Ohio Republican Party Refuses to Support Kasich Budget

Wow.

That’s all I can say about the press conference Ohio Republican Party Chairman Bill Bennett just gave.

Kovac has the full video here. We’ve embedded part of it below.

It looks like Bennett originally called the presser to rail against the Democrats for opposing Kasich’s budget and to announce the world’s worst tumblr: stopohiojobkillers.tumblr.com

But Reporters just wanted to know if he and the party are supporting Kasich’s plans to increase sales taxes and expand Medicaid.

The short answer: not so much.

Reporter: so “the party supports [Kasich's tax] plan, in total?”
Bennett: “well… look… the party is gonna support the legislative process”

Reporter: “you’re criticizing two democrats in the legislature – Connie Pillich and Nina Turner – for taking this position but you now say you’re not going to take a position??”
Bennett: “no – i’m saying I’m going to let the legislative process work”

Bennett is asked about Republicans and Libertarians opposing Kasich’s tax and Medicaid plans and how that’s any different than the democrats opposing it. “we support the legislative process” he responds.

Bennett is asked how they can support the Governor’s plan to expand sales taxes when they aggressively opposed a similar plan by Governor Strickland. “legislative process”

At one point, a reporter even interrupts the chairman to correct his facts on expanded sales taxes in other states. Ouch!

But my vote for best outtake comes when Bennett is asked, point blank, “so what’s your opinion on the Medicaid expansion?”

His response: “I’m not going to get into an opinion audit”.

Hell, I like that quote so much, maybe we’ll set up our own Tumblr just for this photo:

Here’s the original video from Marc Kovac: