Keeping the Republic
Saving America by Trusting Americans
Mitch Daniels

The Penguin Group
2012 / ISBN 978-1-59523-080-5
Non-fiction
Amazon

Reviewed by Elise Cooper

Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels has written a book, Keeping the Republic: Saving America by Trusting Americans. He is a prominent Republican who has been rumored to be one of Romney's choices for Vice-President. Daniels sets forth in the book reasoned arguments on what should be done to make this country great once again. He tries to take a bi-partisan view by taking the high road and giving positive suggestions.

Mitch Daniels was elected in 2004 and re-elected in a landslide victory in 2008. After talking with him at the Milken Institute Global Conference he came across as soft-spoken and reserved; yet, very charismatic. His book reads like he talks. He presents a straightforward case on how to handle the problems facing America today. He commented, "For the first time in my life I am desperately alarmed about the conditions and direction of the American Republic."

The theme of the book is apparent throughout: have confidence in the American public. He points out that the real enemy is the assumption that "the typical voter is indifferent to real ideas, or too dense to grasp them…" When asked about this he noted, "We need to have confidence in the American people. We have to be direct and have enough confidence in our fellow citizen that they will listen to the facts."

In the book he refers to the overwhelming debt as the 'Red Menace.' Governor Daniels talks about the need to declare a truce regarding the social issues; although he explains it does not mean surrendering one's values. However, there is the need today to prioritize since "If America goes broke, suffering will come to gays and straights, men and women, pro-life and pro-choice advocates, and to people of all races…(By reining in the debt) there is no reason that the twenty-first cannot be a second American Century, a period in which we benefit from expanded prosperity and freedom…"

He talks about how to reform Social Security and Medicare, calling it Medicare 2.0, and said that he believes in a 'means test program' since "There is not enough money to go around so let's concentrate on people that really need it instead of people like Bill Gates. We need to make the necessary adjustments to keep these programs going."

The reader is able to determine that Governor Daniels has done something correct since Indiana went from having a huge structural deficit to a reserve fund, almost twice as large as the deficit had been, as well as reforming education, having one of the lowest property taxes in America and has recently been made a right-to-work state. Commenting, these accomplishments came about because; "We were able to do these changes by assembling a large consensus. By definition this includes people that don't agree about anything. However, once they are inside that consensus they find they may agree about other issues. By doing this you can make big things happen and not get stuck."

This book is an insightful read. Governor Daniels points out in very tangible terms the threat facing the American Republic. He clearly shows through simple math how something must be done to reel in government spending or the America that once was will no longer exist. Whether a Democrat, Independent, or a Republican everyone should read this book because he shows that by working together America can once again be great.