"Instead of dismissing the recovery effort as phony, the governor should be sending the president a thank-you note."

Yeah, like THAT will ever happen. Pawlenty is an a$$.

So, here's a dumb question (or three)...since Gov. Goodhair (Perry) in TX and Pawlenty used stimulus money to balance their budgets, did any of that money make its way down to any real people? Jobs? Assistance? When these guys use stimulus money to balance their budgets, where is that money going?

Phony phony
Bo poney
banana pana oh moanee
me mya oh phony
Phony
The Blame Game
You can play it to

Happy and safe Memorial day everyone
Extra special mention to the mostly indespensible Mr. Benen
Adios !

When fiscal crisis loomed Obama turned to Volker, Summers, Elizabeth Warren- and a host of other economic professionals- for advice.

Pawlenty is advised by. . .

Hey, if anyone knows phony bugets and economies its our Little Timmy Pawlenty.

"if you don't have the private economy pick up the slack of the phony inflation of the economy over the next couple of years, you're going to trigger a whole set of other adverse events, including potentially inflation."

What the hell does that statement even mean ? He seems to be saying that the current pick-up in demand due only to the government intervention, and that it will end. But that won't, as he says, result in "potentially inflation", it will result in, "most definitely deflation".

He seems to be pretty ignorant of basic economics, including the economics of what we have been experiencing the last year and a half, i.e. deflation, not inflation.

I think inflation has just become another boogie-man word for the right. They just throw it out there, as if it's the worst thing ever. Just ask anyone that lived through the Depression if they would be willing to trade deflation for inflation.

Of course the private economy is supposed to pick up the slack once it gets back on its feet - that's the whole point of the stimulis etc! What an ass Pawlenty is, which positions him right in the main stream Rebaglican teaparty.

What scares me is, especially with chilling effect of BP (even tho' better for environment to hold off more drilling): S&D pressures will push oil prices yet higher, threatening recovery. Rebaglicans will claim failure of Democratic policies (even though their obstruction of higher gas taxes for decades made all of this worse.) Don't look for MSMunchkins to report that well.

The problem is that there are parts of the recovery -- namely the housing recovery -- that are phony. And a lot of the stock market is being driven (both up and down) by financial stocks. Despite the fact that Republican solutions are certifiably crazy, if they speak in vague enough generalities, they will eventually happen upon a nut.

As usual, Mr. Gregory let Mr. Pawlenty say whatever the hell he wanted without any pushback of reality, such as any of the examples laid out by Benen.

I am thankful that Pawlenty is on his way out; his presence is tempered with the knowledge that Franken is going to be around here in MN for a long, long time.

Stand your ground Governor Pawlenty - Your bake sales in Edina and week end car washes solved the rebuilding of I-35W, eh?

The housing recovery is a tad artificial because the government because mortgage holders are still taking a forclosure bath artificially driving down prices. The government tax breaks in the stimulus have helped a little, but there isn't any inflation in the market. Most of us are still unable to find a ready buyer for our home and as a result are stuck where we live. Many of us are still upside down.

I would like to see the architects of the subprime bubble go to jail. Any chance of that? Nope, many of them still hold important jobs.

Like all Republicans Pawlenty has placed all of his chips on a bad economy. Obama, and with it the American economy, had to fail for him to win. It hasn't happened yet. Pawlenty is really saying "don't worry the economy will go bad just in time to elect me President in 2012."

Have to second that housing recovery theme - In Portland, realtors have been telling sellers to cut their prices drastically, if they want to sell. The mega mansions are, rarely, selling, but, the $350,000 to $400,00 homes are selling, once prices are dropped to the new "magic" range of $300,000 or below. Many are biting the bullet and trying to get out while they can. These are not the flippers, BTW, but, several long term owners, who want to get something while they can. We have a good friend, who just sold her, once 400 thou home for 299,000, but, had to kick in the 8 thou closing costs as this is very much a buyer's market. Paying closing costs for the buyers is becoming the norm. Plus, the extremely long "Honey Doo" lists of fixing up any perceived nick demanded by picky buyers. Add increased inspection requirements, and hope the City of Portland doesn't find out about any non-permited improvement during the sell, and this has become a nightmare. BTW, that friend and her husband are moving to a double wide in the woods near where Lewis and Clark camped. But, at least they won't have to pay the increased sewer, water and garbage fees imposed by our Progressive Mayor Sam, so he can build more bike ways for the younger set. Portland, OR is no place, anymore, sadly, for senior citizens to live.

Per terraformer, part of the problem is that GoodHair Gregory hadn't done enough homework to point out the counterfactuals to Pawlenty's idiocy (or is not interested in doing so, even worse)

i'd like to get pawlenty's opinion on defense spending, and in particular, what part of defense spending constitutes the "real" economy....

