Mitch Daniels

Mitch Daniels: 'This Is The Worst Recovery Ever'

Sahil Kapur | February 19, 2012, 1:35PM

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels gives the Republican response to the State of the Union.

As the economy slowly improves, the GOP's effort to recalibrate its message for the 2012 elections continued Sunday as rising star and Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels took to arguing that the recovery is too slow and the economy remains "pathetically weak."

"Let's not kid ourselves: this is the worst recovery ever from a serious recession, and history says the deeper the down, the sharper the up," Daniels said on CNN's State of the Union. "It should have been a very vigorous one. Hasn't been."

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Indiana

Indiana Capitol In Faceoff Over Labor Rights -- Again

Eric Kleefeld & Evan McMorris-Santoro | January 5, 2012, 5:08PM

The Indiana State Capitol building in Indianapolis, IN.

The Indiana legislature is grinding to a halt this week, as Democrats work to stall the Republican majority from passing a law restricting the power of private-sector labor unions.

The "right-to-work" law would go beyond the current crackdowns on public-sector unions, by forbidding private-sector companies and unions from negotiating a contract that would require the collection of partial union dues from non-members.

Starting Wednesday, and continuing into Thursday, the Indianapolis Star reports, the state House has been unable to gavel into a session -- and protesters have once again descended upon the building.

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Abortion

Report: Feds Say Indiana Medicaid Plan Banning Funds For Planned Parenthood Is Illegal

Jon Terbush | June 1, 2011, 5:11PM

Gov. Mitch Daniels (R-IN)

The Health and Human Services Department has told the state of indiana that its Medicaid plan, which prohibits any funding for health clinics that perform abortions, must be changed, according to the Associated Press.

Via the AP:

In a letter sent to Indiana's Medicaid director, and obtained by The Associated Press on Wednesday, Medicaid Administrator Donald M. Berwick says Indiana's plan will improperly bar Medicaid beneficiaries from receiving services. Berwick writes that federal law requires Medicaid beneficiaries to be able to obtain services from any provider qualified to provide services.

That letter comes about a month after Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) signed a bill stripping Planned Parenthood of all public funds, including Medicaid payments. According the letter obtained by the AP, the state can change its Medicaid plan, or face possible penalties.

Mitch Daniels

Daniels Not Running: 'I Love My Country; I Love My Family More'

David Taintor | May 22, 2011, 9:11AM

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R)

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels -- who had for months been flirting with a run for the White House -- has decided not to enter the fray, the Indianapolis Star reports.

"I will not be a candidate," he said, saying his wife and children had encouraged against running.

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Iowa caucus

Grassley: Daniels Could 'Show That People Who Don't Have Charisma Could Be Elected President'

Eric Kleefeld | May 18, 2011, 4:17PM

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Gov. Mitch Daniels (R-IN)

With friends like these...

As the Des Moines Register reports, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) has some nice things to say about possible Republican presidential candidate, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels:

"Sometimes I hear Mitch Daniels and I thought, maybe I oughta back him because it would be an opportunity to show that people who don't have charisma could be elected president," Grassley joked in a conference call with reporters today.

Grassley, who was asked about the importance of personal magnetism as opposed to policy in a presidential race, later made a point of saying his comments were "tongue in cheek."

Grassley also added to his "tongue in cheek" comment, with some praise for Daniels. "He seems to be a very, very good governor, has a good record. He had a good record as OMB director," Grassley said. "He is a person of substance and substance matters ... particularly at a time of 9 percent unemployment."

Iowa

Planned Parenthood Defund Gives Mitch Daniels A Social Conservative Boost In Iowa

Evan McMorris-Santoro | May 9, 2011, 2:29PM

Bob Vander Plaats

If Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) hoped making his state the first to defund Planned Parenthood clinics would give a boost to his presidential ambitions, it appears he may have been right.

Speaking with reporters after a tea party meeting about the debt ceiling on Monday morning, Iowa social conservative star Bob Vander Plaats said that Daniels' decision to sign the bill ending taxpayer funding for Planned Parenthood in Indiana puts the concerns over Daniels' talk of a social issue "truce" to rest.

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2012

Mitch Daniels Tours DC As Presidential Decision Looms

Benjy Sarlin | May 5, 2011, 9:35AM

Governor Mitch Daniels (R-IN)

Mitch Daniels delivered multiple speeches in Washington DC on Wednesday, raising his national profile as speculation builds around a possible presidential bid.

