Mitch Daniels, Architect of US Debt Crisis

[marmar]

from Consortium News:




Mitch Daniels, Architect of US Debt Crisis
Exclusive: Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels is the new Republican darling of the Washington establishment, which hails him as a “fiscal conservative” who would be “serious” about addressing the nation’s staggering debt problem. But his many admirers forget to mention what Daniels did in creating the debt crisis as George W. Bush’s budget director, notes Robert Parry.

Robert Parry
May 14, 2011


To hear Official Washington tell it, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels is the new “serious” Republican presidential contender. He’s praised as a “fiscal conservative” who isn’t obsessed with the Right’s divisive social agenda nor marred by the crazy “birther” conspiracy theories.

Mentioned only in passing is a key fact that – in a saner world – would disqualify him from holding any government office: Mitch Daniels was President George W. Bush’s original budget director in 2001.

In other words, the “fiscal conservative” Daniels oversaw the federal budget as it was making its precipitous dive from a $236 billion surplus – then on a trajectory to eliminate the entire federal debt in a decade – to a $400 billion deficit by the time he left in June 2003.

Plus, because of proposals developed on Daniels’s watch – such as tax cuts favoring the rich and unpaid-for projects, including the invasion of Iraq and a new prescription drug plan – the fiscal situation of the federal government continued to sink over the ensuing years, plunging to a trillion-dollar-plus annual deficit by the time Bush left office in 2009. .............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://consortiumnews.com/2011/05/14/mitch-daniels-architect-of-us-debt-crisis/

[cantbeserious]

1. Republicans Are Zombies - They Have No Memory!

eom

[Dj13Francis]

2. Wow

Sounds like the best person to solve our problems! Where can I sign up to volunteer for this guy's campaign?

Jeeeezzzusss Efffinn Christ...

These people are the dumbest of the dumb, lamest of the lame, and stupidest of the stupid.

[dotymed]

3. I lived in Indiana during his election and

unbelievably, his re-election.

he was an unknown until a few months before primaries. He blanketed the state with money, advertisements and personal appearances at public schools throughout the state. Everywhere you looked, there was a "My Man Mitch" sign or bumper sticker.

He Won. Our Democratic Governor had died during his last term and his seat was taken over by a (not exciting, older) Lieutenant Governor, prior to the election.

Mitch's first act as Governor was to force all state workers to quit their Union. I thought this was illegal, and Indiana has a higher than the national average of Union workers.

His wife refused to move into the Governors Mansion because "it needed repairs." So, he built a mansion in a gated suburb of Indianapolis. He leased toll roads to M.E. investors for the next 75 years and privatized everything he could.

Indiana is the home of the very conservative and wealthy Eli Lilly Pharmaceutical Company and the Lilly family. They run Indiana. Mitch is "their boy."

He has run Indiana into the ground and kept the wealthy (there are many in Indiana) very happy. I now live in Tn. and IMO, it is even worse than IN., while we have a "blue dog" Governor, the people here are a majority of poor, RW, "Christians." While I do know many wonderful people here, for the most part, they all "know their place." The more well-to-do people will help the underprivileged who agree with them and/or "know their place."

We still have a very prominent "Southern Aristocracy" who pride themselves on being generous to the less fortunate. Yet, mention "Union" or a "living wage" and you are quickly ostracized...

[4dsc]

4. Rightie is blaming the DOT.COM crash

Here's a direct quote from someone in Indiana "The bursting of the dotcom bubble is what took us from surplus to deficit in 2001. The surplus was ephemeral -- and the easiest way to see that is to look at state budgets at the time. They pretty much all did the exact same thing. "


Denial seems to be a river in Indiana.

[Patiod]

5. Wait - you forgot to mention Freddie and Fannie!

According to Faux, that's what singlehandedly caused the mortgage crisis. :eyes: