Mitch Daniels (Or Someone Like Him!) for President

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That last comment- if that is a teacher and their spelling and grammar is that bad, surely you can see the need for reform. I live in Indiana and work as a teacher, and I see a lot of room for improvement in the schools.
I rarely care about politics or politicians, but i can honestly say- if this country was so lucky to have Mitch Daniels running it the way he has Indiana, we wouldn't be worrying about budget deficits that our grandchildren will have to pay off.
It would be so exciting to have a real President who would restore this country it's dignity and honor by doing the hard work and making the right decisions, someone who walks the walk and doesn't just talk the talk.
But we're not that lucky. And we're not smart enough to hire someone like that for the job. We elect faces, not brains. Thank God, here in Indiana we elected someone to take care of business, not just strut and posture. And while the country continues to spiral downhill, here in Indiana things aren't so bad.
Thank you, Mitch Daniels, for taking such good care of our state.
God Bless You.

Sherry Berntsen of IN 6:38AM June 24, 2010

Obviously, I'm a teacher from Indiana. I worry so much about some of Mitch's ideas about education in our state--thank goodness many of his ideas have been shot down. Why is it that he has more followers from other states than he does from Indiana? ...Maybe they don't know him yet. Lately there is more talk about Mitch Daniels cutting millions from education in Indiana. I know we are in financial trouble in this country (others too), but we can't cut monetary support for our future (out kids).
I'm gonna discuss small schools here because I teach at a high school of a little over 300 students and our scores in all categories are good or better than most. But, to allot money to only those schools that are doing well and make it more difficult for schools who happen to have a class testing average below the previous year, is proposterous! Does anyone really recognize that in a small school (about 100 or less in each class), "6 or so" students scoring low really affects the overall numbers on standardized tests. In fact some schools are put on probation because of "6 or so" students bringing down the numbers. My school has been doing well so far, but what if we get a class that has ALWAYS scored low on state tests? Having more learning challenged students all at once could jeopardize our funding. And as far as making class tests more challenging, I don't believe this will work--NOT ALL STUDENTS need chemistry, physics and advanced calculus. What they need are courses that will allow them to work after they graduate. Tougher course requirements are just going to produce more drop outs. More drop outs will affect whether small schools get" Mitch MONEY!" They don't need required courses that make them feel inferior and feel like failures....
Mitch has (in the past) pushed to make all school sizes comparable; that would help make these percentages more valid, but then there would have to be more schools built and more students driving farther distances to and from schools in rural communities. Just more problems for those of us in rural communities. Guess we will all have to live in specific areas near schools. Moreover, Mitch may be impressing many out-of-staters with his ideas, but here in the rural areas he does not seem to realize how these big ideas hurt the little people. --And we are supposed to support NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND--rural schools have kids too. I, for one, am trying my best to teach the "6 or so" kids who may bring down the scores. I have to! I have to spend so much time on those "6 or so," that maybe I'm leaving the better students bored and unchallenged...I know teachers are supposed to use diverse teaching methods (we try, but it is not as easy as it sounds). Unmotivated and weaker students wear all of us down as we try to keep them afloat. --The best students are the ones who will be leading our communities in the future, but the weaker students are determining who will get "Mitch Money."

