The Ohio Republican Party reacted to Gov. Ted Strickland's announcement of looming budget defecits with a mix of credit and blame.

"It's good to see the governor finally got off the campaign trail and started paying attention to Ohio's economic challenges," Deputy Chairman Kevin DeWine said in a statement.  "Unfortunately, he spent much of his first term blaming everyone else for the spilled milk rather than finding a way to clean it up."

Strickland said Monday that the 2009 budget faces a $640 million shortfall due to the national recession. The next biennial budget covering 2010 and 2011 will have a defecit between $4 and $7 billion.

DeWine said the governor deserves credit for cutting the budget already and continuing GOP tax reforms. Still, DeWine said Strickland has been insufficently bold and has not made good on his campaign promise to turn around Ohio.

The burden is now on Democrats who've gained power, DeWine said. 

"Republicans stand ready to work together, but with a Democrat president, a Democrat Congress and a new Democrat House, he's running out of people to blame."