The right approach to governing

Mitch Daniels may just be the ideal executive for the public sector. He understands the fundamental role of government is to help those who for one reason or the other cannot help themselves and provide infrastructure that allows the private sector to thrive.  To this end he has created priorities, leaned out budgets making government more efficient, and created a culture of trust in government among the people.  This is really not a complicated formula and it is one that clearly works wherever it is applied.  Unfortunately Democrats do not believe in this kind of governance. Their priorities are quite different.  They want a larger role for government in the economy because that approach suits their lack of confidence in the free market and individual freedom.  Theirs is a philosophy of command and control and seemingly no matter how many times this formula is tried and fails, there are those who believe it will if you just get the details right.  Democrats have never come to grips with the basic truth Adam Smith revealed 235 years ago that self interest and freedom are the driving forces behind economic success.  Why they can't and wont see this obvious truth is mysterious.  Perhaps the most logical explanation is they are fundamentally followers who don't really want or appreciate freedom and the risks associated with it.  Like the serfs on the manors they are willing to trade their freedom for security.  Mona Charon writes an enlightening story here of Daniels' governance in Indiana.  This is the model for the rest of the country.  Think it will be tried in states where democrats are entrenched?  Not on your life.  So those states will continue on the path to bankruptcy and the rest of us better move to Indiana or somewhere else where the dems haven't gotten control yet.