-
Dick Morris’ Bad Entitlements Advice
April 1, 2013 | 41 comments
-
Will Welker Walk?
March 11, 2013 | 273 comments
-
Not Yet Elite, But Pretty Neat
February 5, 2013 | 8 comments
-
The Harbaugh Bowl
January 22, 2013 | 33 comments
-
Tom Terrific
January 14, 2013 | 55 comments
Feature
Mitch the Knife
Is America ready for a president who will cut spending? Our November cover story.
(Page 3 of 3)
The voters will get it if politicians are honest with them, Daniels insists. “People know these things,” he argues. “It’s crazy to send Warren Buffet a pension check.” But one thing is certain: “We’ll never know unless someone tries.” Will Daniels try? “I sure hope so,” says Weaver.
With his focus on austerity, Daniels doesn’t talk like a presidential candidate. The next challenge is whether he looks enough like one. He is 5’7 and balding. He is affable but not exactly larger than life. Ferguson, who described Daniels as having “sunk into a black hole of personal magnetism and come out the other side, where the very lack of charisma becomes charismatic,” paints the following picture of the 2012 presidential contest: “I see [Daniels] as he strides toward the middle of the stage to shake hands with Obama before the first debate and comes up to the president’s navel. Election over.”
Such descriptions astonish and confuse Daniels’s fans. “I don’t get why all these magazine profiles keep saying he’s not charismatic,” says one current aide. “Have they ever actually talked to him?” Rateike begins to guffaw just thinking about the governor. “He’s one of the funniest guys I know,” he says. “You may not believe me, but he has really got a lot of charisma.” They all point to Daniels’s common touch, his preference for sleeping on voters’ couches rather than in fancy hotels, his love of Butler basketball and Harley Davidson motorcycles, his starring role on the YouTube phenomenon “MitchTV.”
MIKE WEAVER REMEMBERS the exact moment he was sold on Mitch Daniels. He sent the governor an e-mail telling him he needed to break the stalemate with the Democratic majority in the state house of representatives to get anything more done. That means the Republicans needed to retake the house. For that to happen, Weaver told the governor, Daniels needed to be involved.
“At 8:43 on a Saturday morning, six minutes later, I got an e-mail back,” says Weaver. “I later told my employees that they hardly ever get back to me within six minutes.” As it happens, Daniels took Weaver’s advice. He went out and recruited promising Republican candidates for the state legislature. The GOP now stands a decent chance of retaking the lower house and thwarting Daniels’s Democratic nemesis Pat Bauer, the house Speaker who was first elected in the 1970s and bears a passing resemblance to the Dukes of Hazzard character Boss Hogg.
In Indiana, at least, Daniels has managed to appeal to a large number of people. After a tough race in 2004, he was reelected four years later by an 18-point margin even as Obama became the first Democratic presidential candidate to carry the state since 1964. Daniels won young voters and carried 20 percent of the black vote, both groups where Republicans fared abysmally across the country that year. Daniels’s approval rating is usually more than 60 percent and has reached as high as 70 percent.
“Would his appeal translate well with the national press? I don’t know,” Rateike admits. “But I think people are ready for substance.” This is an especially common sentiment among Republicans who are tired of inarticulate presidential candidates — George H. W. Bush, Bob Dole, George W. Bush, John McCain — and want someone who can explain what they believe and why. Daniels is seen as someone engaged with policy details who can go beyond trite Obama-bashing and deliver a critique of federal spending that isn’t limited to wisecracks about earmarks.
“If government spending prevented pain, we wouldn’t have pain,” Daniels says. “Obama’s budget leads to disaster.” According to him, the question is whether we are ready to do something about it. If Daniels runs for president, he will be asking the American people to do something they have seldom if ever done since Calvin Coolidge: elect a frugal candidate who combines government-cutting with a good-government ethic and doesn’t look like a commander in chief straight out of central casting.
The above seems like a tall order. But after the country’s first brush with progressive rule, Americans were ready for a little normalcy. As the bills come due, maybe another Coolidge Republican’s time has come.
About the Author
W. James Antle, III, author of the new book Devouring Freedom: Can Big Government Ever Be Stopped?, is editor of the Daily Caller News Foundation and a senior editor of The American Spectator. You can follow him on Twitter @jimantle.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (97) | Leave a comment
More Articles by W. James Antle, III
More Articles From Feature
http://spectator.org/archives/2010/11/10/mitch-the-knife
Follow us:
ADVERTISEMENT
SPONSORED LINKS
FLASHBACK TO: 1995
-
Pope Culture
A man of faith in a godless age is hitting Americans where it hurts.
-
Why the GOP Does Not, Like, Totally Suck
Mr. and Mrs. American Spectator Reader, let P.J. O’Rourke talk sense to your kids.
-
Dames at Sea
-
In the Absence of Guns
In Britain, defending your property can get you life.
-
The Metaphysical Martini
-
Counting the Costs of Clintonism
The debacle of this president’s administration is both a cause and a symptom of the decline of American values. Unless Congress impeaches him, that decline will go on unchecked. An eminent jurist surveys the damage and assesses the chances for the recovery of our culture.
-
Chuck McHagel
It won’t take long for conservatives to scratch this presidential wannabe off their 2008 scorecard.
-
The Legacy of Old John and Mother Fresh-Roasted
-
It’s the Best Time of the Year
The American Christmas, like the songs that celebrate it, makes room for everybody under the rainbow. Is that why so many people seem to be hostile to it?
-
The Bush Crack-Up
Was the President done in by the economy, or by the politics of the economy?
Clip of the Day
ADVERTISEMENT
Herr Zeitgeist !| 11.10.10 @ 6:46AM
Don't suffer from Edward de Bono's intelligence trap, the USA doesn't need another "egghead" as President. Mitch has already "played his card" with the truce option and it flopped. We ,the USA need someone who has spent their life around the common man.
Statue of Freedon| 11.10.10 @ 12:51PM
Did you even read the article? Do you know anything about his two runs for governor? He went to every county in the state two or three times in an RV made in Indiana. He stayed with families along the way, sleeping in kids rooms and on couches. Watch a couple of episodes of MitchTV -- he literally spends hours and hours with all walks of life in the state, relating to each.
