Drawing parallels between the impasse on the debt limit and the 11-day Minnesota government shutdown, Tim Pawlenty called on Republicans at the state and federal level to continue to hold the line, touting his own record of passing balanced budgets during his reign as Minnesota governor in an op-ed in the Des Moines Register Tuesday.
“With America facing 9.2 percent unemployment and anemic economic growth, the last thing we need is more government,” Pawlenty wrote. “We need to balance government budgets by cutting spending and rejecting tax increases. This can be done in both Minnesota and Washington, but only if Republicans draw a line in the sand and stand firm against more spending and taxes.”
As the standoff in Minnesota over how to close the state’s $5 billion deficit continues, some have questioned whether Pawlenty’s policies as governor played a role in creating the state’s large shortfall. He has been quick to defend himself.
“That’s what I did as governor of Minnesota, where I balanced every budget without tax increases and left the state with an estimated $663 million surplus for the budget period that ended last month,” Pawlenty said.
Pawlenty said the addition of more taxes and spending was an antiquated idea. “Like the dinosaurs in ‘Jurassic Park’, their ideas are from a bygone era and have no place in today’s debate,” he wrote.
Of the debt ceiling debate, Pawlenty said, “we cannot allow it to increase without game-changing reforms to our federal budget … Let’s start with a balanced budget amendment, a cap on federal spending levels and real cuts to this year’s budget,” he said.
Leveling a final jab at Obama, Pawlenty concluded: “[T]hese problems can be solved without tax increases. It just takes resolve, leadership and the conviction that lower taxes and less government will ultimately spur higher economic growth and job creation.”