"No enterprise, small or large, public or private, can remain self-governing, let alone successful, so deeply in hock to others as we are about to be"
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Mitch Daniels warns that debt does more than strain a balance sheet; it erodes freedom of action. To be deeply in hock is to hand leverage to creditors, whose demands can override priorities and force decisions that would never be made if one were financing oneself. The phrase self-governing is deliberate. It ties financial autonomy to political autonomy, suggesting that democratic choice shrinks as obligations to lenders expand. Private firms learn this through covenants, ratings, and refinancing risk. Households learn it when interest payments crowd out necessities. Governments are no different. The more revenue devoted to interest, the less capacity remains for defense, social programs, or investment, and the more policy must appease bond markets rather than voters.
Daniels speaks from a background steeped in fiscal management. As director of the Office of Management and Budget in the early 2000s and later as Indiana governor, he cultivated a reputation for balancing budgets and controlling spending. The line emerged amid the post-2008 and early 2010s debates over swelling federal deficits and an aging population’s entitlement costs. With debt-to-GDP rising and warnings from ratings agencies, he argued that the United States risked ceding a measure of sovereignty to its creditors, many of whom are overseas. The looming problem was not only the absolute size of the debt but the accelerating path, which could leave policy hostage to interest rates or market sentiment.
The point is both economic and civic. When fixed obligations dominate, strategy becomes short-term and defensive. Investment is deferred, experimentation punished, and resilience weakened. Some counter that low interest rates and a reserve currency status give the United States unusual room to borrow. Daniels replies, implicitly, that complacency is itself a vulnerability, because conditions can change quickly. He is calling for prudence: pay down obligations while choices are still ours, so that self-rule is preserved not as a slogan but as a workable operating condition.
Daniels speaks from a background steeped in fiscal management. As director of the Office of Management and Budget in the early 2000s and later as Indiana governor, he cultivated a reputation for balancing budgets and controlling spending. The line emerged amid the post-2008 and early 2010s debates over swelling federal deficits and an aging population’s entitlement costs. With debt-to-GDP rising and warnings from ratings agencies, he argued that the United States risked ceding a measure of sovereignty to its creditors, many of whom are overseas. The looming problem was not only the absolute size of the debt but the accelerating path, which could leave policy hostage to interest rates or market sentiment.
The point is both economic and civic. When fixed obligations dominate, strategy becomes short-term and defensive. Investment is deferred, experimentation punished, and resilience weakened. Some counter that low interest rates and a reserve currency status give the United States unusual room to borrow. Daniels replies, implicitly, that complacency is itself a vulnerability, because conditions can change quickly. He is calling for prudence: pay down obligations while choices are still ours, so that self-rule is preserved not as a slogan but as a workable operating condition.
Quote Details
| Topic | Freedom |
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