His positions on gay marriage and abortion are right in the conservative sweet spot and have been for decades. You are latching on to one line in one interview and tossing everytheing else in the record -- do some homework.
Oh, and he is smart and can explain policy to folks, not in the condescending way of some today but in real terms. Gosh, that seems better than some of the GOPers who just have talking points with little substance (and whom Obama would crush in 2012).
Alan Brooks| 11.11.10 @ 1:05AM
"Is America ready for a president who will cut spending?"
Yes, somebody ELSE's spending.
"Less government (that I don't like)"
Alan Brooks| 11.11.10 @ 4:21PM
Still a moron after all these beers!
Tomas| 11.12.10 @ 3:11PM
Running low on sycophants, Alan? You have to reply to your own posts?
-
Alan Brooks| 11.18.10 @ 1:29PM
I did not write the last comment. One more reason I am starting to despise the Right. Some libertopian thinks he can take someone's identity.
I can't wait to see the look on your faces when Obama is re-elected! THAT will make it all worthwhile.
Tomas| 11.12.10 @ 3:18PM
Another poster who reads the title and thinks he knows everything....
Living in Indiana, I have seen Mitch work his magic first hand. Against all odds he has encouraged - in the most gentlemanly fashion - partnership in his smaller government goals. We have seen the fruits of his efforts. For many years Indiana has been an island of black ink in a sea of red ink states. And services have only improved.
Indiana loves Mitch. I'm not sure I want to see him attempt high national office; the left will surely bring all their weapons to bear in their effort to destroy the man.
Thanks, Mitch, for real leadership. You're my man, Mitch.
-
Alan Brooks| 11.19.10 @ 5:51PM
"Living in Indiana, I have seen Mitch work his magic"
Magic! And we thought magic is in Kansas when Dorothy finds a pair of ruby slippers on sale..
chris haynes| 11.10.10 @ 7:06AM
A truce while the Holocaust goes on?
So far 45 000 000 denied their inalienable right to life. 3000 more, another 9-11 every day. Biggest holocaust in history.
But Daniels says I can cut costs. Just let the Holocaust continue.
Booger| 11.10.10 @ 8:47AM
Dear Mr. Haynes,
You are correct on the right to life issue. Social issues further includes gay marriage, school choice and religious freedom (if you don't think that's an issue, look at Dearborn). Ignoring these issues (truce? really?) will only speed our decline. Undermining the churches, families and schools of the nation while "cutting costs" will still lead to collapse.
Additionally, the only real cuts I have heard Governor Daniels put forward as serious are in Defense. Defense is the one area where the Federal Government actually has a Constitutional responsibility to spend large sums of money and makes up less than one-quarter of the Federal Budget. Defense is not the problem, and anyone who suggests balancing the budget on the back of the Armed Forces is dishonest, ignorant or both. When Governor Daniels comes out with a list of entitlements he is willing and able to put the axe to then maybe I can take his reputation as a budget cutter seriously. But of course I am sure that would violate his truce on social issues.
Cordially,
Booger
Margie| 11.10.10 @ 12:57PM
Ronald Reagan:
“Defense is not a budget issue. You spend what you need.”
“There must be no perception by anyone in the world that we’re backing down one inch on the defense buildup.”
Perhaps Daniels is one of these non-interventionist types? If so he will not prosper.
Tim*| 11.10.10 @ 6:08PM
Ronald Reagan On Defense Waste:
" During my 1980 campaign, I called federal waste and fraud a national scandal. We knew we could never rebuild America's strength without first controlling the exploding cost of defense programs, and we're doing it. When we took office in 1981, costs had been escalating at an annual rate of 14 percent. Then we began our reforms. And in the last two years, cost increases have fallen to less than 1 percent. We've made huge savings. Each F-18 fighter costs nearly $4 million less today than in 1981. One of our air-to-air missiles costs barely half as much.
Getting control of the defense bureaucracy is no small task. Each year the Defense Department signs hundreds of thousands of contracts. So yes, a horror story will sometimes turn up despite our best efforts. That's why we appointed the first Inspector General in the history of the Defense Department. And virtually every case of fraud or abuse has been uncovered by our Defense Department, our Inspector General. Secretary Weinberger should be praised, not pilloried, for cleaning the skeletons out of the closet. As for those few who have cheated taxpayers or have swindled our Armed Forces with faulty equipment, they are thieves stealing from the arsenal of democracy, and they will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."
victor| 11.12.10 @ 10:37AM
Interseting that you non-interventionist isolationists are only interested in cutting the Defense budget.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wi.....tegory.jpg
The Defense budget is only 19% of the total, but you never mention the other 81%, eh?
Politis does indee make strange bedfellows as you are in bed with Barney Frank, Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich in defunding the Military.
lunar| 11.16.10 @ 6:26PM
@both above - A truce is not a surrender. That point is actually covered in the article! You can't fight every war at one time. The liberals would fight against everything this man stands for as a candidate. He's hoping to accomplish something by focusing on a fight he could win. Any candidate who proclaims that he/she will take on every element of contention between the two political camps will fail to succeed at affecting any of them (unless they have a majority in the House and Senate, as well).
@chris haynes - The "Holocaust" comment is ridiculous. You can't compare the individual decisions of thousands of people to the single collective decision of the Nazi party. It's no different than saying murder is a holocaust. That kind of shock statement doesn't bring any usefully intelligent people to your cause.
@Booger - So you don't like that a governor isn't looking for his promotion, yet? I look at the lack of other specific spending cuts as a product of focusing on his current job. Isn't that a good thing? We've found a politician who does his job, instead of looking for his next payday. Now, I return to my original point. The truce is in place long enough to fight a different war. Once he wins the budget war, the war of the social issues he cares about can be next. The man who hunts two rabbits will catch neither. Geez, politics just make everyone so negative about things...
