Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion

I still don't trust him, and ACTIONS speak louder THAN WORDS when it comes to this critical election. What have T-Paw's actions been for the conservative fight these past few years? Why have I never heard of him? Reminds me of a young senator from Illinois I never heard of as well. Cain has been on the radio, and I have been listening to his ideas for quite a while now. Palin has been endorsing tea party candidates, and they have been winning elections. T-PAw has done Nothing of note. I don't trust him. Mark my words: Democrats have a horse in this race, and people who owe them favors. Some more background on T-Waste-of-my-time. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120373223052387643.html notice the first quote:
"The era of small government is over . . . government has to be more proactive, more aggressive."
-- Tim Pawlenty, 2006.
That tells me all I have to know. Keep your government aggression in your pants where it belongs. A post from two years earlier referencing the same quote: http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-150106085.html
Palin or Cain, but Palin if it boils down to it. She has endured the media onslaught turned up to "11". She has Tea Party values. She is for American energy independence, and she stands with Israel. Don't fool yourself into thinking that you will get all these features in some other candidate: you won't.

Oh PAW-leeze!!! The guy has no idea why he is running. Typical Ivy League northeast county club establishment GOP candidate. One of them usually gets the message right but that isn't the problem. His target is convincing the Rove/Bush squishy money that he can win and deliver on their one-world-without-borders-post-constitutional-America agenda.

It is just so perfect that on the day "Mr. Excitement" declares, he is upstaged by a tornado in downtown Minneapolis. God loves irony.

Yawn!

Sometimes you say "yes", sometimes you say "no", and other times you say "mehh". T-Paw, has no street cred in my book.

"The era of small government is over . . . government has to be more proactive, more aggressive."

-- Tim Pawlenty, 2006.

http://online.wsj.com/article/NA_WSJ_PUB:SB120373223052387643.html

No. No. No.

From Cato@Liberty 2008, when it was thought he'd run with McCain:
http://commonamericanjournal.com/?p=28327

Total RINO statist flip-flopper.

Somehow doubt the quote from the WSJ reflects context. I'm a government minimalist, but I like Pawlenty. He really did lead a liberal state in a conservative direction (even if that meant some serious compromising, i.e. in healthcare). I like him a lot more than Romney, who pandered to the liberal state rather than meet it in some middle. Pawlenty can claim to be a conservative and not seem like a flip-flopper (c.f. Newt), Romney simply can't do this.

The smoking moralist battle bothers me a bit, but less than no experience bothers me (i.e. Cain). The lack of an in-your-face, almost bombastic, presence doesn't bother me one bit (Johnson, Paul); in fact, I think his calm demeanor could distinguish him. He also doesn't generate active disdain or negative media (i.e. Palin). And, once known, I think he stands the best chance to get independents on-board. In fact, the lack of awareness/enthusiasm is his biggest flaw. But once the fight gets started, this is immediately resolved.

He seems genuine and meets most conservative standards when one considers where he governed. Let's have those debates, let's hear each candidate and consider their experience and their plans. I think Tim Pawlenty could do well, very well, indeed.

If you're going to vote for Mitt Romney, then you may as well vote for the original. Pawlenty is Romney-Lite.

JAFP. "Just another . . . politician."

We need a true statesman. Or woman.

One word: "ethanol".

He's toast in my book.

Pawlenty defends ethanol subsidies

"Pawlenty signed legislation mandating that all gas sold in Minnesota contain 20 percent ethanol by 2013, up from 10 percent.... In 2005, Pawlenty also urged other states, at a meeting of the Governors’ Ethanol Coalition (which had 31 member states at the time), to mandate that all gasoline contain 10 percent ethanol by 2010."

"We can't just pull the rug out from under the industry," he (Pawlenty) said. "There are going to have to be some changes, but we have to be fair-minded about it." (4/27/2011)

The Hill

Who asked that America be changed? What and why does anything need to be changed?

I don't want some weak sister RINO mouthing the words that have come out of some progressives' mouth, thank you.

I've had enough change for a while. How about some steadfastness, sobriety and solidity?

No ever-changing shifts in policy and long standing doctrines due to a change in a poll or the outcry from the eternally aggrieved.

Are many Republicans Democrat dhimmis?

dhimmitude...is characterized by the different strategies developed by each Republican group to survive as (a) non-Democrat entity in their Social Democratic states.

