Via Halperin, GOP presidential hopeful Tim Pawlenty is denouncing last week’s budget deal between the White House, Harry Reid and John Boehner. Pawlenty’s statement seizes upon rising conservative anger–Hannity led with this topic last night–over reports that many of the cuts amount to accounting sleight of hand:
The more we learn about the budget deal the worse it looks. When you consider that the federal deficit in February alone was over $222 billion, to have actual cuts less than the $38 billion originally advertised is just not serious. The fact that billions of dollars advertised as cuts were not scheduled to be spent in any case makes this budget wholly unacceptable.
This should make for some good applause lines when Pawlenty stumps in New Hampshire tomorrow and Friday. It’s also a much better story for him than the confusing meta- coverage that resulted from his appearance on CNN last night.