What would Kasich do?

John Kasich signed the pledge. The Republican candidate for governor has promised ''to oppose and veto any and all efforts to increase taxes.'' No surprise. He did the same for 18 years in the U.S. House. Yet this moment is different. Kasich wants to be the state's chief executive. In January, the governor will face a massive hole in the state budget. Kasich's running mate, Mary Taylor, the state auditor, has put the deficit at $8 billion for the next biennium.

Kasich owes Ohioans a concrete plan showing how he would make ends meet through spending reductions alone. It isn't good enough to talk vaguely about a strategy that will send the state economy soaring upward, creating jobs and generating additional revenue. Neither is it sufficient to say you will have a plan in the fall — especially when you have discussed looking for ways to begin eliminating the state income tax, making the budget hole even deeper.

A Kasich campaign spokesman told the Columbus Dispatch this week: ''John Kasich knows that lower taxes are the key to creating jobs and reviving our economy. Ted Strickland believes in higher taxes, which is why our state is in such bad shape, and we are happy letting voters decide who's right.''

Let's dissect the statement. First, the state has spent the past five years reducing taxes, individual income tax rates falling by almost 17 percent, the homestead exemption on property taxes expanded and business taxes slashed $1.6 billion annually. Second, Republicans point to Strickland for the state losing 430,000 jobs. Are they saying the tax cuts haven't worked? Or is the fair conclusion that the governor isn't to blame for a national recession?

Second, Kasich touts his experience in Washington as the chairman of the House Budget Committee, producing a balanced federal budget. Note that Kasich was one player in a bipartisan effort to close the deficit. What does he overlook? The budget-balancing was possible because of an income tax increase in the early 1990s — that corresponded with the creation of 21 million jobs.

All of this is indicative of a hollowness at the core of the Kasich campaign. He wants credit for balancing the federal budget without telling the complete story. He boasts about his business experience yet won't share the details of his time at the reckless Lehman Brothers, let alone what he may have learned or his complete income tax returns. Now he pledges that he won't stand for tax increases without explaining how he would cover a huge budget hole.

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