Mitch Daniels Quotes

A collection of quotes by Mitch Daniels.

Mitch Daniels is a prominent American politician and executive who served as the 49th Governor of Indiana from 2005 to 2013. He was born on April 7, 1949, in Monongahela, Pennsylvania. Daniels attended Princeton University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Public and International Affairs. He then went on to study at the Georgetown University Law Center, receiving his Juris Doctor degree.

Daniels began his political career by serving as an aide to Senator Richard Lugar and as the Chief of Staff for Indiana Senator Dan Quayle. He gained a reputation for his strong fiscal management skills and efficiency in government operations.

During his tenure as governor, Daniels implemented numerous reforms, including significant budget cuts, tax cuts, and education reforms. He successfully balanced Indiana's budget, turning a deficit into a surplus. Daniels also pushed for privatization of various government functions and initiated efforts to improve the state's infrastructure.

After completing his term as governor, Daniels became the president of Purdue University in 2013, where he focused on enhancing the university's financial sustainability and overall academic excellence. He is widely respected for his pragmatic leadership style and ability to navigate complex policy issues.

While Daniels considered running for president, he decided against it in 2011, citing family reasons. Despite this, his achievements and reputation continue to make him one of the influential figures in American politics.

But if our nation goes over a financial Niagara, we won't ha

But if our nation goes over a financial Niagara, we won't have much strength and, eventually, we won't have peace. We are currently borrowing the entire defense budget from foreign investors. Within a few years, we will be spending more on interest payments than on national security. That is not, as our military friends say, a 'robust strategy.'

As Republicans, our first concern is for those waiting tonig

As Republicans, our first concern is for those waiting tonight to begin or resume the climb up life's ladder.

Life

The perverse presumption that places the burden of proof on

The perverse presumption that places the burden of proof on the challenger of spending must be inverted, back to the rule that applies elsewhere in life: 'Prove to me why we should.

Life Rules Places Proof

We believe it wrong ever to take a dollar from a free citize

We believe it wrong ever to take a dollar from a free citizen without a very necessary public purpose, because each such taking diminishes the freedom to spend that dollar as its owner would prefer.

Freedom

If freedom's best friends cannot unify around a realistic, a

If freedom's best friends cannot unify around a realistic, actionable program of fundamental change, one that attracts and persuades a broad majority of our fellow citizens, big change will not come.

Freedom

Left to ourselves, we might pick the wrong health insurance,

Left to ourselves, we might pick the wrong health insurance, the wrong mortgage, the wrong school for our kids why, unless they stop us, we might pick the wrong light bulb.

Health

In fact, it works the other way: A government as big and bos

In fact, it works the other way: A government as big and bossy as this one is maintained on the backs of the middle class and those who hope to join it.

Hope

The federal government now spends one of every four dollars

The federal government now spends one of every four dollars in the entire economy. It borrows one of every three dollars it spends. No nation, no entity, large or small, public or private, can thrive, or survive intact, with debts as huge as ours.

Government

When they call the slightest spending reductions 'painful',

When they call the slightest spending reductions 'painful', we will say 'If government spending prevents pain, why are we suffering so much of it?' And 'If you want to experience real pain, just stay on the track we are on.'

Experience

Among the weeds choking out growth and good government are t

Among the weeds choking out growth and good government are the hundreds of boards, commissions, and advisory committees that have sprouted over the years. They devour time, money, and energy far beyond any real contribution they make.

Government

We designed both our state employee health plans and the one

We designed both our state employee health plans and the one we created for low-income Hoosiers as Health Savings Accounts, and now in the tens of thousands these citizens are proving that they are fully capable of making smart, consumerist choices about their own health care.

Health

If our nation goes over a financial Niagara, we won't have m

If our nation goes over a financial Niagara, we won't have much strength and, eventually, we won't have peace. We are currently borrowing the entire defense budget from foreign investors. Within a few years, we will be spending more on interest payments than on national security. That is not, as our military friends say, a 'robust strategy.'

Peace

No enterprise, small or large, public or private, can remain

No enterprise, small or large, public or private, can remain self-governing, let alone successful, so deeply in hock to others as we are about to be.

Alone

All great enterprises have a pearl of faith at their core, a

All great enterprises have a pearl of faith at their core, and this must be ours: that Americans are still a people born to liberty. That they retain the capacity for self-government. That, addressed as free-born, autonomous men and women of God-given dignity, they will rise yet again to drive back a mortal enemy.

Faith

Starting a new retirement plan for those below a certain age

Starting a new retirement plan for those below a certain age is something tens of millions of Americans have already been through at work.

Age

The failure of national economic policy is costing us more t

The failure of national economic policy is costing us more than jobs it has begun to weaken that uniquely American spirit of risk-taking, large ambition, and optimism about the future. We must rally them now to bold departures that rebuild our national morale as well as our material prosperity.

Failure

We Hoosiers hold to some quaint notions. Some might say we '

We Hoosiers hold to some quaint notions. Some might say we 'cling' to them, though not out of fear or ignorance. We believe in paying our bills. We have kept our state in the black throughout the recent unpleasantness, while cutting rather than raising taxes, by practicing an old tribal ritual - we spend less money than we take in.

Fear