Ohio Update: Kasich vs. Strickland

The Akron Beacon Journal says that Kasich is saying that he will make his decision in 2009 and that "he wants to help a state that he says is in an economic 'death spiral.'" Remember that 'death spiral' comment because we'll be coming back to that. The other interesting thing to note in the ABJ piece is this:

Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland hasn't said formally whether he'll run for re-election in 2010.

And that's because T-Shirt Ted is thinking about bailing on Ohio and setting up shop in Florida where there is no state income tax.

Anyway, back to the 'death spiral' bit... Here is the latest from the Columbus Dispatch:

Kasich, in an interview with The Dispatch, said he believes the state income tax "has to be phased out." The tax provides the state with more than $9 billion a year, or 34 percent of its operating money. Kasich said he would detail later how he would make up for those tax revenues.

Such a move, Strickland contended, could mean "you're going to dismantle higher education, and elementary and secondary education, and various departments of government," which, he claimed, would put Ohio in a death spiral.

"I would just be interested to know how such a loss in revenue would be possible without basically giving up on the state of Ohio," Strickland said.

Here is where I run in to problems with Kasich... He throws out an idea like this without having laid out what would be required to replace the state income tax. I'm not looking for a platitude, I'm looking for a plan...and a sensible one too. Platitudes got us Governor Blackwell...or not.

I do think that phasing out the income tax would be a bold step towards revitalizing Ohio's economy. But I think any action that represents 34% of the state's revenue ought to be discussed a bit more seriously than a throw away line to a reporter or two. If Kasich wants to toss off one-liners about Ohio's tax situation, maybe he ought to have zeroed in on the Commercial Activities Tax first...

One last bit on the 'death spiral' business from the Dispatch:

Gov. Ted Strickland said today that he disagrees with former U.S. Rep. John Kasich's contention that Ohio is in an economic "death spiral," and he questioned Kasich's proposal to phase out the state income tax.

"I guess I'm just more optimistic about Ohio's future than Mr. Kasich's comments would indicate that he is," Strickland told reporters after an event this morning.

Yep. T-Shirt Ted is so optimistic he's got a plan to bail out to Florida...

Others covering this story: Best D@mn Blog in the Land and NaugBlog. And if you want to hear what the lefties think, check out Russo over at BSB who thinks Kasich out to campaign against Hillary/Strickland in black neighborhoods.

UPDATE: Brian over at One Oar... has an interesting thought: If Kasich is serious about this, he's going to have to convince the powers that be in the Ohio Republican Party.

UPDATE 2: Ben and Kyle chat about this story over at The Point as does NixGuy (be sure to check out the comments at Dave's place).

UPDATE 3: Allow me to clarify one point... I do actually think that Kasich is wonky enough to be able to find 34% of wasteful spending in Ohio's budget to cut in order to dispense with the income tax. It would have been nice for him to have said so though... How do I know he has the ability? He did when he was a Congressman with a MUCH bigger budget...

Here is the thing about the budget. It doesn't matter how big or small it is, that's what you have to spend. When I was president of the Residence Hall Association, I had a $5,000 budget to manage for the year to operate all of my programs. Granted, I wasn't funding Medicare...but I knew what I had to spend and I still managed to get all of my initiatives funded and come in under budget. It is exactly that kind of thinking that we need in the Ohio legislature AND the governor's mansion. I think Kasich has that mentality too.