Mitch Daniels warns soaring federal debt will lead to ‘enormous social betrayal’

Republican Mitch Daniels, the former governor of Indiana and president of Purdue University, sits down with Margaret Hoover to discuss the dangers of rising federal debt, education reform, and fixing America’s broken politics. Daniels, who worked for Ronald Reagan and served as director of President George W. Bush’s Office of Management and Budget, reflects on the nation’s failure under both Democratic and Republican administrations to rein in spending and reform programs like Social Security and Medicare–and he warns those decisions will have ‘unjust and unfair’ consequences. After holding tuition at Purdue steady for over a decade, Daniels explains how he did it and what other schools can learn from it. He also addresses the challenges college administrators have faced responding to the October 7th Hamas attack in Israel and the inflammatory student protests that followed on some campuses. Daniels, who resisted calls to run for president in 2012 and for Indiana’s open Senate seat in 2024, assesses a likely Trump-Biden rematch for the presidency and the prospects for a No Labels candidate to challenge them. He also offers advice for whoever wins the election to help move the country forward. Support for “Firing Line for Margaret Hoover” is provided by Robert Granieri, Stephens Inc., Vanessa and Henry Cornell, The Fairweather Foundation, The Tepper Foundation, The Asness Family Foundation, Kathleen and Andrew McKenna through The McKenna Family Foundation, Charles R. Schwab, The Rosalind P. Walter Foundation, and Damon Button.