Never Jim Banks & Never Mitch Daniels: The Only Choice.

Paul Ogden has written an article that outlines very well the reasons why Jim Banks should not be the Republican nominee for U.S. Senator. We like Paul share his disdain towards Banks. We had reasonable encounters with Banks long ago, but he has since decided to go for a ride in the clown car of Trumpism. 

U.S Representative/Loser Jim Banks

In writing about Banks, Paul points out very ably Banks deficiencies:

Banks is trying to brand himself as a "proven conservative."  He is anything but.  Besides being an election denier and flouting the Constitution that he took an oath to support, hardly conservative positions, he voted for huge spending increases during the Trump era.  Banks has no problem with reckless government spending...as long as it is a Republican in the White House.

Given how badly election deniers lost in 2022, the nomination of Banks might put the seat into play, especially since it is a presidential election year when Democrats tend to do better in Indiana. It is easy to see the Democrats picking up a lot more metro Indianapolis area votes if Banks' is on the ballot.  In fact, Banks would probably lose Hamilton County and possibly take several Republicans in that county down with him.

Former Indiana Governor and Midget version of Trump, Mitch Daniels

As much as we are usually on the same page with Paul on the issues, we must take issue with his premise that Mitch Daniels would make a better candidate for the Senate as opposed to Banks. Paul’s assessment of Mitch Daniels as a potential Senator:

Fortunately, Indiana Republicans may have a better choice in 2024.  Former Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels is considering a run for the Senate.  I was not a big fan of Daniels as Governor.  He seemed to run a very loose ship and many of his appointees engaged in substantial mismanagement, which sometimes bordered on corruption.  Daniels did not seem to exercise much in the way of oversight over state agencies when he was governor. He'd just appoint someone and immediately check out.

We like Paul we’re not fans of Daniels tenure as Governor. We have a much more negative view of Daniels tenure than Paul does. Daniels didn’t seem to run a loose ship, he did run a loose ship. Also his appointees mismanagement didn’t border on corruption it was corruption! As for him appointing people and checking out, Daniels as anyone who has dealt with him at all can attest is a control freak, the corruption of his administration happened because he allowed and encouraged it to happen! His appointees didn’t go to the bathroom without his permission! As the old saying goes: “A fish stinks from the head down.” So if his administration was bad that’s on Daniels.

There are the issues at the Department of Child Services which may have resulted in the death of Tajanay Bailey back in 2007, the bungled privatization of FSSA which tied the state up for about a decade and cost hundreds of millions of dollars, and not to mention how his creation of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) in essence expanded pay to play politics, and let’s not forget the disastrous “Reign of Error” his administration created at the Department of Workforce Development. Not to mention the role that Daniels lackey Jim Atterholt played at the Indiana Department of Insurance played in forcing out Paul at that agency for just doing his job! 

Paul lastly had this to say of Mitch Daniels:

But when it comes to developing policy, which is the role of a United States Senator, Daniels is excellent.  While Banks' claim to be a conservative is performative, Daniels is an actual conservative, especially when it comes to fiscal matters.  As President of Purdue University, Daniels stopped the explosive growth in college tuition which has for decades outstripped inflation.

All we can say is by what yardstick is Paul using to call Daniels a conservative? If it’s respect for rule of law, Daniels fails. He failed to ensure the law was faithfully upheld when he was Governor, if he had given a damn about the law Paul would never have been fired from the IDOI! And the debacles at the state never would have happened. If we are to go by Daniels record in fiscal matters there Daniels gets a big fat “F”. It’s debatable just how much Daniels has reigned in college tuition at Purdue, but even conceding Paul’s point, the wastefulness of the FSSA debacle alone would outweigh any cost savings at Purdue a hundred times over! In regards to policy, Daniels mismanagement and corruption as Governor happened because of policy and law changes he enacted as governor! As for holding elected officials accountable, Daniels will do no better a job of that than Jim Banks. As Paul knows from personal experience Daniels goes after whistleblowers and protects the offending government officials! We will put links below to some of he and the late great Gary Welsh’s articles documenting Daniels attacks against whistleblowers.

We are proud to have Paul’s support, friendship and encouragement especially since our dear friend Gary Welsh passed. But on this issue we must disagree with him. Like Paul as someone who believes in the traditional conservative principles of Burke, Russell Kirk, Goldwater, Reagan and Buckley. I would like nothing more than to see a good republican be elected to the Senate from Indiana. But I would rather have a good liberal than a faux conservative like Banks or Daniels as senator. I will not vote for a Republican or Democrat who doesn’t stand for the rule of law, limited government and upholding the Constitution. Because none of those are supported by Jim Banks or Mitch Daniels I will not ever under any circumstances vote for either of those fools. 

Paul Ogden's posts on whistleblowing:

http://www.ogdenonpolitics.com/search?q=Whistleblower

http://www.ogdenonpolitics.com/2008/12/part-i-my-days-at-department-of.html

http://www.ogdenonpolitics.com/2008/12/art-ii-my-days-at-department-of.html

http://www.ogdenonpolitics.com/2008/12/part-iii-my-days-at-department-of.html

Paul Ogden and Gary Welsh's posts on the 2012 Department of Workforce Development's Whistleblowers:

http://www.ogdenonpolitics.com/2012/02/whistleblowers-attempt-to-report.html

http://advanceindiana.blogspot.com/2012/02/whistle-blowers-say-mismanagement-at.html