23 years of teaching experience of IN 8:37PM January 07, 2010

Is either party correct? No. Did republicans author their own health care reform bill, yes. Did either party read the others version, NO. Dems didn't give Repubs the chance, and Dems refused to listen to the Rupubs. It is hard to be bipartisan when you lock the door on the other party (literally). Do Republicans whine a lot, yes. Do Dems lie a lot, they are either lying or have no clue. They all need to be replaced, and those of you who only see the opposing party of your allegiance as wrong and not your own, you are guilty yourself of not listening to ideals instead of dismissing them because they are not your own. Both parties had good ideas and bad for health care reform. Had the Dems listened to some instead of being children, something might have been done. Now we have a bill that is bad for all. Too bad we can't see each other as human beings and respect the fact that each is only trying to let their voice be heard. john, the Dems use foul mouth denigrations, publicly mind you, more often than Repubs. Hal, right on. Dems and Repubs alike are guilty. Jim, you are so correct. Both parties are so far from reality it is time to hit the refresh button. As a Hoosier who has lived under the status quoit for nearly 2 decades of bad Democrat policy, with the exception of Evan Bayh, I can say that Daniels' common sense non bickering policies are working, very well. If you want to see how a campaign and office should be run, he is the model. He never once gave Jill Thompson a degrading remark, called her a name, or dismissed her ideals during the election. He explained his ideas, incorporated new and stuck to the issues at hand. There was no mudslinging from his camp. He gets things done with cooperation and respect. We Hoosiers are very down to Earth common sense folk and that is why he won by a landslide. He laid out the problems, admitted he didn't have all of the answers, rolled up his sleeves and got to work. If only we could all follow his example.

Kris of IN 12:46PM December 30, 2009

Mitch Daniels saved my life. He implemented the Healthy Indiana Plan, which gave lower income citizens who didn't qualify for medicare and who weren't offered health insurance from their employers and obviously couldn't afford to pay it out of pocket, medical coverage. I suffered for over three years, in excruciating pain and undiagnosed because I had no health insurance. I was one who fell into the uninsured abyss: I was single, in my thirties, had no clear diagnosis qualifying me for disability (since no doctors in town would see me without insurance or a huge cash payment in advance), had no children, and wasn't pregnant. When I heard of the H.I.P., I had no real hopes of my application being accepted... I had been through the ringer with all of the other ridiculous application processes, appointments, etc... wasted time that only led me to the same decision: sorry, you don't qualify because of xxxxx. When I got the letter in the mail saying I qualified for the plan, and that my insurance would start in a couple of months, I cried. When I told my mom, who had been my primary caregiver during all of this time, she cried. We had both been through such hell over the past three years, with me in and out of emergency rooms, hospitals, doctors, bed ridden for several months, and trying to tend to such a long list of dibilitating symptoms, that we frequently thought I must be dying, and no one was helping. Within a little over a year of my insurance start date, I was diagnosed with a fibroid saturated uterus, which had sent me to the emergency room more than 50 times, and was immediately given a hysterectomy to fix, finally got the MRI I'd been begging numerous doctors to do for 3 years to discover that most of the disks in my spine were degenerated and several were herniated, found out the PVC's that I'd had two surgeries to fix, had been sloppily misdiagnosed by what my mom & I call the "shoo-shoo" docs (because they shoo you out the door as soon as they hear you don't have insurance), was actually tachycardia caused by the Chiari Malformation & Ehlers-Danlos I was eventually diagnosed with, and had been the cause of all of the seemingly unrelated symptoms. I had been in such excruciating pain for so long, with no hope of ever finding any relief or getting anyone to even take the time to help me without insurance, that I had seriously been contemplating suicide. I really thought that there was no help to be found and I couldn't live much longer in that state. It was too much for anyone to take, not to mention the toll it was taking on my mother, and I couldn't stand to continue putting her through so much on a daily basis. So, you see, Mitch Daniels did in fact, truly save my life. My condition can't be cured, but the pain and symptoms can be managed, and I'm able to do some work from home now; and I owe that all to Mitch Daniels.

