Can you feel it getting hotter? Not literally of course. But, we are warming up quickly to the Election season of 2010 and the big one in 2012. One of the candidates that has been on fire recently is none other than Minnesota’s own fiscal conservative, Gov. Tim Pawlenty. In a recent speech given to the Minnesota Business Partnership dinner Pawlenty compared the failure of General Motors to the governments of Minnesota and the United States. This was not a glowing and positive comparison. In fact, it was quite negative and he used a government study on GM to highlight the similarities.
The history of GM is an instructive story in how success can breed failure; how being the biggest and the best can lead to arrogance and an inability to adapt. GM was the premier car company in the world for so long that it failed to see the need for change. The company was so used to being leader that it couldn’t contemplate following others. It was this mindset, this overwhelming belief that it was GM’s divine right to be the most successful automobile company on earth that condemned the company.
So I ask you tonight: Does any of that sound familiar as it relates to public policy in the United States of America in the year 2009? Are there any parallels to be drawn from the decision-making that you have seen in Washington, DC, not just now but over the last several decades regardless of which party has been in power? Does any of that sound like Minnesota? And if it does, then I hope that concerns you.
-Gov. Tim Pawlenty.
This sounds like a dead on comparison and anyone can agree with. But, the simple problem is that he isn’t offering any real solutions to this problem. Is the United States supposed to start following the rest of the world? Should we stop being leaders?
In a similar move to increase his visibility, Pawlenty has been spouting negative remarks about Health Care reform while maintaining an old position. Gov. Pawlenty is arguing that Minnesota can reduce health care costs by allowing its citizens to go to any state to find insurers and let for-profit insurers into the Minnesota market.
“We’re going to ask the Legislature to change that law, so Minnesotans can go into the national health care marketplace and purchase their health care from a variety of states, from a variety of vendors and use that as a way to get more competition, more choice, and hopefully, affordability and more quality in the health care delivery system,” Pawlenty said.
Pawlenty also wants to change the health care system in Minnesota by allowing for-profit insurers to participate. Currently, MN law requires the Health Maintenance Organizations to operate without making a profit. The reasoning behind this is to increase competition and make Minnesota’s insurers cheaper and just as efficient.
One of the major problems with this plan is that Pawlenty will be changing Minnesota Care and other state subsidized programs. His intention is to increase co-pays, and make the deductibles higher. Of course, this will lead to more out of pocket expenses for the people who use MN Care and these other programs. The majority of people enrolled in these programs are unable to afford these additional costs Pawlenty is proposing.
So, what it comes down to is that Pawlenty is saying a lot of things about the problems we have. He is not wrong about this. The government is too big, spends too much money, we need health care for everyone and we need to continue to be leaders in the world. Most people would agree with this platform. But he has no answers to solve these problems. His health care reform would lead to more people being uninsured, it would decrease funding for the MN subsidized programs and would ultimately lead to a decrease in the quality care Minnesota is known for.
As T-Pa is gearing up for his run in 2012 he needs to find solutions to the problems he lists, otherwise he is just another commentator in the political ocean. He will have to overcome his wacky GOP counterparts and then go head-to-head with one of the most charismatic leaders the world has ever known.
Speaking of which, the Democrat National Committee, or DNC has issued this statement, via Communications Director Brad Woodhouse:
“The harder Tim Pawlenty tries to appeal to the far-right wing of the Republican Party, the more ludicrous his arguments get. In the past week alone, he has strengthened his already vocal support for the absurd and debunked claim that health insurance reform could lead to death panels. He’s campaigned in Virginia for a Republican gubernatorial candidate who believes working women are a detriment to society. And, he was one of a handful of those on the extreme right wing who criticized the President’s address to school children – a speech wherein the President urged students to stay in school and work hard.
The more the voters learn about Tim Pawlenty, the more they will see that he is solely motivated by his desire to win over far right wing extremists and appeal to Republican Party leaders like Rush Limbaugh . His actions as of late beg the question – what won’t Tim Pawlenty say or do to appeal to the Sarah Palin wing of the Republican Party?”
Personally, there is another quote that I think is more fitting to the current political climate, for both democrats and republicans.
“Each candidate behaved well in the hope of being judged worthy of election. However, this system was disastrous when the city had become corrupt. For then it was not the most virtuous but the most powerful who stood for election, and the weak, even if virtuous, were too frightened to run for office” (Niccolo Machiavelli)
Listen to the T-Pa speech here http://bit.ly/qJlEY
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