How many Ohioans actually believed the governor’s pipe dream about the State of the State being moved to Steubenville to honor the impressive achievements of a successful public school? Even though this Steubenville school has been named the highest-ranking public elementary school in Ohio, its name, Wells Academy, clued us in on what was really on Kasich’s mind.

After some brief congratulatory remarks to the staff and students of Wells Academy, Johnny Kasich, self-described as “just another kid from an ethnic blue collar, hard-working town” talked at length to advocate for the future of the fracking industry in Ohio, cautioning, “We cannot let our fears outweigh the potential.”

Joe Vardon, of The Columbus Dispatch, wrote, “It was long speculated that Kasich would use Wells Academy to drill home proposals for education reform.” It was not education reform that got Johnny “so pumped up,” but a much more volatile kind of message that he drilled home in Steubenville.

Stop fracking in Ohio!

Think.

While I applaud Governor Kasich’s effort to make the State of the State address available to more citizens and to recognize the achievements of an academically excellent school, I wonder -- how much is it going to cost to transport the State’s legislators to Steubenville, with transportation, receptions, etc., all included? Who’s paying for all this? Has the Governor gotten private funding to underwrite all this? As people are being laid off, budgets slashed, funding to education and social services being decimated, why this additional expense? Again, who’s paying for all this?

As referenced in a previous post, Bait & Switch (B.S.) is a less than honorable strategy being used in Ohio politics. Often, the public is lured with an appealing initiative, and when they're on the hook, the bait is switched to something else.

In other cases, people are baited into believing a false doomsday scenario, and when they are sufficiently worried, the rhetoric switches to an extreme solution proposed by conservative legislators.

Here is a sampling of B.S. that Republicans have spread in Ohio to "fix" some problems caused by the drastic cuts in their state budget:

B: Troubling stories have been in the news about public school boards cutting back staff, academics, arts, sports, and more because of less funding from the state.

S: Concerned parents have been enticed with promises of an expanded school voucher program for private schools that can provide those necessities.

B: It's been publicized that reductions in general funding for ODNR have postponed maintenance projects and that delays will negatively impact the quality of recreation in our parks.

S: Fracking in our parks has been justified as a solution by conservative lawmakers- this statement is even on the ODNR website: "Proceeds from natural gas activity would be used to address the large backlog of deferred maintenance needs at state parks."

B: Conservatives have been busy promoting the news about road projects being delayed for many years because of ODOT's lack of funds.

S: After taunting people with predictions of severe traffic congestion on our roads, the talk has turned to the great monetary benefits of privatizing our turnpikes and rest areas.

Sounds fishy, doesn't it? Do not get hooked on the bait of false worries. Disregard Republican B.S.!

Think.