Pawlenty Is Toast

The shutdown is over. The legislation has been signed.

And Tim Pawlenty is going down.

Because he's a liar.

No new taxes---oops, it's a "Health Impact Fee." My bad---my ass. What's even better is that he admits he's a liar. Of course, though, it's in the fine print.

Pawlenty also proclaimed the budget package that was completed Wednesday a balanced, bipartisan compromise, saying that "the process was ugly, but the product is good."

He claimed victory in a dozen areas, handing out a checklist of achievements led by "Don't raise taxes" and a status box that listed it as "Done." It also had a footnote in which Pawlenty noted the controversy surrounding the health impact fee.

"Some people call it a tax, some call it a fee, I call it a solution," he told reporters.

{my emphasis}

So, here's what I'd like to know Monsieur Pawlenty---who I consider to be so bad he's practically French---if smokers can't, you know, smoke anywhere in the Twin Cities metropolitan area because smoking's been banned in bars and restaurants, how exactly are you going to fund all these WONDERFUL programs with tobacco taxes?

Hmmmm?

Don't you think that you and your cronies---and yes, I include you in their company because you lobbied to take the entire state smoke-free---sort of pulled the rug out from under yourselves on this one? Because, if you want us to buy cigarettes, we have to have places to smoke. You have to keep us hooked, otherwise, geez, you won't have any state funding.

Whoops! That thar's one heck of a "solution," Tim.

I cannot stand politicians who lie and then try to get away with it. I know this includes pretty much all of them, but you'd think the guy would at least have some shame about fibbing so blatantly. But he doesn't. Not one ounce of burning, red shame for lying. He's covering himself with semantics and he's completely unrepentant about it. He didn't have the guts to cut spending, or even to whip the legislature into the least modicum of shape, and the smokers---because we're bad, bad people---are the ones who have to pay for his laziness and inefficiency. He couldn't get a deal and keep everyone happy, so he opted for the "safe" people to tax. The people he didn't think he'd lose with by taxing them. He didn't want to lose support from big taxpayers, like corporations or people with fat wallets, so he taxed the people he just assumed wouldn't vote for him anyway, if they voted at all. Because, let's face it, most smokers are living on the poverty line: they probably vote a straight DFL ticket anyway.

Interesting how one gets pegged because of one's activities, isn't it?

I hate to say this, but at this stage of the game, I want Jesse back. At least he cared.

Posted by Kathy at July 15, 2005 12:12 AM | TrackBack