A Glimpse Into the Black, Shriveled Hearts of the Republican Class Warriors

When you think that maybe the hearts of Republican leaders aren’t actually that closed to compassion, you are always proven wrong:

Kasich’s temper has made it harder to endear himself to the GOP’s wealthy benefactors. Last year, he traveled to Southern California to appear on a panel at a conference sponsored by the Republican mega-donors Charles and David Koch. At one point, according to accounts provided by two sources present, Randy Kendrick, a major contributor and the wife of Ken Kendrick, the owner of the Arizona Diamondbacks, rose to say she disagreed with Kasich’s decision to expand Medicaid coverage, and questioned why he’d expressed the view it was what God wanted.

The governor’s response was fiery. “I don’t know about you, lady,” he said as he pointed at Kendrick, his voice rising. “But when I get to the pearly gates, I’m going to have an answer for what I’ve done for the poor.”

The exchange left many stunned. About 20 audience members walked out of the room, and two governors also on the panel, Nikki Haley of South Carolina and Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, told Kasich they disagreed with him. The Ohio governor has not been invited back to a Koch seminar — opportunities for presidential aspirants to mingle with the party’s rich and powerful — in the months since.

A Kasich spokesman, Chris Schrimpf, declined to comment on the episode.

Like in the first Gilded Age, the poor are seen with total contempt and hostility, as is even the mildest suggestion that we should do something for them. This is the open position of the Republican Party, a position they are able to take with a combination with appeals to racism and a well-funded propaganda machine about the values of the free market and self-reliance.