A thankful girl of IN 1:47AM December 21, 2009

Mitch Daniels saved my life. He implemented the Healthy Indiana Plan, which gave lower income citizens who didn't qualify for medicare and who weren't offered health insurance from their employers and obviously couldn't afford to pay it out of pocket, medical coverage. I suffered for over three years, in excruciating pain and undiagnosed because I had no health insurance. I was one who fell into the uninsured abyss: I was single, in my thirties, had no clear diagnosis qualifying me for disability (since no doctors in town would see me without insurance or a huge cash payment in advance), had no children, and wasn't pregnant. When I heard of the H.I.P., I had no real hopes of my application being accepted... I had been through the ringer with all of the other ridiculous application processes, appointments, etc... wasted time that only led me to the same decision: sorry, you don't qualify because of xxxxx. When I got the letter in the mail saying I qualified for the plan, and that my insurance would start in a couple of months, I cried. When I told my mom, who had been my primary caregiver during all of this time, she cried. We had both been through such hell over the past three years, with me in and out of emergency rooms, hospitals, doctors, bed ridden for several months, and trying to tend to such a long list of dibilitating symptoms, that we frequently thought I must be dying, and no one was helping. Within a little over a year of my insurance start date, I was diagnosed with a fibroid saturated uterus, which had sent me to the emergency room more than 50 times, and was immediately given a hysterectomy to fix, finally got the MRI I'd been begging numerous doctors to do for 3 years to discover that most of the disks in my spine were degenerated and several were herniated, found out the PVC's that I'd had to surgeried to fix, had been sloppily misdiagnosed by what my mom & I call the "shoo-shoo" docs (because they shoo you out the door as soon as they hear you don't have insurance), were actually tachycardia caused by the Chiari Malformation and Ehlers-Danlos I was eventually diagnosed with and had been the cause of all of the seemingly unrelated, but dibilitating symptoms. I had been in such excruciating pain for so long, with no hope of ever finding any relief or getting anyone to even take the time to help me without insurance, that I had seriously been contemplating suicide. I really thought that there was no help to be found and I couldn't live much longer in that state. It was too much for anyone to take, not to mention the toll it was taking on my mother... I couldn't stand to continue putting her through so much trouble on a daily basis. So, you see, Mitch Daniels did, in fact, truly save my life. I may not have a condition that can be cured, but the pain and symptoms can be treated and I'm able to do some work from home now; and my doctors are working on a plan to start some rehab of my atrophied muscles. Thank you Mitch!

A thankful girl of IN 1:40AM December 21, 2009

We need Mitt Romney for president. He has a proven track record of leadership. He has turned around all that he has been involved with. He is a buisnessman, and can look at things in Washington from the outside. He looks ahead to anticipate problems rather than just react.

Stan Moon of FL 11:56AM December 16, 2009

He will bring solutions to the White House. He has what it takes to fix many of the problems facing America today. He has a long resume of fixing things. He is the whole package. Republicans need to give him a chance. He is Americas hope

Tracey of UT 11:06AM December 16, 2009

No, they're not children. Children know better than to take handouts from strangers.
And as for Mitch McConnell (or John Boehner for that matter), God's gift to the Left, children know better than to lie.
'Tis the season to be jolly even if the Right-wing Grinches are doing their best to eliminate good will to men (and women) this year--or any year.

Ron W. Smith of UT 3:47PM December 11, 2009

Author Farrell makes the argument that if the Repb and Dem co-operated that we could achieve real long-term cost controls. It's a good goal......but I suspect it is more a dream than reality. Our government's history is one of overspending, inability to eliminate excessive or unnecessary expenses, and a continual movement toward the bankruptcy of our nation. Why should voters expect health care reform to be any different?
The US is currently some $12 trillion in debt. And congress will probably increase the debt limit so they can spend more money. The Chinese will soon own our country, based on the economic support they provide. What kind of future are we building for the citizens of the US?
The voters must rebel against current politicians. We need to replace them with people who will do what is right and responsible for the nation.

Jim in Seattle of WA 2:37PM December 11, 2009

Mitch McConnell is but one of countless politicians, pundits, writers and talk show hosts who qualify under the "shameless hypocrite" label. They will argue their side only and do or say whatever to make their side look good and make the other side look bad. Please don't limit hypocrisy to Senator McConnell.

Hal of NC 2:17PM December 11, 2009