Eric Cartman| 11.10.10 @ 10:21AM
I didn't take away from this that Daniels is going to completely ignore social issues. I get what he is saying , but I think he is wrong. What I don't think he gets is that the other side will not make nice and have a truce. When he says "We're going to just have to agree to get along for a little while" is wishful thinking on his part. The Left will double down (Hell, they'll riot in the streets with pink garbed gay, unionized, socialized medicine, abortion doctors riding the lead horses holding Impeach Bush signs), requiring him to go off message, and the media scumbags will gladly go along. He needs a good VP to take on social issues with outside groups as he focuses on the budget. But he needs to focus on them. He isn't dealing with his father's Democrats.
Neanderthal| 11.10.10 @ 10:46AM
You are getting way too worked up over semantics. Based on Daniels' history (always a better indicator than speeches), there's not much chance that he's going to be pro-abortion, pro gay marriage if elected President.
He should have said it differently, but the fact is that the economy and government spending has to be job one. The only real progress on social issues will come from appointing Supreme Court Justices who read the Constitution rather than "construing" it.
Shamus| 11.10.10 @ 7:16AM
Daniels says he's not running in 2012, and my guess is that he isn't. So far it looks Palin verses Romney in the primaries.
Hoosier Daddy| 11.12.10 @ 8:23AM
McCain already beat Romney in 2008, then got his butt handed to him by Duh Won. Even with the economic meltdown, why would I believe Romney is electable now? As for Daniels, this Hoosier would vote for him...for VP.
Charles | 11.10.10 @ 8:25AM
Mitch Daniels is a RINO!!!! Wake up people!! We need Mike Pence to run 2012!
JShizzle| 11.10.10 @ 11:04AM
I love Pence...but sorry Daniels is no RINO. Both serve Indiana well, and to liken Mitch to McCain or Graham is really off base.
Jack | 11.10.10 @ 11:22AM
Daniels a RINO? Are you kidding? Because he doesn't through sophmoric bombs or sound like a preacher ? If you truly think these social issues are within a magnitude of 10 as serious as our currency and debt issues just quietly vote for Sarah. Don't mean to be crass but Mitch has strong, results oriented, conservative history.
WayneFarmer| 11.10.10 @ 12:48PM
Herman Cain is our 2012 man -- powerful on all the fiscal and "social" issues, experienced in business, inspiring speaker (think "debate Obama"), black Christian Conservative. Look up his speech to CPAC.
justbreathe| 11.10.10 @ 10:59PM
I love Herman Cain. At this point, he is my front runner...and yes I can imagine that debate between Herman and Obama! It would be amazing!
Wisconsin Joe| 11.11.10 @ 6:39PM
I have recently transplanted from Indiana and, though a conservative Republican, am not a huge Mitch Daniels fan. However, it is absolutely undeniable the positive effect he has had in the State of Indiana. Under his leadership, taxes are lower, revenues are encouragingly high, and spending is flat. Don't forget also that Indiana has a sizeable surplus - maybe California should look to the east and learn something! No, I'm not a huge fan, but "My Man Mitch" (Daniel's campaign slogan) did what he said he would do and you have to respect that these days. I hope he runs - he'd have my vote.
Scott| 11.12.10 @ 10:07AM
RINO???? How? Because he actually cares about fiscal sanity while real Republicans talk about God and Guns?
chris haynes| 11.10.10 @ 9:20AM
Good point. Defense is only 1/4 of the budget.
But then, what does our military do, that's worth 1/4 of the budget.
Protect our people? Against what? Compared to ourselves. We kill 3000 a day legally. That's a 9-11 every day. A Hiroshima every few weeks.
Protect our freedoms?. Against whom? And ourselves, our freedoms are threatened more at home.
Secure oil? Weve got more in the rocky mountains than the rest of the world combined.
Uplift moslem women? What does that mean? Legal abortion? Anyway, not my business.
And for every $1.00 in taxes, we spend $1.60. With entitlements, that will rise to $2.00 in ten years.
We will be running a 2 trillion annual deficit.
What do you propose to close a 2 trillion gap? Doubling taxes? Eliminating social security? Half of each?
Just dont cut the military. I mean look at Japan, Europe, Brazil, how small miliary budgets hurt them.
Dan Hirsch| 11.10.10 @ 10:00AM
Hey! Chris;
The reason that Japan and Europe have been able to afford small defense budgets is because they knew we would be there for them. Well, all of a sudden, we are starting to look a little wobbly. If the dollar is ever going to make a comeback, it's going to have to be accompanied by a strong defense department. The world will not save its money in your bank, if it thinks somebody, like the Chinese, could just break in and take it.
The Constitution states that the purpose of the Federal Government includes defense - it does NOT include foodstamps, retirement benefits, and healthcare. We did very well for 175 years without all that. Now, we are in a nose dive. Time to throw the bologna (baloney for those in Rio Linda) over board before we run out of altitude! Let's get moving people.
"Ask not what your country can do for you!" Last Democrat I agreed with....
Nolite me conculcare!
Al Adab| 11.10.10 @ 12:52PM
How far have we fallen that quoting Kennedy these days makes a Conservative statement? A rising tide lifts all ships. His tax cut program aided the economic growth of the country. Now, the issue for The Left is not America and good government but ruling and control.
believer| 11.10.10 @ 6:20PM
Dan Hirsch- Our founders were strong on Defence but they had no way of knowing that we would be involved in no win wars in the future. As for Social Security, the system was sound until Congress put the money into the general fund. Since LBJ all money from workers designated for Social Security goes into the general fund, an act thats against the law for any company in America to do. And as time passed they made S.S. available to the young, the dependants, the illegals, and a host of others, The system originally was set up for the older folks,(65) the system might be sound today if Congress had let the private sector control it. So dont be to hard on a system that works quite well for the private sector, one that take's 15 percent of your gross and instead of going into the market, goes into the general fund. A policy that the so called conservative's in congress continue to ignore, and should be screaming to change.
Scott| 11.12.10 @ 10:09AM
Chris, Your lack of common sense is shocking.
Mel Torme| 11.10.10 @ 9:38AM
"...and he partially offset his property tax reductions with a 1 percent increase in the sales tax..."
