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Sunday, February 20, 2005
Ind. Gov't. - Focus on Indiana's Governor, a Tax Cutter Who Has Become a Tax Raiser
"Focus on Indiana's Governor, a Tax Cutter Who Has Become a Tax Raiser" is the headline to a story today in the National section of the Sunday NY Times, complete with a large photo of the Governor accompanied by Mark Lubbers and Harry Gonzo. Some quotes from the beginning of the story by Rick Lyman:
NDIANAPOLIS, Feb. 17 - The Blade, as President Bush dubbed Mitch Daniels when he was White House budget director, has discovered at least one thing since becoming governor of Indiana last month: political alliances are not forever.Once aligned with fiscal conservatives on cutting taxes and federal spending, Mr. Daniels, in office for just over a month, is now being attacked by his former supporters for proposing a temporary, 1 percent tax increase for Indiana residents making more than $100,000 a year.
"That has gotten a disproportionate amount of attention, for reasons that I completely understand, due to the man-bites-dog nature of it," said Mr. Daniels, 55, as he sat behind his desk in the cavernous governor's office here. "But I honestly don't feel that I snuck up on anybody."
It has been an eventful debut for Mr. Daniels, a long-time Indianapolis resident who was an executive at locally based Eli Lilly before becoming the president's budget director from January 2001 to June 2003, when he left to run for governor.
Almost his first act after assuming office was to declare that his administration would no longer engage in collective bargaining with the union that represents state workers. Then, he asked for the resignations of the members of the state's top policy-making boards and commissions, including those appointed by his Democratic predecessors. Democrats called it an unseemly power grab, which the governor denies.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on February 20, 2005 03:18 PM
Posted to Indiana Government