Pawlenty Raps Obama, Calls Federal Spending 'Ponzi Scheme'

[Jac]

Pawlenty Raps Obama, Calls Federal Spending 'Ponzi Scheme'

Thursday, 10 Feb 2011

By Hiram Reisner

Former Minnesota governor and presumed presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty Wednesday said President Barack Obama should “not run around the world apologizing,” and warned his global view is going to “get the country in big trouble.”

Pawlenty, who would not confirm seeking the 2012 GOP presidential nomination, also told Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly that Obama lacks a sense of urgency in dealing with the faltering U.S. economy, branding federal spending “a Ponzi scheme.”

“There is a sense – and I know this gets tossed around but I think it's true – he doesn't view America's role in the world as exceptional,” Pawlenty said, adding that Obama’s propensity to not accentuate moral stances worldwide, “is going to get him in big trouble; going to get the country in big trouble.”

“You asked him in that interview [before] the Super Bowl . . . ' Would you allow or would you encourage the Muslim Brotherhood to be the victor or lead the country of Egypt?' He wouldn't say no. He ducked the question,” Pawlenty said. “You have the president of the United States sitting in the White House saying, ‘you know, I'm kind of indifferent about that, I choose not to comment.’ That's preposterous.”

O’Reilly asked Pawlenty, who has written a new book, “Courage to Stand: An American Story,” what he considers to be Obama’s other vulnerabilities.

“Well, there are some big issues that are going to lurk beyond the moment. One is the Ponzi scheme, that is the federal government and [its] spending patterns, and his lack of urgency, and sense of seriousness about that, to tackle it boldly, [that] concerns me a great deal,” Pawlenty replied. “I think that's going to be a huge issue.”

O’Reilly then asked whether Pawlenty thought Obama was “soft."

“Bullies and thugs respect strength. They don't respect weakness,” Pawlenty said. “We need somebody to stand up, particularly the president – a leader of the free world and leader of our country – to not run around the world apologizing.”

Read more on Newsmax.com: Pawlenty Raps Obama, Calls Federal Spending 'Ponzi Scheme'

Important: Do You support Pres. Obama's Re-Election? Vote Here Now!

God Bless America!

Edited February 10, 2011 by Jac

[Kenneth]

Yeah he sounded good to me too, all of his interviews he said all the right things; but we all have learned that when someone makes empty promises to get elected.(Obama), it doesn't end well. So I did some research and he's a big government progressive republican(RHINO), here's some of the things he did as Governor.

First elected in 2002, Mr. Pawlenty got off to a good start by holding the line on taxes in the face of a $4.5 billion state deficit. That shortfall equaled 15% of the state's $28 billion biennial budget, and the pressure on the governor to break his no-new-taxes pledge was unrelenting. Nonetheless, he showed resolve in dealing with Minnesota's recalcitrant liberal elite.

But in 2005, signs of his "progressive" instincts emerged. In a quest for new revenue, Mr. Pawlenty supported a 75 cents per-pack cigarette tax. He called it a "health impact" fee. No one was fooled. User fees are generally charged to ensure that those who use a government service pay for the cost of providing that service. In this case, however, it was obvious that smokers were just being tapped to fund health-care entitlement programs.

[Tim Pawlenty]

Following the tax hike, the governor pushed through a state-wide smoking ban in workplaces, restaurants and bars. Aggressive, Nanny-state government seems to be big with Republican governors these days -- although policies such as smoking bans do little to stem the costly tide of state-run health care.

In 2006, liberal Democrats (there is no other kind here) proposed a universal health-care behemoth to cover all residents. Mr. Pawlenty responded with a more limited proposal to expand the state's child health-care program, Minnesota Care, to cover all children. More recently, the governor's Health Care Transformation Task Force recommended imposing a mandate -- à la Massachusetts -- on residents to buy health insurance.

On prescription drugs, Mr. Pawlenty set up the state's RX Connect Program to import price-controlled Canadian drugs. The South St. Paul populist also advocated a temporary ban on ads paid for by pharmaceutical companies. Not exactly the stuff of which markets are made.Mr. Pawlenty has presided over back-to-back biennial budget increases of 12.4% and 9.8% respectively. Last year the governor's proposed budget survived essentially intact but still spent the state's $2 billion surplus, with half the general fund increase going to education. Minnesota, with five million people, now has a biennial budget of nearly $35 billion.

