Pawlenty, Huntsman statements on debt crisis

This evening President Obama, our hyper-partisan president, decried the "partisan three-ring circus" preventing a debt-limit deal.

With Obama, it's never his fault.

Speaker of the House John Boehner gave a sharp retort. "The sad truth is that the president wanted a blank check six months ago," the Ohioan warned, "and he wants a blank check today. That is just not going to happen."

Two former Republican governors issued statements about the debt-ceiling deadline. Shortly after Obama's speech, Tim Pawlenty had this to say:

President Obama is lecturing the country instead of leading it. He has presided over the largest and most irresponsible run up of debt in our nation's history, and he now threatens to preside over the first default in U.S. history. Once again, President Obama did not have the courage to offer real solutions to fix runaway debt. Where is his plan to fix Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid? Tonight's speech was all rhetoric and no results, and is another reason why President Obama needs to be removed from office.

In response to the Boehner debt deal proposal, Jon Huntsman released this statement:

The plan proposed by Speaker Boehner and House Republican Leadership is a good first step to deal with our national debt and is in line with the principles I have laid out since the beginning of this debate: cuts commensurate with any increase in the debt ceiling, tangible steps towards a balanced budget amendment, and no tax increases. President Obama should sign on to this plan instead of demanding over $1 trillion in tax hikes and a politically convenient timetable.

I applaud Speaker Boehner and Republican Leadership in the House for proposing a plan that makes serious strides towards solvency and will prevent us from defaulting on our obligations.

Once this responsible plan is passed Congress must take meaningful steps toward addressing the long-term drivers of debt with entitlement reform and a revenue-neutral tax reform plan.

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