Kasich takes campaign message to Coldwater

COLDWATER - Gov. John Kasich on Monday afternoon said a limited but caring government can empower all Ohioans by putting more money in their pockets and helping them develop God-given talents through lifelong education.

Kasich - joined by Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor, State Rep. Jim Buchy, R-Greenville, and State Sen. Keith Faber, R-Celina - spoke at Coldwater Machine Co. to local politicians and community leaders as part of a Get Out the Vote campaign.

The government, Kasich said, has a significant role in helping communities properly fund early childhood and K-12 education, train people to secure employment and support families, and pave roads.

"It should only do those things that people can't do for themselves. It should be the last resort and not the first resort," Kasich said to an applauding audience.

Kasich extolled the virtues of prudent spending.

"In our state, we're trying to make sure that we are as innovative and efficient as we can possibly be," the governor said. "In Washington, they're out to lunch, OK? They have no clue because I don't think they have that mentality. But in our state now, we think about what we really have to do, how much it should cost."

Giving money back to citizens through reduced spending gives them more control of their lives, Kasich said.

"When you have money, you have power. If you don't have any money, you don't have any power," he added.

Kasich said his administration continues to focus on improving education, capping fast-rising college costs and making sure kids discover and develop their talents. He said he's extending vocational education to seventh-grade.

People in the past discouraged children from careers in manufacturing; they were wrong, he said.

Adequate job training and continual career development in a changing 21st century economy are paramount, Kasich said.

"We're trying to reform welfare so that if people need help, we believe we should help them," he said. "But at the same time we need to train them and offer them a real job opportunity so they can get on their feet and they can be like we are and have success when the state is doing better."

The repercussions of failing to do those things can be seen across the country, Kasich said.

"Everybody needs to be hopeful. Everybody needs to have a sense that somebody cares about them and that we're in the business of allowing people to realize their God-given talents and opportunities," he said.

Kasich said the set of values held dear in Coldwater, New Bremen, Fort Recovery and Celina - and deep in the heart of most Americans - is important to Ohio's development: personal responsibility, resilience, the notion of work as worthy of dignity and respect, respect for the flag, Bible and president of the United States, even if you don't agree with him.

"But we also believe that when somebody is helping you, you do not have the right to live off of somebody else because you're not exercising personal responsibility," Kasich said.

Those values aren't faring well across America, he said.

"I don't care whether you're a Republican, a Democrat or an Independent or you have no interest in politics, you feel adrift in America," he said.

"Now what are you going to do about it?" Kasich continued. "Are you going to sit at home and just say the problems we see are somebody else's responsibility or are you going to try to figure out a way to bring about change? I'm not kidding you. You think this is a political talk? ... This is what matters."

He spoke of a program his administration launched that puts business leaders to work as volunteer mentors in schools. In one Cincinnati school, the program helped the graduation rate improve from 65 percent to 97 percent, Kasich said.

"If we can take our communities back and impart these values, things fix themselves," he said.

Coldwater Machine Co. President Tim McCaughey said under Kasich's administration the business, which is a leader in designing and integrating specialized equipment for manufacturing, has expanded its staff by 25 percent and overall footprint by 50 percent in the last three years.

What started out in 1954 as a small business has increased to a 105,000-square-foot facility with 110 employees.

Buchy, Faber and Taylor also highlighted the accomplishments and character of Kasich.

"The fact is, over and above everything else, he has our values," Buchy said. "This man is a man of faith, integrity, honesty and that's the kind of leadership we need at the top of every place."

Reduced spending and taxation helped move Ohio forward, Faber said.

"And so when people are out there telling you that our economy is because of some great pie-in-the-sky idea from Washington, you know that's not true," he said. "Despite dysfunction in D.C., Ohio is doing better."

Taylor said under Kasich's leadership, Ohio has seen a quarter of a million new jobs in the private sector, the lowest state unemployment rate in several years and wages growing faster than the national rate.