Problems for Pawlenty?

[Bilbo]

Ok...

In the past two years, Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota twice vetoed legislation to raise the state’s gas tax to pay for transportation needs.

Now, with at least five people dead in the collapse of the Interstate 35W bridge here, Mr. Pawlenty, a Republican, appears to have had a change of heart.

“He’s open to that,” Brian McClung, a spokesman for the governor, said Monday of a higher gas tax. “He believes we need to do everything we can to address this situation and the extraordinary costs.”

Now let me be clear, I am not implying that TPaw intentionally caused the bridge to fail, as yawl seem to be implying, but rather that his policies of "less government" (no new taxes) can lead to having less inspectors, (fired 600 DOT employees) less money, and less maintenance for the infrastructure that he was in charge of maintaining.

He sure seemed to have a change of heart on the gas tax after the bridge fell down.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/07/us/07highway.html

 

[Brown]

It is correct to say that Pawlenty changed his tune dramatically after the collapse.

Even so, it would be very bad taste for anyone to use this disaster as a scare tactic.

 

[Corsair 115]

It looks like Pawlenty will have a problem wooing law enforcement groups. Cops were already upset with governors who pardoned repeat offenders after one of the thugs that Huckleberry pardoned, and who later killed four cops in my neighborhood.

Now it seems that Pawlenty had pardoned a sex offender so that his wife could open a child care business in their home and the offender could get towing contracts with the police.

And now it turns out that the slimeball was doing it to his daughter.

What specifically was the rationale given by the governor for granting the pardons? I didn't see in the linked article.

 

[leftysergeant]

What specifically was the rationale given by the governor for granting the pardons? I didn't see in the linked article.

That's a headscratcher to me too. I can't see what would have justified it.

 

[dudalb]

Absolutely not, he's a homophobic creationist global warming denier. You'd think that would be a good start for criticizing Pawlenty, instead of making him a scapegoat for a bridge collapse he had nothing at all to do with.

I think Pawlenty's making nice with the more extreme right wing religious elements in the GOP will hurt him with the more moderate elements, and it will not win over the more rabid Tea Party members who will flock to Bachmann or Gringrich.
Excluding Mitch Daniels jumping to the fray at the last minute, I think it is pretty much...despite the right's dislike for him....Romney's to lose.

 

[Alferd_Packer]

The biggest problem Pawlenty faces is that he comes off as a total dweeb.

that and the fact that he looks like Fredo.

 

[Bri]

PolitiFact investigated Pawlenty's responsibility for the bridge collapse in some detail:

Tim Pawlenty writes that NTSB ruled Minneapolis bridge collapse stemmed from 1960s-era flaws

...

In any case, we’ll keep our fact-check tailored to the specifics of Pawlenty’s statement -- that "ultimately, after an exhaustive investigation the NTSB concluded the bridge fell because of an original design flaw dating back to the 1960s."

We conclude that he’s right that the most important factor the NTSB pointed to -- plus one of the two contributing factors it cited -- were design-related flaws dating from the 1960s. But Pawlenty’s summary doesn’t acknowledge other questions the NTSB raised about the performance of state officials during his tenure as governor. On balance, we rate the statement Mostly True.

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-m...wlenty-writes-ntsb-ruled-minneapolis-bridge-/

-Bri

 

[fishbob]

It is correct to say that Pawlenty changed his tune dramatically after the collapse.

Even so, it would be very bad taste for anyone to use this disaster as a scare tactic.

Yes, very bad taste.

Interestingly enough, being tasteful is one of the things that the JREF forum participants have never been accused of.

 

[Lurker]

I kinda agree. Now show me where firing 600 MN/DOT employees had nothing to do with not discovering this fault prior to the collapse.

Bottom line, that picture of the collapsed bridge, combined with the caption, "Do you really want less government"? Is a death nail for TPaw.

It is MNDOT's job to inspect all bridges and ensure that when they were built 40 years ago that the design specs were followed? Isn't that something that should have occurred 40 years ago?

 

[Newtons Bit]

I kinda agree. Now show me where firing 600 MN/DOT employees had nothing to do with not discovering this fault prior to the collapse.

Wow, this level of engineering knowledge reminds me of the Conspiracy Theories forum...

 

[dvictr]

Pawlenty is pro-choice... FAIL

 

[Cobalt]

I kinda agree. Now show me where firing 600 MN/DOT employees had nothing to do with not discovering this fault prior to the collapse.

Bottom line, that picture of the collapsed bridge, combined with the caption, "Do you really want less government"? Is a death nail for TPaw.

Heeeeeeeeeeere goalposts, goalposts, goalposts!

Goddamnit they were here just a second ago....

 

[leftysergeant]

Pawlenty is pro-choice... FAIL

That would actually be the only thng that would make him electable in the view of most moderates.

That he pardoned a violent kiddy-fiddler loses most Democrats, independents and the law enforcement voting block.

 

[Alferd_Packer]

Taken care of me? Mitt, you’re my kid brother, and you take care of me? Did you ever think of that? Ever once? Send Pawlenty off to do this, send Pawlenty to take care of that… take care of some little unimportant night club here, and there; pick somebody up at the airport. I’m your older brother Mitt and I was stepped over! … It ain’t the way I wanted it! I can handle things. I’m smart. Not like everybody says, like dumb. I’m smart and I want respect!

I'm Tim Pawlenty and I'm smart running for president.

 

[MaGZ]

It's slightly (but only slightly) more plausible to link Pawlenty to the bridge collapse than something Michelle Bachmann said about how it was "interesting" that outbreaks of swine flu happened while a democrat was president (nudge nudge).

Well, we all know Democrats are swine.

 

[MaGZ]

Ok...



Now let me be clear, I am not implying that TPaw intentionally caused the bridge to fail, as yawl seem to be implying, but rather that his policies of "less government" (no new taxes) can lead to having less inspectors, (fired 600 DOT employees) less money, and less maintenance for the infrastructure that he was in charge of maintaining.

He sure seemed to have a change of heart on the gas tax after the bridge fell down.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/07/us/07highway.html

Federal highways and bridges are maintained by the federal tax dollar.