany Spears T-shirts; do not write on the walls; and do not disrespect your classmates. We need to educate our kids. We are not competing against Indiana – we are competing against India. If you do not have well-trained workers, businesses are not going to come here.”
“We need a balanced budget, lower taxes, return workers, get dollars in the classrooms, and limit crazy lawsuits. We have other assets. Why are you not using this river? You have 18-1/2 percent unemployment and you are not using this river,” he declared.
“I came here in 1970 to go to OSU and it was exciting. We have to shine it up. Our best asset is our people. I am starting to get worried that people are losing confidence. Government is a last resort. This can’t be my last trip here. Our kids will thank you for saving Ohio,” Kasich concluded.
You can read the entire story here.