Ohio Gov. John Kasich tells
Newsmax TV that as president he will immediately tackle the nation's fiscal health by working to balance the budget and cutting unnecessary taxes — priorities he's accomplished in the Buckeye State.
"I've done the most amount of tax cuts of any sitting governor today. We killed the death tax and we are lowering income taxes," Kasich said in an interview with J.D. Hayworth on "Newsmax Prime."
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"I would like to think what I could do as president is a lot of what we started in the '90s but we were never able to finish and that's shifting a lot of power, money, and influence out of [Washington] and investing it in the states and in the communities around this country."
And, Kasich adds, he'll do it without stunts and empty promises.
"I'm not really interested in putting two scoops of ice cream in my mouth or tearing my shirt off or any of that. I'm interested in just being a positive unifier that can solve problems. I've always been a reformer." he said.
Kasich — who started his political career in the Ohio Senate in 1978 and served nine terms as a U.S. congressman representing Ohio's 12th congressional district from 1983 to 2001 — said he has the attributes of the so-called GOP outsiders, Donald Trump, Dr. Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina, who lead the GOP presidential polls.
"People say, well you know, I like all the outsiders. You've known me a long time, I'm both an inside and an outside guy. I am a conservative reformer, that's what I've always been and I will continue to be," Kasich told Hayworth.
Kasich, 63, said he wants healthcare reform, a strong national defense and an improved educational system.
"We've been able to be in a position of actually putting a CEO in one of our schools to run the schools, the Cleveland public schools," he said.
He added that his conservative ideology is solid — and does not come with a lot of razzle dazzle.
"Is it not conservative that I am very concerned about poor people? I don't think so. Is it not conservative because I don't want to use red hot rhetoric? I don't think so. That's not what I want to do," he said.
"If that's the kind of leader we're looking for, that ain't me. I'm somebody that wants to fight on principle, but yet bring people together."
"And one thing that's consistent from when I served in Congress, as you know, I had very good relations on the other side of the aisle. That's very important when you start to govern the United States of America."
Kasich said that when he kicked off his quest for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination, people "started to say, well you now he'll lose his temper, he's not disciplined, or whatever."
"It's kind of funny because they didn't know me. They don't understand me. For me, it's about laying out a realistic agenda. It's not about trying to make a headline or get a cheer."
"If you're going to run for president, you have to be sober and you need to know what you're going to do … [I have] not only won elections, but have brought people together at the same time. That's what America needs, a uniter and not a divider."
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