Ohio Gov. John Kasich took immediate shots at Donald Trump and Ben Carson from the top of the GOP debate over their tax agendas, warning GOP primary voters that they need to “wake up” and understand what they are advocating for.
Kasich told CNBC’s John Harwood that the outsider duo are advocating for “empty promises,” adding that he has a proven track record of balancing the budget in both Washington and Ohio. The 2016 hopeful added that Trump and Carson’s plans are “not responsible.”
“I’m the only person on this stage that actually was involved in the chief architect of balancing the federal budget. You can’t do it with empty promises,” Kasich said. “These plans would put us trillions and trillions of dollars in debt. I actually have a plan. I’m the only one on this stage that has a plan that would create jobs, cut taxes, balance the budget and can get it done because I’m realistic. You just don’t make promises like this. Why don’t we just give a chicken in every pot, coming up with these fantasy tax schemes.
“Where are you going to clean it up? You have to deal with entitlements, you have to be in a position to control discretionary spending,” Kasich continued. “You’ve got to be creative and imaginative … This stuff is fantasy — just like getting rid of Medicare and Medicaid. Come on, that’s just not — you scare senior citizens with that. It’s not responsible.”
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Harwood then pressed Kasich to point out specifically who he was referring to before he singled out Carson over his suggestion to tax Americans 10 percent, much like the tithe system, and Trump’s immigration plan.
“Well, right here they’re talking about we’ll just have a 10 percent tithe and that’s how we’re going to fund the government. We’ll just fix everything with waste, fraud and abuse?” Kasich said. “Or that we’re just going to be great, or that we’re just going to ship 10 million people out of this country, leaving their children here in this country and dividing families.
“Folks, we got to wake up. We cannot elect somebody that doesn’t know how to do the job,” Kasich said. “You’ve got to pick somebody who has experience, somebody that has the know-how, the discipline, and I spent my entire lifetime balancing federal budgets, growing jobs. The same in Ohio — I will go back to Washington with my plan within 100 days, and it will pass and we’ll be strong again.”
Trump responded to Kasich telling him he got “lucky with a thing called fracking,” adding that Kasich was part of Lehman Brothers and played a role in the bursting of the housing bubble in 2008. Kasich refuted those accusations, telling Trump Ohio has a “diversified” economy.
