The governor signed into law a bill passed by the Indiana legislature that, among other things, prohibits state taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood of Indiana; presumably to prevent public funds from paying for abortions. In so doing, Daniels has left himself open to attack from the left, not only for signing a Pro-Life bill, but also for seemingly backtracking on his call for a national "truce on social issues" in order to get the nation's financial house in order. Mitch is seen by the left as pandering to the social conservatives whose votes will make or break his quest for the Republican nomination.
Were the Colonel advising Governor Daniels, he would have him point out that he proposes a NATIONAL social issue truce. Indiana's financial house is already in order--the state's budget is in the black.
The Colonel will subject the dozen or so of you who regularly waste rod and cone time perusing posts hereon to a lengthy treatise on all of the reasons why he strongly supports Governor Mitch Daniels' candidacy for the Republican nomination for President in another post. In the meantime, the Colonel will sum up his support for Mitch in one short sentence:
Mitch Daniels is the anti-Obama -- not cool; not a Marxist
As the dozen or so of you who frequently waste valuable rod and cone time perusing posts hereon know, the Colonel is a vociferous opponent of the practice of infanticide. Cloaked in the euphemistic mantle of a woman's right to choose whether to carry a (and the Colonel quotes from the "Pro-Choice" movement's own words) "non-sentient mass of cells and tissue" to full term as a human child, convenience abortion is the most heinous of crimes against humanity.
But, the issue is much larger than the public funding of abortion. The real issue is whether any non-governmental agency or organization--no matter how well-meaning--should receive taxpayer funding.
The Colonel argues, particularly given our nation's current debt crisis, that NO non-governmental organization should receive federal funding, in whole or in part.
Not NPR. Not Planned Parenthood. Not Utah's Cowboy Poetry Festival. Not the NRA. Not the NAACP. Not for any of their projects, no matter how well-meaning.
Not the Boy Scouts. Not because the Colonel doesn't like the Boy Scouts of America--he earned Eagle rank in 1972--but, because the nation can't afford the luxury.
No federal taxpayer-provided funds should pay for anything not directly related to the aims put forth in the preamble to the constitution under which our republic was established:
"...in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution..."
Granted, everyone who has a favorite non-governmental organization or project can probably make the case that his or her organization or project does one or more of the things above. The Colonel can make a fairly convincing argument that federal funding of some of the projects on the Honey-do list posted by the comely and kind-hearted Miss Brenda conspicuously on the fridge would go a long way toward insuring some "domestic tranquility" here at the shallow northern end of deep southern nowhere.
However, the question we citizens of these re-United States must ask ourselves at this particular juncture is whether our nation can afford to fund (even partially) our favorite non-governmental organization or project, given the fact that our national debt is rising at several million dollars a minute.
The Colonel makes no judgement here on the efficacy or worthiness of any non-governmental organization or project. What he does judge is the wisdom of continuing to spend money we don't have on luxuries we don't need for national survival right now. It is purely a matter of priority. Some might even call it triage.
The Colonel has lots of projects aboard his vast holdings that he would like to fund now. There's just this little issue of the availability of funds. He's not going to borrow money to fund non-essential projects. Were he to do so, he would fast reach the point where required payments on debt would swamp his ability to pay for essential survival items.
The Colonel isn't borrowing beyond his means to easily pay back. Nor should our government, until our budget is balanced and our debt is paid off.
Governor Daniels rightly calls our massive debt, recalling early Cold War rhetoric, "The New Red Menace," and correctly identifies it as the greatest threat to our continued existence as a free republic.
The Colonel concurs.
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