Ind. Gov. Daniels frightened by U.S. debt

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels said Thursday he is frightened by the size of the federal debt and House Democrats voting today to increase the borrowing cap to $14.2 trillion.

“It’s terrifying as a matter of arithmetic,” Mr. Daniels said in an interview with The Washington Times’ “America’s Morning News” radio show. “If we needed another alarm bell that the current course is unsustainable, there it is… . We are heading to a dangerous place.”

Beyond his concerns about President Obama’s increasing the size of government, Mr. Daniels, an Office of Management and Budget director under the George W. Bush administration, also was critical of the Obama administration’s job-stimulus plan.

“They’re flailing around,” said Mr. Daniels, who last year supported government efforts to keep the economy from collapsing, “but at this point it’s clearly counterproductive. It won’t put anybody to to work, and they need to stop pretending it will.”

Mr. Daniels also pointed out he has restored his state’s AAA credit rating while Wall Street credit agency Moody’s this week said the United States could lose that rating unless it quickly puts into place plans to curb budget deficits.

“We’re paying our bills,” he said.