Thank a Hog for the Nerd.<\/p>\n
At a Mackinac Center dinner in Lansing Monday night featuring Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, Governor Rick Snyder did the honors of introducing a neighbor he has long credited as his gubernatorial role model. “He was kind giving me so many ideas that I stole,” said Snyder in revealing that a trip to see Indiana’s CEO in 2009 helped form his ideas of applying metrics to government.<\/p>\n
Snyder also revealed that Daniels had something to do with the Nerd’s signature campaign slogan.<\/p>\n
“Governor Daniels is famous for motorcycle rides,” said Snyder of the Harley-riding Hoosier Hog. “I brought that back to my wife, Sue. She was kind enough to say, ‘Honey you’re a nerd. You can’t ride a motorcycle.'”<\/p>\n
One Tough Nerd rode that all the way to Lansing.<\/p>\n
But the evening highlighted the similarities between the two men – both former corporate exces (Daniels with Eli Lilly and Snyder with Gateway Computer) who took their private-sector experience to the governor’s office. Both made balanced budgets a priority in their first term, and both focused on making government more efficient through metrics and “dashboards” measuring achievement.<\/p>\n
“A balanced budget for one year is simply not efficient. We are going beyond that. We are going to show fiscal responsibility on the balance sheet and not just the income statement. That’s something Gov. Daniels and Indian led the way in,” said Snyder.<\/p>\n
But Daniels’ outward taste for biker leather indicates a swagger that may signal the most significant difference with the quieter Snyder.<\/p>\n
Whereas the Nerd has shied from public confrontations with union bullies (while still earning their enmity), Governor Hog notoriously body-slammed Big Labor on his first day in office. By executive order, he decertified all government employee unions by executive order thus removing the requirement that state employees pay union dues. Dues-paying union membership subsequently dropped 90 percent among state employees, significantly reducing a political war chest – funded by taxpayer dollars- that unions had used to fight Republicans.<\/p>\n
Perhaps trying to instill some of that Hog attitude in his Nerd friend as Snyder embarks on Year #2 in office, Daniels gave this piece of advice: “Whatever needs to be done, do it quickly,” he said. “Do it now.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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