Governor Daniels in his rebuttal to the President’s State of the Union Address on January 24, 2012 said as Republicans our first concern is for those waiting tonight to begin or resume the climb up life’s ladder. We do not accept that ours will ever be a nation of have and have nots; we must always be a nation of haves and soon to haves. In our economic stagnation and indebtedness we’re only a short distance behind Greece, Spain and other European countries now facing economic catastrophe. But ours is a fortune land because the world uses the dollar for trade we have a short grace period to deal with our dangers. But time is running out if we are to avoid the fate of Europe and those once great nations of history that fell from the position of world leadership. So 2012 is a year of true opportunity, maybe our last to restore an America of hope and upward mobility and greater equality. The challenges aren’t matters of ideology or party preference, the problems are simply mathematical and the answers are purely practical. An opposition that would earn its way back into leadership must offer not just criticism of failures that just anyone can see but a positive and credible plan to make life better; particularly for those that are aspiring to make life better for themselves. I agree that 2012 is the year for Americans to tell the politicians that they are tired of past policies. Daniels is right in that the challenges should not be about party preference but poll after poll show that the most important thing to Republicans is to find a candidate that can beat Obama and yet it was about this point in his speech that I thought he was making an argument to vote for Obama. Decades of policies have allowed 1% of Americans to become wealthy while 15% of the 99% are in poverty. Remember that Romney wants to do away with the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform that the President signed to punish those manipulating the markets and making huge profits. It is unfortunate that Europe followed our lead in 1983 when hedge funds came into play and they, not us, decided to give their people better retirements.
Governor Daniels said - Republicans accept this duty gratefully. The roots back to an America of promise and to a solvent America that can pay its bills and protect its vulnerable start in the same place. The only way up for those suffering tonight and the only way out of the dead end of debt into which we’ve driven is a private economy which begins to grow and create jobs, real jobs, at a rate much faster than today. Contrary to the President’s constant disparagement of people in business, it’s one of the noblest of human pursuit. The late Steve Jobs created more of them than all of the stimulus dollars the President borrowed and blew. Out here in Indiana when a business person asks me what he can do for our state, I say first make money, be successful, if you make a profit you’ll have something left to hire someone else and some to donate to the good causes we love. This sounds good but as I and others have already said companies are holding onto profits and not hiring. And, with General Motors again becoming the number one auto manufacturer in the world he wants you to believe that the stimulus money was wasted. He also wants you to believe that the wealthy paying their fair share in taxes won’t bring revenue into the budget. I do wonder when Americans will stop believing this rhetoric; when they’ll believe we should reward those that toil instead of those that invest; since 1996 the tax on capital gains has dropped 14.2% thus putting less revenue in the federal budget.
Daniels said - The extremism that stifles the development of homegrown energy or cancels a perfectly safe pipeline that would employ tens of thousands or jacks up consumers’ utility bills with no improvement in human health or world temperature is a pro poverty policy that must be replaced with a passionate pro growth approach that breaks all ties and calls all close ones in favor of private sector jobs that restore opportunity for all and generate the public revenue to pay our bills. On January 5 the industry lobbyists warned the President not to block the Keystone oil pipeline (it was also said that oil trading was near an 8 month high). On January 18 the White House put an end to the 1700 miles of Keystone Pipeline that would go through 6 states from Canada to Texas and on to Mexico that was first introduced during the Bush Administration because Nebraska is worried about contaminating their water supply. The reaction of the lobbyists only proved that they thought they were still controlling the government. Yes, critics are saying the President lost us about 23,000 jobs (the administration said was looking at an alternate route for the line). But you have to remember that the Republicans are criticizing our attempts at clean energy; there are jobs there too. I do like that they consider the pipeline safe while the American citizens do not. I was also concerned that Canada’s Prime Minister was disappointed and said they’ll consider making a deal with China for the oil. I would like to know why we should help them get oil to Mexico and why they can’t sell it to us and others supporting the sanctions against Iran instead of selling to China.
Daniels went on to say - That means a dramatically simpler tax system of fewer loopholes and lower rates, a pause in the mindless piling on of expensive new regulations that devour dollars that could otherwise be used to hire somebody. It means maximizing on the new domestic technologies that are the best break that our economy has gotten in years. Okay we agree that the tax system needs to change. But, I don’t think it means zero tax on capital gains as Newt wants or other things the Republican candidates are proposing; I don’t think he’s listening to the people they’ve offered up as candidates for the Presidency.
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