Not true, James. I assume you mean he (or the Indiana legislature, to be accurate) raised the sales tax by a penny, which was probably 12 - 16 % increase, depending on whether the tax had been 6% or as much as 8% before the hike.
You could also say "he let the sales tax go up by one percentage point".
Citizen Jerry| 11.10.10 @ 10:18AM
Isn't this the same Mitch Daniels who said Republicans should stay away from social issues during the campaign?
I hate to tell him, but once a nation tolerates any and all kinds of outrageous and perverse behavior as normal, that nation starts to die.
Renascent| 11.11.10 @ 9:03AM
Sorry to mention, but the nation has been tolerating "any and all kinds of outrageous and perverse behavior as normal" for decades. Especially on the screen, big or small. The facilitators of our moral breakdown. We won't make progress by ignoring the state we're in!
Al Adab| 11.10.10 @ 10:21AM
America is more than ready to cut spending. Start with so many of those extra-constitutional regulatory agencies that impose overwhelming cost burdens on business and the central planners that prevent progress and restrict invention. . Stop the unfunded mandates. Stop every Congressman's pet projects and get back to performing the duties for which the Federal Government was established.
Margie| 11.10.10 @ 12:46PM
Amen to that.
That's what the will of the newly elected needs to be.
The we can get the ball rolling and and begin being a very prosperous country again.
I am still very encouraged by the wins in the Republican party.
There is still a lot of hope. I for one, will never give up!
Al Adab| 11.10.10 @ 1:02PM
Hello again,
While this election likewise causes me to be optimistic, it is troublesome that we had to fall so far before the reaction set in.
I note on another site that the number of Federal employees making over 150K continues to rise. Just think, every 10 of them saves a million and a half. A couple hundred of them is certainly a step in the right direction. Little by little we have to get the bleeding under control "The journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step". No approach is too small to overlook and several of the major agencies need to go. Let it begin today.
BTW Margie, you were in great voice yesterday.
Margie| 11.10.10 @ 1:20PM
Thank you for the compliment, and you were as well, as always.
I agree with you and it is beyond troublesome that we had to fall so far before waking up. If I didn't know the Lord I would be in utter despair. I still fear for the country though, knowing how complacency is the easy route and will those who chose to get involved this time around now slip back into it? I hope not.
I hope they all realize now just how much their votes really do count. The key is staying awake and voting for conservatives in all the primaries. If we continue this way I trust that true conservatives will continue being elected to office and the old guard will be replaced with the new. Not that all of the old guard is rotten, but the will to really stand up and deny and starve the Left of their addiction to power has been small.. still I cannot rightly or honestly blame them as it is the fault of the people who vote (or don't vote) that got them there to begin with.
Al Adab| 11.10.10 @ 2:00PM
You point out that to The Left it is about Power and Rule. To Conservatives it is about governing and Liberty.
Having spoken in this election the voters must not sit quietly but rather be the involved citizens the Constitution supposed. Since we cannot trust we must verify (to borrow a quote) and watch how our representatives perform. The stakes are too high to accept another failure.
WMurphy| 11.10.10 @ 10:34AM
Focusing on social issues right now is like arguing over what color to paint the living room while the house burns down.
Very shortly, if things continue on the path we are on, you won't have ANY say in social matters because the socialists will have taken complete control.
You "social issues" types have apparently been happy to have the country go to hell in a handbasket so long as you get to control the Republican party.
The elections this year were won on a message of limited government. I've got news for ya, limited government doesn't tell you how to live your life!
Bruce | 11.10.10 @ 6:18PM
Here here!
MS| 11.11.10 @ 2:25PM
Thank you. Finally some common sense! I am very sympathetic to the social issues crowd, however you cannot control morality in the general population. Be a good moral citizen yourself and teach that to your children. As we get our nation in good fiscal order and return to founding principles everything else will follow. For example, education should be a local matter. That would cut federal spending on education --they do a terrible job and generally just promote agendas contrary to that of many Americans. The education department is hijacked by the left and anyway we don't need one at the federal level, at least not one so huge. When the federal education dept is gone or cut down to minimal size, we will then have more power over our local school districts, we can have school vouchers, and then we can teach the next generation OUR values. If dim-wits in California want to teach the wrong values, then let them. They will be the ones to suffer the consequences. Morality and values cannot be legislated. We just need to take back our liberty so that the influence of our morality and values is reflected in our communities. Then the social issues will fix themselves in most communities. There will be some who live immoral lives. You can never control that, but at least our communities will be ours again. But for now, the house is burning down, lets focus on the fiscal issues. You'll see how everything else will fall into place. Thank you!
Margie| 11.11.10 @ 11:05PM
"Thou shall not murder."
Oops. That's a moral value and there's a law against it.
You Libertarians keep proclaiming that conservatives want to run your lives, but in fact you want to change America from what it is to a lawless society.
Sorry but it isn't going to happen.
Conservatives are for the Rule of Law and not utter chaos.
Tim*| 11.10.10 @ 10:38AM
We Tea Party rebels are urging Our Tea party Kingmaker & The Senate Point Man Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina to run for The Presidency in 2012.
There Are Talkers & There Are Doers.
"South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint on Monday was collecting signatures on a letter calling for a vote by his fellow Senate Republicans to ban earmarks, in which spending is channeled to projects favored by individual lawmakers, outside the competitive federal funding system."
buckeyeman| 11.10.10 @ 11:31AM
It's not like I hate DeMint or anything. And its not like I don't know that the marxist media is salivating to get repubs, and especially tea partiers on record as supporting cuts in social security (the kiss of political death). But this past Sunday morning on Meet the Press, DeMint reaffirmed his commitment to keep the "promises" made to social security recipients. This is insanity. The "promises" CANNOT be kept. We all know that now. The money (at its pre-inflated value, anyway) simply does not exist. There are rational ways to ease folks out of this quagmire but vowing eternal fealty to promises someone else made to spend MY money for the benefit of others is not the way.
Will NO ONE rise to the challenge? At this point, I'm so disgusted I'm almost anxious to have hyperinflation (well.. maybe not really). 4-G's: I've got guns, grub, geography (tilllable land ownership), and gold in that order of importance. I can only hope my esteemed fellow posters are preparing as well. Republicans simply MUST stop bragging that they can do socialism better than democrats or they will cease to exist (along with our country).
skip| 11.10.10 @ 11:53AM
There are conflicting reports, but estimates range as much as 160 trillion dollars ($160,000,000,000,000) is the debt owed on all liabilities the government is on the hook for right this instant, including post office, fannie and freddie, interest, etc.
If there were 320 million Americans this would average $500,000 for each and every person (the current population is around 306 or 307 million I think).
If something isn't done soon, it is really going to get ugly. Entitlements have to be addressed. It is just going to have to be 'tough shit' to those who relied on their benefits to survive. Bottom line, it is their own fault they were unintelligent and dishonest enough to not know any better, that it was unsustainable, that politicians are unintelligent and dishonest themselves (otherwise they would be productive members of society) and not to be trusted, etc.
Real charities (churches, nonprofit organizations like red cross) will need to be relied on, as well as families and friends. We as a nation have no one to blame but ourselves for this 80 year charade anyway.
Tim*| 11.10.10 @ 12:15PM
This May Help.
" Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) and Rep. Jim McCrery (R-LA) have created legislation that would save Social Security's surplus and use it to improve Americans' retirement security. Their plan, which is supported by a growing number of legislators, would use Social Security taxes that are not needed to pay benefits today to establish individual accounts that taxpayers would own and could use to finance part of their retirement security. In its first year alone, the DeMint/McCrery proposal would force Congress to return about $80 billion to payroll taxpayers.
Instead of worrying about whether a future Congress will honor promises to pay a certain level of retirement benefits, workers would have the security of owning an account that is invested in safe, secure government bonds. Instead of having Congress squander part of workers' Social Security taxes on wasteful spending projects, they would know that their money was being used for what it was always intended for-their retirement security."
http://www.heritage.org/Resear.....l-Spending
skip*| 11.10.10 @ 2:19PM
I hear you.* But for perspective on the staggering debt we're under:
$80 billion, while a good start, is .0005 of the unfunded liabilities owed. In other words, saving that $80 billion each and every year means we would eliminate liabilities owed in a mere 2000 (two thousand) years, at that pace. It won't be enough.
Scary.
(I miss Carr. Especially when he owned Mr. 400. Congrats anyway. #@%&$!!!)
Tim*| 11.10.10 @ 7:10PM
Agreed skip*.
Everything needs to be on the table & discussed, debated & reviewed.
Occam's Tool| 11.10.10 @ 10:47AM
Everyone should read Mike Pence's speech at Hillsdale college, available through Imprimis. The man is Presidential caliber.
Sheila| 11.10.10 @ 11:03AM
Pence did give an excellent speech at Hillsdale, Occam's Tool, but he's an open borders hispanderer. Demography is destiny; he will not get my vote.
JShizzle| 11.10.10 @ 11:01AM
Newsflash!! No candidate is perfect, OK? I am still not sold whether Daniels (my Governor) is the best candidate for President...but he has been great for Indiana. And other than Ryan from WI, who has had the cajones to even mention the need to start cutting the entitlements?????? We need someone that is going to run ahead of the pack with ideas to help our country out, not just run against Obama. That is what a leader does. Mitch is a better place to start than Romney or Huckabee.
Al Adab| 11.10.10 @ 2:03PM
Don't worry cream rises to the top. Right now it is more important to focus on the What than on the Who. We'll know who when the time comes.
justbreathe| 11.10.10 @ 11:48PM
I'm a newbie here, just want to let you know. But Al Adab....I think you are 100% correct when you say this. I really think we'll know....and I do not think it will be Romney and as much as I like Palin, I don't think it will be her either. We've got time...so no need to rush thru anything!
martin j smith| 11.10.10 @ 12:57PM
The "Republican Party" itself did not win this election because on its won it would have lost. But, with the Tea Party Movement and that this election used the Republicans as a NON vote in a referendum style election--the Republicans took the Hose and made gains in the senate.
But any possible candidate who ignores the mood of the electorate and the reason for the Anti-Democrat ( Socialists Marxist vote ), So the focus is on this fundamental choice in how our country will be governed,. That is what this siutation is all about. Do not get caught up in personalities. Its about if we become Greece or bring back the United States as the land of American exceptionalism. --it is a rather dire situation.
Sugartown Super| 11.10.10 @ 1:15PM
Folks: On the subject of plagiarism, "Ask not what your country..." is Marcus Tullius Cicero. JFK was the plagiarist.
Al Adab| 11.10.10 @ 2:01PM
Actually you are correct. But blame the speechwriter, not the reader although Kennedy should have known better. Then again he should have known better than a lot of things.
RCV| 11.10.10 @ 2:48PM
Still, it was a better line than, "Ich bin ein Berliner" - "I am a donut."
Al Adab| 11.10.10 @ 4:44PM
Darn that Mass accent anyway.
RCV| 11.10.10 @ 7:13PM
LOL. When he announced he was blockading "Cuber" no one was sure which country he meant.
Mel Torme| 11.10.10 @ 3:08PM
... and definitely a better line than "Marilyn, come here, I need you."*
* stolen from Thomas Edison, of course.
JP| 11.10.10 @ 3:23PM
One does not run as President to become a CFO or budget expert. In one day, a President's priorities can change in a heart beat (ie 9/11 or Dec 7 1941). A President is a politican first and formost. For his duties are mainly political. He can outsource and hire all of the eggheads to fill OMB, Treasury, etc... Daniels' political instincts are poor. He has a proensity to sound like those old Blue Blooded East Coast RINOs of yesteryear. As govenor, it should be remembered that his first official act was to force the state to adopt Daylight Savings Time (some people quipped that it was a payback to his golfing buddies). His reason: because he knew best. He also is attempting to force modernization of the local forms of governence. He wishes to end the old Township form of government in order to get better efficiencies. But, what he really wishes to do is to centralize as many local functions inside Indianapolis and his team of bureaucrats. Before the Recession hit, he was all for insituting all day kindergarden, and mandatory pre-school (ages 2-5). His reasons closing follows Hillary's reasons (the main proponent of mandatory pre-school), and mirror's Bush's No Child Left Behind. He fought any suggestions that property taxes should returned to the individual counties (before the 1980s, property taxes were collected and spent at the county level in Indiana). Again, his reasoning resembles that of the NEA and establishment bureaucrats (tax fairness and redistrubution).
