Please see below for a fact check of Tim Pawlenty’s new campaign ad…
 
PAWLENTY RHETORIC: “I reduced spending in real terms for the first time.”
 
REALITY: PAWLENTY ONLY CUT SPENDING BY SHIFTING FUNDS FROM SCHOOLS, USING ACCOUNTING GIMMICKS, AND TAKING FEDERAL DOLLARS
 
Pawlenty “Balanced Each Two-Year State Budget” But “Critics There Say They Stem From Short-Term Funding Maneuvers That Were Used During His Tenure To Patch Over Shortfalls—And To Put Off Tough Decisions To Align Minnesota's Tax Base With Its Government Spending.” [Wall Street Journal, 6/2/11]
 
Minnesota Management And Budget Official Said Pawlenty Did Lower Spending In Real Terms For In 2010, But “Said… Spending That Year Would Have Looked Different If The State Had Not Put Off Education Payments And Taken Billions From The Federal Government.” [Wall Street Journal, 6/2/11]
Pawlenty Balanced The Minnesota Budget With “Accounting Tricks, A Well-Timed Infusion Of Stimulus Money From Washington And Word Games.” [Associated Press, 5/25/11]
 
REALITY: PAWLENTY WAS NOT THE FIRST TO CUT SPENDING IN “REAL TERMS”
 
Politifact: Pawlenty’s Claim That He “Cut Spending In Real Terms For The First Time In 150 Years” Is “Barely True.” [Politifact, 4/12/11]
 
·         Politifact: The 2010-2011 Budget Cycle Marked The First Time The Biennium Budget Was Cut, But The Annual Budget Was Also Cut In 2009, 2004, 1986 And 1983. [Politifact, 4/12/11]
 
Politifact: “We Don't Have 150 Years Of Budget Data To Check. We Only Found Data Back To 1960, And Pawlenty's Campaign Provided No Data To Back Up The Claim Covering The 100 Years Previous When We Asked For It.” [Politifact, 4/12/11]
 
 
PAWLENTY RHETORIC: “I… passed health care reform the right way.”
 
REALITY: UNDER PAWLENTY, THE NUMBER OF UNINSURED MINNESOTANS ROSE AND HEALTH CARE COSTS FOR FAMILIES INCREASED
 
2009: 9 Percent Of Minnesotans Were Uninsured. “In 2009, approximately 9.0 percent of Minnesotans, or about 478,000 people, did not have health insurance coverage.” [Minnesota Department of Health Fact Sheet, January 2011]
 
·         2002: 6.2 Percent Of Minnesotans Were Uninsured.  [Minnesota Department of Health, Issue Brief, August 2006]
 
Families USA Report: “Family Health Care Premiums Rose An Estimated 4.3 Times Faster Than Earnings For Minnesota’s Workers From 2000 To 2007.” [Press Release, FamiliesUSA, 9/17/08]
 
REALITY: PAWLENTY DID NOT SAVE MINNESOTA MUCH IN HEALTH CARE COSTS
 
Star Tribune Editorial: Under Pawlenty “Only Modest Steps Toward Cost-Containing Health Care Improvement Occurred… While The Cuts He Made In Health Insurance Eligibility And A Host Of Other Social Programs Added To The Misery Of The Poor And Vulnerable.” [Star Tribune, Editorial, 3/22/11]
 
Pawlenty “Has Been Touting The Success Of Minnesota's Home-Grown Health Reforms” But “Some Health Care Observers Believe It's A Stretch To Say That Minnesota's Experiments Have Had Much Of An Effect On Costs.” [Minnesota Public Radio, 2/8/11]
 
 
REALITY: PAWLENTY RELIED ON FEDERAL DOLLARS TO FUND HEALTH PROGRAMS
 
Pawlenty “Decided To Accept About $260 Million In Federal Medical Assistance Aid After Directing State Agencies To Avoid Some Federal Grants Associated With The Health Care Overhaul.”  [Associated Press, 9/7/10]
 
Pawlenty’s Proposed Budget Included $387 Million In Medicaid Funds From The Stimulus. [Hot Dish Politics blog, Star Tribune, 2/16/10]
 
Pawlenty “Will Accept Federal Assistance Under The Democrats’ Health Reform Law After All” Because Minnesota’s “Management and Budget Office Was One Of 700 New Organizations That Signed Up For The Early Retiree Reinsurance Program, A $5 Billion Program That Helps Pay For The Insurance Costs Of Retirees Between The Ages Of 55 And 64.” [Politico, 10/29/10]