"The Minnesota legislature passed a requirement that photo identification be shown at the polls. But there is little chance it will become law because it promises to be vetoed by Governor Mark Dayton (D).

Dayton has said that he, like former Republican Govs. Tim Pawlenty and Arne Carlson, won’t sign any election bills that don’t have bipartisan support, and DFL lawmakers overwhelmingly opposed the photo ID bill. The House approved it 74-58 largely along party lines.

The mention of Tim Pawlenty only signing election bills with bipartisan support came as a surprise given how few election law bills are ever bipartisan anymore. VERY FEW Democratic governors EVER veto election law changes passed by Democratic controlled legislatures simply because they lacked GOP support."

The Tatler

Loo, we can all echo what the media and others have said about him, or we can actually look at his record. He has a couple of flaws, as do all the other candidates. But his record shows he is a solid fiscal and social conservative. His two policy mistakes, cap and tax and ethanol subsidies, are small in the scheme of the things that are important to conservatives, and understandable concessions to the electorate of the state he governed. Look at his actual record, not just the one or two small things you don't like about him. The whole record.

He's much more conservative than Romney, both fiscally and socially, and has a record to back that up. He's not exciting, and not slick, but we've been there and done that already. He's competent, and comes across as a regular guy. And he can win. He won reelection in Minnesota, in 2006, against a well respected sitting attorney general. He knows how to speak to the middle while being conservative. Lose your sound bite impressions, and look at his record. There's not one person who won't be convinced if you do that. He is the real deal.

@Leeatmg

A portion of the Pawlenty record, as of 2008, via Cato:

Supported government subsidized health care for all children as the first step toward universal health insurance, and opposed President Bush’s veto of a Democratic bill that would have expanded the State Children’s Health Insurance program (SCHIP) to families earning as much as $83,000 per year;

Supports Massachusetts-style health care reform, including a “health care exchange” and an individual mandate;

Has called for banning all prescription drug advertizing, and seeks government imposed price controls for drugs offered through Medicare;

Proposed a $4000 per child preschool program for low-income children;

Pushed a statewide smoking ban smoking ban in workplaces, restaurants and bars;

Increased the state’s minimum wage;

Imposed some of the most aggressive and expensive renewable energy mandates in the country;

Was an ardent supporter of the farm bill;

Received only a “C” ranking on Cato’s 2006 Governor’s Report Card, finishing below such Democrats as Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack and tied with Democratic Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell.

* * *
We can discuss the state's sharia compliant banking another time.

Obviously, I vote for Pawlenty if that's all the Republicans can scrub up to face Obama. But is this RINO the best we can do? God help us.

Check this out (h/t RedState):

"So here it is: Government money isn't "free." Either you and I pay for it in taxes, or our children pay for it in debt. The reforms we need are not in the billions, but in the trillions of dollars. And the cuts we must make cannot just be in other people's favorite programs.

That's why later this week I'm going to New York City to tell Wall Street that if I'm elected, the era of bailouts and handouts for big banks is over. I'm going to Florida to tell both young people and seniors that our entitlement programs are on an unsustainable path and have to be changed. And, today, I'm in Iowa to speak truthfully about farm subsidies" - T-Paw (USA Today)

Emphasis on the "farm subsidies" truth "in Iowa."

Suicide? Or Smart?

dogzilla;

That would be the same CATO that gave Pawlenty an "A" grade for fiscal policy this last fall, right? No one is perfect, but instead of cherry picking one year, look at the WHOLE record.

Pawlenty does not support Massachusetts style health care reform, and never has. He supported a Canadian drug import program, and proposed cuts to Minnesota Care, a state-subsidized health care program for anyone who has lived in the state for at least one year. Rejected many, many increases to the state's health care programs.

Stood up to the teacher's unions, and other public unions. Got merit pay program through for teachers. Shut the government down rather than increase taxes. Supported a modest fee increase once on cigarettes. Has never been pro-choice, and has never made excuses about that either.

Vetoed two increases to the minimum wage in MN in a fourteen month period in 2008. He did sign an increase in 2005, under threat of being overridden by a strongly democrat legislature.

Yes, he supported ethanol and farm subsidies. In an agricultural state that is probably D+9. Shocking he might support something that his electorate wanted, I know. He has also supported gradually eliminating them.