Daniels is a technocrat who will back down to the liberal establishment if push comes to shove. Do not be fooled by his Dukakisesque boasts of competence. Behind his facade, he is Establishment Republican all the way; he is a Bush in GOP clothing.
Eric Rasmusen| 11.11.10 @ 8:41AM
Just the comment I was going to make. Daniels is a good technocrat, but does he have any conservative instincts whatsoever? He is a combination of Ted Heath and Margaret Thatcher. Good, but we can do better.
Scott| 11.12.10 @ 11:20AM
What a joke...I knew your comment couldn't be taken seriously when you complained about daylight-savings time.
George S| 11.10.10 @ 4:05PM
I'll keep an open mind, but if Obama and MSNBC don't smear him, then we'll need to look elsewhere.
wodiej| 11.10.10 @ 4:14PM
I am a lifelong Indiana resident and although I don't agree w every single thing Daniels has done, he does know how to balance a budget. However, he has stated several times and adamantly so, that he is not interested in running for President. How many times does he have to say it? Same w Christie-not running.
somnolence| 11.10.10 @ 5:20PM
Mitch has far too many ties to the Bush family, and is not telegenic. And not all of his privatization efforts have been without criticism, particularly in eligibility for benefits assistance. The private computer contractor has really been knocked about in Indiana. I'm a conservative and a long time resident of the state, and sorry, I won't be voting for him. I'm also very sour on Senator Lugar.
Tom in Michigan| 11.10.10 @ 5:36PM
Mitch Daniels is categorically not an "egghead" in the Obama role. Daniels' credentials are known while we must take Obama's on faith.
Also, are we ready for a President who will cut spending?
Yes! Ja! Si! Da! Oui! はい! How many ways can you say it? If we don't cut spending; not just so-called "waste" but spending on unsustainable transfer payments; we will be bankrupt.
Let's prioritize cutting spending now.
believer| 11.10.10 @ 6:35PM
Speaking of cutting the spending we could start with the Dept. of Education, the D.E.A., the NCIS, the CIA ( We get most of the good intelligence from Israel anyway) and a host of other agencys that are covered by State agencys anyway. I would agree we need the F.B.I. but agencys like the DEA and NCIS are doing work that local police and Sheriff dept.s could easily handle, America did without the Dept of Education for almost two hundred years and got along just fine. On second thought Congress would just take the saved money and give to some other stupid fund so we might as well not change.
Felix Gorney| 11.10.10 @ 7:57PM
To the extent that America has lost it's faith, we Americans have lost our prosperity and our rights. Mike Pence seems to understand that better than Mitch Daniels.
Obamaa | 11.11.10 @ 4:38AM
If we don't cut spending; not just so-called "waste" but spending on unsustainable transfer payments; we will be bankrupt.
aha,so indeed
hmrhonda| 11.11.10 @ 8:31AM
Besides "Mitch the knife" (which only a certain generation will get but it is catchy) "economy: job one" is a good slogan. If indeed we want this done and a republican elected we cannot turn away the "fiscally conservative, socially liberal" independent voters. Don't waste time changing laws of the land (like RoevsWade decision) but repeal Obamacare (replace with tort reform, better health savings accounts, interstate insurance purchases, acceptance with preconditions etc) and it's public funding of abortions. That should appease the far social right for awhile. If we lose the election, not only does the economy tank further but there is NO hope for conservative social values--EVER!!!! People like Phyllis Schafly have to be shaken into reality.
Margie| 11.11.10 @ 7:18PM
1. Nobody turns away anybody's votes. (Except the Democrat party).
2. If you want a social moderate then run McCain again.
3. You know nothing and have a lot of growing up to do: Phyllis Schlafly is a GREAT American. (And FYI~ Roe v. Wade wasn't passed into law by the legislature~ it was a ruling created by activist Leftist judges on the Supreme Court).
4. It's a good thing you weren't advising Ronald Reagan, as he would not have won 2 landslide elections. He didn't win by being a moderate wimp.
John L. Sorg| 11.11.10 @ 8:52AM
I have encountered Mitch Daniels three times though I don't pretend to know him. He is brilliant, honest, funny and a committed conservative. He would accomplish more for "values conservatives" than those who do not understand the fight or how to conduct it. I'm with Mitch - just don't know if he wants the job bad enough.
Mike| 11.11.10 @ 9:31AM
What happens to the liberal social agenda if austerity measures are implemented by the Federal Government?
Deprived of government support it has to compete in the market place of ideas to acquire funding. The liberal social agenda will starve if it has to fend for itself and completely rely on corporate or individual donors. The social conservative agenda will find itself on an increasingly level playing field and will probably surpass its liberal counterpart since it already has the private fundraising apparatus in place.
Calling for a truce on these social wedge issues is a brilliant maneuver! Getting control of the purse strings and cutting off government funded social experiments will accomplish more for social conservatism than anything else being done today.
Skep41| 11.11.10 @ 1:01PM
I didnt know much about Daniels before I read this and I must say I'm impressed. He has an impressive record in and out of government. The Republiclowns in DC will probably try to elbow him out of the running because he might actually be a conservative but time is running out on the DC establishment. We're bankrupt and we need somebody tough to take the reins. The Taft, Reagan, and Gingrich attempts to make cuts are a cautionary tale but it will be easier to make cuts when the balance sheet reads zero.
joel carson| 11.11.10 @ 2:29PM
Let's make it our goal (conservative constitutionalists ) To reduce our government costs and people numbers to the point where we can pay reasonable entitlement programs ie. social security and begin seriously paying our national debt .Go modern break up the washington social club . Bring congress home to the district they represent . Do government business by teleconference . Reasons #1 no more cocktail party ,three martini lunch , backroom , golf course ,etc . deals . #2 no 24/7 access to government by lobbyists . #3 significantly reduce the cost of perks and transportation . #4 no familiarity between government officials and staff which much reduces the possibility of influence and conflict of interests . #5 Make legislators a part time job as was intended . # Do away with one term retirement and require the same years of service as other civil servants . # 6 In general make a political career less attractive to those people who are doing it for personal financial gain or power connections . #7 We will attract people who truly want to serve in the interest of supporting the constitution and the American public .
