Presenting the Republican rebuttal to the State of the Union address, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) attacked President Barack Obama, saying his administration’s extreme and divisive policies have held back economic recovery. He said the country must instead be righted by a pro-growth agenda, a simpler tax system, and a balancing of deficits.
“No feature of the Obama Presidency has been sadder than its constant efforts to divide us, to curry favor with some Americans by castigating others,” Daniels said.
Following a decision by the administration to delay construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, the Indiana governor said Obama’s policies would put America in poverty.
“The extremism that stifles the development of homegrown energy, or cancels a perfectly safe pipeline that would employ tens of thousands, or jacks up consumer utility bills for no improvement in either human health or world temperature,” says Daniels, “is a pro-poverty policy.”
Reflecting what a partisan year it has been, from numerous government shutdown fights, to an equally nasty debt limit fiasco, Daniels sought to denounce blaming the Republican party for the country’s problems. Instead, he pointed to Democrats and President Obama as the hostage takers, especially in Congress.
“They alone have passed bills to reduce borrowing, reform entitlements, and encourage new job creation, only to be shot down nearly time and again by the President and his Democrat Senate allies,” Daniels said.
Daniels also presented his party as the one committed to saving the nation’s social safety net, Medicare and Social Security. In order to do that, the plan would be to cease supporting wealthy seniors when others are more in need.
“The mortal enemies of Social Security and Medicare are those who, in contempt of the plain arithmetic, continue to mislead Americans that we should change nothing,” Daniels said. “We can preserve them unchanged and untouched for those now in or near retirement, but we must fashion a new, affordable safety net so future Americans are protected, too.”
The dueling contrast between Daniels’ rebuttal to President Obama’s State of the Union address is a sign of things to come as the 2012 fight ramps up. Payroll taxes, unemployment assistance, the budget, and other initiatives are all coming down the pike in Congress.
Igor Bobic
Igor Bobic is the assistant editor of Talking Points Memo, helping oversee the site's coverage of politics and policy in Washington. While originally from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Igor feels best at home on the beaches of Southern California. He can be reached at igor@talkingpointsmemo.com.
Meet Tall friends on my Name
The governor of a state whose legislature just passed a law that allows employers to pay everyone minimum wage if they choose lectures about the President's pro-poverty stance. Meanwhile, a serial adulterer castigates a debate moderator for the "despicable" nature of his question about said adultery.
Welcome to Bizarro GOP World.
First of all this is GW's former budget director, LOL The word fiscal should not even come off his lips. R u kidding me? R the GOP living in reality? Its no way they r. this is a dayum shame to insult the intelligence of normal folk. Not talking about the loony right. just civil minded folks.
This TPM blogpost or GOP press release?
Hes gotta lotta gall talking about divisive, when his keynote legislation was thrown back in his face like a wet towel...It seems these days thats all our republican brethren have is gall.
Keystone XL is not "homegrown" energy
The sandy oil would be piped to Houston for refining and sold to the world market. A Keystone leak that gets into aquifers under the Great Plains is much more destructive than nixing the pipeline. Mitch ought to talk with the GOPers in Nebraska who don't want the pipeline going through their state.
You would have to be mentally retarded, just waking up from a 3 year coma and lacking all your chromosomes to believe things are worse now than when Bush was in power. Or be Republican, because there is no difference.
“The extremism that stifles the development of homegrown energy, or cancels a perfectly safe pipeline that would employ tens of thousands, or jacks up consumer utility bills for no improvement in either human health or world temperature,” says Daniels, “is a pro-poverty policy.”
A policy you, Mitch, have no problem in encouraging. 'Tens of thousands?" Apparently you didn't get the official memo that it would create over "one hundred thousand jobs." Tell ya what, Mitch, let's run the pipe through Indiana, and YOU can guarantee those "ten of thousands" of high-paying jobs for indianians, and everything will be hunky-dory.
What, America's favorite anchor baby other than Nikki Haley, Little Bobby Jindal, wasn't available to give the response? And he did SUCH a bang-up job the last time.
<i>Presenting the Republican rebuttal to the State of the Union address, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) attacked President Barack Obama, saying his administration’s extreme and divisive policies have held back economic recovery.</i>
I think this is a subtle example of a writer's shortcut seeming to validate a false premise. The way this lead is written, it seems to take it as given that "extreme and divisive policies" exist, with Daniels merely pointing out that those policies were holding the economy back. What you should say is "Daniels attacked Obama, saying his administration's policies were extreme and divisive and have held back economic recovery".
Reporters seem to act like it's cool to start out with "So and so said", and then let it be assumed that everything that follows, including implied assumptions, is in the subject's voice. But if it's not a direct quote, I think you ought to spell out each premise as the speaker's opinion.
"One in five men of prime working age, and nearly half of all persons under 30, did not go to work today." ~Mitch Daniels
I think there's something very deceptive going on with this quote. Does the "half of all persons under 30" include under eighteens? If so, what does Daniels consider "prime working age"?
These Repubs did not hear anything the President said!
Hey ... isn't Daniel's the former Budget Director for Bush .... the same guy who allowed TWO tax cuts DURING TWO wars ... the 1st and 2nd time in 230 years of US history?
Hmmmm ... we KNOW how THAT worked out for the Nation ... did the Republicans forget what happened in Oct 2008 ...near economic melt down of US economy ... ... TARP.....DURING Bush?
Are THEY THAT STUPID?
