Pawlenty Calls for Greater Tax and Spending Cuts Than G.O.P. Rivals

By MICHAEL D. SHEAR
NYT

WASHINGTON — Former Gov. Tim Pawlenty called on Tuesday for more than $2 trillion in tax cuts for individuals and businesses over the next decade and two to three times as much in federal spending reductions and loophole closings, saying that such policies would drive rapid economic growth.

In the first major policy speech of his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, Mr. Pawlenty intensified his criticism of President Obama’s economic policies, accusing the Democratic president of being satisfied with a “second-rate American economy” and ignoring the country’s fiscal problems.

But Mr. Pawlenty, of Minnesota, also used the speech to lay down an economic marker for his Republican rivals, essentially daring them to go further in calling for large tax and spending cuts to appeal to conservative voters during next year’s primaries.

“The United States is still home to the most dynamic and entrepreneurial people in the world,” Mr. Pawlenty said during a speech at the University of Chicago. “They’ve been discouraged and weighed down by President Obama’s big government and heavy-handed regulations. They deserve a better deal. I’ll give them one.”

(More here.)