Ohio Governor John Kasich on 2016

[Valin]

Hugh Hewitt Show:

Hugh Hewitt

December 16, 2014

 

Audio

 

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HH: You snuck in and out of Arizona last week before I even noticed that you were flying into the Desert State, or I would have come over to interview you. What is that Flying Wedge campaign all about?

 

JK: Well, you know, I’ve been concerned for many years, even from the beginning of my career when I was really young about the need to balance the budget. And I spent ten years of my life working to get it done in Washington. But you come to realize that moments in time are not good enough. So we’re not a bit over $18 trillion dollars in the hole, and I don’t care whether you’re a Republican, a Democrat, an independent or somebody that just doesn’t care. Those kind of numbers are staggering, and they have profound implications for our country if in fact we don’t begin to deal with this. So I actually believe that without a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution, I think Congress will continue to do the things they do, where at moments in time they may do the right thing. But Hugh, you can’t operate a government where you don’t have any financial stability. You couldn’t operate a business that way. You can’t operate a family that way. And I am extremely concerned. I think this is the most important thing that we can get done now, is to force them to balance their budget. You know, if we didn’t have that requirement in Ohio, I’m sure that we would still be in the hole, and politicians would dodge and figure out how to get away with making choices. But once you have to make that choice, I think it would begin to lock things into place and bring great improvement to our country.

 

HH: And so a lot of people see in this the shell of a presidential campaign. Is that in fact the case?

 

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HH: Now Governor, earlier today, because of Jeb Bush’s announcement. I started looking into Common Core. And I saw you sat down with the Columbus Dispatch a few months ago, or maybe it was even a year ago, and said look, I’m not for Common Core, I’m not against Common Core, I’m for kids learning. Is this your effort to take the education issue and put it along with the balanced budget issue at the center of the American agenda?

 

JK: No, no, no. Look, we’ve got so many education reform proposals, Hugh, we could do two hours on all of them, including the 3rd grade reading guarantee, to stop social promotion, a different pathway for kids who are likely to drop out to be able to get an education, in other words, turning our education system from an agrarian model into a 21st Century model. But here’s what I was saying about Common Core. First of all, it was the governors that came up with this idea. In my state, we designed the curriculum to meet the higher standards which we need in America at the school board level. I have nothing to do with their curriculum. Washington has nothing to do with their curriculum. It’s the school board with parental advisors who designed the curriculum to meet the higher standards. And that’s, I said, you know, without Washington or Columbus being involved, I’m for higher standards, and I’m for local schools being able to figure out how to get them achieved. Now there’s a test called the Park Test. I’m not committed to that test. If that test doesn’t make any sense, we’ll throw the God-darned test out. And frankly, there’s too much testing in our schools right now. But until somebody shows me that this Common Core, which involves higher standards so our kids will do better, I don’t know what’s wrong with it except, you know, I mean, people say what’s wrong with it. I’ve never heard anything that was a legitimate opposition to it, Hugh.

 

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