Pawlenty: Obama Speech 'Window Dressing'

Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty called President Obama's speech on budget reform Wednesday "window dressing" that does nothing to advance real deficit cutting.

Pawlenty's remarks followed an exclusive interview with Newsmax Tuesday in which he anticipated that Obama would not embrace real cost-cutting measures.

In an afternoon speech at George Washington University that laid out his plans, Obama called for lowering deficits by $4 trillion over the next 12 years through reductions in the growth of Medicare spending, defense cuts, and changes in the tax system to eliminate loopholes.

Editor's Note: See Newsmax's exclusive interview with Tim Pawlenty — Go Here Now.

"Today's speech was nothing more than window dressing," Pawlenty said in a statement released after the Wednesday speech. "President Obama's lack of seriousness on deficit reduction is crystal clear when you look at the budget deal he insisted on to avoid a government shutdown.

"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," Pawlenty said. "The fact that billions of dollars advertised as cuts were not scheduled to be spent in any case makes this budget wholly unacceptable. It's no surprise that President Obama and Senator Reid forced this budget, but it should be rejected. America deserves better."

Editor's Note: See Newsmax's exclusive interview with Tim Pawlenty — Go Here Now.