From One of Our National Correspondents?

One of the most prominent Conservative New Hampshire Political Bloggers at a site called GreenMountainPolitics (click here), posted a piece today entitled, "What The Republican Party Can Learn From Tim Pawlenty"

Here are a few of the best excerpted portions from this piece.

This post is about Governor Pawlenty.

And his terrific "Road-Map Out Of The GOP Message Wilderness" stump speech (our words not his) that he delivered in Fairlee, Vermont last night to New Hampshire and Vermont GOP activists.

But then the Governor moved into the actual meat of his speech. And he stopped sounding like "a lot of politicians".

He began by talking about the massive economic, cultural and technological changes currently sweeping across the globe. He told the audience that "massive change" is both "a little bit scary" and "exciting" at the same time.

Then he told the audience that Americans in general, and the Republican Party in particular, needs to "hold on to what makes us great" while at the same time being flexible enough to "take advantage of new opportunities".

"So what's something that makes us great?" Governor Pawlenty asked the Republican crowd. "We are the Party of fiscal discipline!" he answered himself.

The Governor then proceeded to sort out his 55 vetoes as Governor of Minnesota, including his vetoes of most of Minnesota's major omnibus bills.

Heads started bobbing up and down in the room.

"But the Republican Party needs to have a broader vision than just being accountants for the Democrats," Governor Pawlenty explained.

Our heart fluttered. More than a little bit. (emphasis mine)

The good Governor then launched into a 20 minute discussion on education reform, health care reform and energy reform.

Our favorite quote, on the need for energy reform, "70% of our oil comes from foreign sources and it hooks us to people and places that we shouldn't be hooked to. It is a national security imperative that we move our country away from oil. The public is way ahead of the politicians on this issue."

By God! A Republican who is clearly unwilling to cede the energy issue to the Democrats? Incredible!

And the Republican Party should watch the good Governor closely and learn a thing or two about updating (creating?) their broader message for 2008. And beyond. (emphasis mine)

We're just saying.

Well. . . Hmmmmmm. . . How should we read this Northeasterner's post?

First of all, he is right. We've written about this from the beginning. It is refreshing to have a leader like governor Pawlenty unwilling to cede any issue to the Democrats in this country. Conservatives have answers to health care, education and the environment just like we have answers on taxes, the economy, defense and crime. And on each and everyone of these issues, Governor Pawlenty is leading the way.

Second of all. . . well. . . he is right. Our party should really watch Governor Pawlenty in 2008 and beyond to learn a thing about updating and creating our message.

It is almost as though our new friends at GreenMountainPolitics believe the GOP has become the "Party of Pawlenty."

Pass it on.

Muddy waters

Right on cue, no sooner had the Minnesota Poll revealed that a majority of Minnesotans opposed raising the gas tax than liberals stated that the reason for the lack of support is that taxpayers are simply too dumb to support the liberal position. Whenever polls show a lack of support for their policies, liberals reflexively reason that people don’t agree with them simply because they’re stupid.

The following except appeared in an article by Pat Doyle in the Sunday Star Tribune:

Some who have followed the issue over the years were surprised that more people didn’t support a gas tax hike in the aftermath of the disaster.

“I would have thought the bridge collapsing might have been a pretty good indicator that something needed to happen, but it’s still muddy waters,” said Lee Munnich, who specializes in transportation policy at the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs.

He said politicians supporting a hike have not made a persuasive case that routine but critical maintenance needs more money and the federal government won’t provide enough of it.

While I shall pass over Munnich’s unfortunate reference to “muddy waters” subsequent to the bridge collapse, he needs to refer back to the poll results. There is absolutely nothing “muddy” about these numbers. Contrary to what the Democrats believed, taxpayers aren’t willing to write the tax-and-spenders a blank check because a bridge collapsed. DFLers believed that they had the perfect issue to force a tax increase and were salivating at what they believed was slam-dunk opportunity.

If the poll results had been reversed, Democrats would be trumpeting the results as proof that Minnesotans are firmly behind a gas tax increase. They would be scampering about demanding action in light of what would be described as overwhelming support for the tax hike. However, since the poll results are not in line with liberal plans, they are “muddy” and “surprising.”

The other obvious and more important point in the article is how it exposes the liberal belief that people don’t agree with them simply because the explanation was inadequate. In other words, were taxpayers more fully informed, they would obviously support raising taxes. It’s not a matter of genuine philosophical differences; it’s that a more “persuasive case” must be made. (Leftists “making a more persuasive case” is the type of ominous euphemism that one can easily imagine the Gestapo employing.)

The best line of the article was quoting Robert O’Byrne of rural Rochester who stated, “I think for every dollar you pay in taxes you get back about ten cents in value.”

This wisdom is contrasted with a statement that will certainly be a contender for the Stupidest Logic of the Week Award in which 82-year old poll respondent Ralph Belin stated that he favors a gas tax increase because, “I don’t think people in our state are that bad off, they can afford a nickel a gallon.” Brilliant. Just brilliant. To liberals, the only qualification for whether a tax is advisable is if taxpayers can “afford” it.

How about this logic: I don’t believe Ralph is so bad off he can’t afford to send me $100. Ralph, if you’re reading this – and unfortunately you’re not – I’m waiting for the check, because you can “afford” it.

Star Tribune: Pawlenty Has Highest Approval Ratings In Four Years

"Gov. Tim Pawlenty appears to have weathered some of the most tumultuous events of his tenure, with 59 percent of Minnesota adults approving of the job he is doing as governor, a new Star Tribune Minnesota Poll shows. It is his highest approval rating in the poll since February 2003, shortly after he took office.

