RSS Feed MenuOver the past year, much has been written and televised about the tea party and the RINOs and the demands for ideological purity. The fact that today, Tim Pawlenty requested $260 million in stimulus money from a jobs bill that Pawlenty described as “reckless” should give anyone that advocates for this sort of ideological purity pause. Governing, it turns out, does not lend itself to the neat ideological distinctions that the far right would like to believe its candidates should…and can deliver.
As most of you know, Tim Pawlenty is the only Republican that we can safely say is running for the nomination. Pawlenty has spent most of the year trotting back and forth to big primary states, meeting with the individuals and the voters whose support is so crucial for any candidate that hopes to have a shot at the nomination. He has made trips to Iowa and New Hampshire. He has also dialed up the rhetoric to appeal to the right. He made a show of rejecting stimulus money from the Obama healthcare bill and he recently described the president’s jobs bill as “reckless.”
Well, as you also are surely aware, there is a recession and like most states, Minnesota could use a little help. The Mayo Clinic, the state’s largest private employer, didn’t respond so well to the governor’s refusal of the healthcare money and pressure has been mounting on the governor to accept some of the government’s assistance. Today, Pawlenty swallowed hard and requested $260 million from Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. He, and Minnesota, will get the money.
Pawlenty wasn’t wrong when he said the jobs bill was reckless. It is. But to deny all stimulus funds because he would have structured the bill differently would have been equally reckless. Words are cheap. Governing is too hard to worry about ideology. There are goals and problems and dealing with them destroys any sort of claim to ideological consistency that even the best politicians had before they entered office. Anyone that governs responsibly will anger his ideological base and his ideological opponents. This is the sign of a doer. Not a RINO.
Follow Jeb on twitter: @JGolinkin
Oldskool // Sep 7, 2010 at 11:06 pm
Last week, Pawlenty ordered state agencies to avoid “discretionary” involvement in the federal health care law unless required by law or approved by his office.In other words, whatever. Get the money, we’ll figure out the spin later.
LauraNo // Sep 8, 2010 at 12:08 am
I doesn’t matter. He lied in the first place, he had to admit the need for the help in the second place, he will pretend he didn’t do it in the third place and his voters won’t give two shits anyway. Republican voters don’t seem to actually care about morals and ethics and silly things like that. Will you promise to screw the general public/ middle class? Okay then.
ProfNickD // Sep 8, 2010 at 1:18 am
Well, he certainly won’t make it out of the GOP primaries now.
Gus // Sep 8, 2010 at 10:37 am
It’s sad what he’s willing to do to his state in a quixotic bid for the Republican nomination. I have about as much chance as he does to win the presidency.
rbottoms // Sep 8, 2010 at 1:25 pm
It’s as idiotic and hypocritical as the keep the government out of Medicare dimwits from last year. You know, those ranting patriots in the Power Scooters paid for by Uncle Sam.
Teabaggers of course won’t catch the irony so what does he have to lose. He gets to take the money, save his state while bashing the socialist president who is saving their bacon.
busboy33 // Sep 8, 2010 at 4:39 pm
You guys are missing the point.
Its not hypocritical because he EARNED it. Or because taking the money keeps it from being squandered on welfare anchor babies. Or because its our money in the first place. Or something else.
The bottom line is, a Tru Red Tea Partier Conservative Christian God-Fearing American by definition can’t be a lying hypocrite, so suckling at the public teat is justifed. Somehow.
Don’t ask questions! You know who asked questions? Hitler! Ted Bundy too (also a Socialist).