Jun 9, 2009 10:49 pm US/Central
Pawlenty 1-On-1: Budget Cuts & Obama's Policies
ST. PAUL (WCCO) ―
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As he prepares to impose drastic budget cuts and amid wide speculation he will run for president, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty sat down with WCCO political reporter Pat Kessler.
CBS
It's now been one week since Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty announced he won't try for a third term in office. As he prepares to impose drastic budget cuts and amid wide speculation he will run for president, Pawlenty sat down with WCCO political reporter Pat Kessler.
Pawlenty made the final decision not to run again in just the last couple of weeks, after the legislature adjourned May 19.
"I will not seek a third term as the governor of the state of Minnesota," Pawlenty told reporters on June 2.
And in a wide-ranging interview, he won't say what everyone else is: That he is running for president.
"I am not trying to be cute. I'm just telling you 3 years out, I don't know what I am going to be doing. Three years out, you don't know what you are going to be doing, Pat," said Pawlenty.
Pawlenty is preparing to cut the budget himself through unallotment -- nearly $2.7 billion in drastic budget cuts and layoffs that he'll announce next week.
He bristles at criticism that he's leaving the real problem for the next governor, another $4 billion deficit.
"I am not only not dodging the problem, I' tackling it head on. And when I have the press conference announcing the cuts, there aren't going to be a lot of people standing with me," Pawlenty told Kessler.
Like other Republican leaders, Pawlenty said he hopes President Barack Obama's policies don't succeed.
"We are witnessing the nationalization of major sectors of the American economy," he said.
Pawlenty feels that former Vice President Cheney "knows a lot" when he says America is less safe under Obama.
"When he speaks out on that issue, he is worth listening to," said Pawlenty.
And he believes Obama is leading the country toward socialism, South America-style.
"Hugo Chavez stood at an airport a few days ago and mocked President Obama for being to the left of Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro, jokingly saying he's nationalizing more stuff than we did in Venezuela," said Pawlenty.
The governor said he is prepared to sign the election certificate in Minnesota's U.S. Senate race if the Minnesota Supreme Court declares Al Franken the winner, unless a federal court stops him.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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