Policy

Tim Pawlenty Only Likes the Good Kind of Corporate Welfare

|

Best buddies.

Also known as the kind that benefit lots of voters in Iowa, where he'd very much like to win a Republican primary:

During Pawlenty's speech, he criticized Wall Street and corporate welfare, what he termed "special deals for some."

But when asked after the speech about ethanol subsidies—which have come under fired from some fiscal conservatives, but are considered crucial in Iowa, where Pawlenty's campaign could live or die—he hedged.

"We can't just pull the rug out from under the industry," he said. "There are going to have to be some changes, but we have to be fair-minded about it."

(Link via Veronique de Rugy's Twitter feed.)

Good reasons to kill ethanol subsidies? They make beer more expensive. Also, they significantly increase the cost of feeding the world's population. 

I was happy to see Pawlenty reject ObamaCare cash for the state of Minnesota last year.