Access To Democracy

     One can only wonder what happpened to Tim Pawlenty — a man from a blue collar, hardworking family, the only one who made it to college, who enjoyed the benefits of financial aid along the way, good-looking, intelligent, engaging, a man who led the Minnesota legislature, and then the State, as Governor. 

     Somewhere along the line he fell in with the far right-wing conservatives, became a legend in his own mind, and as visions of sugar plums (in the form of the White House) danced in his head, managed to abandon the decent ideals of his upbringing to morph into an arrogant, self-centered insensitive individual who was — and is — willing to throw the needy of his state (and indeed all other Minnesotans as well) to the wind in search of his own ambitions.

     Married to a ludicrous “No-tax” philosophy in the face of the national and state economic recession, Pawlenty took a regal (and illegal) stance with regard to the state budget, unalloted several billions of funds, including medical and health cares for the neediest of the citizenry, and ran the state into a record deficit because of his hard-headedness and need to please the right-wing.  For the last few months, while ignoring the state, he has been flying all over the country speaking to GOP groups and trying to endear himself to the far-right, while a state which frequently led the nation in numerous important categories teeters on the edge.

    T-Paw, as he is known locally, recently told Newsweek magazine that “I’m not going to start raising taxes now.”  No, what he’s done is cut back on local government aid to cities and counties (promised and budgeted money), and forced localities — and school districts — to raise property taxes, levies, and find alternate means while at the same time healthcare, educational standards, and the cost of higher education, suffered immeasurably.

   He deceitfully told Newsweek that Minnesota “balanced the budget every year without raising taxes…”  No, he just dumped the responsibility on the localities, who had to raise taxes.  Hypocrisy.  Rather than roll back tax relief unwisely given to — in particular — the wealthiest citizens during the “Mensa” administration of Jesse Ventura, Pawlenty would veto any effort to restore those billions — with a B — to the tax rolls.

     He suggests that “Congress should cut current domestic spending”  including “a government takeover of healthcare” just as he did in Minnesota, where private individuals, healthcare and education took a Ventura-like body slam.  T-Paw even suggested that the Iraq War “may turn out to have been beneficial”  (wasn’t that W’s unitelligent blunder).  Whatever threatens regulation in the private sector seems to be wrong, in Pawlenty’s glazed-over view, who also opposes gay marriage (although he once supported a bill prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation), and basically sticks to the conservative talking points.  [His deceptive and fuzzy answer on cross-dressing by Minnesota elementary schools educators is not to be believed].

     Taken to Court over his budget unallotment scheme, Pawlenty was recently rebuked  by a highly respected jurist who found his actions unconstitutional.  he suggested that she crossed over into a legislative area — by ruling on a lawsuit properly brought, and which determined that it was he who usurped the role of the legislature with his unconstitutional methods.  So who crossed the line?

     I never thought of Pawlenty, who first appeared on “Access” 11 years ago, as a complete hypocrite;  I thought of him as someone who differed politically, but who would never let rampant ambition strangle his oath of office.  Now I think of him as The Man Who Would be King.