Pawlenty talks faith, Obama in book

Pawlenty Brushes Off Romney's Poll Lead
In a poll that one campaign dismissed as little more than a test in name recognition, Mitt Romney dominated a crowded field of potential Republican White House hopefuls among voters likely to participate in the nation’s first presidential primary. Thirty-nine percent of likely New Hampshire GOP primary voters supported Romney, who served as Governor of neighboring Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007. Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who has high negatives even among some Granite State Republica...

APNewsBreak: Pawlenty memoir highlights faith
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Republican Tim Pawlenty, trying to carve out a national identity as he tilts toward a Presidential Campaign, sculpts an image as a faith-based politician in a memoir infused with Bible verses and the flavor of his blue-collar upbringing. The former Minnesota Governor is out with "Courage to Stand: An American Story," a 301-page Autobiography that concludes with a stinging critique of President Barack Obama and a glimpse at what can be viewed as a 2012 platform. "If I ca...

Parsing Pawlenty
The Hotline's Tim Alberta reviewed former Minnesota Gov. and potential 2012 contender Tim Pawlenty's (R) book Courage to Stand on Friday for National Journal. His take is well worth a read. Key points: The unambiguous message behind former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty's (R) long-awaited memoir, Courage to Stand, is captured brilliantly by one brief sentence tucked into the book's introduction: "We did it in Minnesota, and we have to do it in Washington." While the 301-page book amusingly careens ...

A T-Paw Party?
Two-term Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty says he won’t decide on a 2012 presidential bid until March or April, but for over a year he’s been giving every indication that he’s running for the Republican nomination. Since announcing in the summer of 2009 that he would not seek a third term, he’s traveled to Iowa seven times and New Hampshire five times and scooped up Staffers from Washington to work on his political action committee. The week of January 10, shortly after le...

Pawlenty Isn't Worrying about Sarah Palin
(Credit: AP Photo/John Watson-Riley) Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty insists that the kick off of his book tour is not the start of his Presidential Campaign, but his interviews -- and the content of his book -- seem to suggest otherwise. "There is no doubt in my mind I'd be prepared to be president," Pawlenty said in an interview with ABC's "Nightline" in which he discussed his new book. He says he'll probably make a final decision about running for president around March or April. If he...

Obama talks tax cuts; Republican vows health care bill repeal
President Obama and House Republican leader Eric Cantor offered different ways to create jobs Saturday, with Obama touting his Tax Cut program and Cantor promoting Repeal of the president's "job killing" Health Care bill. In a radio address a day after the Unemployment Rate dropped from 9.8% to 9.4%, Obama cited the agreement he reached with Republicans last month for a two-year extension of tax cuts signed by him and predecessor George W. Bush. "Independent experts have concluded that, taken t...

Obama trumpets economic growth
President Barack Obama talks about the latest reports showing a decline in the Unemployment Rate as he highlights his economic policies in a Speech on the factory floor of the Thompson Creek Window Company in Landover, Md., Friday, Jan. 7, 2011. Obama also announced Gene Sperling as the new head of the National Economic Council. President Barack Obama is trumpeting private-sector job growth and lower Unemployment, telling the public that "the trend is clear" on The Economy — and it's enco...

Weekly remarks: Obama vows more jobs are coming; Eric Cantor vows GOP will be party of 'cut and grow'
Weekly remarks by President Obama, as provided by the White House Last month, our economy added more than 100,000 private-sector jobs and the Unemployment Rate fell sharply. This follows encouraging economic news, from increased auto sales to continued expansion of our Manufacturing sector. Now, we know that these numbers can bounce around from month to month. But the trend is clear. We saw 12 straight months of private-sector job growth -- the first time that’s been true since 2006. ...