It can be done , it's within the guidelines and fulfills the intent of the Declaration of Independence and our Constitution .
Margie| 11.11.10 @ 7:27PM
Well and good but there is more to conservatism than just balancing a checkbook.
We have to remain strong militarily as well and have a Hawk for a President. We have seen all we want to ever see again with the likes of the weak, lily livered, limp wristed Obama, bowing to the enemy both physically and in spirit.
True conservatism encompasses both fiscal responsibility and embraces a strong stand on foreign affairs.
Libertarianism wants none of the latter.
RADFORD| 11.11.10 @ 3:39PM
I THINK THAT MITCH SHOULD RUN FOR PRESIDENT. NO IF'S, AND'S ,OR BUTS ABOUT IT. HE CAN GET THE COUNTRY BACK ON IT'S FEET BUDGET WISE WHICH WILL PUT MORE PEOPLE BACK TO WORK.
Dan| 11.11.10 @ 3:53PM
Is Mitch Daniels the next Calvin Coolidge?
The Globalizer| 11.11.10 @ 5:13PM
I am a right-leaning independent and a fan of the Tea Party movement, and I will vote against any right-wing Republican who advocates for liberty-reducing social positions.
Palin: No.
Huckabee: No.
Romney: No.
Daniels? Yes.
victor| 11.12.10 @ 10:27AM
Globaloney:
"liberty-reducing social positions."
What liberty-reducing social positions would they be, eh?
The "right" to inject poison into your veins?
The "right" to abort the unborn?
The "right" to sell your body to the highest bidder?
The "right" to sell drugs to anyone?
Those "rights"?
Les Coomer| 11.11.10 @ 7:17PM
Mitch showed his true colors on social issues. Economic issues depend on a stable America. A stable America depends on stable families. Western civilization is based on the right to life. The Alinsky disciples, who want to destroy all American values-including moral values-will not call a truce. I campaigned for Mitch for governor twice, but he's not "My Man Mitch" anymore.
Wendy| 11.11.10 @ 9:27PM
The Tea Party is the future of the right, and I am not sure Mitch Daniels really understands that, although he mouths the obligatory hails. Daniels mentioned recently that we should consider a VAT. I find it hard to believe that a man at his level does not know that a VAT won't make a dent in our problems. More fundamentally, it is a failure to grasp the stark nature of the struggle we find ourselves in. Human beings have only so much time, resources, and effort with which to act. In times like these, to act in a direction opposite of the one we are trying to go - mass rollback - is tantamount to attacking the good side, acting against our cause, and indulging the evil and wrong.
Our next President needs to have a total commitment to the cause of freedom. Full stop. America is not a social gathering, and regardless of what the neocons tell him, his job is not to be a glorified parent who ensures that everyone comes together, gets along, respects one another's viewpoint, and mutually sacrifices, with no concern for the principles of freedom, rights, and justice.
Also, it strikes me as latently malicious to talk about "a new contract" for young people on the entitlement programs, then try to save said entitlement programs. First of all, there is no "contract." There are only individuals and whether their wealth is involuntarily taken from them by the government or not. Pretending like this is all some mass agreement among hundreds of millions of individuals is a bit psycho.
Second, "saving" the entitlement programs is a code word for screwing late boomers/GenX/Millenials: We will continue to pay for our elders for the rest of our working lives to execute this phony "contract" I never signed, and then when we get ready to retire, the system will be bankrupt. Only a small fraction which was privatized will be left. The older generations will have gotten their free ride, and the youngest are off scott-free. The middle generations will have been literal slaves all their lives. Totally unacceptable.
Bottom line: Mitch Daniels has to show me unequivocally that his mind is where the vanguard of the Tea Party is at (not the trailing end). Only then will I be enthusiastic. The ball is in his court.
Zach| 11.11.10 @ 10:48PM
Judging from several of the comments, it appears that many don't consider the enormous size of the national debt a moral issue. What will it take for people to realize that somewhere along the line, someone is going to have to pay the piper? And, furthermore, the unlucky blokes will suffer deeply because of it. 130 trillion dollars of debt and future government payouts isn't going to be thrown into the Potomac. The Obama administration doesn't need to defeat conservatives on the social issues battlefield by abortion or gay-rights laws, they merely have to expand the role of Big Government. Curiously enough, this expansion of power is always intertwined with an increase in the debt (healthcare). Mitch has the long view; he shouldn't be derided because he tells the uncomfortable truth.
Wendy| 11.13.10 @ 1:18AM
I suggested why Daniels' apparent position on the national debt is immoral in my post right above yours. But to further clarify:
The "size" of the national debt is morally irrelevant. The fact that government is stealing from some people to give the loot to others is the moral issue, not that government isn't moderating its theft operations (and what is happening today is merely the logical end of the road of the policy of looting). Anyone who suggests otherwise is guilty of moral evasion. Why is the "size" of the national debt only immoral when it starts to hurt the parasites? Think of the implications of that: Overparasitization is immoral, because it destroys the system of subsidizing parasites. And I would oppose the destruction of parasitism why? If my choices are: Continue to be enslaved, or throw off the chains in a painful manner, why would I choose the former? If Daniels goes on to argue with the neocons that the "size" of the national debt is the issue, I will thoroughly discredit him and vehemently denounce his character. I am serious about the national conversation.
And just to show how serious, here is my response to the statement that "130 trillion dollars of debt and government payouts isn't going to be thrown into the Potomac": The hell it won't. One day the younger generations will be in power, we absolutely can default on the debt, and I see no reason not to. Debt defaults happen all the time. Had the pigs in previous generations kept it reasonable, I would have dealt. But they got greedy. They thought they could get a free ride in old age off our backs no questions asked. I would rather suffer the temporary monetary and political chaos from defaulting on the national debt than suffer the long oppression of being forced to pay off that abomination on behalf of parasites. I need that money, and I never agreed to any of this. The creditors of that debt should never have lent it out in the first place. They got greedy, thinking they could get a safe ride no questions asked.
Yes, the piper is coming. And when he gets here, I will point him in the direction of the parasites and their sympathizers. He won't be getting me.
Dave Philpott| 11.12.10 @ 7:22AM
Mitch is in fact 180 degrees opposite of Obama. A remarkable antidote to a public weary and annoyed with 4 years of Obama.
Mitch says the word "I" approximately 15 thousand times less than Obama.
Mitch goes to bed around the same time Obama begins another White House party.
Mitch uses paper notes and memory to make his point. Obama a teleprompter.
When Mitch talks it runs 1-2 minutes. Obama, 1-2 hours.
Mitch has a rare surplus. Obama, not so rare tremendous debt.
Mitch sees wisdom in the productive middle class. Obama wants to spread their wealth.
Mitch knows more "unfamous" people than Obama does.
Mitch rides a Harley. Obama rides a bicycle.
Two more years of "I did this" when it works - and "They did it" when it doesn't - might just have the public looking for the perfect antidote to Obama.
Mike| 11.12.10 @ 8:47AM
I'm not sold on any particular Republican candidate yet, but this article on Daniels intrigues me. As I said in an earlier post here, government funding is the lifeblood of the liberal social agenda. There are many Republican politicians who say the right things regarding social conservatism, but how many accomplish anything in the cause of social conservatism? The truth is we keep losing ground on social issues.
Liberals understand the power of the purse strings; they know how to use government money, our tax dollars, to push their agenda onto us even though most of us dislike it. As much as we may dislike his policies President Obama exemplifies what a liberal wants to do and can do by steering government funding. The fiscal challenges we face require someone who can hit the ground running. Someone capable of using the current fiscal crisis to push farther and cut deeper than anyone believed is possible, but knows is absolutely necessary. The liberal social agenda will begin to wither and die without government funding.
Controlling government spending, cutting off things like NPR, Planned Parenthood, truly reforming Welfare so people can replace despair with the sense of pride that comes with work, that is what will truly move our agenda forward. We are in a forty, fifty, maybe sixty year battle here. Many of us will not live long enough to see how it turns out, but we play a pivotal role in the history of our country. We can choose the instant gratification of nominating and electing Republican politicians who say the things we want to hear or we can dig deeper. We can listen carefully, we can consider in totality the body of work they have built and choose someone that has the skill and intellect to lead us through the mazes in Washington.
Please remember Ronald Reagan was no overnight phenomena. He spent decades building a body of work that made him the great conservative leader he was. I am not endorsing Daniel’s or comparing him to Reagan, but I am saying we need experience; we need someone with a track record of accomplishment in government service and the private sector. We need someone that has proven they can grab the wheel and get the ship back under control. That person will not only correct the financial decline we are experiencing, but also set the stage for social conservatism to flourish in the absence of government funded liberal social experiments.
Roux| 11.12.10 @ 11:00AM
His biggest obstacle is that he is not married. I like the guy but he'll never be POTUS without a wife.
jgo | 11.12.10 @ 11:18AM
Sounds like another nibbler. We need someone with one of those giant lumber-jack chain-saws... or a bomb bay full of "daisy cutters".
Most Americans don't like "baby killers" and we don't like "women enslavers", either. Viable candidates need to oppose both.
Libertarians oppose the initiation of force and fraud.
I could go with either Beck's principles or Levin's program, but I'd like to see some positive action: eliminate the Socialist Insecurity Abomination, Medicare, Medicaid, Obamacare, the Federal Reserve, most of the US Dept. of Educationism, HUD, half of HHS and Dept. of Agriculture, a big chunk of Dept. of Energy, NEAH, Fannie and Freddie and Sallie and FHAH, defund the UN and send the 5th columnists packing, ExIm bank, SBA, WorldBank, IMF. Tell the WTO to shove it and implement some actual honest free trade with tariffs no higher than 9%, while inspecting at least 5% of imported goods. Privatize the Peace Corpse, and VISTA/AmeriCorpse. Recruit and train more spies (both information gatherers and operatives). Fence the borders, put in vehicle barriers, and deploy fully-armed troops to defend them.
AnyoneButNewt| 11.12.10 @ 11:22AM
I'm sick of rock stars running the country. A low-key guy from the midwest who has an actual record would be a welcome change indeed.
Martin| 11.12.10 @ 1:06PM
A few points of truth:
1) i think it's hilarious y'all don't think Social Security is an entitlement program.
1a) that is deeply hypocritical considering SS is one of the most bankrupt systems.
1b) But you guys are all older, so you don't want to touch SS right? Well I'm young and I work three jobs and don't have health care, so guess what I think is worth it? take a guess.
2) real liberatarians (and there is only one, his name is Ron Paul) are for individual rights. that means stop protesting the ground zero mosque (property rights) and yes, legalize marijuana. Still think you're a liberatarian?
ThePaganTemple | 11.14.10 @ 7:21PM
I'm all for a truce on the abortion rights issue. Then after about twenty years, when Democrats have aborted themselves down to half of what their numbers would have been otherwise, we can completely take over everything MWAHAHAHAHAAAA
ryan | 11.16.10 @ 6:59AM
make your next article a little longer. it will help.
and make sure you pick a picture that looks like the guy is on crackkkkk
his eyes look like they are burning out of his head !!
Tex Expatriate| 11.22.10 @ 10:49PM
Well, I was expatriated to Indiana in 2003 and have had ample opportunity to see what the Dems did to Indiana and to watch Mitch begin to correct things. Mitch Daniels is the genuine article, and can likely do for the U.S. what he has done for Indiana. If, that is, we pack the Senate and House with conservatives.
Intelligent Design| 11.27.10 @ 9:13AM
We would definitely benefit from another Calvin Coolidge. The book to read is "Coolidge - An American Enigma" by Robert Sobel