Yes and No on Benen's post - I don't think Pawlenty's proven himself to be a great economic analyst (or, for that matter anyone's idea of a serious candidate for 2012 who can actually close the deal), and his comments are, in a few ways, hash; but there is just as much of a sense of sunny unreality in Benen's "lala, no problems here, and certainly not with stimulus" argument. As far as economists can tell... there isn't much of a recovery, yet, and no real indicators to push the idea of strong recovery soon. There's a good argument to be made for the "new normal" in which we deal with subtsantial economic weakness witha "here and no further" appraoch to not falling back, but even that is precarious, given that the ongoing fallout across Europe is a good indication that more chips have to fall on the bad news side.

The point, which Pawlenty can't make... but someone, eventually will ... is that Stimulus by the government alone can't solve an economic crisis. And there's very little other business activity, right now, to suggest that priate sector growth has resumed in a meaningful eway (which is why, come the fall, when census jobs evaporate, the jobs picture may look much, much worse than it does now). Housing continues to be weak. People are, and will continue, to hit the end of unemployment benefits and other government programs that sustain life without employment just now. And state governments are struggling with shredded tax bases and eroded safety nets that already face enormous challenges. More people with more needs will make that, too, much worse.

The point is... I don't take Republican arguments seriously because they offer, essentia;ly, no alternative solution for restarting the economy in ways we need. But at the same time, Democrats, like Benen, play a dangerous game, trying to sell an "everything's just great and Democrats are the reason why" alternative to Republican sniping. Admitting, more frankly, that all is not well, that we are, in fact, not in a good economic place, and offering more ideas on addressing longer term problems (like getting government spending and revenues in a better balance) would suggest a realism that's absent right now in lefty spin. And without that, I think, Republicans -= or at least, some Republican who's braver than Pawlenty - will have an opportunity to sell the public as a new, different way of doing things, should the economy get much worse. That's not "hoping for disaster" - that's realizing that where we are is not really someplace we can stay.

I would like to see the architects of the subprime bubble go to jail. Any chance of that? Nope, many of them still hold important jobs.

Sure, and many don't think Obama is trying hard enough to hit at BP either. See for example, per title:
http://www.truthout.org/ex-epa-officials-why-isnt-bp-under-criminal-investigation59936
I thought criminal charges were being considered, but take a look. Obama is being too nice and his enemies on the Right won't like him anyway, so might as well do justice to his base and the environment.

Wholesale and retail all kinds of world brand shoes,apparel,jeans,t-shirts,hoody,jackets,coats,pants,handbags,wallets,watches,sunglasses,belts,caps etc..

$30 Air Jordan shoes,Shox shoes,Gucci,LV shoes

$33 True Religion jeans, Ed Hardy jeans,LV,Coogi jeans,Affliction jeans

$15 Ed Hardy ,LV ,Gucci Bikini

$15 Polo, Ed Hardy, Gucci, LV, Lacoste T-shirts

$25 Coach,Gucci,LV,Prada,Juicy,Chanel handbag,

$10 Gucci,Ed Hardy sunglasses

$9 New Era caps.

Welcome to --------------www.olapparel.com

Pawlenty is another example of a conservative who makes no sense, none at all, but who is so pretty that everyone forgives the nonsense.

I am waiting for the economist who can give us the anti-Laffer curve. On one axis, rates of taxation; on the other, productivity. Based on what has happened to Minnesota under Pawlenty's leadership, I have become convinced that there is a certain level of taxation that is just right--too high and the public sector crowds out the private; too low and one gets soaring inequality, high unemployment and declines in living standards for most people. What is clear to everyone who pays attention and has a heart, is that Pawlenty's economic ideas have caused harm.

PTIMH, what you describe as per an ideal middle ground *is* the Laffer curve.

Tim "less than 50 cent" Pawlenty is an economic con-man. Most of his budget fixes have been through accounting gimicks and pushing the fiscal costs on to other government entities.

This is an administration who came up with what I call the "wimpy" method of funding a much need fix to a horrible highway interchange. Rather than govern and consider raising taxes, his solution was to ask the contractors to front the money to be paid back in later years when the federal reimbursement came in. Number of contractors that bid on that plan - ZERO. That pushed back the construction on the project by a year.

After the bridge collapsed on his watch, he still vetoed increases to the gas tax.

Last year, rather than work with the Democratically controlled legislature, he decided to abuse a process called unallotment to solve the budget shortfall all by himself. Which has been ruled unconstitutional.

If Pawlenty's personal finances are operated like his budgetary governance, I think his family is living paycheck to paycheck.