Mitch Daniels

Okay, the Republican field has been miserable so far. It’s already apparent that certain elements, the establishment RINOs on one side and the frantically maneuvering Marxists attempting to influence you as to this candidate or that on the other, don’t have our best interests in mind. Pretty obviously, anyone touted by either camp should be carefully examined in the light of real conservatism.

Laura Bush calls Mitch Daniels wife Cheri, well known for a strong sense of revulsion for all things political, and encourages her to get behind Mitch in a run for the Republican nomination. First of all, I think we’ve all had enough of the Bushies for a while.

The very fact that the Bush political machinery is pushing Daniels ought to tell you something. Once again, for the brain cell challenged out there… Mitch Daniels is a RINO on a number of issues critical to the ultimate survival of our country, our Constitution and our way of life. Mitch Daniels is a nice guy. He’s just not the man for the job. Another ‘moderate’ is about the last thing this country needs.

Mitt Romney has made a monumental miscalculation. He just hasn’t figured out that aside from the economy and the border, the biggest issue the people have is that they want ‘Obamacare’ repealed… not fixed, not repaired, repealed. There is no way Mitt can separate himself from the image of the wholesale pillage of the legislative and legal process that is Obamacare. There is no way he is going to divorce himself from what ‘Romneycare’ has done to the health care system in his state. His mistake should cost him the nomination.

Mike Huckabee has announced that he is not running. I know that upsets many evangelicals, but I think it was the right decision. I have nothing at all against Mike, but he’s not the guy for the job at a time when the world is sitting on a powder keg with a short fuse. Not that the present occupant of the White House is any confidence maker in the decisiveness category either. There are rumblings out there that Obama sat on the Bin Laden intel for as much as nine months. Such a surprise.

Newt Gingrich has announced that he’s running. Newt certainly will bring a refreshing clarity and directness to the arena. But, I can’t help remember some of the really bad calls he made on the run up to the 2010 elections. And don’t forget he’s a very recent, and I believe reluctant, advocate of the Tea Party Patriot movement. He’s really going to have to be closely scrutinized and questioned regarding some of his statements. The jury is out on him at this point.

Remember to be critical and take absolutely nothing at face value.

Semper Vigilans, Semper Fidelis

© Skip MacLure 2011

And no, it’s not the old soft-shoe either… though our race-baiting, Balkanizing, anti-American President looks more and more like some Vaudeville clown with every passing day.

Before I explore that farther, I’d like to take this opportunity to address a few comments we got yesterday that I feel need to be addressed. These comments were along the lines of, “If the leadership votes to increase the debt ceiling, I will have had it with the (Republican) party”.

Hey, I feel you, I really do… but listen. No splinter group, no third party, will ever be successful in this political climate. At best, what will occur is that the Conservative vote will be split, handing the DeMarxists another victory. I don’t think we’ll be fooled by another Ross Perot, but if you look at the way the Lame Stream Media is pushing Mitch Daniels as one of the few people the White House is afraid of… give me break please… sic ad nauseum. Mitch Daniels is another in the mold of centrist deal-makers that the GOP keeps pushing forward. Anybody that the inside-the-beltway pundits want to bring forward can’t be good for Conservatism or America.

What we need to do, folks, is to make the RINOs pay at the ballot box. We have the numbers for it. Don’t believe the LSM when they try to convince you that the Tea Party is finished… that we’ve shot our bolt. Man, are they in for some culture shock! We’re here… and we’re getting more angry every day that the clowns on both sides of the political spectrum delay the inevitable reckoning with the obscene 14 trillion debt which is crushing this country… and any hint of a real recovery.

Meanwhile, down in Texas, the Anointed One has launched into full illegal alien amnesty mode and the Demarxists have re-launched the Dream Act, which should be put back to bed for a long sleep… like permanently. There was not one single word of truth in anything that Obama said in his demagogic rant. Apparently, I’m not the only one who thought so. There were audible cries of ‘racist’.

It’s a far cry from the adulation of the empty-headed masses. Gee, Obama, maybe you should have made it a kegger. Now, if the Repubic leadership can just figure out who the enemy is….

Semper Vigilans, Semper Fidelis

© Skip MacLure 2011

Most state budgets are in crisis. The Big Picture's Barry Ritholtz notes that state tax revenue has fallen sharply the last two quarters. The left wing Center for Budget and Policy Priorities notes that "[a]t least 48 states addressed or are facing shortfalls in their budgets for the upcoming year."

Not Indiana. Under Mitch Daniels' leadership the state reported a $1.3b surplus. The State Auditor Tim Berry noted that they even raised school funding:

Berry stood in front of charts Friday that show Indiana increased school funding, avoided a tax hike, and maintained a surplus of about 10%. [...]

"Measures that were taken early on by Governor Mitch Daniels to restrain spending have amounted for a large amount of these fiscal reserves," Berry said.

The Louisville paper notes that tax revenue was even down $1.2b below projections:

The state had $1.33 billion in its main checking account and reserves when the fiscal year ended June 30. That's roughly the same as one year ago, even though state taxes brought in $1.2 billion less than originally projected.

How's that for successful governance? No wonder there is a draft movement for Mitch Daniels for President.

Last weekend, I was in Indiana for the Young Republican National Convention. I had heard a little bit about Mitch Daniels, the Republican governor who was re-elected wtih over 60% of the vote in 2008, even though Barack Obama won the state. In Indianapolis, he even got over 20% of the African American vote.

So I started digging around on his governing record. I was pretty astonished by this one. Daniels has actually been shrinking government. They have a little over 30,000 public employees right now. That's the lowest number since 1983.

You might notice the sharp decline that started in 2004 when he took over.

Rich Lowry recently noted what a bad hand he was dealt, and how he has turned it around.

When Daniels took office, Indiana had an $800 million deficit. He turned it into a $1.3 billion surplus (although it will be eaten into in the current downturn). Since 2005, he's saved roughly $450 million in the state's budget and reduced the state's rate of spending growth from 5.9 percent to 2.8 percent. "I tell you with certainty," Daniels told his Washington audience, "concern about the debt and deficit has not gone out of style."

No wonder people are talking about this guy for President. He has actually run something successfully.

The left-leaning Center for Budget and Policy Priorities released a report discussing tax increases. (H/T Derek Thompson at the Atlantic)  They found that 36 states either have or are considering tax increases. Here's the picture:

Several observations on the list.

California and Florida budget fights have gotten national attention. For California, it was a bunch of ballot initiatives failing. In Florida, Governor Charlie Crist broke tax pledge by signing a number of tax increases, and this has become a rallying cry in the Senate primary. 

Six states with Republican governors who are looking at their future are on the list of states that have done nothing. In Minnesota, Governor Tim Pawlenty is clearly looking at running for President. As are South Carolina's Mark Sanford and Alaska's Sarah Palin. Indiana's Mitch Daniels has been put out there and is being considered by some. And Louisiana's Bobby Jindal and Texas's Rick Perry (looking at a primary)

But what I want to know about is the state legislators that are fighting this stuff. Who are the articulate state legislators who are going on the radio and local TV, rallying against these tax increases. Those leaders are redefining the Republican party. They are rebranding the Republican Party by their actions. And they may be winning some of these fights.

Let's hear about them.