Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Kasich teaches Strickland that you can't govern by press release

Today, John Kasich came out with his 2nd major policy proposal, The Common Sense Initiative.
Despite previous reform attempts, Ohio is beset by duplicative, outdated and excessive rules and regulations from state agencies that hinder economic growth and job creation. John Kasich and Mary Taylor will tear down the barriers to growth created by regulations and reduce compliance costs to the lowest level consistent with public health and safety and legislative intent.
Strickland's campaign team has come out with an awfully strange way to combat Kasich's proposal.

They've said Ted has already done it.

In other words, they are defending the status quo.

They look to the executive order signed by Strickland back in February of 2008 and say Kasich is simply copying his idea.

Make no mistake, folks on both sides should be looking to simplify regulations and make them more transparent. The problem? Strickland's supposed reforms failed to make any significant improvements.

Want proof?

A bipartisan panel of Ohio legislators created a task force that looked at regulations in Ohio and had a few things to say about the Governor's executive order:
This Task Force agrees wholeheartedly with the goals outlined in the Executive Order, but finds, based on testimony from citizens, organizations, businesses and economic development professionals from around the state, some regulatory agencies have made progress, but many have not yet fully implemented these efforts, and in some areas, legislative action can and should be taken.
Why would Republicans and Democrats alike recommend legislative action? Because the Governor had failed to implement the reforms he proposed.

Governor Strickland needs to learn you can't govern by press release. Don't get me wrong. It's nice that an executive order was signed or that he called for this change or that change. But Ohioans need results, not rhetoric.

The Governor had his chance. And he failed.

And it goes beyond the legislative task force.

You may remember when 3BP discussed the 2010 CNBC ranking of the best states for business.

They ranked states in a number of categories. One of them was "business friendliness". CNBC described the category this way:
"Regulation and litigation are the bane of business. Sure, some of each is inevitable. But we graded the states on the perceived “friendliness” of their legal and regulatory frameworks to business."
Guess where Ohio ranked this year.

Last in the Midwest and 38th overall.

That's this year. That's the result of Ted's regulation reform.

Dead. Last.

Think that makes a difference when companies are trying to determine where to build in the Midwest? Absolutely.

Governor Strickland, you claim to be proud of your executive order proposing regulation reform back in 2008. But are you sure you want to brag about these kinds of results?

Dead last in the Midwest?

Politically speaking, it's also an incredibly strange tactic. With your job approval in the dumps and the vast plurality of Ohioans unhappy with the direction of the state, is it really smart politics to say that the status quo is satisfactory?

Ohioans need a Governor that can live up to his promises.

You haven't.

15 comments:

  1. ROFTL....

    Keeling, the bills you referenced? Those bills that the Republicans introduced?

    They codify Strickland's executive order into the Ohio Revised Code!

    Strickland has REPEALED around 250 regulations and revised over 2,000 more after consulting with business leaders.

    Given that's half of the regulations and the other half deals with purely intragovernment regulation that doesn't affect business, you must be joking.

    The Regulatory Task Force you cite came out later the same year as the Executive Order came out. It's not surprising, then, that some of the old Republican bureaucratic holdouts in State government were slow to see the change in culture. These things don't happen overnight. The Executive Order ordered that a process begin, nobody expected it would be all changed just months later. LOL.

    Kasich's idea is a carbon copy of Strickland's executive order... and order the bipartisan task force wishes to codify to continue the progress Strickland made.

    Kasich's plan is Ted Strickland's. Amazing.

    Although I am entertained watch you try so hard to spin this blatant act of plagarism.

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  2. Kasich teaches Strickland you can't govern by press release... by holding a press conference?

    LOL!

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  3. ROFTL?

    Results matter.

    And Ohio is dead last in the midwest.

    Strickland failed.

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  4. JOHN KASICH is the one proposing the status quo, Keeling! He's offering NOTHING substantively different.

    Drop this farce of spin, please.

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  5. Failed so much that John Kasich and the Senate GOP are trying to take credit for Strickland's policy proposal...

    LOL.

    You keep citing meaningless rankings that nobody but campaigns actually pay attention to.

    It still doesn't distract that John Kasich just proposed something that is already LAW today. Lol.

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  6. Christopher M. Connor, Chairman, President And CEO, The Sherwin-Williams Company. “In Ohio’s increasingly business-friendly environment, we’ll continue to invest in product innovation, new technology and capacity to strengthen our position as an industry leader.” ["Ohio Key Benefits." Ohio Department of Development]

    Alexander M. Cutler, Chairman And CEO, Eaton Corporation: “At Eaton, we view change as a source of strength. Ohio provides a healthy environment for businesses to innovate, adapt and prosper.” ["Ohio Key Benefits." Ohio Department of Development]

    LOL, even the CEO of the company Kasich sits on the Board of apparenty has praised the new business friendly environment created under Governor Strickland.

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  7. The results are half the regulations in the State have been changes after consulting with business leaders, this occurred AFTER the Task Force's report came out... which you neglected to mention.

    So, you're going with the "propose the same thing, but expect different results" defense?

    John Kasich didn't even know that most of those regulation books he was touting today had nothing to do with businesses.

