( CNN ) Is America a nation divided ? And has Ohio found a better way to bridge those divisions ? It 's hard not to be concerned with these questions given the constant drumbeat of news about the issues that tear us apart as a nation : immigration , community and police relations , poverty , education and dozens of other crucial matters facing America . Adding to our divisions is a harsh public atmosphere where politicians are preoccupied with how they can win the next election or give the best sound bite , and where lobby groups work to protect their narrow self-interests while ignoring a broader vision of what is best for our country . In Ohio , we have been able to drive meaningful change on many thorny issues that have held our state back in the past -- social services , criminal justice , economic competiveness , infrastructure -- and I 've enjoyed sharing our state 's winning formula with others in my travels . In 2011 , I returned to public service -- after earlier serving for 18 years in Congress in the 1980s and '90s . Over the intervening years , Ohio had lost its way and was hurting . I felt called to help after knowing that members of 350,000 Ohio families had lost their jobs and were looking to get back on their feet . Ohio is much stronger today . And that turnaround and success are worth being excited about and sharing . For example , we have gone from 89 cents in our rainy day fund and an $ 8 billion shortfall to now having one of the nation 's strongest state budgets and a nearly $ 2 billion surplus . We 've gone from losing 350,000 private-sector jobs to creating about 340,000 new ones . We 've gone from very high taxes across the board to the largest tax cuts in of any state in America , including tax cuts for the working poor . We 're seeing wages grow faster than the national average and Ohio 's unemployment rate drop to the lowest level in more than a decade . Getting Ohio back on track was n't easy . It required big ideas , going against the status quo and tuning out those who worry only about protecting their own special interests . Yes , we have a great success story to tell about our state . And we need to make Ohio 's success contagious . The leadership style that helped us turn around Ohio is needed in Washington , where America 's $ 18 trillion debt ticks higher each day and our congressional leaders would struggle even to pass a resolution saluting Mother 's Day if it required their action . Great leaders are not primarily guided by polls , political parties , focus groups , re-election , special interests or protecting the status quo . Instead they bring teams of people together , challenge them to innovate and engage both sides to work together to fashion solutions based on common sense and the common good . As the chairman of the House Budget Committee in Congress in the 1990s , I helped craft the first balanced budget since man walked on the moon . We worked in a bipartisan effort that does n't happen enough . There were , of course , disagreements along the way , but they never overshadowed the shared values we had to guide our work and the shared goal of fiscal responsibility and seeing our country live within its means . Given the polarizing issues facing our country , America needs a leader who believes in a common set of fundamental values necessary to bring about change that will unite our country without being blinded by the many distractions that ego , selfishness and power produce . Leaders who focus only on themselves and their own good have rejected this value-driven approach and make it impossible to make progress on our most pressing issues such as balanced budgets , tax cuts , welfare reform , border security , immigration and health care . We see it every day . There are certain values that guide great countries : . • Personal responsibility : It obligates us to be accountable for ourselves so we can then do our duty for our families and our communities . • Empathy : It allows us to walk in someone else 's shoes , so that in times of disagreement we might consider for a moment that there might be another , better way that makes all of us stronger . • Teamwork : It sets ego aside and demands that we all pull in the same direction to win . • Faith : It tells us we are made special in the image of God with unique gifts that enable our mission here on earth . These values allow us to develop policy solutions that solve problems in new and creative ways for the good of all Americans instead of producing rhetoric , sound bites and press releases that too often pass for true reform . In Ohio we 've implemented this winning strategy . It 's worked there , and it will work for the nation as well .
Ohio Gov . John Kasich : " I think the president is doing a good job and we need to continue that work with him on this issue."