State Health Commissioner Judy Monroe has accepted an appointment to the Centers for Disease Control.

Dr. Monroe will be director of a newly formed Office of State, Tribal, Local and Territorial Support.  She has been the state’s top doctor for 5 years.

Governor Mitch Daniels praised her tenure here citing Indiana’s elevation from among the worst state’s in childhood immunization to among the best.

The ebay auction of the New Orleans Saints flag signed by Mitch Daniels is now 24 hours old and clearly a hit.

The bidding started at $100 for the flag that Daniels agreed to fly outside his office for a week as the loser in a bet with Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal.  The most recent bid was $2,550.

The auction still has 6 days remaining.

The Washington Post quotes Mitch Daniels saying that he has been “persuaded to keep an open door” with regard to a run for President in 2012.

Daniels says the change is the result of several conversations not initiated by him.

Daniels is in Washington for the meeting of the National Governors Association.

Governor Mitch Daniels has reached a Super Bowl wager with Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal that requires the losing governor to display the flag of the winning team on his car, in his office, or another public location.

You’ll recall that Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley failed to live up to a similar wager when the Indianapolis Colts beat the Baltimore Ravens.  O’Malley flew a Baltimore Colts flag from his car.

January state tax revenues came in short of the most recent forecast again. 

The budget shortfall this time is $75 million below the projection.  Governor Mitch Daniels says it justifies budget cuts already made and provides motivation for lawmakers to pass bills that would create more cuts.

Daniels does say that sales tax revenues give reason for hope.  They were below last year’s collections by just 1.3%

Governor Mitch Daniels disclosed this morning that he has spoken to Dan Coats on the phone twice this week.  He says he doesn’t know where the idea of a Coats Senate candidacy came from but said, “I don’t think it was Dan’s idea.”

Asked if he would support Coats, the governor said, “I support the Republican nominee.”

Daniels says a poll by the Republican Senatorial Committee included a Daniels/Evan Bayh match up and showed Daniels winning by 10. 

No one asked him to run.

Governor Mitch Daniels is sporting a black eye today. 

Before you start with references to politics being a contact sport he says only that its cause was accidental and self-inflicted.

I just talked to Scott Newman (chair of the search committee for a Marion County GOP Prosecutor candidate to replace Helen Marchal, who quit) and Tom John (GOP County Chairman) as they headed into the office of Governor Mitch Daniels presumably for guidance.

Said Newman, “I’m a talent scout.” 

John pointed out that Greg Ballard didn’t get slated till March in his bid against then-Mayor Bart Peterson in 2007, indicating that they aren’t conceding the race.

69% of Indiana voters support the property tax caps that will be on the November ballot.  That’s the finding in a scientific survey released by the Indiana Realtors Association today.  It was conducted by Public Opinion Strategies.

A similar poll conducted last April put the support at 73%.   While the new number is down slightly, it is still higher than the 64% found in a recent Ball State survey.   The biggest support, by the way, is in the Indianapolis area where the number is 75%.

The survery also pegged the approval rating for Governor Mitch Daniels at 65%.

You don’t have to be a right winger or a woman to appreciate the Hoosier Hunks on the Right calendars now available for $12.95 at www.chicksontheright.com.

For your investment you get a calendar that features a cover photo of Governor Mitch Daniels on his motorcycle passing by the Statehouse. 

Each month offers a color photo of what the publishers view as a right wing icon (or several of them.)  The May photo displays four members of the governor’s staff in front of the Statehouse, including Eric Holcomb in some hard to miss pink slacks. 

State Treasurer Richard Mourdock appears decked out in denim and chopping wood.  State GOP Chairman Murray Clark is the December feature along with his Christmas wish list.

It’s a conversation piece.