Spending cuts are only for the little people in John Kasich's world. Channel 3 News reports he's using the state plane -- at taxpayer expense -- like a taxicab.
Here's the news story:
Gov. John Kasich is fast becoming a frequent flyer and it's happening on the taxpayers' dime.
The governor has come under attack for using state planes to excess, especially when he's asking taxpayers to tighten their belts in these tough economic times...
A Channel 3 News review of Kasich's travels by state plane shows that he is on pace to quadruple the amount of money that his predecessor, former Gov. Ted Strickland, spent on state planes in his last year in office.
In the first six months of this year, Channel 3 News found that Kasich took 38 trips on state planes at a cost of more than $53,000. If you add 12 trips by staff, that $53,000 jumps to more than $64,000
By comparison, Strickland flew 17 times in state planes in all of 2010 at a cost to taxpayers of about $27,000.Progress Ohio, predictably, is disgusted -- especally since Kasich attacked his opponent for using the state plane.
During his 2010 campaign against Ted Strickland, Kasich, through spokesperson Rob Nichols, criticized the incumbent's use of the state plane and questioned whether funding the plane was justifiable at all:
"But because [Strickland] likes hitting the snooze button, he makes a small army of people fire up his plane, get it ready and then fly it from one airport to another so he won't have to drive an extra 15 minutes to the airport. ... Putting aside the wasted money and extra wear and tear, could the guy do something more arrogant? ... Frankly, there needs to be a closer review of whether the plane's cost can even still be justified at all."
