Is Kasich’s Indiana really Ohio’s right role model?

The last time Ohio had an election for governor, one candidate wanted to talk about another state: Florida.

J. Kenneth Blackwell, then the Republican secretary of state, pointed out that Florida was doing a lot better than Ohio in a lot of ways. It was growing and prospering. People were leaving Ohio for Florida.

He traced these facts to a difference in tax policies. Florida had lower taxes and, most specifically, no state income tax.

Listening to him, one thought, really?

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Now there’s another candidate for governor with a favorite state. John Kasich likes Indiana, or, more precisely, its governor, Mitch Daniels, a fellow Republican. In making his case for lower taxes and less regulation, Kasich talks about how much better things are going in Indiana because of smart policies there.

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Sometimes Indiana is identified as a state whose unemployment rate has gone down during a particular period, when most states have seen a rise. And at certain stage this year, Indiana was claiming to lead the country in job creation, seeing 7 percent of the new jobs this year, despite having only 2 percent of the population. (Actually, Ohio led the nation in jobs created for one month this year.)

In the big picture, though, things look different. Take taxes. An organization called the Tax Foundation notes that Indiana is Ohio’s only neighbor that has higher taxes than Ohio, when you combine state and local.

Or take jobs. In June, Indiana’s unemployment rate was 10.6 percent, Ohio’s 10.5, though Indiana used to have a lower rate.

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