This is pretty big news on the national level, as many GP governors have resisted the Medicaid funds. John Kasich will be running for re-election soon, so it’s not too surprising that he went in this direction.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich announced Monday that he will accept the Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act, becoming the fifth Republican governor to embrace the provision of the health care reform law that the Supreme Court made optional.

The governor unveiled the decision as part of his budget proposal.

“We are going to extend Medicaid for the working poor and for those who are jobless trying to find work,” Kasich said at a press conference in Columbus. “It makes great sense for the state of Ohio because it will allow us to provide greater care with our own dollars.”

This makes sense, and only those politicians who are obsessed with partisan politics are resisting these dollars.

Grover Norquist discusses his anti-tax pledge in Cleveland.

The voters of Ohio soundly defeated Issue 2, thus repealing SB-5, the union-busting bill pushed by Governor Kasich.

Here is Kasich’s reaction, and you can see that he has been repudiated and perhaps humbled a bit by this smack-down. Kasich has been known for his arrogance and his combative style, so this is a real departure for him.

Kasich’s overreach gets put to the test in tomorrow’s election.

A new survey from Public Policy Polling (D) shows Ohio Democrats and public employee unions likely to win a big victory on Tuesday in the referendum on Republican Gov. John Kasich’s anti-public union bill, SB-5.

The poll shows only 36% of Ohioans will vote to support the law, while a decisive 59% oppose the bill and will vote to repeal it.

Kasich’s own approval mirrors those numbers, with only 33% approval and 57% disapproval. Kasich was elected in the 2010 Republican wave, defeating incumbent Democrat Ted Strickland by a 49%-47% margin. However, when asked if they could vote again, the respondents in this poll chose Strickland by a 55%-37% margin.

Let’s see exactly what happens tomorrow.

In pitching for his Issue 2 (SB5), Governor John Kasich made this blunder:

“We never thought (former Cleveland Browns quarterback) Bernie Kosar would bring the Browns back and win that big championship game,” Kasich said.

Kasich, a Steelers fan who grew up in suburban Pittsburgh, apparently didn’t know that Kosar never won a championship game with the Browns, going 0-3 in AFC title tilts with trips to the Super Bowl on the line.

No wonder this guy is such a terrible governor. How could we elect a Steelers fan?

Richard Cordray gets a big job:

President Obama nominated Richard Cordray, the former attorney general of Ohio, to officially have your back. If and when Cordray is confirmed, he’ll run the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the agency created last summer to defend consumers against abusive practices by banks and other financial institutions.

The article goes on to analyze why Cordray was selected. Many expect him to run for governor of Ohio in 2014, so this can be a big stepping stone for him.

John Kasich talks about his experiences in Ohio and his days in the House of Representatives. Of course Joe Scarborough loves having him on there.

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Just when you think Dennis Kucinich has some common sense, you have him saying ridiculous things again. His latest loony statement has him suggesting that President Obama’s Libya strikes might be an impeachable offense. Good grief . . .

Politico has an interesting tidbit on how some are hoping to draft Drew Carey to run for the US Senate from Ohio to take on Sherrod Brown in 2012. Carey made some noise recently when he produced a series of videos with Reason, a libertarian think tank, on how to fix Cleveland.

Despite the idiotic decision by new Governor John Kasich to reject $400 million of federal money for a high-speed rail project that would have connected Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati, a new proposal that’s part of President Obama’s new high-speed rail initiative just might work in Ohio.

Ohio may yet get on track with President Obama’s newly announced $53 billion initiative to build a nationwide high speed rail network.

A bipartisan group of northern Ohio Congress members met Thursday with Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to discuss building a high speed rail line along Lake Erie that would link Cleveland with Chicago, Detroit, Toledo and Buffalo, and also include routes to Youngstown and Pittsburgh. Building a line along the lake is a top tier part of Obama’s rail program.

Bainbridge Township GOP Rep. Steve LaTourette said he plans to work with Republicans and Democrats from Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Illinois and Michigan “to see if there’s a way we can help restore some of what the President’s vision is on high speed rail in our part of the world.”

Though newly elected Republican Ohio Gov. John Kasich rejected $400 million in federal funds to build a different train line between Cleveland and Cincinnati, LaTourette believes Kasich might be more receptive to the lakeshore route. He said it also might be possible to secure funds for the project so “the state of Ohio would not have to be the political subdivision that gets the money and does the work.”

Kasich indicated he would be willing to consider it if Steve LaTourette was behind it.

And that’s really the key here, and this will have a huge impact in Congress as well. Even Republicans like LaTourette support this, so you might just see a bi-partisan effort to support the President on this one.