Mitch Daniels
It's not just Pacer fans who are not fans of Mitch Daniels.
Mitch Daniels is tied for 46th place in SurveyUSA's latest list of governor approval ratings. He tied with Arnold Schwarzenegger and is behind Katrina victim Kathleen Blanco of Louisiana.
Mitch Daniels is tied for 46th place in SurveyUSA's latest list of governor approval ratings. He tied with Arnold Schwarzenegger and is behind Katrina victim Kathleen Blanco of Louisiana.
posted by torporindy at 4/14/2006
7 Comments:
and yet, like his former employer W., he says he could care about polls and governs according to his own ideas about what's good for us. It's paternalism at its most offensive! (And hopefully at its apogee).
What's sad is that both Daniels and Schwartzeneger have gotten more actually done in their states in terms of big changes made (popular or unpopular) during their terms than most other governors covered. It's no secret being an effective governor is just as much about playing to the crowd as it is execution. I wish Mitch would make more of an effort.
the problem is when you alienate your own party. O'Bannon also had that problem throughout his second term, although I never did figure out what got the legislature D's panties in a bunch. They were upset at him, at any rate, and took almost every opportunity to indirectly or directly sabotage his legislative agenda. Daniels has pissed off everyone to such an extent that his own party is rebelling in part because they are upset at what he's doing (some of them) and in part because they realize that a pissed off electorate means their seats are in danger through guilt by association. Also, consent by the governed means you need to convince those that need to be governed, not roll all over them when they protest what you're doing and compound it by talking to them like they're slow children. Daniels has not gotten the hang of or doesn't care to learn how to stump effectively to a Hoosier audience.
One only has to recall "midget"s former position as budget director for Chimp W. Shrub and the escalation of our deficit to see the problem with this guy's thought process.
Wanna turn black ink to red? Mitch is your man and has the track record to prove it!wwcyl
What got O'Bannon in trouble was that he vetoed a budget and that he was pushing for a more technological Indiana. The House and the Senate overrode the veto. Somehow that gets forgotten whenever Daniels or the Republican leadership get talking about the 16 years of Democrat governors.
I have to admit that I keep hearing and reading about Daniels' vision and leadership, but I still have no idea of what he sees as Indiana's future. What I do see is a huge difference in style between O'Bannon and Daniels. Daniels gets shrill and calls people names where O'Bannon would do neither. I am not trying to be disingenious or troll here, but it seems to me that the Republicans think that they can repeat leadership and that will create leadership. I will admit that I keep asking about Daniels' vision because I think that he has a problem articulating any real vision due ot the Republican Senate. Anyone who has read the Indiana Constitution ought to know that the legislature has more power than the Governor.
There are quite a few things wrong with Indiana government which Daniels has avoided addressing. Local government reform is one of them - as you folks in Indianapolis know. That is a lot harder to accomplish than selling an asset like the toll road.
Yes, he installed an Inspector General. However, those with better memories than mine may find the corruption of the last years of Democrat control of the executive branch less serious than that of the Orr years.
Daniels says that he wants a more business friendly Indiana but I ask how can Indiana be any more business friendly? I would suggest that we are a very business friendly state (take a look at our standing on workmen's compensation) but more importantly we are very friendly towards manufacturing. There are things that we have known to be wrong with that emphasis since about 1980.
Sorry about the length and grumpiness of this comment. I think there are quite a few of us who do want changes that improve Indiana. Yes, we do need leaderhip. However, what we do not need is a prima donna who belittles us, who talks but performs nothing like his talk, and Hoosiers know the difference between leadership and a mere talker. All that said, Daniels needs to recognize that we do have some common sense and we will judge accordingly. Thanks for taking the time to rad this.
It's hard to see if you rely on press only for news and are looking for sweeping reforms like healthcare, but Daniels has made huge strides in imporoving the business climate in Indiana. I work every day in the venture and entreprenuerism community and Daniels has turned business around 100%. He's rebuilt the IEDC, reinstated the 21st Century fund, actively promoting the VC tax credit (which gives a tax credit to angel investors who invest in start ups and new companies), initiated reforms that have helped create new business incubators at Purdue, Anderson, Crane, and others a reality, etc. There are so many small policies that were stagnant over a decade of focusing on big political issues that got us nowhere. We are now moving forward at a very rapid pace. If you want to start a significant, well-funded business in Indiana today, your picture and potential for success is quite different than three years ago. It's hard to see -- but this kind of work will pay off in the future when 5 solid years of high tech and biotech start ups start to bear serious fruit. You want to see what Daniels is doing? Go to a Venture Club or Techpoint meeting, or just read the IBJ or Inside Indiana Business every day. That's what he's doing to improve the economy in Indiana.
That said, Lawgeekgurl sums up his political problems exactly.
another fellow Indianian has an awesome site exposing Governor Mitch Daniels' current smoking tax and call to actio:
http://mysite.verizon.net/timlitton/
as Mr. Litton says: "social engineering" away our freedom and rights.
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