-Tony Bennett’s staff is distributing copies of remarks made by President Obama citing Indiana along with two other states for the elimination of “firewall laws” that prevented teachers from being evaluated based on student test scores.  Indiana eliminated the provision in the current budget bill.  A mechanism must still be created to permit the new evaluations.  Meantime, Mitch Daniels, Bennett, Education Secretary Arne Duncan, and the President seem to be in line on education reform again.

-The governor will has called a news conference for tomorrow to discuss October revenues.  That can’t be good news.

-Mike Pence is joining GOP National Chair Michael Steele in a 12 hour Internet town hall to battle the Democratic health care plan, putting that talk show experience to work.

-Invitations are out for the Fall GOP State Dinner.  Mitch Daniels is the featured speaker.  Is that because they couldn’t find anyone better, or because there is no one better?

“The current House bill is the worst version yet, with truly awful consequences for Indiana.” 

That’s what Governor Mitch Daniels wrote in a letter to the Indiana Congressional delegation today.  The letter goes on to say that the bill would expand Medicaid, eliminate the Healthy Indiana Plan, and kill jobs.

He encourages Congressmen to follow the lead of Senator Richard Lugar who says now is not the time for health care reform.

New numbers show that fewer people are collecting unemployment benefits in Indiana (9.6% in September vs. 9.9% in August and 10.7% in July) and more are working (up 4,400 in a month.)   It’s good news.

Yet when Governor Mitch Daniels unveiled quarterly revenue figures less than two weeks ago, they showed a shortfall of $250 million dollars from the state forecast over just three months.  The bad news continues on that front.  It’s why Daniels questioned the unemployment figures at the time.   He suggested that more people must be out of work than what the numbers show, because of the poor economic performance. 

But what if the numbers are right and spending habits have changed?

That’s why the governor also made a request for the revenue forecast committee to develop new formulas for predicting state income.  That’s necessary if  people are holding on to more of their money, spending less, and therefore paying fewer taxes even if they are back to work.

-Republican Cheryl Musgrave’s move to run for the Indiana House of Representatives in a Vanderburgh County seat now represented by Democrat Gail Rieken is one more sign that the GOP and Governor Mitch Daniels are serious about winning back control in the House.  I hear the governor has been doing some personal recruiting.

-Daniels appeared on PBS and Fox News within four days recently.  Does that cover the waterfront?  How much can he be on national television without running for something?

-The Nobel Prize in Economics given to Indiana University Professor Elinor Ostrom is a great reward for her and the state (and the governor captured that in a statement released today.)   But how many people around here now have to change their tune now about the meaning of the Nobel Peace Prize going to Barack Obama?

Governor Daniels could do more to promote his appearance on PBS tonight.   He told reporters this morning that he “hardly remembers what we talked about”  in an interview for the Charlie Rose Show taped on a New York trip by the governor a few weeks ago.

He says he granted the interview because he considers Rose “very insightful” and a fair interviewer. 

Anybody want to wager that the interview touches on White House ambition and gives the governor another chance to explain why has none?

Mitch Daniels is not always happy with the way he gets treated in the state’s newspapers but he still appreciates the job they do.  That’s why your Sunday paper will include an ad featuring the governor tomorrow, an ad designed to bolster the newspaper industry.

It’s all part of a marketing campaign by the Hoosier State Press Association.  The story on 24 Hour News 8 at 6.

Congressman André Carson has responded to the recent letter from Governor Mitch Daniels to the Indiana delegation regarding health care reform pressing the case for comprehensive reform.

Carson takes issue with a number of points made by the governor including a concern about passing the cost of health care reform to the states.  Says Rep. Carson, “Pushing unfunded mandates onto states was a bad habit of the previous presidential administration, and I do not want to see a repeat of that with health reform.”  Carson says he spoke out against an amendment that would require states to pick up 10% of the cost of new Medicaid enrollees.

Carson also says the effect on the Healthy Indiana Plan is difficult to determine.

Governor Mitch Daniels met with Toyota and Subaru on his last full day in Japan as well as an unnamed company looking to do business in Indiana according to a news release from the governor’s office.

The governor and his delegation return to Indiana tomorrow following nine days of activity in China and Japan.

Governor Mitch Daniels may be in China but he still has time to give his two cents worth in national health care debate.  Daniels wrote a letter to the Indiana Congressional delegation today encouraging them to oppose the current reform plan.

“Indiana would bear the brunt of many of the reckless policies being proposed,” writes the governor.  In particular, he says that many of those enrolled in the Healthy Indiana Plan would be forced into Medicaid.   The additional Medicaid burden, he says, “would overwhelm our resources.”

Daniels does say that reform is necessary and promises to assist in the effort to find solutions he finds acceptable.

Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush gave the Governor’s Education Roundtable a pep talk on the need for measuring student progress and constant education reform this morning.

Bush came to Indianapolis at the invitation of Governor Mitch Daniels to share the reasons for improved student progress  over the last 15 years in Florida.  4th grade reading proficiency there increased from 53% to 70% from 1992 to 2007.   During that same time period in Indiana 4th grade reading proficiency stayed flat at 68%.

State School Superintendent Tony Bennett called the Florida example, “A model to what we should be doing.”  It includes more school choice and virtual schools.