The skepticism of a guy that’s seen by many on the Right as straddling the establishment/conservative fence is sure to continue garnering questions on particular fronts (correcting the err of his ways on Cap & Trade), but Tim Pawlenty’s economic policy speech delivered at the University of Chicago on Tuesday is turning many heads among the punditry.
Called “The Better Deal” by Pawlenty, a Human Events piece surmises, “This is pretty bold stuff. It stakes out some aggressive territory for Pawlenty as a visionary. Those who are weary of being told that America’s inevitable future is a moribund economy, high unemployment, and statist collapse will be encouraged to hear someone offering such a detailed Better Deal.”
Pawlenty’s plan is being touted as “ambitious” and one that “attacks crony capitalism”. As Hot Air describes, “The speech laid our specific goals, such as a flatter tax system, lower corporate rates, and elimination of capital-gains taxes as a means to spur American investment and production. Pawlenty also demanded caps on government spending and entitlement reform. But he also targeted Obama’s largest legacy — the expansion of government regulation that has driven up costs on business and introduced a cascade of uncertainty for investors.” Pawlenty encouraged his audience to make a complete 180:
"We don’t need ObamaCare to create a one-size-fits-all — government-run health care program. We need Washington to allow a personalized — private health care market to flourish. And meet the diverse needs of individual patients.
We don’t need Dodd-Frank to further intertwine Wall Street and Pennsylvania Avenue. We need to privatize Fannie and Freddie. And remove the threat — that their political slush funds can never again sink our economy.
And we don’t need the unelected officials at EPA — to do what our elected officials in Congress have rejected. We need less EPA monitoring of our economy. And more monitoring of EPA’s effects on our freedom.
I will require sunsetting of all federal regulations. Unless specifically sustained by a vote of Congress. Under my administration — the NRLB will never tell an American company where they can and cannot do business."
Among those notably impressed is Larry Kudlow, calling the plan a “blockbuster"…
…and The Wall Street Journal states, “Among GOP Presidential contenders, Tim Pawlenty is offering the most ambitious reform agenda so far, and his economic address yesterday continued the trend. While details remain to be filled in, the former Minnesota Governor is rightly focusing on a growth revival that ought to define the 2012 campaign. Most notable in symbolic political terms, Mr. Pawlenty proposed what he called the "big, positive goal" of growing the U.S. economy by 5% a year over the next decade. His policy mix is centered on building a durable expansion and boosting middle-class incomes, and his speech was notable for its optimism, avoiding the austerity temptation that traps many Republicans.” And after delving into much more intricate details of the plan, the WSJ concluded, “The larger task for Mr. Pawlenty going forward is to put these policy choices into a larger economic narrative, explaining to voters why the prosperity of the 1980s and 1990s ended, how Mr. Obama's policies have damaged the recovery, and how his own policies will revive middle-class incomes. Now that Mr. Pawlenty has laid down his marker, what do his competitors have to offer?”
Of course, the speech didn’t go without criticism. While Philip Klein of the Washington Examiner recognizes that he’s heading in the right direction by attacking crony capitalism with the promising broader outlines of the plan, he says, “the key will be how he fleshes out the specifics,” pointing to a desire for more details on individual tax rates and the spending front, as well as his yet unveiled plan on Medicare (which as Pawlenty has stated, includes some of Ryan's ideas). Klein continues, “He talks a big game about passing a balanced budget amendment, capping spending and streamlining government. He even includes a gimmicky "Google Test" that says if you can find a given service on Google, then government doesn't need to be doing it... Again, laying out an approach to spending cuts is good, but it's a lot bolder to identify specific programs that will be cut.” And Joseph Lawler of The American Spectator said that “Pawlenty’s claims about growth are a little off-key” pointing to the suggestion that his policy’s 5% growth as being ‘possible’ is largely out of the president’s control, as well as the ‘promise’ of all kinds of tax cuts solely dependent on “the huge increase in tax revenues that would come with 5 percent growth,” concluding that “it’s a lot harder when you have to plan for anemic growth.”
Nevertheless, this was a rousing speech for many conservative Republicans that in all probability will garner more support for his candidacy if the talk is backed up by the walk. Adding to his allure, being one of the first to come out against GM CEO Dan Akerson’s call for the government to hike the gas tax by $1 a gallon to force buyers into purchasing smaller, more fuel efficient cars that no one’s buying, telling WLS Radio’s The Don and Roma Show, "I think we should tell him to go pound sand. That's ridiculous. I mean, how much more crony capitalism can we have to benefit General Motors," is certainly something many Americans in general will agree with!