Why is Obama Talking More on His Christian Faith?
President Barack Obama has spoken more in public about his Christian faith in the past few months. The day after Christmas, the president, First Lady Michelle Obama, and daughters Sasha and Malia attended a church service at St. Michael's Chapel in Hawaii -- something the family has rarely done since becoming president. Obama also referenced his Christian beliefs during the recent lighting ceremony of the National Christmas Tree in Washington, D.C. In fact, a study of the president's stateme...

Truth and Liberty and Freedom: The Journey Of My American Odyssey As An American In This Great American Land Of Ours. Also. Free
If you’re like me, you are very excited that Tim “Black Hole of Charisma” Pawlenty has a new book coming out that, aw shucks, may or may not be a harbinger of his inevitable failed run for the presidency. An Evangelical Christian who has been an outspoken voice for the GOP, Pawlenty sat down exclusively with “Nightline’s” Terry Moran to talk about running for president in 2012, his chief potential rival Sarah Palin and President George W. Bush’s legacy...

Number of the Week: Interest Payments on Federal Debt
Yahoo! Buzz 3.4%: The Congressional Budget Office’s estimate of interest payments on the U.S. federal Debt, as a share of annual economic output, in the year 2020. As the Obama Administration girds for a potential showdown in Congress over raising debt limits to accommodate the budget Deficit, it’s helpful to get a sense of just how much that debt is costing U.S. Taxpayers. It’s actually not that expensive at the moment, but it’s likely to get pretty painful over the next...

State Assembly Republicans push for committee to reduce spending
CARSON CITY -- Eight Republican Assembly members and 28 of leaders of conservative and Republican organizations were rebuffed by Democrats on Friday when they called for creation of a joint legislative Committee on Reduction of Nonessential Government Expenditures. Conservatives and Republicans asked Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford and Assembly Speaker-elect John Oceguera, both D-Las Vegas, to create the expenditure reduction committee, which they said would operate like a congressional c...

CBO offers more details on cost of repealing healthcare
The Congressional Budget Office this afternoon released more details on the budgetary effects of repealing the healthcare law. In his director's blog, CBO Director Douglas Elmendorf said the office believes repealing the law would reduce revenues by $770 billion through 2021 and reduce spending by $540 billion in that same time period. The result is the same $230 billion Deficit that CBO estimated Thursday. But identifying the $540 billion in reduced spending might make it easier for Republica...

Obama says economy moving in right direction
The Private Sector added 103,000 new jobs in December and the Unemployment rate fell from 9.8 percent to 9.4 percent. "Now, we know that these numbers can bounce around from month to month. But the trend is clear," said the president, whose 2012 re-election prospects may well hinge on the condition of The Economy. "We saw 12 straight months of Private Sector job growth—the first time that's been true since 2006," he said. The economy added 1.3 million jobs last year. And each quarter was ...

Obama claims job growth as adminisration success
The Private Sector added 103,000 new jobs in December and the Unemployment rate fell from 9.8 percent to 9.4 percent. “Now, we know that these numbers can bounce around from month to month. But the trend is clear,” said the president, whose 2012 re-election prospects may well hinge on the condition of The Economy. “We saw 12 straight months of Private Sector job growth — the first time that’s been true since 2006,” he said. The economy added 1.3 million jobs l...

The Tip of the Environmental Iceberg
This moring, I read this LTE on the intersection between the PolyMet and Nokomis mines, Paul Aasen and the MCEA. The LTE, written by Terry Stone, is a compelling read, one which all Minnesotans should read. This afternoon, I decided to call Terry. I’m glad I did. Terry’s insights gave me a whole new perspective into Minnesota’s environmental anti-industrial complex. For now, though, let’s see what Minnesota’s environmental Extremist movement has done to our economy...

Pawlenty calls Palin a "force of nature"
By Michael J.W. Stickings Appearing on Nightline this evening, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty made it pretty clear that he's running for president in 2012. He said he hasn't made "a final decision," but that would appear to be a mere formality. Asked about Sarah Palin, a possible (if unlikely) Republican primary opponent, he praised her (as any GOP hopeful must, given her "influence") and said she's a "force of nature." So is an Earthquake, of course, and while Republicans generally still adore h...