In recent months Daniels had appeared to be more devoted to Indiana legislative battles than preparing a run for President, but murmurs of a national run have grown ever since his close friend, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, recently decided against entering the race.

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2012

How Haley Barbour's Departure Affects The 2012 Field

Benjy Sarlin | April 26, 2011, 1:36PM

Gov. Haley Barbour (R-MS)

While many observers were skeptical of Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour's ability to capture the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, his decision not to run frees up an elite group of donors and operatives to find new homes and could leave a crucial bloc of voters up for grabs.

Barbour's campaign was considered a magnet for top quality staff and the remaining candidates will undoubtedly be reaching out to stranded politicos. Some already have ties to 2012 contenders while Barbours' close relationship with Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) has led to speculation that an outsize number will join Daniels' campaign -- if he decides to run.

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Mitch Daniels

Arab American Group Praises Mitch Daniels As 'The Adult In The Room'

Benjy Sarlin | April 19, 2011, 12:12PM

Governor Mitch Daniels (R-IN)

While some GOP presidential contenders ratchet up their anti-Muslim rhetoric to toxic levels, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniel (R) is set to accept a prestigious award next month from the Arab American Institute.

Maya Berry, executive director of AAI, told TPM that the award was incidental to his status as a possible presidential candidate and celebrates his broad record of public service and his Syrian heritage, which is not commonly known. Nonetheless, she noted that Daniels' award comes at a time of increasingly mainstream anti-Arab and anti-Muslim sentiment in conservative circles.

"It's a moment to honor our own and Mitch Daniels goes back to the founding of the institute as one of our earliest supporters," she said. "We have a community that comes with some unfortunate political baggage in terms of bigots...it's just nice when folks are proud of their ethnic background and don't allow that kind of politics of exclusion to get in the way."

Berry noted Daniel's emphasis on fixing the economy and the group's website praises his call for a "truce" on social issues, a quote that has invited heated attacks from religious conservatives.

"I think he's been the adult in the room," Berry said.

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Indiana

Indiana Democrats: Mitch Daniels, Pull Down Those Ads

Evan McMorris-Santoro | April 1, 2011, 8:58AM

At the request of the Indiana Democratic party, an attorney in Indiana is demanding the PAC run by Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) pull down a new TV ad it's running that attacks state House Democrats who went AWOL for costing the state nearly a half-million in cash.

Cody Kendall, an attorney in Indianapolis, has sent the letter to about a dozen TV stations around the state airing the TV ad, which Daniels' PAC -- Aiming Higher -- launched earlier this week. The state Democratic party is behind the letter, and asked Kendall -- a former state elections official -- to draft and send it.

The Daniels ad dings the 40 or so state House Democrats who fled to Illinois and shut down the legislature over concerns with the Daniels agenda and the legislative plans of the majority Republican caucus.

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Indiana

Indiana Gov. Hits Returning Dems In New Ad (VIDEO)

Melissa Jeltsen | March 30, 2011, 12:27PM

As Indiana Democrats return to the state after a month-long standoff to halt what they've called a Republican agenda targeting workers rights and public schools, a new ad paid for by Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels' PAC, Aiming Higher Inc., is slamming them for going AWOL and playing "political games."

The ad, which will air across Indiana, was released on Tuesday. It criticizes Democrats for fleeing to Illinois and says they walked out on the children of the state.

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Indiana

Mitch Daniels BFF With Dick Lugar's Primary Challenger?

Benjy Sarlin | March 29, 2011, 11:13AM

Gov. Mitch Daniels (R-IN)

Longtime Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN) is facing a tough primary challenge from Indiana state Treasurer Richard Mourdock, who claims he has one very high up supporter behind his insurgency: Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels.

The Indiana governor has said he plans to vote for Lugar, whom he used to serve as an aide, but Mourdock says that his decision to run was heavily encouraged by Daniels.

"Before I decided to do this, he and I had three different conversations about it," Mourdock told Hotline On Call in an interview. "And every time, he said, 'Richard Mourdock, don't you ever, ever, ever let anyone tell you don't have every right to do this. You've earned the right. You worked 31 years in the business world. We don't have that kind of experience very often in Washington."

