Strib reports, this link:
Will Pawlenty turn down $263 million?
Minnesota won't get the federal health dollars unless the governor officially asks for the money for low-income Medicaid patients.
By KEVIN DIAZ, Star Tribune
Update: Aug. 19, 2010 - 9:48 PM
WASHINGTON - Millions of dollars in health care funds seemingly destined for Minnesota after last week's emergency session of Congress have yet to clear a final hurdle: the signature of Gov. Tim Pawlenty, an outspoken critic of the new federal spending.
As part of a compromise to win support for the $26 billion state aid package, Washington lawmakers quietly included a requirement that governors formally certify the flow of federal medical assistance dollars to their states. The provision put Republican critics like Pawlenty on the spot.
At stake in Minnesota is $263 million for low-income and elderly Medicaid patients and health care providers who participate in the joint federal and state program.
Pawlenty, eyeing a run for the White House in 2012, said Thursday in an interview with the Star Tribune that he has not decided what to do.
[..] Pawlenty, like many Republican leaders in Congress, criticized the congressional action as part of a "reckless spending spree." All three Minnesota Republicans in the U.S. House voted against the bill, calling it a politically motivated bailout for public employees and their unions.
But so far Pawlenty has stopped short of saying Minnesota will reject the money, and his aides say state officials are still studying the federal legislation.
That is only an excerpt, and the Strib item has more detail.
But, isn't posturing for Iowa and New Hampshire in 2012 more important? To some, it probably is.
Doesn't the ambition of the candidate trump all else? To some, it probably does.
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Strib. photo, this link.
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Less stridently, Mark Dayton makes the same point; Strib reporting, this link.
Pawlenty’s in luck if he’s been wondering: What would Mark Dayton do?
The DFL gubernatorial candidate called on Pawlenty, a possible presidential candidate and steady critic of big government spending, to accept the money.
“That money is essential to maintaining the health of low-income and elderly citizens, and it’s essential to maintaining the health of our care providers, particularly those in rural Minnesota, who are facing severe financial hardships,” Dayton said in a statement. “If governor Pawlenty chooses not to accept those desperately needed funds, he will demonstrate once again that he is willing to sacrifice Minnesota’s best interests for his political ambitions. Minnesota deserves better.”
Is the best word in this to describe Pawlenty's behavior "selfish," or is there a better word?
WWTED?
What Would Tom Emmer Do?