Democratic National Committee – McCain Watch: The Pawlenty Edition

    WASHINGTON, Aug. 25 /
EMWNews
/ -- The following release

was issued today by the Democratic National Committee:



    



    If John McCain picks Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty as his running

mate this week, he'll be allying himself with a key Bush supporter and

leaving no doubt that McCain means four more years of the same failed Bush

economic policies and same old politics. Pawlenty is such a strong

supporter of President Bush that he would, in his own words, "stand with

President Bush if his approval rating was 2 percent." Standing by Bush

would be nothing new for Pawlenty, who was an early supporter of Bush's

risky Social Security privatization scheme, which would cost Americans $1

trillion initially -- that's just to transition to private accounts -- and

a total of $5 trillion over 20 years. Pawlenty was also an "enthusiastic

supporter" of Bush's plan for No Child Left Behind that resulted in an

under-funded program that left more than six million students behind.



    In Minnesota, Pawlenty has enacted the same failed Bush-Cheney economic

policies that have driven the American economy into a recession at the

state level -- with the same results. In February 2007, Minnesota was

projecting a $1 billion surplus. A year later, Minnesotans were

anticipating a deficit of $935 million. Like Bush and McCain, Pawlenty has

also failed to take adequate action to help Americans in jeopardy of losing

their homes as a result of the housing crisis, vetoing a mortgage

foreclosure bill that would have protected 12,000 Minnesota families from

losing their homes.



    Pawlenty's record of standing with Bush and against the middle class

makes him the perfect pick for McCain to prove his commitment to offering

four more years of the same failed Bush-Cheney economic policies and same

old politics.



    PAWLENTY AND BUSH



    Pawlenty: "I'd Stand With President Bush if His Approval Rating Was 2

Percent." The Star Tribune noted in October 2005, "Pawlenty waved off any

concerns about Bush, Hatch or other DFLers on Wednesday. 'I'd stand with

President Bush if his approval rating was 2 percent,' Pawlenty said. 'I

won't abandon my leader just because times are tough.'" [Star Tribune,

10/20/05]



    Pawlenty Was An Early Supporter of the Bush Plan to Privatize Social

Security. The Los Angeles Times noted, "Several Republican governors

expressed support during interviews Saturday for Bush's plan for private

accounts, including Govs. Lingle of Hawaii, Robert A. Taft of Ohio, Haley

Barbour of Mississippi, Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota and Jim Douglas of

Vermont, all of whom said the idea was popular with young people in their

states." [Los Angeles Times, 2/27/05]



    Pawlenty Was An "Enthusiastic Supporter" of No Child Left Behind and

Supported Extending It to High Schools. The Star Tribune reported,

"Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty endorsed the centerpiece of President Bush's

second-term education agenda Sunday, backing a plan to extend the federal

No Child Left Behind testing requirements to high schools... Pawlenty has

been an enthusiastic supporter of No Child Left Behind, but his comments on

Sunday were the first time he has endorsed Bush's plan to push the law's

reach into the nation's high schools. 'I think Minnesota could, and should,

move in that direction,' the Republican governor said." [Star Tribune,

2/28/05]



    Paid for and authorized by the Democratic National Committee,

http://www.democrats.org. This communication is not authorized by any candidate or

candidate's committee.