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Indiana

Indiana Dems To Return Home With Big Concessions From GOPers

Evan McMorris-Santoro | March 28, 2011, 2:10PM

State Rep. Patrick Bauer (D-IN)

Just about a month ago, dozens of Indiana state House Democrats fled to Illinois to shut down what they said was a Republican agenda that targeted workers rights and the public schools. Now they're set to return, having won several concessions from the GOP that will change the face of what Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) was hoping would be a signature session.

Rep. Patrick Bauer, leader of the state House Democrats, called the deal "not perfect" but said the deal shows the standoff -- which shut down the state legislature in Indiana for weeks -- paid off in the end.

"The principled stand by House Democrats forced concessions by the House Republicans that reflected the concerns expressed by so many people who came to the Statehouse in recent weeks," he told TPM in a statement. "Today we can announce compromises that are great steps forward for working Hoosiers."

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Mitch Daniels

IBM In All-Out War With Mitch Daniels Over Indiana Legal Dispute

Benjy Sarlin | March 23, 2011, 11:11AM

Governor Mitch Daniels (R-IN)

The toughest rhetoric against potential presidential candidate Mitch Daniels so far isn't coming from his rivals. Computer giant IBM is launching a scathing attack on the Indiana governor over a pair of high-stakes lawsuits concerning a contract with the state that he cut short in 2009.

Daniels canceled a 10-year $1.37 billion contract with IBM to update the state's social services system three years in after numerous complaints and critical articles about its effectiveness. Indiana then sued IBM to recover over $400 million it had already paid.

IBM responded with its own suit demanding the state pay about $100 million for equipment already provided to Indiana. Now the company is demanding Daniels and his chief of staff give sworn depositions in the case and claiming that Daniels is betraying his campaign promises about transparency in government by refusing to comply.

"It's been hypocrisy from the beginning," IBM spokesman Clint Roswell told TPM.

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Indiana

Union Busters Say Gov. Mitch Daniels Doesn't Know How To Bust

Evan McMorris-Santoro | March 23, 2011, 9:19AM

Gov. Mitch Daniels (R-IN)

As he struggles to get his legislative year back on track after state House Democrats shut it down five weeks ago, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) is facing a harsh assault from the anti-union right, which is accusing him of "running scared" from organized labor advocates.

It's a strange position for the virulently anti-union Daniels to be in.

"Big Labor Democrats may have fled to Illinois," a newspaper ad from the National Right To Work Committee that ran yesterday in Indiana reads. "But it's you who have been selling out."

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Indiana

The Next Wisconsin? Nat'l Dems Step Into Indiana Fight (VIDEO)

Evan McMorris-Santoro | March 21, 2011, 8:33AM

The legislative standoff between Democratic state House members and their Republican colleagues in Indiana is now entering its fifth week. And now national Democrats are taking the battle to the next level, with at TV ad designed to bring the fight to Gov. Mitch Daniels (R), whose presidential ambitions may be on the line along with this legislative agenda.

Starting today, the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (the national party arm charged with boosting Democratic numbers in the nation's legislatures) is going up with a TV spot aimed squarely at Daniels, who has promised to wait the Democrats out for as long as it takes.

With the battle in Wisconsin shifting to courts and recalls, Indiana is poised to become the next Wisconsin. And, Democrats say, Daniels is about to become the next Gov. Scott Walker (R).

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Dick Lugar

Senator Lugar Says He's a Mitch Daniels Man

Benjy Sarlin | March 11, 2011, 11:21AM

Gov. Mitch Daniels (R-IN)

Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels has the backing of his own state's senior Senator at the very least if he chooses to make a White House run.

"Yes, that's my choice," Lugar told Newsmax when asked who he would choose to take on President Obama in 2012.

"I have no idea what Gov. Daniels will ultimately decide," Lugar added. "I believe he would be an outstanding president, and I say this because he has managed with fiscal prudence the state of Indiana in such a way that we have balanced budgets."

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GOP Primary

The Shrinking GOP Field -- And What It Means For The 2012 Election

Benjy Sarlin | March 7, 2011, 9:13AM

Mitt Romney

Weeks away from the first debates of the Republican presidential primary and the pool of candidates is uncertain and getting smaller, leaving open the possibility of a much tinier and less predictable field than was widely expected.

It's more than just hesitance among potential contenders to form an exploratory committee or formally announce a campaign. Few, if any, observers doubt Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty will hop in the race, for example. But the two potential candidates with arguably the largest group of core supporters, Sarah Palin and Mike Huckabee, are sending mixed signals about a possible run, with major implications for the rest of the field.

