Mitch Daniels Quotes

There never can be equality of rewards or possessions so long as the human plan contains varied talents and differing degrees of industry and thrift, but ours ought to be a country free from the great blotches of distressed poverty.

Unless you’re at the very top, you need a more equitable economy.

The only way to have a better world and end poverty is by closing the gap between the top and the bottom.

In a good society, those in the middle and at the bottom ought to benefit significantly from economic growth. When the country prospers, everybody should prosper.

We do not accept that ours will ever be a nation of haves and have-nots. We must always be a nation of haves and soon-to-haves.

We should try to ensure that everyone has a fair opportunity to find a great life. It's a quest that will require political will and ingenious policies. President Obama's proposed expansion of the earned-income tax credit goes in this direction, but we need more.

We cannot afford to leave the poor behind.

I don't mind the rich getting richer, but the poor shouldn't be getting poorer, and there should be more people moving into the middle class.

We continue to recognize the greater ability of some to earn more than others. But we do assert that the ambition of the individual to obtain for him a proper security is an ambition to be preferred to the appetite for great wealth and great power.

I worry about growing income inequality. But I worry even more that the discussion is too narrowly focused. I worry that our outrage at the top 1 percent is distracting us from the problem that we should really care about: how to create opportunities and ensure a reasonable standard of living for the bottom 20 percent.

You must not embark on programs to curb economic growth without placing a priority on maintaining income, so that the poorest people won’t simply be further depressed in their condition but will have a share, and be able to live decently.

We don't want to saw off the first rung of the economic ladder.

A strong economy is perfectly consistent with concern for equity and economic justice.

We have to find a way to make the aspects of capitalism that serve wealthier people serve poorer people as well.

The social justice movement of the 21st century is economic development.

Having an economy that works for the 99% is achievable.

Eradicate poverty. This is all that matters in my country. When I am out training I think about this a lot; when I am running it is going over in my mind. As a country we cannot move forward until we eradicate poverty.

Income inequality is troubling because, among other things, it means that many people in our society don't have the opportunities to advance themselves.

Imagine a political system so radical as to promise to move more of the poorest 20% of the population into the richest 20% than remain in the poorest bracket within the decade? You don't need to imagine it. It's called the United States of America.

Economic issues are a subset of social justice. Social justice is unimaginable without economic justice. Isn't that obvious?

We certainly want those at the top to do well, but if you base your entire presidency and your entire economic platform on helping them do even better, you're missing what makes the economy tick. Because not everyone has been as fortunate as Mitt Romney, you cannot base your whole approach on a life experience as rarified as his.

Economic growth doesn't mean anything if it leaves people out.

What many economists fail to understand is that poor people are no less concerned about improving their lot and that of their children than rich people are.

We are one of the richest countries in the world, and there is absolutely no reason why anyone should have to live in poverty.

President Obama believes that income inequality is one of the most pressing matters facing the nation. If we are going to be a country that provides ladders of opportunity and believes in a thriving middle class, then we have to raise the minimum wage.