Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) called on the president to show “leadership” and cautioned GOP lawmakers not to be “stiff-necked about working across the aisle” as Washington looks for measures to boost employment and jump-start the nation’s economy.

“There’s just no substitute for leadership from the President of the United States,” said Kasich as he delivered the Republican weekly address. “It’s my hope President Obama will listen to the people and partner with Republicans to get our economy back to creating jobs and producing growth.”

{mosads}But Kasich had strong words for lawmakers from his own party. “It’s just as important that Republicans not be stiff-necked about working across the aisle when important work must be done.  It’s okay to compromise on policy, as long as you don’t compromise on your principles,” he said.

Kasich responded to the president’s three-day Midwest bus tour, noting that while Obama “didn’t stop in Ohio this time around,” he could have learned from his  successes as Ohio’s governor. “With our budget, we’ve achieved real savings and made long-overdue reforms to provide better value to Ohioans without raising their taxes,” he said.

Kasich signed a $56 billion two-year budget with significant spending cuts into law in June.

He repeated Republican calls for tax reform and spending cuts to restore business confidence.

“Our success in Ohio and in a number of other states will be thwarted if Washington continues its spending spree and its punitive taxes on success,” said Kasich. “If we’ve learned anything from the federal ‘stimulus,’ it’s that government can’t tax, spend, and regulate its way to prosperity.”

Kasich also called for lawmakers to vote on and approve a balanced budget amendment. “I can tell you there is no better way to control future spending and give our job creators long-term certainty,” he argued.

President Obama traveled to Illinois, Iowa and Minnesota earlier in the week on a three-day tour to draw attention to the economy. On his trip, he pressured Congress to put aside partisan bickering and focus on jobs. He is expected to unveil economic measures to spur job creation with a combination of tax cuts, increased infrastructure spending and long term deficit reduction.