Cutting the budget wouldn't be as simple as Kasich thinks

John Kasich was hyperbolic and audacious, as usual. The Republican who would be governor tantalized this reporter with a promise that he would be scintillating copy in the days ahead.

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With the same bombast that fueled his success as a Fox News commentator, Kasich vowed that nothing would stop him from doing what must be done to balance the budget and recalibrate state government to a proper size -- not special interests, not sugar-daddy campaign contributors, not even his own party's legislators.

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More than ever, Ohio needs a tough governor. Whoever takes office in January, Kasich or incumbent Democrat Ted Strickland, immediately will have to draft a two-year budget with possibly $7 billion less to spend than in the current budget.

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Precedent instructs that Kasich probably would do it solely with cuts. If so, that's when his bluster will run headlong into reality. Kasich will learn that he can't cut his way out of the budget crisis for two reasons: Ohioans won't let him, and the numbers don't add up.

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Here's the other problem for Kasich: For every $1 collected by state government, 85 cents is shipped to local governments to operate schools, libraries, jails, health and mental-health facilities, Medicaid services for the poor and disabled, property tax relief and other services.

So cutting $7 billion to balance the budget would require Kasich to gut services Ohioans depend upon. Schools would close, prisoners would be released and poor children would be kicked to the curb. Good luck getting that done. Strickland couldn't even get lawmakers to eliminate 16 boards and commissions -- because that's where legislators go to continue state health and retirement benefits once they're term-limited.

Fox-like tough talk might impress voters, but it won't do them any good unless it is grounded in reality. And a candidate who starts his campaign by espousing a goal of eliminating the state income tax is not living in the real world...

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