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Indiana

Indiana House GOP Will Fine AWOL Dems $250 A Day

Evan McMorris-Santoro | March 4, 2011, 9:18AM

You may not have heard much about it lately, but the state House Democrats in Indiana are still on the lam, shutting down a right-to-work law and, for the time being, much Gov. Mitch Daniels' (R) education reform agenda (not to mention his presidential ambitions).

The Republican majority in the State House, cooling their heels in Indianapolis while their Democratic colleagues hunker down at a hotel in Urbana, Illinois, have now found a way to up the stakes: hit the Democrats right in their wallets. Starting Monday, the Democrats will face a fine of $250 for each day they stay away from the legislature.

The Democratic response? M'eh.

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Violence

Indiana Dep. AG: Use 'Live Ammunition' Against Wisconsin Protesters

Brian Beutler | February 23, 2011, 11:13AM

Indiana Deputy Attorney General Jeff Cox

This week, a Mother Jones editor named Adam Weinstein got into a Twitter tête à tête with an Indiana lawyer who called on riot police in Madison to use "live ammunition" to clear protesters out of the state Capitol.

It turned out that lawyer, Jeff Cox, is a deputy attorney general in the state. And -- perhaps unsurprisingly -- he's left a long online trail of controversial statements and diktats.

"[A]gainst thugs physically threatening legally-elected state legislators & governor?" he tweeted back at Weinstein. "You're damn right I advocate deadly force."

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Indiana

Mitch Daniels Calls On State GOP To Abandon Union-Busting Bill

Evan McMorris-Santoro | February 22, 2011, 4:01PM

Gov. Mitch Daniels (R-IN)

Members of the Democratic state House caucus in Indiana have found an unlikely ally in their quest to stop the GOP majority from pushing through a bill that critics say would destroy union organizing in the state. Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) took to the airwaves today to call on members of his party to drop the controversial "right to work" bill that led to Democrats going AWOL.

Daniels' statement, from WISH-TV:

"I'm not sending the state police after anybody. I'm not gonna divert a single trooper from their job of protection the Indiana public. I trust that people's consciences will bring them back to work. ... For reasons I've explained more than once I thought there was a better time and place to have this very important and legitimate issue raised."

Daniels has said for months that he's in favor of the idea behind the controversial bills, that critics say would make it nearly impossible for unions to organize in Indiana. But he's urged Republicans not to go ahead with their plans because he said their controversial nature would take the legislature off track.

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2012 elections

Mitch Daniels Offers To Fix Obama's Health Care Bill For Him

Evan McMorris-Santoro | February 7, 2011, 3:10PM

Gov. Mitch Daniels (R-IN)

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, one of the many not-yet-running-officially Republicans running for President, is doing what most Republicans in his position are doing these days: bashing the Democratic health care reforms, and suggesting that the law that codified them is one of the worst pieces of legislation in American history.

Daniels, whose GOP cred comes mostly from his budget-cutting ways in Indiana and his time as President Bush's budget director, took a stab at leveraging his policy wonkiness to offer up his own solutions to what his party sees as the Obamacare mess. His plan? Drop those pesky mandates and send the states more federal money.

Of course the best fix, Daniels says, would be for someone to just put an end to this whole health care reform thing.

From an op-ed in today's Wall Street Journal:

"Many of us governors are hoping for either a judicial or legislative rescue from this impending disaster, and recent court decisions suggest there's a chance of that," he wrote. "But we can't count on a miracle -- that's only permitted in Washington policy making."

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2012 Presidential Primaries

Mitch Daniels Supporters Launch First 2012 Spot Of the Cycle (VIDEO)

Evan McMorris-Santoro | January 27, 2011, 3:55PM

Students For Daniels campaign ad.

Somewhere in America is a group of young people who want to see Gov. Mitch Daniels (R-IN) become the next president of the United States. And this weekend, they're going to let an awful lot of Iowans know it.

Students For Daniels, a 37-chapter campus group of Daniels supporters based at Yale, is buying TV ad time in southern Iowa during this Sunday's NFL ProBowl to run a TV ad urging Daniels to run. Students for Daniels claims the ad will be the first TV spot of the 2012 presidential cycle.

The 30-second commercial, which targets youth voters who supported Obama in 2008, was shot on Yale's campus and stars Courtney Pannell, a senior majoring in political science at the Ivy League university.

