Posted on 05/25/2011 11:40:30 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
First he goes after ethanol in Iowa, now this. What’s next? Telling Texans it’s time to wean themselves off of barbecue? Good lord. This isn’t a campaign, it’s an intervention.
Alternate headline: “Tim Pawlenty now unelectable in not one but two early primary states.”
A day after telling Iowans their beloved ethanol subsidies will have to go, Republican presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty used a stop in senior-heavy Florida to call for reining in Social Security and Medicare benefits for future retirees…
It’s part of a tough-medicine tour, designed to highlight Pawlenty’s willingness to tell “hard truths.” He’s also planning to visit Washington to call for less-generous pay and benefits for public sector employees and to New York to call for an end to Wall Street bailouts…
Pawlenty said Social Security’s retirement age must “gradually” increase for people who are not yet in the system. He also called for ending cost-of-living increases for wealthy retirees. He said he’ll release details soon and said the changes would not affect current retirees.
That’s from today’s Facebook town hall, where he also took a question that seemed geared towards winning a certain fiscal-con icon’s constituency:
“In the state of Indiana, our governor has been really hard on teachers,” asked one girl. “What is your view of education?”
Pawlenty voiced a position on education similar to the reforms passed by Daniels in the last Indiana legislative session: school choice and vouchers, support for charter schools, and saying that education policy should be geared to help children and should “put their needs first, rather than the interests of adults in public employee union movement.”
The choice of the question seemed deliberate, as a way to position Pawlenty as the natural alternative for Daniels’ supporters.
The straight talk on entitlements, I think, is mainly geared towards giving him cover with the base for when he starts inching away from Ryan’s Medicare plan. He praised Ryan’s budget when speaking to reporters after the Facebook town hall today but reminded them that he’ll be introducing his own plan in the coming months. With good reason: The more Senate Republicans bail on Ryan — Olympia Snowe is the latest — the closer we get to the sort of tipping point imagined by Nate Silver. It’s easier for the GOP to deflect concerns about Ryan’s Medicare reforms if they’re voting party-line, less easy when the RINO contingent of Snowe, Collins, and Brown defects and thereby implicitly signals to centrists that Ryan’s budget is “extreme.” T-Paw’s trying to massage both sides here (much as he did in Iowa), hinting without saying that he thinks Ryan’s plan is extreme too but not so much that entitlement reform should be avoided. Exit quotation: “What I know is this: There just can’t be any more sacred cows.”
yea lets tell the voters how we are going to change medicare, my o my that has worked hasn’t it.
In two weeks we have lost two elections because of the GOP talking about the Ryan plan
It was stupid to make public the Ryan plan in the first place.
The simple fact is we’re going to lose this election if we keep thinking that if we back and talk about the Ryan plan .
The Dems have been handed a gift and now we’re losing as they use the plan against us.
The Dems don’t say do they that they want homosexuality taught in schools, have open borders, cut the military, increase taxes.
no because they know they will not get votes so lets play the game hard and takethem on instead of this crap of saying how we’re changing medicare and any republican backing this plan in public has lost an election and is very stupid.
RE: saying we need to cut medicare and then bring Ryan’s plan up is political suicide.
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NOT implementing Ryan’s plan and letting Medicare stand as it is now IS REAL SUICIDE.
Choose your poison.
really so we say this and then we have handed the left a victory, even a blind man can see that we have given the left a gift and have lost two elections in two weeks because of this gift we gave them
you want to tell people we’re to cut medicare, increase the age etc then fine but don’t expect to win
are you for crap and trade because this elitist hack is, he’s an idiot
thank you , at least you get it.
As soon as we talk about the Ryan plan we lose votes and give a gift tot he left.
It is that simple and we have lost two elections in two weeks because of this plan.
As soon as we tell voters about medicare then we lose but of course some don;t see that and think telling it like it is will get it for us when infact we have lost two out of two.
Politics is a game and we seem to be losing using this Ryan plan.
I know a bunch of republicans who are old and hate obama but as soon as they heard about this they said they will not vote.
I wish some would wake the hell up instead of this cap and trade fool backing this plan on medicare
great post , but shame some will not agree.
We should be mentioning how obamacare is hurting medicare
Tim Pawlenty is telling people what they need to hear and the reaction is the same regardless of political party. Everyone wants it fixed so long as they are not impacted. Can’t be done folks. I expect America to continue its decline and one day she will hit bottom.
<bangs head on desk?
YES IT IS suicide to not address it but as soon as you mention changing medicare then you lose the election.
Hell I’m not basing this on maybe , but facts, we have lost two elections in two weeks because of talking about Ryan’s plan, that is a FACT
so if you want to go out there and talk medicare and about cutting it then expect to lose.
Once we get in then we do it but there is much else to talk about like cutting money to countries who hate us, getting our own oil, if you want to talk about medicare then state how obamacare will kill it.
what you think the left mention open borders, homosexual teaching in schools, cutting the military? No they don’t
politics is a game
you talk about the Ryan plan and back it up then you won’t be implementing anything as you won’t get elected.