The Fix: Pawlenty defends Palin
Tim Pawlenty takes aim at critics of Sarah Palin in his new book, which is set to released Tuesday and a copy of which was obtained by the Fix. And in doing so, the former Minnesota Governor seems to be saying something about his own blue-collar appeal as he weighs a run -- perhaps against the former Alaska Governor and 2008 vice presidential nominee -- for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. The book, called " Courage to Stand," represents the latest in a series of steps ...

Pawlenty on possible Bachamnn prez bid: Its a free country
On Wednesday morning, Gov. Mark Dayton signed an Executive Order allowing Minnesota to accept early Medicaid funding under the Affordable Care Act amid hundreds of Tea Party Protesters at the Capitol. As the Tea Party booed Dayton, he handed over the microphone and allowed opponents to have their say. Among those speaking was Jake McMillian of Bradlee Dean’s Controversial hard rock ministry You Can Run But You Cannot Hide. According to ABC News, Rep. Michele Bachmann is mulling a run for ...

Grassroots? National Organization for Marriage funding comes from few sources
The Bureau of Labor Statistics released its monthly jobs report on Friday, and it shows that the Unemployment Rate declined from 9.8 percent to 9.4 percent — a decrease that is less remarkable upon further examination. The Economy added 103,000 jobs in the last month — with the Private Sector adding 113,000 jobs and the Public Sector shrinking by 10,000. When State Legislators checked their office mailboxes Wednesday, they found an invitation to attend a Minnesota Family and Marriage...

Romney Leads First New Hampshire GOP Primary Poll
The New Hampshire primary is just over a year away and will be here before you know it. However, the action hasn’t even gotten underway as far as Candidates officially positioning themselves, so take this for what it’s worth : Former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney holds a commanding lead in New Hampshire in the early stages of the race for the 2012 Republican Presidential nomination, according to a new survey commissioned by NH Journal and conducted by Magellan Strategies. The survey is the ...

Romney Leads Republicans in New Hampshire, Fares Best in Nevada
New polls released in New Hampshire and Nevada reveal good new for the potential Presidential Campaign of Mitt Romney. The former Governor and 2008 Presidential Candidate is the early frontrunner in the Granite State, where he lost to John McCain in 2008 in the primary that ultimately prepared the way for the Arizona senator to become the nominee. The New Hampshire Journal poll, conducted by the Republican firm Magellan Strategies, shows Romney with a 23 percentage point lead over his closest co...

Mitt Romney Leads Republicans in New Hampshire Primary a Year from Now
New new poll just released should make Mitt Romney — who like to pretend that maybe he's not running for president despite the fact that he is very clearly running for president — very happy… The survey [of New Hampshire Republican voters] finds former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney leading potential challengers with 39% support. Former Alaska Governor and 2008 Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin is second with 16%, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee is third...

The Silly Hat Throw Season
The Silly Hat Throw Season is now in full swing. Presidential flagpoles face metal fatigue from so many names going up and down them. Everyone’s political vanity is loosed in this season, and a media now constructed to avoid serious political discussion for as long as possible is more than willing to play along. There are about 10-12 reasonably serious potential Republican Candidates for president in 2012. Not all of them will run. As I pointed out in a recent column, the larger number will ...

Rudy Giuliani Still Playing the 2012 Speculation Game
Photo: Jemal Countess/Getty Images Back in October, former mayor Rudy Giuliani hinted that another presidential run might be on the horizon, coyly telling reporters that "the door's not closed." Today a report in the Post claims that, actually, the metaphorical door has been completely unhinged and is now lying on the floor, and a draft is coming in. Confident that he'd have a chance to win, Rudy Giuliani is rounding up his top political advisers for a possible 2012 presidential run, sources t...