Mitch Daniels Quotes (84 Quotes)

We are tasked to rebuild not just a damaged economy, and a debt-ridden balance sheet, but to do so by drawing forth the best that is in our fellow citizens. If we would summon the best from Americans, we must assume the best about them. If we don't believe in Americans, who will?

It does appear that some very serious people are going to give this a very serious look.

Washington is overrun by interests who want to take an ever larger share of taxpayer dollars for their causes, ... They put their pet programs, however ineffective, duplicative, obsolete or unimportant, ahead of larger national goals.

We found too large a percentage of procurement dollars, especially for professional services, were going out of state, ... We now look not only at value and price but where are the people who will be doing the work.

I would think that humanitarian aid to Americans ought to come right at the top of priority lists, ... I, for one, would support all the aid that makes sense to help these places get back together. And if that means that lesser priorities -- and there are plenty that they spend federal tax dollars on out there (in Washington) -- need to take a back seat for a while, that's probably what they should do.

Politicians live in artificial lines, economies don't, ... I'm out preaching all the time of the interdependence of us all. Northwest Indiana, when steel was healthier and employment was up, once pulled a lot more weight than they do now. It matters elsewhere (in the state) that they pull out of economic decline and political corruption.

These are areas where we are already strong and can bring money into some of the hardest hit areas of the state. We've got to quit treating agriculture as some relic from the past and realize it still has a real economic upside.

Every citizen who stops smoking, or loses a few pounds, or starts managing his chronic disease with real diligence, is caulking a crack for the benefit of us all.

I'm back to make sure the state is doing all it can to begin the process of reconstruction,

I think this is a matter for local decision-making and local consensus and that seems to be what is happening,

Government does not create jobs, it only creates the conditions that make jobs more or less likely.

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.

If we don't believe in Americans, who will? I do believe. I've seen it in the people of our very typical corner of the nation.

And before our current legislature adjourns, we intend to become the first state of full and true choice by saying to every low and middle-income Hoosier family, if you think a non-government school is the right one for your child, you're as entitled to that option as any wealthy family; here's a voucher, go sign up.

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.

The Army Corps of Engineers has a very large budget, and it has grown a lot over recent years, ... To the extent there's been any limitation of the Corps' budget, it has to do with previous tendencies to build marinas and things that don't have much to do with preparing us for disaster.

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.

When you multiply that 43 cents by three meals a day, times 365 days a year for 26,000 prisoners, you're talking about a lot of money, ... I'm just for what works.

However, I reach today's decision without substituting my judgment for others on the ambiguous issue of Mr. Baird's degree of insanity,

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.

Folks at Treasury believe that some folks will go ahead and pay it (this year) anyway, ... Didn't get the memo, I guess, but that's the answer.

We are a state of people who speak plainly. We are a state of people who get to the point. Let me try to do both this evening, right now.

A straight answer now is that I don't believe it would be a responsible step, ... The state is still coming out of bankruptcy, and it would not provide dramatic relief to any individual.

I refer, of course, to the debts our nation has amassed for itself over decades of indulgence. It is the new Red Menace, this time consisting of ink. We can debate its origins endlessly and search for villains on ideological grounds, but the reality is pure arithmetic.

I hope you're as excited as I am about making major moves,

He can answer questions and point out how very much better the toll road will be in their hands, and how people's legitimate questions do have good answers.

The state of our state needs serious attention.

The state of our state is far from sound. The state of our state needs serious attention. The foundation is still firm, but major repairs are overdue.

Circumstances have changed radically. We must make sure that this is not the last surplus by limiting additional spending to purposes directly related to the nation's battle against terrorism.

It's a real privilege I've discovered comes with having a job like this, ... If you take the time to just spend a full minute with someone rather than five seconds, you've become part of a really memorable experience for them.

I confess I was an original fervent believer in this concept, ... I was sad to see it has been a failure in the state of Indiana.

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.'

I can only vouch for her character, her personal qualities of compassion and thoughtfulness and intellect, ... My sense is her legal career makes it plain that she would see herself as a judge and not a legislator on the bench, which I personally think is appropriate and important.

I don't want to go around beating up on small business people around Indiana who I think are just scrambling to try to serve their customers, ... If we ever see any credible evidence of somebody abusing the system, then we'll act. But, I've been looking at it every day and the Attorney General doesn't report it and I don't see it.

We recognize the federal government plays a very important role in researching cures for disease, and, therefore, our budget increases the NIH budget for 2002 by 2.8 billion, the largest increase in that department's history,

The process is to stimulate questions of whether we are aiming high enough, ... I want us to accept the idea that acceptable performance should be nothing less than great.

Yes, we hired an out-of-state firm to run it, but it created 300 jobs in a hard-hit county and saved us 6 million a year we were paying to Kentucky to house our prisoners, ... I have no theological view about privatization, but I believe we should look at competition or contracting when looking at services the government should be providing. What is the most effective way

Our educational results lag behind other states, and other nations, but worse still, behind the potential of the kids and the devoted teachers in our classrooms.

The days after that were really the most memorable, I suppose, of my life, because for a short time the nation came together in a way, and its politicians came together in a way, that they just aren't famous for,

I said, 'You can't be here having lunch with me, man' ... But I told him that could be one heck of a story. The kid could be saying later on, 'While I was born, my dad was busy because he was having lunch with the governor.'

As you know, Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) provisions require that firms seeking to do business with the government have a satisfactory record of business ethics and integrity, ... Consideration should be given to the initiation of suspension or debarment proceedings for all, or a part, of Arthur Andersen and Enron as appropriate.

The unanimous sentiment expressed by family members at the time of the trial and years later demonstrates that they believed life without parole was the most appropriate penalty for Mr. Baird, ... All members of the jury whose views are known also indicate that, had life without parole been an alternative available to them, they would have imposed it instead of the death penalty.

We owe it to Hoosier taxpayers to look for every opportunity to save money, ... State government does not need one vehicle for every three employees, or 20 aircraft. These vehicle auctions alone have returned more than 1.5 million to state government, but the greater savings are in operations and maintenance no longer necessary.

Finally, treat domestic energy production as the economic necessity it is and the job creator it can be. Drill, and frack, and lease, and license, unleash in every way the jobs potential in the enormous energy resources we have been denying ourselves.

We don't have a prayer of defeating the Red Threat of our generation without a long boom of almost unprecedented duration.

To make the economic impact that I think Indiana's capable of we have to do a lot of things large and small, ... We weren't labeled the Crossroads of America for nothing.

If it doesn't look like a solid gold (dollar total), ... then we won't do it.

A typical occupant of his office would have said, 'Give 'em everything they want,'

Businesses pick not just a locality but a state, ... We are not going to give away the state but we are getting positive feed back on our efforts. We want to provide not just incentives but efficiency in the process of getting reviews done and decisions made.

Our main task is not to see that people of great wealth add to it, but that those without much money have a greater chance to earn some.