Mitch Daniels Response To State Of The Union To Follow Obama Address On Jan. 24

GOP leaders announced Thursday that they had chosen Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels to deliver their party's rebuttal to Obama's State of the Union Address next week.

A statement accompanying the decision commended Daniels, a former director of the Office of Management and Budget under President George W. Bush, for his record of fiscal management in the Hoosier State.

"Governor Daniels, now in his eighth and final year as Indiana's chief executive, has compiled a solid record of effective government and fiscal responsibility, making him well-suited to outline Republicans' better solutions to the challenges Americans are facing in this struggling economy," the announcement read, according to The Hill.

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) joined in with the compliments.

"As governor, he has turned deficits into surplus, reformed government from top to bottom, and created a better environment for private-sector job creation," Boehner said.

"An eloquent spokesman for limited government, Gov. Daniels knows that President Obama's three-year experiment in big government has made our economy worse and our future more uncertain, and he knows that Americans want a government that's simpler, streamlined and secure," McConnell said.

Last year, Daniels had a different agenda for the day of the Obama's address. He admitted to reporters at the time that he had spent the night watching a college basketball game and hadn't tuned in to hear the president's remarks.

Obama will address a joint session of Congress on Tuesday, Jan. 24.

Earlier on HuffPost:

Comments

[healthanalyst]

11:38 PM on 01/22/2012

The largest surface mine east of the Mississippi River will begin operations in southwestern Indiana later this year, with an expected 16-24 billion pounds of dirty coal expected to be mined annually.

And due to shortsighted decisions made by Governor Mitch Daniels' administration, the massive Bear Run Mine will be one of the least regulated coal mines in the United States, with no limits on the amount of pollution it can create.

Mitch the gift that keeps on giving....

[KAJ3]

02:21 AM on 01/20/2012

"a record of fiscal responsibility." Really??? One school district in IN has 40 kids in K-3 classrooms without any aids. Another school district is roughly 3 million in debt. Another school district just reported the need to cut 3.5 million from next years budget. After stripping over 300 million from public education in the last 3 years, Mitch suddenly "finds" 320 million. He will not allow for an independent audit. He will not put any of these funds back into education. And this is considered "fiscal responsibility"? It is the children in the state of IN who are paying the highest price for Mitch's style of "fiscal responsibility". And now with the unions about to protest at the Superbowl ... this is who the GOP want to speak for them. November 2012 can not get here soon enough!!

[antiteabagerj]

06:31 PM on 01/19/2012

His transplants look like an Indiana CORN ROLE where the farmer was drunk

[nancy kriescher]

07:29 PM on 01/19/2012

I can't help it, 3 pics I saw of him, it looks like he may have had a face lift, his skin looks tight going at cheek bone upward, but had no fillers, under cheekbone, skin is stretched oddly, vertical wrinkles left side of face, , his hairline looks unnatural.. set wayy too far back." people always critquing women, It's Romneys' turn surely in last debate looks like a resurfacing & fillers in face. 2,3 wks ago.. look at pics. his face is sunken cheek area, and was more lines, and saggy." Why does Romneys 'wife look so tired, unenthused, notice she claps real slow, like ""Mocking him..

[antiteabagerj]

06:30 PM on 01/19/2012

WOW! This guy must have grabbed the 1st homeless guy he could find and had him do hair transplants on him.

[NYC07]

04:43 PM on 01/19/2012

Daniels is another "Have Stu,.pid,.ity, Will Travel" Republicans

[demisfine]

03:19 PM on 01/19/2012

Will his wife support his speech?

[demisfine]

03:19 PM on 01/19/2012

This is like the EA Sports curse on the NFL video game covers.
Whoever gets picked to do it must say yes, but it is a career ender.

[henrypapillon]

03:06 PM on 01/19/2012

Republicans are making a big anti-union push.

[lindabear]

02:53 PM on 01/19/2012

Hope Daniels doesn't make a fool out of himself like the last three dudes.

[nomobull]

03:27 PM on 01/19/2012

yet they keep trying to convince us that they're the smart ones.

[itolduso]

02:43 PM on 01/19/2012

As Bush's Director of Office of Management and Budget (2001-2003) Daniels was responsible for turning a projected $236 Billion SURPLUS and turning it into a $400 Bilion Deficit by failing to offset the cost of tax cuts during an economic turndown. Daniels was also responsible for estimating the cost of the invasion of Iraq (which he massively underestimated) and has been criticized for failing to project the long term cost of maintaining a military presence in the region. As Governor of Indiana - he is responsible for massive cuts to education, health care, unemployment insurance for those out of work- he's pushed through draconian abortion restrictions (some of which are still tied up in court), slashed funding for women's healthcare facilities, slashed state services for the needy and homeless, cut teachers pay, collective bargaining rights, privatized public assets, and lowered corporate taxes. Let him talk after the President's speech. The choice has never been so clear. Obama/Biden 2012

[demisfine]

03:21 PM on 01/19/2012

F & F'd for informative post and fabulous micro bio.
Thanks.

[miketothad]

02:34 PM on 01/19/2012

Daniels, fighting off a Super Bowl weekend strike that could possibly include the NFL players?
WOW! They might as well have chosen Scott Walker.

[teepeeyoyo]

02:27 PM on 01/19/2012

I for one don't want to hear any rebuttals from those void of balz to run for President on their own accord....all of a sudden the sideline bomb throwers have a better way. He'll be as bad as Boomhower Jindal.

[mmsuki]

02:26 PM on 01/19/2012

I'm betting Daniels' speech is already written, chock full of extreme right-wing talking points and criticisms of the President.

Hired gun, job done.

[KAJ3]

02:15 AM on 01/20/2012

And I am sure it talks about needing to take RTW federal ... keeping politics out of entertainments, like the superbowl ... and the privatization of public schools. So much for smaller government!

[healthanalyst]

11:40 PM on 01/22/2012

his environmental record is abysmal. And that's pretty hard to do in Indiana.

[FJavaid]

02:21 PM on 01/19/2012

When asked about the fiscal impact of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan Mitch Daniels said,

"You just have to look at the factual math and see that they are a very, very small part of the problem we've come into. This is the deadest horse in the corral, but people keep trying to ride it."

Not counting the wars towards the deficit is stellar economic policy, huh?

[gypsysailor]

02:20 PM on 01/19/2012

Does not matter what he says, he is still a republican.