MACKINAC ISLAND – Former Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels told a crowd at the Detroit Regional Chamber’s Mackinac Policy Conference on Thursday that regardless of a person’s political affiliation, providing first rate infrastructure is a responsibility of government.

In 2006, Daniels said, Indiana got lucky and the time was right to lease one of its existing toll roads.

“When you’ve got a good idea, move fast,” he said.

Daniels served as governor from 2005-12. Mr. Daniels is now the president of Purdue University.

Daniels said for the “big things” Michigan is trying to do, and the big things Indiana was doing during his term, there are three things that are important in government.

“Public leadership starts with some very, very basic down payments,” he said. “The first is honesty.”

Daniels said the other two were providing basic services well, including prison services and child welfare, and spending taxpayer money efficiently.

He also touched on making Indiana a right-to-work state. He said he made unionism voluntary.

“And incidentally, 92 percent then voluntarily stopped paying their dues,” he said.

He also said the single consensus that is needed in the United States is a private economy that grows quickly. Regardless of the size of government someone supports, it still needs a fast-growing economy, he said.

He said the debt “we are about to dump” on the young people in the country is a moral problem and strips funds from essentially government programs, including higher education and improving roads and infrastructure.

As president of Purdue, Daniels discussed higher education with moderator Devin Scillian of WDIV-TV. He said working as a university president is certainly different from working as governor, but it is an exciting time to work for a university no less. He said people are starting to ask questions about what a degree is actually worth and if students are learning enough while they attend.

He also said Purdue has kept tuition frozen for three years, and it’s important for universities to try to remain accessible to students in any income level. He added that many students are choosing their second university choices due to the cost of their first choice.

GLADWELL SAYS DETROIT NEEDS TO BE SEEN FROM NEW FRAME: Malcolm Gladwell, a New York Times bestselling author, told attendees of the conference on Thursday that Detroit needs to be seen from a different frame.

Gladwell said he’s seen the same photo of Detroit “thousands of times.” The image, he said, is of an abandoned building, and normally through the frame you can see some sort of key city landmark, like the GM Renaissance Center.

“It’s up to all of you to change that,” Gladwell said. “This is not about decay and decline, it is about opportunity.”

Gladwell said those who are going to help change Detroit need to think ahead, and the frame the city is being looked at now needs to be changed to look ahead. He said as an outsider he thinks the discussion of pension disputes shouldn’t be how much money is being spent now, but how much money can be gained in the future.

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