Yet you are the guy pushing the rino, Tim Pawlenty.
"Pawlenty in Miami was publicly angry, agitated, and even cranky, possibly because he found himself at odds with the far more conservative tone of every other speaker here. Hundreds of RGA members, who paid thousands of dollars to attend this Conference, wildly applauded “red meat” conservative pronouncements by speakers and not the more moderate and conservative-jabbing words by Pawlenty. And then there’s his “Palin problem,” real or imagined, that hit the fan yesterday in front of the national media, possibly upon the insistence of Pawlenty himself, as the above-reported comments to CNN by an anonymous presidential aspirant indicate."
I'm not pushing Pawlenty. I did point out that he seems to be taking steps to make a serious run, has a decent web site up, and is making some policy positions public.
I am pointing out that I want to see more details on all these
Pawlenty was elected in 2002 on a platform of balancing the state's budget without raising taxes. He emphasized his campaign and first term with the Taxpayers League of Minnesota slogan "no new taxes."[46] During his first year as governor, Pawlenty balanced a deficit of $4.3 billion without raising taxes, primarily by reducing the rate of funding increases for state services, including funding for transportation, social services, and welfare. During his second term, Pawlenty erased a $2.7 billion deficit by cutting spending, shifting payments and using one-time money[47] and the state department of Management and Budget estimates that the two-year budget beginning July 2011 is $4.4 billion short.[47]So, he's been dealing with a situation like we have on the national level. Too much spending. And he's refused to raise taxes, and he's faced all the normal Dem tricks, shutting down parks and laying off police, and surived it intact.The local government aid (LGA) program was further reduced to city governments only and program reform dollars were eliminated.[48] In 2004, Attorney General Mike Hatch voiced dissent over the cuts and suggested that sex offenders found in some Minnesota nursing homes were the result of budget cuts to social services programs.[49] Later in his first term, disagreement among parties led to a government shutdown in 2005 from a deadlock between the governor's office and the split-party legislature on the state budget. Transportation, state parks, and other key infrastructures were threatened with the shutdown, dampening the tourism industry. In 2006, the State announced its financial health had improved with a more than $2 billion budget surplus over the next three years.[50] The Finance Commissioner cautioned the forecast does not include inflation, as $2 billion in 2006 dollars would only yield $1.9 billion in purchasing power in 2009 dollars.[51]
Bush never showed that level of commitment to fiscal conservatism. He put up no fight, signed budgets that produced big deficits in every year of his administration.
Palin did cut wasteful spending, but Alaska has huge revenues from the oil industry and stll gets large infusions of Federal dollars.
So she hasn't demonstrated (that I am aware of) that she has the skills to force big cuts.
Is he a RINO? Maybe. Right now I think the charge is a bit premature, based on a few quotes of unknown context. Just like condemming Palin for the McCain endorsement, the lack of clarity on Immigration, and a few bobbled interviews isn't enough reason to say she's not potentially our best bet.