What are Pawlenty’s Priorities?

by Zack Stephenson | 5 Comments

Minnesota has a historic budget deficit, our economy is in free fall and the legislative session is growing increasingly acrimonious. Given all this, one would expect that working with the Legislature would by Gov. Pawlenty’s top priority. A quick glance at T-Paw’s schedule, however, indicates that the Guv is much more worried about his national profile than coming to an budget agreement with legislative leaders.

Since the start of the 2009 session, Tim Pawlenty has met legislative leaders just three times. What’s T-Paw doing with all his free time if he’s not trying to close the budget deficit? Well, during that same period, Pawlenty has made 24 appearances on national media outlets (including 7 on Fox). That’s a stunning 8 national media appearances for each meeting with legislative leaders.

Its pretty clear that the Governor is more focused on raising his national profile than bringing the legislative session to a successful conclusion.

A list of the Governor’s legislative meetings and media appearances is after the jump.

Legislative Meetings

Jan. 9 - Meeting with Legislative Leaders on Education Reform

Mar. 26 - Meeting with Legislative Leaders

Apr. 28 - Meeting with Legislative Leaders

National Media Appearances

Jan. 16 - Hugh Hewitt Radio Show

Jan. 29 - Bloomberg TV

Feb. 1 - CNN with John King

Feb. 12 - PBS News Hour

Feb. 15 - NPR

Feb. 17 - Rachel Madow- MSNBC

Feb. 18 - Public Radio International

Feb. 20 - The Take Away Show

Feb. 21 - ABC News

Feb. 21 - The Federal Eye video blog- washingtonpost.com

Feb. 23 - Bloomberg TV

Feb. 23 - C-SPAN

Feb. 23 - Fox News Sunday

Feb. 25 - Fox Business

Feb. 26 - Fox News

Feb. 28 - Fox News

Mar. 4 - Rachel Maddow- MSNBC

Mar. 11 - Fox TV

Apr. 8 - Rachel Maddow- MSNBC

Apr. 11 - CNN

Apr. 13 - The Ed Show- MSNBC

Apr. 16 - Fox TV- Your World

Apr. 27 - Glen Beck Show on Fox News

April 30, 2009, 1:00 pm | Category: MN 2010: Governor | Tags: .

5 Responses to “What are Pawlenty’s Priorities?”

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  • Randy
    April 30, 2009 at 4:30 pm

    You call to mind Claude Rains in Casablanca: “I am shocked, SHOCKED to see that Governor Pawlenty is putting his national aspirations ahead of his duties as Governor.”

  • BtwoBomber
    April 30, 2009 at 5:39 pm

    His #1 priority is to become Palin’s running mate.

  • Kathy
    May 1, 2009 at 12:11 pm

    A new Star-Trib poll shows that Gov. Pawlenty’s job approval rating is under 50%.

  • Don Huizenga
    May 2, 2009 at 9:04 pm

    The DFL solution?

    Removal of home mortgage interest deduction.

    Removal of child care expense deductions.

    Removal of educational expenses deductions.

    Tax smokes and booze.

    Create a new tax bracket that would increase the flat rate for incomes over $300k, including businesses. 90% of all MN businesses earn more than 300k per year and would be subject to the tax.

    Are these taxes going to affect the middle class?

    Wondering what your solutions are?

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