Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Is T-Paw Just Another Big Gummint "Conservative"?

Well. Hewitt is in love with T-Paw, (as is PowerLine) but there is a big nasty fly in the ointment.

It was only a matter of hours before his state's previous Republican governor, Arne Carlson, unveiled a barrage of fiscal data arguing that Pawlenty wasn't telling the truth about his fiscal conservative credentials. Instead, Carlson alleged that Pawlenty had presided over a $2.5 billion increase in property taxes, used one-time payments to balance the budget, and handed his successor an unprecedented $5 billion deficit.

Hmmmmm.

There's a more important element in this article, however, for Scott Walker (!):

"...if you are going to cut or hold the line on taxes, you also better be ready to introduce bold, fresh thinking with new ideas on how to reform government to deliver more value from taxpayer dollars. And I don't think there was much in the way of substantive reform—or for that matter, evidence of risking political capital—to push new ideas through… Unless you address the underlying cost structures of all these programs and the implications that they have on the budget, you're going to continue to have persistent structural budget deficits as far as the eye can see." --Mark Haveman, MN Taxpayers' Ass'n.

It ain't just benefits and work-rules, although that's important. It's the inefficiency--the inability to deliver only what's needed, on-time, and at budget--that counts in the long run.

You could say "efficacy" if you prefer.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Actually, the link presents a fair and balanced look at how ALL presidential hopefuls have to "lie", "backtrack", "change their story", etc. to drum up support.

So, in reality, there is no fly in the ointment. FYI--The author of the link is a MODERATE, one who wrote a solid book on the fringe elements who are leading our country to ruin and how imperative it is for centrist policies to be implemented.

Dad29 said...

Not necessarily. "Centrist" needs definition.