Kasich outlines his presidential campaign platform
By Marc Kovac
COLUMBUS
In the first major policy speech of his presidential campaign, Gov. John Kasich vowed to balance the federal budget in eight years while cutting tax rates and eliminating unnecessary and burdensome regulations.
Kasich’s “Strategy for Dismantling Washington & Reclaiming Our Power, Money and Influence” also calls for a “top-to-bottom” review of the Internal Revenue Service and federal tax code and the approval of the much-debated Keystone XL pipeline.
“The time to fix America is now,” Kasich told an audience at a New Hampshire community college Thursday. “It’s not tomorrow, it’s right now. The time to make tough decisions and get results, even if they’re not popular.... is now, because if we continue to hesitate, America will pay a very high price.”
He added, “Today, I lay out my vision for lifting our nation by reclaiming our power, by reclaiming our money and by reclaiming our influence from Washington.”
The announcement came as Kasich has slipped in the polls both in that state and in Ohio.
His national proposals should sound familiar to Ohioans — they mirror many of the policies enacted after Kasich took office as governor, with an emphasis on smaller government, lower taxes and regulatory reform.
Among other proposals the governor outlined Thursday:
Balanced Budget: Kasich continued his call for a federal balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution, along with efforts to reduce the size and scope of governmental agencies.
“As president, I will immediately... put us on a path to a balanced budget, and I will get it done in eight years,” he said.
His plan calls for freezing non-defense discretionary spending for eight years, with defense spending increases coupled with efforts to streamline the weapons development process and defense department administration.
Entitlement programs also would be reformed, though his campaign notes that his “balanced budget framework does not include changes to Social Security or its benefits to achieve balance....”
Decisions about programs, including federally funded job training initiatives and Medicaid, would be shifted back to the states.
Kasich targeted the U.S. Department of Transportation, which his campaign called a “costly federal highway bureaucracy” with “its burdensome oversight of state highway work” that “are barriers to growth.
Kasich proposed downsizing the transportation department to focus on national priorities and support for states.
He wants to downsize the U.S. Department of Education and consolidate its numerous block grant programs in to a handful, with more state control.
Tax Cuts: Kasich called for reducing the number of tax brackets, cutting the top rate to 28 percent from 39.6 percent and increasing the Earned Income Tax Credit by 10 percent. He also would simplify tax deductions while preserving deductions for charitable and mortgage interest.
Regulations: Kasich wants to freeze new regulations for a year and require Congress to conduct cost-benefit analyses to determine whether changes would do more harm than good. Also, there would be a two-year deadline for issuing permits for new infrastructure projects.
Energy: Kasich’s energy policy includes allowing the export of U.S.-produced oil, increasing oil and gas production on nonsensitive public lands and allowing states to regulate horizontal hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.