Despite frequent combat with the DFL-dominated Legislature, the recent horror of a bridge collapse on his watch and questions about the state's response to flooding in southeastern Minnesota, Republican Pawlenty's strong approval rating cut across gender, regional and age lines." Source: Star Tribune, October 3, 2007

Click here for complete story.

Pawlenty's Latest Reform Success

Governor Pawlenty has appointed a reform minded Commissioner of Health in Sanne Magnan, who is receiving wide bi-partisan acclaim as she approaches the confirmation process.

“She had an incredible set of credentials and experiences that make her extremely well-suited to serve in this position,” Pawlenty said.

Top legislators on health issues were quick to praise the Republican governor’s selection. Rep. Tom Huntley, chairman of a House health care funding committee, predicted Magnan would be an “excellent commissioner” who has a shared desire to improve the health care system. Her background also is impressive.

“She understands the science of health care, and that’s really important,” Huntley, DFL-Duluth said. “I think she’s going to be great.” (excerpted from article)

Obviously turning the ship of Government is just that, an attempt to move a ship. It would be ideal if the governor could have gone in and gutted each of the departments of dead weight and inefficiencies, but unfortunately, you can't make quick reforms until people are in place who are capable, and people are removed who hold reform back.

It appears that the latest department which will move in that direction is the Health Department under this new Commissioner.

(click here for entire article)

Governor Proposes Small Business Relief in Greater Minnesota

In the first of what looks to be a series of 2008 legislative initiatives, Governor Pawlenty today traveled the state to lay out his plans for tax relief and grants to spur small business growth in Greater Minnesota Communities.

SEED (Strategic Entrepreneurial Economic Development) will facilitate business development across Minnesota through 22 new or expanded programs that target several strategic areas, according to a news release from the governor's office in St. Paul.

The proposal is the first major initiative Pawlenty has proposed for the 2008 legislative session. (excerpted from article). (click here for the entire article)

The governor's office issued a release on the program today which reads in part:

“Investing in small business will bring lasting value and economic growth to our entire state and especially rural communities that need it most,” Governor Pawlenty said. “Companies with fewer than 100 employees account for 97 percent of the state’s businesses and generate most new jobs. SEED will help new business, existing companies, and rural communities by providing a wide variety of economic development tools that can be matched to each situation.” (click here to learn more from the governor's office)

Small business often bares the brunt of punitive taxation and over burdensome regulations and mandates. Years of government attacks on our small business community have effectively decimated much of this critical sector in Greater Minnesota.

Today's announcement by the governor signals a significant shift away from attacking the job creators of our state (by our state) towards a much more sympathetic approach. This is on the heals of the governor's highly acclaimed JOBZ program aimed to give significant tax relief in many depressed Greater Minnesota counties by this governor.

Obviously, it would be ideal if our government would choose not to treat job creators as the enemy to start with.

But as we seek to reform this state, providing relief to small business owners is a significant step in the right direction.

Pawlenty Begins to Lay Out 2008 Legislative Agenda

Governor Pawlenty will begin defining his 2008 legislative agenda on Tuesday as he travels to St. Paul, Sauk Rapids, Brownsdale and East Grand Forks to talk about Economic Development.

Check back with Party of Pawlenty over the upcoming weeks as Governor Pawlenty continues to define a bold, reform oriented agenda for 2008.

(click here for the story)

Are you kidding me???

I'd like to introduce a new category of posts here at Party of Pawlenty we like to call, "Are you kidding me???"

In this morning's Star Tribune, the fine "journalists" over there took Governor Pawlenty to task for playing an active roll in selecting the best possible educational path for his oldest daughter.

Here is the opening line of this breaking news (assume drum roll here):

Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a key player in setting policy for Minnesota public schools and allocating billions of dollars for public education, has chosen private school for one of his daughters.

And that is what the entire story is about. (I apologize profusely for including a link to it).

In other breaking news, the fine "journalists" at the Star Tribune have learned.

--"Gov. Pawlenty, who governs a state with excessively generous social welfare programs, has a job and is not on a single public assistance program."

--"Gov. Pawlenty, who works in an office with a state-paid photocopy machine, asked his wife to go to Kinkos to print birthday invitations."

--"Gov. Pawlenty, who oversees the allocation of billions of dollars to promote Minnesota tourism, took his family to Disney Land."

In all seriousness, the Trib should be embarrassed that it allowed any ink to be spilled to print such a nonsensical and irrelevant story.

One of the greatest issues facing education today is a lack of parental involvement. It is demonstrably true, that kids who have involved parents do better in school.

And we, as a people, should encourage the kind of involvement that we see from the Governor of Minnesota (a busy guy), in the education of his own daughters.

There is nothing inherently noble about sending ones child to a public school versus a private school, or vice versa.

We have been blessed in Minnesota to have a pretty good mix (we have some work to do yet) of public, private, charter and home-school "institutions" of education in which parents can pick which one best fits the needs of their child, their family, and their community (believe it or not, where the Star Tribune thinks a child should attend is way down the priority list).

But regardless of the intent of the "journalists" at the Trib, an important point does come across in the story.

Governor Pawlenty places a high value on education, and part of his tenure as Governor is defined by making schools accountable to parents and kids so that all of our schools (public, private and otherwise) are providing a world class education.