The Sharia compliant banking thing is untrue, and never has been, and has been repeated ad nauseum by those who haven't done the homework - that story was discredited. The truth is actually the opposite - there was a state program that helped subsidize mortgages to various groups in order to increase home ownership, including a sharia-law-based mortgage program among others. When he found out, he shut the program down.

At least get the facts right instead of throwing out baseless accusations. This is how conservatives tear each other apart. No candidate is perfect - Pawlenty sure isn't - but let's at least get the record straight. I'll say it again - if you look at his record, and not the baseless rumors floating around out there, he is a solid conservative. More so than most, if not all, of the other candidates on our side, declared or not.

He's currently my Last Man Standing candidate. I would vote for him over Romney in a primary. Mark Steyn likes him and that's a pretty good endorsement from my perspective. I think anyone with a fairly long record of executive experience is going to have to toughen up to meet the challenges that O has made so much worse and to expose O for the liar he is.

What Leeatmg said, thank you. Can't add too much to what he wrote. Pawlenty seems to have pretty much thrived as a conservative while serving as governor of a liberal state, unlike Romney for example. Pawlenty, to me at least, comes across as a regular guy after having listened to him in several interviews. Just heard him blow away some of the above criticisms on Rush's show. There's no one that can meet the purist/zealot standards as exemplified in some of the above comments, except perhaps for Ron Paul. I do hope Pawlenty takes on a bit of a "Trump" edge as he takes on Obama. Show no fear. Also, he's a hockey player.

Just heard Pawlenty say no more ethanol subsidies. In Iowa.

cheney 2012!

Tim Pawlenty delivers..

"In announcing his campaign for president in Iowa Monday, former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty placed a big bet on boldness.

He called for a phasing out — albeit gradual — of federal ethanol subsidies, a move long considered a political death wish in a state with such a large agricultural community.

But, Pawlenty didn’t stop there. In his speech he detailed how he will travel this week to Florida — one of the oldest (by age) states in the country — to call for fundamental reform of Medicare and Social Security, to Washington to take on alleged largess in the federal government and to New York to make clear the era of bailouts of the financial industry is over.

“Conventional wisdom says you can’t talk about ethanol in Iowa or Social Security in Florida or financial reform on Wall Street,” Pawlenty said. “But someone has to say it. Someone has to finally stand up and level with the American people.”

The Fix, WaPo

Not only is he Romney-Lite, he's Romney-Redux. He's borrowing lines straight from Romney's '08 campaign:

http://mittromneycentral.com/2011/05/23/pawlenty-washington-is-broken-sound-familiar/

And again: http://mittromneycentral.com/2011/04/05/pawlenty-takes-a-line-from-romney-in-new-web-video-its-going-to-take-a-new-president/

If Pawlenty is hoping to differentiate himself from Mitt Romney, then he needs to have a talk with his speechwriters.

Mitt Romney took a classic Reagan line (and probably much earlier, too, it's not so sophisticated) and now is claiming offense at someone "stealing" it from him? What a joke.

Club for Growth
2012 Presidential White Paper #2
Former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty

"It’s clear that Governor Pawlenty is, for the most part, hard to pin down on his exact ideological moorings. Minnesota is not a conservative state by any means, and Governor Pawlenty did veto tax hikes passed by the liberal legislature and made a relatively strong push to keep a lid on taxes. Pawlenty deserves tremendous praise for keeping Minnesota’s spending growth remarkably low. For this, and for his consistent stances on school choice, tort reform, and political free speech, he deserves credit – while his record on health care and entitlement spending is mixed. However, Pawlenty has some simply inexcusable tax hikes in his record, and he made a mistake by taking no clear position on the 2008 Legacy Amendment. His tacit support for bailouts, more job-choking regulations, and various tariffs make it difficult for us to identify his core ideological identity. His support of things like mandatory vegetable oil in gasoline, cap and trade, and a statewide smoking ban make him sound overly eager to support big government proposals to address policy fads of the day.

Given all of this, we struggle to identify the real Tim Pawlenty. We agree with those who say that Governor Pawlenty did the best he could in a state as liberal as Minnesota. And we believe he would be a stronger pro-growth executive in a more conservative climate, but his “clunkers” as he himself describes them are difficult to ignore. A President Pawlenty, we suspect, would fight for pro-growth policies, but would be susceptible to adopting “pragmatic” policies that grow government."

Club for Growth