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  8. You have your one CEO. I have 651 CEOs.

    They are the 651 CEOs polled who said Ohio's taxation and regulatory environment was worthy of a C- this past year.

    http://www.chiefexecutive.net/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=0CC7FBE04E534C16922586F98AF9AEB3&nm=Articles&type=Publishing&mod=Publications%3A%3AArticle&mid=8F3A7027421841978F18BE895F87F791&tier=4&id=33AC08A81AC3492881464F494F1376F7

    If CEOs and analyses by NBCs business outfit show Ohio's regulatory system is at or near the bottom, then whatever Ted did has not worked. And yet, here you and they are defending it.

    That's up to you.

    But I don't think there are many Ohioans who will agree that they are happy with how things are in Ohio today.

    If you want to take credit for it, fine. But it will cost you in November.

    By the way, 6 comments in 14 minutes? Dude. Relax.

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  9. Just a couple of quick thoughts:
    Modernesquire has a point when he (she?) notes that bureaucracies change slowly. I don't know that these are "republican" bureaucrats as modernesquire states though.

    And can Ohio really afford the kind of time they bureaucrats want? I don't think so. Why should the people of Ohio be forced to wait YEARS for the government to become more responsive?

    In the meantime, NCR walks away and Haley Barbour brags about the new Toyota factory in his state.

    We shouldn't have to wait, that's just lame. If a bureau doesn't respond, close it.

    Also, did the Strickland order call for the sunset of any regulation that wasn't re approved?

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  10. I love how you're attacking Strickland for pointing out that Kasich is taking credit for something he ALREADY HAS DONE.

    Your post is misleading spin. The report you hang your hat on was issued before the executive order was fully carried out, or could have been fully carried out. You can't expect the Administration to undergo that kind of review of Ohio's regulations (when nothing like it had ever been done before) and get the revisions acted in that kind of timeframe (you apparently know nothing of what it takes to institute a rule change under Ohio's STATUTES.)

    John Kasich held a press conference today to try to lay claim to the VERY POLICY Strickland enacted. We know it's the very policy because it's in writing. Except one was released in 2008 and the other today.

    Spin all you want, Keeling, but this is embarassing day for the Kasich campaign.

    Anonymous- To answer your question, no. Strickland did not include a sunset provision, and for businesses it's a bad idea. Businesses need a predictable regulatory environment so that they can make business decision with reasonable expectation of the regulatory environment.

    Sunsetting regulations that can be renewed or revised under this process creates an uncertain regulatory environment that makes it harder for businesses to plan.

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  11. I simply don't agree. Essentially your contention is that businesses would prefer a stable but dysfunctional environment to one where regulations are routinely reviewed and either retained or eliminated.
    It is a net gain for the business. Either they must continue to comply, meaning that they already understand how to do this and are expecting to do so or the regs go away, in which case the business saves the effort and money.

    I don't know what business you are in, but I cannot imagine that stable but dysfunctional is optimal for mine.

    But then again, as I recall, lawyers still rely on latin, so stable has a different meaning in some fields of endeavor. I am,of course, assuming that "esquire" means "Attorney".

    It is just laughable. Certainly businesses would applaud the sunsetting of onerous and pointless regulation. To say otherwise is to display abyssal ignorance about the regulatory burden we business people face.

    Want a real life example? How about the tax debacle? We were told that we MUST go on-line and we were given a dead line. When I accessed the on line system, the state had a banner EXTENDING THE DEADLINE BECAUSE THEY COULD NOT HANDLE THE VOLUME THAT THEY THEMSELVES MANDATED.

    And I note that you are silent about the NCR move and the fact that the auto industry is relocating to America's south, much to our detriment.

    Extolling the virtues of the status quo in this environment is a tough assignment. Good luck with that.

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  12. FYI, Modern "runs" a one person law firm.

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  13. Because neither of those things had anything to do with our regulations?

    I'm not extrolling the status quo (which is part Latin, btw) which apparently is the childish battle cry (emphasis on that word) of the Kasich defenders for merely pointing out the problems with their policy proposals.

    But you know who apparently IS defeending the status quo? John Kasich. Because his proposal is nothing more than a continuation of Strickland's regulatory reform.

    Kasich went to the media and said, I will make this law... too bad it's already been law since 2008.

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  14. my goodness, there is nothing quite so unlikeable as afternoon hogwash.

    You stated in your first comment that some bureaucracies were slow to see the change in culture. Isn't it amazing that many in the business community, including myself, haven't seen the change at all?

    and I noted immediately that you took a swipe at Republicans, yet offered zero evidence to support your contention that it was only Republican holdovers who didn't go along. How about some good, old fashioned proof? Got any? this labels you as a partisan.

    Have you dealt with the oh so nice folks from ODH? They are the paradigm here and I haven't noted even a whiff of change: in the regs or the attitudes of the employees.

    If this was strickland's attempt, he failed. It is really that simple. If the business community cannot percieve the change, and I believe that they cannot, then what change are you talking about?

    I asume you believe that the regulatory environment weren't factors in the NCR move or the transition of the auto industry away from Ohio. Once again, what evidence do you provide? Don't ask Strickland, though, IIRC, he didn't even know the firm was planning to move.

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