Mitch Daniels

“The state of our state needs serious attention.”

“Sure, things could always have been done better, but I just wish people would drop their political hammers for a few weeks, as happened in 2001, and work on the problem at hand.”

“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.”

“Our first thought is always for those on life's first rung, and how we might increase their chances of climbing.”

“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.”

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

“We do not accept that ours will ever be a nation of haves and have-nots. We must always be a nation of haves and soon-to-haves.”

“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.'”

“Every successful enterprise has a very clear strategic purpose.”

“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.”

“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.”