George Will on Mitch Daniels

Tomorrow's George Will column in the Washington Post lauds Mitch Daniels. He compares him favorably to Governor Granholm of Michigan by contrasting her comments about Delphi with Daniels. Granholm criticized "Delphi's executives, Washington and globalization" while Daniels apparently contacted Delphi and asked for more Delphi operations here. Will praises Daniels' action in this age of "entrepreneurial federalism" where states compete for jobs. Does Indiana win if we attract companies like Delphi? They've already asked their employees to take a pay cut from 27 to around 10-12 dollars an hour. This is the company who proposed 90 million dollars in bonuses to its executives in the same bankruptcy proposal which would cut wages so low its workers wouldn't even be able to pay its mortgages. I do not see how Indiana wins here.

Hoosier voters were hoodwinked by Daniels' brand of populism last fall. He rolled up his sleeves, spoke plainly, slept in supporters' homes as he traveled throughout this state in his RV. He created a character who acted as if he cared about the general public. The majority of us voted for him even though he gave IPL employees Indiana's Enron. Now, he has shown he is willing to support corporate executives over Hoosier workers. This may impress George Will, but I do not know how well it fly with Indiana citizens in 2008.