Marathon Pundit: Gov. Tim Pawlenty on MN Shutdown and DC debt limit negotiations at Iowa/Facebook town hall

Thursday, July 07, 2011

Gov. Tim Pawlenty on MN Shutdown and DC debt limit negotiations at Iowa/Facebook town hall

Former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty held a town hall meeting in Urbandale, Iowa that was aired on his Facebook page. The Land of 10,000 Lakes is enduring a government shutdown, which is unfortunate as summer tourism is an important revenue source there. All of its state parks are closed.

Minnesota has a Democratic--actually a DFL--governor and a Republican legislature.

Of course the president and congressional Republicans are squaring off in regards to raising the the national debt limit.

Below are some of Pawlenty's comments from Urbandale.

We've got a federal government that's out of control. We had a balanced budget amendment and it works. Every budget during my time as governor was balanced. The last budget ended at midnight last Thursday. It was the last budget for which my period as governor was responsible. And it ended in a surplus. Ended in [the] black.

In Minnesota now, they're having a big fight about the next budget. And that one's projecting a $5 billion deficit. There's going to be a deficit. But you know what? That assumes a 20% increase in spending, which is ridiculous. It is outrageous. I would have never allowed that as governor. I applaud the Republican legislature in Minnesota for standing strong and standing firm and saying we’re not going to raise taxes in Minnesota. We don’t have a state in Minnesota that's over-taxed, we have a state that has spent too much, before I became governor, and we’ve got to get it back in balance.

I share that with you because it's similar to the challenges seen in Washington D.C. going on with this debt ceiling limit issue. They've got the President and Republicans negotiating, and I urge our Republicans in Washington D.C. to stand strong. The only way you get real change in Washington D.C. is to draw lines in the sand. And if you notice, most politicians are like running water downhill. They want least resistance. So it’s helpful, in having them do bold and courageous things, to put up some points of resistance. And there is a moment here now, it's not an easy moment, but it's a dramatic and it's an important moment, for our conservatives in Washington to stand tall and stand strong and stand courageously, and say the answer to America's future is not to pile more debt on our children and our grandchildren. The answer is to get our financial house in order and to live within our means, just like families have to do, just like businesses have to do, and just what we’d expect in our personal lives.