Yep ...they are!!!!
Daniels didn't write that speech and it not seem as he believed much of it himself.
Marioth They just had him read it because he has a reputation as a "moderate." But Daniels is a moderate in the same way that Newt is an intellectual.
That's rich coming from the Bush banker! He couldn't have estimated the cost of the wars any worse. And of course a "perfectly safe" pipeline is the cure for our ills. As a hoosier I don't think Mitch knows his ass from apple butter
Is that a rug?
RickParris No, that's a squirrel pelt.
spud48RickParris
Runt of the little no doubt
Who doesn't like a little poverty. It's like salt.
So I'm pondering, why do I want to beat this guy to death?
Love Apple and Steve Jobs, but I really don't believe Daniels wants to go where he did comparing US jobs created or saved to Apple. They currently have around 63k employees with a little under half that in the US and are responsible for nearly 500k jobs in total worldwide. Where are most of those jobs? 400k+ at Foxconn in Longhua Science & Technology Park, Shenzhen, China earning $130 a month for 240 hrs/mo worked. 51 cents an hour.
SchoolyT That's exactly where Daniels wants to go. Daniels and the Republicans believe that we can only compete with China if American workers are willing to suffer low wages, long hours and poor work conditions. Republicans look to China for their ideal of capitalism.
WiscoJoeSchoolyT except they are unwilling to invest in infrastructure and R&D like the Chinese govt does
That's the Republicans for you. Looking to a hard line COMMUNIST country to bring about their brand of capitalism.
SchoolyT He'd call that Right to Work. Those pesky unions are keeping us from competing with 51¢/hour.
I'd like to personally thank Governor Daniels - when my mother shattered her arm a month before being eligible for Medicare, we found it was Governor Daniels who had ransacked the healthcare insurance programs designed to insure the elderly and unemployed so he could lower taxes for corporations and the wealthy in Indiana.
He sounds almost reasonable at times but let's remember that as soon as he had said he wanted a cease fire in the culture wars he signed legislation to defund planned parenthood in Indiana. There's simply no escaping the shearing force of a republican base straining so hard to the right. Loyal opposition is a good thing but the Republican party is in thrall to the tea party. The Indiana tea party has several billboards up on the interstates in Indiana. They feature the standard noble eagle visage over a flag but the words over that picture are strange for a movement that says it's all about fiscal issues: they read "America - Bless God". Now tell me again who is waging culture war here.
britbitter Brit, good analysis of Daniels. As an Indiana resident he sounds reasonable at times. He also criticizes President Obama's policies as "pro-poverty" while simultaneously pushing Right-To-Work. Standard republican double speak.
Well, that's it huh? "Pro-poverty". Finally, my sense of mission in life defined. I think I'll have t-shirts made. "Up with Poverty". "Save the Impoverished". "Have you Found Your Inner Poverty". "Poverty. It's What's For Dinner".
The White Knight emerges, galloping in on his fire-snorting charger to save the day.
The Gopers are beyond desperate. Mitch has been selected to step in at the last minute (undecided ticket and open convention) and save democracy (and deregulation, taxbreaks, Superpacs, etc) from the Dark President.
He certainly is aware that Obama did not cause the current crisis, since he had a front row seat to who did.
Front row seat? He was one of the architects.
HappyFeet "Architect"? That implies planning and design. Which I think gives them far too much credit. All they did is release the lions. After firing all the lion tamers.
Conversation from Twitter
danancona stanley00 If GOP wants to attack "fairness" they're only playing into Obama's hands. That's a debate they can't win w/public.
Phitter danancona True, no one can argue against "fairness," but that's why it's wishy-washy. Remember the Race speech? The Cairo speech?
stanley00 Phitter of course they won't attack it. They'll just say fairness means that people should be able to keep the money they earn.
danancona stanley00 If by "people" they mean multi-billionaires and millionaires then sure. & that makes them even more "out of touch."
danancona stanley00 Obama is keeping it on a higher level to avoid getting sucked into a fight. It's who he is, the conciliator.
Phitter stanley00 "you should be able to keep your money" plays into racial fear. It works for white people up and down the income scale.
Phitter danancona I *want* him to get sucked into a fight. I *want* to take an issue, define it, take a stand, and defend it.
danancona stanley00 Racial fear or just TeaParty BigGov fear? or both bc our president is black? Its more economic fear than racial...
stanley00 danancona I don't want him to fight...because he sucks at it. His record on fighting is that he loses (by giving up).
stanley00 danancona We need to look to other ppl 2do the fighting...although I dont know who that might be right now. Just "The Ppl?"
Phitter stanley00 racial fear IS "big gubmint" fear if you dig around in their psyches at all. Look at how Newt or Norquist talk about it
Phitter stanley00 that I agree with. The other people doing the fighting = the progressive movement, what there is of it anyway
danancona stanley00 But doesn't "Big Gubmint" meme thrive no matter what color the president is?
danancona stanley00 Along the lines of our twittersation, this jumps out at me: http://t.co/hajyCKvS
danancona stanley00 Lastly Obama is betting on "most optimistic" candidate will win 2012. He is back to being a candidate...not President
Phitter stanley00 of course it does, and Obama in some ways is pinned down in calling people out on it. Which is depressing.
danancona stanley00 I still think Obama used "fair" bc it doesn't light the TeaParty fuse like "inequality" does.
What, is he auditioning for the Simpson's live action "Mr. Burns"?
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