Max Eden, national director for the group and himself a senior majoring in history at Yale, told TPM that the group has no official connection to Daniels, but says that the governor and potential 2012 presidential contender has taken an interest in the growing organization and is keeping up with what Eden and his crew are up to.

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2012 Presidential Primaries

Rasmussen Poll: Romney Holds Slim Lead On 2012 GOP Field

Jon Terbush | January 24, 2011, 12:12PM

Former Gov. Mitt Romney (R-MA)

Fresh off dominating the New Hampshire straw poll over the weekend, Mitt Romney got another boost to his presidential aspirations in the form of a new national Rasmussen poll that shows the former Massachusetts Governor leading his potential competition for the GOP nomination.

In the poll, 24% of respondents went for Romney, while 19% supported Sarah Palin, and 17% said Mike Huckabee was their top choice. Newt Gingrich came in fourth at 11%, followed by Tim Pawlenty (6%), Ron Paul (4%), and Mitch Daniels (3%). An aditional 16% said they were either undecided or planned to vote for another candidate.

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Pres '12

Dick Cheney: 'I'm Intrigued' By Mitch Daniels For President (VIDEO)

Eric Kleefeld | January 19, 2011, 11:42AM

Former Vice President Dick Cheney and Gov. Mitch Daniels (R-IN)

Former Vice President Dick Cheney is offering some effusive praise for one of the potential Republican presidential candidates: Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, who previously served as Budget Director during the first term of the Bush-Cheney administration.

In an interview with Jamie Gangel of NBC News, Cheney said: "We've got a lot of good prospective candidates out there.

"And I'm intrigued for example by, oh, someone like Mitch Daniels. I like Mitch because he's got a breadth of experience, as OMB Director for example, because he's run a major of a big corporation, he's run a think tank -- Hudson Institute -- he's now been governor of Indiana, and he's done in Indiana what I think we need to do at the national level.

"Now, will Mitch run? I don't know whether he'll run or not. Is he the only potential candidate out there? No, we've got a lot of other good ones: Chris Christie from New Jersey; Tim Pawlenty from Minnesota."

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CPAC

CPAC Attacked For Inviting Mitch Daniels

Jillian Rayfield | January 11, 2011, 3:42PM

Gov. Mitch Daniels (R-IN)

The right has found yet another reason to hate CPAC: The decision to invite potential 2012 presidential candidate Gov. Mitch Daniels (R-IN).

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2012 Presidential Primaries

Report: Mitch Daniels '75%' Of The Way There On Decision To Run For President

Evan McMorris-Santoro | January 6, 2011, 2:46PM

Gov. Mitch Daniels (R-IN)

Welcome to the horserace before the horserace. Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, one of the more prominent names in the ever-expanding Republican presidential field for 2012, is doing what all the other prominent names in the field are doing: being coy about his intentions.

Sources close to Daniels tell Real Clear Politics' Erin McPike that the term-limited governor is "about 75 percent of the way in for a presidential run."

"The last 25 percent of his decision will come during the next four months of the Indiana legislative session, when he will try to pass education reform and a budget," McPike reports.

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2012 elections

Former Bush Budget Director Mitch Daniels: I Did Not Blow Up The Deficit (VIDEO)

Evan McMorris-Santoro | January 5, 2011, 6:28PM

Gov. Mitch Daniels (R-IN)

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) -- on the short list of contenders for the GOP's presidential nomination in 2012 -- has an explanation for why the deficit exploded under George W. Bush. And it's not the massive Bush tax cuts, which Daniels helped shepherd as Bush's director of the OMB.

"The nation went into a deficit then because the bubble burst and we had a recession," Daniels told CNN this afternoon. "It wouldn't have mattered what policies you tried to implement, we were going to have a great big reversal."

Daniels' presidential ambitions could be hampered by the fact that he was one of the men in charge of the Bush budget that dramatically increased the size of federal government spending and slashed revenues thanks to the tax cuts. That helped create the gigantic federal deficit that Republicans used as a rhetorical cudgel to bludgeon the Democratic House majority to death in November. Tea partiers also like to use the deficit cudgel on Republicans, especially those that voted for Bush's budgets. (Daniels has other problems with the GOP base, too, such as his suggestion that it's time for a "truce" on social issues, which ticked off the values voters something fierce.)

