Kasich-O-Meter

Tracking the promises of John Kasich

"Phase out the income tax. It's punishing on individuals. It's punishing on small business. To phase that out, it cannot be done in a day, but it's absolutely essential that we improve the tax environment in this state so that we no longer are an obstacle for people to locate here and that we can create a reason for people to stay here."

“Kill the death tax. You know the death tax, all these people who are successful, they’re moving to Florida. Florida doesn’t have a death tax. So we’ve got to get rid of that so the entrepreneurs, the job creators, stay."

During the debate Oct. 7 he pledged not to raise taxes and said he favored allowing the fifth phase of the five-year, 21-percent income tax reduction that was delayed under Gov. Ted Strickland. The reduction took affect Jan. 1, 2011. He has said he intends to leave it in place despite the need to fill an $8 billion hole in the state budget.

Signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, in which he agrees to "oppose and vote against any and all efforts to increase taxes."

Under his "JobsOhio" plan, he would abolish a state agency devoted to job creation and replace it with a privatized, corporate board that he would appoint and chair.

Said the Third Frontier program, which makes investments through bond sales to foster technology partnerships with universities, medical and other research centers to the private sector, has been tainted by bureaucrats and political influence and that it should be restructured so business executives control more of the money.

"How about vouchering out all the job training program and giving it to the businesses, including small businesses, and letting them drive the curriculm at our technical schools and our community colleges so we begin to train people and retrain people for jobs that exist and those we think are going to come."

“We have to train ourselves for the jobs that are going to come. Because we’re not just going to be stuck here in manufacturing, and we’ll do manufacturing as best as we can, but we also have to be involved in bio technology and computer information technology. We’ve got to retrain Ohioans and we need a whole new system to do that.”

"As governor it's going to be my job to be like Jim Rhodes was and that is to chase around this country and chase around the world, if necessary, to convince people that Ohio is a place to locate their businesses."

Says he will "skinny-down state bureaucracy to ensure taxpayers are getting their money’s worth, and reform state government into a 21st century partner with Ohio's job creators – not one that punishes business with outdated or unnecessary regulation."

Said state regulations are too cumbersome and need to be simplified. "Our regulation policy is not very good either. Our policy is cumbersome. It takes longer (to get things done) than in other states. Regulations tend to go above and beyond." ... "When you go into a small business and you hassle them and impose rules that don't make any sense, you're not hassling the business. You're killing somebody's job. So our regulatory system has been out of date."

Said he can bring Ohio colleges and universities together to share resources, entice major institutions to collaborate and force Republicans and Democrats in the General Assembly to tackle tough issues.

"Ted Strickland's evidence-based model was unfunded, filled with unfunded mandates on cash-strapped districts, and has been unsuccessful in the states in which it has been implemented."

"Raise (education) standards for everybody. We should bring the curriculum in line with international norms. We're not competing with Indiana. We're competing with India."

"We pay good teachers more, but I'm going to suggest that we hold all teachers accountable. Teachers who can't teach shouldn't be in the classroom. ... If we've got teachers who can't do the job there's no excuse for leaving them in the classroom. But the good ones — we'll pay them more."

"School funding should be shifted out of bureaucracy and into the classroom."

"I've been in cities where I've seen people stand in line to give their kids a chance to be safer and better educated. And the idea that we're going to deny them a chance to have choice; to put their kids where their kids can get the best education, in my opinion violates their civil rights. To me it's the biggest civil rights issue out there. The right of mothers and fathers to have the resources to put their kids in a school setting where their kids can learn and prosper."

"I believe in the 2nd Amendment. Everybody has the right to keep and bear arms to either protect your family, protect yourselves, to be a hunter. The 2nd amendment is part of that Constitution. It's something I believe in. And, we're going to stand firm, very firm, for 2nd Amendment rights here in the state of Ohio."

“The 39 mph high-speed train is dead when I become governor."

"I've never been for prevailing wage because it drives up the cost"