A soon as you mention it the people will turn away from you , and the left will say the nasty right will cut your medicare and then they get votes
this has been proven twice in two weeks and we lost twice
I'm not going to do that. Too many men far better than I have fought, suffered, bled and died to give me my vote, so I'm not going to throw it away by not voting. Consequently, I'm eventually going to have to vote for somebody with whom I may not see eye to eye on 100% of the issues. C&T is a pretty serious one, but if he's walked back his support, and actively promotes deregulation, reigning in the EPA, etc. I'd happily overlook the fact that he once supported something I disagree with.
I wonder what percentage of Iowa voters are deeply attached to ethanol subsidies. There are between 90 and 100 thousand farms in Iowa--the total vote in recent Presidential elections has been about 1.5 million.
Ok...but my post wasn’t based on anything regarding backing the Ryan plan. I DO like the plan though....and I’m a senior. ;-)
I also believe that the Republicans need some sort of STRONG, WELL-DONE campaign to INFORM people about the stark difference between Ryan’s plan (which even Ryan said was open to new input) and Obamacare/Democrat approach to healthcare/debt.
What I was trying to say in my post was simply that I like the fact the Pawlenty seems not to be afraid of telling the folks that we are going to have to make some TOUGH decisions that will affect ALL of us. There is NO way to get around that. This crisis is THAT serious. Most Americans understand this....especially when they have all the information.
agree, nearly all Americans want it sorted out as well as the debt but as soon as you bring up the Ryan plan then we lose as Americans for the most part will say they paid into it and don’t touch it.
Even many republicans I know who hate obama will not vote for anyone who touches their medicare or SS .
It is sad that we as a country have not relied on this and that is why it was set up .
We need to back away from this Ryan plan so the left can stop hammering us with it and Ryan should not have released his budget until the left did.
We have had two elections in two weeks and lost both, one in FL, one in NY last night.
we should nto be losing but we are because the left play mediscare and we gave them the gift to use it
we should have stayed on message cut the debt, obamacare will kill medicare etc, he took 500 billion etc.
But Ryan had to release this and now we’re losing up and down the country
RE: this has been proven twice in two weeks and we lost twice
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Nothing in your observation changes what I just said.
Let’s put it this way — if we are in a group riding on a wagon that is heading inexorably towards a cliff, what should the responsible person do ?
A) Tell everyone to stay calm and continue on the route towards the cliff?
or;
B) Tell everyone that we need to stop the wagon and turn it around?
Would a responsible person choose A and because everyone feel comfortable with the message, or choose B even if he knows that doing so will make him unpopular.
What is certain is this -— If you do nothing, Medicare will NOT be there for anyone. If you implement reform (no matter how unpopular), you just might save it.
Upstate NY just signed their own death warrants with their latest election for Congressman. Their population is already leaving in droves even as we speak and the latest elections just drove another nail to that trend. In other words, they just accelerated the movement of the wagon towards the cliff.
I don't see a reason to raise "other" taxes but the Democrats will, they always do. Higher revenues coming in with economic recovery will meet this obligation.
It was done to help prime the pump of the pathetic economic recovery.
Would you prefer it was never done?
not sure if you are talkiong to people out on the street who you do not know but when you say you will cut medicare then you lose votes
It’s been proven in the last 2 WEEKS and we lost TWICE due to your plan.
You can’t tell people that you will cut medicare and then get elected if you do then you will not implement anything
look you said twice now that you think it is best to tell people we have to do this because if we don’t the country is broke
Well yoy are correct but if you tell the people you will cut medicare then you won’t get to implement anything because you won’t get the votes.
Like it or not that is a FACT
I’m near JAX, I know many who heard about medicare and the Ryan plan and said they will not vote if they touch their medicare
The rat won , we lost so for us to change anything we have to shut up about cutting medicare and then do it once we are in.
Notice the date in which Pawlenty stops the Sharia Banking Programs. (after a year and half)
Think maybe he knew over a month ago that he was going to run for President?
http://personalmoneystore.com/moneyblog/2011/03/28/sharia-compliant-mortgage-minnesota/
Pawlenty implemented Sharia compliant loans by executive order in 2005.
you forgot the video of cap and trade he supported too.
You’re on medicare and SS so you’ve got your whack of it but tell a person who is not into politics that they will have to wait till 72 etc and you lose their vote therefore you will not get voted in to change medicare.
I can’t stress this enough.
two weeks have gone by and we have lost TWO ELECTIONS because of this , so we better shut up about the Ryan plan.
I favor lower taxes and cutting spending, but this is simply an accounting gimmick. (Will I “take it” anyway? Sure.)
Did you see the SC debate? Pawlenty did not endorse C&T, in fact he repudiated the idea.
Dude, if you’re set to give up after two losses, then go ahead and surrender. Reagan didn’t give up on the conservative message, and he lost battles....and I won’t either.
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