Mitch Daniels

[InTradePro]

Who is this guy?

Send a “bolder, clearer message” to the American people.

unify the American people around the common threat of an "unpayable" national debt

http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/mitch-daniels-seeks-bolder-clearer-message-from-gop-field-20110926


He sounds like he is getting the Ron Paul message.

[CaptUSA]

Actually, Daniels is pretty good. He's no Ron Paul, but I'd say he's 60% there. He's got some good results, too.

[GeorgiaAvenger]

He is a solid guy. Best nickname in the world: "The Blade" for his skill in cutting budgets.

I'd like to see him in RP's cabinet. Maybe even VP.

Mark Sanford is another guy that would be good in the cabinet, just announce it after Ron gets elected(lol).

Gary Johnson would be heavily favored for the cabinet too.

I want Ron to get former politicians, not current ones. There are few good ones as it is.

[erowe1]

Daniels is pretty much another Romney. I don't think as highly of that type of Republican as the others in this thread do.

[Sola_Fide]

Daniels is definitely another Romney. He is no where near a libertarian. Anyone who has lived in Indiana can tell you this.

[GeorgiaAvenger]

I wouldn't just lump him with Romney. He is not Ron Paul, but he isn't Romney either.
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/05/why-do-so-many-conservatives-like-mitch-daniels/

[erowe1]

I wouldn't just lump him with Romney. He is not Ron Paul, but he isn't Romney either.
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/05/why-do-so-many-conservatives-like-mitch-daniels/

That column looks like the typical kind of thing I've seen from pro-Romney people. What do you have in mind that makes you think Daniels is any different?

[CaptUSA]

I wouldn't call him another Romney, but I wouldn't give him a libertarian label either. Like I said, he's about 60% there. But for most politicians, that's pretty good.

Check out his success in leasing out roadways to private interests. That was pretty cool and he showed he works.

[KCIndy]

Mitch Daniels (known by GW Bush as "my man Mitch" :rolleyes:) is currently the governor of Indiana, God help us.

He's not terrible, I guess, but frankly I've been very unimpressed by him. So far, here in Indiana, under Mitch, we've seen:


*increased sales tax

*signed some really questionable laws into being (most of the ones that irk me involve commercial transportation, so I'll grant this is a little arcane)

*big spike in property taxes due to accounting errors, leading to tax protests, the near insolvency of the state, and the above mentioned hike in the sales tax

*the concept of "privatization" getting its name smeared when Mitch brokered the sale of the state's toll road (at fire sale prices, under a contract with terrible terms) to a foreign consortium


Those are just for starters. On the bright side, I think he left the income tax rate alone again this year. Ugh.

[KCIndy]

Check out his success in leasing out roadways to private interests. That was pretty cool and he showed he works.


I really have to disagree with the so-called "lease" of the toll road.

I like the idea of privatization, but the contract he brokered was simply God-awful. Under the contract, the Spanish/Australian firm basically bought the toll road. The "lease" is for 75 years. An awful lot can change in that time. It also prohibits any competing roadways being built within 20 miles of the current toll road. It also included a loophole that allowed the toll road rates to be raised without limit - AFTER Daniels had promised there would be no rate hikes.

The road was "sold" for about three billion bucks. Sounds like nice money, but like an other government, Indiana is going to have this cash pissed away within a few years. What will happen next? I'm guessing the politicians will start moaning and bellowing that since the toll road is no longer providing any revenue, they'll have "no choice" but to raise taxes - or sell more roads at fire sale prices. :(

[erowe1]

I wouldn't call him another Romney, but I wouldn't give him a libertarian label either. Like I said, he's about 60% there. But for most politicians, that's pretty good.

I would call him another Romney, and I'd rate that as being about 1% of the way there.


Check out his success in leasing out roadways to private interests. That was pretty cool and he showed he works.

I live about a mile from one of those toll roads, so I've checked it out. There's nothing especially cool about it. I'm not sure what you think it works to do, but I see it as the kind of phony "privatization" that the Daniels/Romney types are famous for.

Daniels' claim to fame is making government more efficient. I guess the way someone evaluates him will depend on whether they consider that a good or a bad thing.

[AFPVet]

Actually, Daniels is pretty good. He's no Ron Paul, but I'd say he's 60% there. He's got some good results, too.

He's my governor. He hasn't killed us yet lol. He's alright... far from perfect and far from the Pauls.

[Sola_Fide]

Indiana was the recipient of billions in stimulus money.

[erowe1]

Indiana was the recipient of billions in stimulus money.

I remember that. When Sanford was speaking out against the stimulus, Daniels just mocked him for it. And then when he saw how popular Sanford was with the tea party folks for doing it, he got on that bandwagon and acted like he was there all along.

[RileyE104]

I remember this guy Mitch Daniels talking about F.A. Hayek and The Road to Surfdom.. He can't be that bad. Perhaps the "60% good" is proper?

[erowe1]

I remember this guy Mitch Daniels talking about F.A. Hayek and The Road to Surfdom.. He can't be that bad. Perhaps the "60% good" is proper?

He loves to talk about Hayek and Friedman and all that. It's all talk. For people who actually want to apply free market principles to public policy, he has nothing but scorn.

[Cutlerzzz]

Daniels was a Bush administration official that Bush put in charge of the Federal Budget. I somehow don't think that he is one of us.

[Cowlesy]

Tim Carney just tweeted that Daniels just said at an American Enterprise Institute talk "we're gonna need a whole lot more revenue."

[Brian4Liberty]

Daniels was recently on the Daily Show with John Stewart:

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?317564-John-Stewart-interviews-Indiana-Governor-Mitch-Daniels-on-The-Daily-Show

[erowe1]

Tim Carney just tweeted that Daniels just said at an American Enterprise Institute talk "we're gonna need a whole lot more revenue."

That sounds exactly like something Daniels would say.

[rambone]

This statement downgraded my opinion of him significantly.

Daniels asks conservatives to cut Perry some slack (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44665432/ns/local_news-indianapolis_in/)