Mr. Pawlenty's proactive government stance extends to support for mass transit and sport stadium subsidies, as well as for hiking the state's minimum wage, which is now $6.15 an hour for large employers (the federal minimum wage is $5.85). But it is education and the environment where Mr. Pawlenty hopes to establish his progressive bona fides.

He calls for accountability in education, but does little to buck the most powerful lobby in state politics, Education Minnesota. Indeed, Mr. Pawlenty has courted the unions, telling the Minnesota Business Partnership that "I can't have the Republican governor talk about changing the school system without having the support and help of the teachers' union and my friends on the other side of the aisle. It just won't work."

On the environment, Mr. Pawlenty imposed some of the most aggressive renewable energy mandates in the country. Other states will be requiring, in coming years, that energy producers get 20% of their electricity from "renewable" sources such as wind, solar or animal manure. In Mr. Pawlenty's Minnesota, the state's largest utility will be required to generate 30% of its power from renewable sources by 2020.

Mr. Pawlenty is using his influence through the National Governor's Association to export his ideas across state lines. The NGA meets in Washington, D.C. next week. Look for Mr. Pawlenty to be on hand and stumping for renewable mandates.

In April, Mr. Pawlenty delivered the remarks that probably best reveal his views on the environment. "It looks like we should have listened to President Carter," he told the Minnesota Climate Change Advisory Group. "He called us to action, and we should have listened. . . . Climate change is real. Human behavior is partly and may be a lot responsible. Those who don't think so are simply not right. We should not spend time on voices that say it's not real."

At times it seems that Mr. Pawlenty's first political instinct is to placate liberal critics, as he did following the collapse of the I-35 bridge in Minneapolis last August. When Rep. James Oberstar, a Democrat, tried to exploit the tragedy that killed 13 people and injured 100 others -- by blaming it on a lack of federal gas tax revenue -- Mr. Pawlenty responded by calling for a state gas tax increase.

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

Most infamously, an interstate freeway bridge collapsed on his watch, after years of budget cuts and politicization of the transportation department. Furthermore, two different state department heads had to quit after stalling state investigations into health risks of corporate pollution.

Dianne Mandernach, Pawlenty’s Department of Health commissioner, had to resign in August of 2007 after it was revealed that she had suppressed a cancer study pertaining to Iron Range miners for more than a year -- and tipped off a big mining company a week before finally announcing it. And Sheryl Corrigan, a 3M executive who Pawlenty named as commissioner of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, resigned in June 2006 after a whistleblower lawsuit was filed alleging she stonewalled department inquiries into a class of chemicals manufactured by 3M.

There are probably more scandals as big or bigger, but Pawlenty has aggressively worked to keep government records secrety. While Jesse Ventura was open even with documents that showed his government in a bad light, Pawlenty applied a highly restrictive interpretation of the state's open record law -- declaring that only the final decisions by his government needed to be made public, not any of the memos, emails or white papers used in developing that final decision. Since the government inevitably announces its final decisions to the press anyway, this decision essentially made everything in state government secret, suddenly. But as we've seen, there is no question that he has much to hide. -- Sources

Secret $50,000 Payoff

In 2003, during his first term as governor, Pawlenty admitted that he accepted $54,000 in cash from a friend and colleague named Elam Baer, and could not document any work he did in exchange for this cash. It may have been technically legal; there is a loophole in Minnesota donation laws for independent contracting payments. But it smells to high heaven.

Elam Baer says that Pawlenty was a "consultant" to his company, and was paid $4,500 per month ($54,000/year) for his part-time work. Asked what he did, Pawlenty said he couldn't remember how much time he spent working for Baer, and that his consulting contract prevented him showing examples of his work. Elam Baer is actually an owner of 3 companies; Access Anywhere (which paid Pawlenty), Holdings (which Pawlenty invested in), and New Access, a subsidiary of NewTel.

New Access, a telecommunications company, has been accused of unscrupulous actions in 7 states -- including Minnesota -- such as "slamming" - signing up people for your telecom company without their permission. While he can't say what Pawlenty did for him, Elam Baer does say: "I think I got good value for what I paid." -- http://www.realchange.org/pawlenty.htm