Poor Tim Pawlenty. He goes to such great lengths to appeal to the Tea Party faction of the Republican base, but he still wallows in the single digits in most polls. His latest plea for attention comes in the form of an economic plan that would have unnerved even Ronald Reagan. Pawlenty proposes massive tax cuts–on top of the Bush tax cuts–along with deep spending cuts as a viable strategy for growing our way out of debt. He claims that his plan will result in in 5% percent growth for a whole decade, a rate that most economists have dismissed as pure fantasy. Pawlenty is probably smart enough to realize that his plan is absurd, but he’s counting on rabid Tea Partiers getting all starry-eyed when they hear this pabulum. It’s a cynical ploy, but cynicism has long defined his career. And I’m betting the true believers of his party are already getting a whiff of that cynicism and waiting on Bachmann or Palin to deliver the same insanity, but with more heart.
