ANOTHER PAWLENTY TIDBIT

Maybe he's a closet neo-con? 

Pawlenty: We can't reduce defense spending
9:25 PM, May. 25, 2011
Written by
Larry Bivins

Addressing a small audience brought together Wednesday by the Cato Institute, a libertarian Washington think tank, Pawlenty said everything would be on the table under his plan to end deficit spending and reduce the nation’s more than $14 trillion debt. He said he would tinker with Medicare and Social Security to save money and freeze pay and benefits for federal employees.

Contradiction

But in response to a question about the cost of deploying U.S. troops around the world, Pawlenty said defense spending would be untouchable if he becomes president.

“I’m not one who’s going to stand before you and say we should cut the defense budget,” the former Minnesota governor said. He added that reducing American troop presence in strategic regions would weaken America’s global position.

“We can slow it down, make it more efficient, but I’m not for shrinking America’s presence in the world.”