A Tea Party Primer: Lessons in Hypocrisy Part 2

"These five examples should have the Tea Party leading the charge to institute a recall provision for the Ohio Governor based upon their stated values. At the very least, the Tea Party should be picketing John Kasich’s every move. Maybe that’s why there are flame wars on their message boards about SB5 and why their events are less and less attended. Is it possible that those who formerly stood in crowds ranting about big government have finally smelled the hypocrisy the GOP is cooking?"

http://www.plunderbund.com/2011/04/19/a-tea-party-primer-lessons-in-hypocrisy-part-2/

A Tea Party Primer: Lessons in Hypocrisy Part 2

by Guest Post, April 19, 2011

Note: The following post is one in a series of 5 we’ll be running this week by friend of the blog Greg Mild. Greg is an educator in Columbus and has agreed to let us publish these as guest posts this week. We think you’ll find them informative and hope they provoke some good discussion as well.

Yesterday we explored the basics of the stated Tea Party values and I made the first of many “discoveries” that point to the movement being more about opposing Democrats and less about any true ideals. We continue our look at the ways in which the Tea Party’s hypocrisy begins to show.

Tea Party Discovery #2: The Government and “Free Markets”

The stated belief of the Tea Party is that “Our current government’s interference distorts the free market” and they “oppose government intervention into the operations of private business.”

I would like to submit five items as evidence of hypocrisy:

1) Bob Evans CEO Steve Davis said the company has simply outgrown its South High Street location, and needs more room. “We seriously considered re-locating to Texas, where we own land, and where we have our food products campus,” Davis said. “We could have moved anywhere. We have the financial where withal to go anywhere, but I lived through situations where people lost jobs and that was not going to happen here.”

He said along with incentives offered by New Albany, an $11.8-million incentive package offered by the Kasich administration played a key role in the company’s decision. Kasich said that the state is bleeding jobs, and tax incentives will be necessary to keep companies like Bob Evans in the state.

PB: Are our state tax dollars going to pay to reduce Bob Evans’ CEO’s commute?

2) American Greetings Corp. has decided to keep its world headquarters in Northeast Ohio, a move that drew praise from local leaders but also touched off a potential bidding war among communities that want to attract the Fortune 1000 employer. The 105-year-old greeting card maker rejected the possibility of moving to Illinois but said Monday that it has not decided whether to remain in Brooklyn or move to another suburb. Ohio will provide a package of grants, loans and tax rebates worth a potential $93.5 million over 15 years to keep American Greetings here. Some of the incentives will come through tax reform legislation Gov. John Kasich signed into law Monday at American Greetings’ headquarters.

PB: Bob Evans/American Greetings: Is this REALLY economic development or corporate economic extortion?

3) Kasich did, however, tout his ‘Jobs Ohio’ plan as a way to bolster business and reduce unemployment. The plan would essentially privatize the Ohio Department of Development and create a new, private Economic Development Board for the state. Kasich said, “Because you get smart people in business who are talking to people in business and convincing them this is a great place to do things and can talk to them about there needs so we can respond to them.” The governor says his plan, along with incentives for new business will get Ohio where it needs to be to be more competitive with other states.

PB:

JobsOhio Legislative Analysis, Pt. 1: Transparent as Mud at Midnight

JobsOhio Legislative Analysis, Pt.2: Culture of Corruption, Inc.

JobsOhio Legislative Analysis, Pt. 3: John Kasich on the law of public records—“Trust me.”

JobsOhio Legislative Analysis, Pt. 4: At Culture of Corruption, Inc., you can lobby WHILE you work…

4) The bill that would allow Gov. John Kasich to transform the Department of Development into a private, nonprofit corporation drew plenty of questions from lawmakers yesterday about the transparency and oversight of an entity that couldhand out more than a $1 billion a year in business incentives. (dispatch.com)

5) To better serve the people of Ohio, the legislature passed House Bill 1, creating JobsOhio, which is a nonprofit public/private partnership designed to make traditional economic development its sole focus. The bill, signed by Governor John Kasich, will remove governmental barriers and allow JobsOhio to move at the speed of business, creating a faster, more efficient entity that will create and save Ohio jobs and improve the state’s return on investment. (Book One: The Budget Book, State of Ohio)

These five examples should have the Tea Party leading the charge to institute a recall provision for the Ohio Governor based upon their stated values. At the very least, the Tea Party should be picketing John Kasich’s every move. Maybe that’s why there are flame wars on their message boards about SB5 and why their events are less and less attended. Is it possible that those who formerly stood in crowds ranting about big government have finally smelled the hypocrisy the GOP is cooking?

Maybe this is why last night on her show, Rachel Maddow all but said the Tea Party was dead: [Click here for video]