Pawlenty on the "opt-out" alternative: "It's really a sham."
I happened to catch Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty on Greta Van Susteren last night and, once again, I couldn't help but find myself groovin' to what he had to say.
On healthcare:
what we know for sure is this. Government-run health care is a bad idea. I hope it gets killed. But now they're offering up the opt-out as an alternative. The Democrats are. And I think it's going to end up being a sham because there are reports that I'm getting, at least, from Republican sources that the opt-out is going to require you to pay the money ahead of time -- in other words, pay increased taxes for four years -- then the program will fully kick in four years out. And even if you do opt out, your state and your citizens have to continue to pay their share of the bill.
So if that's the way, it gets proposed, it's really impossible or impractical. And it's really a sham. It's a masquerade and it's something that's very, very, I think, disingenuous and very cynical.[snip]
We've got a, you know, philosophical problem here and a financial problem. I don't like the idea of the government taking stuff over. Like I said before, what's next? If you're concerned about toothpaste prices, are we going to have government-run Wal-Marts? If we're concerned about gasoline prices, is the government going to take over the gas station down the street from my house? This is a very slippery slope and it's inconsistent with the tradition that this country's economy was built on.
Pawlenty also explained his support for the Conservative Party candidate Hoffman against the Republican in the upcoming special election in New York's 23rd CD:
If we're going to have Republican candidates, they need to meet at least a minimum threshold of being a Republican or conservative. There's a range of people that can meet that definition. We want the party to be able to have some differences internally, but the candidate that they endorsed here doesn't even meet that minimum threshold...
This is an individual who has voted for tax increases, income taxes in New York. She supports card check. She supports the stimulus. She supported bank bail-outs, and on down the list. She does not meet even the minimum requirement of being a Republican, even broadly defined.
[snip]
If you go down the record, not her promises going forward, the Republican candidate, I mean, this is an individual who really has defied almost every important issue from my standpoint for Republicans, the stimulus bill, bank bail-outs, tax increases, card check, and many more. This is not somebody who I think is deserving of wearing the Republican jersey, and that's why you're seeing so much support for the alternative, Doug Hoffman, the Conservative, in this race.
In addition to saying good stuff, the Minnesota Governor sounds good and looks good saying it. As he continues to be a strong voice from the group of Republican governors, I have no doubt that this guy will be some sort of a significant force in GOP presidential politics from this point forward as well...