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Pres '12

Poll: 41% Of Dems Want Primary Opponent For Obama

Marc Kilstein | November 24, 2010, 10:39AM

President Barack Obama

While President Obama has fared well at the state level in early 2012 presidential election polls, a newly released national poll paints a more troublesome picture for the president's re-election bid.

The McClatchy-Marist survey finds 41% of Democrats are in favor of a challenge for the Democratic presidential nomination. When Democratic-leaning independents are included, 45% support a primary challenge, 46% don't, and 9% aren't sure.

A November 15 Quinnipiac poll showed much less support for a contested 2012 primary, with just 27% of Democrats and Democrat leaners saying they wanted a Dem besides Obama to run in 2012, while 64% didn't.

In the Marist poll, only 36% of respondents indicate that they would "definitely vote for him" in the general election, whereas 48% state they will "definitely vote against him."

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2012 elections

Quinnipiac Poll: Palin Narrowly Leads 2012 GOP Field -- And Badly Trails Obama

Eric Kleefeld | November 22, 2010, 9:49AM

President Barack Obama and Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin

The new Quinnipiac poll shows Sarah Palin holding a narrow plurality among Republicans across the country for the party's presidential nomination in 2012. And at the same time, the poll makes clear that while President Obama is vulnerable in a closely-divided country, Palin would be the GOP's worst possible nominee for the general election race.

Among Republicans and GOP-leaners: Palin 19%, Romney 18%, Huckabee 17%, Gingrich 15%. Bringing up the rear are Tim Pawlenty at 6%, Haley Barbour 2%, Mitch Daniels 2%, and John Thune 2%. The Republican primary poll has a ±3.1% margin of error.

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2012 elections

Early Look At 2012 Republican Presidential Primary Shows Tight Four-Way Race

Marc Kilstein | November 16, 2010, 3:53PM

Fmr. Governors Mitt Romney (R-MA), Mike Huckabee (R-AR), and Sarah Palin (R-AK), and Fmr. Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (R-GA)

Four Republicans have emerged as the clear early (err, very early) frontrunners in the 2012 Republican presidential primary, according to a recently concluded series of Public Policy Polling (D) surveys. The favorite of the bunch? Not so clear.

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Sarah Palin

2012 Starts Now: Polls Show Palin, Romney And Huckabee Popular Primary Choices

Eric Kleefeld | November 12, 2010, 6:05PM

Former Governors Mitt Romney (R-MA) and Sarah Palin (R-AK)

So who has the (very early) lead in the 2012 Republican presidential primaries? A big set of polls from key states released this week by Public Policy Polling (D) -- conducted as part of their surveys of various states in the days leading up the recent midterm election -- shows Mitt Romney with narrow leads in most states, followed closely by Sarah Palin and Mike Huckabee.

Romney leads in New Hampshire, California, Colorado, Connecticut and Florida. Meanwhile, Palin leads in Maine, Texas, West Virginia and Wisconsin. Mike Huckabee posts narrow leads in Illinois and Pennsylvania

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Health Care

States Fighting Health Care Law Also Fighting For Health Care Law Grant Money

Brian Beutler | September 1, 2010, 10:37AM

President Barack Obama

Don't underestimate Republicans' desire to stymie or unwind the health care law. But not all of them are as committed to its demise as Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R), who yesterday issued an executive order forbidding his state's officials from applying for grant money from the new law.

It turns out that seven of the states -- Arizona, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Nebraska and Nevada -- that have applied and been approved for subsidies to cover the cost of caring for retired state government employees are also part of a coalition of more than 20 states suing the federal government over the constitutionality of the health care law's individual mandate, which experts say is critical to the success of the policy. Minnesota's attorney general, Lori Swanson (D), refused to join to Pawlenty's displeasure.

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2012 elections

Poll: Obama In Close Races With Huckabee And Romney, Has Solid Lead Against Palin

Eric Kleefeld | March 18, 2010, 12:37PM

President Obama and Former Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-AR)

The new national survey from Public Policy Polling (D) finds President Obama in tight potential races against Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney, and continuing to maintain a bigger advantage over Sarah Palin.

The numbers: Obama leads Huckabee by 46%-44%, leads Palin by 49%-41%, and is tied with Romney 44%-44%. Gov. Mitch Daniels (R-IN), was also tested, but as a national unknown he trails Obama by 45%-34%. The margin of error is ±2.6%.

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