Pawlenty 2006:
"Era of Small Government is Over"For the record ...In 2006 Mr. Pawlenty told the Minnesota Climate Change Advisory Group. "It looks like we should have listened to President Carter, 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."
Heres another quote from Timmy circa 2006: We all, I think, can chart a path toward universal coverage," he said in a luncheon speech to a health reform conference in Minneapolis. "We're going to have to move in stages. ... We should start with covering all kids." - WSJ
Cato lists plenty of Pawlentie's big-government spending track record. He was a big runner-up for VP under McCain.
Some of the things listed at the Cato Institute that Tim Pawlenty stood by in Minnesota -
* 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.
How about the 2007 CPAC speech that he gave? How about points from this writeup from liberal Continetti
in the Weekly Standard? In the 2007 speech he argued for -
* Increased government subsidies for alternative energy;
* More health insurance coverage;
* For using government to cater to the needs of down-scale voters.
Currently according to
Michelle Malkin and
Minnesota Public Radio:State officials say Minnesota is working on a pilot program to test the idea of charging drivers for each mile they drive. Other states around the country are considering a vehicle mileage tax, as revenues from the gas tax are expected to decline.
St. Paul, Minn. — The cost of each gallon of gas includes 18.4 cents to fund federal highway programs, and another 25.5 cents for roads in Minnesota.
But as cars and trucks get better mileage, the gas tax isn’t keeping pace with the need for roads and road work. So another option is gaining traction in Minnesota — a high-tech mileage-based user fee.
“We realize that in the future, cars aren’t going to be powered by fuel, probably,†said Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who signed into law $5 million for the current biennium to study the mileage tax.
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Oh, and btw ... He refuses to talk about opponent's record thereby ensuring Zippy gets yet another free ride during the campaign process regarding his record.
Of course Pawlenty has plenty of time to do a little dance and back track from many of his liberal stances in the coming months. So we shall see what the State has to offer, that brought us enough re-counts of found and shipped in votes to ensure that we now have a Sen Al Franken.
